All of us,
through Katrina,
00:00
really went through
a lot of stuff.
00:02
But to try to bring a
restaurant from the top,
00:03
rip it down to
the bottom, and
00:06
then return it
all the way to
00:07
the top was probably the
hardest work of my life.
00:09
And taking 220 employees,
reducing that to
00:12
about 30, trying to hire
in 190 more brand new
00:15
people that had never
worked here before.
00:18
And a lot of them were
00:21
people who weren't
even from New Orleans.
00:22
So to try to explain to
a kid from Idaho what
00:24
New Orleans is all about,
much less cook it,
00:26
cook it well, and
well enough to put it on
00:29
the menu here, was
a massive undertaking.
00:30
Literally from six in the
morning to midnight at
00:33
least, every single
day for months and
00:37
And as you cruise
around here, I mean,
00:39
there's just so
many stations.
00:41
Tonight we're going gonna
run four, five, six,
00:42
seven, eight, nine full
stations on the hot line.
00:44
A lot of times,
the smaller restaurants,
00:46
you're gonna have two.
00:47
You're gonna have three.
00:48
There's just a lot
of more complex,
00:50
complicated dishes
just based on that.
00:51
To try to get this place
back up to where it
00:54
was was a pretty big
feat, but we did it.
00:56
And I think the awards on
the wall and everything
00:59
else that's come out of
that really speaks to
01:01
the success of what the
owners, and the rest of
01:03
the chefs, and the
restaurateurs bring here.
01:06
What's up, Kenny Meyer?
01:22
How are you, brother?
01:23
>> Bring that rabbit?
01:24
saltimboccas tonight.
01:25
My name is
Tory McPhail and
01:27
I'm the Executive Chef
at Commander's Palace.
01:28
Here in the city,
it's all Creole food.
01:33
And Creole food is really
refined version of Cajun,
01:36
and it's more
of like French,
01:38
Spanish, African,
Haitian, or
01:40
Creole-Caribbean
influences.
01:42
Really, it's kind of
01:44
America's first melting
pot or fusion food.
01:45
It really dates back
about 250 years.
01:48
This is all
about seasoning.
01:54
We season all of
our food very well.
01:56
So when you make this,
you butcher the rabbit,
01:57
you season the rabbit,
02:00
you stuff it
with pastrami,
02:00
prosciutto, some fresh
tasso, whatever you have.
02:02
Crawfish boil mozzarella.
02:04
You get all that
mozzarella curd in
02:05
the bowl and
start ladling on
02:07
all those great
Louisiana crawfish boil.
02:08
Same thing we boil up
all of our seafood in.
02:10
It really helps
to give our
02:12
hand pulled cheeses that
much Louisiana flavor.
02:13
You can't just
simply add salt and
02:16
pepper to the end and
02:17
expect you're gonna have
a, a Louisiana dish.
02:18
You'll get laughed
right out of
02:20
town if you do that.
02:21
I grew up in a tiny
farming town in northwest
02:22
Washington State, and
ended up enrolling into
02:26
culinary school
when I was just 16.
02:28
They told me in culinary
school, look, man,
02:29
if you really want to be
a great chef one day,
02:31
you gotta work for
the best.
02:33
And if you wanna do that,
02:34
you only have two
options in life.
02:35
Either go to, directly
to New York City, but
02:37
if you really wanna
learn how to cook,
02:38
you come down
to New Orleans.
02:40
And if you're lucky
enough to come here,
02:41
get an interview at
Commander's Palace and
02:43
do anything you
can possibly do to
02:44
start working in
this kitchen.
02:46
And that's the advice
I took when I
02:47
was younger and started
out making salads and
02:49
charcuterie, worked up
through all the stations.
02:51
Now been back here as
the executive chef for
02:53
I go through literally,
02:59
probably 200 of these
things every single day.
03:00
Tasting the entire
kitchen about 20
03:02
minutes before the start
of every service to make
03:04
sure that everything
is absolutely perfect.
03:06
Soft shell crab,
extremely seasonal,
03:09
they're hand selected
just for our restaurant.
03:10
So they can go
from alive and
03:12
the most beautiful fresh
seafood to on your
03:13
place in about
four minutes.
03:15
We pair that with some
fresh stone ground grits.
