Restaurant R’evolution
Everything at Restaurant R’evolution was perfect, right up to the moment it wasn’t.
Located at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on the corner of Bienville and Bourbon Streets, Restaurant R’evolution is a partnership between longtime Louisiana chef John Folse and Rick Tramonto, of Chicago’s Tru.
Despite the restaurant’s name, the food is not really revolutionary, it’s just all very good.
Death by Gumbo has a deep and dark roux with roasted quail, andouille sausage and oysters.
A Triptych of Quail has the usually useless bird served Southern fried, boudin-stuffed and absinthe glazed. I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed quail as much.
And Cracklin’ Crusted Shrimp N’ Grits were different from the other couple of thousand area restaurants serving the standard by keeping the heads on and infusing the grits with mascarpone cheese and serving it with a Bloody Bull zabaglione.
There are four distinct dining rooms, each visible from the other, with various levels of casualness to finery. My guest and I were seated in what I considered the more elegant of the rooms, though we could see the “kitchen room” quite clearly. But we had white tablecloths that the diners next to the kitchen didn’t. And we were treated to excellent service, all the way up until we requested coffee.
It was served, and at the same time the waiter placed our check on table with the perfunctory “no hurry on this” that means he’s in a hurry. And after we’d signed the credit slip, he came back to snatch it from the table, apparently wanting to cash out. We were left to beg a coffee refill from someone else.
As I said, it was a wonderful dining experience right up until it wasn’t. It’s a textbook case of how just one server has the power to effect the entire evening.
But fortunately the experience was weighted on the wonderful, and I will look forward to returning to Restaurant R’evolution again.
Restaurant R’evolution is at 777 Bienville St. By the way, after dinner, stop in at the hotel’s music room called the Jazz Playhouse. Some of the best jazz in town in one of the more pleasant atmospheres.
