I've been reading a lot about brining over the last year or so. It's a common technique in pre-packaged foods bought raw and intended for your oven. The idea is very simple, you marinate your food in a salt-rich liquid, which initially draws moisture out of the meat, but eventually lets it back in, accompanied by whatever else you've chosen to flavor the brine.
Most recipes call for a pretty hefty percentage of salt, some sweetening agent, and often an acidic ingredient, along with whatever aromatic or other flavorings you want to end up in the finished product. I've always found that while the meat or poultry I've brined has been juicier than normal, it was also excessively salty.
So the last few times I've tried brining, I've hit on a different formula. I salt the brining liquid only to the extent that it's savory to me. By which I mean, I can taste the salt, but it's not too salty. In the past, even following the recipes of a sage like Alton Brown to the letter, I've found the brine to be too salty.
Never again. The last two times I've brined chickens to be roasted, I didn't even measure; I salted simply to the point where the brine was tasty. It worked. I added just enough salt to get the osmosis reaction going, but not so much that the finished product tasted like jerky. Hurrah.
Lesson learned. Rather than following a recipe for your brine, taste it. Taste it until it tastes good, and then use it. I can't tell you how much money and product I've wasted following "recipes" for brine to the letter, only to end up frustrated. Your brine should be salty, but not too salty that it's unpalatable. Go ahead and flavor it with things like molasses, but if the end result of your work is a brine that tastes like old socks? That's what your meal is going to taste like.
While I'm busy patting myself on the.... uh, back for my successful brining, check out the links to the right. I've deleted a few sites that, sadly, have fallen by the wayside. I've updated some links to sites that have new urls, and I've added a half dozen or so new sites, including a number of international foodblogs.
This is the part of the post where, were I not a lazy bastard, I'd provide links and descriptions to the new weblogs to which I've linked.
What?
The Times-Picayune put out its fall restaurant guide this past weekend, and among the features was Brett Anderson's top ten list of New Orleans restaurants. I like Anderson, and unlike a few other local food personalities, I find I agree with him more often than not.
So it came as no surprise that his top ten list pretty much mirrored my own, with one exception. Anderson included Emeril's. I have written before about how important I feel Emeril Lagasse has been to the food culture both locally and in general. I still feel that way, and I still remember a meal I had a decade ago in his restaurant that was outstanding. I still remember the story my vegetarian friends told me about how well they were treated when they ate there in the early days of the restaurant.
But the last few times I've eaten at Emeril's, I left extremely displeased. The service was outstanding, the wine list is literally world-class, but the food was just mediocre at best, and inedible at worst. It's loud, and the space is simply cavernous.
The last time I ate there, I told myself I wouldn't be back any time soon, but given Anderson's review, maybe I should reconsider. After all, I'm really not sure that the current chef was in place on my last visit, which was at least a year ago.
So, what restaurant would I substitute for Emeril's on the top ten list? I suppose I should list Anderson's choices before making a call on that.
Anderson listed Bayona first, which is one of my favorite restaurants for a number of reasons. Chef Susan Spicer is my hero, number one. She's brilliant, adventurous, and she opened a shop called Spice Inc. in the warehouse district some time back that had me coming in almost daily for her unbelievably good bakery, prepared foods, and pantry. I mean, she was selling really outstanding stock for Christ's sake. I make stock once a month, but from time to time I run out, and there it was, just sitting in the cooler, waiting for me. I still mourn the passing of that place. And I haven't even mentioned the daily quesadillas, which were just incredible. I'm going to cry.
Second on Anderson's list is Brigtsen's. And again, how can you argue? Frank Brigtsen is a talent, and the restaurant is one of the most welcoming places in the city. I've walked in with my wife, hoping to find a table, and walked out (because they were booked) just pleased at how nice they were about trying to accomodate us. The food is incredible; along the lines of the flavor-forward cuisine for which Paul Prudhomme is famous, but more subtle.
Third on his list was Cuvee, about which I've written so much that I don't feel a need to say too much more. Do a search to the right of this column, and you'll see how I feel about the place. I was in love with it when Bingo Starr was the chef, and I'm equally in love now that Bob Iacovone has taken over. I've gotten to know and like the folks who run the place, but I sure as hell wouldn't go back as much as I do if I didn't always, always, get a great meal.