03:17
We fold in a ton of
fresh goat cheese,
03:19
three sauces around
the outside,
03:21
a ton of fresh herbs,
a bit of butter.
03:22
Heirloom tomatoes
right off the farm.
03:24
We're one of the last
states in the country
03:25
where you can literally
buy fresh fruits and
03:27
produce right out
of the back of
03:29
somebody's dusty
pick up truck.
03:31
You know, for us growing
up in the northwest,
03:32
you literally had to
03:34
get all your food from
like a certified vendor.
03:35
It wasn't nearly quite
that farm to table.
03:37
But here, as you can see,
03:39
we do all of our
own jarring.
03:40
Pickles, okra, fresh
tomatoes, hot sauce.
03:42
There's like three or
03:44
four different
varieties over here.
03:45
And it's literally just
food that's picked from
03:46
brought to a great
restaurant like this,
03:49
were the Sou chefs
with the years and
03:51
decades of experience
will be able to kind of
03:52
continue on the Louisiana
traditions that way.
03:54
Last night was a blast.
03:57
I get to hang out with
all my buddies, eat,
03:59
drink, do what
I love to do and
04:01
that's what helps me
collect a paycheck.
04:03
I'm gettin my, first
cocktail of the evening.
04:08
Normally I'm just so
hot and
04:10
so full when I
get outta here,
04:11
the last thing I
want is like a,
04:13
big glass of red wine or
a, a cocktail.
04:14
Just give me an icy,
cold beer.
04:17
Pop, pop these in
the to-go cups and
04:19
head down to the Quarter.
04:21
>> How's that?
>> Good.
04:22
>> [INAUDIBLE].
>> All right.
04:26
Let's go have some fun.
04:26
She's my girlfriend.
04:30
Right, this is my
buddy Joy, and
04:31
I've known her for years
and years and years.
04:32
And of course, Darla.
04:34
She like my work wife.
04:34
She keeps me,
she keeps me in line.
04:36
Now that I've had,
like a first beer,
04:38
I'm kinda in the mood for
a proper cocktail.
04:40
>> Proper?
>> Yeah.
04:43
>> What do you consider
a proper cocktail?
04:43
>> Something better than
like gin and tonic.
04:46
>> One not in a to
go soup bowl?
04:48
[LAUGH]
>> Yeah, something not in
04:50
a plastic soup cup.
04:51
So right now we're in
the Garden District.
04:53
We're gonna head down to
our newest place SoBou.
04:54
It's in the French
Quarter, so we go from
04:56
fine dining restaurant
all of a sudden to
04:58
the best cocktail
bar in the South.
05:00
There we picked up
Juan Carlos Gonzales,
05:03
our executive chef.
05:04
>> It's been a cool
year and a half.
05:05
>> Juan Carlos Gonzalez,
Executive Chef, Sobou.
05:06
hanging out with Tory.
05:07
You know, messing around.
05:09
Coming up with some cool
food, good cocktails.
05:10
This is what
it's all about.
05:13
>> Abigail Guillo,
Bar Chef,
05:14
Abigail Guillo,
she's our bar chef.
05:16
>> I heard someone say,
05:18
what do you got
over there?
05:19
>> Barrel aged
white Vieux Carré.
05:23
The Vieux Carré,
which is French for "Old
05:25
Square," which is what we
call the French Quarter,
05:27
is equal parts of cognac,
sweet vermouth, and
05:30
rye whiskey with a little
bit of Benedictine and
05:33
two different
kinds of bitters.
05:35
>> Yeah.
>> Cheers.
05:40
>> If that's any
indication on
05:44
how our evening's
gonna go,
05:46
I think it's
pretty indicative.
05:47
Yeah, Abigail starts
breaking out all
05:50
this like cool,
funky bourbon, right?
05:51
She's got some stuff
where she made her own
05:53
fire ball [LAUGH] and,
05:55
we start pouring
off some of that.
05:56
She made rum-dum-dums and
05:58
served those in
a little cocquetier.
05:59
It's stainless steel,
aluminum little cups.
06:01
That's why actually the
cocktail got its name.
06:03
After people imbibe, and
they really start to have
06:05
a couple of cocktails,
the word cocquetier got
06:07
slurred into
cooktail/g,or cocktail.
06:10
That's how that whole
thing came about.
