Went to dinner at Coquette in the Garden District on a Sunday night. Walked down to Magazine St. from St. Charles St. after taking the streetcar from Canal St., which was a fun ride. I went for the blind tasting menu with the optional wine pairing. This was one of the best meals of my trip.
Cured(?) cobia with sea salt and dill, trout roe with creme fraîche
Forgot to take a picture of this unfortunately, it was a pretty presentation. A sashimi-like slice of cobia sprinkled with coarse sea salt, and next to it, a spoonful of trout roe with creme fraiche.
Crab with celery, horseradish
Nice presentation in a hollowed out crab shell. My waiter said that this was a riff on a Louisiana dish that I don’t quite remember the name of. Googling around I think it may have been crabmeat ravigote? Very good. Sweet crab meat. Kind of like a cold crab salad. Couldn’t really taste the horseradish.
Shrimp and grits with house-made chorizo, fennel pollen
Excellent. Creamy grits with little bits of shrimp and chorizo. Went well with the minerally wine paired with it.
Black drum encrusted with rosemary and oregano bread crumbs, potatoes, watercress puree, marigold flowers
Also excellent, the flaky drum had a nice crispy herby crust. Potatoes were a little crunchy.
Venison sausage, beets, carrots
Very good. Slightly sour relish was good with the meaty venison sausage, as well as the little dabs of yellow sauce.
Pear sorbet, caraway crumble, creme fraiche
Good and refreshing.
Rye brownie, cocoa nibs, fennel ice cream, tarragon chocolate cremeux
Very good. Cocoa nibs were crunchy and a little bitter, which complemented the slightly tart ice cream and the sweet chocolate pieces nicely. The cube of chocolate cremeux tasted like a rich ganache.
