Cochon Restaurant

[Mayhaw Man]

Donald Link (also nominated for Best Chef Southeast) and Steven Stryjewski (aka Sausage Boy-and I mean this in only the most admiring and complimentary way) built a shrine to porky goodness in post Katrina New Orleans and their dedication and savvy has paid off with Beard Nomination.

I love the place. I have eaten there at least once a week since it opened and on several different stretches, as many as three days in a row. Did I mention that it's all about pork?

Congrats to both of them. They deserve it. It's a great place (that would be even better if they would put some pads in those seats. Then again, I guess that they figure most of their customers will come with some padding already attached to their own seats.) I'll be there for the awards and I hope to see some home boys take it all home-but the competition is pretty stiff and, in fact, they're up against Momofuku and I love that place, as well. The category also has the usual suspects-a bunch of high end, namby pamby places that probably don't have yeast rolls, head cheese, or housemade bologna on the menu- and as many of the voting members can't make it down as they are not willing to brave our mean streets, well, this win will be an uphill climb for the Cochon Boys.

Then again, everything here kind of has that quality attached to it these days, so it won't be anything new for either of them.

[TAPrice]

Congrats to Donald Link for winning Best Chef in the South.

Alas, Cochon was beat out by some guy named Robuchon for best new restaurant.

[Mayhaw Man]

Clearly the fix was in. Cochon shoulda won, but I think the fact that it is not fine dining and it still got nominated says much about the place and the quality of the people running it. Also, when you consider how "New York Heavy" the voting block is, it's a pretty steep hill to climb for someone from the hinterlands to win. I saw Steven (actually, it was a pretty star studded affair with alot Southern nominees in attendance at a very fun lunch (and very delicious)) at Butter where Alexandra Guarnischelli put together a great menu that included a dandelion, blue cheese and pear salad, a wild green salad with duck cracklins, a delicious ramp soup, some roasted beef tenderloins, raw oysters with mignonette, fava beans and grilled artichoke hearts, incredible filleted and grilled sardines, and a bunch of other stuff that was all pretty swell (including this chocolate bomb thing for dessert that was one of the best chocolate desserts that I have ever tasted (and stolen from mingling dining companions-you snooze, you lose). Steven, Donald Link, The Lee Brothers, John Currence (sporting a handsome new pork tattoo on his left arm-his lovely mother Becky, who was also there, was so proud...), Chris Hastings, Hugh Acheson, John Fleer, Mike Lata, Scott Peacock, Karen and Ben Barker, and on and on were all there and mostly in fine fettle given that half of them were hung over like 2 day old laundry.

Congrats to Donald Link, Scott Peacock, the Lee Brothers and all of the other winners. Nice work.

Edited May 8, 2007 by Mayhaw Man (log)

[Morgan_Weber]

I wanted to congratulate Chef Link on being honored in Ruhlman & Bourdain's Golden Clog Awards:

THE CRAZY BASTARD SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

For the chef/operator who did the most insanely wonderful or heroic fucking thing in recent memory

This year's honoree: Chef Donald Link of Cochon in New Orleans.

Full Link here

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My wife and I ate at Cochon last September and it was one of the best and most memorable meals we had in 2007. Cochon alone, would be reason enough for me to move to NO.

[Sarabeth]

Myhusband and I ate at Cochon for the first time (unexcusable, really, since we live here) two weeks ago. He proclaimed the ham hock a religious experience and every meal since has included a recap of that dish.

[HungryC]

I was very happy to read in the morning paper that Donald Link is planning to open a charcuterie/butcher shop in the same building that houses cochon! Rock on. We've long needed more specialty meat options in this town.

[chickenfriedgourmet]

I was very happy to read in the morning paper that Donald Link is planning to open a charcuterie/butcher shop in the same building that houses cochon!  Rock on.  We've long needed more specialty meat options in this town.

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Yes this is very good news, I have only eaten at Cochon once but D A M N it was good, I have tried to replicate the fried chicken livers with pepper jelly(w/moderate success) and also the fried boudin. What a wonderful restaurant, I implore anyone going to New Orleans to go here if nothing else.

[saturnbar]

Frank Bruni from the NyTimes also made Cochon one of his ten new restaurants that count in his Coast to Coast series. A full review is upcoming. Considering when he opened Cochon, Link really has to be credited for making the wrong move at the right time. Luke narrowly missed the list. ch

[Danno]

That is awesome news! I just had a late lunch last week at Cochon, check out my pics. One of the Sous Chefs invited me back in the kitchen to take some pics, scroll down to see them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nolacuisine/NolaCuisine

I was very happy to read in the morning paper that Donald Link is planning to open a charcuterie/butcher shop in the same building that houses cochon!  Rock on.  We've long needed more specialty meat options in this town.

