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The Back of the Net 4/1/98 -- I had the privilege last night of attending the opening night festivities for New Orleans' newest restaurant. It's called The Back of the Net, and is located in the suites along the first base line. While the location may be a baseball park, the name of the restaurant and its operating hours are related not to our local AAA baseball club, the Zephyrs, but to our A-League soccer club, the Storm. Storm management, under the guidance of owner Rob Couhig, decided on a departure from the standard suite sales for the section along the first base line. These suites are essentially end-zone seats in the park's soccer configuration, so sales were going slow. Mr. Couhig put some feelers out in the restaurant industry, and was surprised to discover that the Guste family, owners of Antoine's in the French Quarter were also big soccer fans. The wheels of imagination began turning, and the result was The Back of the Net. The first base-side suites have all been modified so that, on Storm match days, the walls separating the suites can all be opened up, and the entire section becomes a magnificent dining room in the old New Orleans style. The white walls, big mirrors, and incandescent chandeliers hanging from the ceiling really make you forget you're out in Metairie at a ballpark. The wait staff is in black tie, but the traditional Antoine's requirement that men wear jackets has been waived. The restaurant begins serving dinner at 5:00pm on match days, staying open until two hours after the match. Anyone purchasing a ticket for the day's match may book reservations for the restaurant. The menu contains many of the traditional dishes you would expect to find at Antoine's--their wonderful appetizers such as Oysters Rockefeller and Oysters Bienville; entrees such as Trout Amandine and Pompano en Pappilliote. Because the restaurant operates in conjunction with a sporting event, they are experimenting with a limited-item buffet serving as well. The oyster dishes and soups do just fine on the buffet, but I have my doubts about the all-you-can-eat filet mignon station. It's going to be difficult to maintain quality control with such an entree. Still, having steak on the buffet is the reason for the restaurant's grand decoratory feature: a 4' replica of the golden World Cup trophy. The Copa Mundial is the main fixture in a sauce fountain where Marchand de Vin sauce flows down one side and Bernaise down the other. (It's this fountain that sparked the only real black cloud over the evening--dozens of protesters from the American Heart Association.) It's a novel idea. You go to the buffet, pick up out a steak or grilled chicken breast, then ladle out as much of either sauce as you desire over your entree. Of course, no Antoine's meal would be complete without souffleed potatoes. The little double-deep-fried potato pillows are not served in their traditional baskets, but in bread loaves baked into the shape of soccer balls. No classic Creole meal would be complete without wine, and the groundskeepers for Zephyr Field discovered that inside the "berm"--the big, grassy hill just outside the back fence of the park--offered perfect conditions for wine storage. A cellar was carved out of the section of the berm which is behind right field, so if you see wine stewards and bus boys running out there during a match, you'll know why. After dinner, the folks from the Storm took us down to the main level of the ballpark to show us the newest food feature, which will be open for both soccer and baseball. It's called Boudreaux's, and is a joint venture between the Guste family and local restranteur and Popeye's creator Al Copeland. Boudreaux's will feature several of the "wrap" sandwiches Copeland offers at his Straya restaurants and "Wrap 'n Roll" fast food outlets, as well as some innovative items created in conjunction with the Antoine's kitchen, such as Chicken Rochambeau on a stick and souffleed potatoes. Management insiders told me that the venture almost didn't get off the drawing board, because Mr. Copeland wanted to serve a line of nutria items at the stand. Mr. Couhig strongly objected to this approach, since Boudreaux the Nutria is the mascot of the Zephyrs. I know last night was only the grand opening, and you really should wait until a place is open for a few months to review it, but I'm confident that this concept will be a big hit. |
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