Palette
Anecdotes & Analysis
No neighborhood is more fertile for trying great new restaurants than the Warehouse District. Rene Bistrot bids to be part of that scene, but even with the obvious talents of Chef Rene Bajeux in the kitchen for a year, the place keeps on sleeping. Maybe it looks too good to be hip. Atmosphere is very much out these days.<br /> <br /> Another membership held by Rene Bistrot is in the French Bistro Club. That style of cooking is bringing to an end the long hegemony of the grand French restaurant--even in France. It is conceivable that we may have too many of them in New Orleans right now. Even if that's true, this restaurant matches or surpasses all the others. But great food is sliding out of vogue lately, too, while we focus on the latest best hamburger, best hot dog, best pizza and best pho in town.
Backstory
This is the restaurant of the Renaissance Arts Hotel, the hip, younger-guest arm of the Marriott group. It opened in 2002 under the name La Cote Brasserie. Chef Rene Bajeux--a French master chef who had come to town to run the Windsor Court Grill Room kitchen--was by then running the first Rene Bistrot at the other local Renaissance hotel. (Where MiLa is now.) The hurricane did away with that Rene Bistrot, and for the next seven years Rene alternated gigs in New Orleans with other assignments in Asia and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, La Cote Brasserie just kept on rolling along. In 2012, the management decided to relaunch the restaurant, and brought Rene back (he was by then at the Royal Orleans), along with the Rene Bistrot name and the country French bistro style.
Dining Room
It's expansive, with continuous windows wrapping around the corner and giving a view of the crowd partying across the street at Lucy's. Enormous round brick columns break up the vastness into smaller zones. The most interesting of these for foodies is a trio of curving counters, two of which replace the front wall of the kitchen and allow a direct interface with the chefs. (The third is the bar.) The main dining area include much banquette seating and several tables next to the windows. Depending on where you are, the place feels either convivial or sterile. Not everybody likes it.
Why It's Essential
Here is the fifth restaurant in the New Orleans career of Lorraine-born Chef Rene Bajeux, who seems always to make headlines when he shows up at a restaurant. This is with good reason. He cooks this cuisine as well as anybody, and has the guts to bring to the menu unusual items that until recently you'd have to go to France to try. He admits to an incursion of Creole flavors and ingredients, to make it more amenable to non-gourmets.
Why It's Good
The quality of the raw materials is beyond reproach, reflected especially in the nightly offerings on the charcuterie boards and the chilled oyster and shellfish platters. French classics like onion soup, bouillabaisse and steamed mussels are all as good as they get in these parts. A nice surprise: the prices are lower than you expect, with entrees in the teens and twenties.
Most Interesting Dishes
<em><strong>Starters</strong></em><br /> »Onion soup<br /> House smoked salmon<br /> »House charcuterie platter<br /> »Smoked garlic soup Arleux, poached farm egg, truffle herb oil<br /> Roasted bone marrow <br /> Raclette tartine, tomato herb, vierge<br /> »Tarte flambeé (like a pizza, with onions and bacon)<br /> »»Roasted Portuguese sardines <br /> Octopus salad<br /> »Escargot, basil garlic butter, Pernod, puff pastry<br /> Boudin noir, braised mushrooms, bordelaise<br /> Fried oysters, Mirliton slaw<br /> Herb chevre, tomato coulis, garlic crostini <br /> »Duck confit <br /> Tarte feta cheese, spinach, artichoke<br /> Mozzarella tarte <br /> Roasted tomato, prosciutto, wild mushroom<br /> <em><strong>Salads</strong></em><br /> Bouquet of greens, Dijon mustard vinaigrette<br /> »Arugula & burrata, grilled vegetables, herb emulsion<br /> Frisee, lardons, poached duck egg, blood orange vinaigrette<br /> »Roasted local beets, endive, watercress, basil vinaigrette<br /> <em><strong>Entrées</strong></em><br /> »Chicken grand mere, potato, bacon, mushroom<br /> Veal pannee Holstein, potato gruyere galette, fried egg<br /> Top butter bistrot steak, truffled garlic potato<br /> »Bouillabaisse<br /> »Mussels & frites, mriniere or lemongrass curry<br /> »Basque seafood ragout (mussels, clams, shrimp, chorizo, white bean tomato broth) <br /> Roasted lobster, ratatouille, tomato cognac sauce <br /> »Diver scallop & drum, salsify, porcini vinaigrette<br /> Roasted Chappapeela Farm duck half, apple, honey balsamic reduction <br /> Beef tongue, mashed potato, haricot verts, tomato caper veloute<br /> »Veal sweetbreads, buttermilk spaetzle, grenobloise<br /> »Wild boar bourguignon, egg noodles <br /> Calf liver, red onion, bacon, turnip sauerkraut, bourbon cherry jus<br /> <em><strong>Desserts</strong></em><br /> »Seasonal fruit tart <br /> Gateaux au chêvre blanc <br /> »Chocolate terrine <br /> Profiteroles <br /> Ice cream <br /> »Housemade sorbet <br /> »Cheeses from St. James Cheese Company<br />
Deficiencies
The best thing that could happen here would be for the place to attract many more people than it does.
For Best Results
Rene Bistrot lends itself especially well to larger parties. Six or eight people is perfect. Start with the big iced platters of oysters, shrimp, lobster, crab, and ceviche. Then split the enormous bucket of mussels. The Sunday brunch is an underutilized resource, especially if you go to the Latin Mass at St. Patrick's, two block away.
Bonus Ratings
1
Attitude
2
Environment
1
Hipness
2
Local Color
1
Value
1
Wine
Holiday Ratings
2
Christmas
0
Thanksgiving