Peristyle

[kimwb1]

Hi, I'm from the NJ boards, and some of our regulars have visited NO in the last few months, and in addition to Bayona, which I've been to, I heard a lot about this place.  Coming to visit for Jazz Fest in April, and I need to get serious about making reservations.   What's your opinion of Peristyle. What other not creole, not cajun, upscale rest. would you suggest?  Thanks in advance for your help.  

[Roger McShane]

To understand Peristyle you have to understand New Orleans dining.

If you have been to Bayona then you have eaten some of the best food in New Orleans.

Peristyle is problematic. We have been there on a number of occasions in 2001 and were impressed with a few dishes. But it isn't a cutting edge restaurant any more. It's just a good restaurant that you might consider visiting after Bayona, Gerards, GW Fins and Victors (plus a few others).

[mbox]

I agree about Peristyle.  It really hasn't seem "on" since before the fire...  

[mikec]

Wow, I completely disagree.  While I've only eaten at both places once, they were on consecutive nights last year and I thought that Peristyle was head and shoulders above Bayona.  If its still on the menu, the stuffed quail was one of the best dishes that I had tasted in a long time.  Further, I thought portions at Bayona were small and while the food was good, Peristyle's was great.  Viva la difference.

Mike

[bjohnson96]

I was disappointed with Peristyle in my one visit there earlier this winter.  While it was a good meal, Peristyle did not merit a place in my personal New Orleans top 10.  Bayona has been and still is my favorite place.  Commander's Palace is worth looking into, despite what the locals say. Upperline is great, as is Galatoire's if you know what to order.

[catdaddy]

I know this is an old thread but I'm a new member and was in New Orleans last weekend. We ate at Lilette (on Magazine uptown), Bayona,and Peristyle.

Bayona, considering the entire experience, was clearly the best. Peristyle's menu showed the most thought and imagination. Chef Anne's plates are very tight and the starches were great.

Lilette, owned and run by one of Susan Spicer's old cooks is small and happnin. Quite a few locals and childern there. Definitely worth the cab/trolley ride uptown.

Bayona's wine guy actually had opinions about every wine I asked about----strange indeed.

[Varmint]

Thanks for the update, catdaddy, and please post some more! We love to bring up old threads.

Welcome to eGullet.

[rshorens]

as is Galatoire's if you know what to order.

I'm thinking of going to Galatoire's for lunch- what SHOULD I know about ordering? Anything to avoid versus dishes not to miss?

Thanks

Roz

[jbraynolds]

Peristyle is "just a good restaurant"? Gerard's and, especially GW Fins are superior? Whoah. Why not throw Cheesecake Bistro in there? Have to say that's the first time I've ever seen or heard that one and I probably eat three dozen meals in four visits per year to New Orleans. Hard to put strongly enough how much I disagree here. For the record, my favorite places in N.O. are, in no particular order: Persistyle, Herbsaint, Lilette, Bayona, Delmonico's (especially lunch), Galatoire's, Emeril's, Upperline and many others that I'd go to way before GW Fins. Yikes.

Edited December 22, 2003 by jbraynolds (log)

[jbraynolds]

Bythe way, don't try to make reservations at Gerard's, since it no longer exists. Neither does Victor's.

Edited December 22, 2003 by jbraynolds (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

Just wanted to throw this in.

Some of you are clearly not familiar with John Besh's Restaurant August on Tchopitoulas. Make sure that you put this on your list of "must trys". The place is gorgeous, the service is pretty damn impeccable, and the food doesn't suck. It may be the most interesting place in the city. Try it out. You will need a reservation and you will most likely want to make it in advance as it has been recieving a fair amount of food press. When you click on the link turn on your sound, it is a pretty cool website.

Now, with all that being said-GW Fins is o.k. and really dependable, but I think jbraynolds nailed it with his list (and I can add about a dozen others where your time and money would be better spent) of his favorites.

