Mariani's Virtual Gourmet Newsletter More than ever, getting back to New Orleans solely to keep up with new restaurants and changes in old ones is requisite on an annual basis. My most recent trip showed that the refinement of the city’s cuisine continues, and that young chefs, young staffs, and young owners have really altered a once stodgy, self-centered infatuation with threadbare traditions. A return visit to the two-year-old Herbsaint (701 St. Charles Ave.; 504-524-4114; www.herbsaint.com ) was clearly due, since the last time I was there I rushed in and out for an all-too-quick meal on my way to the airport that only hinted at the goodness to be found here under chef Donald Link and partner Susan Spicer. This little corner bistro with its tall windows on the street is precisely the kind of place I’d eat once a week if I lived in New Orleans. The food is wonderful, the greeting by g-m Averriel Thomas couldn’t be more genuinely warm, and the crowd convivial. You can always tell when people are having a good time, and it’s highly palpable here. On this lunch visit, I reveled in Link’s shrimp and green chile grits cake with spicy tasso cream sauce, and fabulous beef short rib on potato cakes with a Dijon mustard and horseradish splash. Fried frogs’ legs come simply sprinkled with fines herbes. Equally herbaceous gnocchi with wild mushrooms and roasted garlic were a tad soft. For main courses at lunch go with items like agnolotti with mascarpone, scrumptious chicken and dumplings (a dish I really hope undergoes a revival in the U.S.), and spicy pork spareribs with fried potatoes and cole slaw. At dinner there’s pan-roasted chicken with bulgur pilaf, fennel, and lemon, the Muscovy leg of duck confit with Creole dirty rice (that is, with bits of gizzard), and the wham-bam braised pork belly with lentils, chicory and spiced dates. For dessert there is no way you can pass up the warm chocolate beignets. Dinner prices range from $14-$24 for main courses. |
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