Fourth on the list was Emeril's. I've said enough.
Fifth was Galatoire's. A lot of people believe that Galatoire's is a restaurant coasting on its reputation, and coasting on the social aspects of dining there. I disagree. I love the food there, but then, I love classic New Orleans food. When I have clients in town, it's one of the first places I consider dining. The service is unlike any place I've ever experienced, it's the kind of personal service that defines "personal service." And that holds true whether you dine there every week, or whether you make it only once a decade. It has to do with the waiters, and the unbelievably comfortable way they have at tableside. Also, they pour double-strength cocktails.
Next on the list is Gautreau's. And again, I have to agree with Mr. Anderson. What a fantastic restaurant, and what a fantastic location. It's definitely off the beaten track, in a secluded area of the Garden District, but once you find it, you'll be back. Great food, simply but excellently prepared, and good wine. My only complaint is that they don't seem to have a website.
Herbsaint is seventh on the list, and while I might have placed it higher, it certainly deserves to be in the number. I've written about Herbsaint a number of times as well, and that's because I love the place. I don't pretend to be objective here, and I don't pretend to be a food critic. I write about where I've eaten, and I generally do some sort of "review" of the place, but I choose where I eat because, well, that's where I want to eat. So the "reviews" tend to almost always be good. Maybe if I got paid to do this, I'd feel differently, but as far as I'm concerned, life is too goddamn short to eat bad food. So I eat at Herbsaint whenever I can. If I had to try and descrbe the food, I'd use adjectives like, subtle, light, restrained, and and sophisticated. And if that makes you think it's the kind of place that serves a tablespoon-sized portion, you're mistaken. It's the kind of place where you re-discover ratatouile. It's the kind of place where everything is cooked perfectly, and everything is, well, pretty much perfect. Add to that the fact that they've got a really interesting wine and cocktails list, and you've got a great restaurant.
Eighth on the list is Lilette. I imagine at this point that I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I love Lilette. I wish I got to go there more often. The ambiance is French Bistro, but the food is more ambitious by half. I once spent a meal there ordering four or five of the appetizers alone, because I couldn't bear not to. Blood sausage, fois gras, veal cheek, oh God now I'm hungry again. Chef John Harris has gotten a good bit of press, and deservedly so, his cooking is at the same time on the cutting edge, and comfortable. If that's too much a contradiction for you, then you and I define, "cutting edge" differently. I don't want my food to have shock value, I want my food to excite me, potentially to expose me to new flavor combinations, and Harris does that. Like most of the other restaurants on this list, he's also got a killer wine list, including a great selection by the glass.
Ninth on the list is the New Orleans Grill, in the Windsor Court hotel. I have not been blown away by a meal in the same way that I was blown away by chef Jonathan Wright's cooking more than two or three times in my life. This is a world class restaurant, from conception to the plate. It is unlike most of the other restaurants on this list in that it is not concerned with local tastes, or local flavors. Chef Wright looks for and gets ingredients from all over the world, and presents them in an incredibly artistic display of cooking prowess. I wrote about my last visit, which was far too long ago for my taste. The only strike against the restaurant is that the prices are commensurate with the food. Commensurate, that is, if you're living in New Orleans. Anywhere else in the world, you'd pay double for the food you get at the New Orleans Grill.
The last restaurant on the list is August. I've had some sublime dining experiences at August. And I consider it one of, if not the best restaurants in the city. I tend towards the rhapsodical when I talk about August, so I'll try and be brief. It's perfect. Chef John Besh is a genius, and I love him with the love that a man has for a five-star chef that feeds him well. Does that make sense? No? I don't care. Go eat there.
So what restaurant would I place in the top ten to replace Emeril's? Rene Bistrot, without much doubt. There are a bunch of other restaurants that might fit into the mix - places like the Bistro at Maison de Ville (which has the best Matire'd in the city) or Peristyle, Le Petit Grocery, the Marigny Brasserie, or a few others, but Rene Bistrot has been consistently the best restaurant at which I've eaten in the last few years. OK, sure, I've gotten to know the folks there, and I've even met chef Rene Bajeaux a few times, but as I said earlier, all of that would mean nothing to me if I didn't enjoy the food. And holy crap do I enjoy the food.
