Coquette
/
Well this is my new favorite restaurant in New Orleans. Coquette, at the corner of Magazine and Washington, is a handsome, unassuming place, yet when you walk in, you feel as if you're entering a grand and inviting old home. The pressed tin ceilings tower above you while gloriously lit chandeliers illumine the great bar, exposed brick and long line of set tables.
We were seated towards the rear of Coquette and presented with an extensive, creative wine list and a menu on which everything sounded remarkable. A bottle of Priorat was ordered, appetizers and entrees considered, warm and perfect bread slathered with salty butter and downed.
I started with the market vegetable salad with candied olive praline crumble and it was truly wonderful. Tom chose the farro with a poached egg and bacon, Mom the fried sweetbreads on celeriac puree, and Dad the beef tartare. T's was great, I don't do beef tartare, and I also don't do sweetbreads but the puree was insanely good.
For dinner, T and Mom went with the duck breast with jalapeno, greens and bacon, Dad the sea scallops (and sadly I can't remember on what they were nestled), and I won by ordering this absolutely outstanding, forever memorable NY Strip with mushrooms and an soft-boiled egg-stuffed raviolo.
As if all that weren't enough, we managed to jostle the fillings of our stomachs enough for dessert. T and I split the best banana cream pie I've ever had: more a tart, with caramelized banana slivers, caramel, and cinnamon ice cream on top. Oh my god. Mom got her own banana cream goodie as she didn't want to share, and I do wish I'd done the same. Dad opted for the milk chocolate-peanut mousse. All gorgeous! I would return to Coquette in a heartbeat.
