Couquette and Sylvain are my “best right now” recommendation. There are many that are consistently very good to exceptional to include Clancys, August, Commanders, and Herbsaint. I tried Brennan’s recently and while I appreciate the needed changes the food wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for. The service and wine list was amazing at Brennan’s to be fair.
Someone asked about Green Goodess- love it for lunch and mid day lite bite. A tremendous QPR.
On the note of definitive QPR there is Cafe Amelie. Wonderful food, service, ambiance to boot.
We got back from our New Orleans trip this past Monday and that night I came down with a head/chest cold - I am almost to the point where I am afraid to fly anywhere, as I keep picking up colds on airplanes. Grrrrrrrr
In any event, we did the Green Goddess for lunch, twice! We thought the lunches were really tasty. Also, they had a nice IPA out of Chicago that came in a pint can. So, that place was all “win.”
We had reservations one night at Herbsaint. The food was very good, but our waitress was terrible - it’s a relatively loud/small place and she related the evening “special” items with little or no volume, while looking at just one of us (my daughter), leaving both my daughter’s fiancé and me repeatedly asking her “what?” “What?” “WHAT??” Then, throughout the meal, she repeatedly would come by the table while we clearly were very engaged in conversation and not needing a damn thing . . . to ask us if we needed anything. It’s the extremely rare instance that I get irritated with waitstaff (I can’t even remember another occasion), but she succeeded on that level. Again, the food was very good. We had a Cotes du Rhone that was significantly marked up, with dinner.
Next door to Herbsaint is a wine bar/restaurant named Marcello’s, where we were able to enjoy a bottle of wine while we waited for our Herbsaint table to open up (we had 9 pm reservations and were not seated until well after 9:30) http://www.marcelloscafe.com
We like the folks and food at Marcello’s so we made reservations to go back there the next evening. Their wines are all on racks and in boxes lying around, stacked here and there, throughout the restaurant and you just wander around looking for something you want. It’s a little odd, but it worked fine for us. That second evening we blew through a couple of 375s of 2010 Clos de l’Oratoire des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape at $29 a bottle, along with three 750s of 2013 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape VV. Food was good.
I’m curious whether anyone’s (who posts here ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers")
) has been to Galatoire’s in the last couple of years.
I had such a great meal there in 2014…and others I know loved their experience last fall…but…all the hipper places seem to get all the visits here…and the icons not. This is one icon which has kept up with the times, IMO (due to recent ownership changes most likely). So, I’m curious.
I’m going in early May for a few days, and plan on hitting Compere Lapin, Lilette, Petite Grocery among others and will report back. I still recall my meal at Shaya last Fall, that was outstanding.
Terry- nice to see you enjoyed the GG twice. Easy to enjoy the food, service and atmosphere at GG.
Stuart- I have dined at Galatoire’s twice in the recent 5 months (majority of family still lives in NOLA) and your comments/sentiments I share that this old line “icon” may be overlooked by some/many. While I also respect and enjoy many newer (aren’t nearly all newer than Galatoire’s right) restaurants to include some I recommended in the same post, I and my family and friends still admire and enjoy the “icon” Galatoire’s. On my last visit I brought prospective client/collaborators from Eugene, OR; Newport Beach, CA; and New York to dine with a friend and local. Everyone (3 tourist and us locals) had a great time from the point of entry to transition to the bar to finish the night with drinks and laughter. I got the dining extravaganza started with Soufflé Potatoes, Escargot and Duck Crepe as we started with Burgundy. Entrees were enjoyed by all and the wine was steady throughout our extended meal.