>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@cox.net. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <EDIBLE HONOR ROLL AT EMERIL’S > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >If dishes like Creole rabbit with corncakes, apricot-glazed duck and rib-eye with seafood mashed potatoes sound enticing, < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <PUTTING < < < < < < <EVERYTHING < < < < < < < < < <ON < < <THE < < < TABLE < < < < < < < < < < < < < <thank Victoria Farmer, Chayil Johnson and Janee Taylor. The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) students won a culinary contest, and their dishes will be served at Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants nationwide during October. Lagasse will donate $10 from each student dish sold to support a culinary WHAT arts program at NOCCA scheduled to begin next year. Tartine
am
B
WHERE
7217 Perrier St., 8664860; www.tartineneworleans.com WHEN
Breakfast and lunch Tue.-Sat. HOW MUCH
Inexpensive
RESERVATIONS
Not accepted
WHAT WORKS
House-made charcuterie and breads
WHAT DOESN'T
Breakfast is limited
CHECK, PLEASE
An enticing new option for easygoing French flavor.
Tartine Scene
A NEW FRENCH BAKERY HAS PEOPLE TALKING.
Cara Benson bakes bread and sweets at Tartine. PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
B Y I A N M C N U LT Y
N
hidden off Broadway near the Tulane University Square complex. Proximity to the Tuesday site of the Crescent City Farmers Market gave the place an early boost, and Benson’s concise, exactingly executed menu has done the rest. In the morning, the small, open kitchen is busy with baking activity, though the actual breakfast choices are limited and few customers are about. Scones and muffins are inexpensive quick bites and as good as the ambient aromas in the room promise. Tartine also joins the short list of places to get a decent bagel in New Orleans, though the tepid, self-serve coffee is on par with the office breakroom standard. Things get moving by noon, and the place may feel a bit froufrou compared with the gruff warmth of typical New Orleans lunch joints, but you should have no fear of leaving hungry. In addition to the generously piled tartines, the conventional sandwiches pack a wallop too. A rotating roster of salumi and fresh mozzarella fills a ciabatta roll, and the ham sandwich spills open with equal amounts of thinsliced meat and Brie. Those after a salad will find the beautiful tuna Niçoise rippling fresh, squeaking with oil and draped by intense sardines. It’s hard to resist something sweet on the way out the door. Dark chocolate bark with salty cashews is bagged like bake sale goodies and peanut butter fudge sits in little single-serving cups like dessert shots. Tartine is indeed much different than our typical neighborhood cafes, but it’s the kind of place I’d be delighted to find anywhere.
Try upscale comfort food at the new bistro Sylvain (625 Chartres St., 265-8123; www.sylvainnola.com). Sean McCusker refurbished the space, which was previously La Marquise Pastry Shop but has sat vacant for years. His menu includes appetizers like roasted beet bruschetta and entrees including porchetta-style roasted pork, braised garlic sausage with Napa cabbage, duck confit, pastas and sandwiches.
five 5 IN
FIVE TASTES OF KOREAN FLAVOR KOREA HOUSE RESTAURANT & CLUB 3547 18TH ST., METAIRIE, 888-0654
The area’s only dedicated Korean restaurant sports table-mounted grills.
MAT & NADDIE’S
937 LEONIDAS ST., 861-9600 www.matandnaddies.com
The eclectic menu includes “Southern Seoul” ribs with kimchee.
THREE MUSES
536 FRENCHMEN ST., 298-8746 www.thethreemuses.com
Tofu or beef with kimchee and greens makes oversized tapas.
JUNG’S GOLDEN DRAGON
3009 MAGAZINE ST., 891-8280 www.jungsgoldendragon2.com
Look for Korean noodle soups on the wideranging menu.
STANLEY
547 ST. ANN ST., 587-0093 www.stanleyrestaurant.com
The inventive diner is home to the Korean beef po-boy.
Questions? Email winediva1@earthlink.net.
2009 Ken Forrester Petit Rose Stellenbosch, South Africa / $10 Retail
Full-flavored rosés from the south of France have been hot in a cool sense for quite some time. Spain, Italy and other Old and New World countries also produce top-notch, bone-dry rosés. This bargain bottling from South Africa’s noted Stellenbosch district in the Western Cape is a rousing rendition. Made from 51 percent Cabernet Franc and 49 percent Merlot, it exhibits bright bouquets of rose petals and red berries, with fresh strawberry, cherry and watermelon flavors and a touch of spice. It’s crisp with a nice acid balance on a lingering finish. Drink it with tuna, cassoulet, chicken, soups, salads, pastas, cheeses and charcuterie plates. Buy it at: Cork & Bottle and The Wine Seller. Drink it at: Boucherie. — Brenda Maitland
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > OCTOBER 19 > 2010
o Frenchman would recognize as his own the distinctively airy, outsized po-boy loaves New Orleanians call French bread. But take that same Gallic visitor to Tartine and I’m confident he’d feel more at home. This small, exquisite bakery and cafe opened earlier this year at the edge of Uptown’s Black Pearl neighborhood and is off to a roaring start. Its name is a French term for buttered bread, though in practice, tartine makers rarely stop there. The examples at Tartine are essentially open-face sandwiches made on narrow, crusty, dense and chewy baguettes slathered with savory spreads and loaded with charcuterie. My favorite tartine is smeared with sharp Dijon and sweet onion jam and lined from end to end with house-made pate cut into thick triangle shapes, all gorgeously mottled with herbs, crushed pistachio and dark bits of dates. It looks more like a decadent presentation of hors d’oeuvres than a sandwich, and a precise side salad of lentils or black-eyed peas completes the spread. Another tartine made with pork rillettes tastes as meaty and rich as duck confit, and though the rillettes themselves need a little more seasoning, a few strategically placed cornichons make each bite pop. Tartine is run by Cara Benson, a New Orleans native who was the pastry chef at Muriel’s Jackson Square prior to striking out on her own. Her husband Evan Benson, a chef at the catering company Joel’s Grand Cuisine, is responsible for the charcuterie. The building they took over, a former salon, is well
NEW BY THE SQUARE
49