Deluxe tasting menus are proliferating, along with opulent wine pairings. Caviar has become as common as crabmeat at a French Creole restaurant.
Waiters are ironing linens on the table just before the next party is seated, and at the end of the meal, you might get a clutch of cookies or macarons to take home with a printed copy of the menu, maybe signed by the chefs.
A slice of Wagyu A5 steak is served with bordelaise and figs, part of the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
If you missed the news last spring that the Michelin Guide has finally begun assessing New Orleans restaurants, there are signs around town that will clue you in just the same.
Restaurants with Michelin ambition are upping their game and polishing more than just the silver.
Taper candles flicker over the linen-clad tables at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
For months now, Michelin’s anonymous reviewers (dubbed “inspectors”) have been at work visiting restaurants. They will determine which restaurants get Michelin Stars, regarded by many as the peak dining accolade, and Michelin’s ratings in other categories, including the more populist Bibb Gourmand recognition (typically for restaurants with great food and good value). Michelin says it will release its rankings at a Nov. 3 ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina.
In the meantime, the prospect of Michelin is making an impact in New Orleans. It’s not universal; in fact, most restaurants are staying the course. But in the upper reaches of fine dining, the influence is unmistakable. Already-fancy restaurants are boosting the luxury level, often adopting plays from restaurants that have received star ratings in other cities.
Champagne is part of the wine pairings for the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
In this, there’s the risk of a certain sameness taking hold in a city always known for its own cuisine, and something like an arms race of expensive amenities pushing prices higher.
But the upside is seeing excellent restaurants hitting a higher gear while also taking their Creole source material along for the ride. That’s what can keep worldly dining experiences rooted with a distinctive Louisiana sense of place.
The peak of this is the new Emeril’s Restaurant, which I dove into recently. Other examples of note have emerged. Here are highlights from two recent tasting menu dinners that tell the tale:
August ups the ante
Restaurant August serves a menu of elevated contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Restaurant August (301 Tchoupitoulas St.) has always lived up to its name in the setting, with columns rising to the high ceiling, glittering chandeliers and bursts of flowers. There has long been a splurge-worthy chef’s tasting menu. Today, the splurge is more and the dining experience is much more.
Taper candles flicker over the linen-clad tables at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The whole place shows a glow-up. Service is sharper. Taper candles flicker at each table over fine Italian linens.
This was chef John Besh’s first New Orleans restaurant when it opened in 2001. His company, BRG Hospitality, has diversified with more casual concepts, but August has always kept a high level of refinement. Its kitchen has been an incubator for major culinary talent who have gone on to make their own impact on the dining scene (see Mike Gulotta, now of TANA, and Todd Pulsinelli, now of the LeBlanc + Smith group).
Restaurant August executive chef Corey Thomas is seen at the restaurant in New Orleans on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE
The executive chef since 2022 is Corey Thomas, and he and executive sous chef Hunter Wilkinson are directing August’s tasting menu.
Cobia is part of a fruit de mer course on a chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
A recent rendition began with fruit de mar, a first course in three acts — cured cobia in a juice I knocked back like a shot, a crabmeat tartlet I had to stretch into two bites to prolong the pleasure; and then a bit of theater: raw oysters, from Nova Scotia this time, with another wispy drift of smoke.
Raw oysters with parmesan crisp arrive in a veil of vapor, part of a fruit de mer course on the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Next was a decadent lump of Tsar Nicoulai Osetra caviar, buttery itself, over a pad of cultured French butter as flavorful as any sauce, to spread on a cornbread muffin. Add the toasty brioche flavor of the Champagne pairing and it became a fourth element in this harmony.
Tsar Nicoulai Osetra caviar tops the cultured French butter for a course on the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Button-sized chanterelle mushrooms popped out of the single raviolo under a hay bale of black truffle shavings. A delicate drape of matcha added a creamy umami to the grouper. Wagyu steak, of the A5 variety, was finished at the table with a mouth-coating bordelaise spooned from a copper saucepan.
An elegant take on summer peach cobble is part of the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Dessert, always a hallmark at August, is maintained now by pastry chef Tamber Weiersheuser. This time it was an elegantly artful rendition of the rustic, seasonal comfort of fresh summer peach crumble.
A egg shell carries a custard are a canape starting the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The chef’s menu is six courses for $185 (and that’s six courses on paper; other unlisted bites appear, on par with fine modern tasting menus). Wine pairings start at $110, with a reserve option for $175.
It’s a lavish experience, and one that made me remember the high bar this restaurant set in the first place.
R’evolution’s evolution
Restaurant R’evolution is chef John Folse’s upscale dining destination in the French Quarter of New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Restaurant R’evolution (777 Bienville St.) was never a humble affair. But last spring, the restaurant added a new chef’s tasting menu that takes it to a different level.
Canapes arrive on gold-painted oyster shells over a drift of vapor, starting a chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant R’evolution in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
This is a chef John Folse restaurant, so his tasting menu is an interpretation of the Louisiana cuisine for which he is a famous and devoted ambassador. The R’evolution kitchen is led by his chef de cuisine, Chris Anderson, who is a veteran of the Michelin-starred Chicago restaurants Moto and Alinea.
They’re serving a six-course tasting menu for $200, with a $120 optional wine pairing. It’s served at the food counter, a table looking into the open-hearth demonstration kitchen; or in the restaurant’s private rooms, and you need to book at least two days ahead.
The chef’s counter, facing an open kitchen, is a centerpiece at Restaurant R’evolution in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The “chef’s office” is a private dining room overlooking the kitchen at Restaurant R’evolution in the French Quarter of New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
A trio of canapés served on gold-painted oyster shells starts it off. Cue the smoky vapor drift.
The tuna tartare is part of a chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant R’evolution in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The tuna tartare remains raw but tastes blackened. A decadent foie gras course is disguised as a small doughnut. Truffle is shaved as if it were Parmesan over bucatini that brings hogs head cheese to the party. The quail envisions haute cuisine at the hunting camp.
The flavors of a Louisiana crawfish boil are rendered in one dish on the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant R’evolution in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The flavors of a crawfish boil are encapsulated in a cannelloni shape with the texture of aspic, with a smoky-sweet accoutrement that looks like powdered sugar but is memorably dubbed “andouille snow.”
This is all Louisiana, but more high touch and high concept than the regular restaurant menu, which is plenty indulgent in its own right.
Note: R’evolution is part of the Royal Sonesta Hotel, which had a fire last weekend. The restaurant wasn’t damaged and reopened two days later.
Dining and Cooking