The New Orleans Menu

Sunday Brunch On The River.
And They Mean On The River.

The sternwheeler Creole Queen is back in action. It and the other steamboats that used to do everything from quick tours up and down the riverfront in New Orleans to weeks-long journeys up the Mississippi were sidelined by Hurricane Katrina. In some cases, that was permanent: the ancient Delta Queen will travel no more. But the modern Creole Queen, its sternwheel propelled not by steam by diesel, is raring to go with a new Sunday brunch. The inaugural is this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Brunchers will float along on the river for two and a half hours.

The brunch is a buffet, and given all the complications of that style of service and of having in aboard a moving boat I make no guarantees of its goodness. Here are some of the dishes that will be served:

Chicken and sausage gumbo
Chicken grillades, spicy Creole gravy, cheese grits
Stuffed pork loin, fresh rosemary
Buttermilk biscuits
Scrambled eggs
Breakfast sausage patties
Smothered corn macquechoux
Creamed spinach
Soup du jour
Creole bread pudding, praline sauce
Waffles made to order, bananas Foster sauce
Fresh fruit
Fruit-filled danish
Cheese selection

Lubricating all this food is free-flowing sparkling wine. Making you choke with laughter is the Yat Pack, a couple of young guys who pretend to be Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, and Sammy Davis Jr. They're accompanied by a live band, and although they're always going for the jokes they're pretty good singers, too.

The price is $55 per person, inclusive of tax and tip. Advanced ticketing is required, and can be had at the phone and website below. The boat operates out of the Canal Street-Riverwalk dock. I suspect that if this is a hit we may have it as a new Sunday brunch option every week. Creole Queen Brunch. CBD: Riverfront at Canal Street. 504-529-4567
www.creolequeen.com

Chili Cookoff In Kenner Saturday

In most parts of the south, chili cookoffs are a popular fundraisers for small non-profits like churches and schools. Around New Orleans and in the Cajun country, competitions among gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans cooks fill that space. But every now and then a chili festival erupts, and there's one tomorrow (Saturday, January 28) in Kenner. Thirty teams will be presenting their bowls of red to a panel of judges. You can try all the chili you want for a $10 donation. Kids twelve and under with adult are free.

The festival also includes a mechanical bull, a climbing wall, and other food and drink. The grounds open at 10:45 a.m., and the winners are announced at 3:45 p.m.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School. Kenner: 4119 St Elizabeth Drive. Map.

Quite a few other events that have already appeared in this department are going on this weekend. Click here for the whole list.

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Sunday, January 22, 2012.
Not The Saints @ Zea.

The Saints are finished for the year, but momentum made Mary Ann want to go to a restaurant to watch whatever game is on. She said that I could pick the place, as long as there were screens. I cut to the chase and suggested Zea. Sold.

Mary Ann says she can go there and not eat very much. What she gets is the grilled vegetable plate. With the exception of the pile of hummus on one end of the long rectangle, nothing on this thing has the slightest appeal to me. But Mary Ann loves grilled vegetables, and in fact grills them at almost every meal. She can have all of mine.

I can't remember the last time I had Zea's twice-cooked duck. I do remember how good it was. It was that good once again today. A half-duck gets cooked most of the way by some slow method (rotisserie would be my guess, since they have that equipment). Then they throw it into hot oil to flash-crisp the skin. The sauce is a sweet-heat Asian-tinged concoction. Since the seasoning on the duck has a sort of Thai flavor to begin with, it works nicely. The only thing I dislike about the plate is the fried noodles, a plague that also gets in the way of the otherwise-magnificent seared tuna salad. But those are easily ignored. The duck itself is moist and crisp as appropriate. It's probably the best dish on the menu.

We stayed for the first half of the game, a playoff between the Whoozits and the Didn't Catch Its. Mary Ann kept giving analyses of the plays throughout, but it was lost on me.

