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Recent Questions And Comments

Tip On Top Of Tip

Dave asks:

Recently I took my family out to dinner. The meal was fine and the service was good as well. I left a twenty-percent tip. However, when I looked at the receipt the next day I saw that an automatic twenty-percent tip had already been added. So I effectively tipped more than forty-five percent, since I tipped on the bottom line.

What is the proper thing to do in a situation like this?

Tom sez:

Several rules apply here.

Rule #321: Your check in a restaurant will contain a surprise one time in ten. It will be a pleasant surprise one time in a hundred. You must look over the check closely to make yourself aware of these deviations from expectations.

Rule #322: For reasons not well understood, large parties are more likely to under-tip than small parties. That's why restaurants add a tip to those checks. You should always investigate whether this has been done before you add a tip to a check.

Rule #323: No tipped person ever received a gratuity he thought was too large. Enormous tips are always registered as generosity, never as mistakes.

Rule #324: Many people double-tip when a tip has been added automatically. All you need do if it happens to you is to point this out to the manager. Or call the restaurant if the error was noticed after departure. If that fails, you can stop the charge through your credit card company.

Rule #325: Actions you take while you're still in a restaurant have twelve times more force and efficacy than anything you do after you leave.

Rule #326: If the situation described in Rule #324 occurred when you paid with cash, you are SOL. (Sertainly Out of Luck.)

Dining In Grand Isle

Tom asks:

Not long ago, someone asked me what restaurants were worthwhile in Grand Isle. I haven't been there in a long time, and the hurricanes did so much damage that any pre-storm knowledge was worthless anyway. However, one of our readers has some suggestions:

Cidette sez:

I have a camp in Grand Isle have eaten at each of these resturants often. There are four restaurants I like, in the order that I prefer them. Barataria on Hwy. 1 opens at 11 a.m. It's the newest and nicest. The Lighthouse opens at 5 p.m. #3 Sara's is open for breakfast and lunch. The Starfish is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Carl sez:

I live in Grand Isle, and agree with the restaurant rankings above. But if you want to step it up, it's worth the drive to Toupsie's in Fourchon. The same family owns Barataria. The steaks are phenomenal, as is the crab finger Fourchon (the sauce is even better on the bread). The seafood crepes are good (but rich) if you're craving seafood. I'm not a big fan of fried seafood, but they usually do it well, and the seafood platter is huge. Almost forgot the crabmeat salad.

Tom asks:

Anybody reading this have more to add? Click here if you do.

Everybody Loves Braciole

John asks:

I am a regular viewer of the show Everybody Loves Raymond. They are always talking about a dish that sounds like "bra-jole." What is it, please?

Tom sez:

It's braciole, a stuffed beef roll, simmered in red sauce. The word means "branch," because of its resemblance to a stick broken off a tree. You are probably more familiar with this dish than you realize. Around New Orleans, we make it bigger, with more stuffing. Its real name is braciolone. But it's misspelled and mispronounced "bruchalone," "bruccaluna," "brociolini," and many other ways. It's a lot of trouble to cook, which is why most restaurants offer it as a special one day a week. The stuffing includes a lot of garlic, bread crumbs, ham, hard-boiled eggs, and parsley. Really good, old-style Sicilian dish.

Requiem For An Old Recipe From D.H. Holmes

Nivia asks:

About twenty years ago or more the D.H. Holmes department store on Canal Street had two restaurants--one a cafeteria, the other a sit-down restaurant. In the restaurant they had stuffed bell peppers. They were the best ever! After they closed I've tried different stuffed peppers everywhere but no luck. Do you have the recipe?

Tom sez:

Whenever I read a question like this, I feel a pang (more than a twinge, less than a spasm) of regret. It is because there is no good answer, no matter how fervently the asker wants one.

We must face a few facts.

1. When persons or restaurants die, their recipes rarely survive. Perhaps a few famous specialties live on, but the little dishes (like this one) vanish into the ether, unless a cookbook was written. I don't know of a D.H. Holmes cookbook. The best bet may be finding a plate or casserole that has the recipe on the side. Holmes did a lot of that sort of thing.

2. The more distant the demise, the less likely it will be to find recipes. The cooks who made the dish disappear. The number of people who remember anything about the dish also dwindles. (I note you said nothing about what the pepper was stuffed with. And that could be almost anything.) And. . .

