February | Food & Drink Guide

Here?s where we?re eating

Avenue Pub. You?ll find your favorite beer on an infinite list of draft and bottled brews made locally and all over the globe. The food is a cut above too. There?s the chicken, cucumber and kiwi sandwich with bread slathered with cucumber cream cheese, as well as fried wontons filled with either red beans and rice or jalape?o, cream cheese and bacon. Avenue Pub also carries an impressive offering of bourbons and Scotch whiskeys.

1732 St. Charles Avenue, (504) 586-9243, www.avenuepub.com

Cure. This innovative cocktail bar also led the way to the Freret Street resurgence and continues to craft seasonal, unique drinks?try the full-bodied Two Fathers, a rich grape blossom of fortified wine, bourbon, absinthe and a wonderfully smoky rhubarb amaro?and the small plates that go with them. This time of year, that means warm curried lentils with squash and nutmeg croutons, pulled pork arepas topped with ginger-spiked cream and chicken pot pie served with a long snap of roasted fennel.

4905 Freret Street, (504) 302-2357, www.curenola.com

Caf? B. Restaurant maestro Ralph Brennan intended this to be a neighborhood draw, but it?s also bringing city locals to this part of Old Metairie. Clever spins on comfort food?like green eggs and ham with a poached egg, crisp-tender asparagus, prosciutto and bacon-studded hollandaise or boudin and pork belly served with a hand-rolled buttermilk biscuit?make this bistro feel like your mama?s house. For special occasions, indulge in Chef Chris Montero?s signature ravioli stuffed with lobster, shrimp and goat cheese and topped with champagne-swirled butter sauce.

2700 Metairie Road, (504) 934-4700, www.cafeb.com

Caf? NOMA. Whether you?ve just spent an hour gazing at art or playing tennis, this is the place to duck inside for an inspired snack. Restaurateur Ralph Brennan has refined the caf? with a tranquil view of the sculpture garden. The menu includes colorful salads and a list of sandwiches and sliders, including one version loaded with pepper-roasted chicken, goat cheese and grape chutney and another focaccia-grounded version of a Caprese salad. There?s even a kids? menu with upscale grilled cheese and a flatbread pizza.

#1 Collins Diboll Circle, City Park, (504) 482?1264, www.cafenoma.com

Delachaise. Great little plates, a mile-long wine list and beers from around the world are hallmarks of this treasure box of a pub that is also non-smoking. String together cozy tables and make a meal from crunchy, roasted corn cakes topped with smoked salmon, or small grilled cheese sandwiches made sublime with creamy young Asiago cheese and apple butter. For bigger appetites, try the Cuban sandwich served with freshly fried yucca.

3442 St. Charles Avenue, (504) 895-0858, www.thedelachaise.com

Dooky Chase. This legendary restaurant in Trem? has a speakeasy quality to it. There?s no website and the dining room could pass as your granny?s parlor if she had an amazing collection of African-American art and an equally amazing lunchtime buffet. Leah Chase?s grandson Edgar is now managing the kitchen and still turning out crispy-topped mac and cheese, lima beans and shrimp ?touff?e, tender full-flavored fried chicken and dreamy peach cobbler.

2301 Orleans Avenue, (504) 821-0600

MiLa. French-trained chefs and spouses, Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing, keep things remarkably light, using techniques like reducing sauces instead of adding cream. Earlier than most, the Rushings contracted with a local farm to get seasonal produce and it shines in their grilled corn soup and lemon blueberry tart, as well as the grapefruit vinaigrette, heirloom tomato gel?e and poached rhubarb that accent truly gorgeous dishes.

817 Common Street, (504) 412-2580, www.marriottmarketing.com/ord/production/MSYBR_MilaNewOrleans/

Oak Wine Bar

Oak Wine Bar. This chic spot on Oak Street features a pale, wide open room and long marble bar, perfect for hand-crafted cocktails such as the ?8118? that is sunny with citrus, basil leaves and vodka. There are also gorgeous small plates, including mousse-like burrata cheese paired with roasted pears and greens, all drizzled with local honey vinaigrette. Another sauce, a tamarind-orange glaze, brightens crispy plantains, whipped avocado and fried duck rillettes. The deconstructed Gulf shrimp tacos perched on tortillas are ready to assemble any way you like with pickled vegetables and lime sour cream. On weekends, the full menu is available past midnight and there?s live music.

8118 Oak Street, (504) 302-1485, www.oaknola.com

Pizzicare. Hefty New York-style pizzas are grounded in a chewy, flaky-crisp crust and topped with locally fresh produce?much of it sourced from a community garden next door?as well as house-made sausages and meatballs from restaurateurs Bart Bell and Jeff Baron?s other venture, Crescent Pie and Sausage. Every week features a NOLA Roots Garden pie, recently composed of a vibrant mosaic of beets, squash and mustard greens. We?re partial to the Bianca calzone, stuffed with ricotta cheese, breaded chicken and roasted garlic cloves and the crust-wrapped smoked sausage, served with your choice of dipping sauce. Now you can also order online.

3001 Tulane Avenue, (504) 301-4823, www.pizzicare.com

Shake Sugary. Pastry chef Dawn Snead has made a splash in Marigny with her artisan cupcakes, pastries and sweet breads. She adds signature touches to her treats: fresh tarragon makes its way into chocolate shortbread cookies; jasmine green tea is paired with citrus in a quick bread; and the Hummingbird cake is composed of spiced banana, pineapple and pecan cakes, held together with ginger cream cheese frosting. An ever-expanding vegan menu includes muffins, sweet rolls and cookies.

3600 St. Claude Avenue, (504) 355-9345, www.shakesugary.com

Oak Wine Bar. This chic spot on Oak Street features a pale, wide open room and long marble bar, perfect for hand-crafted cocktails such as the ?8118? that is sunny with citrus, basil leaves and vodka. There are also gorgeous small plates, including mousse-like burrata cheese paired with roasted pears and greens, all drizzled with a local honey vinaigrette. Another sauce, a tamarind-orange glaze, brightens crispy plantains, whipped avocado and fried duck rillettes. The deconstructed Gulf shrimp tacos perched on tortillas are ready to assemble any way you like with pickled vegetables and lime sour cream. On weekends, the full menu is available past midnight and there?s live music.

8118 Oak Street, (504) 302-1485, www.oaknola.com

Tamarind. Named for the sweet-tart fruit, chef Dominique Macquet?s latest venture is in the revamped Hotel Modern and helmed by chef de cuisine Quan Tran. The French-Vietnamese menu is a perfect blend of local cultures and plays out on the plate in the lemongrass-cured salmon topped with wasabi cr?me fra?che and a duck confit tarted up with citrus fleur de sel and hoisin-cider vinaigrette?all plated with a bok choy salad. For dessert, there?s a cinnamon molten cake that melts along with Vietnamese coffee ice cream. Mixologists Kimberly Patton-Bragg and Michael Glassberg are the talents behind the bar.

936 St. Charles Avenue, (504) 962-0900, www.thehotelmodern.com

-ANNE BERRY

Source: http://www.livingneworleans.com/?p=7306

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