NOLA’s 10 best foie gras dishes

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Foie gras, which means “fat liver,” is taken from a duck that eats so much it becomes very fat, a delicacy since ancient times. But it wasn’t until the 1980s when ducks began to be raised for foie gras in the U.S. that it could be served fresh locally.

Before that you either had to open a can of pasteurized pate de foie gras from somewhere else, usually France, or go to France yourself to taste it.

Today any restaurant claiming to serve excellent food must put foie gras on its menu for credibility. Paradoxically, this has resulted in a lot of not-very-good foie gras around town. The demand for it is so great that the supply has been expended into less-than-excellent grades. Second-rate foie gras has a little toughness and a lack of richness.

The preparation also matters. Like caviar oysters, and lobster, foie gras is at its best when the preparation is simplest, though many chefs of unsure taste feel it’s necessary to partner it up with powerfully flavored sauces or garnishes.

There are some exceptions. Tournedos Rossini, pheasant Souvaroff, and Chateau du Lac’s astonishingly wonderful foie gras gumbo come to mind. But even when those are around, my preference is to have the liver seared and served with just a sprinkle of salt.

The last time I compiled a list of the 10 best foie gras dishes in the New Orleans area was in 2005 before Hurricane Katrina. Of the restaurants on that list, five are now out of business entirely, and three have changed drastically, hiring new chefs at least. That leaves only two survivors, Commander’s Palace and Restaurant August, and even they have changed their foie gras offering many times.

1. Restaurant August
301 Tchoupitoulas St., Central Business District

Foie gras prepared three ways has long been the August concept. But the three ways themselves change on a regular basis. So far, there has not been a blip in the magnificence of any of it.

2. Latil’s Landing
Houmas House Plantation, 40136 Highway 942, Darrow

Foie gras with lost bread is a brilliant idea. You can easily separate the two, and there’s no clash as you move from one to another. Chef Jeremy Langlois is also very generous with the foie. It’s worth the trip to St. James Parish for this alone.

3. Dakota
629 N. U.S. Highway 190, Covington

No restaurant keeps its foie gras dish as simple as Dakota does. It’s always on the menu, and although there are garnishes and sauces, they are kept in the deep background, all the better for the foie gras to reveal its allure.

4. Clancy’s
6100 Annunciation St., Uptown

I’m pretty sure Clancy’s was the first place where scallops and foie gras were paired. Neither element is squashed into the other, and both retain their top-notch identities. But there’s a harmony here.

5. Commander’s Palace
1403 Washington Ave., Uptown

Commander’s foie gras “du Monde” is as much a work of entertainment as it is delectable. The seared duck liver — always the top grade — is the centerpiece. It’s accompanied by fruit-flavored, powdered-sugar-coated mini-beignets and a foie gras-infused cafe au lait, something you have to taste to understand.

6. Le Foret
129 Camp St., Central Business District

As it does in most restaurants, the foie gras dish here is ever changing. My last taste revealed a torchon of foie gras, wrapping the whole liver and poaching it, making it softer and distributing the fat even better. Black truffles, fig jam, banana bread and aged balsamic are served on the side.

7. Annunciation
1016 Annunciation St., Warehouse District

Chef Steve Manning, who ran the kitchen at Clancy’s for a long time, brought quite a few of his dishes along to his new Warehouse District place. The sea scallops and foie gras — each separately seared — is one of them.

8. Muriel’s
801 Chartres St., French Quarter

Straightforward and generously served pan seared foie gras, with a pomegranate-balsamic gastrique.

9. Pardo’s
69305 Highway 21, Covington

Here’s another manifestation of seared diver scallops and foie gras coming together. The formula remains solid and you will not say you didn’t have enough either.

10. Chateau Du Lac
2037 Metairie Road, Metairie

Foie gras gumbo sounds ridiculous, and a case could be made that it’s not a very good use of the delicacy. On the other hand, consider this: Foie gras is duck and duck gumbo is a classic. This stuff is irresistible. Only my purist streak keeps me from ranking it higher.

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