Last Updated on Thursday, 25 October 2012 08:19
Restaurants - Creole Homestyle Restaurants
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Cypress
Metairie: 4426 Transcontinental. 504-885-6885. Map.
Nice Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Tucked away in the back of a complex of small strip malls, Cypress comes across as a pleasant surprise to all who go there. You don't expect to find such ambitious cooking there. Metairie has fewer white-tablecloth restaurants with good food than the population would dictate, and that fact keeps this good little restaurant busy.
WHAT'S GOOD
The chef has a taste for the Creole flavors and no apparent interest in reinventing the cuisine from scratch. His cooking is a shade ahead of the palates of his customers--enough to keep them interested. Servings are too large, but that doesn't prevent the use of quality ingredients. The menu is a bit unusual in that the entree section is almost entirely composed of meats and poultry. The seafood is mostly in the first course, but those dishes are the size of some entrees I've seen.
BACKSTORY
Owner-chef Stephen Huth worked for many years as the chef de cuisine at the original Vincent's. His father had a salon that backed up to Vincent's, and was ready to retire from the business. Father and son renovated the salon into a restaurant in 2003, pretty much entirely with their own hands. Stephen literally walked through a hole in Vincent's back fence , and opened Cypress. Far from being upset by this, Vincent Catalanotto helped Huth cut the hole, and in other ways.
DINING ROOM
The rooms are small and reached through a mini-maze of hallways. The service staff and the chef's wife (who runs the dining room) could not be more hospitable.
FULL MENU
Starters
»Barbecue shrimp, rosemary biscuit
Grilled portobello, braised spinach, bacon, balsamic
»Lobster ravioli, dill cream
»Black and blue bruschetta (seared beef tournedos, garlic, blue cheese sauce)
»Crawfish and crabmeat Parma (like a gratin)
Duck confit egg rolls, spicy soy-apricot glaze
Soup du jour
Baked potato soup
»Roasted garlic soup
Caesar salad
Duck salad
Entrees
»Chef’s fish selection, crabmeat butter, asparagus
»Grilled Angus filet mignon, mushroom demi-glace
»Pan-seared duck breast, duck leg confit, andouille-cornbread dressing, huckleberry glaze
Grilled salmon, garlic spinach, citrus beurre blanc
Rosemary chicken, mushrooms, linguine
»Molasses glazed pork loin, four-cheese macaroni, baby beans
Baby white veal, portobello crabmeat stuffing, asparagus, sherry beurre blanc
Sautéed shrimp, habanero-sesame sauce, vegetable fried rice
»Rabbit sauce piquant, spicy tomato broth, andouille rice pilaf
Roasted eggplant, crawfish and crabmeat butter, sautéed shrimp, hollandaise
Desserts
Bread pudding
Dessert specials
FOR BEST RESULTS
Order one course fewer than you ordinarily would. Splitting appetizers and salads will not leave either of the sharers hungry.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
To my appetites, the menu is a bit off-balance on the side of rich and filling. A few lighter dishes would be welcome.
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 +1
- Consistency +2
- Service +2
- Value +1
- Attitude +2
- Wine and Bar
- Hipness +1
- Local Color
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Romantic
- Small private room
- Unusually large servings
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
- Reservations accepted
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