Rene has what has got to be the best deal in the universe going for lunch. Three courses for $15.50. Three perfectly executed, perfectly portioned courses. Three courses that change every day to something equally new and exciting. I swear I'd eat there every day if I could afford it. Alas, it's cafeteria red beans and po-boys for me most of the time, but when I sleep? I dream of Rene.
Well, okay, I'm not actually dreaming of Rene; he's quite the handsome fellow, but my tastes run towards the feminine. Ahem. In any event, despite the fact that the matire'd, Kevin, is insane (he's a member of the polar bear club, after all) the service is uniformly perfect, and I have never had a bad meal there. My only complaint is that sometimes the frozen mousse they serve for desert is too hard, making me wait a few minutes before enjoying it. Bastards.
In any event, I'm happy that I tend to agree with Mr. Anderson about 90% of his choices for the list, and I hope that you get to check some of these joints out. And if you haven't been to Rene for lunch, well, you should. Wave at me if you see me. Though bear in mind that if you wave at me, it constitutes a verbal agreement on your part to pick up my check.
Seriously. I'm a lawyer, I'll sue.
Uptown Kevin has a new domain, and new address, NolaFoodie.com. It looks very good, check it out.
Alton Brown's website has a section devoted to "rants and raves" that hasn't been updated since the end of September, but if you're like me, you don't read it all that regularly. He's got a couple of amusing posts up since my last visit.
I have an extremely limited ability to read French. It's not the kind of thing I worry about on a day to day basis, but I do when I visit Banlieusardises. It's one of the most well-photographed food websites around, and always interesting. The english version of the page does not appear to be as frequently updated as the French, but if you're looking for some Francophone practice, I reccomend it.
On the topic of French-based websites, Chocolate and Zucchini's Clotilde just celebrated her website's first birthday. Sounds like it was a hell of a party.
Elise.com has a really delicious sounding recipe for Roast Chicken with Grapes. I've done something similar with chicken breasts, but stuffing the cavity with halved grapes seems to me a pretty good idea.
I tend to think of Kiplog's Food Blog as the ur-food weblog. He's still going strong, and has the most comprehensive set of foodblog links on the internet. Add to that the fact that he is a pretty good writer in general, and you've got a recipe for success.
I apologize if that pun caused anyone to suffer from a painful rash, vomiting, or other discomfort.
I've never met the guy, but if you read Dr. Biggles' site, Meathenge has the kind of conversational, down-to-earth style that makes me think I have.
There are few foodblogs as well-written as Saute Wednesday. Bruce Cole has been recognized as one of the top foodwriters online in a number of publications, including my food-magazine of choice, Saveur. And this entry has a certain resonance for me.
Tastingmenu.com has another post up about a recent, fabulous meal. at Daniel Boloud's eponymous restaurant. Hillel took a lot of pictures as well.
The Accidental Hedonist has a couple of posts up about apple pies. Despite the fact that our local climate in New Orleans leans more towards summer than fall, it's a timely post.
The Food Section has recently recorded its 1000th post. Congratulations are in order.
Last, but absolutely not least on my survey of foodblogs this evening, is The Hungry Tiger where "redfox" has a post up about greens. I'm a sucker for greens, though I must admit that unlike the vegetarian folks at Hungry Tiger, I prefer mine with bacon.
Following is a list of websites for restaurants in New Orleans. From time to time I will add to the list. Once the list is done, I'll try and link to posts I've made about some of the restaurants.
Note: I'd welcome suggestions for restaurants I've missed. I'm sure I've missed a good many. However, my intent is to link to websites operated by the restaurants themselves, rather than commercial websites. There are more than a few outstanding restaurants that do not have websites. If you don't see a restaurant listed here, either they don't have a website, or I haven't found it yet.
