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- Tom Fitzmorris heads out to Coquette, where he finds the culinary chemistry between Chef Kristen Essig and Chef Michael Stoltzfus “fascinating.” He applauds the constantly changing menu and advises diners to fully embrace the blind tasting menus. The food was so good, that T-Fitz had a hard time coming up with anything that needed improvement, but this is what he has: “Maybe it’s my old Creole palate, but I often feel that the food needs something. Some of the ingredients seem almost too fresh, if that makes any sense.” He says diners can avoid the too fresh food by looking “through the menu possibilities one more time before ordering.” If you say so, T-Fitz. If you say so. [CITY BUSINESS]
- Brett Anderson dines at Toups South and bestows three beans upon it because it is “excellent,” and features a “rambunctious mix of creativity, high craft and straight homage.” Located in the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB), the space is bathed in beautiful sunlight by day, but can feel cavernous and vacant by night. Anderson gives props to the old bar taken from long-gone Brunings Restaurant and other SoFAB treasures that give a context and narrative to the dining experience. Anderson is fond of the pork chop stack, which could feed “two St. Bernards.” Two very lucky St. Bernards, indeed. He also enjoys the strawberry cornbread pudding: “The bread pudding is built from coarse cornbread and studded with pistachios, a relatively rare bread pudding upgrade that deserves to go viral.” He gives shout-outs to the goat tamales and Louisiana gulf stew as well. The service could be a little less casual at this restaurant, which gives the impression that the food is not as serious as it actually is. [NOLA.COM]
- Ian McNulty visits Cafe Henri, the Bywater tavern/bistro from the dream team behind Cure. The restaurant recently went through some changes since it had struggled to find a large following among locals, which McNulty says could have been because of the large number of short term rentals in the neighborhood. No neighbors spells out no regulars at a neighborhood restaurant. The changes have paid off. He finds the food under new chef Fredo Nogueira to be the kind of food that chefs might cook for each other and he’s thankful that there is a place where “they’re making it for you too.” He gives props to an “interesting” chicken plate with “a thigh that was crisp as confit, chicken sausage as chunky as andouille and potatoes, beans and greens all splashed with a tangy vinaigrette,” as well as “a bar snack that sparked a new craving with little more than razor-thin radish, darkly chewy Bellegarde bread and a dollop of goat butter that was grassy, zesty and rich.” [ADVOCATE]
