The Restaurants We Can't Live Without By Tom Fitzmorris. . . Revised July 2009 Cuvee Contemporary Creole. American. CBD: 322 Magazine. 504-587-9001. Map. Lunch Wednesday-Thursday. Dinner Monday-Saturday. Dressy AE DC MC V www.restaurantcuvee.com   WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL   Low-key and sophisticated, Cuvee is for diners who like wine as much as they do food. No restaurant has a better program of wine pairings; that's true whether you get the tasting menu or order a la carte. Its location in the CBD makes it a good place to remember when the high-profile restaurant areas are very busy.   WHY IT'S GOOD   If it weren't for what you see out the windows, you might not think you're in New Orleans. This is a place for quiet, mannerly dining on adventuresome food. The abbreviated menu (specials add half again as many dishes to it, though) is sprinkled with a few local flavors, but for the most part it's like the food you might read about in Saveur. The ingredients are first-class and the presentations beautiful and tasteful.   BACKSTORY   Cuvee is the second restaurant from Ken Lacour and Kim Kringlie, who operate the excellent Dakota in Covington. They opened it in 2000 as the restaurant of the St. James Hotel, a sleek small hostelry. Chef Bob Iacovone, who arrived in 2003, improved the food as he added his own stamp to it. He and the owners opened a third restaurant, Las Ramblas, in 2008. The premises were once those of the Bon Ton Cafe, from the 1920s to the 1970s.   DINING ROOM   Exposed brick walls, high ceilings, and large expanses of glass both back and front make this feel like a bigger restaurant than it is. The rear windows look out onto Board of Trade place, a historic and impressive site. Throughout the restaurant are visual reminders that wine is a big deal here. The chandeliers hold gigantic, empty, but real Champagne bottles.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Peppers and cheese tasting. Mirliton and shrimp Napoleon. Foie gras of the day. Seared scallops with caper berries, tomato, and spaghetti squash. House-made sausage of the day. Paella-style pasta salad with crawfish, shrimp, and chorizo. Porcini mushroom-crusted tuna. Bouillabaisse. Chicken with pancetta and waffles. Mustard crusted salmon with crabmeat and Brie orzo risotto. Duck with cane syrup glaze. Ricotta cake with huckleberries. Artisan cheese plate. Macadamia-crusted espresso bombe with chocolate sauce. Triple decker "Moon Pie" with dreamsicle ice cream.   FOR BEST RESULTS   The nightly tasting menu of five or six courses with paired wines is the ultimate dinner option, and its attractively priced.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   They have a few too many rules not seen in other restaurants, and the servers can be inflexible about alterations to standard dishes.   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 +2 Service +1 Value Attitude +1 Wine and Bar +3 Hipness +2 Local Color +2   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Romantic Windows with a view Good for business meetings Private dining room (fewer than 25) Private dining room (more than 25) Open Monday Historic Valet parking free Reservations accepted Reservations honored promptly Click here for an index to current reviews of the 200 Essential Restaurants, and others. © 2009 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com