[Evelyn]

They say timing is everything. In the case of Stanley, I suspect Chef Scott Boswell, who receives accolades for his fine dining venue- Restaurant Stella!, would agree. Just days before Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans, Boswell had closed Stella! for major renovations. Although he had secured space adjacent to Stella! for Stanley, the restaurant was still in the planning stage. Katrina hit-what was left of Stella! was basically a shell that had housed the restaurant. Boswell was far enough along with his thoughts about Stanley that he opened in the space he had procured earlier even before the city allowed anyone to return. No utilities, cooking on a charcoal grill with no steady source of supplies and a skeleton staff Stanley was born. Providing hundreds of burgers to the responders, rescuers and media the restaurant 'hit the ground running' and was an immediate success. The story is told mcuh more eloquently on their website. Fast forward to 2008-Stanley moved to its current location on St. Ann street and Jackson Square. The restaurant evokes an upscale diner/soda shop ambience. A long, white marble dining counter fronts the diner-style partially open kitchen. Multiple sets of 'french doors' wrap around the front and side of the room. Old fashioned ceiling fans are suspended from the dark wood beams that decorate the high ceiling. White marble topped tables with comfortable dark wooden stools provide comfortable space for enjoying the delicious New Orleans style food.

Serving breakfast all day, in addition to their lunch menu, Stanley has become my favorite 'first meal of the day' spot in New Orleans. Sometimes it's breakfast. Sometimes it's lunch. Sometimes it's just a milkshake made with house made ice cream. So far, I haven't succombed to the specialty sundeas. But, my resolve weakens every time I see the Stanley Split- Three Scoops of Chunky Chartres Ice Cream on a Banana, Fresh Berries, Chocolate Sauce, Whipped Cream, Toasted Walnuts and a Cherry. Or The Stella Uptown-Three Scoops of Rum Raisin Ice Cream, Carrot Cake, Sweet Cream Cheese Sauce,
Whipped Cream, Toasted Walnuts and a Cherry.

I can vouch that they make one of the best burgers around. Made from the trimmings of the tenderloins the serve at Restaurant Stella, the Big Stanley burger is 10oz. of Certified Angus Beef with Two Slices of American Cheese, Three Strips of Smoked Bacon, Stanley Special Sauce, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions,
Mustard and Ketchup. There are a number of other interesting dishes I'm looking forward to trying on my next visit. Among them Korean Barbeque Beef Poor Boy ~ Marinated Beef Tenderloin, Sweet and Tangy Korean Barbeque Sauce with House Kimchee on Toasted French Bread. And Poor Boy Sliders ~ Smaller Individual Versions of our P&J’s Louisiana Oyster Poor Boy, Korean Barbeque Beef Poor Boy, and Club Stanley Sandwich.

Breakfast is not for those who are silly enough to count their calories while they are in New Orleans. Many of the dishes are twists of classic breakfast/brunch dishes. Some would say Chef Boswell 'guilds the lily'. But, he does it in the best possible way. The Eggs Stanley is composed of fat Cornmeal-Crusted P&J’s Louisiana Oysters, Poached Eggs, Canadian Bacon and Creole Hollandaise on a Toasted English Muffin. So good. Or, maybe the Breaux Bridge Benedict made with Charlie T’s excellent Boudin, Smoked Ham, American Cheese, Poached Eggs stacked on two tall cylinders of French loaf and slathered with Creole Hollandaise. My personal favorite is Eggs Stella. A fat and perfectly fried Cornmeal-Crusted Soft-Shell Crab, Poached Eggs, Canadian Bacon and Creole Hollandaise on Toasted English Muffin. You say you like corned beef hash. Well, be sure to try it here. Large dices of Boar’s Head Brand Pastrami and Corned Beef Hash with Poached Eggs, Slices of Toasted French Bread and Creole Hollandaise. Add an excellent cup of New Orleans coffee, while you enjoy your eggs and the theater of Jackson Square is a pretty good way to start the day.

[ulterior epicure]

Evelyn, I always appreciate your colorful and well-written posts. Here's my two cents on Stanley:



Having had nothing to eat all day except a bag of peanuts and two cocktails, my friend "The Hair" was starving when we arrived at MSY in the mid-afternoon rain. Dropping our bags off at the hotel – conveniently, located between the two culinary Kowalskis – we met up with our friends Iggy and The Drummer, who had flown in the day before, and headed to Stanley for a snack to tie us over to our late dinner reservation at Stella! that evening.

I’ll get around to Stella! in a subsequent post. In this one, I focus on Stanley.

The circumstances under which Boswell opened Stanley are quite extraordinary. Borne out of the post-Katrina quagmire, Stanley started as a humble burger outfit next door to Stella! You can read more about Stanley’s wonderful story on its website (link at the end of this post; turn up your speakers and lace up your tapping shoes).

True to Williams’s script, Boswell casts Stanley in a workaday die. Now occupying one corner of Jackson Square, this diner-meets-cafe is as tidy as its short roster of hearty breakfast and lunch items on a one-page menu. Its food sustains.

Spartan and neat, I find the restaurant’s simply arranged interior immensely pleasant. There’s a long marble-top bar lined with stools that runs along an open service area with a view of the (kitchen) line. Two rows of marble-top deuces run the length of the restaurant’s main dining room. The ceiling is crossed with beams. A modern-day Tudor would be proud.

But, whereas Williams’s Stanley is a brutish car parts salesman, Boswell’s version is more of a food-focused yuppie on his day off: laid-back enough for tees and denim (the standard-issue staff outfit), mindful enough to toss a cornmeal-crusted soft shell crab on his eggs Benedict. This Stanley knows how to eat.

We shared a “P & J’s Louisiana Oyster Poor Boy” ($11.50) and The Hair ordered a “P & J’s Oyster, Gulf Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, and Chicken Gumbo” ($9.50).

The cornmeal-crusted oysters in the poor boy – held together by a spicy remoulade and zippy cole slaw - were plump and crispy. As juicy and well-battered as those oysters were, the dressing was the highlight of this sandwich. I wish there was just a bit more of it to soak into the bread, which though nicely toasted, was a bit too thick.

The gumbo was dark and flavorful and filled with shrimp, sausage and chicken, and just enough rice to make it a comforting meal in a bowl.

Iggy and The Drummer had breakfast here earlier in the day. Iggy said that her “Bananas Foster French Toast” was the naughtiest breakfast ever; it came with ice cream ($11,50). It could be dessert. It sounds like a dream. And so does just about everything else on the menu here. In fact, so hot and bothered was I over the all-ice cream dessert menu (yes, every dessert has ice cream in or on it) that I almost tempted myself into returning later in the week for the “Stella Uptown” – three scoops of rum raisin ice cream with carrot cake, sweet cream cheese sauce, whipped cream, walnuts, and a cherry on top ($8.75).

Despite its gruff namesake, Stanley gives good service. The staff here is efficient and friendly. Hitting the restaurant at its lowest tide (late afternoon lull, right before dinner time), the food came out quickly.

Stanley is the type of place I’d love to spend a quiet weekend morning reading the paper, or a lazy afternoon reading a book over a cup of coffee while stealing glances out the window at the tourists, street-walkers, and fortune tellers in Jackson Square.

You can find the photos from this meal on my blog.

[Suzanne F]

FWIW, P & J is an interesting operation to visit: all oysters are hand shucked at an astonishing speed (to me, anyway).