Tuesday, January 17, 2012.
Round Table: Sesame Inn, Bouche, Orleans Coffee, And Pop-Up Barbecue. Tomas.
As if I don't already have enough to cover, a new species in the restaurant kingdom is adding further complexity to our dining choices. They're called "pop-up" restaurants.
Pop-ups were waiting to happen. Most restaurants are closed certain days and hours. The city is full of chefs and other restaurateurs who either can't or don't want to operate full-time. Also out there are people who have other jobs but who think that running a restaurant one or two days a week might be fun. Mix these elements together and the compound that emerges is a pop-up restaurant.
Pop-ups are working pretty well for at least two brilliant local chefs who seem hellbent on not running a restaurant with regular hours. Pete Vazquez, whose last conventional restaurant was the pre-K Marisol, has been doing one-night-a-week stands ever since--notably at Bacchanal, Mimi's, and (currently) at Stein's Deli on Sundays. Guillermo Peters, who opened and closed his fantastic Taqueros Mexican restaurants three or four (or five? I've lost count) times, is now cooking on Friday and Saturday nights at the Eco Café, a breakfast-and-lunch place on Canal Street.
Neil McClure--one of the guests on our round table radio show today--takes the pop-up concept farther than most. He managed the front of the house at Dante's Kitchen for most of its history. But he has a passion for barbecue, and had been thinking about opening his own joint.
He cut a deal with Chef E-Man Loubier, the owner of Dante's Kitchen. "We weren't serving lunch except for Sunday brunch," Neil said. "Now Dante's Kitchen is McClure's Barbecue at lunch Monday through Friday. And on Tuesday night, when Dante's Kitchen is closed for dinner."
He brought some barbecue brisket and ribs to prove that it's a worthwhile endeavor. "Now if only I can figure out a way to do it all without giving up the rest of my life," Neil said. "Right now it looks like I'm working forty-five minutes for every customer I serve."
Yeah, that's the problem. You have to do many of the things that the big restaurants do, but are open for business a lot less.
The award for This Week's Most Charming Round-Table Guest goes to Lucy Shao. She's a server at Sesame Inn, and she was here to talk about Chinese New Year, which begins next Monday. The Sesame Inn has an extensive Chinese New Year menu, lasting to the end of the month. All the dishes on it have some connection with the celebration, and the smiling Lucy told all the stories.
That menu was the last hurrah for Steve Liu, who opened the Sesame Inn in 2003. He is retiring from the restaurant business, at least for now. He needs extensive eye surgery, he says. And his father, who is getting on in years, wants to go to his hometown in Szechuan, China one more time with Steve. I will miss Steve. I've never met a restaurateur with a better sense of customer relations. He remembers everybody after one visit, and always gave them more than they bargained for.
The Sesame Inn's new owner is keeping Steve's chef and menu, and seems to want to keep the good little restaurant excellent. That's a relief.
Carol Logreco is one of the owners of Bouche, a sophisticated wine bar and bistro in the middle of the Tchoupitoulas restaurant row, between Emeril's and A Mano. You could drive by the place many times and not see it, though. The Preservation Resource Center owns the facade of the historic building, and forbids showy signs. Nevertheless, Bouche is quite popular. Coolness will bring people in, especially in a cool neighborhood, as the Warehouse District is.
What Carol brought in were wines. Big reds, for the most part. We discovered that Pinot Noir goes well with barbecue, among other things.
Bob Arceneaux from Orleans Coffee Exchange had liquids, too. His small but long-running artisanal roasting business goes back about twenty-five years, beginning as a coffeehouse behind St. Louis Cathedral. They're out of that business, and strictly wholesale their blends. They have a few vaunted customers, including the Windsor Court Hotel, whose coffee has always been exceptional. A long time ago, I persuaded Bob to make a dark coffee and chicory blend and market it under my name. I liked it, but it went nowhere. It only had the advantage of being delicious, and that's not enough anymore.
Mary Ann showed up at the end of the broadcast. I suspect this was so she could scoop up all the leftover barbecue for her food locker at home. But she allowed everyone else to take a package first.
