An Outlier In Every Way

It’s hard for even me to believe, but in all the time I have been with Tom, I have never set foot in Bayona. The restaurant was newly arrived on the scene when we married, and then little kids followed, so we never got around to it. Tom was always a huge fan of Susan Spicer, but her food seemed too gourmet for me. I loved her short-lived Spice, Inc., mainly because of its casual nature. I found that food more approachable.

The same is true for Mondo, a place I went to quite a few times before its surprising exit. And then came Rosedale, which to me is probably the one that most represents the person. I say that with no real personal connection to the chef, but merely from observing her persona over the years. She has a distinctive personal statement, which is well-expressed at Rosedale. 

It starts with the property itself. Rosedale is out of the way. It’s on a short street that ends at the cemeteries all around Canal Blvd. Its boundaries include the railroad tracks you cross by the old Lenfants, and the street itself is a great example of “New Orleans streets,” the likes of which have not been seen since the days of the wagon wheels.

It’s actually a charming neighborhood and the one where Louis Armstong grew up in the boy's home that preservationists should not have allowed to be razed. Rosedale is an old police station that Susan Spicer has renovated into an interesting space for dining. 

I had been a few times for lunch before it really settled into its current state. The entrance has been moved to the rear, allowing for more seating, and the exterior spaces have flourished into quite inviting places to dine. (There are a few separate patios here.)

Susan Spicer’s husband does beautiful carpentry, and the chairs, etc. were crafted especially for this place. It has been a real labor of love. There is a back dining room now by the entrance and a large one down what amounts to a hallway, with restrooms on one side and the kitchen on the other. The bar is small but perfect for the place.

The chef spends most of her time at Rosedale, and she was in the house the night we went. We had her on The Food Show a few days earlier, and I was so excited by what she said and the food pics on the website that, as I always say, the Food Show works on me first. I wanted to go the night of our conversation, but it was a few days later that we finally did.

The menu is enticing. We started with garlic bread, which falls more into the category of cheesy bread. Pieces of French bread were covered in a medley of cheeses and some herbs. Predictably, this was irresistible.

Tom’s first course was turtle soup. He gets it everywhere he sees it, and he sees it a lot. Our expectations were higher for this one, because it is, after all, Susan Spicer. He was not disappointed at all. He loved the soup.

I was less enthusiastic about my first course. Hoisin Ribs was the billing. I ordered it with trepidation because I am not a fan of Asian sauces. I could love or hate them. The type of ribs was not specified, Whatever they were, these were foremost tough and chewy. Excessively so. I did love the Hoisin Sauce and I was mad about the vinegary slaw underneath. I could have made a meal of that. It was a colorful and very appealing-looking plate.

Tom stuck to his usual realm with a fish dish. It was trout with fingerling potatoes and haricot verts. The fingerling potatoes were excellent, roasted just so with a buttery film on the skins. And the haricot verts were also quite buttery. The rich cream sauce on the pan-sauteed fish had crabmeat aplenty. Delicious.

One of these days I’m going to do a collection of BBQ shrimp. I order it, even though I’m not really a fan of this dish, just to see what everyone does with it. This was a modern version, with a complex sauce, and a lot of bits of tasty things piled atop it.

Just because, we got a slice of the Macaroni and Cheese, which came as a chunk. This was in the style of The Cool Water Ranch version of the “kid food” as Tom calls it. (Which to our taste means the best.) Crusty on top and not especially creamy, this is the ideal way to do this dish.

We usually order bread pudding for Tom and call it dessert, but when there is a pecan pie on the menu I can be persuaded. We got pecan pie and Tom had lemon cheesecake with blueberries on top.

The pecan pie is very good and tends to be on the shallow side, which is my preference. There must be adequate crust and enough pecans to support the filling. These were not whole pecan halves as I prefer, but smaller pieces. Still, here is an ideal ratio, to me. I amped it up with housemade vanilla bean ice cream. As I would expect, the ice cream had a high butterfat content and a creamy mouthfeel, as well as a pronounced vanilla bean taste. Decadent.

Tom was just as enamored of his Lemon Cheesecake and blueberries. The filling was light and airy, and very rich. The blueberries offset the richness admirably, as did the citrus component. And the size of the slice was just right. Wonderful!Rosedale is unique. The culmination of four decades of cooking, from fine restaurants to casual spots, this place more than any other seems to embrace the fun eclecticism that is the Susan Spicer brand. Drop in for an experience.