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Maypop
CBD: 611 O’Keefe Ave. 504-518-6345. Map.
Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website
ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS Maypop is the latest cutting-edge restaurant in the burgeoning Central Business district. It makes no effort to add itself to any local vogue. It is what it is. But what is that? I can't say I have it figured out. The menu heads off in dozens of directions. So do the premises and the service, both of which are thoroughly casual. Trying to figure out a dinner plan may be challenging, because it's not immediately obvious as to which dishes are starters or sharers and which are entrees or salads.
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY Although most of what I've learned has been about lunch and dinner at Maypop, there's another fascinating--even unique--part of the menu. On Sundays, the lunch service turns to dim sum. It's served from a menu, not from a carte, the way it is in San Francisco. But any sim dum is welcome in New Orleans.
WHAT'S GOOD Looking over the most recent menu I've sampled, I find significant elements of Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, French charcuterie, roasted loins of red meats, and Creole-something seafood dishes, including the likes of soft-shell crabs. Here's an example of what I mean: "Charred oysters in squid-ink bucatini [pasta], house-made bacon, and a spicy lime-leaf crust." Which culinary tradition does this come from? Why are all those hanging meats curing, if it's a puzzle as to their presence in any dish? I was told that some flavors come from the residue of aging barrels for certain things. I can believe it, because I see unidentifiable smudges here and there in the plates. How to explain that these add to the flavor profile? One leaves with few answers, but a good flavor in the mouth.
BACKSTORY I first encountered Michael Gulotta during his sojourn at Restaurant August--John Besh's flagship--a few years ago. Working for Besh is a plum job, and the once or twice I tried Gulotta's version of it, the chef 's interpretation of Besh's French-and-local cookery was well served. But then Gulotta was gone, putting all his efforts into a new concept. Ask any chef in those days, and they'd tell you that the finest chef's hangout in town was MoPho, Gulotta's Creolized Vietnamese cookery. Especially on weekends, with the added resource of open roasters busy with lambs and piglets. All this was served in a very casual eatery which in its prime had long waits for tables. That restaurant was such a showplace for Gulotto's multiple talents that he soon opened yet another new place. He cut a deal with the owners of the new pub called Treo, in an unlikely neighborhood on Tulane Avenue. Gulotta masterminded Tana, a full-menu cafe attached to Treo's bar. There he installed a highly imaginative food service, with a take on the vast world of Italian specialties of which I've never tasted the likes. And then came MayPop from Gulotta's fertile brain.
DINING ROOM The loose, airy frame that encloses Maypop's dining room is highlighted by a unique map that fills one wall. Look at it from the kitchen's direction, and you see a diagram of the last hundred miles of the Mississippi River. View it from the other direction, and you're looking at the final delta of the Mekong. It's striking how similar the two charts are. Which must have been the point.
[title type="h6"]FULL ONLINE MENU[/title]
BEST DISHES
Maypop may be the final death knell of the time-honored restaurant-critic selection of the best dishes in a restaurant. There are a canyon betweens the dishes here. Not even knowing what previous customers tells us much. The menu changes too often for any flavor to become set in stone. That said, here are a few dishes that turned us on. Who knows whether it's still there"
Stone fruit salad with 10-month lomo (marinated meats, Peruvian style)
Crispy fried oysters, seasoned with Bourbon barrel wisps, soy mash aioli, Manchego cheese and spicy cucumber [is there enough going on in this dish?]
Cured speckled trout with crisp panisse (tiny beignets made from chickpea flower)
Cornmeal Garganelli pasta, sweet corn miso, orange blossoms, charred tomatillo
Roasted lamb belly pastrami (!) with poblano green curry (!!), spiced eggplant, watermelon and cocoa pine nut granola (!!!)
FOR BEST RESULTS
Ask the server for very specific dish descriptions, particularly those priced above$20. It's hard to distinguish appetizers and salads of a few bites with entrees. Assume that any dish, no matter the name it bears, will be little like what you're accustomed to receiving under those names.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
It's hard to answer that question without understanding first what's in the chef's brain. And that will not be accomplished without some effort on your part. Or, you can just count the place as an adventure. In either case, the brisket is an illusion; avoid.
FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
- Dining Environment
- Consistency
- Service+1
- Value
- Attitude +2
- Wine & Bar +1
- Hipness +3
- Local Color +1
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Sidewalk tables
- Early-evening specials
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Open all afternoon
- Easy, nearby parking
- Reservations recommended
