Summer Salad

Spinach, strawberries, goat cheese, toasted pecans, red onions, balsamic. Served with bread from La Boulangerie and a nice gruner-veltliner.

(photo by lafille)

Delightful Dishes at Cure

Another post about my favorite bar in town, but this time, let’s focus on the food, shall we?

Chef Jason McCullar has created some fantastic small plates to go with the high-quality cocktails, and every dish I’ve tried has failed to disappoint.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, Cure wanted Brother O’Mara to come take some photographs for them, thus giving us the chance to taste a lot of things in one visit. I feel extremely lucky to have had a had such an opportunity, as my finances would not have allowed me such a feast otherwise. Brother O’Mara does not make his living taking pictures and only took the job because of his love for Cure. We will continue to support them in the future, even when the goodies are not on the house, so I feel this article is by no means a conflict of interests.

Orange Salad

A delightfully fresh combo of Bibb lettuce, fresh orange, sweet pickled red onion, herbs, and olives in a sherry vinaigrette.

Chopped Duck Liver Crostini

Sherry marinated duck liver, served on toasted bread with a bit of lava salt. We shared this with Ricky and Rhiannon, our bartenders, and it quickly disappeared.

Chilled Watercress Soup

Vegetable stock, watercress, and avocado, topped with a dollop of mango tartare. The sweet/tart combo of the mango tartare really added a sparkle to this refreshing summertime soup.

East Coast Crab Roll

Lump crabmeat tossed in citrus aioli, served with Bibb lettuce on a toasted bun. I lucked out and got to eat this delight all by myself since SOMEONE I know doesn’t eat seafood. The crab was so tasty, and Chef Jason’s homemade butter made the toasty bun incredibly rich and mouthwatering.

Cheese and Meat

These are rotated pretty regularly, I believe, but last night we enjoyed chorizo, Serrano ham, Saint Andre triple crème, and Valdeon blue, in addition to crusty bread, dates, spiced almonds, cornichons, and marinated olives.

In case you’re concerned, this is not a full order.

Pincho Ribs

We even got a bite of Chef Jason’s rib special, which he spices with Spanish-style seasoning salt, angostura bitters, and a sherry gastrique. They were fall-off-the bone tender, and the dry rub added great savory flavors to a piece of meat I usually associate with sweet barbecue.

A thousand thanks to Jason McCullar and Neal Bodenheimer for their hospitality. It was a night I will remember for a long time to come.

(all photos by Brother O’Mara for promotional use by Cure)

The Best Thing

Sitting at the table in the light of the setting sun, eating cheese and drinking wine, discussing the events of the day.

St. Andre triple creme

Cambozola blue

Honey

Marcona almonds

Pear

Venta Mazzaron tempranillo

(photo by lafille)

Gluttony Saturday: Dan Stein’s Deli

Stein’s Deli is one of my favorite places in New Orleans, for many reasons.

First and foremost, the food. They make the best Reuben I have ever stuck in my mouth, and everything else I’ve had there is mouthwateringly delicious. Case in point, this past Saturday when we went with Cap’n Will. Here’s what we ordered:

lafille: The Robért — Imported Prosciutto, House-Made Fresh Mozzarella, Aged Balsamic Vinegar on Ciabatta

– This was the first time I’d had the Ro-Berrrrre, and it turned out to be filling but not too heavy. The homemade Mozzarella was awesome, as were all of the other ingredients.

Cap’n Will: The Fernando — Imported Prosciutto, House-Made Fresh Mozzarella, Pesto on Ciabatta

– Great combination of flavors!

Brother O’Mara: The Kelly — Imported Prosciutto, Triple Creme Cheese, and Apple on Ciabatta

– One of Brother O’Mara’s favorites. The apple and triple creme go so well together!

Another great thing about Stein’s is the beverage selection, both alcoholic and non. Any time I’m craving an interesting or hard-to-find soda I head over there. Since Brother O’Mara and I have been enjoying drinking Dark and Stormies lately, we each drank ginger beer–Barritt’s for him and Boylan’s for moi. The Boylan’s is technically ginger ale, I think, and it was definitely not as spicy as Barritt’s or our current fave, Regatta. More in the Canada Dry style, know what I’m sayin’?

