Passed Hors d’ oeuvres

warm foie gras and pecan pie

octopus & habanero ceviche; white gazpacho

serrano wrapped chevre stuffed peppadews

sea scallop boudin; chilled uni

Being the fan that I am I scored a copy of “Kitchen Confidential” and had a great night!

-Bridgette

The night before the wedding the groom’s parents hosted the rehearsal dinner in their home.  It was a lovely affair! The home was easy to work with as we incorporated it all into the dinner theme and event décor.

The meal itself was quite a journey as each course held true to the couple’s desire to travel.  Take a look at the menu:

Around the World Passed Hors d’oeuvres

Crabcakes; Crabmeat Ravigote

Sherried Mushroom Duxelles with Chèvre; Brioche Toast

Medjool Dates, Smoked Bacon; Marcona, Valdeon

Grilled Pork Satays, Butternut Squash; Crisped Sage

Local

The Bleu

apples, cashews, red onion

France

Crab Meat & Brie Gnocchi

shaved parmesan; truffle oil

Italy

12- Hour Braised Beef Short Rib “Osso Buco”

forestiere sauce, polenta; cippolini onions; sweet corn muffin

USA

Mile High Pie

chocolate pie crust, layered ice creams; (peppermint,chocolate, vanilla)  meringue

The night concluded with toasts congratulating the soon to be married couple.  We were so lucky to be apart of such a memorable night!

-Bridgette

Our clients are huge foodies so of course they had to have a menu complete with everyone’s favorites. In the kitchen we had a chef on hand searing diver scallops and pairing them with a sweet-corn flan.  Incredible!

Grazing tables were set up with assorted pates, cheeses, tenderloin wrapped asparagus and satays of rare tuna & piquillo peppers with romesco.

We had to make sure no one left hungry so the dining room was filled with beef brisket-green chile-black bean tamales, spiced shrimp remoulade, roasted pork tenderloin with a winter berry compote & lollypop lamb chops.

The event was a huge success and will be again next year regardless of the time of day!

-Bridgette

This year Patrick Taylor’s office had a great sushi selection that guests raved over.  The dining room showcased many of the Taylor’s beautiful silver pieces and had candles throughout.  The table was draped in rich gold and maroon fabrics to complement the holiday décor.  Guest helped themselves to a buffet of butternut squash bisque, duck confit cassoulet with smothered greens and 12- hour braised short ribs to name a few.

The showstopper of the evening was the dessert selection.  With the company’s 25^th anniversary on the horizon we did the entire room with a pearl theme to represent the milestone.   Riedel Champagne flutes were etched with the company logo as a party favor for the evening.  The guests had a toast before indulging in the sweets.

Can’t wait till next year!

-Bridgette

During the first week of December I had the pleasure of working with an amazing bride who selected a back drop of stunning cypress trees, the Tchefuncte River and a gorgeous plantation style home. Guests sipped on sparkling wines and nibbled on items such as pates, gnocchi and perfectly cooked beef tenderloin as a jazz trio played familiar tunes.

Colors and flowers held a classic holiday theme while having a touch of bridal bliss.  Many congrats to the new couple as they begin their lives together!

It was the perfect backyard reception!

-Bridgette

DAKOTA’S LUMP CRABMEAT AND BRIE SOUP

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Louisiana blue crabs

2 ounces olive oil

2 medium yellow onions (chopped)

1 medium carrot (chopped)

3 ribs celery (chopped)

1 pod fresh garlic (chopped)

2 each Bay leaves

1/4 cup Brandy

1 cup white wine

2 quarts water

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 quart heavy whipping cream

8 ounces Brie cheese

1 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/2 lb. Louisiana jumbo lump crabmeat (picked from shell)

Using a meat mallet or hammer, crack open blue crab shells until meat is exposed. In a 1 gallon stock pot, heat olive oil, add cracked crabs and saute for 5 minutes. Add chopped vegetables and bay leaves, continue to saute for an additional 5 minutes. Add brandy, white wine and water, bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 30 minutes. Using a skimmer, remove crabs and vegetables from stock. In a separate small saute skillet, melt butter, add flour and blend with a wire whisk until smooth and creamy, simmer over low heat for one minute. Add flour and butter mixture to stock using a wire whisk until all the roux is dissolved. Add heavy cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove outside rind from Brie and discard, cut Brie into 1 inch cubes, add to stock while constantly stirring until all the cheese is completely dissolved. Season soup with salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper. Strain soup through a fine strainer, add jumbo lump crabmeat and serve. Yields 3 quarts.