Antoine's
Antoine's is to many people the Grande-damme of creole restaurants in New Orleans. It is certainly the restaurant with the most historic and interesting premises in the City. Eating at Antoine's is a trip back in time, as the menu has not been changed in decades. Unfortunately, to my mind, the place has gone downhill in the last 10 years or so. I say that as someone who loves the old girl; hell, I proposed to my wife there. But the last few times I've been, the food has not been what I expected, and the atmosphere has not been what I know it can be. Is it still worth a visit? Absolutely, just go with your expectations lowered, and make sure they seat you in the main dining room (as opposed to the front, which is where the tourists sit.)
Arnaud's
One of the three or four grand old creole restaurants in the city, Arnaud's had fallen on hard times in the 80's and 90's. To my mind, the place is entirely recovered, and it's one of the best places in the city to go for a traditional French Creole style meal. You can expect excellent cocktails, excellent service, and classic creole food, all in a white-tablecloth setting that reeks New Orleans.
Restaurant August
Chef John Besh got his start locally on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, but when he opened August, he really cemented his place in the New Orleans culinary hierarchy. Besh's cooking is influenced by local products, but it's not precisely local - he's got a light touch that combines classic French technique with a modern minimalist approach that comes together nicely. I've always enjoyed his use of fresh herbs, and his attention to detail. August has never let me down, though it's not for everyone. A few people whose opinions I respect aren't crazy about it.
Bacco
Bacco is a Brennan's restaurant, which means that the service will be excellent, the drinks will be strong, and the food will be good. It's not a trail-blazer, and you won't be blown away by the food, but the space is extremely well-designed, and it's a very good place to have a business lunch.
Bayona
Bayona is the flagship restaurant of Susan "My Hero" Spicer. Spicer is a giant on the local restaurant scene, who's recently forgone her other restaurants (Cobalt and Herbsaint) to focus on Bayona. Personally, I'm still mourning the loss of her market/bakery/deli/take-out place Spice, Inc. in the Warehouse district. But given that it closed, I'm probably in the minority on that account. Bayona is always in my list of top restaurants in the city; it's a mediterranean inspired, inventive place where you can bring just about anyone, regardless of dietary restrictions. Spicer's always got a vegetarian selection, for example, that goes far beyond the crudite platter you might find at other places. You will also not find better service in the city, and the folks up front are second only to Jo-Ann Clevenger of the Upperline in friendliness and helpfulness. And that's saying something.
Brennan's
Brennan's is the flagship restaurant of one branch of the Brennan family in New Orleans. It's a beautiful space right in the middle of the French Quarter that is deservedly known for breakfast. It's also a pretty good creole restaurant in its own right.
Brigtsen's
Frank Brigtsen started his career under Paul Prudhomme, and he's taken the inspiration for local cooking he got from Prudhomme to places the fat man just can't go. Brigtsen's is one of the best "local" restaurants in town, and if you've never had panee'd rabbit, you should try it here.
Bistro at Maison deVille
Patrick Van Hoorebeek is the finest maitre'd in the city, and the Bistro at Maison de Ville may be one of the most overlooked restaurants in the city. The restaurant has hosted a number of New Orleans' best chefs, including Susan Spicer. Greg Piccolo has taken the reins, and does an outstanding job with the tiny kitchen. It's a small place, and reservations are reccomended, but in good weather, the patio dining area almost doubles the available seats. The food is a mix of creole and continental; but the website linked above has sample menus, which should tell you what you need to know about the kind and style of food to expect. What the menus don't say is that everything on the plate will be prepared perfectly; at least that's been my experience.
Cafe Degas
Cafe Degas is a bistro in the classic sense of the term. It features a French menu, and it plays pretty close to the bistro standards. You can find onion soup, pate, puff pastry filled with seafood or chicken in wine cream sauce, ommelettes, or other French standards such as liver with onions and bacon or bouillabaisse. It might be classic, but it's not stale, because Cafe Degas does a fantastic job with these French standards. The dining area of the restaurant is a closed-in patio, and it's best in good weather, but it's comfortable pretty much year-round.
Christian's
Christian's has the distinction of being the only restaurant in town that's housed in a former church. It's an odd space for a restaurant, but Christian's pulls it off with a mainly French menu and good food. Again, the website has menus to give you an idea of the kind of food served, and again, I've always found the food to be prepared well. It's not the most adventurous of menus, but what they do, they do well.
