Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where Star Chefs Go Casual
176
Lüke
Shelter from the Storm
New Orleans, Louisiana
Hurricane Katrina made a local hero out of
John Besh. In those first dark days after
the disaster, he could be found day after
day, valiantly feeding scores of relief work-
ers from huge vats of red beans and rice
he'd set up in a Wal-Mart parking lot. His
own restaurants were spared the worst of
the flooding, so he devoted himself over
the next few months to helping the rest of
the restaurant community and their local
suppliers get back on their feet.
Besh was in many ways transformed by
the experience. When his renowned
Res-
taurant August
(301 Tchoupitoulas St.;
&
504/299-9777;
www.restaurantaugust.
com) reopened—one of the first New
Orleans restaurants to rise from the
flood—he fondly added red beans and
rice to its haute French menu. He also
rescued his former mentor's Provençal
restaurant across Lake Pontchartrain,
La
Provence
(25020 Hwy. 190, Lacombe;
&
985/626-7662
). (He also operates
Besh
Steak
in the Harrah's Casino;
&
504/533-
6111
). But having done the fussy upscale
cuisine thing for a while, Besh's heart
these days is in this cozy brasserie he
opened in 2006 in the Central Business
District.
With its dark wood trim, pressed-tin
ceilings, fans, newspaper racks, black-
board specials, and paper cones of crusty
french fries, Lüke has all the authentic fla-
vor of the provincial German and French
places where Besh first trained after grad-
uating from the Culinary Institute of Amer-
ica. Besh digs deep into European
bourgeois cuisine with pitch-perfect ren-
derings of brasserie classics such as duck-
and-white-bean cassoulet, roast suckling
pig with cherry mustard and stewed
greens, veal schnitzel with spatzle, herb-
roasted chicken with mashed potatoes,
Flamen küche
(an Alsatian tort topped
with chunks of bacon and caramelized
onions), or the house sauerkraut, which
comes laden with pork belly and pigs'
knuckles. But this is no German theme
restaurant: Lüke also turns out a big juicy
cheeseburger with caramelized onions
and thick-cut bacon, a satisfying seafood
gumbo, and a remarkably luscious shrimp-
and-grits. There's a great raw bar, too,
supporting the local crabbers and oyster-
men that Besh got to know so well in the
post-Katrina days.
Naturally, the imported beer selection
is memorable, but Lüke also has its own
three custom-brewed house ales on tap.
Save room for the warm chocolate custard
filled with mini-profiteroles.
333 St. Charles Ave. (
&
504/378-
2840;
www.lukeneworleans.com).
(
Louis Armstrong New Orleans Inter-
national (15 miles/24km).
L
Omni Royal Orleans,
621 St. Louis
St. (
&
800/THE-OMNI
[800/843-6664] or
504/529-5333; www.omniroyalorleans.
com).
Hotel Monteleone,
214 Rue Royale
(
&
800/535-9595
or 504/523-3341; www.
hotelmonteleone.com).
