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My English Professor would love these restaurantsEdited by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLadySEVERAL NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANTS FEATURE SPECIAL TENNESSEE WILLIAMS MENUS DURING LITERARY FESTIVAL, MARCH 30 - APRIL 3, 2005
Some have designed full prix fixe menus; others have concocted exotic cocktails, appetizers and/or desserts with Williams’ personality and colorful cast of characters in mind. “The original idea was spawned in 1987 by former restaurateur and Festival board member David Tardo, who worked closely with a Williams biographer to identify the edibles and libations mentioned in his works,” said Eugenia Patru, Festival board president. “From there, he created a Tennessee Williams menu for Café Anglais, a French Quarter restaurant he once owned.” In 1996 -- in celebration of the Festival’s 10th anniversary -- the concept was resurrected. Several area restaurants embraced the idea and it developed into a Tennessee Williams dine-around, or “Dining Out with Tennessee,” now a Festival tradition. Chefs have the opportunity -- or, rather, the challenge -- of making edible poetry of such dishes as Stanley’s Cold Plate (A Streetcar Named Desire) or Hopping John (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), to name a few. Gumbo and Chicken Bonne Femme (both from Vieux Carré) might make easier magic. Or, perhaps the bartender will mix up a shaker of Negronis (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone). There are no rules or restrictions, only that Tennessee Williams is the inspiration. John Besh at Restaurant August has turned Stanley’s Cold Plate into a dish “named desire”: His will feature diver scallops; and, in a nod to Williams’s play Vieux Carré, Besh will serve lamb stew with lamb rack and lamb sweetbreads. He will offer a total of five courses in his Tennessee Williams tasting menu. In addition to an elaborate prix fixe Festival menu, Arnaud’s extends the celebration to the French 75 Bar, the restaurant’s 2004 addition. Two martinis -- the Blue Brick and Iguana Dreams -- have been concocted to salute the playwright. Owner Katy Casbarian says, “We chose variations on the martini because it is a drink with qualities of complexity and purity, which seems appropriate in relation to Tennessee Williams’s work.” The French Quarter Bar in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, featuring celebrity trumpeter Jeremy Davenport, offers “a play for your palate” with a three-course menu including “Sweet Bird of Youth, Summer and Smoke,” a marinated duck breast with smoked tomato. At Victor’s Grill, also located in the Ritz-Carlton, one can enjoy a sumptuous repast in the privacy of one of the three “Cheater’s Booths.” entitled Desire, Stella! and Blanche, in deference to the playwright who made those names famous. Other tributes have expanded beyond pots, pans and cocktail shakers. A few years ago, David Favret, owner of the Quarter Scene Restaurant, commissioned multi-media artist John Lawson to create a table top in honor of Tennessee Williams, whose regular seat at the eatery was table #1, by the door. Lawson, who’s known for his elaborate artworks fabricated from Mardi Gras beads, made a beaded portrait of Williams in front of a streetcar -- a reference to his famous play A Streetcar Named Desire. JoAnn Clevenger and Chef Ken Smith of Upperline Restaurant have crafted a robust menu, which includes a special gumbo (Vieux Carré, Part 1, Scene 4: Mrs. Wire: “Why, I knew when I put this gumbo on the stove and lit the fire, it would smoke you ladies out of your locked room. What do you all do in that locked room so much?”). Clevenger will likely pepper the meal with her verbal dish about meeting the famous playwright in the 1960s at the original Bourbon House, where she is certain “he must have enjoyed their famous gumbo.” Additional restaurants serving Tennessee Williams-inspired menus during the five-day Festival include Bourbon House, Brennan’s (where columnist Rex Reed fondly remembers Tennessee devouring a breakfast of eggs Sardou. grits and grillades, and Bananas Foster flambé -- all washed down with a pitcher of martinis), Chateaubriand, Desire Oyster Bar, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Gumbo Shop, Herbsaint, Hunt Room Grill, Marisol, Muriel’s Jackson Square and Red Fish Grill. For “Dining Out with Tennessee” reservations, call Arnaud’s (523-5433); Bourbon House (522-0111); Brennan’s (525-9711); Chateaubriand (207-0016); Desire Oyster Bar at the Royal Sonesta Hotel (586-0300); Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse (522-2467); The French Quarter Bar, Third Level, The Ritz-Carlton (524-1331); Gumbo Shop (525-1486); Herbsaint (524-4114); Hunt Room Grill at Hotel Monteleone (523-3341); Marisol (943-1912); Muriel’s Jackson Square (568-1885); Palace Café (523-1661); Quarter Scene Restaurant (522-6533); Red Fish Grill (598-1200); Restaurant August (299-9777); and Upperline (891-9822). For more information, contact the Festival Box Office at 504-581-1144 (tel) or info@tennesseewilliams.net ; or visit the Festival’s website: www.tennesseewilliams.net. For More InformationHelpful Website Great Guidebooks Insight Guides New Orleans Access New Orleans New Orleans 2005 New Orleans Restaurants Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism
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In
honor of the legendary playwright Tennessee Williams -- who, in customary
Southern tradition, was passionate about food and drink -- several local dining
establishments will feature special menu items during the week of the upcoming
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, March 30 - April 3, 2005.
