At this season, NOMenu takes an appreciative look at the matchless seafood of New Orleans. We take a different angle each year. This year's perspective is a countdown of the thirty-three (one for each weekday in Lent) best restaurants for lovers of oysters, pompano, crawfish, speckled trout, and all the other delicacies that make living here anything but a penance.
Number Ten
Redemption
Mid-City: 3835 Iberville St. 504-309-3570. Map.
Lunch TU WE TH FR SU Dinner TU WE TH FR SA
Nice Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website
This is the new restaurant that moved into the old church where the famous, popular and good Christian's once was. Owners Tommy and Maria Delaune have the tremendous advantage of owning a seafood wholesale house. That's like a steakhouse with its own cattle herd. But the restaurant didn't hit its stride until Chef Greg Picolo (formerly of the Bistro at the Maison de Ville) moved in and got comfortable. He is a major creative force, with a strong appreciation of the special magic that imbues the place.
Redemption now serves the best dishes from its original menu (the gumbo, stuffed shrimp, duck, and filet), a few Christian's classics (smoked soft-shell crab and stuffed fish), and the latest experiments from the chef's fertile mind. We're waiting to see which version of sweetbreads shows up, and an expansion of the fish array.
The church building that housed Christian's and now Redemption is nearly a century old. After its congregation left for bigger quarters in the 1970s, Christian's Restaurant moved in from Metairie. It was a marriage made in heaven, attracting diners from all over the country for thirty years. The hurricane persuaded Christian's owner Henry Bergeron to retire. He sold the church to Tommy Delaune, who at first wanted to make it a church again. That didn't work out. In late 2010, it reverted to the present restaurant.
Imagine a medium-size church with high cathedral ceilings, big windows, and lots of open space. Move the pews to the perimeter for the banquette tables. Fill the center with conventional tables. Put a bar near the entrance. This is Redemption. The major enhancement over the Christian's look is the new hardwood planked floor.
BEST SEAFOOD DISHES
»Oysters en brochette
Crawfish remoulade in a crisp avocado cup
»Creole crab cake ravigote
Prawns del Lago (stuffed with crabmeat)
»Pannéed smoked soft shell crab
»Seafood gumbo
Caesar salad (option: fried oysters)
»Field greens with crab and shrimp ravigote
»Abita barbecue shrimp, stone-ground cheese grits
Pavé of grilled salmon, tarragon, crawfish, shiitake mushroom gnocchi
»Soft shell crab meuniere
»Sautéed fillet of flounder, shrimp and mirliton dressing
»Seafood-stuffed fish a la Christian’s
»Gulf fish piccata, three mushroom risotto
Problem: it was unclear just what Redemption would be. The menu was clearly Creole and relied mostly on local ingredients, but it was that of an entirely new restaurant. It all sounded good enough, but compared with what had come before. . well, nothing much happened. Then came Chef Greg Picolo. His restaurant--the Bistro at the Maison de Ville--had ceased to exist, and he was looking for a new home for his own Creole French cooking. It was a marriage made in. . . well, heaven, I guess.
A more detailed review can be found here.
