When Emeril Lagasse does something, people take note. And his charming and capable son EJ has been touting the new collaboration with Dad celebrating their shared Portuguese heritage since they announced it last year. Emeril explained the name on some show recently: he is the 3rd and EJ the 4th using some form of the family name. 34 Restaurant and Bar was anxiously awaited until its opening two months ago, and we just made it there.
The restaurant is beautiful, part of a newly renovated residential building across Baronne from the downtown Rouse’s. The walk is well-lit, which was tremendously helpful for us, but also for everyone given the crime stats. There is a doorman at the front who doesn’t look like a doorman, but is friendly nevertheless.
Inside is a space of dark wooden tones but is also well lit, with colorful tiles brightening up the bar area. Seating is comfortable at tables or in banquettes. There is a stunning open kitchen with bar seating in the rear of the restaurant.
Service is friendly and knowledgeable. They can be your culinary sherpas. I came with ideas of my own but it would have been wiser to use our waiter as a guide. We have been to Spain but not Portugal, so we were mildly familiar with some of the menu items. The thing that intrigued me the most was an opportunity to try bacalão, which Tom has vehemently disdained for as long as I have known him. Italy is big on this salt cod phenomenon, but it’s a “thing” in other places as well: it is called bacalão in Spain, baccàla in Italy and Bacalhau in Portugal. The Bacalhau was the biggest disappointment. in a disappointing meal. The fish inside was shredded like the codfish balls my mom used to make. Fortunately it wasn’t too fishy, or too salty as salt cod can be. But it wasn’t much of anything.
.jpg)
While it seems to be pan sautéed, poached, or fried in Italy, pan-seared in Spain, in Portugal it often comes as a fritter, incorporating potatoes. There were two versions on the menu, with only a slight variation between them as the waiter explained it. The caviar version was double the price, but in retrospect we should have gotten that one because I think the differences were far greater than they seemed.
This mistake ran through the meal. We seemed to have ordered all the wrong things. I even double-ordered the ham, getting the Cone, a popular thing in Europe and is exactly as named. It is a cone of parchment which includes little nibbles, like fried things in Frito Misto in Italy. Here the ham was stuffed into the cone with cheese strips on the sides. This seemed bizarre to me.
Unfortunately I also ordered the housemade chips which came layered with more ham. I didn’t like this ham enough to finish the first order much less the second. And the housemade chips were nothing special.
We got a bread service just to get something on the table immediately. It was a housemade assortment of three with corresponding butters. These were similar to monkey bread, ciabatta, and cornbread, though only the ciabatta was even mildly recognizable. The monkey bread had some coarse salt on it and was supposed to be sweet inside. I didn’t notice that. The ciabatta was a nice light bread with characteristic holes and a terrific crust. The cornbread was elastic in texture and had no discernable corn flavor. I have never not finished a housemade bread service, and one bite was enough of two of these. The same is true of the butters, pretty though they were.
The top one is Piri Piri and the bottom smoky.
We got more fried croquettes. These were ham with more of the ubiquitous ham as garnish. The aioli appeared to be incorporated into the interior, creating more of a messy arancini, though not nearly as good as even the worst arancini I’ve had. Another thing I always love, I was done with one bite of this.
I am a jambalaya fanatic, and that incorporates a passion for paella. My favorite version of Paella Valenciana is located five minutes from our home in Covington. Valencia offers the very best version of this I have encountered, including the ones in its namesake city in Spain.
This food is the food of Portugal, where I have never been, so I would expect some slight differences. The special menu section featuring rice has several options, one including lobster, which I usually ignore. There was a vegetarian one and another with rabbit. That left the duck version for us.
I thought this overpriced at $68 and frankly, mushy. There was ample shredded duck and a few paper-thin slices of chorizo on top. This had minimal socarrat, which it desperately needed. Maybe they don't crisp the rice in Portugal. Another thing I didn’t finish, which I certainly would otherwise.
Tom loved his Gulf fish Crudo, which was a beautiful presentation with fresh herbs and cucumber and Gazpacho Dashi. Huh? Is a Japanese ingredient turning up in Portuguese households? Maybe not the food of old Portugal. Japanese ingredients are turning up everywhere in everything now, but c’mon. It was still a beautiful dish that Tom loved.
.jpg)
This entire adventure can be summed up by my favorite thing at the table. A roast pork loin sandwich was ordered just because it was the most familiar and desirable thing on the menu. It was a small little thing with a large dollop of bright yellow mustard. I initially hesitated to get it because pork loin can be dry. This was braised into little bits with a jus that dripped out. No fat, just jus. Really flavorful jus. The housemade ciabatta was wonderfully chewy with the perfect crust. It was salty, but that’s not a problem for me. It’s a plus. I loved this sandwich, and the mustard was outstanding.
To be fair, we did not get any entrees. Neither of us eats clams and the halibut was a possibility, but it had clams. A whole chicken was too large a portion, a whole fish too dangerous for Tom, and octopus out of my league. And I didn’t want to spend another $50 on a single menu item.
We did have room for dessert, so I got Tom the custard tarts. I thought this would be big enough to share since it was plural and $18. These were tiny things, and it was too late to get anything else. They were delicious. The crust was almost impenetrable. The sugar congealed into a formidable whole but it was a terrific taste.
When we arrived we were brought cocktail menus and wine menus but no food menus. We are obviously not like their regular diners like the ones that were seated next to us. They happily discussed cocktails and Portuguese wines and had no food for a while, as they sipped their drinks. I am tired of restaurants you are expected to love, so you do. Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough to "undertsand" the greatness here. Okay. I simply want food that I love to eat. Why is that becoming harder and harder to get?
The people in the above paragraph are the proper customers for 34 Restaurant and Bar, not us.And that realization suits us, and the restaurant, I’m sure. (Though at no time were we treated with anything but genuine welcome, respect, and helpfulness.) And for that I am grateful.