I am dining at Artesia this evening with a group of work friends. I haven't been to dinner in a while (even though it is a five minute walk from my house). I loved it so much in it's original inception when John Besh was there (you think I like this guy? ) that it has never been the same. It is a beautiful place and I live the atmosphere and the owner, Vickie Bayley, is a real pro so I am hoping for the best. At least I know there will be some very dependable Creme Brulee at the end of the rainbow.

[Mayhaw Man]

I am dining at Artesia this evening with a group of work friends. I haven't been to dinner in a while (even though it is a five minute walk from my house). I loved it so much in it's original inception when John Besh was there (you think I like this guy? ) that it has never been the same. It is a beautiful place and I live the atmosphere and the owner, Vickie Bayley, is a real pro so I am hoping for the best. At least I know there will be some very dependable Creme Brulee at the end of the rainbow.

Dinner was really good and the old hotel looks great all dressed up for the holidays.

I had:

Oysters on the half shell w/brie (warmed slightly under a salamander)

Mixed Organic Baby Greens with toasted walnuts and citrus v-ette

Roasted pork tenderloin w/garlic mashed pots and grilled asparagus

Creme Brulee (that had all of these vanilla shavings in the bottom of ramekin )

Other choices offered were (this was a business dinner for twenty, so we set the menu ahead of time)

Jumbo Lump Crabmeat Ravagote

Pecan Crusted Breast of Chicken (blech!) (chicken breasts should be banned from all menus everywhere. Right Now. And when I get in charge of the World, they will be, dammit!)

Grilled Gulf Red Snapper with crawfish sauce (like thin ettouffee, really good)

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Hazlenut glaze

Apple Streudel Tart (no one much chose this, but I tasted it and it was great)

Decent wines, none remarkable.

Overall it was a great experience and I am glad, because I have been neglecting this place for a while and it is in my little town (which is really odd, considering the size of this place-1 light, 4 cops, the whole bit )The whole thing ended up being about 80 a head with service. Very reasonable I thought. I would do it again in a minute.

[Mayhaw Man]

Ok Fans,

Mr. and Mrs. Bleachboy extended an invitation to dine with them at Peristyle on Tuesday evening. I accepted, as I am loathe to dissappoint them , but I have not been there in about 6 months.

I am looking for any menu suggestions that some of you might have anjoyed recently. My last two trips I have eaten the same thing (something I am in a bad habit of-I tend to eat what I know is going to be good at a given place instead of stepping up and trying something new)-whole, boned white trout filled with mussels, crab, and potatoes, and it is pretty damned fabulous.

Any suggestions from egulleteers who have dined at Peristyle would be helpful. Please help an "old stuck in the mud" step out and enjoy a little variety.

Thanks

[jbraynolds]

The crab/beet/horseradish salad is tied-and-true. And I have seen gorgeous jumbo lump lately, albeit of probably foreign origin.

[Mayhaw Man]

Dinner with Bleachboy (no Mrs. Bleachboy, my misunderstanding, maybe next time) was a very pleasant experience.

I like Peristyle and am always amazed at the consistant quality of the place and I more or less completely disagree with the poster above who said that G.W. Fins, etc. was in the same league. They are wrong. Anne Kearney often ends up in the shadow of her other female compatriot in New Orleans, Susan Spicer, and everytime I leave Peristyle I spend some time thinking about the unfairness of that situation. The woman runs a lovely place with an atmosphere that is much like the downstairs dining room at Galitoire's without the din.

We were served tiny little cheese puffs as we sat down. They were pretty tasty, much like cheese sticks in puff form, and not unlike what lots of people make around the holidays for snacking.

Don and I both had the same starter-Duck Liver pate (a VERY generous portion) served with toast points, minced onion and capers. It was, to put it mildly, delicious. The hard thing to get right about pate is to add a little flavor tho the delicious meat without overwhelming it and in this Peristyle succeeded completely. Rich, flavorful, and satisfying. I could have easily gotten a couple more hunks and called it a night. But I did not.

