Thursday, August 18, 2016.
Until a few days ago, Tommy Andrade was the extraordinarily adept owner of two restaurants at the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Julia. He told me last week that he has often heard offers to buy the restaurants, but that his response always put an immediate stop to the proposals.
"I had a card in my wallet with the price I would want for the restaurant on it," he said. "But when I showed it to the Ammari brothers, they said that they were ready to make the deal."
Indeed they were. Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts, the Ammaris' very active collection of New Orleans restaurants, gave Tommy everything he wanted. Included among his terms was that he continue to manage Tommy's and Tomas Bistro, and the several private rooms attached to each of them. He also wanted to keep his staff together. The Ammaris went for that, indeed welcoming Tommy's continued involvement. They also want him to be part of the management team for Creole Cuisine as a whole.
Finally, Tommy wanted to continue with his unique promotional program, which comes down to his inviting influential friends to Tommy's and Tomas Bistro for dinner now and then, to keep the word of mouth going. He added that this would probably include some serious wines. Okay, said the Ammaris.
Such an intimate gathering went on tonight. Tommy's p.r. lady invited me to come in for dinner and to have the whole story of the merger laid out. This proved to be more intimate than I expected. It was just Tommy, Marviani Ammari and me, sitting at the small table in the corner of the dining room, at the end of the bar.
[caption id="attachment_52485" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Lobster with gnocchi and a marvelous cream sauce tinged with tomato.[/caption]
On the table was a bottle of Krug non-vintage Champagne. The big, toasty flavors we expect from that deluxe bubbly were present fully. Then came a lobster and gnocchi appetizer with a light sauce of cream and tomatoes. It's good with the Chassagne Montrachet, but even better with the Champagne. (On the other hand, the gnocchi were too firm and chewy. But that's true of nine out of ten samples of the potato-pasta nubbins.)
I wonder how many bottles of expensive Champagne Tommy has opened in his career. I got to know him in the 1970s, when he was the manager of the Sazerac Restaurant in the Fairmont days. From the way he was dressed to his tableside service, Tommy's Sazerac exceeded the grandeur of every other restaurant in that era of New Orleans dining.
We talk about those days a little. And then we return to reality. We all know what a struggle it would be to bring fine dining back to a restaurant marketplace in which almost everybody dresses down, even for expensive dinners like this one would prove to be. Marv certainly knows this. When Creole Cuisine bought Broussard's a few years ago, it was with the expectation that it would be the grand restaurant it has been for most of its history. Broussard's certainly has the environment, location, and kitchen for that. Everything but enough customers looking for a dress-up evening.
On the other hand, Tommy's and Tomas Bistro both have the wherewithal to do the French-Creole gourmet thing with success. Tommy has seen to that since he opened the place thirteen years ago.
[caption id="attachment_52484" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Crabmeat and avocado salad.[/caption]
Our next course is a pile of jumbo lump crabmeat and avocados. Both items are at their peaks right now, which will give us an excuse to have some more crabmeat shortly.
[caption id="attachment_52483" align="alignnone" width="480"]
And here it is now! That's red snapper underneath.[/caption]
The dinner next brings forth a beautiful red snapper in a hot lemon butter with the requisite crabmeat. The Chassagne enters its ideal milieu with this partner.
Marv began to tell of his family's history, which dates back in New Orleans to the early half of the last century. The Ammaris are Greek Catholics with family connections in Jordan. This is, I knew, an ethnicity with a long presence in New Orleans, particularly when the Lebanese locals are included. I didn't ask him to bring all that up, but I'm glad he did. I have been asked more than a few times about the origins of Creole Cuisine, which has opened or taken over more than a few restaurants of note in the past decade. Here's a partial list:
Broussard's
The Bombay Club
Kingfish
Royal House (a very good oyster bar and seafood café across the street from Antoine's)
Both restaurants named Maspero's, two blocks from one another in the French Quarter
Boulevard, which recently took over the former Houston's in Metairie.
And, now, Tommy's Cuisine and Tomas Bistro. That comes close to the number of restaurants operated by the Brennans or by John Besh. The group clearly is no slowing its growth.
[caption id="attachment_52482" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Three domestic lamb chops with a magnificent demi and a tinge of blue cheese.[/caption]
The great dish of the night is a trio of Colorado lamb chops, served with an invisible sauce that very clearly has a touch of blue cheese in it somewhere. Just from that description, I'd wrinkle my nose the way I see you doing it now. But this proves to be a spectacular flavor combination.
