NOLA Food & Bevvies 001 - Brennan's

417 Royal Street, French Quarter
http://www.brennansneworleans.com
Dress: Dinner Jacket & Tie

Who woulda thunk that in good old French / Spanish NOLA, the mightiest restaurant (dominating for decades) family would be Irish? The Brennan family and this restaurant and this building have very rich histories that I will let you read about on the website, or you can WIKI it. They are the Royal Family of NOLA. And I like them a lot. I've liked all of my interactions with Ti Martin and Dickie Brennan.

Note: "Old" Brennan's Restaurant has three owners (I think all are Brennans) and is not affiliated with the other "Brennan's Restaurants" like Bacco, Commanders Palace and Palace Cafe, which, I believe are all associated or incorporated together, between other various Brennan's family members. I heard there was a "schism" in the family at one point. But I have no details.

OK, I told you all that to tell you this:
In 1997, my wife, Janine and I thought we were "restaurant people", which just wasn't possible in Cleveland at that time. When we went down to look for our first apartment there, we went to Brennan's which is just what you do your first trip to New Orleans. We were clearly intimidated and out of our element. Janine had never encountered a restroom attendant (of course without singles for a tip). I likely hadn't either.

I don't really remember exactly how he did it or what he said, but our waiter read us, disarmed us and and made us relax and enjoy the meal. He was a real professional. We just remember the deflation and ease into having fun. He gave us tips for finding an apartment and was down-to-earth and conversational, while providing no-frills, no BS world-class table side service. Pop culture has perpetuated an incorrect perception of fine-dining wait staff. You'd believe they hold inexperienced diners in such total contempt, they spit on the floor in disgust when they leave your table and go back into the kitchen. When you're a 20-year-old kid, you'd believe it.

We are so grateful for that experience, which gave us the confidence to walk into the next fine-dining joint without being cowed. We could now return to Cleveland as sophisticated diners and look down our noses at the people who go to Red Lobster (Heh!).

Brennan's has (or had) a very intimidating 35,000-bottle wine cellar in old slave quarters in the courtyard. The wine list has over 50 pages. Incidentally, they lost the whole thing after Katrina and the insurance company sold it at auction.