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Every restaurant currently open in New Orleans, with addresses, phone numbers, kind of food, and Tom's star ratings. Updated daily.

Index by neighborhood

Index by cuisine

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Restaurants, Recipes, Food, Wine, Tools, Strategies. . .
Ask. . . Tell. . . Get And Give Answers

Need to know something about a New Orleans restaurant? Have a recipe that isn't coming out? Want to report on a great meal (or a bad one)? Looking for a dish? Have a special event coming up but not the venue? Ask me and our thousands of readers. But first, scan the alphabetical list below to see whether the matter has come up before. (It very likely has.)

Search The Index. You can search the subject indexes below by just scanning it (it's in alphabetical order). Or type Ctrl-F and entering a small part of the subject in the pop-up window. So, to search for barbecue shrimp, enter shrimp or bar or shri in the window.

We have separate indexes for Restaurants and Cooking. But subjects often cross those divides, so it's often worth looking into both. If you can't find what you're looking for. . .

   Click here to post a question or comment.  

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Recent Questions And Comments

Open Kitchens

Troy asks:
Do you have a list of restaurants where you can watch the action in the kitchen? The ones I already know about are Emeril's, Luke, and Taqueria Corona. I'm looking for others.

Tom sez:
The original open kitchen--above the level of a diner like the Camellia Grill--was Mr. B's Bistro. When they opened in 1979, their kitchen was more open than it is now--although you can still see a lot. You can even walk through the kitchen on the way to the parking garage, and nobody will stop you if you stand and observe as long as you like.

That design became popular in the 1980s and 1990s, but I'd say the trend is on the way down now.

Some restaurants with kitchens fronted by a food bar, where you can dine while observing the chefs on the other side of the counter, include Nola,  One, La Cote Brasserie, and Cochon.

Other restaurants with easily-observable kitchens are Commander's Palace, RioMar, La Boca, Arabesque, Palace Cafe, Jacques-Imo's, and (if this counts) Houston's on St. Charles Avenue.

I'm sure I've left out a few. If you--I mean you there, reading this--know of some others, please let me know at tom@nomenu.com.

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Mandarins, Tangerines, And Kin

Lois asks:
What's the difference between tangerines, mandarins, and clementines?

Tom sez:
Let's also throw in our local favorite, the satsuma, into this consideration. All of these are closely enough related that in commerce the names become almost interchangeable. They all are descended from an orange-like citrus tree that grows in Japan. The satsuma is probably the closest to that original tree (it's named for a former Japanese province, and the ones we grow here are descended from some of the first of those trees to grow in this country). Mandarins, tangerines, clementines and satsumas have in common a loose, easy-to-peel skin, sections that pull apart easily, and a high sugar content. Their flavor is distinctive enough that while it's hard for the average person to tell them apart by taste alone, they are distinctly different in flavor from oranges.

Clementines tend to be smallest, most brilliant in color, and seedless. Tangerines are usually the sweetest. There are numerous varieties in all four categories, making it even easier to say that if you have a hunger for one of these luscious fall citrus fruits, any of the others will likely give you the same satisfaction.

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The Times-Picayune Dining Guide

A number of people on the radio and by e-mail asked questions like the following, which is a composite of them all:
What's behind the Times-Picayune's Dining Guide that came out Sunday? How did they pick those restaurants? Why were Arnaud's [or Le Parvenu, Andrea's, Mother's, Nine Roses, Ninja, Broussard's, Brennan's] left out? Is it about advertising or something? And why were there no ratings, if their restaurant critic wrote it?

Tom sez:
The T-P's dining guides have always been mysterious. They originally were unambiguous advertising sections, with a one-to-one correspondence between articles and ads. At some point they replaced that lame editorial content with their critics' annual summations of what they'd written about during the past year. But that was also puzzling, because it always left out many restaurants that clearly should be included in any summation of the dining scene.

I can say from long experience that it's impossible to cover the essence of the restaurant community for locals with fewer than 200 restaurants on the list. Too many important places get left out. The last time I was able to make a decent list of just one hundred was in 1978.

