In the past six months, I’ve eaten inside a restaurant exactly three times. And, I haven’t gone anywhere that I’d consider to be fine dining. All over the country, we’ve seen high-end restaurants announce they were closing, rather than bend to the sanitary requirements of COVID-19. In New Orleans, though, it’s a different story. Famous names such as Galatoire’s, Arnaud’s and Antoine’s are back, and so is one of the city’s most notable.
Remaking Commander’s Palace To Confront The Pandemic
At the end of 2019, Ti Martin looked at the numbers for Commander’s Palace. It was her first year at the helm of the upscale restaurant, after the death of her legendary mother, Ella Brennan, in 2018.
The books showed Commander’s had enjoyed its best year ever. She looked to the sky and said, “‘How about them apples, Mama?’ She was liking them apples,” Ti tells me.
Commander’s, whose co-proprietors are Ti and her cousin Lally Brennan (you can see them in the photo below), sailed through January and February, when New Orleans was awash in Mardi Gras revelers. And, then came March.
Like hundreds of restaurants across the Crescent City, Commander’s closed its dining room when the state of Louisiana and New Orleans imposed strict limits to fight COVID-19.
It took until Sept. 11 for the dining room to re-open again, and now things look a lot different than the crowded Garden District establishment that diners might have experienced at Sunday brunch or on a boisterous Friday, when 25 cent martinis sat on every table.
In between, Commander’s, like so many places, was forced to innovate in order to survive. And in true New Orleans fashion, it did so with determination.
Supermarkets, Mail Order And A Weekly Party
Last spring, I talked to Commander’s chef, Tory McPhail about one of those ideas. Commander’s was among a series of New Orleans restaurants that teamed with Rouse’s Markets to sell some of their specialties.
Commander’s supplied its famed turtle soup as well as plates of grillards and grits, a breakfast dish that includes medallions of pork in a rich gravy.
Subsequently, Commander’s began offering turtle soup, seafood gumbo, quail and pecan pie on Goldbelly, the mail order company that sells foods from famous purveyors.
But then the restaurant came up with another idea that intersected with New Orleans’ party culture.
Its wine steward, Dan Davis, devised the idea of a weekly wine and cheese pairing. Commander’s sold kits with three bottles of wine, portions of cheese and crackers.
Guests could pick up the kits at the restaurant as well as other locations around town. Prices ranged from $99 for two, to $500 for eight, which included five additional bottles of wine from Commander’s cellar.
Participants joined by a Zoom call, hosted by Dan, who talked them through the pairings and gave a history of each vintage. The technology was all new to Ti.
“When we started, I didn’t know what Zoom or Slack were,” Ti says.
The idea took off. Always ready for a celebration, locals began dressing up for the weekly event, and posting photos of their spreads on social media. Others went even further. “New Orleans took it to mean, ‘wear a costume,’” she says.
That inspired Commander’s to try a national event.
On Oct. 7, the restaurant is hosting “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” including a performance by Ivan Neville from the stage at Tipitina’s, the legendary music club a short drive from Commander’s.
Packages with all the ingredients can be shipped, assuming your state allows it, and the program includes a Zoom ticket to the festivities. The details, including the menu, can be found here.
“Could I have predicted this?” Ti says of the events’ popularity. “Not one bit.”
Accommodating Covid Changes
In the days since Commander’s has re-opened for customers, Ti says she’s been relieved to see her regulars return.
“So far, so good,” she says. “I don’t know if it will hold up. I’ve been shocked and pleased to see some visitors. Every night, we have a few people from wherever.”
She hasn’t closed any of Commander’s dining rooms. “I’m just spreading people the hell out.”
Outside, Commander’s has a courtyard, including four tables under cover that are particularly popular in the middle of rain storms, like the two hurricanes that thankfully skirted the city this month.
A small cottage has been turned into Le Petit Bleu, with to-go items like turtle soup, crab ravigote, muffulettas and cheesecake.
The restaurant menu is now on paper, and it is smaller, reflecting some difficulties in finding sources of ingredients, and so is the staff. When Commander’s closed in March, it employed 225 employees.
Now, she has just 75 — still a significant number, but Commander’s recently told the state of Louisiana that some of the jobs it eliminated when the pandemic began were permanently gone.
“I feel like our football coach, having to make the roster cuts,” Ti says.