And of course, you can add additional flavor with a few shakes of TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce!

Best wishes to your  family during this holiday season!

-Bridgette

Stay tuned as The Dakota Restaurant will be offering a Thanksgiving menu as well!

See you there!

-Bridgette

We decorated the  museum with rich autumn linens of copper, gold and chocolate.  The table arrangements were full of unique pumpkins, gourds, and other fall touches.

Guests had a delictible grazing style table filled with a presentation of….

Paté de Campagne; Serrano Ham

Artisan Cheeses… Including: Bleu d’Auvergne, St. André; Crisps

Sweet Peppers, Grilled Onions; Olives

White Bean-Artichoke Hummus, Pita Chips;

Wild Rice Salad of Duck Confit, Sun-Dried Cranberries, Caramelized Shallots; Roquefort

Spiced Shrimp Rémoulade, Pickled Mirliton; Tomato Concassee; Romaine Chiffonade

All of which were perfect for snacking on as guests awaited dinner.  Dinner was rich in Thanksgiving style memories, with our twist of course.  The dinner was set up on circular buffets in multiple locations throughout the museum so guests could come and go as they pleased.  Take a look at the festive menu:

Spinach Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette; Strawberries, Spiced Pecans; Chèvre

Seared Salmon; Parsnip Purée, Smoked Onion-Apple Compote; Dill Butter

Smoked Turkey Breast on Butternut Squash-Turkey Hash; Orange-Sage Brown Butter

12-hour Braised Beef Short Ribs in Forestiere Sauce; Creamy Polenta

Green “Beans” Casserole with Toasted Shallots

Dessert showcased the ending of the event.  Enormous displays of miniature pumpkin pie tarts, fresh fruit tarts, apple pie tarts, assorted chocolate truffles, chocolate macaroons and multiple cookie varieties pleased everyone.

All in all a wonderful event! A great way to kick off our very busy upcoming season!

-Bridgette

This weekend the offensive line of the New Orleans Saints (OL4NO) teamed up with Feed the Children in an effort to raise awareness, funding and food drives for our area.

The theme of the party was fleur de lis & flip flops… a great blend of our great city and football!

All of the food items had a tailgating theme such as:

Cochon de Lait-Dirty Rice Hushpuppies; Spiced Steens Cane Syrup

Natchitoches Meat Pies; Tomato-Garlic Confit

Shrimp & Blackbean Quesadillas; Fresh Prico

The amount of items that were auctioned off can’t be explained! Donated jerseys and helmets from professional teams around the country came together along with an endless supply of local vendors.

Working with Suzanne Werdanne, director of sports partnerships- Feed the Children, was excellent.  She brought everyone together to create a memorable event!

To learn more about Feed the Children visit: www.feedthechildren.org

-Bridgette

The event emphasized the glamour of Cartier men and women through the precious jewels, customized champagne, models and of course my favorite: food.  The event’s theme was ‘games’ and was topped off with Cartier pages greeting guests, beautiful low profile flower arrangements by Perfect Presentations of New Orleans and an overall elegant ambiance.

Get your mouth water by taking a look at a few of the items guests snacked on:

Lobster Rillete… Lobster, Cauliflower Puree, Caviar; Potato Gaufrette

Fromage Grill… Fontina, Brie, Bleu, Pepperjelly; Brioche

Beef Tenderloin Frico… Beef Tenderloin, Lemon-Aioli, Arugula Pesto; Parmesan Frico

A big thanks to my new friends at Sak’s for asking me to be apart of this great affair!

-Bridgette

Our three restaurants allow us to have flexibility in cuisine selection, budget and style.  We truly can work with anyone.

This year I want you to enjoy your company or personal party… Let me do the work!

-Bridgette

Come back after the game too! On Sundays we are open until 10:00!

Who Dat!

-Bridgette

Reward yourself with happy hour! Whether you are on the north-shore or south-shore one of our restaurants can make that 5 o’clock hour a little sweeter!

The Dakota opens it’s bar Monday-Saturday at 5 o’clock and has small plates in the bar starting at $7.00 along with awesome drink specials!

