Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans [Hardcover]

Dickie Brennan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Palace Café: The Flavor of New Orleans tells the story of a restaurant, a city, and the Brennan family. Featuring home-cook-friendly recipes, serving tips, and sample menus. The color food photography and stylish black-and-white photos of this nationally acclaimed French Quarter restaurant make this book a delight to both the eye and the palate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Palace Cafe Cookbook delivers the heart, soul, rhythm and flavor of New Orleans. --Sharon Tyler Herbst, author of The New Food Lover's Companion

Dickie Brennan: a true and great friend and restaurateur...with amazing flavors of true New Orleans. --Chef Emeril Lagasse

Dickie Brennan: a true and great friend and restaurateur...with amazing flavors of true New Orleans. --Chef Emeril Lagasse

From the Inside Flap

Palace Cafe opened its doors to rave reviews in March of 1991. John Mariani wrote for Esquire magazine, “Let any chef who thinks it his mission to create exotic new dishes each night of the week take notice of the Palace Cafe-a fabulous example of how canny restaurateurs can work within a tradition yet expand its possibilities without ever straying into fancy for its own sake. Every item on this menu is focused, every dish sounds irresistible, and many you will crave for the rest of your life.”

Traditional New Orleans cuisine with a fresh approach makes any dish served at this restaurant something worthy of trying at home. Unpretentious, but innovative, Palace Cafe’s style of cooking uses fresh regional products and is full of that flavor for which this region is so well known. Palace Cafe has received many awards, from Best New Restaurant by Esquire magazine and USA Today in 1991 to the prestigious Ivy Award from Restaurants and Institutions magazine in 1997. The restaurant has also been featured in the New York Times as the headlining place to eat while in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

Palace Cafe is popular with residents of New Orleans and visitors alike for brunch, lunch and dinner, served seven days a week, and not a meal service goes by that someone doesn’t request the recipe for a dish. Dickie Brennan and his family always keep copies of the most requested recipes available at the front door. Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans brings them all together, plus many more.

The willingness to share so much comes from the strong sense of family that the Brennans have. “In a family this size, there’s no reason and no way to keep anything a secret. There’s no real point,” says Dickie Brennan. The quality of service and beautiful atmosphere at Palace Cafe, along with extreme talent in the kitchen under the care of Executive Chef Gus Martin, has visitors returning, even if they themselves have mastered the recipe for a dish such as White Chocolate Bread Pudding. “Cooking is fun. It’s what we do. We only hope to be able to pass some that joy on to others,” says Chef Martin.

With over 170 recipes included, Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans offers hints on how to make a dish successful, serving tips, and ways to make it more personal by using whatever local products are available. But just in case the original ingredients are important to you, there is a source listed for all of the items that might be difficult to locate in various regions of the country.

Not only is this a book about recipes, but it also offers a glimpse into the day of a restaurant. From the chef meetings that take place twice daily outside the Receiving Door, to prepping the food and the restaurant, to presenting the food at the table, you can see what goes on behind the scenes. It also presents some of the historical background for the cuisine that is distinctly New Orleans. Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans presents an intimate look at the life of a restaurant, a city, cuisine and the Brennan family, while bringing to the table this collection of wonderful recipes.

With over 170 recipes, culinary tips and stories from the “first family of Creole,” Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans offers an intimate look at one of New Orleans’ best restaurants. The book offers an insider’s view of a day in the restaurant business and a snapshot of life in New Orleans. It’s a must for anyone who craves Creole!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: The Cookbook Marketplace (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931757003
• ISBN-13: 978-1931757003
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, March 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this cookbook. The recipes were not difficult and were delicious. In addition to that the book itself is lovely. Between the pictures, family stories and tips on so many pages, I felt as though I were in New Orleans cooking with a friend! Dickie Brennan - I will be waiting in line for your next cookbook.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than 170 recipes enhanced with culinary tips, June 6, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans (Hardcover)

Dickie Brennan's Palace Cafe: The Flavor Of New Orleans showcases more than 170 recipes enhanced with a wealth of culinary tips as well as anecdotal stories from the "first family of Creole" and insights into the Palace Cafe, one of New Orleans finest and most popular restaurants. Featuring complete menus, the "user friendly" recipes range from Milk Punch; Pork Grillades with Andouille Goat Cheese; Crabmeat Cheesecake with Pecan Crust; and Shrimp Remoulade; to Oyster and Eggplant Soup; Ponchatoula Strawberry and Spinach Salad; Grilled Rib-Eye with Roasted New Potato Port Salut Hash; and White Chocolate Creme Brulee, Dickie Brennan's Palace Cafe is a superbly presented volume enhanced with occasional full color culinary photography and would grace any dedicated gourmet's cookbook collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Orleans Cooking At Its Best, March 27, 2002

By 

"terri853" (New Orleans, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palace Cafe: The Flavor of New Orleans (Hardcover)

If you want to enjoy real New Orleans cooking with a unique flair, this is the book for you. As a New Orleans native, I have many cookbooks with local recipes, but this one has not only wonderful recipes, but surprising insight into the Brennan family and a behind the scenes peek into a great restaurant. Each recipe is extraordinary combining unusual ingredients into fabulous dishes, such as the red bean dip with homemade potato chips and the delectable fish recipes. The instructions are concise and easy to follow. Buy this book if only for the famous white chocolate bread pudding. This is a true epicurean delight, and the Brennan family is a New Orleans treasure.