Ian McNulty

A toast with a rye cocktail called blood oath to that sunset and just a few days into September feeling compelled to dine outside at @lapetitegrocery .

This respite surely can’t last but I’ll take it.

I’ll also take the crabmeat beignets, of course, and the pillowy soft ricotta dumplings and the steak tartare with cured egg and lavash.

The light was failing but the flavors did not on my two favorite entrees — the one of a kind turtle bolognese with poached egg and the paneed rabbit with very special spaetzle.

We went inside for dessert just to have a spell in the bar at this beautiful restaurant for the blackberry cheesecake mousse and the new-to-me rose port.

Always consistent, always wonderful after 21 years , and cheers to that.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #nolafood #uptownnola #nolalife #visitnola #visitneworleans #neworleans Less

You have a lunch meeting at @dookychaserestaurant so, of course, you’re starting with the gumbo.

But, after that, your host, announces that whatever else you might like for lunch, he is getting a plate of fried chicken “for the table.”

Table chicken is a pro move that makes room for your shrimp Clemenceau , one of the Creole dishes of the old school the Chase family preserves here.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #nolafood #neworleans #gumbo #friedchicken #neworleansfood #visitneworleans #visitnola #visitlouisiana #creolefood Less

This is the new @emerils , different in many ways from the one New Orleans has long known but also drawing directly from the ideas that first fired it up.

The restaurant @emeril opened in 1990 as a 30-year-old rising star is now run by his son @ejlagasse , 22, as chef and co-owner.

It is a tasting menu restaurant, lavish in luxury and at prices that will have you considering the relative value of primo concert tickets or some other bucket list experience.

Underlying the opulent approach, though, is the substance of the meal.

There’s a certain standard of luxury dining that could be anywhere, with the portable trappings of expensive amenities and international cuisine.

Emeril’s is the counterpoint. It is unmistakably a New Orleans restaurant, brought to the highest plane.

This menu is about the rich source material of Louisiana heritage food, and the culinary history of this restaurant, expressed with artful presentations alternating between intense and ephemeral.

There is also affection in this food, and emotion to the arc of the meal.

Link in my bio has the full read on the dining experience and also why the attached @winebaratemerils should be considered its own dinner destination, a more accessible taste of what they’re doing here now.

A few of the @cgranger photos here, more in the link.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nola #nolafoodie #nolafood #visitnola #visitneworleans #louisiana #tastingmenu #chef #neworleansfood #neworleansrestaurants Less

When a New Orleans lunch begins at the bar and doesn’t actually get to the table until close to 3 P.M. (as planned) , you may be primed to order off script.

@galatoiresrestaurant is a trove of French Creole tradition - the soufflé potatoes and oysters Rockefeller were particularly good this time.

But the kitchen will also make custom combinations per request — so cobia with lemon caper sauce, add sweetbreads, and two soft shell crabs, sautéed, not fried, topped with more crabmeat.

And Billy Fontenot tending the cafe brulot “bonfire” for dessert.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nola #nolaeats #nolafoodie #nolafood #visitneworleans #visitnola #visitlouisiana #frenchcreole #frenchquarter Less

Dry-aged sushi is a tradition with long roots in Japan, and one now getting more attention in the U.S.

The “Kenji omakase experience” at (you guessed it) @kenjinola is an exaltation of the technique.

Fish prepared this way gives a cleaner bite, a firmer texture, and often a richer flavor, accentuating the fattiness without actually adding fat. When dabbed with vinegar or a sauce at service, the fish absorbs it better. You taste the sauce within the fish, not just on it.

Kenji’s omakase follows the classic progression, starting with bright, lighter-flavored preparations, like a warm-up lap for the palate to more robust fish and preparations, and that’s where the aged examples start turning up.

You can try it by the piece off the regular menu, and there’s a smaller omakase served tableside.

But the full “experience” is served twice nightly at the sushi bar. I gave it a go, sake pairings and all.

Link in my bio has the full read on how it went, and what Kenji is all about.

Big plans ahead for chef Matt too, so you’ll be seeing more of this style of sushi soon.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafood #nolafoodie #omakase #dryaged #dryagedfish #dryagedsushi #downtownnola #neworleansrestaurants #nolarestaurants Less

Martini Monday? When at @hungryeyesnola , certainly.

The 80s motif sets te stage, but it’s the food that rocks me, Amadeus.

