n , em o-.-...-
a 10 00
We're doing it again! Shaking things up!
Some businesses have a conference
room - we have a patio. (Maybe it's
another reason our "work" doesn't feel like work.) And we
use our patio for all manner of in-house meetings, seminars,
wine tastings, and on and on. Throughout the day, before and
after lunch and dinner, you'll see on the patio a smattering of
meetings: cooks gathered around a table of dishes listening to
Jamie talk about the right seasoning balance; two captains
discussing their newest protege; and managers huddled in
one-on-one sessions with their team members.
Food, of course, seeps its way into these meetings. Needing a
little afternoon sustenance we find ourselves requesting certain
types of food - food packing a flavorful punch to satisfy our
greedy palates but nothing too heavy to weight us down
before the dinner show. Maybe it's that desire to not be
weighted down before dinner service - maybe it's just the
types of food that have natural appeal when you're eating
outdoors under the shade of our grand old oak tree with
trickling water in the fountain as the background. How about
a lusty but satisfying Chardonnay baked Lafourche redfish
with garlic olive oil steamed spinach touched with green
onions and jumbo lump crabmeat. A big lusty entree salad
of crispy Golden Meadow softshell crab with local vine ripe
tomatoes, sweet onions, cracked pepper, basil vinaigrette and
touched with our own ravigote sauce ...
Food that explodes deliciously.
Dishes that satisfy both our hunger and our unabashed desire
for flavor. Food that we can eat quickly - often a one course
meal. Food that won't slow us down.
We realized we had none too consciously created a repertoire
of food that fit our lifestyle. In a blinding flash of the obvious we
saw that it will fit your lifestyle too. So we decided to give it a
name and share it with you: Patio Food. So named because it's
what we so often seem to want when we're on the patio. But
- you 0 ' hay to b on the patie to eat it. It could be the
middle of January (and maybe 700 outside like this year) and
you're in your favorite main dining room spot but your mind
and appetite want steamed pulled ginger chicken salad with
garlic pasta; or open faced smoked sliced sirloin sandwich
with onion marmalade and Creole new potato salad. Your
meal is good, very good, and fast. Better yet, you leave with
some pep in your step.
•
Adelaide Brennan's beloved patio
is holding court once again!
What is all the fuss about? Food
of course. Patio food is not a case of style over
substance. It's food with its own verve and wit and charm.
It's food with a racy spirit like a symphony that begins loudly
and then slides into subtle. It's innovation in tradition. It's
different yet unmistakably Commander's. It's Patio Food. Ii
Cigars and brandy in the patio after dinner with Alain Raynaud, the head of the Grand Crus
Bordeaux Wine Makers Association. This charming French gentleman was kicked back and relaxing in his chair, cigar in one
hand, brandy in the other. He kept looking up at the stars beyond the oak tree branches that seem to hug the restaurant and
saying in his captivating French accent, "This is how I imagined New Orleans."
Two local ladies immersed in a long lunch over a holiday weekend - in the patio under one of the new oversized umbrellas.
40-ish, they behaved more like 16 year olds sharing gorgeously unrespectable stories and reveling in a few "found hours" to
catch up and share a meal al fresco.
Dinner on the patio with dear friend and lawyer, Ted George, and his wife, Julie. Great food, wine and conversation on a
beautiful night. Before we know it, it was past midnight and our voices rang out alone - the rest of the crowd gone. The patio
holds magical memories for so many of you and us. We decided the old gal needed a face-lift - a real overhaul. But like good
cosmetics/plastic surgery, you may never notice. We knew where she was sagging and drooping though so in came the bulldozer.
We called the intermittent mess our "rock garden:' It looked like bombed out Beirut. All new plumbing and wiring,
all new furniture, a new fountain, and new oversized umbrellas adding shade where the oak tree misses.