At home I repaired a flat tire on MA's bicycle. While I was at it, I pumped up my car's tires. The tire guys say I've been underinflating. I'm sick enough about all the new tires I've had to buy lately that I will take their advice. I used to be conscientious about that, but stopped when gas stations started charging for air. I never have coins in my pocket anymore. But now that I have an air pump that you just plug into the cigarette lighter socket, I'll try to repent.

Monday, January 23, 2012.
Max Zander Remembered @ Antoine's.

I wasn't sure whether I would go to the Max Zander Memorial Dinner tonight. My decision was made for me when I got a call from Judy at WYES-TV. (The public station benefits from the funds raised by the dinner.) She said that as a result of my article in the Menu Daily touting the dinner, some people said they wanted to sit at my table. But I hadn't booked my own reservation, let alone a whole table, Judy said.

I told her that since I am a past recipient of the Max Zander Award, I can do anything I want at Max dinners going forward, including waiting until the last minute to book. Enough people wanted to dine with me that I had to give my apologies to friends Vic and Barbara Giancola, David Gooch, and Peggy Scott Laborde for not sitting with them. They seemed relieved.

Peggy had an interesting piece of news. Pelican Publishing Company, which handles our Lost Restaurants book, has sold out the entire oversize first press run, and is out of stock until the new printing arrives from China. I guess we showed them.

Tonight's honoree was Brad Adams, whose family is in the oil supply boat business down in New Iberia. But wait! Is this the same Adams family that was at the Napa Wine Auction every time I attended it, and which bought so much wine from the charitable event that they were given the auspicious Table Number One?

Before I had a chance to introduce myself to Brad Adams and ask him about that, his father Red Adams came over to my table and introduced himself. "Do you remember we were at Livingston during the Napa Auction in 1999?" he asked. Indeed I do. We had lunch there, and were allowed to make our own blend of the winery's Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot wines.

Also that year, Red Adams created the most exciting moment in all my years at the Auction. The crowd had already gone wild because a lot of Screaming Eagle--a cult wine that's all but impossible to buy--went for a half-million dollars, the highest price ever achieved for one Napa Auction item to that time.

But then a ten-magnum collection of ten vintages of Harlan Estates Cabernet came up for bids. After ten minutes of pure pandemonium in the big tent, Red Adams paid $700,000 for that. Ah, yes, but it was in a polished cherrywood case, I remember.

"How do you think that wine's doing now?" I asked Red.

"What? The Harlan? We drank it a long time ago. We buy wines to drink, not to look at." Winemakers the world over would cheer that sentiment.

Brad and his family have continued their support of charitable causes involved with wine. They've donated quite a lot of wine to WYES's wine auction over the years. Hence the well-deserved Max Zander award.

Previous Max Zander dinners were at Galatoire's. But that restaurant was busy today with its own auction of tables for Friday before Mardi Gras. David Gooch told me it brought in $45,000 for charities this afternoon. Good for them.

Antoine's acquitted itself well tonight. After appetizers of shrimp canapes, oysters Foch, and souffle potatoes, we sat down to an impossible-to-eat (because it was chopped too finely to be speared by a fork) salad with a great marmalade vinaigrette. Then oyster and artichoke soup, creamy and nice. Grilled trout with crawfish cardinale on top, an old Antoine's waiter's special, with a convincing peppery zip in the sauce. And a filet mignon marchand de vin. That's the classic Antoine's entree, one everyone here surely has had many times before. I can't remember it's ever having been better. Juicy, tender, perfect sauce.

Baked Alaska for dessert, of course, with Max Zander's name on one side and Brad Adams's on the other. Happy evening.

I was glad to see Rick Blount smiling. He's the boss of Antoine's--the great-great grandson of Antoine himself. Rick's wife came to a tragic demise a couple of years ago, and his life has been tough since. But he had a fiancee with him tonight. I got a chance to grill her in the Hermes Lounge after the dinner, and I feel good about their future. (As if I know anything about the recipe for marital bliss.)

Antoine's. French Quarter: 713 St. Louis. 5904-581-4422.

It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.

