Let The Delicious Times Roll!

Let The Delicious Times Roll! 150 150 David Rosengarten
A festive lunch at Galatoire's in New Orleans

A festive lunch at Galatoire’s in New Orleans

We are just past Mardi Gras, and it was good, brother. Not that I was there. But I heard reports of it from people who should know…the guys who run Galatoire’s, perhaps New Orleans’ most fabled and most traditional restaurant. And why was I chatting these boys up? Because right at the end of Mardi Gras they came to New York City, to create a Louisianan celebration at the James Beard House on a Saturday night. It was excellent…I GA-RON-TEE!

Head chef Michael Sichel in the kitchen of Galatoire's on my last visit, October 2012

Head chef Michael Sichel in the kitchen of Galatoire’s on my last visit, October 2012

Sichel in the kitchen of the James Beard House in March 2014, alongside Melvin Rodrigue, the President and CEO of Galatoire's (who also gets his hands dirty a lot!)

Sichel in the kitchen of the James Beard House in March 2014, alongside Melvin Rodrigue, the President and CEO of Galatoire’s (who also gets his hands dirty a lot!)

Melvin Rodrigue talking things over with me last week in New York on his visit

Melvin Rodrigue talking things over with me last week in New York on his visit

And what were we all talking about…other than food, food, food? Why, the future of food in New Orleans, of course!

The starting point (always my starting point): New Orleans is the best food city in the U.S. We spent a round or two confirming that.

“Like no other place in America,” said Sichel, “in New Orleans we live to eat.” And Rodrigue echoed: “Like no other place in America, it’s part of our culture.”

But there’s lots beyond the food…there’s the sensibility about how to treat the food! “Sure,” Rodrigue said, “we have the style, and we have the ingredients. However, the real reason we’ve been on top since I can remember is the abundance of local products. Long before others in other places were talking about ‘locavore,’ we were talking about ‘Gulf to table.’ ”

Ultimately, it’s the people, too, and their lived lives with food. Great food is not something they discovered after the Food Network went on the air. “The amazing thing,” says Sichel, “is the customer base and their expectations. Are they eating to eat? Not really. They’re eating to match their life-long expectations. To satisfy their stomachs, yes…but even more to satisfy their memories.”

Adds Rodrigue: “Most of our regulars remember when their grandpas brought ’em here for the first time. Now…they’re waiting to bring their grandsons!”

And if an out-of-towner rolls into Galatoire’s for his or her first meal in New Orleans? Can he or she catch the magic? “The locals cozy right up to the visitors,” said Rodrigue. “There are no walls. The regulars are so proud of their local culture and cuisine that they try to pull the visitors in.”

The room at lunch at Galatoire's

The room at lunch at Galatoire’s

Oysters Rockefeller coming out of the salamander at Galatoire's

Oysters Rockefeller coming out of the salamander at Galatoire’s

So the burning question for me—a culinary Luddite, trapped in a world of explosive gastronomic change every minute, or at least every night—is this New Orleans tradition likely to stay around for a hundred years or so? (I want to make sure you have enough time to experience it, in case you haven’t yet!)

At The Beard House dinner, there were many New Orleans classics…but there were some fancy-schmancy updates as well.

The menu at the James Beard Galatoire's Mardi Gras dinner in March, 2014

The menu at the James Beard Galatoire’s Mardi Gras dinner in March, 2014

For example, rather than Oysters Rockefeller…we had this:

Fried Louisiana Oysters, Pickled Vegetables and Saffron Aioli (at the James Beard House)

Fried Louisiana Oysters, Pickled Vegetables and Saffron Aioli (at the James Beard House)

Are these whizzed-up dishes an indication that even the most traditional institutions such as Galatoire’s are heading down the primrose path to (gulp!) creativity?

Well, there is creativity in New Orleans…but at the most old-line restaurants in town, it is de rigueur to gardez la forme .

“We play around a bit,” said Sichel “…but it’s more for event menus than anything else. Come on,” he asked me, “…how many ‘modern’ chefs would serve you a light amuse made with a fried oyster? Raw is the rage! But we’re all about tradition!”

“We do not change at Galatoire’s,” he continued. “We follow the dream of the original owner, who opened the place in 1905. The goal is to keep it just as it is. The hard day-to-day work is not dreaming up new dishes…but keeping thing from changing!”

Well, OK (skeptic me speaking!) I noticed that Galatoire’s has recently opened two new restaurants. Let’s go, boys…there must be something about them that differs from Galatoire’s?

And it was in their answer that I realized yes, truly, this company is being dead honest about following tradition.

“We opened Galatoire’s 33 Bar & Steak directly next door in April, 2013,” said Rodrigue. “We always think of Galatoire’s as a seafood-driven restaurant…so we wanted to bring the same sensibility to a different set of ingredients…meat! Galatoire’s is a protein-at-the-center-of-the-plate place, where you have to order your sides. Galatoire’s 33 is the same thing—except what’s usually at the center of the plate here is steak.”

You can see it in their thinking…everything “new” spins off what they know of the “old.”

The same is true at their Baton Rouge outpost, Galatoire’s Bistro, which moved to its current location in January 2013. The menu is almost identical to the original Galatoire’s menu…except for one “important” change that Rodrigue pointed out. “At Galatoire’s,” he said, “if you order an ingredient, like Gulf shrimp, the waiter will propose to you many different ways Michael can cook it in the kitchen. In Baton Rouge, we’ve pre-made some of those choices, offering more specific combinations of ingredients and cooking styles.”

What? No Sri Lankan spices? No wine-soaked goat cheese from Italy? No grasshoppers from Oaxaca?

Nope. Just a focusing of the same old same old.

God bless that same old same old. May it wave for a long, long time at Galatoire’s, and at the other New Orleans classics. May New Orleans always be New Orleans.

“Have you seen our waiters?” asks Sichel.

Waiter at Galatoire's

Waiter at Galatoire’s

Do you think this guy could ever serve you Confit of Baby Mahi-Mahi with a Crystallized Tower of Honshu Seaweed and a Hoja Santa Beurre Blanc?

If you haven’t been, get thee to New Orleans. Now. You have at least 99 years and 11 months left!

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