As for why the reviews didn't carry ratings. . . well, that's another mystery. So few rated reviews appear in the newspaper anymore that it seems as if they're phasing them out. That's okay with me. I love having that monopoly.

What I found peculiar in this one was the way two competing (sometimes invidiously competing) restaurants were combined in a single review. Antoine's and Tujague's? Irene's and Tommy's? Crescent City Steakhouse and Dickie Brennan's? Whose idea was that?

One more thing: get ready to see all this copy over again when they do the spring dining guide.

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Lady Cream Peas

Tim asks:
Browsing around the dried bean section in Rouse's, I picked up a pound of Camellia brand lady cream peas. They look like mini-Great Northerns.  The label directions sound like most local bean recipes--add meat and onions, etc.,--though the cooking time is very brief. Any insight, advice or secrets?

Tom sez:
They're related to blackeye peas, crowder peas, and field peas, but are lighter in color. Unlike those beans, lady peas don't make the water muddy-looking in the early stages of cooking (although that has no effect on the final look or taste). They cook quickly because they're small. Like other beans, however, they get better if they sit around a little while. I find they go especially well with seafood.

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Shrimp And Grits

Lisa asks:
I see shrimp and grits in restaurants a lot lately. I've never had it, but I'm curious. Are the grits cheesy? Is it shrimp etouffee or shrimp Creole served with grits? When did this become popular?

Tom sez:
Shrimp and grits is a dish from the Low Country of North Carolina. I guess it was inevitable that it would catch on here, since we already eat both major parts of the dish commonly in New Orleans.

If it seems that it suddenly popped up all over the place, you're right. Ten years ago, you wouldn't have seen it at all. I think one of the reasons many chefs offer it now is that a) it's simple to make and b) it offers a lot of opportunities for creativity.

As a result, no two versions are alike. The grits, the shrimp, the sauce, the presentation. . . all differ from restaurant to restaurant. I've seen some versions using an etouffee-like sauce, some with a barbecue shrimp aspect, and others in which the shrimp are just grilled. Some of the grits contain unusual additives, and some are just plain. The funny thing is that almost all versions are good, and most are very, very good.

I'm not big on shrimp as an entree. But this one has grabbed me. Among the best are those at the Upperline, Luke, and Cafe Giovanni. But many more are out there for me to discover.

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Best Meal At Galatoire's

Nolamom" asks on our messageboard:
Our fifth anniversary is coming up, and my non-native husband has never been to Galatoire's. I have, lots of times. But what would you say is the ideal Galatoire's meal? It will just be the two of us going, so don't go overboard with what you would order if you were with a large group where everyone was sharing everything.

Tom sez:
I see that a number of other people have given their ideas on this, but I'll add mine. Here is what I would consider the best normal-size dinner for two at Galatoire's to introduce someone to the best of what they offer:

Galatoire's Goute (shrimp remoulade, crabmeat maison, and either crawfish or shrimp ravigote, split for two)
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Oysters Rockefeller (one order split for two)
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Grilled pompano meuniere
Lamb chops bearnaise
Brabant potatoes
Asparagus
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Caramel custard
Bread pudding
Cafe Brulot

Happy anniversary!

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The Decline In Dressing For Dinner


Tom sez:
One word: Katrina.

That explains it all. After the hurricane, we were so eager to return to our restaurants (a good thing) that we allowed restaurants to lower all kinds of standards (a bad thing, although at the time it was entirely understandable).

The problem was that once you do something unthinkable--like go to a first-class restaurant without a jacket or in a T-shirt--the idea becomes thinkable. Then common.

It's terrible. But I don't think this tide will ever be turned.

My favorite idea: Reserve certain rooms in first-class restaurants for underdressed people. Or vice-versa. In an extreme example of this, in the 1960s there was a rule at Arnaud's that if you wanted to dine on Saturday night in the Richelieu Room (where their Jazzz Bistro is now, and which I think is the nicest room in the place), you had to be dressed formally. Black tie. Tuxedo. Evening dress. 

