Photo by Brenda Maitland
Dicki Brennan (left) and partner Steve Pettus (right).
Fine performance and fine dining in the same historic location
The thrill of opening night at the theatre just got much more exciting—especially if the performance is at Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré, now also the adjacent home of Tableau, Dickie Brennan and Co.’s classy new restaurant.
Founded in 1916, New Orleans’ Le Petit Théâtre was one of the country’s oldest, continuously running community theatres. When, due to financial stressors, the theatre was abruptly closed in 2010, Brennan, a long-time supporter of the theatre, came to the rescue.
Brennan and his sister, Lauren Brower, along with partner Steve Pettus, already owned and operated Palace Café, Brennan’s Steakhouse, and Bourbon House Seafood & Oyster Bar. The distress of Le Petit had them joining forces again, this time in the creation of a restaurant that would help the troubled theatre climb above its debts while providing a new dining experience which could support the theatre’s productions.
The new venture is physically housed in two separate buildings connected by a common lobby and courtyard. The Chartres Street / St. Peter corner, which Tableau now occupies, was purchased for $3 million, an amount that not only saved the theatre and repaid its debts but also provided sufficient funds to refurbish and renovate Le Petit with new carpeting, lighting, painting, sound boards, stage lights, dressing rooms, backstage facilities, new offices, ADA compliant restrooms, and other upgrades.
With all of this revamp, not a single seat was lost in the main theatre. In addition, Brennan created a $500,000 endowment upon which the theatre’s current administration could build a firm financial future for the theatre.
Since opening in April, Tableau has entertained throngs of guests and neighbors, many of whom have become regulars. From the impressive entrance foyer, which leads to the theatre on the lake (north) side, to Tableau on the river (south) side, and into the courtyard directly ahead, every space is an aesthetic delight.
Above the ground floor, with its shared entrance, elongated lobby, and charming courtyard, Brennan and Co. renovated Tableau’s second and third floors to accommodate a drawing room with a bar and flat screen TVs, private dining rooms, a second floor kitchen, wine room, restaurant offices, and the library on the second floor which serves as a bar during intermissions for balcony seat patrons, a much-appreciated amenity for the theatre crowd.
Magnificent balconies on both second and third floors overlook the interior courtyard with its greenery, sitting areas, striped awnings and playful stone cherubs perched around the central fountain.
Yet the scene is even more stunning from the grand second level iron grillwork balcony that curves around the outside of the building from St. Peter to Chartres with panoramic, picturesque views of the heart of historic New Orleans: the entire Jackson Square, Pontalba apartment buildings and the Cabildo.
Upon entering Tableau, a marble bar in the salon beckons as mixologists shake, stir, and pour a selection of original concoctions such as Suppressed Desire, Drawing Room Players, Bon Ton, and Just as Well—the names all theatre references—along with classic favorites.
Overhead, distinctive chandeliers and huge iron light fixtures are suspended from the ceiling, created for Tableau by New Orleans‘ Bevelo Gas and Electric lights, a sixty-eight-year-old local company still creating original, antique and heritage lighting for yesterday’s and today’s buildings.
A spectacular staircase winds its way up to the second floor and continues to the third. Down on the first floor, where guests enter Tableau’s dining room, huge arched fan windows overlooking the patio spill light into the restaurant while the Chartres Street side windows attract interested looks from passersby.
Archways, mirroring a main architectural feature of the buildings, are a prevalent statement in the design of the bar’s entrance from the salon to the main dining room and above Tableau’s busy open kitchen.
There, Chef Ben Thibodeaux, a graduate of the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, and his talented team execute the enticing French-Creole driven specialties on Tableau’s menu.
Thibodeaux, a Lafayette native, joined Dickie Brennan and Co. in 2004 as sous chef at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse. After Katrina hit the following year, badly flooding the Steakhouse, Thibodeaux and a core group of Brennan staff members returned to New Orleans to reopen Bourbon House to serve first responders, returning residents, and others during a difficult and stressful time.
His next role in the company was at Palace Café where in 2007 he was named chef de cuisine. When talk began about the new restaurant, Brennan and Pettus called on the chefs at the three restaurants as well as corporate chef, Darin Nesbit, to think about a French-Creole menu.
“I was excited,” said Thibodeaux, who had lived in France after culinary school and worked in the kitchens of the two-star Michelin, Relais et Châteaux restaurant, Coutanceau in La Rochelle.
