Skip The Fish

It’s holiday time and there is a big family party this weekend so the expat sisters are here. The expat sisters crave the food of their homeland so we try to take them somewhere good, preferably a place they have not experienced. It is easy to find somewhere good that will check those New Orleans food boxes, but new isn’t as easy a box to check. New places aren't doing New Orleans food. They are either doing a bad interpretation of it, or something else entirely. Too bad.

But Delacroix, the new jewel in the BRG crown, totally fits the bill. It is billed as a modern fish camp. The weather was perfect and we sat outside. There is a lovely under-roof outdoor space there, with a marvelous eye-level view of river traffic. (The other great view of the mighty Mississippi is five floors above it on the balcony of Chemin à la Mer. Another great favorite of mine.)

The music was fantastic, the breezes were blowing, and the food was coming. And coming. And coming.

We started with the shrimp bisque and I told the sisters to have the gumbo, which is my current favorite in town by a large margin. Our competent, personable, and very helpful waitress Renee (they don’t come like this much anymore,) called the gumbo “a real 337 gumbo.” I knew immediately from the area code 337 that she meant from Cajun country. I never heard that expression but I think I’ll use it.

One of the sisters wanted the boudin balls, and I told them to have the Duck Popper Meat Pie. For entrees one got the seafood salad, which is enough for the table, and I had the roasted chicken with collard greens and dirty rice. And somewhere in the meal a ragout was sent to the table. So much food!

The soups arrived and the 337 gumbo was so impressive we ordered another one. This gumbo hits all the right notes. It is smoky, spicy, and absolutely loaded with tender shreds of braised duck and lots of great andouille. Just spectacular. It comes with a too-creamy deviled egg on top.

The shrimp bisque was different than I expected. It came with fried oyster crackers. The amped-up cracker thing is a fun little phenomenon I am seeing everywhere. Saltines have had a serious upgrade. They are now buttered and seasoned and come to the table as an entirely new thing. It’s becoming common, but I’ve never seen it done with oyster crackers. That must be tedious for the kitchen, but it’s fun for the diner.

But what was most interesting about this bisque was that it did not use a delicious crutch to make it more fabulous. It appeared to be cream-less. It was made like a momma from the last century would have made it. It was thinner from the use of rich stock. While I consider the ones with cream more luscious, I appreciated the care it took and the skill necessary for this simple bisque version to be on par with the creamy cheaters. I love both, but this one impressed me more. And the little crunch from the crackers was a nice pop.

The boudin balls came in a little paper bag, but there wasn’t a sludge of grease. They were greaseless, and the little presentation was fun. They did not come with a sauce. They had to make it on their own, and they certainly did. I was surprised to see them as sort of an arancini, with a nugget of cheese in the center. This was Cajun boudin, with the requisite flavor. Good stuff, and a big hit with the expats.

I am partial to this meat pie, because I am meat pie-obsessed. I love this crust, which is so flaky and perfect it almost wouldn’t matter if I didn’t like the insides. But I do love the insides. I can’t even think of one I’d prefer around town, and I have them everywhere. I also think the sauce served with this is outstanding. We used it for the boudin balls too.

A plate of ragout was delivered to the table unexpectedly. It was a large portion of Cavatelli pasta with duck, rabbit and turnips. The meat was ground together and incorporated throughout this tasty and very hearty dish. I could have finished that and stopped, but there was more to eat so we took most of this home. A pasta lover will love this pasta dish.

The seafood salad is so large it explodes from the dish. It is an arresting visual of greens and Ruby Red shrimp and purple onion as well as various heirloom tomatoes. The crabmeat peeks out from the big and little Romaine leaves. This is tossed in a Green Goddess dressing, which I am happily seeing more of around town. The entire thing was finished with shreds of Tabasco infused onions. This salad should automatically come with extra plates. First, it is impossible to eat, almost defying gravity. And it must be shared for two reasons: everyone wants a piece of this beautiful creation, and, the one who ordered it needs help.

The salad greens were so fresh and crisp, the dressing so creamy and tasty, and all the other elements made for a great whole. I wished I had noticed more crabmeat, and the Royal Reds were an unnecessary upgrade. I love Royal Reds on their own, but our shrimp are also great, not as intense as Royal Reds, and cheaper, meaning there would have been more of them.

The roast chicken dish was, in a word…superb. The two pieces of smaller (meaning better) chicken were done to perfection, and I only use that overused term when it must be used. Perfection: crispy skin, tender and moist inside. But even this was eclipsed by the collard greens of my life. Next time I will ask for sides of both the collard greens and dirty rice. I could have made this a meal. I will think of these two side dishes until my next visit.

I’m embarrassed to say we had dessert. But only because we had been talking about the Mississippi Mud Pie. We got one to go.

When we opened it later I was at first alarmed by the pretzel sticks lining it on one side like a fence. Pretzels and chocolate are meh to me. There was Bavarian whipped cream on top, nonpareils, and toasted almond slivers. A lot going on, and that made me suspicious. But oh good heavens! This was sublime. The menu said it was oyster cracker toffee, which explained the mystery crunch. I don’t need to explain. Chocolate lovers…get this.

When the weather is wonderful outside I crave alfresco New Orleans food. That need is usually satisfied by The Blue Crab. And it is a little more difficult to get to Delacroix.  But it is totally worth it. I am absolutely elated to have this one in the New Orleans dining orbit. And if this is what a fish camp looks like, sign me up.