When Steve Manning left Clancy’s to open a new restaurant in the Warehouse District called Annunciation, we were excited to see what it would become. His partner was Tommy Andrade’s son, and that was a swell combination. We were also quite familiar with the very interesting space, since it had been a longtime semi-cafeteria fast casual place called Deanie’s, where the food was so good we did an Eat Club.
Annunciation is next door to a gas station, with an alley separating the two buildings. Its exposed brick interiors were always an odd fit for a place as casual as Deanie’s. Something upscale like Annunciation makes more sense. And it is glamorous. There is a private dining room upstairs which I imagine gets a lot of bookings.
We hadn’t been to Annunciation in a very long time, but I recently wound up chatting with Sergio the Maître’d from Tommy’s (who had been with Tommy Andrade since their days at The Sazerac.) Sergio mentioned that he was now at Annunciation and asked me to bring Tom in to see him.
We finally did that recently and it was a most enjoyable meal. Annunciation is small, and a wall separates the bar from the dining room. The same neon art that was oddly present at Deanie’s remains, giving the place a hip feel. It is white tablecloth dining set against brick walls and wood floors, and I find this combination of materials and textures always glamorous. Here is one of the few remaining places where the waiters are all old-school veterans of fine dining establishments, and the service reflects that professionalism. They all knew Tom.
Tommy Andrade’s son is gone, and Steve Manning is long gone, but the food was terrific. We started with an amuse of bruschetta. It was not a traditional bruschetta, but it was fine. To me, bruschetta should be medium-thickness toasted bread, covered with chopped tomatoes in an herbal garlic olive oil, with shaved or grated Parmesan on top. It is really hard to find a bruschetta worth eating out there. We make it ourselves.
This one was no exception. It was thick and not too toasted bread covered in two slices of tomato with Parmesan cheese sprinkled about, There was not much olive oil, garlic, or herbal flavor here.
The appetizers came and all was forgiven. The Crabmeat au Gratin was perhaps the best I’ve had. Maybe ever. It was popping with crabmeat. Every spoon could barely contain it. The cream sauce was delicious, and the ample crust of baked yellow cheddar was sharp. This was terrific. I often say crabmeat’s delicate flavor is diluted in an au gratin preparation, but when it is this good, I don't care. It’s just a divine mouthful of food. Eaten with enough crostini that is itself excellent, this was superb.
Tom was equally pleased with his fried oysters, a la Clancy’s. Here is the sauteed spinach underneath perfectly fried oysters with slices of Brie and its rind semi-melted together. This was a signature dish from Clancy’s, and it’s one of those much-emulated dishes around town. Since Steve Manning brought it from Clancy’s, it’s the “real deal.” The poached versions have been bastardized with the substitution of creamed spinach, but this was the original version.
If there is a softshell crab on the menu I must get it. Here was a fried softshell crab with a very large side of crawfish cream sauce linguine. If there is a pasta dish I can't resist, this is it. Linguine is another matter. I’m generally not a fan of linguine, even the thin strands, but I am warming to it. This cream sauce was pretty peppery, which I have found with the last two of these I have had. Spicy sauces that are not made that way by black pepper are easier for me to like. Too much black pepper is too much. This was not too much, but it was at the threshold. I still loved it. I asked them to pan-sautee the softshell instead of frying it, and that made it less good than it would have been if I had just let them do it the right way. It was also still very enjoyable.
Tom had a special fish dish for the evening which was Grouper. This is the most wonderful fish and I am seeing it more and more around town. There was a redfish on the menu but we get that everywhere. Tom is not big on olives, but this one had olive tapenade as part of the ingredients. I forgot that Tom is not big on olives until after I had ordered it. There were irregular Brabant potatoes with the same problem as always - irregularly cooked. The Grouper was gorgeously seared and stacked over the potatoes, with large asparagus spears flanking the sides. Another very generous amount of crabmeat was perched on top and cascading down the sides.
Neither of us was hungry by the time the entrees came, but it was hard to resist at least making a dent in them. We enjoyed them for a second meal at home later. The asparagus were nicely cooked, making me want to eat them. I am usually never tempted by asparagus.
We did not have time or room for dessert, so we left after that. Annunciation is a good restaurant that is now part of the established old guard that doesn’t get much press. Too bad, We had a great meal there, reminiscent of the good old days of dining in New Orleans.
