Thursday, December 23, 2016.
Arnaud's Is All That.
Mary Ann meets me after the meeting and we go to Arnaud's with Mary Leigh. Usually I'm the one who encourages dining in the old-line restaurants. But this is the third time in the past couple of weeks that someone read my recommendations of Arnaud's that they wanted to try it. The essence of it is that the Reveillon menu is very appealing, and that the dining room--always the best-decorated for the holidays--is beautiful as ever.
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Daube Glace.[/caption]
Most of the orders from our table stay with the Reveillon. It begins with an amuse-bouche of chilled daube glace--sort of the beef equivalent of hogshead cheese. Good start.
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White remoulade from Arnaud's[/caption]
I push away my desire for oysters Arnaud--five baked oysters, each with a different sauce, perhaps the best appetizer in the city. Instead, I take up the Reveillon offering of of beef carpaccio--totally raw, marinated with herbs. Mary Ann balances that with a different kind ofshrimp remoulade. Instead of Arnaud's famous, sharp, red-brown remoulade, they bring big shrimp with a white remoulade. I continue to prefer the old version, but MA likes the new one.
We have a three-way soup course. ML has an entree bowl of chicken-andouille gumbo, which she loves and Arnaud's does well. The waiter tells me that I'd like the new asparagus and brie cheese soup, and I do. It's not as creamy-rich as is sounds.
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A great bread pudding with a familiar name.[/caption]
The only disappointment thus far is the Creole onion soup. It's an onion broth with a light roux. I've seen this before in some of the Brennan restaurants over the years, and I never warmed up to it anywhere, including here. Nobody's perfect.
The Marys, both rather full from all the courses so far, split a flank steak from the Reveillon menu. The are not blown away, but flank steak is not for everybody. It tasted good enough to me.
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Baked rabbit with French beans.[/caption]
My entree is perfect for Reveillon. It's half a baked rabbit, with beans made sort of cassoulet-style and some boudin strewn about. Rule Of Fine Dining #363D356: don't eat boudin or anything like it in a fancy restaurant. A lemma of this axiom is: boudin must look ugly to taste good. Fancy restaurants don't allow ugly food. The total dish, however, is very enjoyable.
MA orders a dessert! She almost never does. She says this is a sop to me, so I can have my namesake dish for the end course: bread pudding Fitzmorris. I an happy to see that Arnaud's kitchen is returning to its very rich bread pudding, the one that brought about my name's being added to it.
Archie Casbarian Jr.--co-owner Arnaud's with his mother and sister, named for his brilliant late father--comes over to our table to give an update. It has been a busy fall. That's obvious from the crowd in the main dining room. Not a lot of tourists right now. One can determine this by looking at the Arnaud's Jazz Bistro's population, which seems a little slack compared with the main room. It wouldn't matter to me. I love Arnaud's in its every part. And the Marys are very pleased to be here.
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[title type="h6"]Now, An Oddity. [/title]I was finished writing the diary entry for our visit to Arnaud's when I was called away. When I got back, I couldn't find the copy. Not the first time this happened; I often have several articles underway at one time. But I was pressed for time, so I just wrote a new one. That's not as time-consuming as it may seem. (The worst part of pulling the diary together is dealing with the photos, all of which was already finished.)
So here's the second version of my diary about the same meal at Arnaud's:
Back at home, Mary Ann read my report on Arnaud's Reveillon dinner, and found my descriptions so appetizing that she wanted to try it out in reality. Mary Leigh hears of the plan and decides to join us.
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Arnaud's in the holidays.[/caption]
In the article, I add that Arnaud's holiday decor is second to none. I did that from memory of past years, and I'm glad to see that the reality is what I imagined. It also helped that the restaurant was almost full.
I'm also happy to encounter a number of local people having dinner here tonight. I wonder how anybody who loves the uniqueness of New Orleans could not love Arnaud's magnificent front room.
Mary Ann and I both order the Reveillon menu, whose four courses sells for $49. We begin with an amuse-bouche of daube glace--the beef equivalent of hogshead cheese. Now beef carpaccio for me and a shrimp remoulade for MA. The shrimp are unusual in having been made with a white remoulade sauce, instead of Arnaud's famous red one. One would have to be jaded badly not to prefer the latter.
Two soups, one a Creole (made with a roux) onion soup and an asparagus and Brie potage. My pick is the latter. MA doesn't get excited about either.
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Rabbit and white beans at Arnaud's.[/caption]
The baked rabbit, served atop white beans, strikes a gamy not, perfect for this dinner and this date (the last day of spring). The girls will not touch the rabbit.
Mary Leigh, whose seafood-rejecting tastes leave her with few choices, has a bowl of chicken-andouille gumbo for an entree. She also has some of Mary Ann's entree, a seared flank steak. It's a little tough, but that's what flank is. Nobody at my family's table ever asks for my advice on these matters.
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Crepes suzette @ Arnaud's.[/caption]
The desserts are a chocolate trifle made with a touch of absinthe for the girls and crepes suzette for me. Now there's an old dessert we don't see often.
A lady visiting New Orleans with her husband comes over to our table and seems thrilled. She reads the newsletter all the time, and she is here at Arnaud's because I recommended it. It's always nice to learn that one is helping others.
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Arnaud's bread pudding Fitzmorris.[/caption]
The Marys leave before I do. I get to talking with another couple, and show off that my name is on the bread pudding. I eat a big square of the pudding to prove that I really like it.
How did I get through this dinner without having the five-variety baked oysters? It's the best appetizer in town to my tastes. I make a mental note that I owe my appetite an order of these things.
Arnaud's. French Quarter: 813 Bienville. 504-523-5433.
A Curious
