The Last Lunch COOLinary

Last Saturday I had a meeting in Metairie and took the opportunity to have my very last COOLinary for 2026. I went to an old favorite that I dearly miss.  Porter & Luke’s is a place ML and I always went for a club sandwich. It is our view that there is no better version of the American classic than the one at Porter & Luke’s, and now also at Sophie’s, the sister restaurant.

It pained me that I had business there and couldn’t have the sandwich, but as the meal enveloped, I didn’t miss it. And that is saying something. There were two choices in each course. The appetizers were a cup of gumbo or soup du jour, When we asked about the soup, Brandi, my favorite server ever, told us tomato and crabmeat.

Tom had great disdain for the flavor combination, and I totally agree. Brandi didn’t give us a minute to balk. “Just trust me,” she said. So we did. I wound up ordering my own. It was sublime.I am so glad I didn’t pass. I will go back just for that.
The other app was an eggplant Napoleon with a lemon cream sauce  heavily studded with tiny vegetables and a lot of shrimp. We got one of these too.

When I called to make sure we could have the COOLInary on Saturday, I was told the salmon hadn't arrived yet I told them I was getting the chicken anyway. It was an airline chicken breast that had been pounded, served over mashed potatoes with a luscious brown gravy.

But this soup! It came to the table in a large bowl. It really was enough for a meal by itself. I was skeptical because I have always agreed with Tom that tomatoes and seafood are an odd couple. But I had a taste and immediately ordered one. It had a marvelous texture and was loaded with crabmeat. As Brandi had promised, the tomato flavor thankfully took a back seat.

The Eggplant Napoleon was equally delicious. Two eggplant medallions were battered and nicely fried, and the lemon cream sauce was terrific. It was studded with tiny vegetable bits and had lots of shrimp.

The entree was a classic Porter & Luke comfort dish, which I love. Creamy mashed potatoes were topped with a beautiful and lightly breaded airline chicken breast. This had a nice herbal element to it, and the gravy was wonderful with each bite of the potatoes. Food for the soul.

I had to resist the urge to go crazy here and get a club sandwich just because, or some fried onion rings just because, or the hot blue crab dip just because I am crazy about it.

When I said goodbye to Brandi, she told me not to be a stranger. And you know, I definitely won’t because the reminder of what I’m missing was powerful. I’ll be back to get all of these things I mentioned, and hopefully a soup du jour like the tomato and crabmeat.