Before a constantly proliferating cascade of hip restaurants took over the dining scene these last ten years, such restaurants arrived at a much slower pace. It was easy to keep up with them. I remember when Coquette made a name for itself around town. It was right after the city was settling in after Katrina. Michael Stolzfus was one of the “new kids” in town making a name for himself.
Coquette is a cool place too, occupying a very old building that dates back to the 19th century. It looks the part, with wooden beams and brick walls and an overall vintage vibe. Handsome, though.
I had weird thoughts when I returned there recently, immediately transported back to the halcyon days with Tom, having dinner at Coquette on a rare “date” with friends. It was a sweet memory. My recollections of the experience were that Coquette was modern gourmet, exactly as I would characterize the meal I just had, though the earlier one wasn’t wildly creative. “Wildly creative” is a kind term I use when I really mean silly. This last meal at Coquette was “wildly creative,” though I mean it here in a good way. I don’t need to eat any of it again, but I did enjoy the quirkiness of it.
The dinner is part of a summer series designed to bring in diners in the dog days of summer in New Orleans. The diners eat before seeing the meal, and only receive a menu after they are finished. It is a four course prix fixe for $60++, a steal for a place like this. Each dinner focuses on one single element and a menu is crafted using that item for each course. The evening I went, the single ingredient was chocolate. Everyone knows I have no outer limit for chocolate consumption, but I had doubts about a savory meal with chocolate at the center. These dinners are prepaid, so once you’re in it, you’re in it.
Soup was the first course, featuring white chocolate. White chocolate is about the only “chocolate” that I find uninteresting, but the soup was definitely not boring. It had corn and crabmeat, coconut milk and curry with a chocolate gastrique running through it. A lot was going on here, and I didn’t taste the chocolate at all. I was surprised how much I liked this.
The second course was such a disappointment. A milk chocolate vinaigrette coated a big pile of disconnected flavors, and when the pepitas ran out I was done. Slivers of watermelon radishes and charred radicchio were just too bitter to blend into a whole. And of course there were shisito peppers in this salad, because aren’t those everywhere now?
In the third course the featured chocolate was dark chocolate as part of a Molé sauce over short rib. Salsa Roja was part of this mix, as well as tomatillo. Watermelon was one of the “extras” that included pickled onions and cilantro. It was a beautiful collection of colorful ingredients stacked perfectly on the plate. This was so delicious I wanted more of it. Tom was an ardent fan of Molé sauce before anyone had even heard of it, and he was continually frustrated with its regular absence on menus. It was only served with chicken, and whenever he saw it he ordered it. But this preparation on the short rib was in an entirely different realm. Fantastic. All of it.
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The dessert course was built around bitter chocolate, with its centerpiece a huge almond-shaped scoop of chocolate ice cream. A rye cookie was perched next to and leaning on it, blueberries were nestled beside it and scattered about, and under all of this were different fruit preserves. Too much. So many conflicting flavors here. The chocolate ice cream was salted, which seemed a distraction. I don’t understand rye cookies or brownies, and the addition of the compotes and preserves just complicated everything. I have said it too many times to count… “interpretations” of things should only be improvements. These weren’t, but it was the fitting ending to this dinner.
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All of the chocolate came from Piety & Desire, our own fine chocolatier, USA Today’s favorite American chocolatier of 2023.
Coquette is offering these special dinners each Tuesday evening through August, celebrating a single ingredient in each of four courses for $60. A real deal. And fun too.
