Where are you eating these days, these very hot, dragging days in the dregs of New Orleans summer? Me? I've been drawn to restaurants that offer a sense of escape, or an appreciation for what we have here even through the slog of it, or perhaps dishes that just seem right for the season.
Here are a few examples around town.
There’s the tiny sushi counter Sukeban Uptown on Oak Street that always feels like a portal to a calmer, more orderly realm, the antidote to the harry, bedraggled feeling of summer these days. I’m here for sushi hand rolls made with practiced perfection, from the sour rice to the blue-black seaweed wrappers, all toasty, fresh and crinkly when you bite in.
Next: Can dips be dinner? Of course they can and that was my play one day with visitors in tow when it felt too hot to eat but we really wanted to eat.
I steered our little group to 1000 Figs, the shoe box-sized Mediterranean restaurant just off Esplanade Avenue.
At the counter, just say two words, “falafel feast,” and this order alone conjures a table filling vegetarian buffet of garlicky dips, fresh salads, crusty bread and crunchy aromatic falafel, all vivid green within.
Then there’s Afrodisiac, a Creole-Caribbean fusion find in Gentilly that makes these amazing jerk turkey necks, with smoky, peppery morsels to pull between the ridges of bone. It has a hidden, lush courtyard that feels like a trip to the islands, right there on Franklin Avenue, complete with rum punch and well-wrought cocktails from the bar.
On the north shore, on the Mandeville lakefront, Pat’s Rest a While is a newish restaurant in a collection of historic buildings that were once a summer camp. Today the elevation of the deck and dining rooms gives both a view and a breeze. Squint your eyes and maybe it feels a little like you’re on the deck of a ship out there on the lake.
Restaurant escapism like this can help us get by in deep New Orleans summer, and sometimes pairing up your appetite and a little imagination can get you there.