EAT DRINK
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FORK + center BY IAN MCNULTY Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@cox.net
putting everything on the table what
Restaurant R’evolution
where
777 Bienville St., (504) 553-2277; www. revolutionnola.com
when
lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner daily, brunch Sun.
how much expensive
reservations recommended
what works
artful compositions, precise preparations
what doesn’t
service can’t always keep pace with all the moving parts
Slow Food reviving New Orleans chapter
Before the lexicon of local foods was commonplace, the international movement called “Slow Food” encouraged people to reconnect with authentic regional flavors and food traditions. Launched in Italy in 1986, it came in response to the rise of fast food and industrialized food in Europe, and local chapters were formed around the world. New Orleans food maven Poppy Tooker started the first local Slow Food chapter in 1999. That branch was disbanded two years ago amid turmoil over the direction and goals of Slow Food USA, the national organization headquartered in Brooklyn. The new chapter of Slow Food scheduled a launch party Monday, Oct. 1, at Rock ’N’ Bowl. Annual membership (details at www.slowfoodnola.com) costs $25, and members get invitations to events, discounts on food at those events and other perks. “You get to join a movement,” says Gary Granata, a local sports nutritionist who chairs the new Slow Food New Orleans chapter. Just where that movement is headed has been a source of contention for Slow
check, please
conspicuously contemporary cuisine dressed in Old World grandeur
Creole R’enaissance
PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY
By Ian McNulty
W
ith two high-profile chefs, a build-up lasting two years and the very name over the door, Restaurant R’evolution sets expectations somewhere in the upper stratosphere. So it’s been surprising, since the place opened in June inside the Royal Sonesta Hotel, to discover a restaurant that stands out for reviving certain restaurant experiences rather than by revolutionizing them. Surprising, but not disappointing. R’evolution was billed from the start as blending the Louisiana culinary roots long championed by chef John Folse and the culinary daring of chef Rick Tramanto, who achieved national acclaim at avant-garde Chicago restaurants. On the table, this works out as something I call conspicuously contemporary Creole cuisine. Dishes have lots of flair and gilding and sometimes their own narratives, but R’evolution’s cuisine is not so different from how other top New Orleans chefs are cooking today. In fact, it’s possible to assemble a perfectly conventional dinner here (broiled oysters, seafood pastas, expense account steaks) or tour Tramanto’s earlier hits: the chef’s “caviar staircase,” arrayed on tiny steps, for instance, or his gorgeous, camera-ready, cappuccino-style soup. Other dishes show the impressive technical precision of this kitchen, which is led by chef de cuisine Chris Lusk: a combination of buttery red snapper and sticky pork belly; a “Napoleon” striped with alternating layers of flounder and crawfish stuffing and a pool of oyster stew as sauce; a ruddy sheen of venison carpaccio, aromatic with specks of dark chocolate, walnuts and
slivered grapes. They’re visually intricate, like dioramas on the plate, and pastry chef Erin Swanson continues the theme with bread pudding under hives of spun sugar or a sack of beignets with candied coffee beans, pot de creme and fig jam. This is creative interpretation of recognizable Louisiana traditions, which is contemporary Creole as we’ve long known it. But how R’evolution really stands apart is by applying this approach to the entire restaurant experience. The space is sumptuous, intimate and elegant — a succession of rooms decked with murals, flowers and culinary antiques, like an old Creole mansion. But here diners also are invited to admire cases where charcuterie cures and a gleaming, state-of-the-art kitchen that could be a Food Network set. The cocktail menu keeps pace with house-made fashions, but before dessert a waitress wheels up a cheese cart, as if from another generation, and afterward comes a genteel presentation of small sweets, called “mignardises.” This last taste is gratis, though you’ve certainly paid for it somewhere in the meal. R’evolution is priced like a casino restaurant, and even a cautious dinner for two can quickly top $200. But if any restaurant looks like it should be pricey, it’s this one. Everything aims for formal, Old World grandeur, showing what might have been had one of our French-Creole grandes dames submitted to a major modernization a decade ago. Now that even expensive new restaurants are gunning for “casual upscale,” R’evolution makes the case more for bucking trends than setting new ones.
WINE OF THE week BY BRENDA MAITLAND Email Brenda Maitland at winediva1@earthlink.net
2009 Lenda Albarino RIAS BAIXAS, SPAIN $18 RETAIL
The tiny region of Rias Baixas, in the province of Galicia in Spain’s northwestern corner, produces some of the country’s finest white wines from the albarino grape. Positioned on the Atlantic ocean, the region’s cooling coastal breezes help moderate the sometimes extreme climate. Grapes for this bottling were sourced from a single vineyard in the mountainous Condado de Tea zone. Made by Bodegas Pazo Pondal, the wine is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to preserve the regional character. In the glass, the wine offers aromas of lemon, lime and grapefruit with honeysuckle notes. On the palate, taste crisp apple, stone fruit, a touch of ginger and a steely minerality on the bright finish. Drink it with fish, shellfish, sushi, paella, soft cheeses and Asian cuisines. Buy it at: Cork & Bottle. Drink it at: Dijon, NOLA and Martinique.
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > october 2 > 2012
After great fanfare, a grand new restaurant feels surprisingly familiar.
Sizzling Oysters R’evolution are topped with smoked Bienville butter.
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