Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Café B Keeps Shining.
I neglected to report here on the dinner I had last Friday at Café B. Every time I go there it's better than I expect it to be, and I've dined there a pretty good bit. Today my interest was grabbed by a special summer menu that promises a three-course dinner for $35. It begins with something I've enjoyed every time I've been here: the little hot rolls, which have the texture and stretchiness of a popover. They bring you these free, and it's hard to stop eating them.
Chicken-andouille gumbo is the first course. It is very hot and meaty, and comes across more like a stew than like a soup. It's also filling. It is not like Mr. B's gumbo ya-ya, which is what I was thinking about, but nevertheless is hearty.
The entree is an old Creole-French classic: chicken bonne femme. The name "good woman" connotes a reference to the kind of housekeeper who had a house to clean and a lot of kids, and very little money stay on an even keel. The chicken part is somewhat like the dish of the same name at Tujague's, in that the chicken is fried but with a very light coating. It arrives as hot as a deep-fryer can make it, and the vegetables around the perimeter complete the dish. So all of this dinner so far is pretty old-fashioned for a change. I'm happy to see more restaurants referring to the glowing past these days.
The dessert is sinfully large: an ice cream parfait involving what I think was pineapple.
The surroundings and service of Café B are low-key. That's one of the things I like best about the place, which is one of the two or three best white-tablecloth restaurant in Metairie. Everybody in the place seems to know everybody else.
And it's on my way home.
Café B. Old Metairie: 2700 Metairie Road. 504-934-4700.
