Contemporary Creole.
Metairie: 4426 Transcontinental. 504-885-6885. Map.
Dinner Tuesday-Saturday.
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.
WHY IT'S GOOD
The chef has a taste for the Creole flavors and no apparent interest in reinventing the cuisine from scratch. His cooking is just 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.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Barbecue shrimp.
Grilled portobello mushroom with spinach, bacon, and balsamic.
Crawfish and crabmeat casserole.
Bacon-wrapped scallops (a frequent special).
Duck egg rolls.
Lobster ravioli.
Black and blue bruschetta (blue cheese and seared tournedos of beef).
Roasted garlic soup.
Duck salad with fig and pecan vinaigrette.
Pan-seared Gulf fish with crabmeat butter sauce.
Grilled salmon with garlic-braised spinach and citrus beurre blanc.
Sesame shrimp.
Roasted eggplant with crawfish, crabmeat, and shrimp, hollandaise.
Seared duck breast and confit of duck leg.
Rosemary chicken.
Molasses-glazed pork loin.
Baby white veal with portobello mushrooms, crabmeat, sherry beurre blanc.
Rabbit sauce piquant.
Filet mignon with mushroom demi-glace.
Bread pudding.
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
The menu and specials have been static for quite a long time. It's overdue for a few new dishes. The chef is certainly up to creating them.
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
This review was updated with new information on 4/22/2010.
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