And to make sure that's nailed down with the right wine, Tommy opens a bottle of 2009 Tignanello, the spectacular super-Tuscan wine with the richness and complexity of a major red but the food loving nature of a Chianti. When I open the one bottle of Tignanello I have in my wine closet, I will have lamb chops with it.
To finish off the wine, Tommy sends for a cheese plate. The dinner ends later than I had scheduled. I walk the two blocks to the garage where I left it before crossing the street to do the radio show. I have no worries about legging three blocks on Tchoupitoulas Street after eleven. But Tchoup in that stretch is so thick with funseekers that I don't give danger a second thought.
That fact could be one of the reasons that Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts has pounded a stake into the ground in this promising neighborhood. It looks like a good investment to me. But what do I know?
Tommy's Cuisine. Warehouse District: 746 Tchoupitoulas. 504-581-1103.
Lobster with gnocchi and a marvelous cream sauce tinged with tomato.[/caption]
On the table was a bottle of Krug non-vintage Champagne. The big, toasty flavors we expect from that deluxe bubbly were present fully. Then came a lobster and gnocchi appetizer with a light sauce of cream and tomatoes. It's good with the Chassagne Montrachet, but even better with the Champagne. (On the other hand, the gnocchi were too firm and chewy. But that's true of nine out of ten samples of the potato-pasta nubbins.)
I wonder how many bottles of expensive Champagne Tommy has opened in his career. I got to know him in the 1970s, when he was the manager of the Sazerac Restaurant in the Fairmont days. From the way he was dressed to his tableside service, Tommy's Sazerac exceeded the grandeur of every other restaurant in that era of New Orleans dining.
We talk about those days a little. And then we return to reality. We all know what a struggle it would be to bring fine dining back to a restaurant marketplace in which almost everybody dresses down, even for expensive dinners like this one would prove to be. Marv certainly knows this. When Creole Cuisine bought Broussard's a few years ago, it was with the expectation that it would be the grand restaurant it has been for most of its history. Broussard's certainly has the environment, location, and kitchen for that. Everything but enough customers looking for a dress-up evening.
On the other hand, Tommy's and Tomas Bistro both have the wherewithal to do the French-Creole gourmet thing with success. Tommy has seen to that since he opened the place thirteen years ago.
[caption id="attachment_52484" align="alignnone" width="480"]
Crabmeat and avocado salad.[/caption]
Our next course is a pile of jumbo lump crabmeat and avocados. Both items are at their peaks right now, which will give us an excuse to have some more crabmeat shortly.
[caption id="attachment_52483" align="alignnone" width="480"]
And here it is now! That's red snapper underneath.[/caption]
The dinner next brings forth a beautiful red snapper in a hot lemon butter with the requisite crabmeat. The Chassagne enters its ideal milieu with this partner.
Marv began to tell of his family's history, which dates back in New Orleans to the early half of the last century. The Ammaris are Greek Catholics with family connections in Jordan. This is, I knew, an ethnicity with a long presence in New Orleans, particularly when the Lebanese locals are included. I didn't ask him to bring all that up, but I'm glad he did. I have been asked more than a few times about the origins of Creole Cuisine, which has opened or taken over more than a few restaurants of note in the past decade. Here's a partial list:
Three domestic lamb chops with a magnificent demi and a tinge of blue cheese.[/caption]
The great dish of the night is a trio of Colorado lamb chops, served with an invisible sauce that very clearly has a touch of blue cheese in it somewhere. Just from that description, I'd wrinkle my nose the way I see you doing it now. But this proves to be a spectacular flavor combination.
And to make sure that's nailed down with the right wine, Tommy opens a bottle of 2009 Tignanello, the spectacular super-Tuscan wine with the richness and complexity of a major red but the food loving nature of a Chianti. When I open the one bottle of Tignanello I have in my wine closet, I will have lamb chops with it.
To finish off the wine, Tommy sends for a cheese plate. The dinner ends later than I had scheduled. I walk the two blocks to the garage where I left it before crossing the street to do the radio show. I have no worries about legging three blocks on Tchoupitoulas Street after eleven. But Tchoup in that stretch is so thick with funseekers that I don't give danger a second thought.
That fact could be one of the reasons that Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts has pounded a stake into the ground in this promising neighborhood. It looks like a good investment to me. But what do I know?
