ARNAUD’S – A FRENCH QUARTER TRADITION FOR NEARLY A CENTURY

ARNAUD’S –PART 2

Operated by the Casbarian family since 1979, Arnaud's fed as well.

Here’s what we had:

·         Arnaud's fabled cap bread, a warm loaf of French bread wrapped neatly in a cloth. Customers are encouraged to break the bread together and cover their table in crumbs.  We did so, till the loaf was gone.

·         A pair of French 75 cocktails – citrus, sugar and a lovely blend of champagne and cognac. Yum.

·         Shrimp bisque that would make founder and French wine salesman Arnaud Cazenave proud.

·         Oysters Kathryn -- artichoke hearts, garlic, fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano and extra-virgin olive oil (our favorite out of a good half dozen cooked oyster selections)

·         Soufflé Potatoes (we’re stealing the back story directly from the menu) Legend has it that Collinet, French King Louis Phillipe’s (reign 1830-1848) chef unintentionally created soufflé potatoes by plunging already fried potatoes into extremely hot oil to reheat them when the King arrived late for dinner one night. To the Chef’s surprise and the king’s delight, the potatoes puffed up like little balloons. We hope that you will be equally delighted. Served with Béarnaise Sauce.

·         Pontchartrain -- a sautéed fillet topped with fresh Louisiana crabmeat. The fin fish fillet depends on what was fresh caught. Drum was what the kitchen had during our visit and it was tasty.

·         Crème Brulee – to be fair, the low point of the meal.  The loaf of bread to open the experience was outstanding....worth blowing the diet for.  The pair of small crème brulees that came to our table could have come from a faraway kitchen that provides routine desserts.

·         Café Brûlot -- Coffee, lemon and orange rinds, cloves, cinnamon sticks and Orange Curacao. Flamed with Brandy and made tableside.   We’re usually not big on tableside productions, but this was worth it.  Our young wait person yielded to a graybeard to come over and perform the dangerous-looking creation of this concoction. Even with cloves, orange rinds and liquor, the Café Brûlot is surprisingly smooth.

 http://www.arnaudsrestaurant.com

 

ARNAUD’S – A FRENCH QUARTER TRADITION FOR NEARLY A CENTURY

ARNAUD’S –PART 1

 

Arnaud’s Restaurant is not a hipster foodie hangout.

You will not find truffle oil-infused, miso-crusted cod pork belly sliders on the menu.

You will find comfortable, traditional renditions of fresh fin fish and shellfish from the Gulf.

You will be served by an old school wait staff that predicts your every need, without being intrusive during that special anniversary meal.

You will have a choice of a jazz lounge, one of the best bars in America, private dining rooms, casual dining options and the main dining room, with high ceiling and windows out on the Quarter.

You will be asked to wear a sport coat if you are a gentleman dining in the main dining room.

You will be in comfy, quiet confines – no mean feat considering how close the Arnaud’s complex to the most boozy, touristy, noisy stretch of Bourbon Street.

You will enjoy outstanding wheelchair access from curb to table – not always a certainty in the ancient French Quarter buildings.  My wife is a wheelchair user and the wait staff accommodated us without making an embarrassing fuss over her wheelchair.

You will eat real creole food, not the bastardized stuff that comes out of so many allegedly authentic kitchens.

813 Bienville St   (504) 523-5433

Formal dining room open 6-10 p.m. 7 days.

www.arnaudsrestaurant.com

MILESTONES

I TURN 50 TODAY

There I am with my wonderful wife, Heidi.

We're in New York in fall 2013, just before her major hip surgery.

The trip was the second half of our two-part 25th wedding anniversary celebration.

Part one was in Los Angeles.

In this photo at the Central Park Zoo,I feel that I look every bit of my half century on this planet.

Heidi looks a little travel-weary, but not more than a decade older than the 20 she was when we met at Kent State.

I'll write more about our great love in a future post.

We just got back from New Orleans, another of our favorite towns because of its history and sense of place.

I've been a bit slack about posting to this blog as often as a like.

We'll try to fix that soon, with some reviews of dining/drinking at Mother's, Arnaud's, Palace Cafe and Carousel Bar as well as some site reports on  the Presbytere, Cabildo, NOMA, WWII Museum, Insectarium and Aquarium in NOLA.

Speaking of this blog, it is nearing some milestones just like its founder.

We are nearing 60,000 readers.

Before 2014 is done, we will have more than 1,000 blog posts.

We have featured more than 100 essays, reviews and satire pieces by Heidi Johnson-Wright.

We have helped give birth to her EarthBound TomBoy blog, a prelude to her upcoming memoir.

Check her out at http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com