Here was an opportunity to use the training and methods learned in France and to marry them with his South Louisiana culinary cunning.
“In the elevator on the way down from the meeting, I just decided to go for it and hit the ‘up’ button,” said Thibodeaux.
“I walked back in the office and indicated my intense interest in the new project to Dickie,” he continued. “I created dishes and then began testing them with staff and getting approval very quickly.
“I would take good quality ingredients for a classic dish like crab ravigote and try to do something a little different, to make it more tasty, like using lemon zest in the dressing.”
He continued the progression, creating dishes that could be served in demi-portions as well as full-size, like pan-sautéed Gulf fish with a choice of meunière, amandine, or praline sauce.
“I focused a lot of my energy on controlling portion sizes, lightness, and lots of small plates,” he said. “With so many options, we could add versatility to the menu so guests could experience more dishes.”
Other dishes available in demi portions as well as full size are panéed veal scallopini with beurre noisettes; tournedos Rossini moderne topped with seared foie gras and marchand de vin; filet of beef bearnaise; and three classic entrée egg dishes: husssarde, benedict and sardou.
Thibodeaux also added accompaniments to the menu that could be served alone or with any number of dishes: St. Roch (named for the long gone, but now being reconstructed iconic seafood market)—jumbo lump crab, roasted mushrooms, garlic, and green onions; Cabildo—Gulf oysters poached in Creole bordelaise sauce with butter, garlic, and green onion; and the Trist (a family name)—jumbo lump crabmeat, artichoke hearts, garlic, and green onions.
The usual star performers are also here, such as turtle soup with sherry, duck and andouille gumbo, escargot bordelaise, Creole courtbouillon, potatoes Tableau (a retake of the brabant potatoes that were part of the Creole chicken Clemenceau dish), barbecue shrimp and grits, grilled veal chop, and roast duck.
For Tableau’s seafood gumbo, Thibodeaux makes a stock from roasted shrimp shells. He also adds eggplant as he sautés the trinity.
“I figured, ‘eggplant goes with all of this seafood, so why not in the gumbo?’ I fry it a little, caramelize it, and add the roux, cooking forty-five minutes and then incorporating the shrimp stock,” he said.
With the eggplant incorporated, not as much roux is needed to thicken the gumbo, he noted. Before adding the fresh seafood, Thibodeaux uses an emulsion mixer to smooth out the mixture to a velvety texture.
Thibodaux collaborated with Pastry Chef Stephanie Bernard to create the restaurant’s scrumptious sweets. Stuffed-to-the-gills diners will need to find room for tart a la bouille—vanilla custard baked in a rustic Cajun sweet dough and topped with rum caramel sauce; Chartres chocolate cake; hot chocolate pot de crème; pecan pie vol-au-vent; strawberry shortcake macaroon; praline monkey bread pudding; chocolate banana crepe; frozen lemon parfait made with a sugar sub that taste-tested better than the sugar version; and a few more.
On performance nights, Tableau serves a pre theatre, three-course, prix fixe menu.
As people watching goes, there’s a kind of performance amidst the buzz of activity in Tableau’s main dining room. Patrons glide by seated diners, interweaving with waiters, bussers, and servers who act their parts and go through their paces with much aplomb. And as in all the Brennan restaurants, the staff is well rehearsed and eager to please their audience.
Another positive boon to the French Quarter community, the previously ill-lit, deserted-for-a-time St. Peter-Chartres Street corner has reawakened. The well-lit interior courtyard and the magnificent Tableau lighting now shine brightly through the glass panes of Chartres Street’s formerly shuttered windows, bringing new life to the corner.
Although the theatre and the restaurant are separate entities, the theatre received far more than a financial boost. Now the perfect mix of fine performance and fine dining ensures that this show will go on.
Recipes from Chef Ben Thibodeaux of Tableau: Stone Ground Chèvre Grits; Tart à la Bouille; and Oysters en Brochette.
Details. Details. Details.
Tableau 616 St. Peter Street New Orleans, La. (504) 934-3463 • feedback@tableaufrenchquarter.com
Open 7 days Monday–Thursday 11:30 am–10 pm; Friday–Saturday 11:30 am–11 pm; Sunday 10 am–10 pm. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays. Most cards accepted.
