Ti: Hello.
Lally: Hey, it's me. The boat sank.
Ti: You're kidding! Oh, come on - my God, is everyone OK?
Lally: Yeah - I think so. We just got a phone call from Jared's cell phone, but
it was fading and we can't get back through.
Ti: Lally, oh my God - I think I remember that Bryan said he couldn't swim.
Lally: Yeah - apparently Danny and Jared were able to get him to shore and
Jennifer had some pretty bad burns from the gasoline in the water when
the boat sank.
Ti: Good Lord, I can't believe it.
I t was just supposed to be a little cooking show,
but what an adventure it has become. From the scary
boat sinking (yes, they lost all the camera equipment) to
crazy kitchen bloopers, the real TV show, "Off the Menu at
Commander's Palace," could make a great TV show about
the making of a TV show!!
The show originated several years ago when our good
friend and ex-New Orleanian, Constance Barkley Lewis,
dined at our Chef's Table. Constance, now working for
Turner in Atlanta, immediately said "we've got to do
something." She loved the energy of the kitchen, the
family and Chef Jamie Shannon. Constance is the type
that says, "we've got to do something" and darn if two
years later there's not a new television show on the air.
But this is no run of the mill cooking show ...
Turner had just started a new network based on the South.
Turner South hit the airwaves for the first time in October
1999 presenting a mix of original programming, movies,
regional news and sports in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi,
South Carolina, Tennessee and regions of North Carolina,
but unfortunately not Louisiana, yet
The typical cooking show format
was out. They wanted more
depth, they wanted to see where
the food came from, to show the
people behind the food - the
whole gamut - from the husband
and wife who go tend to their soft
shell crabs every four hours day
and night, to the Cajun turtle
trapper and his son, to Jamie and
his sous chefs hunting and
fishing.
The cooking would be filmed in Commander's Kitchen -
not on a set. And the goal was to catch a glimpse of
everyday life behind the scenes at Commander's - from
the family owners orchestrating in the dining room, to a
second lining Jazz Brunch, to Slim the dancing pot washer
in the heart of the house who says "I'm here to get Chef
what he needs - without me - all will fall apart."
So, we started and it has been a massive undertaking of
schedules, logistics and long drives ... small town hotels,
fish that won't bite and turtles that pose.
Nobody knew what we were creat~ng. Nobody had ever
seen a show - a series - like what producer Jennifer
Wysocki was envisioning. Sitting in bunk beds on a duck
hunt one night, Jennifer explained that she was starting to
see each episode in four parts: the "Hunt"; the "Cooking
in the Kitchen with Jamie"; a "Behind the Scenes"
educational element; and while the credits roll, some
bloopers and just funny stuff that happened. I could see
her mind racing - like she finally knew how it was all
going to fit together. The show had begun to take on life
of its own.
As the Turner South group got to know the CP gang, "Off
The Menu at Commander's Palace" began to take on
another slant. Jennifer thought it was ironic that while
the "outside world" perceived Commander's to be elegant
and genteel, the dozens of people she'd come to know were
edgier and funkier than that: from our motorcycle-riding
pony-tailed chef, to a slew of hunting and fishing sous
chefs, to Lally Brennan, whose poise and grace only
partially mask a full out laugh and knack for one-liners.
Jennifer wanted people to see that side of Commander's.
Jennifer is the producer but she frequently grabs a camera
and gets angles you'll never appreciate fully unless you see
her do it - she's on our Mardi Gras float laying on a pile of
beads trying to capture why we love riding in parades; or
bouncing around in the muck on the floor of a tuna boat
getting the best angle when they pull the fish in; or even
laying in the street on St. Charles Avenue as a high school
band marches over and around her (the cop just shook
his head).
These shots have allowed the producers to splice and dice
this little half-hour show into the most action-packed food
show anyone has ever seen. It's fast, it's educational and
it's funny - mostly without trying to be.
All that said, we still like the cooking part the best. It
always comes down to the food for us. But more than that,
it's Chef Jamie Shannon's love of cooking that comes
across. He's tossing out little cooking tips left and right
that make you want to run to your kitchen and start
cooking that salt encrusted fish. Ti once told an
interviewer that Jamie was the ideal chef because he has a
fire in the belly, magic in his hands and a twinkle in his
eye. That comes across in this show - you just get this
feeling that he is all about this food he's cooking and that
he'll just pop if he can't show you how to do it.
It's no longer the "Turner South" gang and the
"Commander's" gang - now it's the "Off The Menu" gang.
We're one team. Lifelong friendships have been formed.
So, when we got the call that the airboat sank we were
worried about everyone. We'd come to know assistant
producer Bryan Simmons very well. Somewhere along the
way we had discovered that he couldn't swim - just never
learned how - but he was on lots of boats
filming this show. Maybe it was those
friendships that kept a tragedy from
happening when the boat sank. Sous
Chefs Danny Trace and Jared Tee's first
instincts were to find Bryan in the
darkness on the bayou that night. They
did. Every show has a happy ending.
W e've had a restaurant
in Houston for 35 yearsBrennan's
of Houston.
We were awarded #2 in
Zagat this year. So why
were we worried about
running a restaurant in
another city when we
were already doing it?
We knew that with a new Commander's Palace there were
going to be an awful lot of very specific expectations. You
can not duplicate an aqua blue restaurant built in 1850 in
a style we call Victorian cuckoo. You can't duplicate the
cast of characters at the corner of Washington and
Coliseum.
But, can you transfer a philosophy? Can you transfer a
culture of hospitality and our "fanatical commitment to
the consistent execution of the fundamentals?" Can a
true passion for creating great dining memories
transcend the group of people running Commander's
Palace in New Orleans and Brennan's of Houston and be
instilled in a new team in Las Vegas, Nevada?
