Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
Café Sbisa Returns From The Dead.
A turning point in the annals of New Orleans restaurants was the opening of Café Sbisa in the mid-1970s. Dr. Larry Hill, a psychiatrist and gourmet, saw a new path opening in the restaurant community, and a clientele that was interested in going that way, too. One dish on the menu became emblematic of these new possibilities. Using a charcoal grill fabricated with the hamburger grill at Bud's Broiler in mind, Café Sbisa became the first restaurant in modern times to offer fish not just fried or broiled, but grilled over a smoky fire. Suddenly, here was a new kind of dining, one particularly like young customers and other hipsters.
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The bar and the Dureau art above.[/caption]After Mr. B's and the other new Creole bistros stole its thunder, Café Sbisa had a spotty history. It closed for long periods at least twice as the ownership shifted. Even Dr. Hill's first chapter was a reopening. Sbisa's Café (as the neon sign named the restaurant) had already beein in business since 1899, and was one of the more successful restaurants in the French Market neighborhood. But it was a closed mess when Dr. Hill took over.
I will pass over all the other reopening stories--they're boring at best, and I'm not sure I have all the whys and wherefores straight. The latest renaissance involves Craig Napoli, who has owned the building for decades, and Alfred Singleton, a skillful chef who was here some point in the Sbisa story. (More recently, he was the chef at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. His chef's jacket says that he is the owner of Café Sbisa.
Tonight, I continue my survey of the new and renewed restaurants in the 1000 blocks of Chartres and Decatur Streets by having dinner at Sbisa's. It opened about three weeks ago, and I let two press openings slip by me. I am greeted at the door by people who do not know me, but who are as hospitable as if I were a longtime regular. The server is a smiling blonde with her hair braided. She says that she's new to the business, but I could not tell this from her efficient upkeep of my table.
The staff had time to spend with me. The place was nearly empty. But we are within the confines of the soft opening. The evidence of this comes from the restaurant's willingness to inaugurate an addition to the wines by the glass, when I say that there seemed to be a lack in that department.
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Oysters Sbisa.[/caption]The opening day menu is Café Sbisa's Greatest Hits. Turtle soup, a fried take on oysters Rockefeller, seafood courtbouillon, barbecue shrimp and a rack of lamb. The most popular dish is trout Eugene--a fried fillet of large size, topped with all the loose seafood in the house. Shrimp, crab fingers and crawfish tails, all in a rich sauce. Not even the name is really a Sbisa legend: Trout Eugene originated at the Caribbean Room. But Sbisa was hardly the only restaurant that served the dish.
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Turtle soup.[/caption]
Missing is the charcoal grill. The 1970s Sbisa also had a raw bar, with not just oysters but raw clams. But none of these minor complaints should interest anyone other than a history-minded restaurant critic. (Who might point out that having the bathrooms in the back of the second floor is authentic.) And there are other things to get excited about.
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Trout Eugene.[/caption]
For starters, the restaurant looks great. The famous George Dureau mural above the second floor is back home. The walls throughout the first floor have been refinished.
I eat too much, having started with both the oysters Sbisa and the turtle soup. The latter was a big serving of a very thick, well-made potage. The trout Eugene was easily big enough for two people. I only made it through half, and that was while leaving the crab fingers on the plate. (They're hard to eat without making a mess.)
The spirit of this edition of Café Sbisa recalls the Grand Dame restaurants. A love for Antoine's, Galatoire's, Broussard's and Arnaud's translates easily into at least a liking for the newestCafé Sbisa. All the place needs are local regulars.
In my comings and going aroung this part of the French Market area, I find myself crossing Decatur Street by walking through the dining room of the casual seafood restaurant at the corner. They have a live jazz band there every night. I always stop and listen to a tune or two. I guess I'll have to have dinner here some night as part of my expanding analysis of this culinary rebirth.
Cafe Sbisa. French Quarter: 1011 Decatur St. 504-309-7477.
