10 Most Interesting New Restaurants Of 2010
Seventy-three new restaurants opened in New Orleans during the past year. I'll have more about that statistic and what it means later in the week. But today we begin our look back at the year past with a list of the ten restaurants that are a) of unusual interest and 2) too new to have settled into a reviewable groove. Here are the places that will mature into the new crop of good places in 2011. (I hope.)
Throughout the rest of the week, and perhaps into next week, I'll have several more lists designed to illustrate the development of the restaurant scene.
1. Mesón 923. Warehouse District: 923 S Peters. 504-523-9200. It opened with a bang, a major chef from Emeril's, an investor with deep pockets, an interesting building in the Warehouse District (with a balcony yet!) and a truly unmemorable name. And it was good, with an inventive yet appetizing menu. Then something happened. The chef left, the new chef (he had been there all along) changed the menu, and the place is still having new-restaurant issues. Maybe next year.
2. Rue 127. Mid-City: 127 N Carrollton Ave . 504-483-1571. The narrow but charming old house on North Carrollton just off Canal is where the very good Arabesque came and went a couple of years ago. Now two chefs (alumni of Commander's, among other good places) are running a menu of familiar, up-to-date, Creole bistro dishes. It looks and sounds good, and the buzz has been positive.
3. Cafe Abyssinia. Uptown: 3511 Magazine St . 504-894-6238. They're serving Ethiopian food, and are the only ones in town doing so. We've had a few Ethiopian restaurants come and go in the past. This one seems to have more on the ball than those.
4. Sylvain. French Quarter: 625 Chartres St . 504-265-8123. In a building that's old even by French Quarter standards, this is a new casual bistro whose web site seems a bit pretentious. How about--for example--a glass of Veuve Clicquot and an order of fries for $50?
5. Tracey's. Garden District: 2604 Magazine St. 504-897-5413. Tracey's was the old (1940s) name of Parasol's, and the owners are the people who have been running Parasol's for the past decade or so. They and the landlord couldn't agree on the old place, so they moved to a former gas station with a cool look on Magazine Street. The specialty is the same: poor boy sandwiches, made to order. Good so far.
6. Eiffel Society. Garden District: 2040 St Charles Ave. 504-525-2951. The striking, weblike metal structure on St. Charles Avenue that was built in the 1980s for Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel has been a catering facility for the past few years. The new owners still do that, but they're open for dinner, too. The menu is by chef Ian Schnoebelin of Iris. I find the place impressive but confusing.
7. Kazoku Sushi. Mandeville: 1680 LA Hwy 59. 985-626-8118. The North Shore has too many sushi bars, but this new one was welcome. Operated by former Little Tokyo chef Wilson Fung and his family (that's what "kazoku" means), the place looks good and makes great sushi. And Wilson is entertaining.
8. Jackson. Garden District: 1910 Magazine. 504-522-5766. The former restaurant in this Lower Garden District location (also called Jackson), had a much more ambitious menu. Forget that and come for the burgers and the basic platters.
9. Salú . Uptown: 3226 Magazine St. 504-371-5958. The owners of Byblos had a seafood restaurant called Catch here during the first half of the year. It was just okay. Using the oil spill as a pretext, they closed Catch and replaced it a few weeks later with this Spanish tapas bar.
10. K Gee's Oyster Bar. Mandeville: 2534 Florida. 985-626-0530. A new seafood cafe in Mandeville, with a well-stocked oyster bar, crisp fried dishes, and an assortment of oddities we don't see often.