Rambla’s bar is always open in the afternoon into the late evening and also has daily specials! Chef Scott has daily tapas that are based on fresh  farmer’s market finds!  Stop in and get to know us!

-Bridgette

I look forward to seeing you!

-Bridgette

We all know that pre-gaming and post-gaming is apart of our Sunday’s this time of year.  Why not do it with us?

-Bridgette

We also have amazing new dinner tapas items such as Galician-Style Octopus, Moorish Chicken Sausage and Cochon de Lait.

I look forward to seeing you all at Rambla!

-Bridgette

Thank you Christ Episcopal for including us in such a milestone! Cheers to another 25 years!

On the south-shore we had our hands filled as well. Rambla and International House had the opportunity to host the Stewart & Ayobamidele wedding. What a unique event!
The ballroom was set with rich eggplant linens and candles throughout.

The guests had the opportunity to enjoy a VERY original menu! The couple embraced their Nigerian heritage and decided to incorporate it into many aspects of their wedding, especially the menu. Our chef, Scott Maki, prepared a menu boasting with flavors such as stewed goat, jollof rice, dodos and curried shrimp. We always enjoy the chance to do a little something out of the norm!
Thank you Bello and Rosalind for allowing me to be apart of one of the most memorable days in your life! Best wishes to you both!

Cuvee meanwhile was singing happy birthday to a great client. The Hall family rented out the entire restaurant to wish Janice a happy 60th! Guests were greeted with stuffed peppadews, crab cakes and many other miniature bites to get their palate watering for the meal that awaited them. The menu included some of our signature items such as the spiced shrimp napoleon and the chopped salad along with some seasonal specialties.

Janice had cake that displayed her love of music as it had piano keys covering the rich chocolate goodness.

We hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as we did!

-Bridgette

-Bridgette

On board now?

-Bridgette

Who says a summer in New Orleans can’t be profitable?!

July has been a very busy month for us! Thank goodness!

We started the month by having our streets, hotels and restaurants booked by folks heading into town for Essence fest.

With headliners Beyonce, John Legend, Al Green and Ne-Yo how could the city not be packed? We played our first part by catering the Hennessey Black brunch.  Hennessey requested a black themed menu along with all black décor, cocktails etc.  There was a confessional set up in a private area for guests to “confess their Essence Festival sins” and local celebs throughout.  Everyone wore the signature fedora and had a blast! Next on the list was private parties hosted by the likes of Marcus Spears and a closing party for Essence Magazine.  The closing party didn’t start till the wee hours of the morning and didn’t conclude until the sun was creeping up.  It’s a good thing there was food to keep everyone going in between the fabulous cocktails mixed by LePhare.

Take a look at a video put together by our friends at Hennessey to document the weekend: www.collinsmetu.com/essence2009/

As Essence wrapped up we welcomed T.Y.Lin International to New Orleans. They are not only the brains behind some of the world’s most prominent bridges and airports but they are a very fun group. It took many months of planning but the end result was perfect.  The group snacked on passed hors d’ oeuvres and listened to a jazz trio as they prepared themselves for a memorable meal.  Dunn and Sonnier made elegant centerpieces from English garden flowers and the restaurant was illuminated by candlelight.  Everyone took home pralines, New Orleans cookbooks and a Café Du Monde apron as a parting gift along with a full belly!

Thank you to Maribel who was a joy to work with!

During the middle of the month New Orleans gladly hosted the Microsoft convention! Microsoft brought thousands to our city and we were fortunate enough to plan a wonderful reception hosted by Symantic.

Restaurant Cuvee was the perfect setting to get away from meetings and enjoy a fantastic glass of wine!  The evening was livened up as many X-Box 360’s and Kindle’s were given away throughout the night. Everyone left the evening with a tote filled with new software!  It was quite the treat for all of us!

On the other side of the lake Dakota was keeping busy with packed lobster nights and an awesome anniversary lunch menu! Dakota hosted the Chamber “Breakfast of Champions” which is always a wonderful to-do.  So many of our customers are involved with the Chamber so having them in our doors at such an early hour is quite the treat! The Chamber keeps all of us on our toes and involved in our local community!

Thank you for being such an amazing part of the north shore!

More to come…

-Bridgette