A restaurant that did something like that (perhaps toned down a little) would, I think, find a lot of eager customers and get a lot of publicity.



Tom sez:
The skirt steak is a fringe of meat that comes off the primal roast called the "plate," a word you don't see much outside of butchering circles. It's on the lower part of the cow, in back of the brisket (which would be where the cow's armpit would be, if cows had armpits). The flank steak is behind the plate and its skirt. Skirt and flank are somewhat similar in that they both are shaped something like an airplane wing, thick at the top and thin at the bottom. And they both have a grain that runs up and down. You have to cut across the grain when slicing, or you'll be chewing awhile. (You slice after cooking, not before.)

Both cut benefit from marinating. I like to use a combination of pineapple juice, red wine, Tabasco Caribbean steak sauce, marjoram, and a little olive oil. The pineapple juice doesn't alter the taste, but does tenderize it quite a bit.

Skirt is, as you note, the classic cut for fajitas.("Fajitas" means "skirt" or "fringe," in fact.) Flank steak is the cut classically used for London broil, although that expression is often used for other cuts.

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The Oily Side Of Roux


Tom sez:
This most often happens when the roux and stock are at drastically different temperatures when they come together. Even though you note that you've paid attention that, I'd recommend paying a bit more.

Try this. Have all the vegetables chopped before beginning to make the roux. Cook the roux over a medium heat, stirring quite a lot (insufficient stirring is another possible source of the problem) until it gets to the right color. Then turn off the heat and add the vegetables, continuing to stir all the while. The roux will cool and the vegetables will caramelize quickly.

Meanwhile, have your stock (or water) simmering in another pot. Add the roux into the stock, using a wire whisk to blend it in. Add only as much as you need to bring the stock up to the right thickness. You might not need all that roux. This is the way chefs do it, mainly because they don't make gumbo in one pot the way home cooks do. But also to control the amount of roux more accurately.

At that point, add all the seafood or chicken or sausage or whatever, along with the okra if you're using it. Let it simmer (no more than a simmer) for just a little while.  gumbo that sits there even at the lightest boil can break and there's the oil floating on top.

Back to that sausage I just mentioned: that's another source of floating fat. I always cook it first, usually in the microwave on paper towels, to get some of the fat out.

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   Cooking Alcohol 

A reader asks:

If a person is an alcoholic, what should he or she use in a recipe that calls for wine, beer, etc. I know the alcohol is suppose to cook out, but wouldn't the taste still be there and might that trigger someone if they have a problem?

Tom sez:

I'm not qualified to talk about the health aspects of alcoholism or its treatment, so nothing I say here should be taken as informed advice on that. However, from a cooking standpoint, I can tell you a couple of things. First, most--but not all--of the alcohol content of wine, spirits, or beer does indeed boil out after a few minutes at high heat. Second. alcohol in and of itself doesn't have much of a taste. It has a vague bitterness (it's a base), but it's the least part of the flavor of the beverages in which it's found.

On the other hand, the other flavors may elicit a response from someone trying to remove alcoholic beverages from his or her life. Wine tastes like wine, after all, and that's the taste you want when you add it to a dish.

Here's another matter: alcohol is found in many foods where you don't expect it. Bread, for example, has an alcohol content comparable to that of a dish whose sauce had a little wine that boiled for a few minutes. So it's almost impossible to avoid alcohol completely.

The best substitute for wine in a dish calling for it is fruit juice--notably apple juice, cranberry juice, lemon juice, and pineapple juice. For spirits like brandy or vodka, you can just use water or ginger ale. (You won't get the flames, of course, but you can live without.)

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   Toasting Hot Dog Buns  

Christine asks:

You're going to think this is a dumb question, but I have to ask. How can you toast a hot dog bun? I hate to have a hot dog on a cold bun. If you microwave it it gets too soft or too hard. It won't fit in the toaster. The slots are wide enough, but the bun sticks out the top. Any ideas?