06:13
>> We got a bunch of
stuff going on for us.
06:14
>> See what we got.
06:17
>> These right here,
06:18
these are what we call
shrimp and caso pinchos.
06:19
Pineapple's being
grilled and
06:22
marinated in a bunch
of molasses and
06:23
a bunch of rum for
like couple days.
06:25
We have a little
chimichuri sauce with
06:28
a little bit of Crystal
beurre blanc, as well.
06:29
This right here, this
is a yellowfin tuna and
06:31
caught five o'clock
in the morning.
06:36
Super, super,
super fresh.
06:37
we have some Scotch
bonnet pickled fennel,
06:40
some grilled red onions,
and
06:42
some beautiful
local satsuma.
06:44
>> Rock star, great.
06:50
We had some beignets last
night with some Louisiana
06:52
sweet potato, sticky cane
syrup, and some sea salt,
06:54
some foie gras jelly
across the top.
06:57
Juan and I met 12 and
07:00
a half years ago
at Commander's.
07:01
And it's like
slammed packed busy,
07:03
and I kept on calling
him Jose all night and
07:05
he wouldn't
respond to me.
07:07
I'm like, motherfucker.
07:08
>> I said look man
[COUGH], I don't
07:11
know what your deal is,
okay?
07:12
gotta have it
right fucking now.
07:14
Not responding,
not responding.
07:16
I'm like dude, what
the hell is your problem?
07:17
He's like, my name's
not Jose, it's Juan.
07:19
>> Great, man, right?
07:22
So we've actually
finally talked it out,
07:24
did all that stuff.
07:26
And we've been, he's
07:27
been one of my best
friends ever since.
07:28
It's been great.
So we had
07:30
some proper cocktails
last night at Sobou, and
07:31
then went to
the Chart Room.
07:33
We had a couple of
libations, should we say.
07:35
So what are we drinking?
07:39
>> I'm drinking
the La Bon but
07:39
I think we should
have some Jameson.
07:41
>> For
the last hurricane,
07:43
>> Yeah?
>> I was right
07:47
>> I was here with you.
07:48
>> That's right. [LAUGH].
>> Remember, me and Erin?
07:49
Remember we had like,
our boots on?
07:51
>> That's right.
>> And our dresses?
07:53
And you're like, whoo!
07:53
>> Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:57
And I remember
being freaked out.
07:58
I was like,
there's nobody around.
08:00
>> Yeah.
>> And then I saw
08:02
the Traffic Tranny, and
08:03
she was directing
the National Guard.
08:04
And I was like,
oh, thank God!
08:06
>> Yeah.
>> It's back to normal.
08:08
directing the National
Guard through the empty
08:10
French Quarter
after a hurricane.
08:12
>> Indeed.
The Chart Room became
08:13
kinda local hangout after
we started opening Sobou.
08:15
So we'll get off
from Commander's,
08:18
come down here, check
in with all the gang,
08:19
make sure
everybody's good.
08:22
And they'll
come right next
08:23
door to the Chart Room.
08:24
Swing over, gra, grab a
couple of tequila drinks,
08:25
icy cold beers and
then, relax.
08:28
Just like it should be.
08:31
We actually just became
friends with the,
08:32
the bartender, Lisa.
08:33
And so when we had
a chance to be able to
08:35
come and hang with extra
buddies, we decided to
08:36
take them to the Chart
Room all the time.
08:39
We're, we're gonna
suck these down and
08:40
we're gonna,
go up to Silvane.
08:41
>> Really?
>> You all right?
08:43
>> Get more good
stuff [INAUDIBLE].
08:45
We're just leaving
the Chart Room, and so
08:46
we're cruising down the
street, all of a sudden,
08:48
look over and there's
a second line, right?
08:50
Brass band marching
right down
08:53
the middle of the street.
08:54
Jump in, we start
dancing and partying in
08:55
the middle of the streets
of the French Quarter.
08:57
impromptu stuff
like that.
09:08
That's why I love
New Orleans.
09:10
>> That was
freaking awesome.
09:12
>> I can promise you
that's not happening in
09:13
Idaho tonight [LAUGH].
09:15
Second line goes
into the bar,
09:17
we go on along our way,
end up at Sylvain.
09:18
It's kind of
precursor into
09:24
modern New Orleans French
Quarter restaurants.