The jury is in and the verdict is a resounding YES. The
process however is laborious. There are no shortcuts.
It's the training, the commitments, the key people, the
critical systems, the food philosophy, the service
philosophy and on and on. We tried to analyze everyone
of those factors and then we developed plans to transfer
them from Commander's Palace New Orleans (CPNO)
and Brennan's of Houston to Commander's Palace Las
Vegas (CPLV).
This effort was led by Brad Brennan who moved to
Las Vegas a year before opening with his wife Elizabeth
and two daughters. Alex and Lally were the other leaders,
along with Chef Carlos Guia and General Manager,
Michael Smith.
You know what? It worked. When you walk into CPLV you
get the "you're the only person in the world" attention of
Santino at the door. The man's a pro - he gets it - he gets
us. Brad Brennan is always in the vicinity - it seems he
already knows half the town as he welcomes old friends
and new.
Like a good New Orleans restaurant, CPLV has a great bar
with some classic bartenders - Fritz will remember your
drink when you stop in the next night. He's always one
step ahead of you and he does it with cool bartender style.
It's a bar you can settle into and it's a restaurant you
can celebrate life in. The New Orleans attitude of "life is
meant to be lived and we will not be short changed" is
pervasive. The staff is crisp with professional grace in
abundance, but more than that you feel their innate
desire to please. To create great dining memories.
We've never been interested in opening restaurants that would
just have a short run. Some restaurateurs are pleased to move
on after seven years. But while Las Vegas may be surreal, CPLV is real
- a real restaurant that skips the
trends and sticks with what we
know. We know the timeless
pleasure of a great meal with good
company and professional, yet
unpretentious service. Could we
really recreate a culture of creating
great dining memories halfway
across the continent? We just did.
"Top Gourmet
Restaurant in Las V
do not leave without
sampling the
bread pudding."
-T & LGOLF,
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000
"Named one of the
best new restaurants
in Las Vegas ... this
branch of the
New Orleans
institution rivals
the original"
- FOOD & WINE,
SEPTEMBER 2001
"What's Hot in Las Vegas ... Commander's Palace"
-NATION'S
RESTAURANT
NEWS,
JULY 2001
"Exceptional Eats!"
- CElEBRATED UVING,
AMERICAN AIRUNES,
FAll 2001
on the Las Vegas
as a feathered
show girl is
at Mardi Gras"
- ALASKA AIRUNES,
JULY 2001
UNCOR
The only way to learn about wine is to
taste it. Thank God. And the best way
is to compare several at once. If you
drink a Chardonnay tonight and a
Sauvignon Blanc tomorrow night, the
differences will not be nearly as
pronounced as when you drink them
side by side. Certainly the differences
between two Chardonnays will be
harder to decipher and therefore to
recall. To demonstrate this point,
we've been hosting win tastings at
Foodies Kitchen: "Summer Reds"
one night and "ABC Anything but
Chardonnay" another. But the grand
dame of tastings is to experience your
own at our Wine Table with the
guidance of head grape nut,
Richard Shakespeare.
The table is yours for the night and
Richard will teach you as much or as
little as you want to learn. You can
choose the wines and we'll plan a
menu around it or we can make all the
decisions for you. Wouldn't it be great
to taste American Pinot Noir next to
French or how about French Syrah
next to Australian Shiraz? Or why not
all of them? How bad could that be?
~~J~
GIFT
CERTIFICATES
are available in any
denomination for any
day or night of the week,
or Saturday & Sunday
Jazz Brunch
Call 899-8221
OUR WINE GUY, RICHARD SHAKESPEARE
Nestled in the corner of the main dining
room surrounded by wine paraphernalia is
the wine table, available only to one party
per night. It's an "everything you ever
wanted to know, but were afraid to ask
about wine" evening - with liberal doses of
fun and a meal paired especially for your
wine choices. Now that's what living in
New Orleans is all about.
It only took
50 years,
but it's back ...
In the 50's (that's the 1950's),
family served 25¢ martinis. It was a
big hit! Dottie Brennan pushed and
prodded until we listened. "Try it
again," she said. We thought that
times had changed. People couldn't
go have martinis at lunch and go back
to work in this fast paced world. The
"drinking lunch" was dead, we said.
And while you're at it you can ask Richard
what the difference is between Shiraz and
Syrah. Or ask him what wine goes best
with our style of food - do you pair the food
and the wine or the wine and the sauce?
Ahhh - the mysteries of the Wine Table ...
For the Wine Table Reservations call Julie
at 504-896-7623
25(;
Martini
.... See what we knew - WOW! It was just
a summer promotion - just for the fun
of it - and because Aunt Dottie has an
amazing instinct about so many things.
Well - it's been held over. So the
25¢ martini lives on (for now) at
.... lunch Monday through Friday at
Commander's Palace.
r------------------, COMMANDER~S WINS
Ganlbit~s Best of
New Orleans
#1 Best Restaurant
#1 Place to get Turtle Soup
#1 Best Plare to get Hontemade Ire Cream
#1 Best Place to get Bread Pudding
#1 Best DesseJ"t Menu
#1 Best Wine List
#1 Best Maitre d' - George Rico
#1 Best Place for Valet 1H~r(
#1 Best Sunday Brune
#2 Best Lunch Special
#2 Best Place to get a WIa. ... l llllJ'
#2 Best Place to get as ; a
#2 Best Place to get Crem' ltW;£ .. ..,
#3 Best Chef - Jamie Sh
L ________________ ~
~-----------------------------------~
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