4 Must-Book Restaurants in New Orleans

Dickie Brennan’s stellar restaurant Tableau is known for chef Gustar Martin’s exceptional tributes to fine, French Creole cuisine and its prime location on Jackson Square. It got even better in May with the completion of a $500,000 renovation to its wraparound, ornamental iron balcony overlooking the square. Beyond just reversing the beating the balcony took from 60 years of New Orleans sun, the facelift added fans and a much-needed roof for shade. The new-and-improved perch is perfect for enjoying Martin’s menu, which shines with contemporary dishes such as pasta bouillabaisse, brimming with shrimp, squid, littleneck clams, and herbs in a rich seafood broth that tops ruffles of house-made squid ink mafaldine pasta. While the classics like the Creole onion soup and truffle crab claws remain, the chef added a host of new dishes this year, including the oyster pan roast, a combo of poached and fried oysters, melted brie and a decadent cream sauce spiked with anise-flavored liqueur. Add in the million-dollar balcony view, and Tableau is downright alluring.

Long the culinary jewel at the upscale Windsor Court Hotel, the Grill Room has hosted countless locals for family celebrations and milestone events. Come mid-September, after being on an abbreviated schedule since the beginning of the pandemic, the elegant dining room will resume inviting guests in for dinner, every night of the week. Executive chef Vlad Kogan joins forces with culinary director Igor Krichmar and pastry chef Matt Serkes to present modern American cuisine with the focus on quality, seasonal ingredients, innovative techniques, and presentation. Steak lovers will swoon over the array of dry-aged beef—the crown jewel is the wagyu, cooked on binchotan charcoal. Entrees are rounded out by grilled Loch Etive steelhead trout with morels, a kurobuta heritage pork tomahawk with a sage chutney, and South Carolina quail with farro. Before or after dinner, a cocktail in the Polo Club Lounge is practically mandatory.

Chinese cuisine shakes hands with Creole fare at Ginger Roux, the restaurant in the newly opened Hilton Canopy Hotel on Tulane Avenue. With executive chef Jonathan Hostetler presiding, the restaurant’s menu pays homage to the small Chinatown that once occupied this neighborhood. Hostetler creates a new genre with dishes such as gumbo potstickers, tender squares of dough filled with traditional Creole gumbo fixings like andouille, chicken, and the holy trinity, served floating in a bowl of actual gumbo. The handsome dining room, which has a side patio for outside seating, offers comfortable booth seating and a minimalist chic décor. For lunch, local shrimp flavored with five-spice arrive blackened with a side of veggies in a citrus ginger vinaigrette. Even the desserts have an East Asian accent, such as the orange chile glaze that is the ideal sweet-and-spicy dip for sweet potato pie spring rolls topped with five-spice whipped cream.