For entrees I had Tuna a la Anne-yellow fin seared and finished medium rare (perfectly cooked) served on a bed of potato-celeriac gratin, haricot vert and a demi glace with pine nuts, sultanas, balsamic sund dried tomatoes, garlic, and lots of rosemary (but not an overpowering amount of rosemary-but I love the stuff and wouldn't have noticed if it was a bit over the top.

Don had a Pan Seared Veal Rib Eye with sweetbreads and artichokes. The veal had been marinated in a Dijon-Green Peppercorn marinate and was served on top of veal sweetbreads and artichokes and the whole thing was topped (New Orleans style steak service) with pink peppercorn compund butter.

We both joined the "Clean Plate Club"

Rather than going for dessert, we decided on a cheese plate that consisted of four cheeses, the best one being a blue cheese that (I believe) was from Point Reyes, CA. I did not get a list of the cheeses, but they were all above average and all from California. The blue had a nice aromatic vinegar front and finished on a very salty note. It was pretty damn swell. There was also a brie style cheese that had an interesting addition of rosemary and that was good as well.

The service was perfect. Unobtrusive and smooth, No annoying every three second refills on the water-just the right amount of appearances by the staff. Service was unhurried and no one seemed particularly worried about turning our table. I asked for a menu on my way out the door (I collect them) and that request was filled promptly with the manager commenting that he didn't understand why more people didn't ask for them, as the menu changes frequently and no one can possibly remember the subtle menu changes that regulary occur with Ms. Kearney's whims.

I enjoyed the dinner conversation and was really pleased to meet another egulleteer (especially one that could real me with tales of Trotter's and Trio). Don is quite the bon vivant and I look forward to seeing him again in New Orleans and taking him to a new spot or two.

After dinner Don caught a cab back to his hotel and I started walking back to my apt (six blocks away on Royal) and as I was walking I decided that not having dessert was mistake-so I headed over to NOLA for a little Creme Brulee and Coffee. Perfect topping for a very nice evening.

Thanks Don

[lafcadio]

Chef Anne Kearney has sold Perisyle to Tom Wolfe of Wolfe's Restaurant.

Chef Anne and husband, Tom Sands, are leaving New Orleans to be closer to family in Ohio. Chef Wolfe started in the kitchen on Tuesday.

What a sad day for Peristyle's many loyal patrons. Chef Neal's untimely death was devastating and now Chef Kearney is going away. We will miss her!

[pnapoli]

i wonder what his plans are for wolfe's? i had a really wonderful experience there about 2 years ago (5 course tasting menu, iirc). the meal, the service, and the atmosphere were spot on. i was thinking about returning on an upcoming trip to NO, but now i'm not sure.

[Jason Perlow]

Thats sad. Peristyle was going to be the next major NO restaurant on my list to try on my next trip.

[davebr]

I say congradulations to Anne!! My wife and I only live 6 hours from our families and it's hard to see them enough. I think about selling my 2 places all the time.

[Mayhaw Man]

I completely understand about wanting to be close to family and that restaurants eat up most of your waking hours if you are theowner/chef. Good luck to the both of them.

OTOH I hate to see them go. Peristyle is one of the serious values in eating in New Orleans and has been for a long time. You know what you are going to get, you know what kind of service there will be, and you know that you are going to be pretty close to, if not completely, satisfied by the time you are donw with service. Peristyle has been a dependable place with seriously good food, service, and style and I will miss it greatly.

[Mayhaw Man]

Sadly for local diners (but happily for the sellers and purchasers) it is all true and was detailed in today's Picayune.

Perisales

[pnapoli]

so has anyone been there since the sale?

[davebr]

A very good friend of mine is a waiter there. For the forst time ever I talked to him on a week night. He had been sent home early for not enough business. That had never happened to him in the last 5 years.

[Mayhaw Man]

Update:

If it's good enough for Brett, it's good enough for you. I had dinner there a couple of weeks ago and really liked it. Alot. I used to be a regular diner there and always considered it to be among my two or three favorite places in town. It still is.