Restaurant Of The Year 2009
Mediterranean French.
Lacombe: 25020 US 190. 985-626-7662. Map.
Dinner Wednesday-Sunday. Sunday brunch.
Dressy
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Chris Kerageorgiou accomplished what only the greatest chefs can. At La Provence, he created a unique personal cuisine, and made it so good that his restaurant became indispensable. It was so distinctive that when John Besh took over after Chris's death in 2006, it took years before the the restaurant could find its balance and old eminence. Which it has in 2009. The unique goodness of La Provence is back. It's that of the rustic but sophisticated country inn, the kind you find all over Europe. It's better now than it's been at any time since the hurricane, and Chris is smiling down on it.
WHY IT'S GOOD
The menu addresses--in a contemporary way--all the specialties that Chef Chris made favorites: the pate, quail gumbo, lamb, duck, and country-style French dishes from his mother's kitchen. As it was in Chris's day, the menu is ever in flux, and uses many local, custom-raised foodstuffs in their seasons. The dining room and kitchen staffs are young, but waitress "Just Joyce" Bates continues in her thirty-year role as mother hen, in between making great cocktails and writing custom poems. As it had been, La Provence is unique in every way.
BACKSTORY
Chris Kerageorgiou--native of the south of France, but one hundred percent Greek--came to New Orleans in the 1960s after cooking around the world. After years as the maitre d' at the Royal Orleans Hotel, he ignored all advice in 1972 and opened his own restaurant in small motel in the woods near Lacombe. The North Shore population was much smaller and less inclined to fine dining than it is now. Chris's food was so good that La Provence drew avid eaters from both shores. After Katrina and a health problem that would kill him within a year, Chris sold the restaurant to his former sous chef, John Besh. Besh turned the expansive premises into a small farm, raising chickens, pigs, goats, vegetables, and herbs. He brought in a series of excellent chef-partners, each of whom cooked brilliantly. Problem was, regular customers were put off by the changes. In early 2009, Besh reverted the menu back to its old style, and La Provence found its groove again.
DINING ROOM
John Besh performed an excellent and subtle renovation in 2006, adding a comfortable bar and opening up many interior walls to add spaciousness. A fireplace in the center of the main room is usually burning unless it would be crazy to do so. A large private dining room has a distinctly Provencal style. All of this is in the setting of an enclosing pine forest, still far enough away from development to feel rural.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
The menu changes frequently, but this one is typical:
Heirloom beets with crabmeat and arugula.
Assiette de charcuterie (house-made pates and sausages).
Broiled oysters on the shell with herb butter.
Escargots au pistou.
Crab bisque.
Shrimp tagine with merguez sausage.
Quail gumbo (the quail is stuffed with jambalaya, which flavors the soup when you cut in).
Grilled redfish with crabmeat.
Tuna with tapenade.
Bouillabaisse Louisiana style.
Scallops with wild mushroom risotto.
Rabbit "grande-mere."
Daube of baby goat with grits.
Lacquered duck.
Filet mignon with marrow sauce.
Roasted and confit chicken.
Warm chocolate torte.
Bread pudding with butter pecan whiskey sauce.
Strawberry shortcake.
FOR BEST RESULTS
At the bottom of the menu every day is a changing, three-course, country-style French dinner for $27. This is not merely a bargain, but a delightfully rustic repast. Try to keep from eating too much of the complimentary house pate before the real food comes. The best time to come here is late Sunday afternoon and early evening.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
This restaurant must stay on the current program for at least the next three years before any further drastic changes.
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 +3
- Consistency +1
- Service +1
- Value +1
- Attitude +1
- Wine and Bar +2
- Hipness +1
- Local Color +3
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Live music some nights
- Courtyard dining
- Romantic
- Good view
- Good for business meetings
- Large private room
- Early-evening specials
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open most holidays
- Open all afternoon (Sundays only)
- Historic
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
- Reservations recommended
ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
Most restaurants that gain distinction do so by looking forward. La Provence is The New Orleans Menu's 2009 Restaurant of the Year because it looked backwards. After four talented chefs failed to catch on in the years since John Besh bought the restaurant, Besh took heed of what the customers had been saying all along. Namely, that the heritage of founder Chris Kerageorgiou was more distinguished than anything else that could be installed in that restaurant.
So Besh hired young new chef Erick Loos, and between the two of them built a menu which Chris himself could have come up with--although it was far more creative than just a rehash of the old dishes. The reaction from the regulars was unequivocal: it's about time! The mood brightened all around. Even Ms. Joyce seemed to be smiling more--and that's a telling barometer. A new golden age is beginning at La Provence, which once more is a credible nominee for best restaurant on the North Shore.
A list of all 300 full, current reviews is here.