In commemorating its 100th anniversary, a New Orleans fine dining institution is showcasing some old-school ingredients in innovative ways.
The upscale Broussard’s Restaurant & Courtyard is featuring menus around five items that are staples of New Orleans culinary culture or have had a significant economic impact on the region—one to be offered each period.
Coffee, spices, rice, and pecans will be featured on special $38 centennial prix fixe menus and citrus will be featured in a $49 prix fixe menu.
“New Orleans food—versus the rest of the country and the rest of the world—hasn't changed a ton. The sizes of dishes have changed, but New Orleans food has been fairly consistent. We like what we like,“ said Chef Jimi Setchim. “But we were looking at how do we get the point across that we're celebrating 100 years; how do we get people to focus on it. Let’s focus on five ingredients that have been pivotal in making New Orleans and Creole cuisine what it is.”
Through early April, coffee is being featured with a coffee-crusted lamb loin as one of the entree choices and brandy coffee cake is a dessert option on the prix fixe menu.
Spices are up next through mid-June (creole spiced smothered pork chops with cornbread dressing; shrimp-stuffed crab; black forest cake with cayenne and dark chocolate ganache).
Rice is featured on the summer menu (gulf shrimp etouffee with Louisiana long grain rice; creole rice dumplings).
Pecans reign from Labor Day through Thanksgiving Day weekend (braised lamb shank with herb and goat cheese grits, with a Louisiana pecan and fig demi-glace; chocolate pecan cake).
Citrus is showcased during the holiday season (Meyer lemon-roasted brussels sprouts; kumquat marmalade spice cake).
In addition, the restaurant is marking its centennial with a series of special wine dinners throughout the year, including a champagne dinner on April 9.
Broussard's is only the fifth of about 1,500 operating New Orleans-area restaurants to mark 100 years.
“We really wanted to celebrate and honor the traditions that we've had here,’ said Setchim, currently in his third year with the restaurant. “The amount of people that have come through this building in the last 100 years—whether it be chefs, the servers that have been here, bartenders and guests that have grown up in New Orleans and dined here and make it a point to come back here whenever they’re in town—it’s pretty incredible. It’s a huge impact.”
“I’m very honored to be a part of it.”
Related: ‘Sober Curious’ Movement Impacts Menus, New Products; La Cocina Event Features Chefs of Municipal Marketplace.
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