The number of restaurants in the New Orleans area rose by around five percent in 2013. That's a slower growth than in other post-Katrina years. However, the new restaurants that came along showed a degree of originality higher than we've seen in the past. (I am not sure this is a good thing. More about that is coming in the NOMenu Year-End Review, next week.)
We have two lists of Best New Restaurants: one for casual, less-expensive places, another for more upscale dining. This is list is for the latter category. Quick summary: we didn't have as many openings of large, expensive restaurants as we did last year. That's a clear fact. More open to interpretation is this: it seems to me that this year's openings were more progressive in their menus than in recent years.
I have left out a few restaurants that another observer might have included. The omissions are all for the same reason: the restaurants involved have not jelled into smooth operations yet. Among those are: Tableau, Ivy, Marti's, Tivoli & Lee, Impastato Cellars, Cibugnu, and Jubilee. All of these might well be included in this list, but I haven't seen enough to give me the confidence for full reviews and ratings.
1. Kingfish. French Quarter: 337 Chartres St. 504-598-5005. Opened by the group that brought eight new restaurants to the French Quarter is fewer than that number of years, Kingfish seemed touristy and too hip at first. But with the skilled hand of Chef Greg Sonnier (he of the extinct Gabrielle) in motion, this has become an engaging Cajun bistro with imaginative cooking and personable service.
2. Desi Vega's. CBD: 628 St Charles Ave. 504-523-7600. The faith that Mr. John's was the best steakhouse in town was so widely held that you couldn't get into the place anymore. Its owners (Desi Vega is one of them) decided to take over the former Mike's on the Avenue and install Mr. John's menu there. After a year, its food is as good as Mr. John's, in a better-looking place.
3. Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar & Fish House. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3117 21st Street. 504-833-6310. The conundrum of how the great Bozo's seafood restaurant could be delivered to the next generation (the last one was in its 80s and 90s) was solved by Ed McIntyre, who is not only an operator of several other good restaurants in Metairie, but was a Bozo's fan all his life. The old place got a good renovation and a much-expanded menu, but kept Bozo's greatest hits.
4. Pêche Seafood Grill. Warehouse District & Center City: 800 Magazine St. 504-522-1744. Donald Link's group of mostly successful restaurants (Herbsaint, Cochon, Butcher, and the short-lived Lafayette branch of Cochon) gave birth to a seafood restaurant. All the trends are in place: a charcoal-wood grill, whole fish, abbreviated menu dominated by small plates. Rough industrial furnishings: concrete floors, walls, and ceilings. Large bar. The food is fresh and good, and the place was instantly popular. But the number one comment I hear (and only barely) is that the noise level is at new peaks.
5. Sapphire. Slidell: 2306 Front St. (985) 288-4166. The prayer of many longtime Bywater residents came true. Lloyd and Joel English, who operated Restaurant Mandish on St. Claude Avenue for decades--have come out of retirement (Katrina) and joined their son in opening a Mandich-inspired eatery in Slidell. You'll need a reservation.
6. Mariza. Bywater & Downtown: 2900 Chartres St. 504-598-5700. Chef Ian Schnoebelen and wife Laurie Casebonne--while performing brilliantly as always at Iris in the French Quarter--took over an industrial space in lower Bywater and opened a quirkily authentic Italian restaurant, with an emphasis on salumi, cheeses, pizza and house-made pasta.
7. Porter & Luke's. Metairie 1: Old Metairie: 1517 Metairie Road. 504-875-4555. In the 1970s and earlier, New Orleans had many restaurants with large menus, ranging from poor boy sandwiches to rather fancy entrees, with Italian food and fried chicken in between. (Mandina's one of the few remaining.) Porter & Luke is a new edition of this concept. Chef Vincent Manguno, an alumnus of the great old La Riviera, keeps an enormous menu in motion. Highlight: fried chicken.
8. Andy's Bistro. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3322 N. Turnbull Dr. 504-455-7363. Andy's opened in 2012, but was a long time in becoming consistently good. With a large bar and a menu tuned to a young, suburban crowd (logically enough, considering the location), it thrives on steaks, chops, pizza, and seafood appetizers. Chef Andrea of the restaurant of the same name consulted on the menu and is a partner, but the food is completely different. And, I would say, better.
9. Amici. Uptown 2: Washington To Napoleon: 3218 Magazine. 504-300-1250. The Uptown Byblos moved out of its too-handsome space to a smaller one a block up Magazine Street. Taking over the space is Amici, an Italian restaurant featuring a coal-burning pizza oven and the kind of menu you'd find in a trattoria in Taormina or Sorrento. Charming and delicious.
10. Old Arabi Eats. Arabi: 7005 St. Claude Ave. 504-563-0131. The battered, half-abandoned building in the old center of Arabi looks like the last place for an ambitious chef to open a bistro. But here it is, with a brief menu of delicious, occasionally complex Creole cooking. Ignore the premises: the food is worth the effort.
11. Galatoire's 33 Bar & Steak. French Quarter: 215 Bourbon St. 504-335-3932. All of a sudden, the new owners of Galatoire's bought, renovated and opened the building next door. The main motivation was to expand the old restaurant's minuscule private party space. But the ground floor of the new building had a different purpose. First, it could hold (and sell drinks to) people waiting for a table in the main Galatoire's. Second, there could be a different menu served in the rear. Steaks, somebody thought. Good idea. Prime beef, well turned out. The sides and appetizers still need work. More important, a personality must be found for the dining room staff. It ain't like dining at Galatoire's, that's for certain.
12. Little Gem Saloon. CBD: 445 S Rampart St. 504-267-4863. In a well-restored old club with roots in the early decades of jazz, the Little Gem is deadly serious about both its endeavors: live music and Creole food. The kitchen has not completely found its way. Its first menu was very retro and more interesting than good. It's settled down in recent months and is particularly good at steaks. The music is live, on all the time, and first-class.
Written by Tom Fitzmorris December 27, 2013 15:05 in