She's back! Adelaide Brennan's beloved patio is holding court once again! Thanks to Dottie and Lally Brennan, who restored
and embellished a piece of Commander's storied past, the patio is bracing for a starring role in Commander's future. Ii
Commander's named
Best Value in New Orleans
by FOOD & WINE
COULD WE CHARGE HIGHER PRICES AT COMMANDER'S PALACE? YES.
One night this fall, the brilliant, Nobel Prize winning
economist, Milton Friedman and his wife were dining at
Commander's Palace with two charming Tulane professors.
I was thrilled to have Mr. Friedman in the restaurant and
he enjoyed hearing my stories of being taught at Tulane
Business school by his son, David. We bantered about
dinner and economics and they asked how business was.
I said things were good and that we were very lucky.
One professor commented, "At Commander's prices,
I guess things are good." I found myself about to retort
that in fact, Commander's Palace had just been named
Best Value in New Orleans by Food & Wine magazine.
Before I could even get the comment out, the economist,
Mr. Friedman, surveyed the full dining room and said,
'Td say they've got the prices figured just right." Now I
was really having fun!
It's so often that people lump together all fine dining
as expensive. Compared to fast food, yes. Compared
to other fine dining and the perceived value of an
evening of warm, professional pampering service,
a great meal and a gracious ambience - No!
We know we could charge more than we do - many others
in New Orleans do - but we won't overcharge you just
because we can. There is no victory in that for us. Times
are good. The economy keeps rolling right along through
corrections here and there. We could get away with it -
but it's just not our style. We want to provide you a great
experience - complete with all the costs that entails.
We have layers of costs to provide you extra service that
most other restaurants skimp on. We want to run the
restaurant efficiently, allow for a fair profit and have that
equation leave you knowing that Commander's Palace is a
great value. We eat at restaurants all around the u.s. and
New Orleans. We think that at Commander's Palace you
get more for your money - it's that simple. Ii
- Ti Martin
WILL WE? NO.
-E-
Just as singer Ella Fitzgerald complements New Orleans'
great Louis Armstrong, another legendary Ella jazzes up
the city's cuisine. And what beautiful music-for-the-palate
Ella Brennan conducts at her Commander's Palace, source
of all things wonderful to eat in the Big Easy.
The restaurant's signature Creole dishes (the spicy Turtle
Soup, the saucy Bread Pudding Souffle) are beloved rites
of passage. For that, millions are thankful.
((This business is in my blood," says this 70-ish doyenne of
New Orleans dining, who's commanded the landmark
teal-and-white Garden District restaurant for more than
20 years. ((My family and I don't know any other way."
The Brennan family is synonymous with fabulous dining
in the City That Never Stops Eating. That's thanks in large
part to Ella, the restaurant team's most visible and vocal
coach. Her eye for talent has fostered such celebrity chefs as
Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, current sensation Jamie
Shannon, and two dozen other culinary stars who have
passed through Commander's kitchen.
Ella Brennan (far left) and her sister
Dottie Brennan toast to the good times
had by all at the award-winning
Commander's Palace restaurant in
New Orleans.
Reprinted from Southern Living Magazine February 1999
From left: Brad Brennan, Ti Martin, Ralph Brennan, Dickie Brennan,
and Lauren Brennan Brower.
They were born and raised in New Orleans, schooled at the
legendary Commander's Palace, and have taken the Brennan
restaurant family into new venues and locations.
«We're turning some new pages, but not writing a new book;'
says Alex Brennan-Martin. «We're doing exciting things, but
hopefully, we're not going to do too much differently than our
parents. They didn't open many restaurants, but they didn't
close many either."
Alex Brennan-Martin
As 1999 begins, the offspring of Ella Brennan, her sister, Dottie,
and brothers, Dick and John, who died last August, continue to
make foodservice news in the Big Easy and beyond.
Orleans restaurant scene: «The family has now organized
itself to give each one a chance to use the entrepreneurial
spirit that runs so strongly in the Brennan family."