09:26
They serve late so we get
outta the restaurants and
09:29
you can sit down and
09:32
have like small little
tapas-style food, but
09:33
very New Orleans too.
09:36
So what's the deal
with cocktails, babe?
09:37
>> You can count on
everything being
09:39
absolutely delicious
here.
09:41
It's like everything's
really simple,
09:42
really approachable and
just delicious.
09:44
>> Order a selection of
your favorite cocktails,
09:46
and Walter and I can
order a bunch of food.
09:48
We have, like,
champagne and
09:56
french fries,
killer soups,
09:58
chicken liver mousse is
very popular down here.
09:59
We call it
Poor Man's Foie Gras.
10:02
>> Wagyu beef belly.
10:05
>> I don't know
anybody else in
10:07
New Orleans that's
serving Wagyu beef belly.
10:08
I don't [CROSSTALK].
>> And, and
10:12
ripping it off like that.
10:12
[SOUND].
>> Nope, that's amazing.
10:14
That sticky sauce on top.
10:18
I don't know, it was like
a beet of root beer, or
10:20
some kind of like sugar
cane or molasses glaze.
10:22
Very rich,
very satisfying.
10:25
>> What?
>> What's happening
10:27
>> This is coming
in a go cup.
10:28
I am getting this to go,
cuz this is a civilized
10:29
city, where you don't
need to chug your booze,
10:33
you don't need to
chug your wine,
10:36
you can just put
it in a go cup and
10:39
you could saunter on
to your next place.
10:41
I pour things for
a living.
10:44
So I'm actually
good at this.
10:45
>> Thank you all so much.
10:47
Thank you, thank you.
10:48
[SOUND] I gotta,
I'll meet you there.
10:51
I gotta go in here.
10:52
It's okay.
I gotta go get someone.
10:55
>> No, no,
we need our crew, man.
10:56
>> Hannah!
>> All right,
11:00
>> Finding some
boyfriends along the way.
11:02
It's French Quarter,
New Orleans,
11:04
man you walk out of a
place they are like hey,
11:05
what's up what's
going on?
11:07
>> We are going to Sobou
that's what's going on.
11:08
So we bounce
from Sylvain,
11:11
walk back up to Sobou.
11:13
Sous Chef Smitty put in a
bunch of pork butts about
11:15
six o'clock
yesterday morning.
11:17
We took those,
we pulled them out,
11:19
oh man it's going
to be awesome.
11:21
All this meat's
just like,
11:22
literally, just
falling right off.
11:23
All that au jus
on the bottom.
11:25
All that stuff goes
back into the meat, so
11:27
you kinda re-absorb
all that great,
11:29
That's really, really,
frigging' good.
11:38
>> So we got amazing
like cuchandole.
11:41
And we're just gonna fry
11:43
some beautiful Louisiana
oysters to go with it.
11:44
And we're gonna make
our own little tacos to
11:47
>> So as we're pulling
all this stuff out,
11:50
Abigail says, God,
that's so good.
11:53
I got the drink for this.
11:57
I just got, I, I,
I got the drink for this.
11:58
>> And so she jumps
behind the bar, starts
12:04
pulling out all these
really good scotches and
12:06
then makes a brand new
cocktail just based on
12:08
what she was smelling
in the kitchen and
12:10
it worked perfectly,
you know?
12:12
You got smokey pork,
12:13
a couple crispy oysters,
pickled okra,
12:14
cilantro, fresh mirliton,
pickled carrots and
12:17
vegetables, foie gras
aioli across the top,
12:19
that paired with
good scotch,
12:22
that was like
the capper for
12:24
the entire evening, man.
12:25
I don't know about y'all.
12:27
>> [SOUND] [APPLAUSE].
12:30
>> Like we didn't
already have enough.
12:34
>> You get the right
group, the right table,
12:35
and some good tacos,
12:38
my friend, it's gonna be
a good night [LAUGH].
12:40
>> [LAUGH] [SOUND] Ole.
12:43
>> [CROSSTALK]
Ole.
12:44
>> All the steps you
go to [INAUDIBLE].
12:49
>> Like immediately.
12:52
>> Mm.
>> Could we bring this to
12:53
>> This is so good.
12:55
>> It's already
on the menu.
12:56