Photo by Brenda Maitland
Donald Link and his restaurant partners have written a new recipe for creating an upscale fish house in seafood-rich South Louisiana. However, it’s not one that can be easily copied.
Pêche Seafood Grill, at the corner of Magazine and Julia is the Link Restaurant Group’s fifth eating establishment, joining flagship restaurant Herbsaint, along with the shrines to swine—Cochon and Butcher—and private event facility Calcasieu, all in New Orleans’ trendy Warehouse District.
The group’s latest foray in one of the city’s hottest dining and entertainment districts is an instant success on all fronts. Since Pêche’s highly anticipated opening six months ago, the dining throngs have not subsided.
The site, now in the midst of restoration, is a nineteenth century building that once housed livery stables, a mortuary reportedly where Jefferson Davis was embalmed, and from the 1920s—2010, headquarters for the American Coffee Company.
For years, co-owner and chef Ryan Prewitt, Link, and partner Stephen Stryjewski talked about how great it would be to have a seafood venue. “We all wanted to do it because it’s such a natural for the area with year-round availability of some of the most desirable seafood found anywhere,” said Prewitt.
While on a trip to Uruguay with the Fat Back collective—a southeast chefs’ group borne out of the Southern Foodways Alliance, the threesome became enamored with the local traditional cooking techniques over open fires.
The experience was awesome, said Prewitt. “We observed how their core cooking medium was live fire cooking techniques over wood and then using the charcoal from the wood for grilling.”
A second wood-fired seafood research trip to Spain’s San Sebastian area furthered the trio’s interest in cooking over an open flame.
“When we travel to support other chefs’ efforts, benefits, and other programs, we cook and eat together and exchange ideas,” said Prewitt. “It’s nice to be able to do this, and we all benefit from it.”
When they returned, they scouted locations and came upon the building undergoing renovation at 800 Magazine Street.
“We were searching for a rustic-looking place, perhaps a warehouse because we planned to operate it as a casual, approachable eatery,” said Prewitt.
“We knew we wanted to stay in the Warehouse District,” he said, “It’s a wonderful neighborhood, and so many people want to be there. The bonus is that it has not yet reached its potential.
“This place was perfect,” he said. “We approached the owner, who liked our concept, and first floor plans were changed to accommodate the restaurant.” The Link team determined the design for Pêche, and site architect Peter Trapolin had the bottom floor built out to suit the chefs’ design needs. Then the magic began.
The end result merges the rustic look and feel of a weather-worn fish camp while conveying the contemporary vibe of a newly re-purposed historic building with all the scars, scuffs, and scrapes intact. Bare wooden beams, massive double doors with arched glass panes, large windows, exposed brick, and high ceilings harken back to the building’s beginnings. Even modern touches reach into the past to reflect the retro ambiance. A crystal chandelier sparkles above the squared-off wooden bar on the Julia street corner. A huge, framed charcoal fish art piece by Frances Rodriguez, Prewitt’s wife’s cousin, offers additional décor. Most of the materials used in the outfitting of the restaurant were recycled.
New furnishings were constructed by custom furniture maker Chip Martinson. Martinson built the bar from a large piece of reclaimed sinker cypress. The chairs were made from Old New Orleans Rum barrels. The tables sport a glossy patina over rough-hewn, salvaged fifty-year-old pine. On the opposite end of the building next to the kitchen, a large marble-topped raw bar features oysters and other crudo, some salads, and seafood preparations, with seating for walk-ins or diners wanting just a few nibbles.
From their travels, the three partners were so captivated by the premise of outdoor, open-fire cooking, they had a custom steel hearth built modeled after the rigs they saw in Spain and Uruguay. Talented welder/craftsman, Dwayne Link, Donald’s cousin, built the kitchen’s hearth, combining the open hearth on one side and a grill on the other so the wood from the hearth could be reused as charcoal for the grill.
As for the menu, thoughts, recipes, and memories have been swirling around in the guys’ heads for years. They wanted to express themselves with simple, interesting variations and unusual techniques.
“We were excited about the concept. We tossed around ideas and began testing recipes. That process evolved into the menu,” said Prewitt.
“We source just about everything locally,” he continued, “Our herbs are grown by a staff member. Our flowers come from the Farmers Market down the street. We have connections with local fishermen and source our own Gulf shrimp and oysters nearby.
“We buy the produce that’s currently available to us and will continue the practice year round; so we’ll be making seasonal menu changes,” he continued. “We buy at the peak of the seasons for both seafood and produce. It’s a smart, logical way to run a business: buy when the items are at their best and most plentiful and the prices are lower.”
The current trend of small plates for dining flourishes here, as well as sharing larger entrées—for example, the seafood platter: a whole fish, such as a grilled redfish with salsa verde or a grilled American red snapper with chile vinaigrette, either of which can feed two or four or more. For meat lovers, a 22 oz. rib eye is available.
Recent raw bar offerings included tuna with scallions and nectarine vinaigrette and a cured salmon dish with pickled cucumbers, dill oil, and sieved, hard-cooked egg garnish.
The various dishes are often influenced by other cultures’ cuisines such as Asian noodles with spicy ground shrimp; baked drum with ginger, tomato, and crispy rice; or grilled skirt steak or fish with Mexican salsa verde.
Other preparations are nearer to home. A dish reminiscent of Gulf Coast seafood eateries is the smoked tuna dip appetizer—long offered at Florida fish houses. But Pêche takes it into the realm of the divine.
The Royal Red shrimp with garlic butter is another Gulf Coast-inspired specialty. The Royal Red, discovered in the mid 1990s, lives in deep, cold water along the Alabama-Florida coast as well as the Eastern seaboard.
The fish sticks are nothing like what your Momma defrosted when you were growing up. Battered with LA31 beer, the lightly fried, moist fish sticks are served with a yummy, house-made tartar sauce.
Fine Creole cuisine such as the shrimp bisque or the elegant crab and eggplant gratin offer delicate favors. More toward the Cajun country wavelength, stewed okra and tomatoes, seafood gumbo, white beans and bacon, and smothered catfish provide intense South Louisiana flavors and textures. Other treats include shrimp toast, grilled lamb skewer with eggplant, hushpuppies, and crab and artichoke fritters.
Pastry Chef Rhonda Ruckman’s desserts are flawless. A key lime pie is crowned with chantilly cream; pineapple rum cake is served with dulce de leche ice cream; and the top of the chocolate peanut butter banana pie is scattered with Butterfinger crumbles.
The bar is well stocked and offers some very special cocktails, along with a selection of fine rums. More than two-dozen varieties of both beers and wines-by-the-glass are available. The extensive 115-bottle-plus wine list is an oenophile’s dream.
While the European and South American influences on the restaurant’s cooking style make a strong statement, in some ways, Pêche may also represent to some South Louisianans a throwback to all those fishing trips that led to cooking the fresh catch out over an open camp fire or those treasured family car trips to Pensacola, Fort Walton, and Destin, with stops at the old seafood eateries along the way.
Recipes from Chef Donald Link: Crab and Eggplant Gratin;Smoked Tuna Appetizer; Olive Salad; and Whole Grilled Redfish.
Details. Details. Details. Pêche Seafood Grill 800 Magazine Street New Orleans, La. (504) 522-1744 • pecherestaurant.com Monday–Thursday 11am–10 pm Friday–Saturday 11 am–11 pm Closed Sunday