Redemption

Mid-City: 3835 Iberville St. 504-309-3570. Map.
Nice Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Forget anything you learned or heard about Redemption during its first year in business. Owners Tommy and Maria Delaune are nice people, with the advantage of owning a seafood wholesale house. That's like a steakhouse with its own cattle herd. But the food wasn't coming together. It is now. Chef Greg Picolo is a major creative force, with a strong appreciation of the special magic that imbues this restaurant.

WHAT'S GOOD
Greg's menu is still evolving, but the destination is already clear. Redemption will wind up with the best of its original menu (the gumbo, stuffed shrimp, duck, and filet), a few Christian's classics (smoked soft-shell crab and stuffed fish), and the latest experiments from the chef's fertile mind. We're waiting to see which version of sweetbreads shows up, and an expansion of the fish array.

BACKSTORY
The church building that housed Christian's and now Redemption is nearly a century old. Its congregation left for bigger quarters in the 1970s. After a few years in Metairie, Christian's Restaurant was looking for a new location and thought this highly visible location in Mid-City would be perfect. It was, attracting diners from all over the country for thirty years. The hurricane persuaded Christian's owner Henry Bergeron to retire. He sold the church to Tommy Delaune, who at first wanted to make it a church again. That didn't work out. In late 2010, it reverted to the present restaurant.

DINING ROOM
Imagine a medium-size church with high cathedral ceilings, big windows, and lots of open space. Move the pews to the perimeter for the banquette tables. Fill the center with conventional tables. Put a bar near the entrance. This is Redemption. The major enhancement over the Christian's look is the new hardwood planked floor.

ONLINE MENU LOCATION

ESSENTIAL DISHES
starters
Napoleon of panéed eggplant with grilled vegetables and Fontina cheese
»Oysters en brochette
Crawfish remoulade in a crisp avocado cup
»Creole crab cake ravigote
Prawns del Lago (stuffed with crabmeat)
»Pannéed smoked soft shell crab
»Seafood gumbo
Seasonal green salad, tomato, Stilton, bacon
Caesar salad (option: fried oysters)
»Roasted beet salad, satsumas, arugula, spiced pecans, Manchego cheese
»Field greens with crab and shrimp ravigote

Entrees
»Abita barbecue shrimp, stone-ground cheese grits
»Grilled jumbo pork chop, whiskey yams, orange-thyme jus
Pavé of grilled salmon, tarragon, crawfish, shiitake mushroom gnocchi
»Soft shell crab meuniere
»Sautéed fillet of flounder, shrimp and mirliton dressing
»Seafood-stuffed fish a la Christian’s
»Roasted breast of duck, andouille, red onion-yam hash, grilled kadota fig jus
Rack of lamb, Granny Smith apples, mint jus
»Grilled prime filet mignon, pommes frites, blue cheese jus
»Gulf fish piccata, three mushroom risotto

Desserts
»Chocolate Torte, fresh berry mélange
Banana fritters, coconut gelato, chocolate drizzle
Cheesecake, pistachio cream cheese
»Crème brulée
»Mid-City crepes, honey-infused mascarpone

FOR BEST RESULTS
For God's sake, beware of a nasty step between the entrance and the bar. Ask about the specials. If there's a dish you liked at the Bistro, ask Greg for it. He might cook it for you.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
It took Christian's original chef months to perfect the signature smoked soft-shell crab. Redemption's attempts aren't quite perfect yet, but it's still worth getting. The wine list has

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

• Dining Environment +2
• Consistency +1
• Service +1
• Value
• Attitude +2
• Wine and Bar
• Hipness +1
• Local Color +3

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

• Good view
• Good for business meetings
• Open Sunday lunch
• Easy, nearby parking
• Reservations recommended

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
Among restaurants that perished in Katrina, the most lamented was Christian's. Locals and savvy visitors loved it. Not just because of the high irony of its being located in an antique church but also because of its unique take on Creole-French cooking. It was six years before new owners worked up the courage to open a new restaurant on that sacred site. They called it Redemption and warned all former customers that Christian's could not and would not return from the dead, even though the church would be restored fully.