Tom sez:

The best two ways are too much trouble, unless you're doing a bunch of them. Either fire up the oven to 400 degrees and put them in there, without breaking the buns open, for three minutes. The second is to heat up a flat-top griddle, open the buns, and put them inside-down until they toast to your liking.

But I get the impression that you're talking about toasting just one bun. (Hot dogs do make a good solo light lunch or supper, don't they?) Here's an idea that came to me a few years ago that works almost ridiculously well. Open the bun up, without breaking the two halves apart. Place it atop two of the slots in your toaster, so it straddles the gap between them. Push the lever down. Stand there and watch. The heat rising up will toast the exterior of the bun, so it gets a little more browned and a little crisp. Meanwhile, enough heat goes through and over the bun to warm it, without making the inside crusty.

Every toaster is different, so you have to experiment to get the setting right. Do not set it and walk away. The bun may get hot enough to catch fire (although this has never happened to me). Fortunately, it's easy to check the bun to see how far along the toasting process is going.

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   Peeling Eggplant  

Lynda asks:

Do you have any suggestions on how to peel an eggplant?  I have found they are very difficult to peel.  And do you have any good recipes for eggplant, my husband is growing them and I'm running out of ideas on how to cook them.

Tom sez:

You're probably trying to get just the skin off the vegetable. This is all but impossible. You have to take some of the meat off, too, as you would when peeling a potato. But even more--an eighth to a quarter of an inch, depending on how frugal you want to be and how much time you have on your hands. Just take a sharp knife and cut in.

By the way, the skin of an eggplant is edible, like that of its cousin the tomato. We don't see it served often, but it can be.

As for recipes for eggplant, you'll find more than enough to last you a lifetime by doing a web search on the words "eggplant recipe." Here are my results--over nine million recipes.

Kaye adds:

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  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.


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.)

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  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.

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  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.

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   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.

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   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. 

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   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.

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   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.

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   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 .)

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   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.

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  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.

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  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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About Restaurants And Dining Out

   Click here for an index of all current restaurant reviews.  

• Bangkok Cuisine
• Black Napkins
• Black-Tie Dining
• Breakfast Restaurants: List And Ratings
• Catered Events And Private Dining
  
• Charlie's Steak House Coming Back
• Complaining Without Offending Your Host
• Critics And Conflicts
  
• Deconstructed Dishes
  
• Delachaise
  
• Early-Evening Specials
  
• Expatriate Does The Town: Tujague's, Galatoire's, Antoines, Cochon
  
• Favorite Table: Why Can't I Reserve It?
• Fingers On Food
  
• Fried Catfish Restaurants
• Fried Oyster Salads
• Gift Certificates At Dead Restaurants
• Group Dining
• Hot Tamales at Guillory's
• How Much Should You Tip Musicians In Restaurants?
  
• Messina's And Jazz In Kenner
  
• Mexican Buffets
  
• Michael's In Slidell
• Mr. B's Gumbo Ya-Ya: Changed?
• New Restaurants Since The Hurricane: A List
  
• New Year's Eve Dining
• Noisy Restaurants
• Oyster Bars:Where Are They?
• Private Dining For Groups
  
• Puerto Rican Dining
• Rehearsal Dinners
• Restaurants Not Reopened Since The Hurricane
  
• Saturday Lunch Places
• Scrambled Eggs In Unlikely Places
  
• Sugar Bowls In Restaurants
• Sunday Brunch Restaurants: List And Ratings
• Thanksgiving Restaurants
  
• Tipping For Take-Outs
• Tipping The Maitre d'
• Tipping Sushi Chefs
  

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About Recipes And Cooking

   Click here for an index to our 100 most popular recipes.  

