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Instead of our typical trip to Vegas to celebrate our delayed Anniversary, Mother Dear gave us the chance to explore a long dreamed of locale, NOLA. We had an almost perfect trip and New Orleans is all it’s purported to be. All of the downsides to any large city exist, but are clearly outmatched by the upsides. And then there is the food, my GOD, the food. We ate ourselves stupid, and regretted it a couple of times immediately afterward. But looking back, I wouldn’t have skipped anything.
It was
our first trip, so it was a touristy trip. We tried the things you
see on tv over and over instead of trying to find hidden gems.
Especially shocking was how good SO MANY of the classics turned out
to be. Only twice was I disappointed, and by disappointed I mean the
place was only good. Much more often I was surprised by how much
better the place was than expected, a rare treat repeated and
repeated in the Crescent City. If you are from our neck of the wood,
or anywhere else than NOLA, it is a completely different world, and
one worth experiencing for multitudinous reasons. Vegas is a
different world but it is a calculated and manufactured experience, New Orleans
has evolved in a storied and historic manner into what it is, you
can feel it everywhere you go. Nothing like it. True Dat. |
Since Central Grocery was sold
out, our first meal was at the John Besh coastal cuisine outpost,
Borgne. Beautiful place, great service. Chef seems to keep his large
empire operating at seriously high standards. Borgne is one of two
places that served us their own bread. I think almost everywhere
else we had Leidenheimer’s but Borgne sent us a light and crusty
loaf of their own, which had been dusted with a ryeesque coating
giving it texture and a light earthiness. We started with two
soups and two appetizers. The soups were a duck and Andouille gumbo
and a butternut squash. |
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The gumbo. I’ve had gumbo here and there. I haven’t had gumbo. I remember taking three classes worth of time making a brick roux for a gumbo in culinary school. Even with the nine hours invested in just the thickener, it wasn’t the same. Nothing super spicy but everything warm. Round spices fill your senses and made me think of those old cold medicine commercials where vapors float out of a coffee cup to magically relieve any ailments. That’s was Borgne’s gumbo.
The butternut squash was served tableside. The bowl arrived with a
plop of crème fraiche in the center, which was surrounded by spiced
pork rinds. Okay? Our runner decanted a burnt umber and fluffy cloud
of soup over the bowl’s contents from a silver pitcher. I really
enjoyed the gumbo but sweet suffering Moses, the squash soup was
extraordinary. It was strained so silkily and whipped so puffy I
didn’t expect there to be much flavor, but it screamed butternut
with an added but perfect punch of warm spice which made the whole
thing sing.
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The Gumbo Is Loaded With Spice, Duck, and Sausage |
This Cloud Of Awesome Was Also Perfectly Spicy |
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If our soups were pretty standard, our appetizers went way out on a limb. Turns out, that’s where the best fruit hangs. The duck jalapeno poppers were wrapped in bacon and set atop a smear of an herbed cream cheese and drizzled with a sweet and spicy barbeque style sauce. Yes, Please. Even better, by far for me, were the turkey necks. I raved about the chicken necks from the Greenhouse Tavern, more raving to follow. Again a real chef takes time to respect the whole animal, using parts others wouldn’t, but making them even better than the primo cuts. Yezus, these were crusty but succulent bits of bird (think excellent bbq) in which all of the collagen had broken down into gelatinous meat awesomeness. The protein on the surface had caramelized to a lightly crisp bark and the whole thing was topped with spicy peppers and sweet jelly and set in a small pool of crab boil. Bravo!
We shared a cocktail, the Barrel Aged Vieux Carré (French Quarter).
Our server told us we would like it, it’s really boozy. She was
right. Built with Sazerac Rye, Pierre ferrand vsop, carpano antica,
and bendictine it’s certainly an adult beverage in every sense of
the word, and scrumptious if you like that sort of thing. |
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Fun & Tasty Duck Poppers |
Very Adult Vieux Carré |
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The Turkey Necks Also Looked A Little Disturbing |
But Delivered Crusty Chunks Of Awesome |
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Now the entrees. Coastal cuisine means fish, we did seafood top to bottom. We usually avoid scallops (do them better at home than most places) but the divers at Borgne are served with spaghetti squash, sweet potato and crab broth. The broth was poured tableside like the soup and doused fat and nicely seared scallops. The broth was delicious and the sweet and bitter micro greens added their own nuances. What really stood out in the dish for me was the squash. I expected mushy strands and got al dente pasta texture instead, just with squash flavor.
The most popular dish is the Black Drum A La Plancha, a mild and
flaky white fish cooked on a griddle. It was subtle and delicious,
cloaked in a pile of jumbo lump crab and all dosed with brown butter
and pecans. It was great, clean and fresh fish with nutty butter and
nuts, but I am usually a fan of more forward flavors and we found
that in the daily schnitzel. |
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Crab Broth Made The Enormous Scallops |
Pile Of Crab On Lightly Flavored Drum |
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They do two regular items with daily fish one en papillote (poached
in parchment paper) and the second a schnitzel. The schnitzel fish
of the day was sheepshead. I’m not a fisherman by any stretch but I
have drowned a worm or two. On Lake Erie, I’ve watched experienced
fishers battle sheepshead out of their element and into ours which
takes effort. Then they say profane words, extract their hook, and
toss the fruit of their hard earned labors back into the depths,
usually muttering about what a pain they are to clean or how
horrible they are. Somehow we ended up ordering it and it was
embarrassingly delicious. The fish was every bit as good as the drum
and coated in a crisp crust with loads of additional awesome texture
and flavor. Sitting atop lightly spicy mustard greens and a light
spaeztle noodle, the whole thing was beautiful. Add the Creole
mustard cream underneath and it was unbelievable! |
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Stunning |
Every Morsel A Revelation, In Sheepshead!?! |
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We ordered three really nice desserts, all of which were pretty straightforward with little unique touches. A peanut butter semifreddo with dark chocolate, caramel, and peanuts; an apple upside down cake with brown butter caramel and buttermilk ice cream; and a key lime ice box pie with a punch of ginger and topped with black rum ice cream. The place is relaxed and fun with personalized notes in the menus next to the stranger items, but still very professional and efficient. The service matches and the food exceeds expectations...the stranger the better. Turns out John Besh has more than a head full of hair, dreamy eyes and a southern drawl. A great start in the Big Easy.
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Chilly Study In Peanut Butter & Chocolate |
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Delicious Apple Cake |
Key Lime & Black Rum? Yes. |
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The Menu Encourages You In The Right Direction |
Great First Meal In New Orleans. Even Pillars Are Covered In Seafood |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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A | B+ | B+ | A+ | N/A | A | ||
Sheepshead & Turkeynecks? |