The November Hit List: Gris-Gris, Dooky Chase, Palm & Pine, and More

There’s a new menu at chef Eric Cook’s flagship. If people-watching and a long hang with friends on a beautiful day is your jam, this is your spot. A mammoth juicy, double-cut pork chop gets chargrilled treatment before hitting the plate with Louisiana oyster dressing; and rabbit is served sewed in white wine with Creole dirty rice.

Also new are happy-hour bites daily, like beer cheese and cracklins, and disco fries topped with pulled pork; and Gris-Gris wings tossed in Crystal hot sauce honey butter.  Knock it all back with $2 off all draft beers and a large selection of $8 specialty cocktails.

Chef Nick Lama, a third-generation Sicilian, just unveiled an exciting new menu of regional Italian specialties based around his billowy scratch-made pastas and pristine ingredients. Lama’s ethereal meatballs with fontina fonduta, and charred octopus with Calabrian chili glaze, remain mainstays, so no worries. But new reasons to visit his elegant Uptown spot include beef short ribs braised in marsala and toothsome rigatoni with savory beef Bolognese. Get on it now if you want one of the coveted tables.

When she died in 2020 at age 96, chef Leah Chase, the embodiment of the term “New Orleans icon,” left behind a mourning city transformed by her grace, wisdom, lifelong civil rights activism, and expansive Creole culinary acumen. Her cuisine was humble and straightforward, elevated by the freshness and purity of her ingredients and the surety of her skills.

Today her classically-trained grandson Edgar “Dook” Chase IV oversees the kitchen. The younger Chase has maintained the sanctity of the dishes that made his family’s restaurant famous—peerless fried chicken (pro tip: get an order for the table to share), garlicky shrimp Clemenceau, and deep, rich Creole seafood gumbo — while expanding the menu. The braised duck features a fork-tender leg quarter glazed with orange marmalade and mint; and the delicate broiled pompano is simply dressed with lemon butter.

Under the extended family’s guidance, the wine and cocktail programs have advanced exponentially, while the world-class collection of works from Black artists remains beautifully intact. And, crucially, they’re now on Resy, so booking a table just became that much easier.

Following the multimillion-dollar renovation that closed it for a month, what may be the city’s toniest (read: expensive) destination has reopened. Chef John Folse’s extravagant spot in the Royal Sonesta Hotel has undergone a dining room, bar, and kitchen upgrade, and has a revamped menu. Chef Rick Tramonto is no longer part of the restaurant, which is now owned solely by Folse, long an authority on Louisiana cuisine.

Folse has driven the menu closer to its Louisiana roots by pulling selections from some of his celebrated past restaurants, namely Lafitte’s Landing, the origin of the crawfish Montegut salad with fried crawfish and artichoke hearts, and the veal Ashland, crusted with green peppercorns and served with fried oysters. Save room for the encyclopedic dessert list. Go for something prepared tableside—like bananas Foster affogato trifle—to really gild the lily.

Find more info here.

The Dickie Brennan Restaurant Group has assumed management of the Audubon Clubhouse — so no more tired salads, sad sandwiches, and uninspired soups! The new chef is Copeland Crews, formerly of Saba, who’s leading a gradual evolution of the menu, which is already vastly improved, and now feels worthy of the exceptional vibe imparted by the deep wrap-around porch and the ground-level patio.

There is still a triple-decker club sandwich (this is, after all, still a golf club) but, thrillingly, there is also crabmeat au gratin. A luncheon salad pairs fresh bitter greens with burrata, chili-spiced roasted carrots, and hunks of fried bread. The hefty burger is made with ground beef from Coastal Plains Meat Co., in Eunice, which works with small Louisiana ranchers. The experience here is served to a background soundtrack of singing birds in the canopy of moss-draped oak trees.  Lunch is served Wednesday through Friday, brunch is on weekends, and dinner will come in 2024.

Call 504-558-1200 for more info. 

The fierce sense of community that chef-owners Jordan and Amarys Herndon share with  other members of the industry first developed when they worked as sous chefs in different restaurants. (After hours they hosted a pop-up, the Old Portage, in the Black Penny bar, a popular post-shift spot for hospitality staff.)

Soon they’ll turn the corner on Palm & Pine’s fourth anniversary in business. The couple’s community support extends to local pole burlesque dancer Bella Blue, for whom they recently launched Bottoms Up Brunch, a new Saturday series featuring a two-course prix fixe. The late-night burlesque shows (and late-night meals) with Bella Blue will continue Friday and Saturday nights.

Matthew Kohnke and Neal Bodenheimer teamed up on the original design for Cane & Table in 2013, transforming the 300-year-old structure built by the Ursuline nuns (which devolved into a probable whorehouse) into the highly atmospheric, perfectly imperfect pro-tiki bar it is today.

The celebration of New Orleans’ historic connection to the Caribbean plays on the tropical drinks that preceded the tiki movement. Partner Kirk Estopinal’s drink menu ranges from familiar piña coladas to less-known creations such as Bombos. Chef Alfredo “Fredo” Nogueria, a New Orleans native of Cuban descent, keeps the culinary menu tied to its sense of place with offerings like a coctel de camarones, crab croquetas, empanadas, and beef pepper pot.

Now that school is back in session and temperatures are below 90, C&T has expanded their hours to be open on Mondays. There is also a new happy hour on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Ayu is the current darling of the bakery scene in a city jammed with beloved bakeries. Helmed by Breads Bakery alums Kelly Jacques and Samantha Weiss who bring together a sense of play with a reverence for classical technique, the menu plays homage to flavors both local and far-flung. The season brings pies, NOLA shotgun-style gingerbread houses, and satsuma curd-filled “BaYule Logs.”  There’s plenty of outdoor cafe seating so enjoy your coffee and pastries under a blue sky and feel the breeze.

Find more info here.

Through the end of the month all Ruby Slipper locations — not just Mid-City but, Marigny, Uptown, and Metairie —  are featuring a new fall menu that touches everything from brunch to midday cocktails.

If pumpkin spice is your jam, this one’s for you. Start with pumpkin marshmallow beignets that rework the NOLA classic with pumpkin cheesecake, praline sauce and marshmallow topped with spiced candied pecans and powdered sugar; or pumpkin marshmallow stuffed French toast made with brioche. For the sweet-averse there are Creole cochon tacos made with slow-cooked apple-braised pork. Knock back a couple of the new brunch cocktails—the Fall Fiesta Rita or the Cranberry Pumpkin Mimosa—stare up at the clear blue sky, then head home for a nap.

New Orleans native Peterson Harter’s sandwich operation, Sandy’s Muffalettas, will pop up at Turkey and the Wolf on November 3. A San Francisco sensation since its inception in 2020, Sandy’s became a bricks and mortar operation in the Haight in April and accolades like “one of the top 15 sandwiches in the country” have been pouring in. On offer will be Sandy’s “classic” meat muffuletta, a vegetarian roasted mushroom and scallion muffuletta, pickled egg salad, pimento cheese spread and brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Sandy’s muffs are not of the ilk of the New Orleans classic, but neither are chef Mason Hereford’s sandwiches at TATW. But we love them anyway. You will stand in line waiting to place your order. If you are lucky, you will score a cramped table outside, too.

No reservations.