Problem: it was unclear just what Redemption would be. The menu was clearly Creole and relied mostly on local ingredients, but it was that of an entirely new restaurant. It all sounded good enough, but compared with what had come before. . well, nothing much happened. Then came Chef Greg Picolo. His restaurant--the Bistro at the Maison de Ville--had ceased to exist, and he was looking for a new home for his own Creole French cooking. It was a marriage made in. . . well, heaven, I guess.

Compagno's
Riverbend: 7839 St. Charles Ave.
1925-2001

Over the years, seven restaurants named Compagno's opened and closed around New Orleans. Most were Uptown. Two were on Fern Street. Some family connections existed among them, but it didn't show up in the food. At least not at the three Compagno's in business when I started covering the restaurant scene. All were neighborhood cafes, mixing New Orleans and Italian dishes. One Compagno's was on the corner of State and Magazine, where WOW is now. Another was on Fern at Panola, two blocks from where I lived in the early 1970s. After a couple of meals there I never went back.

The best of the Compagno's—on St. Charles Avenue at Fern, two blocks from South Carrollton—survived many years after all the others were gone. It not only had good food, but one of the most personable chefs in that segment of the biz. Sal Compagno took the restaurant over from his parents, but it was his wife Maria who made Compagno's a great place to eat.

Compagno's menu had two specialties, and Maria was adept at both. The Italian food was the Sicilian-inspired New Orleans kind, but with a distinction. Maria always made her own pasta for things like ravioli, at a time when almost no other restaurant did that. Everything in her kitchen was made from scratch, from the sauces to the fantastically garlicky, herbal olive salad on the muffulettas.

The other emphasis was seafood. Compagno's served as much variety there as any local seafood restaurant. A sign in the dining room declared that no seafood was seasoned or breaded—let alone cooked—until someone ordered it. That was very clear in what came to the table. It was always golden brown, greaseless, fresh, and light.

The dining room looked almost exactly like Vincent's does now: a brick divider ran through the center of the room, dividing the bar (where there were always a few regulars having a drink or a beer) from the tables.

Compagno's was inexpensive and generous—a combination of merits that made it a perennial favorite among Tulane and Loyola students and faculty. It was particularly busy on Sunday nights, when it was one of the few restaurants open Uptown.

No matter when you went, Sal and Maria were there. In a way, they still are. Maria was very pleased to sell the restaurant to Vincent Catalanotto. Who, she says, continued to run the kind of restaurant she could be proud of, even with a different style of food and service. She loved her restaurant and its regulars, and still talks about them all the time. It took a few years, and it's hard to find, but her cookbook is an accurate rendering of the kind of food Maria Compagno cooked.

This is one of 122 reviews of fondly-remembered but extinct restaurants from Lost Restaurants Of New Orleans, just published by Pelican. It's available in bookstores all around town, and full of photos, graphics, menus, and memorabilia.

Mr. B's Gumbo Ya-Ya

This is the best restaurant gumbo I ever tasted--a spicy, dark-roux, chicken and andouille gumbo flavored with file and served over rice. A critical ingredient is great andouille--one with big chunks of pork inside a thick skin, so it won't fall apart during the cooking. This recipe is for about a gallon and a half of gumbo, enough to serve 12 people--but you can refrigerate it for several days and find that its flavor improves a bit.

• 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup chopped green peppers
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 1/2 gallons rich chicken stock
• 1 lb. cooked chicken
• 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 Tbs. Louisiana hot sauce
• 1 Tbs. file powder
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions

1. In a large, heavy Dutch oven, heat oil over high heat until it almost begins to smoke. Add flour and stir well to make a roux. Cook, stirring constantly until roux is a nutty brown color, then lower heat.

2. Add onions, celery, and peppers. Cook in roux for five minutes, until onions begin to brown.

3. Add chicken stock, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Simmer 15-20 minutes.

4. Cut chicken meat and andouille into bite-size pieces and add to pot. Simmer another 20 minutes.

5. Add hot sauce and green onions, and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper as needed. File can be added in the kitchen, or dusted lightly on the gumbo at the table. Serve with boiled long-grain rice.

Serves about twelve.