Deals Galore

Before taking over the business from Tom my only experience with Restaurant Week was if we had dinner at a participating restaurant. Now I check the website of participating restaurants constantly to see who is doing what. In looking at these menus I first had the thought that Restaurant Week was not such a great deal because choices were so limited (except for our favorite Pelican Club.)

But last year I decided that it was indeed a good deal and I was excited to see the offerings this year. I picked a few of my favorites and one unusual one that I hadn’t been to before. 

The first was a lunch at Café Normandie, a place that flies under the radar in The Higgins Hotel. It is somewhat kitschy in decor because The Higgins Hotel is part of The WW2 Museum and the entire place is themed. Kilroy’s is the bar, Rosy The Riveter is an upstairs lounge, and Café Normandie is the main restaurant. 

That said, there is nothing kitschy about the food at this place. The chef is Virgile Brandel, a Frenchman from the Champagne region of France, whose resume includes American Ritz Carltons, mainly in Florida. His story is familiar; he married a woman from here.

The first time I had his food it was for a press event when Tom was around. We sat at a long table for a multi-course dinner they were offering for Reveillon that year. Even as a non-gourmet, I was mightily impressed by that dinner. I still think about it. Since then, I have returned to  Café Normandie a few times and had more great meals there. Sometimes it was for a regular lunch, but I have gone for several of these special menus.

On this visit, I went too early, arriving at 11am only to learn that the kitchen starts lunch at 11:30. There were two choices for $25. A Gumbo Of The Day with Popcorn Rice which I somehow read as seafood gumbo, and a Beet Carpaccio with Burrata, orange and fennel.

Entrees were Bronzed Redfish with Shrimp Creole, fried okra, and Goast Cheese Grits, or Chicken Cordon Bleu over Potato Puree and Thyme chicken jus. I chose the gumbo, still thinking it was seafood, and the Chicken Cordon Bleu.

The gumbo was great. An enormous portion with steam rising from the bowl, my first reaction was how generous it was, particularly the portion of Popcorn rice. Popcorn rice is to me a local delicacy. With a bowl of delicious and well-made gumbo, Popcorn rice seems an unnecessary upgrade. In tough times like this for restaurants, I was impressed by that. This gumbo had characteristics of gumbos I am seeing lot these days. Tremendous amounts of “stuff” chopped so fine as to be unrecognizable. This is not a complaint, because in all these gumbos I have loved the flavor and appreciated the small pieces. It’s just that it is sometimes hard to discern what all of this actually is.

Still thinking it was seafood gumbo, I wondered what the chicken pieces were. When I inquired, I was told chicken. I assumed it was a Creole gumbo, which is what I call an “everything “gumbo. I think the presence of okra threw me off. I have to get used to the idea that okra is turning up in all gumbos now, regardless of the other ingredients. I love okra, so this is not a bad thing, but it is new. This gumbo was hot, meaty, and delicious. I was full when I finished it.

The Chicken Cordon Bleu was selected for two reasons: I don’t eat Redfish ,though I was curious about this dish, and I was equally curious about what I ordered because it’s an old-fashioned dish that I never see now. It came to the table as another large portion, beautifully plated. It was a roulade, which is something I never order, but this was a thing of beauty. Quite large, and round, there was an entire thinly-pounded chicken breast inside the pecan coating ,which encircled a generous amount of thinly sliced ham,, and a very nice portion of Gruyère cheese that had melted. Underneath this large roulade was perfect mashed potatoes napped with gravy that included mushrooms. It was called Thyme chicken jus on the menu, and that is exactly what it was. Often “jus” means just the juices of meat, but this was a classic French definition, meaning a light gravy. It had clearly been enhanced with a thickener.

Slicing into this revealed the artistry employed to make this. It was beautifully executed and as good as it looked. The chicken was tender and cooked to the sweet spot, the ham added that extra flavor ,and the cheese more texture, with the marvelous flavor of Gruyère. The potatoes and jus added to the allure.

I loved this lunch and felt like I had stolen it. But I didn't. Offers like this are all over town. You have one more day to say yes to them.