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All of us,
through Katrina,
really went through
a lot of stuff.
But to try to bring a
restaurant from the top,
rip it down to
the bottom, and
then return it
all the way to
the top was probably the
hardest work of my life.
And taking 220 employees,
reducing that to
about 30, trying to hire
in 190 more brand new
people that had never
worked here before.
And a lot of them were
people who weren't
even from New Orleans.
So to try to explain to
a kid from Idaho what
New Orleans is all about,
much less cook it,
cook it well, and
well enough to put it on
the menu here, was
a massive undertaking.
Literally from six in the
morning to midnight at
least, every single
day for months and
months and months.
And as you cruise
around here, I mean,
there's just so
many stations.
Tonight we're going gonna
run four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine full
stations on the hot line.
A lot of times,
the smaller restaurants,
you're gonna have two.
You're gonna have three.
There's just a lot
of more complex,
complicated dishes
just based on that.
To try to get this place
back up to where it
was was a pretty big
feat, but we did it.
And I think the awards on
the wall and everything
else that's come out of
that really speaks to
the success of what the
owners, and the rest of
the chefs, and the
restaurateurs bring here.
[MUSIC]
[SOUND]
[MUSIC]
What's up, Kenny Meyer?
How are you, brother?
>> Bring that rabbit?
>> Yeah.
Make some
saltimboccas tonight.
My name is
Tory McPhail and
I'm the Executive Chef
at Commander's Palace.
[MUSIC]
Here in the city,
it's all Creole food.
And Creole food is really
refined version of Cajun,
and it's more
of like French,
Spanish, African,
Haitian, or
Creole-Caribbean
influences.
Really, it's kind of
America's first melting
pot or fusion food.
It really dates back
about 250 years.
[MUSIC]
This is all
about seasoning.
We season all of
our food very well.
So when you make this,
you butcher the rabbit,
you season the rabbit,
you stuff it
with pastrami,
prosciutto, some fresh
tasso, whatever you have.
Crawfish boil mozzarella.
You get all that
mozzarella curd in
the bowl and
start ladling on
all those great
Louisiana crawfish boil.
Same thing we boil up
all of our seafood in.
It really helps
to give our
hand pulled cheeses that
much Louisiana flavor.
You can't just
simply add salt and
pepper to the end and
expect you're gonna have
a, a Louisiana dish.
You'll get laughed
right out of
town if you do that.
I grew up in a tiny
farming town in northwest
Washington State, and
ended up enrolling into
culinary school
when I was just 16.
They told me in culinary
school, look, man,
if you really want to be
a great chef one day,
you gotta work for
the best.
And if you wanna do that,
you only have two
options in life.
Either go to, directly
to New York City, but
if you really wanna
learn how to cook,
you come down
to New Orleans.
And if you're lucky
enough to come here,
get an interview at
Commander's Palace and
do anything you
can possibly do to
start working in
this kitchen.
And that's the advice
I took when I
was younger and started
out making salads and
charcuterie, worked up
through all the stations.
Now been back here as
the executive chef for
about 12 years.
[MUSIC]
I go through literally,
probably 200 of these
things every single day.
Tasting the entire
kitchen about 20
minutes before the start
of every service to make
sure that everything
is absolutely perfect.
Soft shell crab,
extremely seasonal,
they're hand selected
just for our restaurant.
So they can go
from alive and
the most beautiful fresh
seafood to on your
place in about
four minutes.
We pair that with some
fresh stone ground grits.
We fold in a ton of
fresh goat cheese,
three sauces around
the outside,
a ton of fresh herbs,
a bit of butter.
Heirloom tomatoes
right off the farm.
We're one of the last
states in the country
where you can literally
buy fresh fruits and
produce right out
of the back of
somebody's dusty
pick up truck.
You know, for us growing
up in the northwest,
you literally had to
get all your food from
like a certified vendor.
It wasn't nearly quite
that farm to table.
But here, as you can see,
we do all of our
own jarring.
Pickles, okra, fresh
tomatoes, hot sauce.
There's like three or
four different
varieties over here.
And it's literally just
food that's picked from
the farm that day,
brought to a great
restaurant like this,
were the Sou chefs
with the years and
decades of experience
will be able to kind of
continue on the Louisiana
traditions that way.
>> [MUSIC]
Last night was a blast.
I get to hang out with
all my buddies, eat,
drink, do what
I love to do and
that's what helps me
collect a paycheck.
That's ridiculous.
I'm gettin my, first
cocktail of the evening.
Normally I'm just so
hot and
so full when I
get outta here,
the last thing I
want is like a,
big glass of red wine or
a, a cocktail.
Just give me an icy,
cold beer.
[SOUND] I'm good.
Pop, pop these in
the to-go cups and
head down to the Quarter.
>> How's that?
>> Good.
[MUSIC]
>> [INAUDIBLE].
>> All right.
