Tag Archives: Patois

Speaking Our Language: Patois

Posted on December 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

He Said:

Academically, a patois is a colloquial tongue, the non-standard common speech. Culinarily, Aaron Burgau’s Uptown restaurant has rather quickly become part of the New Orleans dining establishment, drawing widespread praise since opening a couple of years ago.

We dined there a couple of weeks ago. It was a place we’d not yet been in 2011, and it is typically part of the discussion when considering the best dining venues in the city.

I really like the feel of this restaurant very much. Patois is a creature of its environs, comfortable and welcoming, but unmistakably upscale. When weather permits, there’s outside seating, and the windows along the front dining room permit nice views even from indoors. Excessive loudness in restaurants (anyone been to Mondo?) is a pet peeve of mine, but this place gets it right. On this Friday evening the dining room was humming with enough bustle to be energetic without crossing the line into annoyance. Continue reading →

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Posted in Dinner, Food, He Said, Restaurant, Reviews

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Fantasy Gastronomy: The Top 10 Restaurants in New Orleans (via mock draft)

Posted on November 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

He and She said:

Well, Brett Anderson from the Times Picayune has released his annual list of the top 10 restaurants in New Orleans, so we thought it might be time to do our own.

On a brief side note, an additional benefit of Anderson’s list is the way it brings out the tinfoil hat crowd in the comments section, an enlightened crew who appear convinced that Anderson, Donald Link and John Besh have united in an unholy triumvirate to rule the galaxy while making tasty Louisiana dishes. Multitasking, I guess. Then again, its Snooki and The Situation’s world, and I’m just living in it, so what do I know?

Ok, enough ranting:

We’ve done a post on the most interesting restaurants in NOLA (might be time to update that soon), but that is not what we’re after here. This is our take on the best, so the charming and interesting Mimi’s, for example, probably won’t find a place here.

I had the great idea to do this as a mock draft. When I explained this to my wife, she enthusiastically replied: “What the hell are you talking about?” But, after I explained a bit, she came around to my way of thinking. So, ladies first, and we’ll take turns picking a restaurant and telling you why it’s so great as we fill out our list of ten. Nobody loves a gimmick more than me.

A quick note: some relatively new entries to the NOLA scene that might be contenders for this list, most notably Le Foret and Meson 923, are ineligible, for the simple reason that we have not been there. And for the record, we are in neither Besh, Link, or anyone else’s pocket, although we hope to be one day. Until then, we have nothing to offer but unbiased opinion and the dream of one day being corrupted via a free plate of foie gras. Or pomme frites (in duck fat). Or pretty much anything else.

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Posted in Dinner, He and she said, Lists, Restaurant

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Al fresco in the Big Easy: the top 5 places to dine outdoors in New Orleans this fall

Posted on October 5, 2009 | 4 Comments

He and she said:

Time for another list. The approach of fall (will it ever get here?) and our time spent last week at 7000 feet in the high desert has us ready for the outdoor dining season. Here are our choices for the top five places to get outside and eat this fall in New Orleans. Not surprisingly, most of them are in the French Quarter:

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Posted in He and she said, Lists, Restaurant, Reviews

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