The New York Times A Taste of New Orleans; Off Off Bourbon Street, a Jubilant Revival NEW ORLEANS -- The impossible happened in New Orleans a few years ago. The dining scene turned dull. The city that most Americans routinely rank with New York and San Francisco among their favorite food towns seemed to lose the spark. The big Cajun boom of the 1980's, the era of Paul Prudhomme and blackened redfish, was long over, although the tourists still line up at K Paul's. Emeril Lagasse had gone on to become the country's premier celebrity chef, although the tourists still make a beeline for Emeril's, too. The stately old restaurants like Commander's Palace and Galatoire's sailed on, like the great Mississippi riverboats of yore. And you could always go to places like Uglesich's or Mandina's for a taste of something local and authentic. But there was no getting around it, New Orleans was in a slump. The slump is over. The boom that brought a host of new restaurants to New York in the last three years did the same for New Orleans, although on a smaller scale, befitting a city of barely half a million, bringing perhaps a dozen new and notable dining spots each year. Many of these filled the empty niche between the funky neighborhood spots and the Victorian flagships. The city was crying out for more restaurants like Bayona and Nola, sharp, small-format bistros with sophisticated takes on the local cuisine. It got them. In the blink of an eye, the post-Emeril era has begun. Herbsaint, with its more modest ambitions, solved the dessert problem early, with knockouts like a coconut cream pie on a macadamia crust and warm chocolate beignets in brandied cherry sauce. The restaurant, owned by Susan Spicer of Bayona fame, sits right on St. Charles Avenue, which means that diners can spend all night looking at Mike Ditka's across the street or watching the streetcar speed by with a click and a clack. If you live in New Orleans, as most of Herbsaint's customers do, the streetcar probably seems a cliché, but for the rest of us, it's a big treat. Herbsaint, named for the local anise liqueur, draws on Louisiana flavors and spices for strength and inspiration. It's rooted in the local sensibility, but it's a well-traveled, well-informed version of New Orleans cooking. The chef, Donald Link, was the sous-chef at Bayona before heading off to San Francisco, where, among other things, he helped open Jardinière. Back on native ground, he has an attractive setting for upscale, down-home dishes like fricasseed rabbit with long twists of strozzapreti pasta and wild mushrooms or a thick pork chop with spätzle in brown butter sauce, red cabbage and Fuji apples. In a nod to the restaurant, I wanted to order the tomato-shrimp bisque flavored with a dash of herbsaint, but the gumbo of the day, with andouille, duck and tasso ham, sounded too good to pass up. It was gumbo heaven in a small cup, the flavors intense and deep, with a steady, beating pulse of Cajun spice. It was only a short hop to shrimp with a chili-fired grits cake and tasso cream sauce, a dish worth the plane fare to New Orleans. |
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