March 1, 2008 4:03 PM
A gourmet’s guide to what’s happening with food and wine in the city.
 |  Barbeque shrimp from Mélange |
Given the wealth of great independent restaurants in New Orleans, it’s perhaps easy to understand why the ones located in hotels often go overlooked. This makes it no less of a shame, since the unfortunate result is that diners miss out on some great dining opportunities.
Two upscale places that offer distinct dining experiences are Mélange in the Ritz-Carlton and Zoë in the W Hotel, each showcasing entirely different kinds of luxe. The first puts forth dishes in an atmosphere of Old World opulence, while the second serves up plates in environs boasting a more contemporary chic.
Mélange in the Ritz-Carlton
Mélange’s hook is that it presents a selection of signature dishes culled from New Orleans’ most famous restaurants, offering the best of what our city has to offer in one location. For example, at Mélange you can enjoy Upperline’s famous Fried Green Tomato with Shrimp Remoulade for an appetizer, then move on to Palace Café’s Pepper Crusted Duck for the main course, all without leaving the plush confines of your seat.
As the father of quadruplet girls born last December, it’s a wonder that Mélange’s Executive Chef Matt Murphy manages to get into the kitchen at all. But manage he does, along with the help of his great staff. Prior to signing on with the Ritz, Chef Murphy worked as a sous chef at Commander’s Palace during its Jamie Shannon years. His work has taken him around the globe, from London to Thailand to Hong Kong, and he has cooked alongside such notables as Daniel Boulud and Gordon Ramsay. To recreate the dishes offered at Mélange, Murphy trained personally with chefs from the representative restaurants, local institutions ranging from Peristyle to Bayona to K-Paul’s.
To complement the recreations, Murphy also offers up originals of his own such as Blackened Scallops over a warm fingerling potato salad scented with truffles and drizzled with a corn and Tasso sauce. He also has a nice touch with crabmeat, as seen in his Trio of Crab made up of jumbo lump imperial, crab cake with remoulade sauce and a crabmeat Napoleon with microgreens. Following the savory courses, be sure to finish up with something sweet by Executive Pastry Chef Simone Fleming.
Typically, an upscale hotel restaurant offers lots of events to compliment the season and the Ritz is no exception. Upcoming events in March include an Easter Bonnet Lunch and a Peter Rabbit Children’s Tea Party. Oenologists will appreciate upcoming Vintner’s Dinners and cooking classes are offered every other month as well, beginning this month.
Zoë in the W
There is luxury of a different sort at the W Hotel on Poydras Street. With ambient techno playing in the lobby outside of Whisky Blue on the ground floor, guests make their way up a broad, marble staircase to Zoë on the second level where the décor is modern and the vibe is minimalist.
The menu, however, is divergent. The appetizers are composed and offer up some good choices like the Seared Sea Scallops. Served on a bed of grits punched up with sharp bleu cheese, the pair of tender scallops is plated with a mushroom ragout perked up by tiny and tasty grape tomatoes. The dish is popular, having won the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience Gold Fleur d’Lis Award in 2006.
Another good appetizer is the Braised Kobe Beef Short Rib – also a NOWFE winner. The beef is cooked down until it shreds easily with a rake of the fork and is immersed in a rich sauce of trumpet and chanterelle mushrooms backed up with a muscular demi-glace. The ribs are paired with grilled asparagus wrapped with crisp potato shoestrings, adding some crispness and contrast.
With the entrées though, the menu gets a little confusing. Seeming to take a cue from Craft in New York, Zoë requests that diners compose their own dishes from a selection of proteins, sides and sauces. The items are listed, though not described, and this process may be off-putting to some, especially considering that the appetizer
section of the menu is made up of composed dishes.
After navigating the section, I cobbled together a main course of New Zealand Rack of Lamb paired with asparagus. It came in two interlocking racks of four ribs turned toward each other on the plate. The portion was generous and the meat was cooked to a nice medium rare, as requested. The asparagus, peeled then poached to a pale green hue, were rolled in butter and made for a good accompaniment.
Another combination of Roasted Red Snapper paired with Lyonnaise potatoes was good as well. Again, the serving size was generous and the dish came with a gravy boat full of Meuniere sauce, whose lemony, browned-butter goodness soon drenched both seafood and side. The fact that the potatoes came dressed with generous crumbles of quality bacon helped things along. The snapper filet, seared skin-side-down, was meaty and good.
Nice desserts include a Coconut-Mango Napoleon and a seven layer Opera Cake. The selection of specialty cocktails is excellent, as befits its partnership with the popular Whiskey Blue. The dining room is modern and the tables are for the most part well spaced. Private rooms can be cordoned off using a flex-space style configuration with curtains. Bear in mind that each component is individually priced, so that by the time you assemble a protein, vegetable and sauce your entrée may top $40. To be sure, neither of these two places are where you should go if you are looking for a bargain.
They fall under the category of “splurge” and are priced accordingly, though the price points at Zoë are notably higher.
Try This
Take a break from your errands with the Beijing-style breakfast served on weekends at Jung's Golden Dragon in Metairie. The homemade dumplings are fantastic as are the savory green onion pancakes.
Mélange | The Ritz-Carlton | 921 Canal St. | 524-1331
Zoë | W New Orleans |333 Poydras St. | 525-9444
Jung’s Golden Dragon | 4417 Veterans Blvd. |887-6081