Reviews for Apolline, Antoine's, And Porter & Luke's

Ian McNulty visits Apolline? home of Eater Hot Chef 2013 Matt Farmer? this week: "It's a restaurant for rock-solid, if never really pulse-pounding, new American cuisine in a cool and quietly stylish setting." Reason to go? Farmer's preparation of fried quail that's "audibly crunchy and artfully arranged with potato salad, a streak of barbecue sauce and a pillar of smoked pork belly, like a chef-driven picnic dinner." [Gambit]

Blackened Out's Rene Louapre IV asks if grand dame Antoine's is worth it this week, and the answer is NOPE: "Perhaps the worst baked oyster dish in town is on the menu at Antoine's in the form of an oyster thermidor. Chewy oysters ladled with ketchup and ham. Say that three times fast and the dead rise." While Antoine's used to be the best, Louapre now points out that "unless they get a kitchen upgrade, we are all just waiting in a hospital room." [BlackenedOut]

Tom Fitzmorris doles out THREE WHOLE STARS to Metairie-newb Porter & Luke's this week, advising his readers to ignore the early buzz that "it's a more complex restaurant than it is."T-Fitz wonders if the restaurant will "stick on Metairie Road," but there's no question it will stick to your ribs: When it comes to portion size and cost "think Mandina's" ie. wear loose shorts because Chef Vincent Manguno's menu of "unusually large servings" includes everything naughty from fried chicken to bubbling hot blue crab dip... But it does NOT include fried Calamari. Drinks are served in plastic, and there are only paper napkins and cheap silverware, and there is white paper over the tablecloths. Why, T-Fitz, why? -1 hipness points, that's why. [CityBusiness, subscription required]

· Review: Apolline [Gambit]
· Antoines: Is It Worth It? [BlackenedOut]
· Porter & Luke's Hopes To Stick on Metairie Road [CityBusiness]
· All Week In Reviews [-ENOLA-]

Apolline [Photo: Nikki Mayeux]