Restaurant
Review: Lüke, New Orleans
 My
very first meal during this year's New
Orleans Food & Wine Experience was
at Lüke - the new John Besh restaurant
on St. Charles just outside the Quarter.
It definitely had its ups and downs…
Though we had a 1pm lunch reservation,
we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table.
(Not a big deal, but do start doing the
math at this point.) Eventually we were
led to what was undoubtedly the worst table
in the place - a two-top banquette table
that is practically attached to a wait station.
Admittedly, the table and station are divided
by an open window frame of sorts, but with
no curtain or even a newspaper to hang between
the two, we spent the entire meal looking
at the dirty dishes from other tables that
were stacked, sometimes noisily, right next
to us.
But, the plates (the fresh ones) going
by us looked promising, as did the classic
brasserie-inspired menu. First though, after
a hectic morning of travel, we needed a
drink.
After waiting about 15 minutes for a server
to take our wine order, we then waited another
20 minutes or so before our server (more
about her later) reappeared briefly to let
us know that they were out of the wine we
had chosen and then wandered off again.
We picked out a second choice and waited
to order it. Skipping ahead here, we had
been at the table for nearly an hour before
we finally had our first sip of wine.
And our server? While she seemed very nice,
we had our doubts that she had ever served
a plate of food before in her life. In fact,
I thought my 9-year-old niece would do a
better job, because at least she would be
into pretending she was a waitress…
My understanding is that service is pretty
underwhelming these days in most (but not
all, as I experienced later in the weekend)
New Orleans restaurants because there is
simply not enough post-Katrina housing available
at the right price for restaurant workers,
so there are simply not enough restaurant
workers to provide good service. (Of course,
pre-Katrina service in New Orleans always
moved at its own pace, but I suppose that's
neither here nor there at this point…)
In any case, it's something to keep in mind
- adjust your expectations accordingly.
Given the rather inauspicious start, it
is doubly impressive, then, that the food
overcame it all.
The pork rillette (a kind of pâté
with meat cooked in fat, shredded and then
cooked with more fat to form a paste that
is typically served cold and spread on bread)
starter was a no-holds-barred version that
probably should have come with a defibrillator,
but instead was served alongside dots of
savory marmalades, cornichons and crusty
toasts. It was delicious and rich - a little
went a long way, and this serving was enough
for four people (though a bit more of the
balancing marmalades would have been welcome).
A roasted beet salad was beautiful,
with the sweetly glistening beets offset
with fresh greens, blue cheese and spicy
pecans. The crawfish bisque was deeply
colored and flavorful with what tasted like
a serious splash of some kind of spirit
(brandy perhaps?) and sported a large, fried
crawfish hush puppy along with a generous
amount of crawfish tails.
Our main courses included a tender and
flavorful panfried veal with wild mushrooms,
but the real standout was the steak frites
- an entrecôte cut that was not too
thick and not too thin. Served with béarnaise
sauce and crispy french fries - it was the
best steak I've had in recent memory. Super-flavorful,
cooked exactly right with a nice sear -
I savored each and every bite. Now I just
dream about it.
At the end of it all, Lüke is a place
I not only intend to go back - it may be
my new favorite spot in New Orleans. (Though
I may have to tote along a bottle of wine
next time - just to see us through until
the service kicks in.)
Lüke
333 St. Charles Ave.
504-378-2840
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