The Chef’s Table

Last Friday night, while Aunt Erin and Uncle Jeff were watching the boy, Kenny and I had quite the fine dining experience. We were invited by Lizzie and Doug to join them at the Commander’s Palace Chef’s Table in honor of Doug’s birthday. They did the same thing last year with two of Doug’s friends and liked their night so much they decided to do it again. And we were the lucky invitees this year.

Lucky, lucky us.

The Chef’s Table is a table for four inside the kitchen. Whoever dines there gets to see all of the action in one of the most famous kitchens in New Orleans while having a gourmet dinner. Up close and personal. And, there are no menus. Your meal at the Chef’s Table is a nine-course feast specially prepared by the chef just for you.

But don’t go thinking about booking the Chef’s Table for next weekend. Oh, no. There is apparently an extensive waiting list for the special table; Lizzie reserved it 10 months ago. But if you are willing to plan (far) ahead, let me assure you the experience is worth it.

 

Chef Tommy was the one doing the cooking for us on Friday night, and we all liked him from the get-go. One of the first things he said to us was, “I like to play with my food. Being assigned the chef’s table lets me do just that.”

Bring it on, Tommy; bring it on.

Tommy continued to impress the four of us throughout the entire nine courses. We had so many wonderful foods, like marinated watermelon, fresh herb-roasted shrimp, soft-shell crab, pork belly, foie gras, truffled redfish, sirloin steak with crawfish, artisanal cheeses, and a ridiculous array of desserts.

The presentation of each course was stellar as well: four guys lined up in front of us, moving in unison to simultaneously place our dishes down for us to enjoy.

The guy with the glasses and crazy tie is Argyle, our waiter for the evening. He took such great care of us, always with a smile on his face and an interesting story to tell. (Who wouldn’t like a guy with a name like that AND a curlicue mustache?) Argyle also demonstrated his sommelier skills throughout the evening, since Kenny, Doug, and I had opted to include a wine pairing with our meal. His selections did not disappoint; the three of us raved about more than one of them.

Another thing we all noticed during our four-hour dinner was the substantial amount of fruit being preserved. Commander’s apparently likes to take extra advantage of whatever is the freshest at the moment by buying surplus and preserving the leftovers for later use. On this particular night staff were working with peaches and figs.

When the dessert course finally rolled around, Argyle even brought Doug a special birthday chef’s hat. We were all pretty full, but we managed to taste a little bit of each one of the nine gorgeous desserts that filled up the table.

It was at this point that Doug decided he just had to loosen his pants. Lizzie only ate about half of each of her first seven courses, so Doug manned up and finished her portions. Birthday boy was quite the food champ this night, even though Lizzie kept saying, “You know, you don’t have to finish everything.” Silly Lizzie.

Kenny and I wholeheartedly agreed that this was the best four-hour dinner we have ever had, and it was so great to spend that much time with Lizzie and Doug. Their schedules are even busier than Nola’s, so it’s really hard to pin them down for an hour, let alone a big chunk of one night. We were both thrilled and honored they wanted to dine with us.

Thank you both again, so much, for including us in your special celebratory dinner. We had such a wonderful night with you two!