Says Jim Funk, executive vice president of the Louisiana
Restaurant Association and a longtime observer of the New
According to Funk, "New Orleans is one of the last
bastions of independent restaurants, and people like
the Brennans are helping to continue that."
• Ella Brennan's son, Alex
operates Brennan's
r----__ -----------------,t::IoustoD.J:!e daughter, Ti,
Here's how the
extended Brennan family
lines up today:
works out of Commander's
Palace but is heading up
the new Foodies Kitchen
project.
• Dick Brennan's son,
Dickie, is a partner in Palace
a..-__________________ ~afe an tb r£cently
opened Dickie Brennan's
steakhouse. He remains a
partner in Mr. B's Bistro. His
sister, Lauren, is a partner
with Dickie at Palace Cafe
and the steakhouse.
• Dottie Brennan's son,
Bradford, is located at
Commander's Palace but
soon will move to Las Vegas
and open Commander's
Palace in the Alladin Hotel.
Reprinted from Nation's Restaurant News January 1999
• John Brennan's son,
Ralph, operates Bacco,
Redfish Grill, and Storyville
District, and is a partner in
Mr. B's Bistro. His sister,
Cindy Brennan, runs Mr. B's
Bistro. Another sister, Lally
Brennan, works at
Commander's Palace,
handling everything from
advertising and customer
relations to special events.
They can mix it up with nearly anyone, from glib
politicians to shy children. And they've made
Creole food an all-american staple.
MEETTHE BRENNAN WOMEN OF NEW ORLEANS.
By Mimi Read
Gumbo
It's a bustling saturday night at Commander's Palace in
New Orleans. The lights are low; the silver gleams; the staff
looks crisp in over-starched white shirts. With cardsharp
precision, a waiter deals out appetizers to a merry band of
locals. When a quiet couple walks in, the maitre d' escorts
them to a table. They are by no means regulars here, but as
they're sitting down, Ella Brennan - the genial matriarch of
the family that owns the restaurant - appears out of no:vhere.
Though she is dressed to the nines, her chief accessory IS a
huge smile, as open and winning as a child's. ''I'd heard you
were coming! How are you?" she exclaims.
Hospitality is New Orleans'
gift to the world, and the
Brennan family embodies it
like no other. As the owners of
many successful restaurants in
New Orleans and Houston,
they were some of the first to
package the elusive Creole mystique
and propel it into the
American mainstream. Their
cache of restaurants - which
includes Commander's Palace,
Mr. B's Bistro, Bacco, Palace
Cafe and Ralph Brennan's Red
Fish Grill in New Orleans, as
well as Brennan's in Houstonhave
given traditional Creole
dishes a fresh, sophisticated spin,
catapulting them into the realm of
haute cuisine. At all of the
Brennan establishments, service and graciousness without pomposity
are cultivated as lost arts.
Commander's Palace, the family's flagship, has for years racked
up coveted national awards, including the James B~ard
Foundation's 1996 pick as best restaurant III Amenca - the
food industry's equivalent of an Academy Award. Housed in
a turreted, gingerbread Victorian mansion across the street
from an historic cemetery, Commander's is always packed
with well-heeled tourists and members of the city's gentry.
Under luminous panels delicately painted with Louisiana
wading birds, diners feast on turtle soup; shrimp with tasso
and five-pepper jelly; roasted quail with a port glaze; and
fluffy Creole bread pudding with creme anglaise.
The Brennans not only entertain celebrities; they have
become celebrities, at least in New Orleans. Larger than life
and close-knit in the extreme, they know everyone and
everyone knows them. The family has a long hist~ry in the,
city, but less than two generations of real prospenty. There s
still a touch of democratic earthiness in their charm.
These days the older generation, who are in their fifties,
sixties and seventies, are winding down - or trying to.