• Bacon Fat: How To Store It
• Basil: Preserving A Big Harvest Of Leaves
  
• Beef: Dry-Aged vs. Wet-Aged vs. Non-Aged
• Beef: How To Freeze It
• Beef Round: Inside, Top, and Eye
• Beef Tenderloin: How To Grill It Whole
• Bird-Eye Peppers
  
• Black Iron Skillet Seasoning
• Blender Hollandaise
• Bones For Stock-Making
  
• Bordelaise Sauce: New Orleans vs. French
  
• Brining A Turkey
• Brisket Boiled In Crab Boil
  
• Butter: Hard And Cold
• Butter: Quality Criteria
  
• Cafe Au Lait Technique
• Caesar Salad: Must It Be Prepared Tableside?
  
• Cappuccino: Faking It
  
• Cast Iron Cookware: How To Season And Clean
• Char-Broiled Oysters: How Fattening Are They?
• Cheese: Remove The Rind? How?
  
• Chicken Breasts Light, Legs Dark: Why?
• Coffee And Chicory: My Favorite Brand
  
• Condensed Milk, Boiled Or Baked In Can (Don't Do This!)
  
• Cooking With Wine
• Cooling Before Refrigerating
• Corned Beef: Curing Your Own (Tip: Don't!)
  
• Crabmeat Ravioli
• Crawfish Boil Options
  
• Crispy Coatings: Keeping Them That Way
  
• Fish With Nut Coatings
• Focaccia: Is It Just Garlic Bread?
  
• Garlic In A Jar: What's Wrong With It?
  
• Gastrique
• Gourmet Dieting
  
• Horseradish: What Is It?
  
• Kitchen Knife Sets: Which To Buy
• Knife Sharpening
• Lobster: Tropical Species
  
• Lobsters in Crab Boil
  
• London Broil
• Marinade For Fish
• Multiplying and Dividing Recipe Quantities
• Mushrooms, Dried
• Mushrooms: Which Wild Ones Can You Eat?
• Oil For Frying: Which Kind?
• Olive Oil For Bread Dipping
• Oysters: Are The Small, Expensive Ones Better?
  
• Oysters By The Sack, Quart, And Gallon
  
• Oysters: How To Fry 'Em
• Oysters: Why Aren't They Salty?
  
• Pancetta
• Pasta Milanese (St. Joseph's)
• Pecan Pie, LeRuth's Back Door Style.
  
• Pepper Grass
• Pizza: Saving Take-Out From Sogginess
  
• Pork Loin vs. Tenderloin
  
• Red Drink: What's That Flavor?
  
• Romano vs. Parmesan Cheese
• Rotisserie Chicken
• Roux In A Rush
  
• Salmon: What's Right And Wrong
  
• Salt-Crusted Fish
  
• Shallots vs. Scallions vs. Green Onions
• Shrimp Creole vs. Etouffee vs. Stew
  
• Shrimp: The Right Way To Boil
  
• Skordalia
• Steaks By Mail-Order
• Steaks, Pan-Seared Resaturant Style
• Stocks And Demi-Glace For Sale
• Stocks: Where To Get Bones
  
• Sushi: How To Eat It
  
• Sweating vs. Caramelizing Vegetables
  
• Thickening A Sauce With Roux
  
• Tiramisu: What's The Real One?
• Tomatoes: A Peeling Trick
  
• Turkey Brining
  
• Turtle Meat: Where To Buy It
• Whiskeys: Bourbon vs. Scotch vs. Irish
  
• Why Some Dishes Taste Better The Second Day
• Wineburn: Avoiding It
• Wine, Cooking With It
  

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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?

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 has been sold to--ironically--a church. I'm not saying that Christian's will never return, but it looks very unlikely at this time.

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. After Greg spent a few months as the chef of the Windsor Court Grill Room, that fizzled. He's now mostly doing private parties at the Henry Clay location.

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 did reopen in Orleans Parish, however--in the Harrah's Hotel, where Riche used to be.

Revised 3/10/08

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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:

http://www.nomenu.com/Subscriber/index.html

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.

If you have further trouble, please let me know at tom@nomenu.com.

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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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Copyright © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved.