After production on Friday and before the show there was barely an hour to grab some lunch. So it was decided as we passed it that we drop in on Cafe Normandie in the beautiful new Higgins Hotel, a new Hilton property that is part of the WW2 Museum complex. I have been to this place a week or two ago, when there was a press tour. We were mightily impressed, but not that much with the restaurant. Tom was equally impressed with the physical property, which is cliche, but not in any offending way. It is appropriate. The donors to this museum and the people who visit have such a powerful emotional connection that they want to immerse themselves in the experience.
Fortunately it was not too busy, because service is not a strong suit here. To be fair, they just opened, so it should get better. I had eaten, so Tom got mussels and frites. The mussels (pictured) came with two thin slices of rye bread and the fries were battered, which neither of us care for, but these were crispy and hot. There was a lot of sauce that Tom loved at the bottom of this bowl. The waiter who delivered it, who was not the one who took the order, asked us about them because he had never tried them. We asked for more bread because the thin slices of rye were gone quickly, leaving a lot of great sauce. After we had paid their check we saw beignets coming out of the kitchen, looking very desirable. Impulsively we ordered these, assured they would not take long. The next check shocked us. These beignets were twelve dollars! But they were plentiful and came in a beautiful presentation. They were light but heavy, hard to explain but just trust us, and flaky at the same time. These were great and heavily coated in powdered sugar.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get the bread before we had to leave. This came to the table along with the beignets, so we took the beignets to go, and left the bread. And all that delicious sauce.
Cafe Normandie at the Higgins Hotel
1000 Magazine St New Orleans
504-528-1941
higginshotelnola.com
