It caused quite an uproar when it was announced that Tujague’s, one of the Grande Dames, was moving! Leaving behind that historic building, and that sensational bar. Quel nightmare!
How would the spirit of the great corner building with the unique bar and the rickety stairs be reproduced down the street in the enormous space vacated by Bubba Gump Shrimp Company?
The new place is at least twice the size of the old one, which was undaunting to owner Mark Latter and his wife. This wasn’t their first rodeo. Since admirably prenovating the original Tujague’s, they have opened Bar Frances, Claret, and most recently The Bower.
The project followed the usual construction blueprint, i.e., delays and more delays. Originally it was set to reopen in November, so making it by the end of the same year was impressive.
We went opening night, or reopening night, which was December 28th. There was no beautiful neon Tujague’s sign under the overhang, but I barely noticed at first because the restaurant doors were open and the magnificent tile floor caught my attention. This first room, the restaurant entrance is also the bar. Spoiler alert: the bar is not even remotely as cool as the one down the street. And it doesn’t really matter. The place is absolutely beautiful and the spirit of the old Tujague’s is there. The room we were in had the white walls with mirrors and the boxes of little alcohol minis. Upstairs there are some private rooms and a balcony, all of which are decorated with the familiar pictures of celebrities that have crossed the Tujague’s threshold.
Each of these rooms is brick with wood floors. They are handsome and inviting. Downstairs is also three rooms and a very large kitchen.
We started after the chef came out to say hello. It seems like more than a few people came from Commander’s Palace, if the conversations I overheard were correct.
We started by ordering chargrilled oysters, and I had to get the house brisket. The chef recommended the trio of soups, so we added that to the order. The waiter was insistent that we place the whole order to make it easier on the kitchen. First night, you know?
We ordered the redfish with succotash and the pork belly as entrees. I was intrigued by the Table d’hote menu which is a tradition at Tujague’s. Too bad I didn’t pay more attention to it. We ate it anyway, but all the classics are in that five course menu: shrimp remoulade, gumbo or turtle soup, brisket, entree, and bread pudding. The price is determined by the entree. Diners are instructed to add $31 to the price of whatever entree you choose.
The trio of soups came to the table first. Tom loved the turtle soup, and the gumbo was very nice, but to me the star of this trio was the butternut squash soup. This was creamy and a little thick, but very tasty. The turtle soup was served with a maybe too generous portion of sherry that I discovered on the table later in the meal. Tom never eats sherry in his turtle soup.
The entrees came next. Tom’s redfish over succotash and legumes was very nice. He loved the fish which was pan seared with “spun vegetables” in a lemon butter sauce.
When I order pork belly I expect to see a fatty slab of moist pork so fork tender it falls apart from its own weight.
Usually such a slab of pork belly is about 4 inches long and only an inch wide, sitting up 2-3 inches. This was much bigger, a square about 4x4 inches. It was not nearly as braised as the way I like it, and not nearly as fatty. It wasn’t bad, just not “to my taste” as waiters like to say. Pork belly is all about fat, isn’t it?
The dish was served with grits, and have recently concluded that there are grits I absolutely do not like. These are “premium” grits, coarser, usually cooked in a premium way with cream instead of water. And there is cheese. These had a pepper jack cheese stirred in. What could be wrong with this? They were pasty and tasteless, not even worth finishing. I had the same kind of grits recently at another place helmed by a famous local chef. Surely they don’t think these are good?
When we had finished both courses and the original one we ordered had still not arrived, we inquired about it. The waiter was horrified and took twenty percent off the bill immediately.
While we waited I added to the order, despite dire warnings by the waiter about ordering at the same time. There was a sides section that included pasta and linguine, and another entree referencing a crawfish cream sauce. I asked for the pasta side with the crawfish sauce just to try it.
It was only minutes later that our original order arrived, along with the pasta add-on. The chargrilled oysters were basic chargrilled. They hit the right notes and were not especially full of “stuff”. They were light on the parmesan but there was still enough juice for the great cap bread to mop up some juices. These were gone in minutes.
I was disappointed in the brisket, though to be fair I am not as familiar with the Tujague’s brisket as I was with the Maylie’s version. This was a much smaller piece than that, and frankly does not look all that appealing. But it tasted good, it was very tender, and the horseradish sauce was delicious. The crawfish sauce was utterly ordinary.
We skipped dessert because we had already had too much food. Next time we will plan better and do the Table d’hote menu.
Every time I am at Tujague’s, whether the original or now this one, I am struck by the unique personality this grande dame has. I didn’t even capitalize it because it’s such a casual place that I knew I could wear jeans, even though I wouldn’t think of that with any of the other restaurants in that category. I’m also intrigued by the clientele at Tujague’s. They are considerably younger than at the other Grande Dames, and definitely hipper.
When the news broke that Tujague’s was moving down the street, reactions were divided between the people who don’t want anything to ever change, and those that understood and were open to this new place.
But overall I think the prevailing thought was simply curiosity. Ours was completely satisfied that first night that
This new move is a good one, and that it’s all going to be fine.