Ella, her brother Dick and sister Dottie have been striving
together in the restaurants since 1946 (their other siblings,
Owen, Adelaide and John, are deceased). A few years ago
these elders passed the torch to their children, and though
the older Brennans still show up at the restaurants almost
every day, the generation coming of age is now in the hot
seat, working hard to keep the service graceful and the food
au courant.
While the Brennan men are certainly involved in running
the family's restaurants, it's the women who infu~e each
establishment with flair, dash and depth. DynamiC and
fascinating, they are the original "steel magnolias" -
canny, proficient, no-nonsense businesswomen who
also prize sensitivity to human concerns.
Reprinted from More Magazine January 1999
When: OPENING SUMMER 1999
Where: Next to Dorignac's -
720 Veterans Boulevard
What: A Meals Market
I f the French Market in its heyday were enclosed and combined
with a modern Solari's - that's Foodies Kitchen. We call it A Meals
Market. It's a whole new way to shop for meals - it's a third way.
You have restaurants and groceries, now you have A Meals Market.
It's a very fresh, very fast answer to
the question «What's for dinner?"
(or lunch or breakfast). In some
ways it's a return to your friendly
neighborhood market where you
know the chef and the butcher.
Solari's was a food market before
stores had to start carrying paper
goods, shampoo, batteries, and
hair dryers. Foodies will have none
of that. It leaves us able to concentrate
on one thing - Food.
Food. Meals. This is what we
know. We're not grocers, we're
restaurateurs. That's what we do - cook meals for you. We don't
know much about stacking shelves with detergent but we do make a
mean buttermilk pecan rotisserie chicken, serious crab cakes, and a
four-cheese macaroni that takes carryout to a whole new level.
"We've wanted
to do this for
10 years, Ti
Martin points
out. "In 1996
when people for the first time started
getting more prepared meals away
from home, we said, OK, they're finally
voting with their feet, and we started
looking for a location."
Foodies Kitchen will be CIa very funky
and distinctly New Orleans-feeling
place." - As seen In Nation's Restaurant
News January 1999
We know New Orleans has
always had great cooks - still
does. So, the bar has always
been higher in New Orleans.
You can't go to Commander's
every night, you want to eat at
home - AND you're not
willing to sacrifice quality.
You think you deserve better
than fast food - so do we!
That's where Foodies comes
in. We're on a mission to
improve all those other nonrestaurant
meals, even the
ones eaten in a huge rush.
You stop by and choose from
over 100 different options
everyday. A fresh meal, fast or to go. Ready to heat or ready to eat,
without the wait and without the waiter.
When you shop our produce cooler there will be a lot of things
missing - anything that's not fresh! In other words, when oranges
aren't good we won't have them, when blueberries aren't fresh we
won't have them. What we will have will be seasonal and fresh. And
we'll have everything you'll need for a great meal including a bottle
of wine, some flowers, and a real on-site bakery cranking out a vast
array of artisan breads, the likes of which New Orleans has never seen.
There will be an abundance of food and a very interactive atmosphere.
In many ways it will be just like it's always been at Commander's
with customers going through the kitchen - they love it - we love it.
You will be surrounded by food and cooking. It's one big kitchen
with a wonderful market and a full-scale bakery.
We hope to add another dimension to the New Orleans food scene.
We want to add to the landscape of great grocers like our next door
neighbor, Dorignac's, and to complement the superb deli and wine
offerings of Martin Wine Cellar. In many ways it has not been any
one restaurant in town that put New Orleans on the culinary map;
but, instead a group of dedicated restaurateurs and chefs pushing
each other to do better over the last 100+ years.
Foodies Kitchen, staffed with a team of talented Commander's
alumnae, wants to be part of a long and growing tradition of
making New Orleans the greatest food town in America.
See you this summer! JI
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
BULK RATE
Permit No. 1265
New Orleans,LA
1111111111111111111.1111..1. J .1.11111111 "' .. 11111111111 nU •• '.1
