Friday, May 16, 2008
Restaurants A visit to Parish
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Fri, May 16, 2008 at 7:25 PM
I've visited few restaurants as ambitious from Day One as Parish (240 N. Highland Ave., 404-681-4434). It's a huge space whose design succeeds in evoking the ambiance of New Orleans' French Quarter without resorting to the usual Mardi Gras cliches and cajun stereotyping. You won't find the words "I garontee it!" on the menu. You won't even find etouffee and jambalaya, for that matter.
The space is actually two operations. The Parish Market is downstairs, with the kitchen. You can order sandwiches like a good muffuletta or a po' boy combo of oysters and shrimp (below) here, along with terrific pastries and breads from Jonathan St. Hilaire. (The almond croissant gives Alon's version a serious run for the money.) There is a community table in the market where you can eat your sandwich, or you can eat it on the patio.
Anything you order in the market, which also sells everything from coffee to produce and cookware, comes to you wrapped in paper, even if you plan to eat in. The restaurant has leaped on the green bandwagon and, upstairs in the formal restaurant, there are no paper menus -- just chalkboard ones afixed to the walls. This is part of avoiding the un-green use of paper, according to press materials. Then why not serve sandwiches on plates?
The upstairs restaurant, whose chef is Timothy Magee, includes a raw bar and a lot of seafood appetizers like barbecued shrimp. My entree (top photo) was pork cheeks over a pancake with a creamy mustard sauce. We also ordered catfish encrusted with andouille, served over a chive aioli. Both were delicious.
The restaurant is open daily for dinner and the market opens every morning for breakfast and serves sandwiches throughout the day.
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