>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@cox.net. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <TSAI OF THE TIMES > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >A new self-described “vegetarian pop-up” restaurant has < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < <PUTTING < < < < < < <EVERYTHING < < < < < < < < < <ON < < <THE < < < TABLE < < < < < < < < < < < < < <emerged inside the Dragon’s Den (435 Esplanade Ave.). Tsai (www.tsainola.wordpress.com) serves dinner each Saturday starting at 6 p.m. from the Marigny music club’s walk-up kitchen window. The meatless menu is sourced from local farmers markets, and while dishes change each week, a recent sampling included jicama salad with oyster mushrooms, basilWHAT garlic eggplant and fried tofu with greens and horseradish. Maple Street Patisserie
am
B
WHERE
7638 Maple St., 304-1526 WHEN
Breakfast and lunch Tue.-Sun. HOW MUCH
Inexpensive
RESERVATIONS
Not accepted
WHAT WORKS
Breakfast pastries, chocolaty snacks, sandwiches WHAT DOESN'T
Coffee service is weak, sandwiches are few CHECK, PLEASE
A neighborhood bakery worth crossing town to visit
CHILD’S PLAY
Julia Child inspired countless American home cooks and restaurant chefs. One of them is Susan Spicer, and this week she honors the birthday of the late chef and food television pioneer with a special dinner series at her restaurant Bayona (430 Dauphine St., 525-4455; www.bayona.com). Each night this week, through Saturday, Aug. 20, Spicer serves a threecourse meal based on Child’s recipes. The prix fixe dinners are $45 and reservations are recommended.
five 5 IN
Five Places for African Cuisines
BENNACHIN RESTAURANT 1212 ROYAL ST., 522-1230
The cafe’s West African fare includes many spicy dishes and meatless choices.
CAFE ABYSSINIA
3511 MAGAZINE ST., 894-6238 www.cafeabyssinia.com
Maple Street Patisserie bakes an array of European breads and pastries. PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
A MAPLE STREET BAKERY RISES TO THE OCCASION.
3030 SEVERN AVE., METAIRIE, 888-2209
when she tasted it. They teamed up to start Maple Street Patisserie in 2010. You don’t need any deep-seated taste memories to appreciate their patisserie’s work. Take the bear claw, which has scant resemblance to the doughy sugar bomb more typically sold by the name. This one is not just about flavor but texture and form, too. Bite in and your teeth sink easily through layers of pastry, reaching an airy hollow lined with raspberry. Along the way, you get the crunch of sugar grains and warm, toasted almond slivers. This is pastry that works with your mouth rather than just filling it. Cichowski’s breads have been turning up in restaurants around town, and at lunchtime at Maple Street Patisserie they’re the building blocks for sandwiches. This is a rather small part of the business here, and though the simple chalkboard menu has just four options, you can mix things up by choosing your bread. I prefer the prosciutto sandwich on airy, crusty ciabatta, which soaks up a layer of bright, tangy pesto and holds in soft, plump wads of fresh mozzarella. Dense, chewy baguettes are my choice for a French-style sandwich of thin-sliced ham and thick planks of Brie. Pastry can get highly personal, too. Just watch the guy trying to choose from a platter of ostensibly identical blueberry muffins, like a kid picking his goldfish from the aquarium’s multitudes. For people attached to their baked goods, Maple Street Patisserie proves a great place to go fish.
JAMILA’S MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE 7808 MAPLE ST., 866-4366
This cozy Tunisian cafe serves couscous, tajine, merguez sausage and more.
MEDITERRANEAN CAFE
845 N. CARROLLTON AVE., 250-1054 www.medcafenola.com
Moroccan dishes like harira make guest appearances among Middle Eastern standards.
Questions? Email winediva1@earthlink.net.
2010 Postales del Fin del Mundo Malbec
PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA / $11-$13 RETAIL Patagonia, 500 miles below Argentina’s renowned Mendoza wine region, is gaining recognition for its European-style wines. This 100 percent Malbec bottling offers aromas of black and red fruit and hints of vanilla, earth and spice. On the palate, taste ripe plum and currants, black tea and rounded tannins culminating in a smooth finish. Decant an hour before serving, and drink with rare beef, pork, lamb, poultry, pizza and firm cheeses. Buy it at: The Wine Seller, Dorignac’s and The Wine Market in Slidell. Drink it at: Eiffel Society, Bistro Daisy, Santa Fe, Byblos and Royal Palm. — Brenda Maitland
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > aUGUst 16 > 2011
BY IAN MCNULTY
P
CASABLANCA RESTAURANT
Try traditional Moroccan dishes prepared in a kosher kitchen.
Upper Crust astries and bread evidently have a power beyond mere calories. At least that’s the impression I got while hanging around Maple Street Patisserie. Under some evocative, aromatic influence, customers often start gushing to the counter help about amber braids of challah bread from their youth, the mystifyingly light croissants from their Paris honeymoon or the cake they sampled on vacation in Greece and are desperate to find somewhere back home. Sometimes the trigger is what they find in the case or baskets at this Uptown bakery, where an impressively diverse range of European-style pastries is always offered. At other times, people implore the baker to sate some craving with a special order. They’ve come to the right place. The maestro here is master baker Ziggy Cichowski, a native of Poland whose multi-ethnic prowess in the baking arts owes something to Cold War geopolitics. Growing up in the then-communist country, he was allowed to work in Russia, Germany, France and elsewhere as a baker’s apprentice. Had he lived in a more open society, he says now, he might have elected to stay longer, perhaps permanently, in one these countries. But he was always required to return home to Poland, where he’d again apply to travel and work somewhere else. Over time, these trips amounted to a journeyman’s tour of European baking traditions. Later, his family emigrated to the U.S., and eventually he made it to New Orleans. He was bringing samples of his pastries to potential clients when he met Patricia Ann Donohue, a chef and New Jersey native who knew baking talent
Share platters of Ethiopian stews, scooped up with injera bread.
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