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[JDYmeat]

We came down for last weekend from Chicago for a bachelor party and of course had to eat here. UNBELIEVABLE. We all loved that place, the special was a roast pork saddle wrapped with pork belly. I got to meet Steven and Audrey who couldn't have been any nicer. Plus we all walked out of there for less than 60 bucks each including tip and drinks. Great job guys.

[TAPrice]

Bruni has reviewed restaurants 10 through 6 of his cross country tour. That means that Cochon must at least be in his top 5 for the places visited.

I was talking to Cochon PR's agent, and she said it was the first time she was excited about NOT being in the New York Time.

[saturnbar]

Its a bronze medal medal. Cochon should be very pleased. Quite an honor.

Ny Times article.

[Aaron B]

It could be argued that the pig is no less holy in southern Louisiana than the cow is in India, we just celebrate them in different ways. The Hindu tradition pays its respect to the sacred cow by worshiping it and protecting it from any bodily harm. The Cajun tradition pays respect to the pig by congregating enormous groups of friends and family, building a giant fire pit and roasting it whole. These gatherings are about so much more than just food, though. They are about finding a common connection, something worth coming together for week after week and year after year, and celebrating it with those most important to you. If that connection happens to be life alteringly delicious with the meat falling off the bone and skin so crisp it shatters, than why not? No restaurant in New Orleans better embodies this ritual with its unapologetic simplicity, respect for tradition and, most importantly, unbelievable food than Cochon, just minutes from the Superdome in the warehouse district.

From the second you enter the door, there is no question as to what kind of experience you are in for. There is a big open dining room with one half boasting exposed brick and the other half vibrant reds and yellows. The servers are all wearing t-shirts (the same ones that can be purchased at the front desk) and the view from the exposed kitchen is hot and frantic. Yet somehow it all blends together in a way that not only works, it makes sense. The food mirrors this by taking simple rustic ingredients and creating dishes that are greater than the sum of their parts. There is no better example of this on the menu than the fried alligator with chili garlic aioli ($10). Chef Donald Link takes a staple in these parts, alligator tail, and using the French techniques that the cuisine of southern Louisiana has borrowed so much from, elevates it to places it has no right going. The slightly sweet and not overly spiced aioli adds a richness to the lean alligator meat, but does not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the reptile, which for the record does not taste like chicken. Link can do so much more than put his own spin on classics, however, he can recreate the classics the same way, with the same unadulterated simplicity they have been done in for generations. Cochon’s Boudain balls ($7) served with pickled peppers and stone ground Creole mustard may be the single most outstanding dish on the menu purely because Link recognized perfection and knew to leave it alone. Boudain is a Cajun sausage made from rice, pork, pig’s liver and, if you’re lucky, a little of its blood too. In this instance the mixture is shaped into balls, battered, fried and put on a plate. No frills and no fuss. The acidic bite of the peppers balances out the rich fried balls but the mustard, while it was delicious, was completely outshined by the housemade hot sauce (also available for purchase at the front desk).

The entrees were just as impressive as the appetizers. The rabbit and dumplings ($19) was everything you could expect it to be. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this dish, chicken and dumplings is a southern classic where chunks of chicken are simmered in a rich roux thickened sauce with dumplings, that are essentially biscuits, scattered throughout. Think of chicken pot pie except instead of being in a crust, the crust is floating in it. This version, again, was a beautiful representation of a dish that has probably been eaten hundreds of thousands of times in the area, but given an upscale twist by substituting rabbit for the more traditional chicken. The highlight of my night, however, came slow roasted and shredded on a bed of cabbage and turnips. The Louisiana cochon ($22), whole roasted pork that’s been picked off the bone, was served exactly as it should be, tender and juicy with an intense meaty flavor that didn’t have to compete for your attention with the other elements on the plate. There were no costars here. There was the meat and then there was the supporting cast, which isn’t to say that the supporting cast wasn’t delicious, it served its purpose wonderfully offering a slightly sweet counterpart to an animal that is none too slender, but the pork stole the show. Served with an intense ham broth and some fresh fried cracklins, it was exactly what every pig should aspire to be when its time is up.

The dessert may have been as good as the rest of the meal, I honestly do not remember. I was in such a deep and magnificent pork induced trance by the time it got to the table George Forman could have come in and punched my mother right in the face, if it happened after the cochon, I wouldn’t have known it.

In a world where traditions seem to be dying fast, Cochon is a refreshing and welcomed oasis. It doesn’t have the most creative, or original and certainly not the most refined food in New Orleans, but who decided that those are criteria upon which a good restaurant should be judged? In the end a meal should make you feel warm, comforted and satisfied, and I’ve yet to have a meal at any restaurant that accomplished all three like Cochon.

[Mayhaw Man]

Aaron B,

Nice work. I couldn't have said it better myself, and I have been trying for almost 3 years.

I loved the Cajun/Hindu analogy.

How long were you here for? Where else did you eat?

Best,

B