Wednesday, July 21, 2010
1106 Restaurants Open Around Town
Bombay Club's Summer: Three Courses, $25.
The elegant Bombay Club just began its summer menu, which will persist from now until September 6. It's a three-course repast with enough choices that one could conceivably take advantage of it more than once. And at the $25 price, it's hard to say no. In addition, on Thursday nights, Chef Nick Gile is steaming lobsters. With a salad and a side dish, that's also $25. As in past years, the operating schedule has been trimmed of its Monday and Tuesday dinners until fall. The martinis are as cold and plentiful as usual, of course.
Here's the whole summer menu:
Apple-Brie-Walnut Salad
~or~
Soup Du Jour
~or~
Fried Calamari
~or~
Curry and Citrus Steamed Mussels
Shepherd's Pie
Stout-braised beef with horseradish mashed potatoes
~or~
English Style Fish And Chips
With fresh cut fries and apple-jalapeno tartar sauce
~or~
Creole Linguine Carbonara
Chicken, andouille, asparagus, garlic, cream & cheese
~or~
Crabmeat Stuffed Louisiana Shrimp ($30)
Baked, with sauteed spinach and choron sauce
Praline Creme Brulee
~or~
Assorted Ice Cream
~or~
Bread Pudding
Bombay Club. French Quarter: 830 Conti. 504-586-0972.
All The Summer Menus So Far
NOMenu has a page listing not only all the summer specials we know about, but all the menus, too. I'm adding new ones daily.
That list is now online here.
Tuesday, July 13. Galatoire's Is 105. BP still hasn't deployed the promised new well cap over its renegade oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. They keep saying that the new apparatus has a good chance of stopping the flow completely, but they don't want to rush the complicated job. It must be tough to be cautious when everybody in the world is screaming at you to hurry up. I'm on the side of doing it right.
Back on nearly dry, only lightly oiled Bourbon Street, Galatoire's doesn't know the exact day it opened. But it opened a long time ago, and unconventionally at that. Jean Galatoire took over the existing restaurant Victor's after working there a few months. It is known that he changed the name of the place to Galatoire's in 1905. This is about the halfway point of this year, and the current management thought it was as good a time as any to celebrate the one hundred fifth birthday of this essential dining parlor.
The party was in the upstairs dining room. It was Galatoire's crowded, which in any other restaurant would be considered anchovy-can crowded or Mardi Gras crowded. You could move from one side of the room to the other, but it would take awhile. First, because you'd have to sidle your way through the gaps that open and close between people. Second, because you know at least half of these people, and all of them want to talk with you. Third, because waiters are also trying to navigate through the intermittent gaps, and they draw people closer to them like a magnet pulls steel filings. Yu yourself are getting in the waiters' paths so you can pluck off his tray a crabmeat maison in a pastry shell, a fried oyster atop Rockefeller sauce on a crouton, shrimp remoulade on a Belgian endive leaf, a smoked trout canape, or a glass of bubbly wine.
I had many conversations as I drifted through the mass:
"Fish is all right. The oysters are going to be a real problem for years."--Harlon Pearce, seafood wholesaler.
"We're getting all the oysters we need from P&J. We're one of their better customers, and they're taking care of us."--David Gooch, long-time Galatoire's manager and member of the third generation of the Galatoire family.
"I'm liking the idea of hotel restaurants more and more."--Ann Gooch, David's wife, and one of the founders of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience. She was talking about the current idea for my NOWFE seminar next year.
"I'm feeling a lot better."--Justin Frey, also third-generation Galatoire, formerly manager both on Bourbon Street and at Galatoire's in Baton Rouge. He retired a year or so ago because of health problems.
"You never change!"--Julie Fotiades, a friend from way back who I haven't seen in awhile. I'm pretty sure she meant it as a compliment.
"I fell on top of it on the bed when I was a young man, and it's been stuck on me ever since!"--G. Frank Purvis, retired chairman of the Pan-American Life Insurance Company, talking about his trademark bow ties. At ninety-six, he's been a regular at Galatoire's for most of the restaurant's history. He really can tell you what it was like in the old days. I've seen him there dozens of times, but this was the first time I've had a chance to speak with him. He was happy and sharp.
Todd Trosclair (the guy who bought most of Galatoire's from the Galatoire's family last year) called the formal program to order. He emphasized that the new owners (John Georges is the other major stockholder) are in awe of the long history of the restaurant, and had no intentions of altering the direction of it. David Gooch got up and gave a cursory history of the Galatoire family, from its beginnings in Pau, France, through the four generations to the present.
This was significant, because the big moment of the gathering was the unveiling of the Galatoire family tree. It was executed by a fine hand and will hang in the restaurant henceforth and forever.
Melvin Rodrigue, who is the operations boss of Galatoire's and the overseer of most of the changes that have occurred there in the past decade, got up to thank all the regular customers for their loyalty. That's when I noticed that most of the guests were, indeed, customers. The only other food writer of note there was Sharon Litwin, who compiles the Zagat Survey.
Melvin suggested that I lead the necessary singing of Happy Birthday to the restaurant. (You can't go to Galatoire's and hear any fewer than five of these during a meal.) I did it in the style of my favorite Galatoire's waiter, Imre Szalai, who in his Hungarian accent says, "Let's all sing loud, wit a vun, and a two, and a tree!"
The circulating appetizers made for enough of a meal for us to depart the party when it ended and head home. (In separate cars, as usual.) I did make a pass through the dining room to see who might be there, but I guess anyone who was anyone had also been at the party. I still halfway hoped someone would ask me to join them, but it was a touristy night.
