Reveillon, a seasonal fixture of New Orleans dining, is back again this year for a season that is shaping up to be far from normal for restaurants.
The holiday dinner series, held in restaurants across the city throughout December, is a time for social gatherings over special prix fixe menus — some lavish, some bargains, many of them synced to the season. It’s become a tradition for many locals and plenty of visitors.
For restaurants though, the effort to restaff, the havoc of supply chain disruptions and sometimes drastic food cost hikes have made the road through this phase of the pandemic a rough and unpredictable one. That’s playing out in this year’s Reveillon slate, too.
The interior of Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
This time around, about 30 New Orleans restaurants are taking part in Reveillon, plus a number of bars for the related Reveillon on the Rocks cocktail program. That’s about half the number that served Reveillon menus in 2019, though also a considerable increase from the 20 that did so during last year’s turbulent, pre-vaccine holiday season.
Customers fill the main dining room at Arnaud’s Restaurant in the French Quarter in 2018
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
Still, there’s some reassuring continuity to the tradition as this season begins. As usual, Reveillon menus this year are filled with a mix of traditional dishes, contemporary takes, seasonal flavors and holiday-themed frills.
Most are four courses priced between $50 and $65. A few go more extravagant. Restaurant August once again holds the high end with its $110 menu, while Commander’s Palace, SoBou and Restaurant R’evolution are each at $85. Commander’s Palace also has a Reveillon brunch for $54.
Advocate staff photo by Ian McNulty -The dining rooms at Commander’s Palace are always festive.
On the other side of things, the Country Club in the Bywater has a five-course progression of shared dishes for two people at $50.
Champagne is put on ice for a festive lunch at Antoine’s, the oldest restaurant in New Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
In New Orleans, Reveillon, derived from the French word for “awakening,” was originally a meal served in the homes of Catholic families after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
The custom all but died out as the 20th century progressed and more American styles of Christmas took hold in New Orleans. But in the 1990s, the name was revived and recast as a restaurant dining series.
Restaurants have evolved their own approach to the tradition over the years.
The Pelican Club restaurant in the French Quarter is known for its special event and holiday menus. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
The Pelican Club has made a science of Reveillon, and as usual, the French Quarter restaurant is serving practically its entire menu, with many choices across each of four courses (plus bourbon eggnog as lagniappe).
For some, it’s a time to bring out dishes with a sense of history, like the drum papillote at Annunciation or the tarte a la bouille at Tableau for a taste of the bayou to end the meal.
Milton Prudence, the chef at Annunciation restaurant, located at 1016 Annunciation Street in New Orleans, La. Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
(Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Others take the opportunity of a special menu to shake things up. Galatoire’s, for instance, known for a regular menu so traditional many diners don’t even need to look at it, brings in a candied kumquat meuniere for the drum almondine and smoked potato puree for the filet during Reveillon.
The Reveillon menu at the Bower this year is all vegetarian, showcasing produce from Sugar Roots Farm in lower Algiers. Domenica is another Reveillon option with vegetarian choices across its courses (alongside nonvegetarian dishes).
Bar Métier, is a lounge in the New Orleans CBD, originally opened as Bar Marilou. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
This year also brings back a more casual cocktail offshoot called Reveillon on the Rocks at bars and restaurants.
Some Reveillon on the Rocks bars are within hotels where robust holiday decor and festive settings recommend them as destinations in their own right. There’s the revolving Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone, for instance, and the blocklong lobby light display at the Roosevelt Hotel. Bar Marilou has a trio or Reveillon-themed drinks, and the Country Club, Commander’s Palace and the Rib Room are taking part as well.