Let's go have some fun.
>> Back.
>> This is Brit.
She's my girlfriend.
Right, this is my
buddy Joy, and
I've known her for years
and years and years.
And of course, Darla.
She like my work wife.
She keeps me,
she keeps me in line.
Now that I've had,
like a first beer,
I'm kinda in the mood for
a proper cocktail.
>> Proper?
>> Yeah.
>> What do you consider
a proper cocktail?
>> Something better than
like gin and tonic.
>> One not in a to
go soup bowl?
[LAUGH]
>> Yeah, something not in
a plastic soup cup.
So right now we're in
the Garden District.
We're gonna head down to
our newest place SoBou.
It's in the French
Quarter, so we go from
fine dining restaurant
all of a sudden to
the best cocktail
bar in the South.
There we picked up
Juan Carlos Gonzales,
our executive chef.
>> It's been a cool
year and a half.
>> Juan Carlos Gonzalez,
Executive Chef, Sobou.
>> You know,
hanging out with Tory.
You know, messing around.
Coming up with some cool
food, good cocktails.
This is what
it's all about.
>> Abigail Guillo,
Bar Chef,
Sobou
>> And
Abigail Guillo,
she's our bar chef.
>> I heard someone say,
what do you got
over there?
I said kittens.
>> What you got?
>> Barrel aged
white Vieux Carré.
The Vieux Carré,
which is French for "Old
Square," which is what we
call the French Quarter,
is equal parts of cognac,
sweet vermouth, and
rye whiskey with a little
bit of Benedictine and
two different
kinds of bitters.
[SOUND].
>> [CROSSTALK].
>> Yeah.
>> Cheers.
>> [FOREIGN].
>> If that's any
indication on
how our evening's
gonna go,
I think it's
pretty indicative.
Yeah, Abigail starts
breaking out all
this like cool,
funky bourbon, right?
She's got some stuff
where she made her own
fire ball [LAUGH] and,
we start pouring
off some of that.
She made rum-dum-dums and
served those in
a little cocquetier.
It's stainless steel,
aluminum little cups.
That's why actually the
cocktail got its name.
After people imbibe, and
they really start to have
a couple of cocktails,
the word cocquetier got
slurred into
cooktail/g,or cocktail.
That's how that whole
thing came about.
>> We got a bunch of
stuff going on for us.
>> See what we got.
>> These right here,
these are what we call
shrimp and caso pinchos.
Pineapple's being
grilled and
marinated in a bunch
of molasses and
a bunch of rum for
like couple days.
We have a little
chimichuri sauce with
a little bit of Crystal
beurre blanc, as well.
This right here, this
is a yellowfin tuna and
it's got veche.
This tuna has been
caught five o'clock
in the morning.
Super, super,
super fresh.
On top of that,
we have some Scotch
bonnet pickled fennel,
some grilled red onions,
and
some beautiful
local satsuma.
[MUSIC]
>> Rock star, great.
We had some beignets last
night with some Louisiana
sweet potato, sticky cane
syrup, and some sea salt,
some foie gras jelly
across the top.
Juan and I met 12 and
a half years ago
at Commander's.
And it's like
slammed packed busy,
and I kept on calling
him Jose all night and
he wouldn't
respond to me.
I'm like, motherfucker.
>> [LAUGH].
>> I said look man
[COUGH], I don't
know what your deal is,
okay?
I need food and I
gotta have it
right fucking now.
Not responding,
not responding.
I'm like dude, what
the hell is your problem?
He's like, my name's
not Jose, it's Juan.
I'm like, great.
>> [LAUGH].
>> Great, man, right?
So we've actually
finally talked it out,
did all that stuff.
And we've been, he's
been one of my best
friends ever since.
It's been great.
So we had
some proper cocktails
last night at Sobou, and
then went to
the Chart Room.
We had a couple of
libations, should we say.
So what are we drinking?
>> I'm drinking
the La Bon but
I think we should
have some Jameson.
>> For
the last hurricane,
Hurricane Isaac.
>> Yeah?
>> I was right
here in this bar.
>> I was here with you.
>> That's right. [LAUGH].
>> Remember, me and Erin?
Remember?
Remember we had like,
our boots on?
>> That's right.
>> And our dresses?
And you're like, whoo!
>> Trouble!
>> Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I remember
being freaked out.
I was like,
there's nobody around.
Oh my god!
It's so weird.
>> Yeah.
>> And then I saw
the Traffic Tranny, and
she was directing
the National Guard.
And I was like,
oh, thank God!
>> Yeah.
>> It's back to normal.
Traffic Tranny is
directing the National
Guard through the empty
French Quarter
after a hurricane.
>> Indeed.
The Chart Room became
kinda local hangout after
we started opening Sobou.
So we'll get off
from Commander's,
come down here, check
in with all the gang,
make sure
everybody's good.
And they'll
come right next
door to the Chart Room.