Galatoire’s. French Quarter: 209 Bourbon. 504-525-2021. Classic Creole.
Click here for the Dining Diary entry before the one above.
Click here for an index to the last five years of entries.
Steak.
Gretna: 2020 Belle Chasse Hwy. 504-391-7229. Map.
Lunch Monday-Friday. Dinner Monday-Saturday.
Nice Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
After the oil industry on the West Bank hit the skids in the early 1980s, that side of the river has had far fewer white-tablecloth restaurants per capita than most of the rest of the metro area. That seems to be turning around, and this new steakhouse is a sign of that. It has the style, food and service one needs when a special dining occasion is in order.
WHY IT'S GOOD
Although the menu is reasonably comprehensive--seafood and meats other than beef are included--this is unambiguously a steakhouse. The standard is USDA prime, although if it's aged that flavor got past me. The acid test for a steakhouse is the sirloin strip. When they first opened, this was a bone-in job. It's now boneless, a small disappointment for us connoisseurs. All cuts are of fine intrinsic merit and well-handled in the kitchen. They can sauce the steak in any reasonable way you specify. Appetizers are polished and imaginative; the sides, being the standard steakhouse fare, will not make memories.
BACKSTORY
O'Brien's opened in 2008. It was one of the few major restaurants to open that year, and one of the two or three best. The owner is Ken Theriot, whose career in some of the great West Bank restaurants of the past includes LeRuth's. The chef is Matt Bordelon, who turned up at Rene Bistrot for awhile before the storm.
DINING ROOM
The exterior has the look of a bank records-storage office. Inside, it's much more interesting, an art deco design that's almost sleek. The windows are too high to see through and shuttered with blinds anyway, lending a borderline speakeasy quality. Many of the tables are booths. The wine list is abbreviated, but with enough bottles of interest to serve well. All this comes together to create a terrific venue for the second or third date, or beyond.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Grilled scallops with vegetable ravioli (above)
Mussels steamed with sauce piquante
Oysters O'Neil (bread crumbs, cheese, hollandaise)
Fried green tomato napoleon
Panneed rabbit tenderloin
Lobster and corn bisque
Tomato and crab salad
Blue cheese lettuce wedge salad
Spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette
Grilled scallops with roasted beet, greens, and pepper jelly vinaigrette
Filet mignon
Bone-in ribeye (above)
New York strip
Prime rib
Braised lamb shank
Grilled tuna with sesame crust
Bread pudding
Creme brulee
FOR BEST RESULTS
Make a reservation, requesting a booth. The tables in the center are sort of out in space.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
I will never understand why any steakhouse with a New Orleans orientation doesn't automatically serve steaks in the distinctive local style, with sizzling butter. But they will if you ask.
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 +1
- Wine and Bar
- Hipness -1
- Local Color
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Romantic
- Good for business meetings
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Easy, nearby parking
- Reservations honored promptly
ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
The only other excellent steakhouse on the West Bank (the Beef Connection) is only a few blocks away, but O'Brien's Grille seems to have attracted attention anyway. Once you're inside the door, you're in a dining room as elegant as any other on that side of the river.
There's something about a steakhouse that seems to require waiters with a lot of miles on them. Somehow, they've come up with such old pros here, including a fellow who waited on me at Commander's Palace twenty years ago.
Steak With Lobster Perigourdine
The last word in surf 'n' turf was created by Chef Greg Brandt, when he was cooking around New Orleans. I don't know where he is now, but after shooting a television piece with him at the old Greco's in the French Market, I glommed onto this recipe and play with it any time leftover lobster comes my way. I've also found that this works well with big shrimp. This is more ambitious than most of the recipes I give you, but it requires more attention than skill to make it right.
Beurre fondu:
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 6 French shallots, chopped
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1 1/2 sticks butter
- 4 filet mignons, 8 oz. each
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 1/2 cup demi-glace or highly reduced beef stock
- 1/4 cup Madeira wine
- 1 truffle, julienne (optional)
- 1 Tbs. butter
- 2 lobster tails, about 8 oz. each (or 1 lb. peeled, large shrimp)
- 1 Tbs. butter
- White pepper
- 2 Tbs. brandy
- 1 Tbs. fresh chopped parsley
- 1 Tbs. fresh chopped green onions
1. To make beurre fondu, heat the wine, vinegar, and shallots in a saucepan and bring to a light boil. Reduce until there is only about a tablespoon of liquid left. Add the cream, return to a boil, and remove from heat. Whisk in the butter a little at a time to make a creamy-looking sauce. Strain, keep warm.
2. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet and pan-broil the steaks (as described above) over high heat until crusty on the outside--about four minutes per side for medium rare. Remove the steaks and keep warm.
3. Pour off excess oil from pan, but don't wipe the pan. Deglaze the hot pan with the Madeira wine, scraping the bottom slightly. When the Madeira begins to boil, add the demi-glace and truffles. Cook over medium heat, stirring lightly, until the sauce takes on the consistency of maple syrup. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1 Tbs. butter.
4. If they're uncooked, boil the lobster tails for about four minutes (shrimp, about two minutes); do not cook them completely. Remove the shells and slice into medallions about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Heat 1 Tbs. butter in a skillet and saute the lobster medallions for about three minutes, until heated all the way through.
6. Add the brandy and carefully touch a flame to the pan. When the flames die down, add the parsley and green onions and cook until wilted. Add salt and white pepper to taste.
6. Divide the steaks and lobster medallions among the plates. Spoon the beurre fondu and the truffle sauces around both, with each sauce on half the plate.
Serves four.
