[title type="h5"]Friday, July 18, 2014.
Le Foret Passes A Crucial Test.[/title]
Jude picks up his wife-to-be from the airport in the wee hours of the morning. Yet they are up and out before the morning is over, and they begin checking out the church for the wedding, the reception venues (they're down to two), and the hotel for the guests. All of The Redhead's friends and relatives are from Los Angeles, where she was born and lived her whole life too. But she likes the idea of a New Orleans wedding.
The four of us convene in early evening at Le Foret, one of the reception possibilities. Chef Brandon Felder and manager Ryan O'Dwyer insist that we come for dinner, at which they'll send out some of the dishes that will likely be included on the reception menu.
By the time I get there, the charming couple has toured Le Foret's private party facilities on its upper floors, and decided that they are the better of the two restaurants under consideration. So how about the food?
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Fried oysters.[/caption]
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Lobster and gnocchi.[/caption]
We start with some fried oysters topped with Louisiana caviar. Legacy note: Mary Ann and I had that caviar at our own wedding reception, when it was a new product on the market. General note: to keep oysters and other fried items from shifting on the plate, chefs are now dabbing a little thick sauce (white remoulade, for example) on the bottoms of the oysters. This is a brilliant insight. I wonder who thought of it.
Next comes lobster in a buttery sauce, interspersed with gnocchi. They told me that my comment of a couple of months ago that their potato pasta dumplings are much too heavy caused a lightening of the gnocchi. I still think there is room for further fluffing up, but the flavors are good.
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Tomato soup with crabmeat.[/caption]
Now a crabmeat salad with a slice of fried plantain. Then a chilled, herbal tomato soup, also with crabmeat. (This is the time of year, and Le Foret buys from Mr. Higgins, the best crabmeat guy in the business.) A cube of pork belly with a little salad. (Come to think of it, a little salad has attended almost everything so far.)
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"Barbecue shrimp."[/caption]
No salad on the barbecue shrimp, a controversial dish. The shrimp are big, fresh, and meaty. But the sauce is overwhelmed with reduced Worcestershire--not my cup of tea, although some people like that idea. (It's the essence of steak Diane, for example). But it's Jude who makes the comment: "This is good, but it doesn't taste like barbecue shrimp to me."
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Shrimp and scallops.[/caption]
We pass a few entrees around: shrimp with sea scallops, a house specialty. What look like enormous stuffed wontons with still more salad. (I decide that this is actually a good theme at least, and a nice touch besides.) A fried soft shell crab from Mr. Higgins impressed the Redhead, for whom that is an exotic treat.
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Soft shell crab, salad.[/caption]
It was around this time that I wonder why I am so full. The answer comes in a flash: we have eaten dinners like this every night for days. That's something I also notice in its dire effect on the debit card I use for my restaurant expenses. The money I take in from subscribers to my Five-Star NOMenu Daily pays for my dining activities, but when it runs out, I shift my dining focus to less-expensive places. (As my readers also would. I try to be as much like a normal avid diner as I can. Of course, I don't have that option during these days of weddings and such.
After dinner, we all go straight home. The older generation is not the only exhausted one.
[title type="h5"]
Le Foret. CBD: 129 Camp. 504-553-6738. [/title]
