Monday, October 15, 2012.
The Windsor Court's New Chef.
The Grill Room at the Windsor Court was, when it opened, the biggest dining news in town. On a par with the openings of Brennan's, August, and R'evolution in their days. Although none of the chefs at the Grill Room were known when they arrived, many of them went on to major careers or notoriety.
And none of them stayed very long. Three or four years was about the limit, with many of the chef leaving much sooner. Drew Dzejak--who left a few months ago a couple of years during which he largely restored the gleam of the place after a dull decade--was typical.
His replacement, however, represents a new departure in a number of ways. The most obvious is that she is a girl, not a guy--the first female executive chef the Grill Room has had. (Although quite a few masterful pastry chefs have contributed to the place over the years.)
Kristin Butterworth comes from a resort hotel in Pennsylvania. Her restaurant Lautrec received the highest possible honors and ratings during her hegemony. And when the Windsor Court management traveled there to see it up close, they were blown away--to use general manager David Teich's exact words.
Tonight the restaurant moved all the furniture around, brought in a great jazz band led by Shannon Powell (the King of Treme!), with the superb pianist David Torkanowsky. They set up a buffet of appetizers, and invited a bunch of people to meet Chef Butterworth. (That name rivals Chef Susan Spicer's for appropriateness.)
I don't usually attend such events. But the Windsor Court is in a special category for Mary Ann and me. We spent our wedding night there, to name one of many reasons we consider it our mansion in the city.
I was surprised that few other journalists were there. About the only other one was Tim McNally. (Who, coincidentally, will begin a new wine-and-spirits radio show on my station this Friday.) Most of the other attendees were in the restaurant or wine businesses.
I kept trying to insinuate myself into a conversation with Chef Kristen, but never quite got her attention. But I learned enough. She seems like the quiet type. Which is okay. Maybe even desirable in these days of heavily-hyped chefs. I learned not much from the appetizer buffet, but her menu looked good. And it is of a piece with the previous menus here, going all the way back to 1984.
There's one big difference: the clientele. tastes have simplified tremendously since the Grill Room's premiere. And nobody yet has come up with a plan that will keep grand dining alive, let alone moving forward. But as one who still loves that kind of dining above all others, I look forward to coming here and having a real meal. MA and I are only about three months away from our anniversary.
Windsor Court Grill Room. CBD: 300 Gravier. 504-522-1994.
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