Herbsaint in New Orleans – Day 3

Chef Donald Link presides over a fine dining collection in New Orleans including Herbsaint, our choice for Saturday night and the restaurant that won him Best Chef South from the James Beard Organization. Maybe it is culinary fatigue, but our experience here was less than what we expected.

The food was very good and the atmosphere lively, more like a bistro/bar than a formal environment. I guess that makes sense as the name is derived from a famous New Orleans based anise flavored liquor introduced after the end of Prohibition as absinthe, which was outlawed. The federal authorities challenged this branding since the key ingredient of Grande Wormwood  (Artemisia absinthium) was absent, so the name was changed to Herbsaint. Chef Link made the link to this New Orleans tradition when he opened his French inspired restaurant.

With the restaurant located in the central business district, we walked the 5 blocks from our hotel to the Lafayette Park area which also is the site of the Federal Reserve Bank.  The walk was accompanied by many romantic couples walking back and to the restaurants around the park and we felt a nice vibe compared to the noise, commercialism and trashy atmosphere of Bourbon Street earlier that day.

I guess I have to get to the food. Joan started with the prosciutto special which we were told employed 18 month cured ham that had just been sliced that week. Several thin slices were accompanied by crostini with restaurant made farmers cheese and a hint of balsamic vinegar and marinated figs on the side. I should note that Herbsaint is a very serious devotee of farm to table and lists on their website over a dozen local farms and fisheries they use as sources. Joan’s dish was our best example of this. I was less adventurous with my appetizer, choosing an arugula salad with burratta cheese, beets and walnuts. The nuts were tasty but most of the flavor depended on the beets, which were very good. The menu says it had a vinaigrette dressing, but I couldn’t taste it, which meant I had several mouthfuls of arugula without much flavor.

We were seated near the kitchen, which was partly visible with an open window. Much more utilitarian than at Hot & Hot and no Chef Link in sight. The room was noisy with some odd choices for LED lighting on support beams that were meant to be festive but just looked garish. Our server worked hard at being positive but the wait between dishes was too long and once we finished our bread basket, with excellent French bread, it was left on the table empty instead of refilling or taking it away.

Joan’s entree was an appetizer, as is her style. Her choice was butter poached tuna with finely chopped Criolla Sella Chili and lemon. She had been warned that the tuna was barely cooked, more like sashimi, and that was the case. It was very tasty and she was pleased at the this and her first small plate as enough for dinner.  I ordered the fish of the day, a speckled trout covered with a mild ratatouille. The fish was delicious, thanks to having been cooked in a lot of butter. I enjoyed it a lot but the topping did not do much to enhance the basic fish. The rice however, which was touted on the menu as special,
Louisiana rice, was outstanding with great texture and flavor. We ordered the vegetable special of the day at the last minute and should have skipped it – green beans overcooked in a stewy chicken broth instead of crisp, fresh snappers.

We both had a glass of champagne to start and then a Chenin Blanc with our main course. Both were very good and reasonably priced. Dessert was two scoops of restaurant made chocolate ice cream, lightly salted, that hit the spot.

So, very good food, casual, bistro style atmosphere, friendly but slow service. Compared to Blue Apron, not as intimate and charming. Compared to Hot&Hot, not a top level of service, no big time chef on site and food a notch below. Looking forward to Uchiko in Austin tonight.

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