New Orleans

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT 107
en brouchette with a lavender honey mustard sauce and seared foie
gras on a pig’s ear. Main courses include possibilities such as Creole
cream cheese–crusted lamb with a chamomile mint tea sauce, and a
salt-baked whole boneless Gulf fish. There is early-bird dining with
a full interesting menu, and the possibilities at lunch make that an
attractive cheaper option. If you want to dress up like serious grownups
and take a chance on eating serious food, head here.
In the Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier St. & 504/522-1992. www.windsorcourt
hotel.com. Reservations recommended. Jacket required at dinner. Main courses
$16–$24 lunch, $28–$39 dinner; prix-fixe lunch $24. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Mon–Fri
7–10:30am, noon–2:30pm, and 6–10pm; Sat–Sun 7–11am and 6–10pm.
EXPENSIVE
Café Adelaide CONTEMPORARY CREOLE Former
Commander’s Palace (the same branch of Brennans owns both
restaurants) sous chef Danny Trace has transformed this place from
a very good dining option into an excellent one, one that can stand
along the best in town at any time. He’s playing around with classic
local dishes, made with local ingredients, but with the sort of fresh
and clever twists needed to keep it all out of the Creole business-asusual
rut. Try the Louisiana boucherie (pork tenderloin with blackberry
honey, tasso and andouille pie or tasso braised cabbage, and
boudin crepinette), or the Tabasco soy glazed tuna (with celery root
purée). For a change, we are going to steer you toward a savory
dessert, the drunken fig bleu cheese tart. At breakfast they offer the
classic pain perdu, New Orleans’s version of French toast. The
drinks, especially the sweet and powerful house Swizzle Stick (which
can be had on the festive cocktail sampler tree; ask for one!), make
this a bar worth investigating as well. Look for specials such as three
courses for $38, and four for $47.
300 Poydras St. (in the Loews Hotel). & 504/595-3305. www.cafeadelaide.com.
Reservations suggested. Main courses $13–$19 lunch; $24–$36 dinner. AE, DC,
DISC, MC, V. Daily 7–10:30am; Mon–Fri 11am–2:30pm; Mon–Sat 6–9:30pm. “Offhours”
menu available at bar 11am–11pm.
Cuvee CONTEMPORARY CREOLE Doing its darndest
to be considered the best restaurant in town, Cuvee is certainly the
most innovative and interesting. There are sweetbreads in puff pastry,
and a seared tuna atop a lush avocado salad, paired with heirloom
tomato sorbet and watermelon-vodka gazpacho (what a
healthy way to have a shot!). Osso buco comes deconstructed, with
the “bone” made of potato with the marrow whipped into more
potato filling the interior. Mustard-and-herb-crusted salmon comes