Lunch at Antoine's

The Escargot Room, a small private room near the Rex Room on the first floor

by Edward J. Branley

Dinner at Antoine's is not a cheap proposition. Our last meal there cost $150 for two. This included drinks and a nice bottle of wine, of course, but even without these, we're still talking about a meal in the C-note zone. For years, Antoine's has served their food exclusively a la carte, with no price distinction between lunch and dinner. I remember the shock of paying the tab for my first meal at Antoine's back in 1975. I was a high school junior entertaining a young lady for lunch. I went through $50 so fast it wasn't funny! In 1993, Antoine's did something I'll love them forever for: established a luncheon menu with cheaper prices. This opened up the restaurant to a whole group of diners who might otherwise pass. It also allows those of us who enjoy Antoine's to go there more often.

My last trip to Antoine's for lunch requires a bit of background explanation. It was the first meal I've been comped for since starting Virtually New Orleans. Not that this matters all that much in the grand scheme of things, because I've paid for an ample number of meals at Antoine's over the years that I can keep my objectivity.

That said, on to the meal. I was greeted by my waiter, Matthew Ousset, at the front door prior to opening time for lunch. My friend and photographer, Richard Vallon, was already there and had begun to shoot the Front Dining Room. We spent the next hour or so getting the wonderful shots you see on the Antoine's pages, then sat down in the Back Dining Room for lunch. Matthew started us off with an order of Pommes de Terre Soufflée—Soufflée Potatoes. These are finger-sized puffs that are fried, cooled, then fried in a second pan of oil, hotter than the first. The rapid change in temperature causes the potatoes to puff up into little pillows. They're perfect for snacking on while you're trying to decide what to eat. Having the potatoes show up isn't the sign of a restaurant kissing up to a writer and his photographer; it's something that's done for regulars who expect to pay for them. They're so popular that your waiter has to grab a basket of them as he passes through the kitchen. I've seen the kitchen actually run out of Soufflée Potatoes on a busy evening. We ordered off of the luncheon menu rather than the full menu, so I could write about a typical lunch meal. Both Richard and I ordered slight variations on the full lunch special, which runs $24.50. Richard had Crawfish Cardinal, Trout Meuniere (the menu lists pompano, but substituting was no problem), and Salade Antoine. I went with Oysters Rockefeller, Pompano Amandine, and Salad Antoine.

The appetizers came out in no time flat. Richard's crawfish were excellent. Crawfish Cardinal is boiled crawfish tails in a white sauce that has a touch of tomato. The reddish tint to the dish is light enough that you'd probably think it's the orange fat from the crawfish. This is one of the spiciest dishes on the menu. Most of Antoine's cuisine is classical Creole, which is subtle rather than peppered and burnt. My Oysters Rockefeller turned into a 2-2-2 combination of Rockefeller, Bienville, and Thermidor, courtesy of Matthew. He must have been reading my mind. The menu says the Rockefeller come with the lunch special, but I really prefer Bienville, especially since I just had the green ones a couple of weeks earlier. The Rockefeller were good, with their green onion and anisette flavoring. The Bienville were even better. These oysters are covered with a topping composed of a basic white sauce which is combined with onions, peppers, and pimento. The combination gives the topping a yellow tint, which turns to a golden brown when baked for a few minutes. The last two oysters had the Thermidor topping, which is tomato sauce and bacon. I had never tasted these before, and was pleasantly surprised. When a New Orleanian is served oysters in a red sauce, he expects it to be the ketchup-and-horseradish combo that we dunk our raw oysters in, not this wonderfully subtle cooked Thermidor sauce.

I started feeling guilty while reaching over and grabbing some of Richard's crawfish, because he refused my offer of some oysters, saying he prefers them fried. I swear, I do believe Matthew has ESP, because an order of Oysters Foch miraculously appeared on the table just at that moment. Huitres a la Foch are fried oysters, but not like any fried oysters you've ever had before. Most locals associate fried oysters with a plate or a po-boy from their favorite neighborhood lunch place, or perhaps the ultimate oyster dump, Uglesich's over on Baronne. Oysters Foch are indeed fried, but any resemblance to what you find on a po-boy ends there. They're served on a piece of toast that has pate de foie gras spread on it like peanut butter, and topped with a red-wine Colbert sauce that is so rich and brown it looks like hot fudge. The oysters were steaming, light, crispy, and tasty.

Once the oyster parade was over, it was time for the main course. Richard's trout was solid, with a nice, brown Meuniere sauce. My pompano was smothered in almond slivers, with a hint of the same lemon-butter sauce. Both fish filets were lightly battered and fried. Richard's was crispy, and the almonds made mine cross the line into crunchy. The fish was accompanied by a nice sized portion of fresh green beans with a little butter. Bread was the classic Gendusa's french bread, hot and plentiful.

I'm glad I had the good sense not to scarf up all of the french bread on the table, because Matthew was ready with another bit of a surprise as soon as the table was cleared. It was a Baked Alaska, the small one that serves two. On top of the browned meringue were two large doves made of whipped cream, and a small nest with the rest of the dove family in the middle. One side of this lovely creation had the words "Welcome to" written on it, and the opposite side said "Antoine's." Just as Richard was going to shoot a photo of the dessert, Matthew ran back to the front and grabbed some champagne and a couple of tulip glasses, which really made for a striking photo. We dug into the cake/ice cream/meringue confection with a vengeance. Omelette Alaska Antoine never ceases to amaze me, because it looks so huge when it's brought to the table, yet it's so light that you end up eating all of it anyway. Matthew had to remind us that the champagne was not a prop, and that we should enjoy the experience. By this point we were ready for a good cup of coffee, but our waiter had other ideas. Matthew went to the kitchen to prepare Café Brulot Diabolique, which is a combination of brandy mixed with fruit, flamed, and served half-and-half with dark-roast coffee. The presentation is striking as the waiter flames the brandy tableside, then strains the liquor through a ladle, raising it high to get the full effect from the blue flames. The finished drink is served in demi-tasse cups which have a little red devil imprinted on them.

We surrendered. Matthew and his staff had won. We were stuffed and happy and ready to head out to get the film to the lab and share the photos with you. Now, if only Netscape or Microsoft would invent a browser that employed the senses of smell and taste…

As you can imagine, our service was impeccable. Sure, you could argue that they were on their best behavior, since they were serving a known writer and his photographer, but we really didn't get treated any differently from any other back-room regulars. It was a light day, so Matthew would have been on top of the situation anyway. If you want something a bit out of the ordinary (like 2-2-2 oysters), all you have to do is ask. If it's not workable, they'll politely tell you so, but you'll never know unless you ask. The bread keeps coming, the water glasses stay full (an important component of any lunch or dinner in the summertime down here), and the soft drinks (no wine for us this day—Richard had another shoot later in the afternoon) stayed fresh. It's all part of the waiter system at Antoine's. You ask for your waiter by name, and he makes sure you ask for him the next time as well.

Pricing: We went crazy on this occasion, and Matthew didn't help one bit on that score. Had we been on our own with no help from the staff, we would have stuck closer to the menu, and lunch would have been about $25 each. Five bucks for tax, ten for tip, and the afternoon would have cost around $65. That's with no Baked Alaska and extra dishes, but still enough excellent food to make you want to take a long afternoon nap.

View the Lunch Menu

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