One of my most favorite restaurant memories is the absolutely fabulous meal I enjoyed in 2002 at the historic restaurant, Galatoire’s, in New Orleans’ famous French Quarter. Until then I had never visited the State of Louisiana, certainly not the City of New Orleans, and most definitely not Galatoire’s — which is now in its 117th year!
A business trip brought us to New Orleans, but I definitely set time aside for us to enjoy some personal dining pleasures while we were there! I made dinner reservations for each of the evenings of our stay at five wonderful restaurants which I had long wanted to experience. Galatoire’s at 209 Bourbon Street was the first one of those restaurants, and it certainly did not disappoint!
Founder Jean Galatoire established the restaurant in 1905, specializing in French Creole cuisine. In 1999 a “jackets required” second-floor dining room overlooking Bourbon Street was added, and until 2005 the restaurant was run by the Galatoire family. After five generations, a majority interest in the restaurant was sold to Louisiana businessman, John Georges — with five members of the Galatoire family staying on as minority owners. Throughout the decades the culinary customs and reservation statutes of this iconic restaurant have been preserved and have seen little change. It is said that “consistency has been the greatest asset Galatoire’s has displayed for more than a century”.
This popular Creole dish works so well for relaxed entertaining! Make the sauce a day in advance and refrigerate it, if you wish — then simply add the shrimp and serve on chilled plates. This is a very easy-to-prepare and always impressive dish.
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped scallions (both white and green portions)
1/2 cup freshly-chopped curly parsley
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup tomato purée
1/2 cup Creole mustard (or a coarse, grainy, brown mustard)
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, or to taste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Spanish hot paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup salad oil
4 dozen jumbo shrimp — peeled, deveined, boiled, and chilled
1 small head iceberg lettuce — washed, dried, cut into strips
Lemon wedges, to garnish
In a food processor mince together celery, scallions, parsley and onions. Add ketchup, tomato puree, Creole mustard, horseradish, vinegar, paprika and Worcestershire. Process again, then add oil in a slow drizzle until emulsified; stop processing when the dressing is smooth. Chill dressing 6-8 hours or overnight, and adjust seasoning, before using, with additional horseradish, if desired.
TO SERVE: In a large mixing bowl, add the prepared sauce to the shrimp; toss gently to coat. Divide the ribbons of lettuce among 6 chilled salad plates and place the shrimp on top. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve chilled. — Serves 4-6
The highlight of my visit to Galatoire’s was most definitely the delicious meal that we enjoyed there! However, I must mention a secondary highlight — my purchase of the Galatoire’s cookbook. Those of you who know me well understand that the cookbook collection I have has been growing for many years — my cookbook shelves now hold well over 10,000 cookbooks. Of course I wanted to add this book to my shelves! The delightful Galatoire’s staff advised me that the book was not sold in the restaurant itself — but it was available at the street-level shop right next door to Galatoire’s main entrance on Bourbon Street. So … immediately after dinner my husband, our good friend, Sally, and I went down the stairs and right into the shop next door to purchase the cookbook.
I headed directly for the person at the main cash register to inquire about the book, and there it was — on display in the glass case right below my right hand. As I reached for my wallet to pay for the book, I realized that my husband and our friend were looking around the small shop and were exchanging soft-spoken comments and quiet giggles. I looked to see what they were discussing, and only then did I realize what kind of a store we had entered. The shop was filled with various types of adult sex toys, specialty lingerie items, and other similar things. I had not even noticed my surroundings — talk about zeroing in on the target! I did buy my cookbook though — and it is a very special book in my large collection. It has the distinction of being the only cookbook I have ever purchased in that particular type of a shop!