Tuesday, October 18, 2016.
Cane and Table.
Mary Ann left at four in the morning for another visit to Jude, Jude's wife Suzanne, and their son Jackson in their home in Los Angeles. When the payoff is time spent with our nearly one-year-old grandson, getting up very early is no big deal to her. She does not say when she will be back.
When MA is gone, I go to restaurants she doesn't like. (She has veto power.) I have a limitless number of these to check. Right now, I am working up a story for Inside New Orleans Magazine about the sub-neighborhood near the French Market. MA doesn't like that part of the Quarter.
Even by New Orleans standards, this is a very old part of town, largely because the nearby Ursuline convent built quite a few buildings in the area that have remained largely intact since the 1700s. In recent decades--the 1970s and 1980s particularly--many of these became restaurants. But that was followed by attrition. With the exception of Tujague's, just about all the major, trendsetting restaurants along Chartres and Decatur between Dumaine and Ursulines have gone away.
But now they're coming back, with as much or more distinction than they had the first time around. What was Stella! is now Angeline's. What was Maximo's is now Trinity. Café Sbisa came and went several times since its brilliant resurrection in the mid-1970s. Once again its well-known menu is in action, looking great.
Meanwhile, Irene's Cuisine is as popular and delicious as ever. Coop's is jammed, usually with a line outside, for its easy-going, inexpensive Creole and Cajun eats.
Having visited Angeline and Trinity once each (and learning that I will have to revisit both, because of the richness of the offerings), I have set my assignment to try all the other good ones.
[caption id="attachment_52922" align="alignnone" width="480"]
The courtyard at Cane & Table.[/caption]
Today, the choice is Cane & Table, a restaurant whose door I have not darkened, even though it's been open for years. It made quite a splash then, largely by referencing its advanced bar capabilities in creating memorable cocktails to go with its food. That was the hottest story in town at the time. I have a way of avoiding hot topics, and wait until everyone is rational.
Or maybe my problem is that Cane & Table occupies the former G&E Courtyard Grill, the superb new-Italian restaurant of the 1990s operated by brothers Michael and Mark Uddo. The Uddos left over a dispute about the rent. They went their separate ways doing good things, but never up to the level of the G&E. (Michael is currently the chef at Café B.)
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Crab fritters.[/caption]
I remember the G&E being a striking, comfortable little restaurant with a big courtyard and an open wood-burning grill. Since they left, several restaurant moved in and out. If there were any restorations or renovations along the way, they eluded my notice. The current condition of the courtyard is. . . well, I'll call it sub-optimal. The front room with its vaunted bar was full when I arrived, and I was offered the courtyard. I took it, because I remember how it used to be. But it isn't that way anymore. It's dark back there. Fortunately, I had with me the light I use to take photos, which allowed me to read the menu. And the tables and chairs were very uncomfortable. The area needs, at the very least, a paint job.
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Scallops covered with spaghetti squash.[/caption]
I had my heart up for the food, recalling what others have said about it. The menu's strong section seemed to be the small plates--a typical condition where cocktails are central. I started with crab fritters and an aioli. I brought my light to bear on the fritters to see if I could visually detect the crabmeat, because I couldn't do it with the gustatory sense.
[caption id="attachment_52920" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Venison boudin (right).[/caption]
Now came sea scallops as part of a salad. Three medium-size, seared scallops were underneath an enormous pile of spaghetti squash, crunch and overabundant. But this next thing sounded good: venison boudin, with coconut rice. Didn't taste like boudin or venison. The jury is still out on the rice.
[caption id="attachment_52918" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Calas at Cane & Table.[/caption]
Dessert perked me up. Five calas, with a sweet sauce for dunking. This was very good, even though I saw no rice--usually a defining ingredient in this century-old, authentic Creole confection. But the calas were delightful anyhow.
I like two other things about Cane & Table. The name is terrific. And the service staff was likeable and efficient. My brain supplied me with a trivial note: the floor in the middle of the two service areas is made of the same stone that covers One Shell Square. I think it came from there, in fact--surplus stone bought and turned sideways.
One more thing: the front door needs a renovation, too. I stood in front of it and couldn't see it to enter.
Cane & Table. French Quarter: 1113 Decatur St. 504-810-0276.
