Cuisine:

• New Orleans
• Others
• Creole
• American

Emeril's Description:
This member of TV star-chef Emeril Lagasse's namesake outposts sits in the Loews Hotel, and indeed the handsome restaurant, while big and easy-going, looks more like a lofty hotel dining room than anything you'll find in the Big Easy. Actually, it's two rooms, the main visual draw in the larger one with towering glass wine storage units (that hold 1500 bottles); in the smaller, preferred dining space, the focal point is a hypnotically kinetic open kitchen. The cuisine swings between Big Easy and Big Hotel. Emeril calls it new New Orleans, which means most of those old cajun and creole foods you've come to love, like jambalaya, crawfish, and etouffée, are not on the menu. They do serve gumbo, but it's an okra-less, charmless version. Much of the food proves satisfying, though, and occasionally you'll be knocked out by how good certain dishes are---like a starter of littleneck clams with juicy, homemade andouille sausage, or buttery barbecue shrimp with rosemary biscuit, or, for a main course, a double-cut Niman Ranch pork chop glazed with tamarind and green chili mole. For dessert, you'll like the textbook version of a dreamy banana cream pie. The food and focus nevertheless need to be sharpened. We know Emeril can't be in nine places at once, but next time the celebrated chef makes it down here he should tell his guys to kick it up a notch.


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