>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@cox.net. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CONFECTIONS CONNECTION <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Local chocolatier Cheryl Scripter had a stand at the Crescent City > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >Farmers > Market before opening a Lakeview shop in 2008. Now < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <PUTTING < < < < < < <EVERYTHING < < < < < < < < < <ON < < <THE < < < TABLE < < < < < < < < < < < < < she’s < come full circle in a way, relocating Bittersweet Confections (725 Magazine St., 484-0780; www.bittersweetconfections.com) to a storefront across the street from the farmers market’s Saturday site in the Warehouse District. Should the desire for a truffle or filled cupcake strike early in the morning, Bittersweet Confections opens 7 a.m. weekdays (7:30 a.m. Saturdays), and it also serves breakfast pastries, bagels and coffee drinks.
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ANCORA ADDS LUNCH
Redeeming Qualities
Ancora Pizzeria & Salumeria (4508 Freret St., 324-1636; www.ancorapizza.com) plans to expand its hours with two days of lunch service beginning this week. On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant will offer its regular menu of Neapolitan-style pizzas, salads and meat plates and there will be a special lunch pizza and salad combo for $12. Chef Adolfo Garcia of the Warehouse District restaurants RioMar and a Mano opened Ancora in partnership with chef Jeff Talbot in June.
CHEF GREG PICOLO MOVES TO MID-CITY. BY IAN MCNULTY
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Five Standout Shrimp Po-Boys
MAHONY’S PO-BOY SHOP 3454 MAGAZINE ST., 899-3374 www.mahonyspoboys.com
Shrimp are grilled, tomatoes are fried, and remoulade is everywhere.
PARASOL’S BAR & RESTAURANT 2533 CONSTANCE ST., 302-1543 www.parasolsbarandrestaurant.com
Firecracker shrimp are coated with butter, hot sauce and garlic.
PARKWAY BAKERY & TAVERN
538 HAGAN AVE., 482-3047 www.parkwaybakeryandtavernnola.com
An order includes enough shrimp for a sandwich and a side plate.
PASCAL’S MANALE RESTAURANT 1838 NAPOLEON AVE., 895-4877
At lunch only, the restaurant’s original barbecue shrimp come in a po-boy.
ZIMMER’S SEAFOOD
4915 ST. ANTHONY AVE., 282-7150 www.zimmersseafood.webs.com
REDEMPTION
3835 Iberville St., 309-3570; www. redemption-nola.com Lunch Tue.-Fri., dinner Tue.-Sat., brunch Sun.
Greg Picolo has taken over the kitchen at Redemption. PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
which has struggled to distinguish itself. It’s had a few chefs already, and along the way its food has changed from its initial menu of original, contemporary Creole dishes to a much shorter roster of familiar French-Creole standards. Picolo plans to bring more of his former Bistro’s flavor here, and he also is planning specials inspired by New Orleans’ culinary past, such as turkey poulette, an open-face sandwich some may remember from the Blue Room in the Roosevelt Hotel, and dishes inspired by Redemption’s address, notably the smoked soft-shell crab that was perhaps Christian’s best-known entree. The evocative setting of Redemption’s building is bound to conjure memories. It seems that soon some may materialize on the plate too.
Large shrimp fill a seeded Gendusa loaf baked next door.
Questions? Email winediva1@earthlink.net.
2009 La Joya Reserve Syrah COLCHAGUA VALLEY, CHILE / $10 RETAIL
An internationally acclaimed Syrah, this wine presents high quality at a bargain price. Portions of this 100 percent estate-grown Syrah were barrel-aged for almost a year in a combination of French and American oak. After bottling, the wine rested in the cellars for an additional three to four months before release. It offers dark fruit, leather and earthy aromas with oaky notes and hints of vanilla. Taste red berry fruits including currants and cherry tinged with spice and herbal notes, smoke and toast. Decant several hours before serving. Drink it with roasted or grilled meats, duck, wild game, leg of lamb, barbecued ribs and stews. Buy it at: Cost Plus World Market locations in Harahan, Harvey and Covington. — Brenda Maitland
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > noVember 29 > 2011
s word got around last year that a new restaurant called Redemption would open at the longtime address of Christian’s, it naturally kindled expectations. Christian’s was one of the few major restaurants that didn’t return after Hurricane Katrina, and its setting inside a century-old church gave it an ambience like no place else in town. Redemption is not a replica of Christian’s, nor did its owners intend it to be. But now, the associations customers bring to its door may be tied to a missing New Orleans restaurant of more recent vintage. Earlier this month, Redemption owners Maria and Tommy Delaune turned over their kitchen to chef Greg Picolo, who had been chef at the Bistro at the Maison de Ville for nearly two decades. “This is a building with a lot of character and dignity, and we wanted someone who would run it like it’s his own,” says Tommy Delaune, who also owns the local seafood processing and wholesale firm Tommy’s Seafood. “We’re really just in the background now to support Greg.” Picolo took the reins from Daniel Tolbar, of the former Mid-City restaurant Daniel’s on the Bayou, who remains at Redemption. Picolo also brought with him Obie Chisholm, his longtime sous chef from the Bistro at Maison de Ville. Picolo says he’s making changes slowly at Redemption, for now just refining sauces here, adding a few ingredients there. A more thorough overhaul is in the works as he integrates the approach for which he was known during his 18-year tenure at the Bistro. In its prime, the Bistro was one of the great insider pleasures of the French Quarter. Just steps off Bourbon Street. In a room that seemed as narrow as a streetcar, the restaurant exuded romance, while Picolo’s blend of French bistro fare and contemporary Creole flavor was original and often captivating. The Bistro had a hard run since Katrina. It closed in 2006. Picolo and a business partner bought the business and reopened a year later, but in 2009 a fire in the adjacent building forced them to close it again, this time for five months. Another blow came in August, when a dispute with the landlord over an air conditioning system led to the restaurant’s latest closure. Picolo says the Bistro’s future is “nebulous at best,” and there’s a court date pending in January to try to resolve it. When Delaune approached him with an offer to run Redemption, he says, the timing seemed perfect. It also signaled an important change for Redemption,
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