Cobalt
Cobalt has named a new executive chef: David English. Chef English has been at the helm for a while now, and I believe that the last few meals I've had at Cobalt have been under his direction. Those meals were very good, and in fact were better and more consistent than I had been accustomed. Cobalt is located adjacent to the Monaco Hotel, in a modern space dominated by a long, open bar in the front, and banquettes and cozy tables in the rear, which is now the main dining area. It's a neat space, and since it's directly across the street from my office building, I'm delighted that they've found someone talented to run the show.
Commander's Palace
Commander's is the flagship restaurant of one branch of the Brennan's family (see Brennan's, above, for the other). It's also one of the best creole restaurants in the city, and thus the world. The kitchen at Commander's has seen some of the best chefs New Orleans has ever produced, including Emeril Lagasse, who has gone on to some kind of TV show, or something. Emeril would have done better to stay at Commander's, in my opinion, because none of his restaurants holds a candle to the venerable place. It's expensive, the wine list is fantastic, and the food is usually outstanding. It's the kind of place I reccommend to people from out of town all the time, not only for the food, but for the location in the Garden District. It's a unique restaurant, to be sure.
Cuvee
Cuvee is one of the best restaurants in the city. Chef Bob Iacovone is a rare talent, and the food at Cuvee - forward thinking and aggressively flavored - is almost always spot on. Couple that with a great wine list, and one of the best front-ends in the city, and you've got a great restaurant. It's consistently in my top five list.
Delmonico
Emeril Lagasse re-incarnated a long-dead New Orleans restaurant when he opened Delmonico's a few years ago. It's located in a prime spot on St. Charles Avenue, not far from Lee's Circle.
Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse
I have had some great lunches at Dickie Brennan's Steak House. Located just down the street from perennial favorite ACME Oyster House, Dickie Brennan's does a number of things well. First, the service is always good; just what you'd expect from a restaurant run by a member of the Brennan's family. It's also a great place to get a good steak, or a good glass of wine.
Dominique's
I have eaten at Dominique's a grand total of once; for a vintner's dinner. It was very good, but I don't feel I got a really good sense of the place. I have also read very little about it on the local food message boards. I'm not sure why that's the case, because Dominique Macquet is a fantastic chef.
Emeril's
Look, Emeril has done more to bring fine-dining to the mainstream than just about anyone since Julia Child or James Beard. I'm absolutely sure he's a talented chef, and from all accounts he's a great guy to boot. I don't like his restaurant. The last few meals I've had there were either mediocre or worse. Additionally, it's one of the more expensive restaurants in the city.
Feelings Cafe
Feelings, in the Faubourg Marigny is one of the more romantic restaurants in the city. The menu is pretty solidly New Orleans Creole, but they generally execute everything pretty well. A great first-date restaurant.
Gabrielle
Chef Greg Sonnier worked for some time with Paul Prudhomme. He's taken Prudhomme's style and taken it to another level. The man knows his way around a duck, and he marries local ingredients and techniques to a sophisticated approach. Another restaurant that I always suggest to folks from out of town, and another restaurant that I always list in my top five.
Galatoire's
What is there to say about Galatoire's that hasn't already been said? It's the grande damme of creole restaurants, and the best place in the city for a social lunch. Unlike another famous creole restaurant, I find the food to be almost always good. It's a classic, and deservedly so.
Gautreau's
Gautreau's is like a few other restaurants in town, in that it seems to be a breeding place for great, new chefs. It's also completely hidden in an Uptown/Garden District neighborhood. The current chef is Matthias Wolf, and as of this writing he's been featured in Bon Appetit magazine, as one of it's "Hot 50." So he's hot, I imagine. It's been a while since I ate at Gautreau's, but I've got nothing but good memories of the place. I wish I could be as complimentary of the website, but it's pretty scant on information, and not much to look at. Still, with food as good as they serve at Gautreau's, having a mediocre website is not the worst fault in the world.
Herbsaint
Herbsaint is one of my favorite restaurants in the city - in my perpetual top 10 list. Originally opened as one of Chef Susan Spicer's restaurants, Chef Donald Link has taken the restaurant into his own hands, and done a fantastic job. When I think of Herbsaint, I think of a lighter touch with most dishes, grounded in local products, and to some extent local techniques. Take a gander at the menus, and see if you don't agree. The cooking at Herbsaint is about paying attention to detail, and about consistently good food with an imaginative flair. You can always expect that everything on the plate has been prepared properly, and that everything is going to taste good.
