[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 13, 2018]
It had stopped raining. A good thing too, as I'd decided to walk from my Canal Street hotel, through the French Quarter and Marigny district, to Bywater American Bistro, located at the quiet, residential end of Chartres Street.
A couple of miles or more, avoiding Bourbon Street, but running the gauntlet of the Frenchman Street music clubs. Was it worth it?
Well yes, for the most part it was a nice meal in pleasant surroundings. But the absence of Creole-Cajun kitsch means you could really be anywhere. It's hip, it's farm-to-table, it's an American bistro. The name fits. The chef behind it is Nina Compton of the established Compère Lapin, which adds Caribbean influences (she's from St. Lucia) to a downhome menu: jerk, curry, Caribbean peppers. Similar touches at Bywater, along with mainstream American dishes -- tuna toast, pumpkin soup, half a chicken.
The hog's head boudin was an inevitable first choice, not least for the Cajun reference. In practice, it didn't look like a boudin; it was a rectangle of crisply breadcrumbed head meat, similar to the pig foot "torchon" I used to eat at Momofuku Ko, More proximately, it reminded me of the hotscrapple at Josephine in Nashville this summer. It was laced with a little too much Dijon mustard.
The last image is from Josephine
Pleasant though my server was, we had an awkward interchange about sequencing my meal. I had asked for two appetizers to be coursed out. He cheerfully advised me the kitchen would put both items on the same "board," i.e. exactly what I'd asked not to happen. But I enjoyed the last laugh when the dishes came out on two separate plates (at the same time). I ate the boudin first, as it was hot, then enjoyed my second course of oxtail terrine.
This was good; sturdy hunks of oxtail in a savory jelly. You can order bread and butter for $4, but I thought bread would come with this anyway, and it did.
The pork belly plate was nicely composed, with an apple sauce, wild rice, but the belly was a little fattier than I prefer; always a hard line to draw with this cut between tender and juicy and just too rich.
The big disappointment was the cheese course, especially from a restaurant of this pedigree and ambition. Three soft-ish, flabby cheeses which seemed to have just been peeled from supermarket plastic. I may be wrong about that, but that's the impression they gave. The blue (on the right), was hardly blue. The others were flavorless. And for some reason, they were served with a fish knife. At $17 for three pieces, the restaurant should source better or exclude the option.
The overall experience was pleasant enough, though, and at around $100 before tip -- with three wines, including an old Lopez de Heredia, correctly priced.
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