“The Summer Doldrums” have long been a dreaded season for restaurateurs, and they have had to figure out a way to coax diners out of their air-conditioned homes in the summer to dine out. Last week I noticed a post by Gabrielle for their Duck Special over last weekend.
Nobody does roast duck like Greg Sonnier, so I knew I had to get it. Besides, it was an incredible deal: $50 for two included two starters, then the duck entree for two, and a shared dessert.
Gabrielle is an adorable place. I’m glad the interminable road construction is finally complete in front of the restaurant. Inside is a charming New Orleans-style interior full of pictures with just the right lighting for the food. That’s hard to explain but just trust me.
No one is doing food like this right now. John Folse is a Cajun chef but his food is sophisticated gourmet. This is polished Cajun comfort food. The roast duck comes over dirty rice. Greg Sonnier is a master of this kind of local comfort food, particularly thick dark sauces and rouxs.
I was surprised to see that starters did not mean all starters, so the appetizer menu was not open to choices: pick gumbo or a salad. I got both.
The gumbo was a guinea hen and chicken/sage sausage. The roux was characteristically Greg Sonnier: thick and smooth with a reddish cast to the color. A small mound of rice mixed well with the intensity of the soup. Everything you want a Cajun gumbo to be, though the sausage was crumbly, a very different texture from the standard andouille.
Gabrielle has an interesting house salad which includes a lot of disparate elements that blend into a nice whole. It was a medley of greens studded with blueberries, some shaved purple onion, candied pecans, feta cheese crumbles, Balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and oddly, sliced black olives. It was not the freshest lettuce but it was a tasty salad. An interesting mix.
The roasted duck was wonderful, as expected. It was a confit-like tender leg quarter with a skin so dark and crispy that it had separated from the meat. The skin had visible herbs on it, and it was perfection. The dirty rice underneath was the ideal accompaniment for such a dense protein. This was a delectable bite of food. Real Cajun food, which is heartwarming to its core. Loved this.
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There were two choices of dessert, and both were pies. I had a slice of the chocolate pecan pie. I am crazy about chocolate in all applications, and I do love chocolate pie. I am equally enthusiastic about pecan pie, but the two together I find distracting. The other choice was a citrus pie and I chose the pecan option.
This was a very nice version of chocolate pecan pie, mainly because it wasn’t very chocolatey. It had a perfect crust that was sturdy yet flaky, and the proper amount of filling. A lovely specimen of pecan pie with a bit of Crème fraîche, a dusting of powdered sugar, and a caramel drizzle, this was a nice blend of flavors and textures.
The staff at Gabrielle is great. These are the professional class of servers, something you don't see much now. They are friendly and helpful. Nice to see.
I do hope they will offer more of these summer deals. This one was great and I expect the others to be too. It’s a nice way to revisit an old favorite still doing their thing good as ever. Especially if it’s a good thing.