3. As time goes on, even vivid memories of a dish change. This may be the saddest part of all. I have been present at the revival of quite a few authentic, formerly lost recipes that I or someone else wanted dearly to taste again. Almost without exception, the reaction was, "This isn't like what I remember." Meaning, "Not as good as I remember." This is because, in memory, a dish grows more delicious with each passing year. (I call this the Jim's Fried Chicken Effect.)

That's why I give this urgent advice: if someone in your family, a friend, or a restaurant makes something you really love, you should get the recipe for it now. When they die, it's too late.

If it's a person, book time with him or her to actually watch the cooking of the dish. Measure and time everything. Do not trust the person to tell you how it's done; they leave out too many important assumptions. Make them show you. Buy the ingredients and visit. The old-timers will love you for that anyway.

If it's a restaurant, ask for the recipe. restaurants are not as secretive with recipes as you might imagine. If they have it in a cookbook, buy the cookbook. If they say they don't have it written down, ask when you can come by and talk to the chef. (Unlike a home cook, a chef will give you an accurate recipe, because he has to explain it to others all the time.) If they refuse to give you the recipe, it's probably because there's something embarrassing about it. (Most often, they buy big parts or all of the dish already prepared.)

And remember: just because you loved that lost dish doesn't mean that there aren't a thousand better dishes out there. Move on and find them.

Dining In Destin

Chris asks:

We will be vacationing in Destin this summer. Most breakfasts and lunches are done at the condo, but we usually go out to dinner. What are some of your favorites?

Tom sez:

I don't get to Destin often, now that my kids would do anything to prevent being seen on a beach with me. (They say my wearing jacket and tie embarrasses them.) I will now ask other readers who have more curent tips to forward them to me here. I will add them to this article as they come in.

However, I do know that the restaurant scene there is burgeoning. When I made it there regularly, one mostly went to Grayton Beach and Seaside for restaurants like Cafe 30-A, Criolla's, and Bud and Alley's, all of which are still there. (The reports from readers and listeners are all good.)

In the immediate are of Destin itself , the Marina Cafe and Louisiana Lagniappe have always been reliable. Commander's Palace is soon to open their Destin restaurant, headed up by the estimable Chef Danny Trace. The other side of the Brennan family also has a restaurant there, called The Royal B. It's owned by Clark and Blake Brennan, who used to run Brennan's on Royal Street for their dad and uncles. Haven't been, but the buzz is strongly positive.

Anybody reading this have some more to add? Click here if you do.

Paula sez:
The new hot spot out on 30-A is called Stinky's Fish Camp. It is near the spot where the old Lake House restaurant was (which later burned down). The fresh fish there is outstanding.

John sez:
Every year we trek to Louisiana Lagniappe. It's family oriented and on the water in a gated community. Usually a wait, but the kids can go around back and feed the fish. Standard New Orleans fare. For lunch we usually walk up the beach to The Back Porch. It's right on the beach, typical beachside restaurant. There may be a wait. For pizza try The Mellow Mushroom across from Big Kahuna's. It's a locals place and the ingredients are all fresh.

Susie sez:
The main trouble in Destin during the summer is the absolutely horrible traffic from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. US 98 can be bumper to bumper for miles with tourists looking for places to eat. If I am at Seaside and I want to go all the way to Commander's in Destin, the trip could well take more than an hour. After one such trip you realize that you must look closer to home. It's the main idea at Sandestin Resort, where they have multiple restaurants on site (Seagar's, Acme Oyster House, Poppy's and Bijou Bistro). Outside of Sandestin are La Provence, Beachwalk Cafe, Royal Orchid.

At Seaside: Bud and Alley's, Angelina's, Goatfeather's, Basmati, Smiling Fish, Borago's. . . really, no stinkers in that area.

The area has an influx of young people from Eastern Europe and Russia, and service has gotten a lot better than when most waiters were "summer job" local students. Prices are all over the place.

Non-Stick Shrimp Shells

Fred on the West Bank asks a very common question:

My barbecue shrimp are sometimes are very difficult to peel. I cook them on the stove with a black iron skillet. The shell sticks to meat, and I don't know why. They look and taste perfectly cooked. Any clues or recommendations?

Tom sez:

Shrimp meat sticks to the shells when the shells soften and begin to dissolve. The part on the inside solidifies again, and grabs hold. This also happens with boiled or grilled shrimp, The best way to prevent this is to be very conservative with temperatures and cooking times, so the shell doesn't soften. Shrimp cook faster than most of us imagine. If you have even an inkling that the shrimp might be cooked, they are--turn the heat off. In my barbecue shrimp recipe, I cook them just until I see no more gray or brown, just pink. Then I turn the heat off and start whisking in the butter. (My recipe is here.)

