Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published January 25, 2008 Former Longbranch Chefs, Now Downtown Winter Black Truffle Dinner At MiLa The truffle dinners that occasionally surface around town--the most notable being the one at Bacco--all focus on white truffles. Black truffles, while retaining their full renown, only show up as garnish on a dish here and there. Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing, the co-chefs of MiLa, thought they could give the rare fungi their due with a full menu of dishes. The Rushings, who are married to each other, took over the restaurant in the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel on Common at Baronne a few months ago. That's the space that had been Rene Bistro before the hurricane. After the hurricane, the Rushings owned the Longbranch restaurant in Abita Springs--ambitious and delicious, but misplaced. (The only gourmet in the neighborhood was me.) MiLa's truffle dinner is expensive, of course--$150 per person, and everybody at the table has to go for it. But that's the nature of the thing. The thing is a nodule formed by a mushroom underground, usually near an oak tree. The most famous black truffles come from the Perigord region of France, and that's the provenance of these. Here's the menu: Pickled Quail Egg Truffle Purée Diver Scallop and Truffle Tartare Pecan Oil Black-eyed Pea Velouté, Frog Leg Confit Shaved Truffle   Roasted Langoustine Truffle Flecked Pasta, Muscadine Butter Bacon Wrapped Grouper Truffled Salsify, Red Wine Reduction Smoked Pepper Seared Venison Cabbage, Sauce Perigourdine Fleur de Lys Layered with Truffle Port Syrup, Chestnut Bread   Warm Pear Financier Black Truffle Ice Cream, Tupelo Honey The truffle menu will persist for about a month, or until fresh black truffles are no longer available. MiLa. 817 Common. 412-2580. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com