>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@cox.net. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <SPEAKEASY NIGHT AT ARNAUD’S > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >When Arnaud’s Restaurant (813 Bienville St., 523-5433; www. arnaudsrestaurant.com) opened in 1918, Prohibition was fast < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <PUTTING < < < < < < <EVERYTHING < < < < < < < < < <ON < < <THE < < < TABLE < < < < < < < < < < < < < <on its heels. According to Arnaud’s lore, the restaurant and its patrons dodged enforcement and the good times rolled. Arnaud’s pays tribute to that time Oct. 12 with a “Speakeasy Dinner.” The evening includes a four-course meal of WHAT Prohibition-era dishes, and guests are encouraged to dress in Saffron NOLA appropriate period style. Get the “secret knock” for entrance (and a reservation) at sales@arnauds.com.
am
B
WHERE
505 Gretna Blvd., Gretna, 363-2174; www.saffronnola.com WHEN
Dinner Fri. HOW MUCH
Moderate
RESERVATIONS
Recommended
WHAT WORKS
Curries elevate the main ingredient instead of hiding it
WHAT DOESN'T
Limited hours mean limited access
CHECK, PLEASE
A contemporary, inventive approach to Indian cuisine
Currying Favor A ONCE-A-WEEK RESTAURANT DOES ONE-OF-A-KIND INDIAN CUISINE. B Y I A N M C N U LT Y
Y
PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
— these touchstone flavors of Indian cooking come through in abundance here, but they add zest to dishes that otherwise would be at home on any upscale bistro menu. So a Malabar-style curry is the sauce for amberjack paneed in lentil flour and scallops, caked with ginger and chiles, set high above a mild, creamy, distinctive, mango-flavored curry. Curry goes in seafood gumbo, and ginger-tomato sauce laces a spread of fried shrimp. Though this restaurant is fairly well hidden in a strip mall, the interior is stylishly decorated and very welcoming. There is a full bar with a respectable wine list, and the Vilkhus’ daughter and her college friends comprise most of the service staff. They’re warm, knowledgeable and easygoing. It’s possible to assemble a more familiar Indian meal here. The chicken tikka, the yogurt-marinated goat and the chicken curry attest to that. But it is much more interesting to see how the kitchen works Indian flavor into other types of dishes. The idea of ordering a pulled pork sandwich at a restaurant like this might seem odd, but this sandwich is no joke. The falling-apart tangle of pork is painted with spicy vindaloo, cut through with sauteed spinach and softened by its buttery brioche bun. Resist the impulse to wolf it all down, because the flavors of each bite build slowly in your mouth, a hallmark of deft Indian cooking in any context. The one-day-a-week window to catch this cooking is narrow. But with nowhere else to find food quite like this, finding a Friday night to experience it is the easy part.
Pink is the new black at restaurants participating in the inaugural NOLA Goes Pink dining benefit. Throughout October, chefs at 31 area restaurants will wear pink and serve special three-course $31 menus to support the local affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Find participating restaurants and details at www.komenneworleans.org.
five 5 IN
FIVE OKTOBERFEST OPPORTUNITIES DEUTSCHES HAUS
www.deutscheshaus.org
Truncated and relocated to Kenner’s Rivertown (415 Williams Blvd.), the festival takes place Oct. 14-16, 21-23.
GERMANIA HALL
4415 BIENVILLE ST., 444-2682 www.germania46.org
This Mid-City Masonic Lodge hosts German Fest Oct. 29, from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
GRETNA HERITAGE FEST
DOWNTOWN GRETNA, 361-7748 www.gretnafest.com
The German-American Cultural Center hosts a German beer garden within the festival, Oct. 7-9.
HEINER BRAU
226 E. LOCKWOOD ST., COVINGTON, (985) 893-2884 www.heinerbrau.com
The German microbrewery hosts its annual festival Oct. 14-15.
MIDDENDORF’S RESTAURANT
30160 Hwy. 51, Akers, (985) 386-6666 www.middendorfsrestaurant.com
The menu includes German dishes each Wednesday and Thursday through Nov. 10.
Questions? Email winediva1@earthlink.net.
2010 Penalolen Sauvignon Blanc CASABLANCA VALLEY, CHILE / $13-$15 RETAIL
This bottling comes from a family-owned boutique winery situated in the cool climate of Casablanca Valley. In the glass, it offers aromas of lime zest, tangerine and lemongrass with hints of fresh herbs. On the palate, taste tangy citrus, grapefruit, melon, green pepper notes and a mineral component with a balanced finish. Enjoy it with tapas, mussels and other shellfish, vegetarian dishes and spicy Asian and Cajun cuisines. Buy it at: Rouses in Uptown, Swirl Wines and Bacchanal. Drink it at: RioMar and Salu Small Plates and Wine Bar. — Brenda Maitland
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > october 04 > 2011
ou’ve had crab cakes and New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp before, but probably not the way they are made at Saffron NOLA. These crab cakes are pancakes made of soft, nuttytasting lentil batter and thick seams of lump meat. And the sauce over the shrimp tastes buttery, but it’s also jammy with a sweet-and-sour tamarind tang. Just as you would with barbecue shrimp, you’ll want to mop the plate with bread, though here that bread is chewy, blistered naan. The flavors at Saffron NOLA are unmistakably Indian, yet this place ranges far from the usual curryhouse script, embracing local seafood and a worldly, contemporary cooking style. Countless restaurants have taken that approach with the influences and traditions of Italy or France. But by drawing from the robustly flavorful fundamentals of Indian cuisine, Saffron NOLA is charting a different path, and at this unconventional restaurant, it’s as delicious and polished as it is inventive. The catch is that Saffron NOLA serves dinner just one night a week, and that’s because its owners are quite busy already. The restaurant is the offshoot of Saffron Caterers, a company the Vilkhus have run for some 20 years, and that business is a sideline itself. By day, Arvinder runs the Pickwick Club, one of the city’s private old-line clubs, and his wife Pardeep is a psychologist. When she retired from that field last year, the family decided to expand Saffron as a restaurant, though they didn’t want to open just another Indian eatery. Tumeric, chiles, ginger, garlic and coriander seed
Arvinder Vilkhu and chef Pardeep Vilkhu expanded their catering business into a creative Indian restaurant.
GOING PINK FOR A PURPOSE
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