When you have a full-fledged beer brewery operating in your restaurant, that's your unique selling proposition. It's a major undertaking for owner Wolf Koehler, who at the same time has always taken the food offerings of his place seriously. Putting in an oyster bar, for example, is no easy task.
Despite that, the food here has usually taken a back seat at the Brewhouse. Now comes news of a culinary upgrade. Three chefs--two of whom have a long track record locally--are on the verge of turning up the heat in the kitchen.
Ricky Cheramie's roots are in Cajun bayou country. He's been enough other places to have some depth. He was the chef for three years at the Bombay Club, for example, and before that he spent a lot of time at K-Paul's and Commander's Palace. Jeffrey Rhodes comes out of the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls. I haven't met third new Brewhouse chef, Barry Credeur, but they say he's a classically-trained French chef. The management is calling the chefs "the three musketeers."
Of course, it's too soon to know what this will amount to, but I'm glad to hear it. The food at the Brewhouse has long shown room for improvement.
Crescent City Brewhouse. French Quarter: 527 Decatur. 504-522-0571.
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