[title type="h5"]Wednesday, January 8, 2014.[/title]
We keep pulling for a big success at the corner of Lafitte and Jefferson Streets in Old Mandeville. That's where a hundred-year-old former bakery has been home to at least five restaurants, with periods of emptiness between them, over the past fifteen or so years. It's built from sturdy old planks, their lines never running either parellel or perpendicular to any other line in the building. Big windows of old, wavy glass panes give further evidence of the honest antiquity of the place.
Until the current owners took over last year, Jubilee had an old oven for baking bread. Every chef who showed up at least thought of reviving that oven, but gave up the idea when the maintenance realities dawned. The oven needs to be fired all the time to work. That would require at least two full-time oven-tenders. And what would they do with all that bread?
That issue has finally been laid to rest. The stones from which the oven was built have been removed to the side yard of the structure, there to be the floor of a very pretty courtyard.
Mary Ann loves the look of the courtyard. And outdoor dining in general. But not even she had the guts to sit out there in the wintry temperatures of this evening. It went down to the teens last night, and will make it to the twenties tonight. Not having to dine outside is the one thing for which I am thankful to the weather.
The chef at Jubilee is Torey Stewart, who for the past few years has been the executive chef at Broussard's. Almost the entire staff of Broussard's cycled out after Gunter and Evelyn Preuss sold it last year. How Chef Torey wound up on the North Shore while living across the pond I didn't find out. If he was in the building this night, he didn't come over to say hello. And he's a friendly enough chef that I think he would have.
We started with a glass of super-Tuscan red and a cone of fresh-cut fries. The latter were perfect: pretty, greaseless, hot, crisp, just a little salty. My girlfriend and I both love good fries.
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Charcuterie platter at Jubilee.
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The appetizer made us look at one another with concern. She had a plate of charcuterie. The waiter told us that all of it except for the little brown breads had been made in house. Of course it was. That's the law of cheffing in the 2010s. If you don't make your own cold cuts, you mustn't be much. (I think I've made it clear in the past that this is nothing but a posture.)
Because Mary Ann thought it was the kind of thing our son Jude's girlfriend likes to eat in Los Angeles, she suggested that I try the egg-white omelette. It'd say this is a good idea that needs some further R&D. The omelette part was featureless, missing crustiness around the edges to add contrast to the protoplasm-like eggs. It was topped with some arugula that couldn't make up its mind whether to be steamed greens or a salad. Morsels of feta cheese and squirts of two sauces gave some tang, but it needed a little more something. How about a round lavoch cracker or something underneath?
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Hanger steak at Jubilee.[/caption]
We were relieved, then thrilled by the entrees. In accordance with the cold weather, we ate very heartily. I had a hanger steak that was seared and carved just so. The slicing in the kitchen of this tough but very flavorful cut of beef is critical to its goodness. In orbit around the meaty pieces were big earthy mushrooms, white beans, a pepper sauce and an herb oil, among other things. Good eating.
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Jubilee's pork chop with a sweet-potato tamale on the side.[/caption]
Mary Ann was smitten with the image of the pork chop rendered by the menu. It lived up to that promise, and was cooked to a turn (whatever that means). It came out with more or less the same sauces that had made an appearance with the hanger steak. A cornshuck-wrapped semi-tamale of sweet potatoes was the imaginative side. Elegant as a pork chop should ever get, and delicious in the eating.
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Bread pudding with ice cream.[/caption]
We finished with a square of bread pudding with a chocolatey, caramelly sauce and ice cream over the top. Too intense and heavy for my taste, but not bad.
The wait staff is young and seems still to be learning the fine points of Chef Torey's menu. But the service they delivered was prompt and well-executed.
We are here a little early in Jubilee's history by my standards. They had just rolled out a new menu (thank goodness we came today instead of last week), and seem still to be attending to details. Still, I'd say this is a keeper. We're hoping it is, anyway.
Jubilee. Mandeville: 301 Lafitte St. 985-778-2552.
