Le Chat Noir
Seth Temple steps in as a link between the farm and the table at his New Orleans restaurant
With the forecast of last month’s freeze warnings, Chef Seth Temple was worrying about his hakurei turnips.
The Lake Charles native, whose resume includes the Michelin-starred Lyle’s in London, heads the kitchen at the newly-opened Le Chat Noir, a farm-to-table restaurant in the former funky theatre space at 715 St. Charles Avenue. Following a history of star-studded musicians, actors, and burlesque dancers, since December 2021 a busy line of chefs have taken center stage at Le Chat, “performing” for as many as 220 guests a night.
Temple is a graduate of the John Folse Culinary Institute in Thibodeaux, where he earned a scholarship to the elite Institute Paul Bocuse in France. Taking inspiration from the approaches at restaurants like Lyle’s or Blue Hill at Stone Bars in the Hudson Valley, helmed by Dan Barber—Temple has committed to sourcing no less than seventy percent of Le Chat Noir’s ingredients locally.
As the global supply chain continues to creak under the weight of the pandemic, sourcing regionally and locally makes more sense than ever. The chef has forged direct connections with local purveyors, including Mushroom Maggie’s Farm in West Feliciana Parish and JV Foods out of Kenner, a distribution company that sources from producers like Two Dog Farms in Flora, Mississippi; and Matt Ranatza Farms and Saxon Becnel & Sons citrus, both in Belle Chase. His menu features oysters harvested primarily from Louisiana and Alabama gulf coasts, using suppliers like Bright Side Oysters out of Grand Isle, who sustainably grow oysters in floating cages year-round, without ever having to disturb the ecosystem with dredging.
But beyond just sourcing locally, Temple aims to be a crop influencer, weighing in with farmers on what he’d like them to grow and what he can guarantee in the way of bottom-line business if they work with him. “This is the first time I’m doing this directly with farms,” he said. Working with Tim from JV Foods, Temple gets planting lists from the farms, crop projections for spring and summer. Looking past the usual cucumbers and tomatoes, Temple is asking for farms like Two Dog to grow sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, and the turnips he loves so much. “Sunchokes grow in north Mississippi, but I want them to grow closer to New Orleans. We’re asking the farmers to put them in the ground, and I’ll buy fifty to one hundred pounds a week, which is guaranteed money for them. Same for the hakurei turnips—I want them harvested with the tops on, and I’ll buy forty to fifty pounds a week.”
On Le Chat’s menu, Temple’s mastery over such ingredients shines. When it comes to the turnips, Temple sautés the crunchy Japanese varietal, with greens attached, in a miso-fueled umami sauce studded with candied Meyerquats and fronds of bronze fennel. Twirl the turnips like linguine, being sure to get the hybrid citrus in every bite, and the clean depth of flavor is revelatory.
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Fostering such novel interdependence between his restaurant and his farmers comes with its vulnerabilities, of course—and requires a certain amount of adaptability and creativity. When freezing temperatures affect farmers, Temple feels the chill. “Prior to the freeze, we knew it was coming,” he said. “I bought every ounce of Aztec spinach I could. When everything green but cabbage and kale died, I used the spinach in place of the turnip tops. It looks the same and has the same flavor profile. Now I’m using kale because it’s the only thing alive. It looks like planting is going to push back, but we’ll see what happens.”
This kind of back and forth extends beyond just vegetables, said Temple, who worked as a snout to tail butcher at Kenton’s in New Orleans before it closed in 2018. His experience at Lyle’s zero-waste kitchen influences his approach to processes like breaking down a Baton Rouge-raised pig every two weeks and aging four twenty-pound black groupers (sourced from Evans Meats in Birmingham) a month. Aging the fish gets the most out of each and every grouper. “We hang them for seven days, which gets rid of the water weight and makes the meat firmer.”
He’s pushing to get more locally-farmed quail raised on the Northshore, which—when he can get it—he serves stuffed with risotto on a bed of that Aztec spinach. Le Chat Noir’s menu of sides reads like a vegetable lover’s dream, with options like sticky beets served with endive, shallot, and Stilton; grilled mushrooms presented with herbs in a house vinaigrette; and heirloom beans prepared with preserved tomatoes, anchovy, and cress. The menu is shot through with vegan, vegetarian, and even gluten-free options.
Temple shares his passion for approachability and flavor with the restaurant’s knowledgeable wine director, sommelier Kevin Wardell, who recently moved to New Orleans with his family from Healdsburg, California. Like so many hospitality professionals who weathered the pandemic, Wardell and his wife were ready for a change. He brings small, boutique producers and lesser-known grapes to Le Chat Noir’s affordable list. His knowledge of varietals is vast; as is his familiarity with Old World and Italian wines. The menu’s “By The Glass” selection trots the globe, including a minerally white from Santorini and a fruit-forward cab franc from the Bourgueil area of the Loire Valley. The bar’s cocktail programs includes classics like the Sazerac and the gin-based Ford’s cocktail, along with originals like the Peat Davidson, made with rye, peated bourbon, dry vermouth, and sherry syrup.
Like so many restaurants that opened since the pandemic, Le Chat Noir has had plenty of hiccoughs while trying to get open. “Hurricane Ida was the most recent delay,” said partner James Reuter, a thirty-three-year-old restaurant dynamo who owns Bearcat’s locations Uptown and in the Central Business District. “We opened at the worst time for restaurants, the month of December, but we didn’t want to wait any more.” Gene Todaro, owner of Le Chat’s historic building, is also a partner. He ran his restaurant Marcello’s in the space before he moved it to Covington.
The space’s large windows overlook St. Charles Avenue; a front bar and oyster bar boast the original black and white tile floor up front. In the dining room, the black acoustic ceiling, still tracked with stage lighting, is original—and a welcome sound buffer.
Beyond his work with local producers, Temple imagines a day when he can welcome Louisiana game to the table, too. “We want to push for the same kind of legislation the state passed for fishing,” he said, referring to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)’s 2014 “catch and cook” program that allows restaurants with the proper permit to cook up certain fresh-caught fish for customers who bring it to them.
“We’re the Sportsman’s Paradise—it’s on our license plate. Why do I have to gets ducks from Canada? I’ve sat down with politicians and asked them how many wood ducks they killed last weekend, and how many of those forty ducks are getting freezer burnt or just left for waste. It’s the craziest thing. If we get local game through a USDA processing plant, it can work. If that’s something I can accomplish in my lifetime, I’ll die happy.”
Le Chat Noir is currently open for Happy Hour from 2:30 to five pm Tuesday through Saturday, and dinner from five until 10. lechatnoirnola.com.