Boiled shrimp only take a few minutes, after which some cooks even add ice to the pot after they're done to keep them from cooking any more while they absorb more of the seasonings.

I think part of your problem may be the black iron skillet. Cast iron holds heat a long time, and keeps cooking even after you turn the heat off. Try using an aluminum skillet instead.

Sid-Mar's

Captain Norman asks:

Have you heard if Marian and kids will re-open Sid-Mar's in a new location? After Katrina all that was left was the front steps.

Tom sez:

Sid-Mar's--a classic seafood house in the old part of Bucktown--was outside the protection of the levees, and like all the restaurants at West End Park, it was blown completely away by the storm. Since then, the Corps of Engineers has taken over the location of Sid-Mar's to build a secondary pumping station with floodgates. Ultimately, they'll build an entirely new pumping station there, and it will be enormous.

The Burgess family said they would fight this, but as much as we all loved Sid-Mar's, there were no other reasonable options at that location. They said they'd like to reopen, but without the lake view a new Sid-Mar's won't have its unique selling point. There have been no plans announced, but restaurateurs have a track record now of reappearing when everyone thought they were dead. It's a long shot, but we may have Sid-Mar's again someday. I hope so.

Olive Oils: Virgin And Not

David asks:

What's the difference between extra virgin and regular olive oil? I always use regular olive oil when I pan fry or saute. Should I be using extra virgin?

Tom sez:

Extra-virgin olive oil comes from the first cold pressing of the olives. That puts a great deal of fresh olive fruit into the oil, and results in a pronounced flavor and aroma. That's great for salads and for very quick, medium-heat sauteeing (for example, making the sauce for pasta aglio olion). However, at higher temperatures the elements that make extra-virgin so flavorful can burn off. So it's better to use pure olive oil (another name for "not-so-virgin) for heavy-duty saute and pannee dishes.

A caller on the radio show asked about using olive oil instead of butter for blackened fish. I suggested he try light olive oil, which is the last pressing of the olive pomace, using heat and sometimes even chemicals to extract the oil. It has almost no flavor at all, but it's the least likely to burn. He reported back that this worked perfectly. So we finally find a good use for light olive oil. (Although I think I'd use canola oil instead .)

Strict Kosher Dining

Dina asks:

I would like to take a friend out to dinner for his birthday. He keeps a kosher diet. Do you know of any good kosher restaurants in New Orleans?

Tom sez:

The only two strictly kosher restaurants in the New Orleans area are Casablanca and the Kosher Kajun Deli.

Casablanca (3030 Severn Ave., 888-2209) is a Moroccan restaurant with a highly varied menu and deli sandwiches. It is inspected regularly by a Chabad rabbi and is certifiably kosher.

The Kosher Kajun (3519 Severn, 888-2010) is primarily a sandwich shop, although they also have soups and a few platters. They also sell a full line of kosher groceries, including glatt meats.

A handful of other restaurants--most of them in major hotels--will prepare a meal in kosher circumstances, using new dishes for the meal and food from kosher suppliers (probably Joel Brown at the Kosher Kajun). But that's usually for private parties, not a la carte service. Andrea's is the only independent restaurant I know other than the two above who will perform this service, but it requires advance notice and consulting with the chef.

What Happened To Genghis Khan And Henry Lee?

Ed asks:

We really miss the food and the music we used to enjoy at the old Genghis Khan. What happened to Henry Lee since the storm?

Tom sez:

Actually, Genghis Khan when down well before the hurricane. After moving to a beautiful new restaurant on Baronne at Common (in the old Sears Building, now a hotel), Henry Lee had a dispute with the hotel's management over the number of hours he was required to be open. He wound up losing the lease. Meanwhile, he'd leased the old space on Tulane near Carrollton to another restaurant. The Katrina flood made that facility a complete mess (it wasn't much to begin with). Henry and family left town and are now living in Houston. He still is active musically, leading the Korean Children's Choir, among other things. But last time I spoke with him he said he was not likely to reopen Genghis Khan. He's beyond retirement age, and the restaurant business is hard.

Why Aren't Oysters Salty Right Now?

A number of people reported and wondered about this on the radio show yesterday:

The oysters right now are large and meaty, but they almost seem bland because they're as unsalty as any oysters we have in awhile. What's going on?

