Alright.
Emeril Lagasse. Emeril strikes me as a bit of a clown. Going into this meal, I viewed him as little more than an Elzar impersonator. Even our cab driver, after picking us up, yelled BAM! I mean, look at the freaking door handles in the bathroom:
--
So anyway, how does dinner at his flagship hold up?
An amuse bouche, I sadly don't recall what it was but I'm thinking salmon with some fresh greens (arugula?) on top. One gets an idea about portion size at this place since this amuse was larger than $15 appetizers at some places in Chicago.
--
By the way - we sat at the kitchen bar. This is basically a bar that looks into, that's right, the kitchen. No one really does anything directly in front of you so there isn't any interaction with the staff...the guy who seemed to manage the kitchen asked how things were and a few people smile and nodded, but if you want chitchat with the chefs, they're busy. It's not unlike watching a ballet - it's organize chaos, I dig it a lot.
--
Appetizer - Warm Mississippi Rabbit Remoulade with Fried Green Tomatoes, Benton’s Bacon, Citrus Salad and Horseradish Gastrique. Upon first bite of this dish this was already one of the best meals of my life - absolutely amazing (and a quite large portion).
--
Soup - we both had the gumbo of the day. Very good, though I have to say neither one were quite wowed. To be fair, I'm not sure either one of us could be "wowed" by gumbo.
--
Bread service was excellent - cornbread, a rosemary something, and a something or another roll. All awesome.
--
Fran's appetizer - "Emeril’s" New Orleans Barbeque Shrimp with Petite Rosemary Biscuit and Fresh Chives. A heavier sauce than one would expect with shrimp - it worked.
--
Entree - Panéed Veal & Crisp Sweetbreads with Wild Mushrooms, Radicchio, Brabant Potatoes, Prosciutto, Sage and Lemon-Caper Crab Butter. We originally had reservations at NOLA, we switched it here because of this dish. It was worth it. An enormous portion (I ate perhaps half of it), absolutely delicious.
Entree - Andouille Crusted Texas Redfish with Grilled Vegetables, Shoestring Potatoes, Glazed Pecans and Creole Meunière Sauce. Neither one of us have had redfish - this was a good first shot. Excellent all around.
--
Portions were so large we skipped desset....which is to say we got two desserts to go. They don't look terribly pretty because they went through a cab ride and short walk, so this does not do them justice.
The famous banana cream pie. Most people and guidebooks say this is a must try and I have to agree.
--
Abita "Root Beer Float" Cheesecake with Bacon Caramel Shortbread. The cheesecake was awesome but the bacon shortbread was awfully baconny...
--
A note on service - some of the absolute best we've ever had. I ordered the food and told our waiter to match up beverages with our food. His choices were actually fairly thoughtful and interesting - local Abita beer with the gumbo, a glass of Albariño with the redfish and a glass of Barbera with the sweetbreads. Wise and unique choices - well played.
I didn't photo it for some reason, but we also had a French press of Jamaican Blue coffee which was insanely smooth.
Anyway, Emeril's not only delivered a good meal, they delivered one of the top meals of my life. Absolutely phenomenal and a new respect for the man himself - worth a flaming train ride alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment