It is not everyday that you have a dining experience,
such as Antoine's! After all, they have fed the Pope, every
president of the United States -since Roosevelt and many a movie
star.
When you first enter the restaurant from St. Louis street, you
do not expect a very large facility.
In
fact,
Antoine's
can
feed
over 1000 guest and have room to spare.
Antoine's is steeped in tradition
and fantastic cuisine! Since the beginning of Antoine's, around
1840, when a young Antoine Alciatore adopted New Orleans as
his home and established the now famous Antoine's restaurant. The
establishment moved to its present location around 1868 and
there it has remained. It is one of the oldest established
restaurants in the United States and has been run by the descending
family of Antoine Alciatore ever since.
What might bring you to Antoine's is their
notably famous Oysters Rockefeller (this a creation of theirs)
or
any of their other innovative and traditional French and Creole
styles of cooking, but that would only be the beginning of
a fine dining experience. You expect the cuisine to fabulous,
and it is! We have been to no other restaurant which has
lasted as long as Antoine's has. As we said, It was established
in 1840!
What you do not expect (or would not notice right off),
is that -if you were to visit Antoine's today -go off get
married, raise some children and make a life for yourself
-only to return some twenty years later to find that the
same waiter you had some twenty years ago would be waiting
on you today. That is not an exception to the rule, it has
been the rule at Antoine's!
Some of the wait staff have been there over 50 years. Our
waiter, Murphy Ruiz, is a junior waiter with only 15 years
experience at Antoine's. He does not use a pad to write
things down. Every dish is memorized and who it belongs to,
the same.
Serving a Tradition
I might mention, that
service at Antoine's is exclusively á la carte.
We started off with ...
Huîtres en conquille á la Rockefeller (Oysters
baked on the half shell with their famous Rockefeller sauce
- their
creation) Worth the trip to Louisiana!
Huîtres Thermidor (fresh
Louisiana oysters baked on the half shell with a bacon
and tomato sauce- their creation) absolutely grand!
Huîtres
Bienville (oysters baked on the half shell with
a white wine sauce seasoned with onions, pimento and fresh
peppers - their creation) keep them coming!
Huîtres á la
Ellis (Crispy fried oysters served on toast, buttered with
pate de foie gras, and a rich cobert
sauce - again their creation) splendid and lighter than you
think.
Crevettes rémoulade (Boiled Louisiana
shrimp served cold in a tangy horseradish and creole mustard
rémoulade dressing.
Chair de crabes ravigote (Lump crabmeat served cold with a
delightfully seasoned dressing)
Pommes de terre soufflées (The classical
Antoine's dish of fried potato puffs)
... there seemed to be no end to the creative and delicious
mastery of these family dishes.
Our main entrees were ...
We sampled the
following soups, and all where
Gombo créole (Louisiana seafood and
okra stew with blue crabs, oysters, and shrimp)
Potage alligator au sherry (A well seasoned sherry, wine-laced
alligator bisque -their creation)
Bisque de crevettes (Gulf shrimp reduced to
a thick, rich, and well seasoned soup)
Our main course entrees were ...
Filet de
truite Pontchartrain (Broiled trout with lump crabmeat sautéed
in butter)
Served with a hollandaise sauce flavored with taragon and white
wine.
Tournedos nature (Small broiled center cut
tenderloin of prime beef)
Served with a 'Alciatore' sauce which is a combination of sweet
brown pineapple sauce and tangy bernaise - a favorite with
lamb or beef and their creation.
For dessert ...
Mousse au chocolat (Chocolate mousse topped
with whipped cream)
Créme renversée au caramel (Caramel custard)
To end our dining experience Murphy served us a special creation
called Café brulot diabolique (Antoine's
creation of hot spiced coffee flamed at your table with brandy)
WOW! Nice
way to end a meal
We can honestly say, if you do not put this place
on your to do list while in New Orleans, you have missed
a dining experience of a life time!
It does not end with dinner, if you ask and there is time
your wait staff will take you on a tour of the facility. Many,
marvelous memories have been enjoyed here -and, something tells
me that many more are yet to come. Check out their web site
for current listed menus.
www.antoines.com ...
it is all good and worth the trip. Ask for Murphy and tell
him we sent you.
Thank you for joining us. Finest Health Spas
Review Team [email protected]
Information
on upcoming events at certain
spas
