Summer Respites (By Degrees)
St. Charles Avenue Magazine Food Column, August, 2004
By Michael Depp

In New Orleans, August is a hateful time. The sun singes everything into submission when it blasts through sour, buttery clouds that otherwise trap all of the city's heat, wet and hope from ascending, stifling us all like some poorly ventilated kitchen.

The solution, for those with the means and volition, is escape. But while waiting for that week in France, that jaunt to San Francisco or the long weekend in Boston, I've found there is consolation in local restaurants that have a built-in getaway. Some offer a merciful dip in the mercury (if only by a few short increments). Others have just enough of a change of scenery. But all of them offer a respite from summer's thunderous and drawn out crescendo of searing temperatures, humidity and tedium.

I became fond of Victoria Inn & Gardens while visiting there as a judge for Lafitte's annual oyster festival a couple of years ago. As its grounds back up to an expansive, man-made lake, the temperature drops nearly 10 degrees, which is itself reason enough to visit. Only about 45 minutes outside of the city, the differences in landscape are stark - kind of a waterlogged swamp pastoral. The inn itself is self-contained and snug - rooms are stocked with thoughtful perks (Jacuzzi tubs for some), and there's an in-house library and video collection for whiling away the afternoon's more oppressive hours.

The real treat I found on a recent visit, however, was the newly revitalized kitchen there under the direction of chef Matt Regan, a former line cook at Emeril's flagship restaurant who now runs the place as a virtual one-man show. In the inn's tiny 25-seat dining room, Regan serves up some exceedingly tasty Louisiana fare that took me quite by surprise with its consistent, humble excellence. Standouts were the crabmeat with housemade herb mayonnaise; crawfish ravioli (with creamy housemade ricotta); shrimp gorgeously wrapped in thick, fatty slices of bacon and drizzled with a spicy brown butter sauce; and the saffron-perfumed, seafood heady Creole bouillabaisse.

The inn also hosts monthly Caribbean-style "jump ups" - calypso-tinged parties - on the house dock that are timed to coincide with the full moon and are complete with a steel band, food and cocktails. And they're offering special discount packages for the off-season - go to www.victoriainn.com for more information. Even if you don't stay the night, dinner and a walk on the dock are worth the trip.

Across Lake Ponchartrain, Vicky Bayley (formerly of Mike's on the Avenue fame - who can forget those leggy ads?) has settled into a more rustic role as proprietor of Artesia in Abita Springs, which gained national acclaim under chef John Besh's tenure. Besh has since moved on to two of his own restaurants, but Artesia remains the Northshore's principle destination restaurant for the many diners who stop in from New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It helps that Bayley offers two quaint guest cottages for townies who don't feel like making the trek back across the Causeway bridge after a lusty meal, such as one I recently had there.

As for the restaurant, I had one of the best starters in recent memory in chef Robert Vasquez's crab cakes, which explode with actual crabmeat and are topped with a tangy aioli whose recipe I must get my hands on. The sautéed Gulf shrimp, which shared space in a bed of linguine with some meaty, seasonal chanterelles, left me utterly sated, though it was the peach cobbler that ultimately made driving home an unthinkable proposition.

Artesia is offering several weekend packages during the summer that combine stays in its historic cottages - which were decorated by former Mike's chef Mike Fennelly - along with meals at the restaurant with tours and activities around the Covington area (including the bi-monthly Jazz'n the Vines events at Ponchartrain Winery in Bush). Call (985) 892-1662 for details, and if you, like many, harbor fond memories of Mike's on the Avenue, tell Vicky Bayley how much you miss her.

A little closer to home, the Windsor Court offers two packages geared to locals which are an excellent way of turning a meal into an overnight event. The Tea & Tranquility package features an overnight stay in a junior suite along with afternoon tea (including sandwiches, strawberries and cream, scones and custard) for two. The New Orleans Grill Connoisseur package, on the other hand, includes a three-course meal with wine pairings, after which you can settle into a full suite. And speaking of wine at the Windsor Court, sommelier Michael Scherzberg will be presenting a "White Wines of Italy" lecture and tasting on August 4th, featuring hors d'oeuvres by chef/maestro Jonathan Wright - part of a series of such monthly seminar/tastings that are perhaps the most inexpensive (and instructive) ways to enjoy what remains the city's more extraordinary dining experiences.

If learning is your bag, the New Orleans Cooking Experience, now housed in the House on Bayou Road (home to Restaurant Indigo) is offering some packages of its own. The Weekend Getaway includes a Friday and Saturday night stay at the House on Bayou Road, breakfast each morning, a visit to the Farmer's Market and a Friday evening dinner class and a lunch class on Saturday. The Weekday Mini-Vacation sprawls across three weeknights, meanwhile, with dinner at Indigo, dinner at Brigsten's (chef Frank Brigsten is one of the school's instructors), breakfast each morning and two classes. Get more information by calling (504) 945-9104.

While summer is usually a lull between festival seasons, there are two bright spots this month. First is the Satchmo SummerFest at the Old U.S. Mint from August 4-8 followed by the second annual "Tales of the Cocktail," sponsored by the Southern Comfort Cocktail Tour on August 19-20 featuring dinner pairings, readings and book signings, a VIP cocktail tour and a special hotel package at the Monteleone. Get more details on participating authors and activities at www.TalesoftheCocktail.com.

Finally, a competition is now simmering in the Commander's Palace ranks, and your votes may help it come to a boil. Chefs Kevin Vizard of Café Adelaide, Tory McPhail of Commander's and Eula Mae Dore of the McIlhenny Company are presently engaged in a pitched battle for the best gumbo. Each chef as prepared five gumbos that will be featured throughout the summer at either restaurant (served in a medley of demi-tasse portions). Proceeds will benefit Girls First, Save America's Wetland and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Louisiana. And given the elections we're facing this fall - school board and presidential topping a frightening list - this will probably be the least fraught voting you may do all year.