Fries with toum at the bar, add a martini and that might be enough right there. But also:

Smoked eggplant dip with miso sourdough

Wagyu coulotte skewer with romesco

Meat and cheese (and olives and pickles) over house chips

And more that the Tech Noir dance club scene neon foiled the photos of, but always love the tostada salad and the cobia special was nice too

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #nolafood #uptownnola #80s #eighties #martini Less

I had my doubts about tapioca croquettes with Camembert, but it was at @drjonesrestaurant and I remembered past surprises here. I trust this kitchen.

The payoff was another delight, with the creamy cheese gently binding the savory-soft pop of the tiny tapioca bulbs under crisp fritter shells.

My early line on Dr. Jones was essentially that this is a chef-led diner, a great lunch spot run by a pair of fine dining chefs without the fine dining trappings.

It’s still a tiny spot, but it has grown into a fuller version of itself with extended evening hours for dinner. It’s all about elevated technique in a casual setting.

Heirloom tomato salad had XO breadcrumbs that functioned like a gratin without impinging on the summer freshness.

Steak au poivre felt like a summer-weight edition of the French classic, with the juicy bite of a tropical chile pepper sauce cutting through.

Gnocchi had just the right soft, wispy texture next to the woodsy chew of maitake mushrooms and a delicate truffle dashi, an umami-booster closer to broth than sauce.

Don’t forget to BYOB; this food pleads for pairings.

You can go big with New Orleans dining, from the high-end institutions to the latest new spots catching buzz. But there’s a special pleasure in finding that small, low-key restaurant cooking wonderful food and keeping things affordable.

This is one I revisited recently that could be easy to overlook but should definitely be on your list to try.

Link in my bio has the story with more examples

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #metairie #nolafood #jeffersonparish Less

Well well Wellington.

The annual Steakhouse Summer Picnic at @dickiebrennanssteakhouse was a great time as usual.

It started years back as a way to showcase Louisiana grass fed beef, and has grown into an annual tradition — and a chance to get a giant beef Wellington, colossal beef shank pie (the big, big brother to a pot pie, femur for scale), a whole steamship round and lots of other preparations.

The ranchers themselves trek in from Acadiana — Chip with @coastalplainsmeatcompany , Raymond with Crescent Bar F and Shannon with @gonsoulinbeef , here with Dickie himself.

A one night event last night, but also a great display of the ethos behind this family of restaurants, connecting with local producers and foodways.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolafood #nolafoodie #steakhouse #beefwellington #louisiana #louisianafood #neworleansrestaurants #grassfedbeef Less

A salvation of summer right here at @station6nola , a soft shell crab so swole it looks like it’s been pumping iron, covered with more crabmeat.

In Bucktown, on a piece of the lakefront famous for traditional seafood dishes, Station 6 has built a following by serving the local catch a bit differently — meaning it’s not all fried or boiled.

But when they do turn to the fryer ….mercy.

More highlights from a recent romp:
“Ali’s” wedge, named for the original co-founder (remember Vega Tapas? Same Ali), with little gem bundles as the base for all that bacon, bleu cheese dressing, fried onion straws and a dash of Crystal

The sizzling garlic shrimp, as if we’re in Spain for a course

The pampano with curried brown butter and cashews nicely augmenting the flavorful fish

And I love seeing northshore’s wild wine wizards @wildbushvineyard represented, terrific Chardonnay at a reasonable $50 on the list here

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nola #metairie #nolafoodie #nolafood #nolalife #seafood #softshellcrab Less

More about that pasta at @ilsupremopizza , which after all did start out as a pasta brand.

If you’ve had the garganelli at @barcar504 or twirled the fettuccine at @juniorsonharrison , that’s Il Supremo.

They also supply restaurants around New Orleans, and now down the Gulf Coast.

And it’s still in play at the new Il Supremo pizzeria.

In addition to a stack of pizzas, I brought home the canestri (“baskets” in Italian; a fat elbow shape in practice).

It has an echo-y pop to its bite and carries the white wine creamy sauce, thickened with fontina, all garlicky with chunks of sausage roughly hewn.

It was the perfect plate of pasta.

Link in my bio has the full read on Il Supremo, from pizza to pasta to @superwitchicecream soft serve on the way

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #nolafood #metairie #oldmetairie #jeffersonparish #pasta #nolalife Less