DELACROIX, NEW ORLEANS: RESTAURANT REVIEW
Chef Wiley Lewis and the catfish with turtle sauce at Delacroix (photo: Teg Folks)
DELACROIX, new orleans
Review by Paul Oswell
There's a particular kind of New Orleans restaurant that you happily, perhaps naively, just assume exists somewhere. Then one day, that restaurant opens, and you find yourself wondering why it took so long. You then find yourself walking along the banks of the Mississippi on your way to eat dinner one warm, sunny December evening, and wishing that meals started this way more often, with a sunset and a river view.
Delacroix, which this year replaced The Crazy Lobster at Spanish Plaza, sits just where Canal Street surrenders to the water. It just might be that New Orleans restaurant of my imagination, the one that gives us what we deserve: a place to eat an authentic Louisiana menu while watching the river that made this city possible. True, there's Chemin a la Mer (click for our review), but that's more of a special occasion kind of place. There's a more casual energy down here, but no less passion about getting things just right.
Chef Wiley Lewis was culturally baptised in the brine of the Gulf Coast, spending her childhood wrestling catfish out of Caddo Lake. Hunting skills were honed with family and at fishing camps in Grand Chenier and Pelican Island, making made pain perdu and rocky road brownies with her grandparents. Food in nature, and knowledge from elders: for Louisiana families, the family recipe book is as important as the bloodline, after all. Her culinary passions found, Chef worked her way through BRG's best spots (Borgne, August, Domenica) before landing here. Hers is a talent borne of the decades of culinary memories that build a kind of generational confidence.
The result is that Delacroix has the aesthetics of a high-end restaurant and the exciting, unpretentious sensibilities of a Cajun hunting trip. The raw bar has tempting Royal Red shrimp, oysters and jumbo crab claws but on this occasion I went with boudin balls and their duck popper meat pie for starters. Hints of pepper jack ooze through the crispy boudin, while the pie - and through accident of birth I'm a meat pie connoisseur - is as good as I've had in the city, the bacon and jalapeño complimenting the duck perfectly. A cup of their smoky duck gumbo is equally comforting.
If you arrive early in the evening and the weather is cooperating, then a riverside table on the terrace is the move. Watch the river traffic, or see the Crescent City Connection light up as you mull the circle of life: seafood on the table as the river flows along. Inside is evocative too, though, with vintage crab traps and glass walls framing tugboats and barges. It's a big step up from The Crazy Lobster, let's say that.
Fish seems like the sensible choice for an entree, and it doesn't disappoint. My turtle sauce picante with Morgan City wild cat(fish) is a delight. The none-more-savory turtle sauce sets up the flaky white fish so impressively, and this Louisiana 'surf and turf' variation is among the most memorable dishes I've enjoyed recently. My dining companion also had fish, with their Momma's Drum Almadine easily standing up to any of the Quarter's fine dining iterations of this classic.
It was early in the service, but Chef seemed to have boundless energy, working the room and stopping at tables to chat. It's the kind of chef-driven hospitality that keeps you here and coming back - the servers under skilled general manager Roger Eyles were doing a wonderful job. The rustic Louisiana menu is familiar and accessible, but with nuances of heat and spice that stop you and momentarily grab you by the collar to appreciate them. Meanwhile, Old Man River rolls past, indifferent and constant, always ready to welcome you back the next time.
Delacroix is open Tuesday–Saturday 11 am - 9 pm. Click here for their website
More New Orleans restaurant reviews
There's a particular kind of New Orleans restaurant that you happily, perhaps naively, just assume exists somewhere. Then one day, that restaurant opens, and you find yourself wondering why it took so long. You then find yourself walking along the banks of the Mississippi on your way to eat dinner one warm, sunny December evening, and wishing that meals started this way more often, with a sunset and a river view.
Delacroix, which this year replaced The Crazy Lobster at Spanish Plaza, sits just where Canal Street surrenders to the water. It just might be that New Orleans restaurant of my imagination, the one that gives us what we deserve: a place to eat an authentic Louisiana menu while watching the river that made this city possible. True, there's Chemin a la Mer (click for our review), but that's more of a special occasion kind of place. There's a more casual energy down here, but no less passion about getting things just right.
Chef Wiley Lewis was culturally baptised in the brine of the Gulf Coast, spending her childhood wrestling catfish out of Caddo Lake. Hunting skills were honed with family and at fishing camps in Grand Chenier and Pelican Island, making made pain perdu and rocky road brownies with her grandparents. Food in nature, and knowledge from elders: for Louisiana families, the family recipe book is as important as the bloodline, after all. Her culinary passions found, Chef worked her way through BRG's best spots (Borgne, August, Domenica) before landing here. Hers is a talent borne of the decades of culinary memories that build a kind of generational confidence.
The result is that Delacroix has the aesthetics of a high-end restaurant and the exciting, unpretentious sensibilities of a Cajun hunting trip. The raw bar has tempting Royal Red shrimp, oysters and jumbo crab claws but on this occasion I went with boudin balls and their duck popper meat pie for starters. Hints of pepper jack ooze through the crispy boudin, while the pie - and through accident of birth I'm a meat pie connoisseur - is as good as I've had in the city, the bacon and jalapeño complimenting the duck perfectly. A cup of their smoky duck gumbo is equally comforting.
If you arrive early in the evening and the weather is cooperating, then a riverside table on the terrace is the move. Watch the river traffic, or see the Crescent City Connection light up as you mull the circle of life: seafood on the table as the river flows along. Inside is evocative too, though, with vintage crab traps and glass walls framing tugboats and barges. It's a big step up from The Crazy Lobster, let's say that.
Fish seems like the sensible choice for an entree, and it doesn't disappoint. My turtle sauce picante with Morgan City wild cat(fish) is a delight. The none-more-savory turtle sauce sets up the flaky white fish so impressively, and this Louisiana 'surf and turf' variation is among the most memorable dishes I've enjoyed recently. My dining companion also had fish, with their Momma's Drum Almadine easily standing up to any of the Quarter's fine dining iterations of this classic.
It was early in the service, but Chef seemed to have boundless energy, working the room and stopping at tables to chat. It's the kind of chef-driven hospitality that keeps you here and coming back - the servers under skilled general manager Roger Eyles were doing a wonderful job. The rustic Louisiana menu is familiar and accessible, but with nuances of heat and spice that stop you and momentarily grab you by the collar to appreciate them. Meanwhile, Old Man River rolls past, indifferent and constant, always ready to welcome you back the next time.
Delacroix is open Tuesday–Saturday 11 am - 9 pm. Click here for their website
More New Orleans restaurant reviews