Anyone who dined at Commander’s before COVID will remember that it was a bouquet of experiences: the crowded lobby, the multiple staff members who showered guests with attention, and the table hopping that made Commander’s seem like a constant party.
These days, the restaurant has been reconfigured, has a long list of new regulations. It only lets in one group of diners at a time; others must wait in a socially distanced line under the front awning.
There is still valet parking, but now the valets help people out of their cars and direct the driver to a nearby space. It asks anyone walking through the restaurant or greeting friends to wear a mask. “We just want to protect our team, and our guests,” Ti says.
Stressful, But Exciting
Despite the many challenges faced by Commander’s, the COVID era has been a time to recharge.
“It’s draining and exhilarating, what we’re doing,” she says. “It was stressful and you just had to come together and be as supportive of each other as we could. That’s the way it was, and still is.”
New Orleans faces many hurdles before COVID is conquered.
Many festivals this year have been canceled, and people are waiting to hear what will happen with Mardi Gras, which is supposed to begin in late January.
For her, an indicator of safety will be when big conventions return, bringing Commander’s and the city’s other restaurants the waves of guests they once enjoyed. Says Ti: “I think that’s going to be a ways off.”
Your Comfort Level For Dining In
Last week, I asked CulinaryWoman readers for their thoughts on dining inside restaurants, and got a number of replies.
Beth Howard, the pie maker and social activist who you met in an earlier newsletter, is disappointed that Iowa has not imposed a mask requirement.
“I am absolutely not comfortable dining in! The times I have to set foot inside a restaurant to pick up my carryout order, let alone go into a grocery store, are stressful enough!” she writes.
“What can they do to make me feel more comfortable? Well, for example, when I do curbside pickup (when it’s available), the waitress who brings my order out to the car needs to wear a mask and not make an excuse when I question her about it. Please stop saying “It’s no worse than the flu.” SHEESH!”
She adds, “It has been very upsetting and discouraging around here."
Shelly Freierman, a writer and editor in Cambridge, Mass., says, “'I’m not prepared to eat in a restaurant: an enclosed space, people drinking, laughing, talking.”
She says, “What I love about restaurants, aside from the great food that I don't prepare at home, is the hustle and bustle of life happening around me. With half- or quarter-capacity, it wouldn't be the same.”
Shelly says she isn’t even doing outdoor dining yet. “I haven't seen any situations where the table seem far enough apart. This pandemic is all about comfort level -- I respect others' and I'm just not there yet.”
I heard from other readers who talked about their general discomfort with any indoor activity, whether restaurants, salon or gyms. But some said they were pleased by all the efforts restaurants have made.
Luckily for New Yorkers, the city is making outdoor dining permanent. And, it’s likely other cities will follow suit.
This was the case when I lived in Tokyo last decade. Restaurants put out big heaters, and one of my favorite neighborhood places brought you a fleece blanket so you could comfortably enjoy an outdoor meal.
This year of many changes is likely to mean more, but it may be a while before some people venture back inside.
A future episode of the CulinaryWoman podcast will look at this topic. I’ll give you a heads up when it posts.
Apples Are Arriving!
By Amy Traverso
Apple cake. Apple salad. Apple sauce. Apple cobbler. Apple pie. Apple jelly.
Have I got your attention? I am definitely an apple lover — I love eating them and especially cooking with them. If you do, too, then The Apple Lover’s Cookbook is for you.
If the title sounds familiar, it was originally published in 2011. But author Amy Traverso, the senior food editor at Yankee Magazine, has revised and updated it for 2020.
One of the best features is a detailed discussion of the different varieties of apples and how they can be used in cooking. She divides apples into four categories: firm-tart, tender-tart, firm-sweet, and tender-sweet.
There’s also a cheat-sheet so you can know how to use what you’ve got. That’s important now that heirloom apples have returned to many stores, and also with the advent of new variations, like Honey Crisp (which always seems to me like the Beaujolais Nouveau of apples).
The link for the cookbook goes to Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor, or what I think of as “my bookstore.” It is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and it has hosted events for many of my books.
While founder Nicola Rooney is no longer the owner, the entire staff is ready to take care of your shipping, curbside pickup and shopping needs. Feel free to place pre-orders with them, as well.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman!
Be sure to check out the new CulinaryWoman podcast. We’re on all the big platforms — Spotify, Apple, Google, Breaker, and our production home, Anchor.
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You can get in touch with me at mamayn@aol.com. Stay healthy, wear a mask, and see you next Sunday.