Photo by Dale Irvin
At Jubilee Restaurant in Mandeville, it’s a tough choice for dessert when your options include both Blood Orange Ginger Cheesecake and Heaven and Hell Cake.
So for the moment, let’s adhere to the old adage about life being uncertain…and start with dessert. In this case, Heaven and Hell Cake—a mound covered in chocolate ganache, with a layer of angel food cake atop its apparent opposite: a layer of devil’s food cake. And what’s that serving as a pleasant purgatory between the two realms?
“That’s peanut butter mousse layered in the middle,” explained Chef Tory Stewart. He quickly credited his sous chef for conceiving the dish that concluded lunch at his restaurant Jubilee, in the heart of Mandeville’s historic district.
Stewart opened the restaurant last June with longtime friend and now business partner Steve Planchard. The two met when they were both working at Broussard’s in New Orleans.
“He mentored me the entire time,” said Stewart, referring to that restaurant’s legendary Chef Gunter Preuss. And then one day, explained Stewart, “He sat me down and said that they were retiring.” Stewart and Planchard had long talked about opening their own restaurant, and they didn’t wish to stay on at Broussard’s after Chef Preuss retired, so this seemed to be that moment.
When Planchard spotted a building available in Old Mandeville, he rang up Stewart. “I’ll never forget the phone call,” said Stewart. “The next day we were out here.”
Stewart’s culinary training started early, first practicing on his family growing up, then in several restaurants before attending the French Culinary Institute in New York City. While there, he interned under Chef Dave Pasternack at Chef Mario Batali’s restaurant ESCA and under Chef Bill Peet at Café des Artistes.
After earning his culinary degree, like many aspiring chefs, he headed for New Orleans, where he worked first as a sous chef at Begue’s Restaurant in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, eventually making his way to Broussard’s. During his time there he had the chance to add his own innovations to the menu, including orange-lime marinated grouper, seafood ceviche martini, and a Berkshire pork chop flambéed with calvados.
At Jubilee, Stewart has his own distinct culinary spin, but wisely knows when to draw upon the mentoring he received from the noted chefs with whom he’s worked. “I’ve followed the same recipe as when I worked in New York under Mario Batali,” he said about the sauce for the shrimp dish on that day’s lunch menu. “It’s his simple tomato sauce. I fell in love with it and have been using it ever since.”
Mascarpone grit cakes underneath and a little fresh parsley on top make for a simple, beautifully balanced dish, just like one of the appetizers that can precede it: a creamy blue cheese dip accented with a roasted red pepper sauce, chive oil, and pickled chilies, accompanied by toasted flat bread dusted with cumin.
Lunch entrées include a veal dish that departs from the usual preparation. “Instead of doing it panéed, we do it à la Francaise,” said Stewart. “You salt and pepper the veal, then dredge it first in white flour and then the egg mixture. It gives it a very eggy texture on the outside.”
Chef Stewart offered a remarkably candid and thoughtful response on his signature dish. “It takes chefs sometimes their [whole] career to define their signature dish. I don’t think I’ve found mine yet,” he said. But he did offer up a customer favorite: “It would probably have to be the hand-harvested sea scallops with roasted beet couscous.” If this dish is an indication, it seems fair to surmise that much of the fun in the search for a signature dish is the journey to get there.
One topic brings a quick and certain response from Chef Stewart: brunch. Ask him about it and he lights up, then rapidly begins ticking off his favorite dishes. “I am a brunch fanatic. We do a Louisiana Hot Brown, a rip off a Kentucky hot brown. It’s a nice thick slice of brioche, with two fried eggs, crawfish, charred tomato, bacon, and covered in hollandaise. We do the traditional veal grillades and grits. We do a mascarpone French toast.”
And then there’s an egg white frittata for vegetarians. “I’ve been married to [a vegetarian] for eighteen years,” noted Stewart with a chuckle. “Imagine that. I know every vegetable in the world.” He added, “I’ve learned to appreciate an egg white frittata. Don’t let the word ‘healthy’ intimidate you, because it is a full meal.”
There are other family influences. “We do a wonderful hotcake named after my daughter Regan,” he said, noting that one version comes with a bananas Foster topping.
Inside the vintage storefront, the restaurant’s interior is bright and airy, showing off some nice woodwork, but with otherwise simple décor that allows the beautifully plated food to take center stage. Alternatively, this is the perfect time of year to opt to have your brunch in the restaurant’s pretty outdoor courtyard.
Related recipe: Jubilee Bouillabaisse
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Jubilee 301 Lafitte Street Mandeville, La. (985) 778-2552 • facebook.com/JubileeRestaurantAndCourtyard