Then off to dinner at Tomas. This is the new eatery opened some months ago by Tommy Andrade, one of the two or three best and longest-serving of traditional New Orleans restaurateurs.
MA and I sneaked in unnoticed. We took the table next to the Christmas tree, which was still aglow. It's not the only example of that around town. Restaurants seem to be reluctant to dismantle their Yule decorations this year. (We have no room to talk. Our Christmas tree remains standing, and we turn the lights on every night. Our neighbors must think--well, they already thought that.)
Following the advice of the waiter, we asked for a two-course dinner. It started with shrimp with fennel and absinthe in a rich cream sauce. I don't know why Mary Ann ordered that--she doesn't like the flavor of anise, which was all over this dish. But I love that taste, and liked this. A little too buttery, but not a big flaw. What was that biscuit doing in there?
In front of me was risotto with prosciutto, peas, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and a lot of cream. I love stuff like this as an appetizer. Terrific flavor. Didn't much care for the chunks of prosciutto, which were a challenge to chew.
Entrees: grilled redfish with crabmeat on top--Mary Ann's default white-tablecloth restaurant dish. Green beans and fingerling potatoes. Loved it. For me, a loin of venison in a complex, mildly peppery sauce. I was surprised by the texture, which suggested a braising, but no complaints about flavor here. I love venison, especially in winter, and not enough restaurants serve it.
By this time, our presence was known to everyone of consequence here. The tall, thin form of Chef Guy Sockrider-- formerly of Muriel's and Roux On Orleans, among other places--emerged from the kitchen. And then Tommy Andrade joined us with his lady, a delightful Englishwoman from Surrey named Jenny. Their dogs brought them together. Mary Ann was elated to hear that story. She loves dogs.
Tommy and I go way back, but I didn't know his whole history until tonight. His family moved to New Orleans from Guatemala when he was a young man. His first real job was in a menial position at the Roosevelt Hotel. By the time I got to know him, he was the manager and maitre d' of the Sazerac Restaurant. This was in the mid-1970s, when the Sazerac gave the grandest public dining experience in the history of New Orleans. It was good, too. The original chef--with whom Tommy worked in his early years--was no less than Gunter Preuss.
When the Fairmont downgraded the Sazerac in the 1980s, Tommy left to open Irene's with his wife Irene DiPietro. They split in 2002, and Tommy opened Tommy's soon after. That restaurant grew in size, and needed parking space. He asked the owner of the building across the street to sell. At first the answer was no, but then yes. Tommy took over not only the existing parking garage, but also a commercial space at the corner that stretched back half a block.
He hadn't planned on opening another restaurant, but there the space was, so why not? It was originally called Tomasita's, serving somewhat upscale Mexican food. "I never really liked that idea," Tommy said. The restaurant evolved in an aimless way for awhile. Then Chef Guy showed up. His idea to do Creole-French food resonated with Tommy. So was born Tomas, which did a big business during the holidays. Enough to make the commitment to turn it into a destination restaurant.
Tommy ordered a bunch of entrees about which he had questions. We decided that the lobster appetizer needed to lose its salad aspect. That the duck sauce was a shade too sweet, but otherwise beautiful. That the juicy, nicely-sauced lamb rack was too generous a portion to finish. And that the chocolate molten cake needed reworking. Several bottles of big red wines were killed. Tommy expressed an admiration for Barolo, and we had two of those.
I don't get involved in this kind of dish-testing often, but with Tommy it made for a great evening. He and I are on exactly the same wavelength when it comes to the diminishing world of dining in the classic style.
As we were finishing, a crew of people who would be setting up for a big private party in the back of the restaurant came in to scope things out. I was surprised by the size of the space. Tommy will be a competitor to the big hotels and operations like The Foundry with this place. Mary Ann and I talked about his savvy for days. It's not the first time Tommy impressed me with his sense of what the restaurant business is about.
Tomas. Warehouse District: 755 Tchoupitoulas. 504-527-0942.
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.
