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Tommy’s Cuisine
746 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA
(504) 581-1103
Web Site: http://www.tommyscuisine.com
Business partnerships are fickle things. They can succeed and persist for a very long time, but sometimes they break up and the founders have to go their own ways. But occasionally as a result of these breakups, it creates new enterprises — an effect that I myself am intimately familiar with.
Such is the case with Tommy’s Cuisine, which was created in 2004 as a result of the divorce of the owners of Irene’s Cuisine, a local favorite Creole-Italian in the French Quarter. By all accounts Tommy’s, which is located in the Central Business District, is a near clone of Irene’s but is in a bigger space that takes reservations. It also has the distinction of having on its roster Milton Prudence as Executive Chef, formerly of Galatoire’s, who will cook classic dishes from that legendary restaurant off-menu on request, and features many of them on Tommy’s specials menu.
Sometimes a breakup is a good thing and gives birth to new restaurants. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
Tommy’s has a warm and inviting atmosphere, bathing the diners in a rose glow.
A Sazerac, a classic New Orleans cocktail made with Herbsaint liquor.
An amuse of warm “Bruschetta” with melted cheese and a light tomato sauce.
A simple Mixed Green salad with Maytag Blue cheese, which I thought was excellent.
Rachel ordered a duck salad. Smoked duck breast sliced over spinach, drizzled with an orange reduction, sautéed mushrooms and candied pecans. “Duck Bacon” was our initial reaction to the dish. Very good.
We didn’t think we were going to make it to Galatoire’s that week, so Rachel went off-menu and ordered a classic, an Amandine with Black Drum subbing for the usual Trout.
The Creole-style pasta sauce is sweeter than your typical Marinara red sauce that you’d find in an Italian restaurant up North. This was dressed with a nice Pecorino-Romano cheese, and it worked well with the main dish I ordered.
Veal Sorrentina — Pan seared veal layered with prosciutto, eggplant and mozzarella, topped with a green onion, mushroom, marsala sauce. One of the best preparations of this dish I’ve ever had.
We also got some of the really excellent creamed spinach which was made with fresh spinach. It was rich with lots of cream and butter.
A simple dessert of fresh strawberries with ice cream and puff pastry. A nice ending to a great meal.
Off The Broiler 