Saturday, April 28, 2012.
Return To Dakota.
Mary Ann gave me my choice of lunch or dinner, and immediately suggested that we have the latter at Dakota. It's at least a year and a half since the last time. I remember is that the sharp edge that earned five stars from me for many years seemed dulled then, in that meal and the few before it. It wasn't a momentous decline, but the difference between five stars and four stars is all in the details. In Dakota's case, it was things like the replacement of the gorgeous fresh flowers by, let's say, not as fresh. And I couldn't help but wonder about events at Cuvee. Dakota's owners Ken Lacour and Chef Kim Kringlie also owned that place, which dwindled in its last year and closed late in 2010.
On top of that, the Dakota guys took over the former Artesia in Abita Springs as a catering hall and short-schedule restaurant in early 2011. I pass there often enough to know that nothing much was happening. It shut down completely a few months ago.
Tonight, we were happy to see that the downward course has been arrested. The flowers are back. The dining room was busy. A private party occupied a large room. And the menu--which seemed static on our last few outings--was full of new dishes.
We began with a cocktail called a French bulldog--vodka (I asked for gin instead), St. Germaine, grapefruit juice. That was good with the always-wonderful parmesan-truffle fries. An amuse-bouche of a baked oyster apiece appeared. Sort of a Bienville without the bacon flavor, it was rich, hot, and good. Baked oysters are among my favorite things, but even Mary Ann--who usually passes hers over to me--liked this enough to consider asking for a second one.
Next, an oyster Rockefeller soup. One taste made me think that the perfect added touch would be a shot of absinthe. That flavor was almost certainly part of the original Rockefeller recipe when Antoine's created it. But Dakota's bar had no absinthe! Later, when I talked with Kenny, he said it had been on his mind, and now he would make it happen.
I had a nice French Sauvignon Blanc from Chateau Recougne instead, and then a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo--the latter an enormous, purple-tinged red. I wanted that mainly to hold my place during the eating of a slab of foie gras topped with a fried quail egg and set in a pool of jus.
Now braised pork tenderloin sharing a bowl and broth with a dozen or so mussels. I wouldn't say the flavors were complementary, but both parts were fine. Like two kids who don't partake in the same activity but don't fight with one another, either.
Everything was going fine until Mary Ann dug into the Chairman's Reserve Cut (whaaa? just a fancy way of saying it was big, I guess) ribeye. Mary Ann finds a good ribeye hard to resist. This one was just okay. But I should have known. Even in its peak years, Dakota was never strong in the steak department.
Four desserts? They should do better than that. I had creme brulee, which I always liked here because it still flows when it comes out. (It should.)
Although he was busy tonight with a party hosted by Jimmy Buffett, who is performing at the Jazz Festival, Ken dropped by the restaurant and sat down with us. He filled in a lot of the gaps in the story of his restaurants' past couple of years, admitting among other things that the Artesia venture was sub-optimal. Reading between the lines, it seemed to me that the catering side of Dakota has achieved a stronger gravity than the a la carte operation.
And I learned that we will do an Eat Club here in June. I'm happy about that. It's been years, as I said.
Dakota. Covington: 629 N US 190 . 985-892-3712.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