Swing over, gra, grab a
couple of tequila drinks,
icy cold beers and
then, relax.
Just like it should be.
We actually just became
friends with the,
the bartender, Lisa.
And so when we had
a chance to be able to
come and hang with extra
buddies, we decided to
take them to the Chart
Room all the time.
We're, we're gonna
suck these down and
we're gonna,
go up to Silvane.
>> Really?
>> You all right?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Get more good
stuff [INAUDIBLE].
We're just leaving
the Chart Room, and so
we're cruising down the
street, all of a sudden,
look over and there's
a second line, right?
Brass band marching
right down
the middle of the street.
Jump in, we start
dancing and partying in
the middle of the streets
of the French Quarter.
[MUSIC]
I just love having
impromptu stuff
like that.
That's why I love
New Orleans.
How cool is that?
>> That was
freaking awesome.
>> I can promise you
that's not happening in
Idaho tonight [LAUGH].
Second line goes
into the bar,
we go on along our way,
end up at Sylvain.
[MUSIC]
It's kind of
precursor into
modern New Orleans French
Quarter restaurants.
They serve late so we get
outta the restaurants and
you can sit down and
have like small little
tapas-style food, but
very New Orleans too.
So what's the deal
with cocktails, babe?
>> You can count on
everything being
absolutely delicious
here.
It's like everything's
really simple,
really approachable and
just delicious.
>> Order a selection of
your favorite cocktails,
and Walter and I can
order a bunch of food.
[MUSIC]
We have, like,
champagne and
french fries,
killer soups,
chicken liver mousse is
very popular down here.
We call it
Poor Man's Foie Gras.
>> Wagyu beef belly.
>> I don't know
anybody else in
New Orleans that's
serving Wagyu beef belly.
>> Really?
I don't [CROSSTALK].
>> And, and
ripping it off like that.
[SOUND].
>> Nope, that's amazing.
>> It's sweet.
It's salty.
It's rich, huh?
That sticky sauce on top.
I don't know, it was like
a beet of root beer, or
some kind of like sugar
cane or molasses glaze.
Very rich,
very satisfying.
What's?
>> What?
>> What's happening
over here?
>> This is coming
in a go cup.
I am getting this to go,
cuz this is a civilized
city, where you don't
need to chug your booze,
you don't need to
chug your wine,
you can just put
it in a go cup and
you could saunter on
to your next place.
I pour things for
a living.
So I'm actually
good at this.
>> Thank you all so much.
Thank you, thank you.
>> Hannah!
[SOUND] I gotta,
I'll meet you there.
I gotta go in here.
It's okay.
I gotta go get someone.
>> No, no,
we need our crew, man.
[LAUGH].
>> Hannah!
>> All right,
her and Leela.
>> Oh, lord.
>> Finding some
boyfriends along the way.
It's French Quarter,
New Orleans,
man you walk out of a
place they are like hey,
what's up what's
going on?
>> [LAUGH]
>> We are going to Sobou
that's what's going on.
So we bounce
from Sylvain,
walk back up to Sobou.
Sous Chef Smitty put in a
bunch of pork butts about
six o'clock
yesterday morning.
We took those,
we pulled them out,
oh man it's going
to be awesome.
All this meat's
just like,
literally, just
falling right off.
All that au jus
on the bottom.
All that stuff goes
back into the meat, so
you kinda re-absorb
all that great,
great seasoning.
[MUSIC]
That's really, really,
frigging' good.
>> So we got amazing
like cuchandole.
And we're just gonna fry
some beautiful Louisiana
oysters to go with it.
And we're gonna make
our own little tacos to
go with it.
>> So as we're pulling
all this stuff out,
Abigail says, God,
that's so good.
>> I got this.
I got the drink for this.
I just got, I, I,
I got the drink for this.
I gotta make it.
I'm gonna make it.
>> And so she jumps
behind the bar, starts
pulling out all these
really good scotches and
then makes a brand new
cocktail just based on
what she was smelling
in the kitchen and
it worked perfectly,
you know?
You got smokey pork,
a couple crispy oysters,
pickled okra,
cilantro, fresh mirliton,
pickled carrots and
vegetables, foie gras
aioli across the top,
that paired with
good scotch,
that was like
the capper for
the entire evening, man.
I don't know about y'all.
>> I know, right?
>> [SOUND] [APPLAUSE].
>> Like we didn't
already have enough.
>> You get the right
group, the right table,
and some good tacos,
my friend, it's gonna be
a good night [LAUGH].
>> [LAUGH] [SOUND] Ole.
>> [CROSSTALK]
Ole.
>> Yes, man.
>> All the steps you
go to [INAUDIBLE].
>> Like immediately.
>> Mm.
>> Could we bring this to
life tomorrow?
>> This is so good.
>> It's already
on the menu.
>> [LAUGH]
[MUSIC]
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