Tom sez:

I was about to answer this when I got an e-mail from Frank Brigtsen, who nailed the situation. So I'll let him tell you:

The salinity of our oysters is totally determined by the rise and fall of the Mississippi River. It is extremely high right now and pushing a lot of fresh water into the oyster-growing areas.

The freshwater diversions are contributing to this reduction in salinity as well. February and March are probably the best months to eat Louisiana oysters, but I know the Caernarvon diversion near Delacroix usually opens in February, which messes up the oysters and saltwater fishing in general. The Caernarvon diversion on the east side of the river, and the Davis Pond diversion on the West Bank, are pushing the oystermen out of traditional growing areas.

The pros and cons of the freshwater diversions could be debated forever, but they are here and helping us slow coastal erosion, though not everyone is sold on that idea. Coastal erosion may be the biggest problem we face in Louisiana. Hurricane protection is one issue we are all aware of now, but our fisheries are also suffering. As we lose marsh, the band of brackish water that nutures our seafood gets more narrow every year. The oyster-growing areas are shrinking at an alarming rate. Oystermen have been preaching this for years and it is all too true.

For all of our sakes, we must save what marsh and coast we have to protect ourselves, our homes, our cuisine, and our culture. Ask Drago Cvtanovich about Empire. The marsh there is gone. From Hwy. 23 to the Gulf, it's now all open water.

Seafood is probably the only wild food most people eat anymore, so we must take what nature gives us, when it is given. One can't blame the restaurants if something is not available or not at its best.--Frank Brigtsen.

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Restaurants That Haven't
Reopened Since The Hurricane

Hurricane Katrina closed every single restaurant in the New Orleans area for at least a week. Some of those restaurants have not reopened. These are the ones that I'm asked about most, in alphabetical order. If you don't find the restaurant you're interested in here, it's probably back open; see the Restaurant Index to check this. If it's not there, ask me at tom@nomenu.com.

Bella Luna. Horst Pfiefer, chef and owner of Bella Luna, has decided that he will not reopen Bella Luna. Although he didn't say so, I think the problem is with the landlord: the City of New Orleans, which owns the French Market, including the building where Bella Luna was. They dragged their feet on repairing the roof. Horst and his wife Karen continue to operate their catering facility, The Foundry, in the Warehouse District, and they just bought Middendorf's in Manchac.

Bruning's. Everything in West End Park was completely obliterated by Hurricane Katrina; all that's left is pilings. Sam Urrate, fourth-generation owner of Bruning's, says that he would like to reopen at West End or somewhere else. However, my feeling is that the kind of building that would have to be constructed in order to get insurance at West End would be so expensive that a casual seafood restaurant like Bruning's would probably not be viable. I do hope this old classic makes it back to life, though. Who knows?

Charlie's Steak House. Dottye Bennett, whose late brother owned Charlie's (and who is the best waitress there) told me that the restaurant has finally been sold to a neighbor and former employee. He is renovating the place now, and will keep it Charlie's Steak House, complete with the menu and recipes as they were before. They're saying the target date is March, but delays have occurred on almost every reopening.

Chateaubriand Steak House. The Croziers have thrown in the towel and have moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. They are not running a restaurant there. The former Chateaubriand space is now a branch of Little Tokyo.

Christian's. The building had at least a foot of water inside and major damage to its utilities. In August I spoke with Joey Bergeron, son of owner Henry Bergeron. He said they've treated the place for mold and have reinstalled the electrical system, but that there is no set date for reopening.

Dunbar's. This great soul food restaurant on Freret Street was in a very deep flood zone, but Celestine Dunbar is planning on fixing her restaurant and reopening there. In the meantime, she's moved her great food to the Loyola University’s Broadway Activities Center, at 501 Pine. (That's a long block river side of St. Charles Avenue, on the former campus of Dominican College.) It serves breakfast, lunch and early dinner Mondays through Saturdays.

Gabrielle. While Greg and Mary Sonnier's restaurant did not flood, a falling tree pulled down an exhaust hood unit and left a gaping hole in the roof that let a lot of water in, creating much damage. They have abandoned that location. They were planning to move to the corner of Henry Clay and Laurel, but it seems that the neighborhood organization has shot that down. So Greg is now at the Windsor Court Hotel as Executive Chef of the Grill Room--a very good gig for him (and for us).

Katie's. Like everything else in Mid-City, Katie's was flooded very deeply. But the building seems to have been repaired, and the word is that its reopening is on the way. No date known, however.

