Food & Family Coming Together

Ahh the smell of gumbo… it’s the bowl that warms your soul during a Southern winter.

Seafood Gumbo

But unless you grew up on a hunting camp or with your own Cajun grandma, making a roux from scratch can be a daunting task.  We are all in luck - just last week Chef John Folse shared with Epicurious his personal secrets on blending oil and flour to create the perfect roux.  “The secret to roux, although extremely simple, it’s probably the toughest thing I teach in my culinary school at Nicholls State University,” John says.  “The first thing I tell them is that everybody says equal parts of oil and flour, but not really.”  In this concise roux handbook John explains how observing the visual cues around you are vital in creating the types of roux you’ll need for seafood or wild game gumbo, crawfish etouffee or chicken fricassee.  Tis the season for friends and family to gather around the table, so give your own roux a try!

If cooking is not your forte, make plans for your family and friends to “Celebrate the Holidays” with us at Restaurant R’evolution. For reservations visit Opentable.com or call 504-553-2277.

Seafood Gumbo is on this year’s Thanksgiving Day menu along with other holiday favorites, such as Crispy Pheasant or Sugar Cured Ham with French Bread Oyster Dressing or Sweet Farre Dressing, Creole Style Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole making you feel right at home. Or choose to feast on these other Thanksgiving Day entrées: Crispy Pheasant, Molasses-lacquered Duck, Gulf Shrimp and Grits “Villages de l’Est”, Pan Sauteed Speckled Trout, or Petite Filet. This meal would not be complete without Sweet Potato Souffle, Truffled Mashed Potatoes, Shrimp and Mirliton Casserole and delectable desserts!  View the complete menu here.  Seatings on Thursday, November 28^th start at 11:00 a.m. and the final seating is at 8:30 p.m. so call 504-553-2277 or visit Opentable.com to reserve your seat.

Harvest Moon Martini

Our chef duo John Folse and Rick Tramonto, continue the restaurant’s mission of conserving the region’s culinary past with the second-annual celebration of the Louisiana holiday tradition, Réveillon.  In December, Restaurant R’evolution will feature a classic Réveillon menu to honor this historic local tradition on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Additionally, the restaurant will feature a Réveillon prix fixe dinner menu option throughout the entire month, for all to enjoy. Details on the prix fixe dinner can be found here. 

If you’re reuniting with special friends over drinks, look no further than our seasonal chef-inspired offerings at Bar R’evolution.  Favorite harvest flavors of squash, cinnamon and cranberry can be found in The Ripley and Harvest Moon Martini.  And the holidays alone are cause for celebration, so we have created three unique French 75 beverages prepared with Armagnac and finished with your choice of luxury champagne.

John puts it best - “Réveillon was and is about family.  It is about Church.  It is about coming together.  It’s about the ‘awakening’ after Midnight Mass to a celebratory feast with family and friends.”  Happy holidays from our family at Restaurant R’evolution to yours!

Celebrating the Pigskin… A Taste of the NFL and Spoils of the Boucherie

As the city welcomes crowds of devoted football fans for Super Bowl XLVII, Restaurant R’evolution Executive Chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto join several of their contemporaries at the Taste of the NFL on the eve of the big game!  Chefs and NFL players from each of the 32 National Football League cities will gather at the Convention Center serving their regional signature dishes to attendees with the ultimate goal of alleviating hunger in NFL cities across the United States.  New Orleans has presented a Dinner Series at top local venues in the past year benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.  Our Executive Chefs Folse and Tramonto will be making and serving their famous Blue Crab and Brie Poboy at the February 2^nd event.

On Bienville Street and just off Bourbon, Restaurant R’evolution is centrally located for the Super Bowl, Fat Tuesday the following weekend and celebrating our first Valentine’s Day! 

Looking ahead, our inaugural R’evolutionary Boucherie Dinner is coming up on Sunday, February 24^th. 

Traditionally, many cultures celebrated the boucherie, or the butchering of the pigs, in the winter months.  This laborious task provided fresh meat as well as smoked and salted meats for families' use throughout the year.  This strenuous task was made less difficult and enjoyable, because many families participated.  Everyone was assigned a task from fire stoker, to bristle scraper, to boudin maker.  Before dawn, large cauldrons of scalding water were prepared over hot, open fires.  A 300- to 800-pound pig was slaughtered by cutting the jugular vein.  The blood was gathered for making red boudin.  The pig was scalded and the bristles removed, which was sold later to brush manufacturers.  Then, the pig was strung from a tree.  The women removed and cleaned the intestines, which became the sausage casing.  The pig was then cut and quartered into chops, spareribs, roasts and bacon.  Portions of the pig were smoked or salted, while sections were reserved for families' immediate use.  The skin was made into pork cracklins and the fat was rendered into lard.  Inedible portions of the pig were used to make soap.

During the festivities, families enjoyed music, home brewed beer and fresh pork.  Usually grillades, boudin, fresh sausage and ponce (stuffed pig's stomach) were served as well as debris, a rich stew made with the organ meat of the pig and served over rice.  At the end of the day, everyone went home with their families' portion of the slaughter.  This activity was repeated nearly every weekend during the slaughtering months of December, January and February.

Our “guests of honor” are three little pigs from Black Hill Ranch in Cypress, Texas, where the finest breeds of humanely treated pigs are raised.  The pigs have been hand-fed a top-notch diet of peaches, apples, pears, carrots, lettuce, spinach, cantaloupes, plums, tomatoes, eggplants, squash, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, corn, soybeans and maple syrup.  Then, dinner is washed down with red wine to ensure delicious, high quality meats are produced.  They continue to be pampered at White Oak Plantation for the upcoming Boucherie celebration.

Guests at this ticketed event will enjoy the evening tasting the "spoils of the boucherie" with a charcuterie reception to start and six courses with wine pairings.  Please see complete menu below...

Charcuterie Reception

Crispy Pig's Ear

Red and White Boudin

Salumi, Hog's Head Cheese, Sausages

 Ca del Roro

Prosecco, Veneto, Italy NV

Appetizer

Pied de Cochon

Sweet Potato Aspic

 Wein Keller Erbach

Sylvaner Rheinhessen, Germany 2011

Soup

Hominy and Pig Tail Consommé

Pork Albondigas

 Acquagiusta

"Rosato" Maremma, Italy 2011

Salad

Local Citrus, Smoked Pecans, Sugar-cured Ham

 Sartori Di Verona

"Ferdi" IGT Verona, Italy 2010

Seafood

Gulf Shrimp Dirty Rice Arancini

House Bacon Sauce Piquante

 Row Eleven

"Civello" California 2011

Entree

Triptych of Pork

Braised Pork Cheeks, Persimmon Ratafia

Wrapped Pork Belly Parcel, Turnip Greens

Craklin' Crusted Pork Spinalis

Domaine Brusset

"Les Boudalles" Rhone, France 2010

Dessert

Stone-ground Grits Pound Cake

Mini Oreille de Cochon, Bacon Praline Ice Cream,

Rye Butterscotch

Niepoort

Ruby Port, Douro, Portugal

Seating is limited so reserve your space today by calling Restaurant R'evolution at 504.553.2277.