Two Beans for Oxalis; Reviews for Marti's, Green Goddess

This week Brett Anderson gives TWO BEANS to new Bywater gastropub Oxalis. Anderson notes that the housemade duck live pate is means to go alone, but that chef Jonathan Lestingi's kitchen "falters as often as it soars" with inconsistencies that "leave a big hole on a menu this small." Overall, he notes that food doesn't come off as the primary objective at Oxalis, which operates as "more a bar of a refined grade... What's certain is that Sonali Fernando, Oxalis' bar manager and Lestingi's partner, has created an excellent saloon," one with a "atmospheric" quality that he feels is "identifiably Bywater." Also, the patio smelled of weed. [NOLA.com]

Scott Gold reviews Marti's this week, noting that "dead restaurants, no matter how beloved in their heyday, aren't normally revived after 25 years," and so successfully. Of chef Drew Lockett's menu: "There's little not to love... Carnivores will enjoy appetizers like seared foie gras with smoked salt, sour apples and white balsamic dressing, a version of poutine with goat cheese and short rib gravy and a small plate of crispy kurobuta pork belly." As for the vibe, Gold remarks how "beautiful" the revamped Marti's is, so much so "you feel special sitting at one of these tables." [Gambit]

Ian McNulty finds that Green Goddess, the "tiny, delightfully strange French Quarter restaurant" is still "defying expectations" thanks is part to owner/chef Paul Artigues, who took over after Chris DeBarr's departure in 2012. Menu highlights include a "visually dazzling bibimbap," a beet and pomegranate hummus, and more "straightforward" dishes like a lamb meatloaf and a drum (yes, fish) baklava, all of which leave Green Goddess an "inscrutable restaurant with character and flavor bursting through its very tight seams." [Advocate]

· Oxalis, the Bywater gastropub, earns Two Beans: New Orleans restaurants review [NOLA.com]
· Review: Marti's [Gambit]
· Short on space, an offbeat cafe is long on originality and delicious surprises
· All Week In Reviews [-ENOLA-]