Slidell has not been a particularly successful market for white-tablecloth restaurants. Among the few that have made a go of it, Michael's has consistently been the most impressive. With a casual dining room but an adventuresome kitchen, it's in a league with the better gourmet bistros in New Orleans.
Michael Frederic worked in a number of Slidell establishments before opening this one on his own in the mid-1990s. It's along what was once a long row of fishing camps, but became suburbanized when Eden Isles was built nearby. The eye of Katrina went right over Michael's and did terrible damage, but Frederic had the place back open within a year.
Physically, Michael's reminds me of the kind of restaurant you'd find on a beach in the Caribbean or Hawaii. The cottage-like structure was badly damaged in Katrina, but the rebuilding made it nicer than it was before, with a former deck now an indoor dining room. The restaurant backs up to a boating canal. Customers can arrive afloat and tie up to the pier. They can even be served on their vessels. On weekends, the superb guitarist Hank Mackie plays softly all night long.
Get a reservation for weekends. Avoid dishes with more up-front ingredients than you can count on one hand. The restaurant is a little hard to see as you drive by; it's directly across from the intersection on US 11 with Carr Drive.
| Attitude | 1 |
|---|---|
| Environment | 1 |
| Hipness | 1 |
| Local Color | 2 |
| Service | 1 |
| Value | 1 |
| Wine | 2 |