Barritt’s Ginger Beer and the Fernando

(photo by Brother O’Mara)

Stein’s also has –hands down– the best retail beer selection in the city. They don’t have an on-premise permit, so you can’t drink it there, but damned if Mr. Stein isn’t responsible for my current home collection of good beer. The man knows his brews. Whether you’re looking for a Belgian or an American microbrew, this is the first place you should look. They have beer classes on a pretty regular basis as well, which I highly recommend. I went a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Heading Uptown for Cure

Cure is a bar that’s recently opened Uptown on the corner of Freret and Upperline. Now, I’m not a big fan of just going to bars, but I heard Cure was a place where they really focus on crafting quality cocktails, not pumping out Hurricanes for drunken tourists, so my Cure-iosity (thank you, I’ll be here all week) was definitely piqued.

We went around 6pm on a Friday evening and sat at the bar. Ricky greeted us and made our first round of drinks– a Sazerac for Brother O’Mara and a Ramos Fizz for myself. I loved watching him construct our cocktails–he clearly takes pride in what he does. Once we had our exquisite libations in hand, we were able to sit back and examine both the menu and the bar itself.

The Bar at Cure

Brother O’Mara’s Sazerac

Ricky told us that the owners had purchased the building in a dilapidated state and redone every inch of the place. They have truly done a beautiful job, from the polished bar to the atmospheric lighting, to the oasis-like patio outside. The place is both decorated and run with loads of style.

The food menu consists of a selection of small plates clearly meant to compliment the cocktails rather than overshadow them. A salad, a couple of panini-style sandwiches, poached pears with Serrano ham. Brother O’Mara and I settled on the cheese plate and the cured meat plate. We got a more than satisfactory spread:

Cheese plate: Chef’s selection of cheeses, we got Manchego, Mimolette, and Maytag Blue, accompanied by dates and tasty spiced almonds.

Meat plate: Sliced Spanish chorizo and Serrano ham with marinated olives and cornichons.

We spoke briefly with either the owner or the manager about the cocktail menu and he told us how they like to rotate it every couple of weeks. Another bartender, Rhiannon, explained that they do a combination of original drinks invented by the staff and classic cocktails with contemporary twists. As far as beer and wine, the selection is very limited, but very interesting and well-chosen at the same time.

Rhiannon was a gracious hostess and extremely patient with our questions. During our conversations with her about different cocktails and liquors, she inspired our choices for the second round of drinks. Brother O’Mara decided on a Dark and Stormy and I couldn’t resist Rhiannon’s description of The Last Word, made with gin, chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice (recipes at the bottom of the page, natch).

Rhiannon hard at work.

Two drinks were enough for each of us–any more and we wouldn’t be able to appreciate them for the works of art that they were. We finished up and bid our adieus to Rhiannon, relaxed and incredibly pleased with our experience at Cure.

Cure is located at 4905 Freret Street, right on the corner of Upperline. Keep your eyes open, as there is not a sign outside.

(all photos by Brother O’Mara)

Today’s cocktail recipes:

The Sazerac
1/2 tsp. absinthe or Herbsaint (Ricky–simply and ingeniously–misted the glass with absinthe)
1 tsp. simple syrup
4 dashes Peychaud Bitters
2 oz. rye whisky
lemon peel

Stir the rye, bitters, and simple syrup with ice and strain into absinthe-coated glass. Garnish with lemon.

Ramos Gin Fizz
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1 egg white
1 tsp sugar
2 oz gin
1/2 oz cream
2-3 dashes orange flower water

Shake all ingredients for a good while in a shaker without ice, to get everything nice and frothy. Add ice and shake some more to get it cold. Strain into a glass and top with soda water.

Dark and Stormy
2 oz. dark rum (specifically Gosling’s Black Seal)
3 oz. ginger beer (traditionally Barrit’s, but I think they use Regatta at Cure)

Make as a highball and garnish with a lime wedge.

The Last Word
3/4 oz. gin
3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. green Chartreuse
3/4 oz. maraschino liqueur

Shake well with ice and strain into a glass.

Best. Dessert. Ever.

For years I thought I disliked blue cheese. Turns out I’d never had Stilton drizzled with honey.

(photo by lafille)