Thursday, November 5, 2015.
First Taste Of Compére Lapin.
The current audio book for my daily two-hour commutes is
Herzog, the breakthrough novel by Saul Bellow. I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and already Moses Herzog has made five references to not just shrimp remoulade, but specifically shrimp Arnaud. In all cases, he is dining in high style, usually with one of the women who appreciates him a great deal. The book came out in 1964, when Arnaud's was in decline but still considered one of the greatest restaurants in America. Bellow doesn't mention the restaurant Arnaud's itself, nor even New Orleans.
[caption id="attachment_49494" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Dining room in the crook of an L-shape, with the oyster bar on the left.[/caption]
I think it's time to try Compére Lapin ("brother rabbit"), the new Warehouse District restaurant in the just-renovated Old No. 77 Hotel on Tchoupitoulas just off Poydras. It's the nearest restaurant to my radio studio, and I've looked inside enough times to know that it's consistently busy with people who look more than a little happy.
More cogent data: the chef is Nina Compton, whose main claim to fame for anyone who watches television is that she came in second last year on "Top Chef." She hails from the Caribbean islands, but the menu concept seems to me an amalgam of American Southern and Cajun as well as Caribbean.
[caption id="attachment_49493" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Steak tartare with sunchokes.[/caption]
I thought I had sneaked in unnoticed, but before the first course emerged from the kitchen Larry Miller--the general manager of the place, and the chef's husband--had me in his sights. I get an extra dish in each course, and get a chance to sample eight dishes, about half the entire menu. From this I learn that the menu has changed quite a bit since the early months, when after scanning the menu en route to the garage, I didn't find enough dishes to appetize me properly.
[caption id="attachment_49492" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Hamachi crudo[/caption]
That is clearly no longer true. I begin with steak tartare with sunchokes (a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes)--and some unbidden hamachi crudo with nearly-frozen melon. Next I get a take on boudin-style risotto, made not with rice but the ancient grain farro. Since Sylvain stopped serving it, farro has been unavailable locally. (My son Jude tells me that it's all over Los Angeles, however). No great loss, I thought--until I tried eating this. It's nutty and spicy and more filling than I expect.
[caption id="attachment_49491" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Brussels sprouts salad, with chicken skin.[/caption]
Now here are roasted Brussels sprouts made into a salad with a buttermilk dressing and pressed, fried chicken skins as garnish. I've always loved chicken skins. When I worked at the Time Saver broasting chickens in the 1960s, I used to sneak the skins off the thighs when taking the chicken out of the fryer.
[caption id="attachment_49490" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Boudin with farro and barely-poached egg.[/caption]
And curried goat, a little like the kind they maic in Jamaica, with little nubbins of sweet potato gnocchi. The latter bulks too large in the mix, a little starchy--but the flavors are marvelous.
[caption id="attachment_49489" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Curried goat.[/caption]
I get two desserts. The one I ordered is banana zeppole--Italian-style beignets, the size of hush puppies but more like calas. The other is an archipelago of islands made from a sort of fruit puree (I think), flooded halfway up their coastlines with a chocolate sauce that the Marys would love. Very pretty, with a table presentation, yet.
[caption id="attachment_49488" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Zeppole with caramel sauce.[/caption]
So this place is ready to go. Reservations seem a must, from what I see here. Younger clientele. A woman at the next table tells me that my glasses are very handsome. I know that men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses, but what am I to make of this? (I also know that she's not making a pass.)
[caption id="attachment_49487" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Fruit puree islands with chicolate seas.[/caption]
I continue to get letters from readers who are following the feline drama unfolding around the Cool Water Ranch. The cat Satsuma seems to be comfortable. The cat Valencia, who just joined us yesterday, is still figuring things out. He likes dark holes and counter tops. He peed on my computer keyboard. Did you know you can rinse a keyboard in water, shake the water out, then let it dry upside down with no damage to the keyboard? Well, that's what happened with mine, anyway. And yes, I did wash my hands very well before writing these words for you.
Compere Lapin. CBD: 535 Tchoupitoulas. 504-599-2119.
Dining room in the crook of an L-shape, with the oyster bar on the left.[/caption]
I think it's time to try Compére Lapin ("brother rabbit"), the new Warehouse District restaurant in the just-renovated Old No. 77 Hotel on Tchoupitoulas just off Poydras. It's the nearest restaurant to my radio studio, and I've looked inside enough times to know that it's consistently busy with people who look more than a little happy.
More cogent data: the chef is Nina Compton, whose main claim to fame for anyone who watches television is that she came in second last year on "Top Chef." She hails from the Caribbean islands, but the menu concept seems to me an amalgam of American Southern and Cajun as well as Caribbean.
[caption id="attachment_49493" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Steak tartare with sunchokes.[/caption]
I thought I had sneaked in unnoticed, but before the first course emerged from the kitchen Larry Miller--the general manager of the place, and the chef's husband--had me in his sights. I get an extra dish in each course, and get a chance to sample eight dishes, about half the entire menu. From this I learn that the menu has changed quite a bit since the early months, when after scanning the menu en route to the garage, I didn't find enough dishes to appetize me properly.
[caption id="attachment_49492" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Hamachi crudo[/caption]
That is clearly no longer true. I begin with steak tartare with sunchokes (a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes)--and some unbidden hamachi crudo with nearly-frozen melon. Next I get a take on boudin-style risotto, made not with rice but the ancient grain farro. Since Sylvain stopped serving it, farro has been unavailable locally. (My son Jude tells me that it's all over Los Angeles, however). No great loss, I thought--until I tried eating this. It's nutty and spicy and more filling than I expect.
[caption id="attachment_49491" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Brussels sprouts salad, with chicken skin.[/caption]
Now here are roasted Brussels sprouts made into a salad with a buttermilk dressing and pressed, fried chicken skins as garnish. I've always loved chicken skins. When I worked at the Time Saver broasting chickens in the 1960s, I used to sneak the skins off the thighs when taking the chicken out of the fryer.
[caption id="attachment_49490" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Boudin with farro and barely-poached egg.[/caption]
And curried goat, a little like the kind they maic in Jamaica, with little nubbins of sweet potato gnocchi. The latter bulks too large in the mix, a little starchy--but the flavors are marvelous.
[caption id="attachment_49489" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Curried goat.[/caption]
I get two desserts. The one I ordered is banana zeppole--Italian-style beignets, the size of hush puppies but more like calas. The other is an archipelago of islands made from a sort of fruit puree (I think), flooded halfway up their coastlines with a chocolate sauce that the Marys would love. Very pretty, with a table presentation, yet.
[caption id="attachment_49488" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Zeppole with caramel sauce.[/caption]
So this place is ready to go. Reservations seem a must, from what I see here. Younger clientele. A woman at the next table tells me that my glasses are very handsome. I know that men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses, but what am I to make of this? (I also know that she's not making a pass.)
[caption id="attachment_49487" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Fruit puree islands with chicolate seas.[/caption]
I continue to get letters from readers who are following the feline drama unfolding around the Cool Water Ranch. The cat Satsuma seems to be comfortable. The cat Valencia, who just joined us yesterday, is still figuring things out. He likes dark holes and counter tops. He peed on my computer keyboard. Did you know you can rinse a keyboard in water, shake the water out, then let it dry upside down with no damage to the keyboard? Well, that's what happened with mine, anyway. And yes, I did wash my hands very well before writing these words for you.
