[Evelyn]

During my roamings around New Orleans in March, I passed John Besh's newest restaurant, Luke. After perusing the menu, a mix of French, German and New Orleans influenced dishes, I decided I would definitely stop in for a cocktail and a meal. I actually ended up stopping in twice over two visits to the Crescent City. The first time, for dessert, after satisfying my savory cravings at Cochon. The second, for lunch.

The restaurant is located adjacent to the Hilton in the Business District and serves from 7 am- 11 pm. It seems to attract a good number of locals in addition to the hotel guests and tourists. I found the breakfast menu of great interest, but, my work precluded me from being able to sample it. Decorated in the "French Bistro" style, the room is deep and relatively narrow. To the right, a lovely dark wood bar/raw bar dominates. I opted to enjoy my meal here. In retrospect, a table might have been a more comfortable choice. Not because of the seats themselves, but, because of the incredibly slow service. Just getting a drink order taken on my first visit (for dessert) took a long enough time for me to consider giving up and leaving--and I was seated directly in front of the bartender. I took into account that they were quite busy, but, still the wait was really not justifiable. I was tired and seated, so I stayed. Thankfully, the sazerac that eventually arrived was well made. With visions of Ducasse's version, I selected the Baba au Rum. After about 15 minutes a bubbling cauldron of what appeared to be some kind of apple dessert was placed in front of me by a runner. Apt terminology, as he "ran" before I could tell him the dish was not what I ordered. After getting the bartender's attention, she asked if I liked my dessert, which was sitting untouched in front of me. I told her it wasn't what I ordered. She looked at me, looked at it, looked at me again. Walked over to the computer and checked the order. Returned looked at it again, then me again and finally said "wow, you're right". Another 15 minutes of waiting. At this point I was ready to just call it a night without the baba, but, that whisper of memories past held me in my seat. Silly, silly girl. Just as I finally reached my patience limit, the "baba" arrived. Sometimes, patience is not a virtue. A bowl with what appeared to be one of those spongecake "cups" you can buy at the grocery store sitting in a deep (almost covering) pool of berry "soup" and blueberries, blackberries and cut strawberries. This dish definitely did not bear any resmeblance to any baba (including the ones you used to see "in the jar" at Marshall Fields) I have ever seen. The berries were fine, the "soup" just juice without any discernable enhancements. The spongcake-vile. Completely sodden and disentigrating. Needless to say, a disappointing experience.

Since I believe you cannot (and most certainly should not) judge a restaurant on an abbreviated experience such as my first, I returned on a subsequent visit to New Orleans. I opted for an early lunch this time. And, ever the optimist, I sat at the bar again...after first checking to make sure the rather clueless bartender from my first visit wasn't there. This time, an energetic young man was my server. Luke has a wide selection of beers, and I toyed with that idea. But, they also have a true bistro wine list. I would guess 40+ wines, none over $45 dollars and a good selection available by the glass, quartino or half. I ended up with a very nice, dry white French wine whose name I do not recall. Knwoing that evening would be a long meal with folks I work with, I decided to go with "light" appetizers rather than constructing a meal with an appetizer and entree.

Course 1: Roasted Oysters with wild mushrooms, bacon and aioli-The bartender had advised that this was one of the best apps on the menu. Well, after about 15 minutes (yes, the kitchen is s-l-o-w, it wasn't busy yet) the oysters arrive in their shells supported by rock salt. They appear, well, unattractive. Not in an "I can't eat this" way. Just the coloring of the dish. They had spent too much time under the broiler and developed an odd brownish, purplish color. Very difficult to explain. The relatively small oysters (sin of all sins-had not been separated from the shell) were slightly overcooked and covered by the toss of bacon bits and oysters. There was no visible aioli, but, a hint of the flavor. Heh.

Another incredibly long wait between ordering my next dish and its appearance. At least the bartender was personable and explaining some of the cocktails he was preparing. He made "their" version of a French 75-using brandy in place of the gin-qnd generously gave me the extras. It was excellent and made the wait more enjoyable, even though I still had wine to enjoy.

Course 2: Fried oyster, bacon, romaine and avocado salad- What I really wanted here were the oysters. There were plenty of them. Plump and juicy, half nicely fried, half overfried. The coating on the oysters lent absolutely no character to the dish. The greens were dressed with what the server described as a buttermilk dressing. No real tang of buttermilk, but a good hint of garlic and overall very tasty. Bits of nicely crunchy, flavorful bacon here and there, and exactly two small squares fo avocado that had been cut long before making their debut on the salad. Had I just wanted dressed romaine not the oysters or avocado, this would have been an excellent choice.

Course 3: Pied de cochon "croustillant" sauce Gribiche-Three golden nuggets of piggy goodness arrived. They looked lovely. Nicely crispy, topped with cane vinaigrette dressed microgreens and resting on an excellent version of Gribiche. Molten piggy bits oozed out when they were cut. Finally, a dish that came close to my expections for Luke.

Dessert: Strawberry Shortcake-The bartender said they made a wonderful Strawberry Shortcake-which wasn't on the dessert list that day. But, he knew they were available, and if I wanted one, it could be arranged. Well, of course. A good strawberry shortcake surely would make up for my last dessert experience at Luke. Unfortunately, it was not to be. A large, undercooked, dry, flakeless, leaden biscuit arrived in a puddle of the familiar looking berry sauce and topped with halved and chopped strawberries and a scoop of buttermilk ice cream. The ice cream was fine, the biscuit, a disgrace. And, the jus from the berries was "spritzy". According to the bartender, they add champagne to the sauce. To explain the level of spritz, it must be added a la minute. Since the berries lacked sweetness, the sauce would have benefited from a pinch or two of sugar more than the champagne. Chalk up another really poor dessert experience. Fool me once shame one you....

Suprisingly enough, I will return to Luke. I do want to try their breakfast menu. I would like to try some of their other bistro dishes. I did like the attitude of the servers my second visit. I do like the "vibe" (forgive me for that term, please) at Luke. I do like that John Besh is dedicated to New Orleans. I do know, I will be passing on the desserts, though.

[joiei]

I was at Luke last summer, the food was excellent, the service was not. They did get some of our order wrong, the timing was sooooo off somethings came out quickly, some took forever and some never came. I will also go back knowing what I know.

[OTB]

Luke is an awesome restaurant. I still have a post with tons of pictures I have yet to publish on OTB, since the summer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/offthebroiler/tags/luke/

I should probably post it, although I was hoping Chef Besh would get an award or something shortly that would help generate some traffic for it.

[Rail Paul]

Luke is an awesome restaurant. I still have a post with tons of pictures I have yet to publish on OTB, since the summer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/offthebroiler/tags/luke/

I should probably post it, although I was hoping Chef Besh would get an award or something shortly that would help generate some traffic for it.

Jason has the descriptions of these pictures on his OTB blog now.

Luke