VijayNijjar

I went to august wih my sister for her graduation from Med School. The atmosphere was extremely cosy, but still very “fine dining.” (Old brick walls, old hardwood floors that give a satisfying, hollow THUD when you walk, intimate lighting, etc.) There’s some construction going on right now on Tchoupitoulas around it so you kind of have to walk under some scaffolding to get there, and the street is punctuated by…characters, but nothing terribly unusualy in New Orleans.

The Food:
The meal started with an amuse’ which to be honest seemed “phoned in.” It wasn’t bad, and i appreciated the effort. I started with the gnocci and it was, to quote “coffee talk” BUTTA! My sister had the trio of foie gras. While, foie gras isn’t my favorite, there was a champagne gele’ that was really cool. For dinner I ordered the duck and it was incredible. A warning though, the chef is very modern in his practices so don’t be surprised when you find a foam or gel on youf dish. He also puts together very interesting flavors, as the incredible strawberry jelly and bitter licorice sauce on my duck attest. My sister had the Kobe short ribs and it made me want to slap my mother. My only knock on the restaurant was the dessert menu. It was pretty lacking and kind of uninspired if you ask me…but you probably didn’t ask me so…it’s all good.

Drinks:
Great wine list and surprisingly low priced cocktails given the ammount of dough we shelled out for everything else.

Price:
A LOT!

From the moment you step in you know you’re in for something totally different. The service is almost military in execution. The minimalist decorations and small seating area let you know that you’re not there for a meal, you’re there for a dining EXPERIENCE. My party and I chose the 10 course tasting menu (we didn’t have enough time for the 20 course Grand Tour menu which typically lasts at least 4 hours) with the wine pairing. Everything from the edible menu in the beginning to the packaging material “vanilla cream pie” was playful and delicious.

Wine selection was superb and the pairing was spot on (albeit pricy). My standout dishes were the macaroni and cheese (with chicken fried quail), African black octopus, and “cheese plate” featuring carbonated apple slices.

Another plus: Chef Cantu actually came out and greeted every table (I think it was because there were a couple food critics there and I guess he figured what the hell since there were only 3 other tables at the time)