EAT DRINK
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FORK + center BY IAN MCNULTY Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@cox.net
putting everything on the table
Crab and go
The lunchroom spin-off of Jacques-Imo’s Cafe is earning a spot in the po-boy pantheon. By Ian McNulty
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The latest addition to the booming Bywater restaurant scene opened last week in the riverfront apartment complex Rice Mill Lofts. Mariza (2900 Chartres St., 504-598-5700; www.marizaneworleans. com) is described as an Italian-influenced neighborhood bistro, and it’s the latest from chef Ian Schnoebelen and Laurie Casebonne, the owners of the French Quarter standout Iris (321 N. Peters St., 504-299-3944; www.irisneworleans.com). Schnoebelen and Casebonne are aiming for a more laidback approach with Mariza, which they envision as a spot for an any-night dinner or a place for friends to share a plate of salumi and a bottle of wine. Most dishes are between $7 and $16. The menu begins with crostini and bruschetta, meat and cheese plates and salads. There are a few pizza options, papardelle with duck ragout, black fettuccine (colored and flavored with squid ink) and a short list of entrees, including whole fish preparations. A raw bar features oysters and different types of seafood carpaccio, and there’s a full bar. Mariza serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Mariza’s owners are longtime Bywater residents and restaurant industry PAGE 59
WINE OF THE week BY BRENDA MAITLAND Email Brenda Maitland at winediva1@earthlink.net Philip Niddrie presents a shrimp po-boy and a duck po-boy at Crabby Jack’s. PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
what
Crabby Jack’s
reservations
where
what works
not accepted
plate lunches, smoked meats, large po-boys
what doesn’t when
lunch Mon.-Sat. (until 5 p.m. Thu.-Fri.)
how much inexpensive
COLCHAGUA, CHILE $10-$12 RETAIL
street cocktails to the next parade or block party. Whatever future duck and calamari may have as po-boy standards, the go-cup as keepsake has already assured Crabby Jack’s one distinctive measure of New Orleans popularity.
428 Jefferson Hwy., (504) 833-2722; www.crabbyjacksnola.com
2011 Apaltagua Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva
fried chicken needs attention
check, please
mixing the essential and the exotic for po-boys and plate lunches
Sixty percent of the grapes in this bottling come from Chile’s Colchagua Valley region. Apaltaugua is a pioneer in biodynamic farming in Chile, and after hand-harvesting and gentle crushing, 50 percent of the wine is aged in new French oak barrels, which enhances cabernet sauvignon’s characteristics and imparts vanilla tones to complement the wine’s black cherry and dark chocolate flavors. On the palate, taste tobacco, smoked meat, spice, violets and black pepper. Decant an hour before serving to aerate. Drink it with grilled steaks, prime rib, roasted peppers, sausages, aged firm cheeses, burgers and pizza. Buy it at: most Rouses and Acquistapace’s Covington Supermarket. Drink it at: Dijon Restaurant and New York Pizza.
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > JANUARY 29 > 2013
ipe insulation for your Mardi Gras costume, cathode lighting for your homemade shopping cart float, plastic cigars and DayGlo panties by the gross for your truck parade — Carnival prep can present some peculiar shopping lists. Shoppers can knock out many such Carnival needs among the specialized suppliers located off Jefferson Highway. If lunch also is on the list, Crabby Jack’s sits in the middle of all this and fits right in by mixing both the essential and exotic elements of New Orleans cravings. Duck is treated like roast beef, pulled into strands and slippery, round chunks, doused with a thin, brown jus and piled onto a Gendusa po-boy loaf. Drum fish is either encased in blue-corn taco shells or blackened and served with a surprisingly deft butter sauce. Oddities like calamari po-boys share the menu board with throwbacks like stuffed mirliton. The commercial seafood distributor next door provides the shrimp used in old-school shrimp Creole or shellacked with a mac-and-cheese-style cream sauce with pasta shells and tasso. These shrimp also are dumped by the quart into king-size po-boys that look less like one person’s lunch and more like a photo from a public relations campaign for Louisiana’s abundant fisheries. Take one of these to the parade route and you can feed half the party. Jacques Leonardi of Jacques-Imo’s Cafe opened Crabby Jack’s in 2002. It’s the straightforward, lunchroom version of his loose and clamorously popular Oak Street restaurant, and it shares some of the same raffish spirit. Crabby Jack’s also ranked near the top of the chart for violations of restaurant health codes between 2008 and 2012 in a recent analysis by The Times-Picayune. But that news was evidently shrugged off by lunch regulars — warehouse workers, medical staff in Ochsner scrubs and budget-stretching college students — and it hasn’t swayed my affection for the place. Frankly, I’m more concerned about the fried chicken. The late Creole chef Austin Leslie once ran the fryer at Jacques-Imo’s, and Crabby Jack’s has access to his acclaimed fried-chicken recipe. But recent batches I had were disappointing, and Leslie’s trademark topping of dill pickle and persillade (a garlic/parsley garnish) were missing — so was evidence of seasoning in the oily coating. The paneed rabbit po-boy, once a specialty, is gone, but an excellent new addition fills the gap: barbecued brisket with a touch of sweetness, a lot of smoke and enough peppery juice to make any other sandwich seem dainty. Soft drinks, the only beverage choice, come in oversized plastic cups emblazoned with Leonardi’s mug. Over the years they’ve accumulated in kitchen cabinets all over town, and they come out each Carnival season, carrying
Mariza opens in Bywater
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