Reviews Are In For 'Sportsman's Paradise' Trenasse

Chef Jim Richard of Stinky's Fish Camp fame opened Trenasse at the InterContinental back in November, and now the reviews are beginning to pour in. It looks like the critics are pretty keen on Trenasse:

Ian McNulty says it has "character beyond the typical hotel restaurant template": The chef puts a modern spin on Louisiana flavors and unites high-brow (Sauternes, $30-plus entrees) and humble (cracklins with red bean butter, daiquiri machines). He's especially impressed by the gigantic oyster loaf, a $59 "diorama of three dozen oysters" prepared several ways.  Frog legs "show why frog is best when it tastes like itself and not like fried chicken," while a rabbit-shrimp fricassee is "lushly juicy." Whole redfish is presented to "look like an edible fishing trophy." Less impressive was a seafood stew "in too demure a broth." [The Advocate]

Sarah Baird declares "the cuisine is hearty enough to make you feel like you could headlock a bear": The menu "brings rib-sticking meals from the backwoods to the city." So-called Creole nachos "double down on the pork" with cubes of pork belly perched on cracklings with chow-chow and red bean puree, but "the fried brie burger might be the menu's most over-the-top offering." She loved the Stinky's seafood stew that McNulty dissed, but says the alligator tamales "need a burst of spice." Overall, "Casting a line at any part of the restaurant's dinner menu will almost always reel in a dish that can surprise and please," but vegetarians might have a tough time here. [Gambit]