Indigo
Lilette Great, sophisticated French-based food in a Garden District setting on Magazine Street.
Stella! I've heard great things about Scott Boswell's cooking. I'm hoping to get over there soon. Scott was one of the first folks cooking for rescue workers after Katrina.
Uglesich's
Gone, but not forgotten. Uglesich's was a classic New Orleans dive that served great food. As of this writing, it's gone, but we may see it rise again...
Windor Court's New Orleans Grill
Now and again I get delusions of grandeur and decide that I'll do something with this site that makes it more than a journal of where I've eaten, and what I've cooked. I got the bug again recently through an email correspondence.
I think the problems with my earlier plans were that they were too grandiose; too involved for the limited amount of time I can spend on this website. Someone asked me recently how much time I put into this site on average, and I had to admit that over the last few months it's been less than it should be, somewhere around an hour a week, if that. That's certainly not enough time to develop a comprehensive list of fine-dining restaurants in New Orleans, with commentary for each.
It may, however, be enough time for me to do something more simple. So I'm going to try. Often when I've been trying to make reservations at a restaurant, I've gone to the web, and done a search using the restaurant's name as the keyword. Usually what turns up is a commercial website that does restaurant reviews, and sometimes is connected to a travel agency or similar business. What I really want is the restaurant itself, so that I can get a phone number, and ideally, a look at a menu. Better still if the website has images of the dining area.
What I thought is within my (limited) abilities is to provide a list of New Orleans restaurant websites. Indexed alphabetically, and on one page. I'll stick to "fine dining" places, which should be enough work to keep me busy at least 30 minutes a week for quite some time.
I don't get to Galtoire's very often, and even less often with a big group on a Friday. But last Friday, my buddy Matt found out that he'd passed the bar exam, and he and his wife hosted a lunch for friends.
There are a lot of great restaurants in New Orleans where it's perfectly appropriate to dine alone. I regularly eat lunch by myself at several fine-dining joints; it's a great way to sit down with some work, where I don't have to worry about the phone and can enjoy a good meal. Galatoire's is not one of those restaurants. The food is good, sometimes excellent, but the food is not the only reason to go there.
Friday lunch at Galatoire's is an institution. People begin lining up at 10:00 a.m. for a table when the place opens at 11:30. Regular customers are served by the same waiter for years and years, coming to rely on them for what seafood is fresh that day, and for the perfectly mixed cocktail.
The best way to enjoy the atmosphere in the mirrored downstairs dining room is to have at least a few people with you. It's an extremely social environment, and I don't necessarily mean that in a "society pages'" way. It's loud, fairly crowded, and full of people there to have a good time and people-watch. They mix a stiff drink, have a good (if expensive) wine list, and serve a lot of very rich food.
The way to start a meal at Galatoire's is to order a couple of orders of souffle potatoes and fried eggplant as you're ordering cocktails. The souffle potatoes are ethereal, picture a potato sliced as thinly as a chip, fried, cooled, then fried again in higher-temperature oil so that it puffs like a freshly baked pita. They're crispy, soft, and melting all at once, and they're addictive eaten with the bernaise sauce served alongside. The fried eggplant, long rectangular strips, breaded, fried and served with powdered sugar (trust me, it's good) are another hit.
The next step is to order a sampler of appetizers. Just ask your waiter, and he'll suggest half a dozen selections, enough for four people, including oysters en brochette (oysters wrapped in bacon, then fried); crabmeat ravigote (crabmeat dressed with a creamy, slightly piquant sauce); shrimp remoulade, and the like.
Galatoire's does lamb chops and filet mignon very well, but for my money, nothing beats a good piece of pompano served with huge lumps of crabmeat in a meuniere sauce. Your waiter will tell you what seafood is particularly fresh that day, and you can really rely on them to tell you the truth.
It's a fantastic experience, and one to be savored; lunch at Galatoire's has been known to turn into dinner at Galatoire's from time to time.
Anyway, congratulations Matt, and thanks again for lunch.