Criollo
The brilliant, three-year-old dining room of the Monteleone Hotel inherited one of the best Reveillon traditions ever from the now-extinct Hunt Room. The much more handsome Criollo presents the great old traditional food more richly. Notable are two desserts that date back to the Hunt Room: buche de Noel (the Yule log in cake form) and choux pastry crepes St. Honore. One of the most underrated restaurants in town for Reveillon. The price is a bit higher than most, but you get five courses with a lot of choices.
Five courses, $75.
❉Cured lamb belly & scallopsTurnip greens, red beet puree
~or~
Smoked quail risotto
Caramelized cranberries, sunny–up quail eggs
~or~
❉Fricassee of rabbit with sweetbreads
Wild mushrooms & hunter sauce
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Butternut squash soup
Brie & white truffle
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Heirloom beet salad
Beet root & leaves, pecan tuille, grapefruit & pepper jelly vinaigrette
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❉Muscovy duck breast
Caramelized clementines, wild grains, Marsala gastrique
~or~
Coriander-crusted lamb chops
Foie gras, chestnuts & port wine reduction
~or~
❉Beef-cheeks tarte tatin
Blue cheese, anjou pear
~or~
Paupiette of flounder
Jumbo lump crab & gulf shrimp
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❉Bûche de noël
Coffee & vanilla genoise, cocoa butter cream
~or~
❉Gateau Saint Honoré
Hazelnut profiteroles
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French Quarter: 214 Royal. 504-523-3341.
FULL REVIEW
All the Reveillon menus can be perused here. We'll feature one every day throughout the Reveillon season, which runs in most of the Reveillon restaurants until December 31.The snowflake ratings are for the Reveillon menu, not the restaurant in general. Dishes marked with the snowflake symbol ✽ are my recommendations.
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