La Riviera. Valentino Rovere, the owner, says that he will not reopen La Riviera. The restaurant is now a spa. He adds that he may open another restaurant sometime in the future.

Mandich. Restaurant Mandich, on St. Claude at Louisa, is gone for good unless someone else buys and opens it. Long-time owner Lloyd English says that he and his wife (who was the chef) have decided after almost fifty years there to retire.

Ruth's Chris On Broad Street. It will not reopen. Ruth's Chris has donated the building to the City of New Orleans. They will shortly reopen in Orleans Parish in the Harrah's Hotel, where Riche used to be.

Revised 3/10/08

Miscellaneous Matters

United Bakery. The best bakery for muffuletta bread, the United Bakery, was drowned by flood waters. The equipment is ruined and it was all uninsured. The United also made those great Italian twist breads you see in the better Italian places. I spoke with them a few weeks ago, and at that time they had not decided what their plan would be, although they did seem reasonably determined to reopen. I don't think anybody makes muff bread as well as United, and with them out of the game, you will see much variation in quality.

My Outdoor Grill. It's called The Big Green Egg. That really is the name of it. It's made of inch-thick ceramic, weighs a ton, and will without doubt last me the rest of my life. It works as a grill, a roaster, or a smoker, and admits of many fine adjustments in temperature. I will say that it took me awhile to get the hang of it, because it works much differently from most grills. It burns onlt charcoal, but does so very sparingly, getting the most heat out of every burning ember. I love it! I got mine at Bassil's Ace Hardware, which specializes in outdoor grilling gear. It's on Transcontinental near West Esplanade in Metairie.

Where Can I Get A Schedule Of Eat Club Dinners? All the Eat Club events are posted on the Eat Club web page as soon as I have the plans confirmed. I don't plan them more than a few weeks in advance.

Why Don't I Get The Newsletter Anymore? In January 2007, I resigned from NewOrleans.Com, where I wrote a free newsletter for many years. That newsletter is now available through this website, but I was unable to transport the mailing list from there to here. To sign up again for the weekly Red Beat Edition, click here. It's still free.

If you are a paid subscriber to the New Orleans Menu Daily Five-Star Edition, you should be getting the e-mail version every day. However, e-mail is very unreliable. Your e-mail system (or something else) may be blocking those messages. Often this can be solved by adding news@nomenu.com to your list of accepted e-mail addresses.

But remember: the full newsletter is updated several times every day, with at least five new articles daily. It is always available on the web at this location:

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Click on that line above, and set it in your browser as a Favorite (bookmark) so you can get back to it easily with the updated edition. You will need your user name and password.

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About The Radio Show

Why Is 1350 AM Hard To Hear At Night? The Federal Communications Commission requires the radio station (on which my show appears from 3-6 p.m. every afternoon) to broadcast with a directional pattern to the south after sunset. It has been that way since the 1930s for 1350 (the former WSMB, now WWWL), and nothing that can be done about it. All AM radio stations have this problem except the very few lucky stations on a clear channel (WWL is the only one here). I wish it could be otherwise, but the problem is an artifact of the low-tech, 100-year-old technology of AM broadcasting. The good news is that as sunset gets later, the daytime signal stays on later. After Daylight Savings Time comes into effect, the whole show gets in even to the North Shore.

Why Doesn't The Food Show Stream On The Web? Like most commercial stations in America, 1350 had to stop streaming because some of the announcers on national commercials successfully sued to get extra compensation for having their work on the web. Complicating matters further is a new claim from a company that says it invented the concept of pulling commercials out of a radio show and filling the gaps with something else. And they want royalties. Meanwhile, there is zero money--and I do mean ZERO--to be made from streaming radio shows. So streaming winds up being a low priority-- especially for a station like 1350. Someday it will come.

However, my Saturday show on WWL--along with everything else on that powerhouse station--is streamed on their website. I'm usually on from noon till three in the afternoon Saturdays, but the show is often truncated or even pre-empted completely by sports.

What Happened To Richard? Long-time radio listeners know the deep voice of Richard Dominique, who produced The Food Show for many years, and was as much a personality as I was. (He was to me what Roz was to Frasier.) His home was ruined in the storm. He left town permenently, and is living in Houston. A great old pro, Richard has been in radio for decades. I miss his great work on the show tremendously.

When Are You On The Air? How Can I Call In? For the schedule and all the numbers, click here.

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