Eight New Orleans Classics and Where to Find Them (as told by a local)
Everyone who comes to the Crescent City comes for the food. Yes, they are here on convention, or to visit a University or on business, a honeymoon or vacation, but its the food that they really want. The problem is that there are so many places that are so good. About 1100 of them in a four square mile area according to a local food writer.
Here are eight traditional menu items and the places considered doing the best at presenting them. Just keep in mind that for every restaurant that one can name as the “best”, there are 10 more that someone else can name…and they would be right on target too.
Shrimp Remoulade
Arnaud’s 813 Bienville 504-523-5433 (French Quarter)
Upperline 1413 Upperline 504-891-9822 (Uptown)
Both restaurants serve plump shrimp with a red-tinted remoulade; Arnauds is spiked with horseradish and Upperline tops Fried Green Tomatoes with the delicious sauce (their invention).
Brennan’s Bananas Foster (couresty of: http://bit.ly/X0jmf)
Bananas Foster
Emeril’s Delmonico 1300 St. Charles Avenue 504-525-4937 (Lower Garden District)
Brennan’s 417 Royal Street 504 525-9711 (French Quarter)
The bananas sauteed in melted brown butter and booze dish was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé at Brennan’s Restaurant. It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan, who was then the New Orleans Crime Commission chairman. Its still great at Brennan’s, but the theatrics table-side are wonderfully staged by the staff at Emeril’s.
Boiled Crawfish
The Galley 2535 Metairie Rd 504-832-0955 (Old Metairie, suburb)
Kjean Seafood 236 N. Carrollton Avenue 540-488-7503 (Mid-city)
Kenner Seafood 3140 Loyola Dr. (Kenner, suburb)
The Galley and Kenner Seafood both serve ample portions of fresh boiled crawfish that will have you sucking the heads and pinching the tails till you can’t eat anymore. Kjean is a retail seafood store and sells the little mud bugs by the pound in take-home sacks, piping hot from the boiler.
Gumbo
Dooky Chase 2301 Orleans Avenue 504-821-0600 (7th ward)
Liuzza’s by the Track 1518 N. Lopez 504-943-8667 (Gentilly by the racetrack)
There’s so much in Leah Chase’s gumbo. The thin greenish brown broth has shrimp, two kinds of sausage, ham, chicken and veal stew meat. It’s totally awesome. So is the Gumbo at Liuzza’s which relies on a melange of spices to bring forth the taste. The shrimp there are cooked to order keeping them plump and firm within the stock.
Central Grocery’s claim to fame: the muffuletta. Courtesy of: http://bit.ly/b8A5s0
Muffuletta
Central Grocery 923 Decatur Street 504-523-1620 (French Quarter)
Cochon Butcher 930 Tchoupitoulas Street (Warehouse District)
The Muffuletta sandwich had its debut in 1906 at the now famous little Italian grocery in the French Quarter, operated by Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant. It has been described as “one of the great sandwiches of the world.” It consists of one round muffuletta loaf, split horizontally. The loaf is then covered with a marinated olive salad, then layers of capicola, salami, mortadella, emmentaler, and provolone cheese. Waiting in the long lines for the sandwich is well worth the effort as they still have the best one in town. Cochon Butcher, a relative new comer with an award winning owner/chef does a nice job with the sandwich using in-house salami.
Oysters Rockefeller
Bourbon House 144 Bourbon Street 504-522-0111 (French Quarter)
MiLa 817 Common Street 504-412-2580 (Central Business District)
Bourbon House serves the dish the old-fashioned way: The oysters arrive on the shell in a bed of rock salt, each covered in a thick layer of blended greens enriched with butter, bread crumbs, hard cheese and a touch of anisette liqueur. The dish is prepared better than its originator, Antoine’s, where it was created a century ago. MiLa, a cutting edge establishment, has modernized the recipe serving the oysters poached off the shell, fragrant with licorice root and fixed with wilted spinach and a bacon chip.
Roast Beef Po-Boy
R&O 216 Old Hammond Highway 504-831-1248 (Metairie, suburb)
Merlin’s Place 5235 Franklin Avenue 504-284 (Gentilly)
Both restaurants season and roast their own beef, apply the right amount of gravy and toast the bread. The beef is so tender it falls apart and does not need slicing. R&O runs its sandwiches open-faced under the salamander (broiler) before serving, a technique which serves to caramelize some of the meat and bring out the flavor. Merlin’s is more of a joint than a restaurant serving other good items such as tamales to go along with its awesome po-boy.
Trout Meuniere Amandine
Galatoire’s 209 Bourbon Street 504-525-2021 (French Quarter)
Mandina’s 3800 Canal Street 504-482-9179 (Mid-city)
The most popular entree at Galatoire’s is this dish, seasoned, floured and fried; then served beneath a scattering of toasted almond slivers in a caramelized brown butter beurre blanc. Galatoire’s requires a jacket, so if you are not in the mood for up-scaling your dress, try Mandina’s which has almost the same touch on the delicacy except you’ll get the entree with a side of fries.
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Have you tried one of the classic menu items that have become synonymous with New Orleans cooking? Dined in one of the restaurants mentioned above? We would love to read your comments.
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