Da Coach Can Cook!
Written: Aug 10 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Fantastic Service!
Cons: Not a whole lot of surprises in the food
|
|
|
| seevango's Full Review: New Orleans |
New Orleans finally got rid of Mike Ditka as the coach of the New Orleans Saints, but we could not get him out of the city. He opened a restaurant here while coaching the Saints, and I stopped by for dinner on a recent trip to the Crescent City. It was more out of curiosity than anything. I left with mixed feeling about the place, much like I felt about Ditka’s departure from the Saints.
Not many restaurateurs have their faces caricatured on dinner plates or embroidered onto the backs of servers’ vests. Then again, not many NFL coaches open restaurants with menus written and priced to compete with the best in the Big Easy, as well as wine list heavy on red wines and stocked humidors.
On the ground floor of the Lafayette Hotel on St. Charles Avenue, Mike Ditka's New Orleans sounds like it would be a sports bar, but it is a whole lot more! His name is everywhere, from his own cigars to his own beer. The lighter and trendier menu of fried oyster burritos, Cobb salads and roasted free-range chicken attracts your typical downtown power-lunchers. Dimmed wall lamps, closed shutters, a pampering evening staff and a more traditional dinner menu, however, lure the powerful. From the rich mahogany walls in rooms so all-out classic New Orleans that the St. Charles streetcar could drive through unnoticed, Ditka's scowling portrait looks down upon diners (It is then you know how his players must have felt).
Although the menu boasts much local product, the seafood we tried (raw oysters aside) arrived overcooked, and the shrimp on the Asian vegetable stir-fry were shriveled so that not even the crisp vegetables or a dousing of the middling salty-sweet sauce saved them. The enormous piece of medium-rare ginger-seared tuna that a friend had suffered no noticeable seasoning and a few flakes of charred, bitter ginger.
The comfort level is so high for a fine dining establishment and the floor team is incredibly polished. My garlic-studded "Training Table Pot Roast" (one of "Mike's Picks") resembled my dad's as it fell apart when I inserted a fork. Its coffee-brown gravy, its accompanying mound of Sunday dinner-perfect mashed potatoes reminded me of home. A couple next to us questioned our server about the fatty choice of the cut, an alert maitre'd, gracefully rushed to their table to subtract the roast from their bill. The move was appreciated, and signified a gallant dedication to the customer.
Aside from sweet potato in the bread pudding, desserts from the pastry chef lack any surprises. Still, classics like banana cream pie and strawberry shortcake are well suited to this sort of restaurant, although we were expecting a little more from the kitchen.
The manager of Ditka's seemed to recognize the faces of most of his clientele. It is rumored that the city's mayor even ducks in for a happy hour now and again. This is a place for people to see and be seen, to unwind in the perfume of pure New Orleans. You know, I think New Orleans likes Ditka a whole lot more off the field and in the kitchen!
One side note to this review: We took two small children to the restaurant on while on the way to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. I would strongly suggest not bringing children to this restaurant.
Also, I am trying hard to get New Orleans added to the "Restaurant by Cities" category. It is ashamed that such a fine city known for world-class restaurants is left off the list. And my efforts have resulted in emails from the Epinions staff telling me how hard it is to add a city to the list. I even offered to compile the list of restaurants for them! I encourage you to email the Restaurant Manager and ask him to add New Orleans or any other city you think should be represented. Thanks!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
seevango
|
|
Location: Louisiana
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 2 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.