Here’s a look at some June culinary happenings at NOLA restaurants.
The Return Of Brunch At Compère Lapin
Sunday Brunch Begins June 4, 2024
Since opening in June 2015, Chef Nina Compton’s beloved New Orleans restaurant in the Old No. 77 Hotel – Compère Lapin –has received critical acclaim, including Eater National’s “Best Restaurants in America;” Food & Wine’s “40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years;” a rave review in The New York Times; Esquire’s “40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade;” and many others. When Compton’s flagship restaurant reopened post-pandemic, the restaurant opened with limited hours and dinner only.
Now, Compton and partner, Larry Miller, are thrilled to announce the return of Sunday Brunch.
Beginning June 4th, locals and visitors can enjoy Compton’s Caribbean-meets-Louisiana cuisine from 10:30AM – 2PM every Sunday.
Starters include Tater Tots with crème fraiche and caviar; Everything Bagel with tuna tartar and chili cream cheese; and the famed CL Buttermilk Biscuits with jam and whipped ricotta.
Main plates include the return of Chef’s Hot Fire Chicken – a dish that was only available during lunch and brunch – served with biscuits and slaw; Braised Pork with polenta, confit tomatoes, and sunny egg; Smothered Rabbit with biscuit croquette; and French Toast with rum caramel, pecans and mint.
Guests can end on a sweet note with Buttermilk Pie with strawberry compote; Chia Pudding with coconut and berries; and Zeppole (Italian fried dough similar to beignet) with pecans and rum caramel.
The first New Orleans restaurant to receive the prestigious “Best American Hotel Bar” Spirited Award by the Tales of The Cocktail Foundation, Compère Lapin’s cocktail program is as inventive as the cuisine.
Boozy brunch offerings include In the Valley Below – Cimmaron tequila, coffee-infused mezcal, Campari, cherry and cacao; Last Stag – Union Mezcal, German amaro, Luxardo maraschino, and lime; House of Zanzibar – Black Strap Rum, Creme de Banane, Angostura, orgeat and bitters; and more.
A Bottomless Brunch Punch is also on offer for $20.
Bakery Bar Launches Club Bb: Summer Classics Remix
Discounted Tropical Twists on New Orleans Classic Cocktails
Available All-Day Thursdays until August 24, 2023
Just a stone’s throw from the Crescent City Connection Overpass in the Lower Garden District, Bakery Bar has become a locals’ haunt for imaginative cocktails, weekday brunch, and Latin American-meets-Creole cuisine.
Just in time for summer, Bakery Bar has announced the launch of Club BB: Summer Classics Remix – a weekly cocktail extravaganza available, Thursdays, from open-to-close, starting May 4th through August 24th.
Priced at only $9 each,all-day on Thursdays, the specialty cocktail menu follows:
- Cafe Carib
- Tropical remix of the classic Café Brûlot
Spiced rum, orange bitters, allspice, Pretty Coffee cold brew, chicory whipped cream
- Tropical remix of the classic Café Brûlot
- Chillin Mantis
- Frozen twist on a Grasshopper
Light rum, mint, cacao, cream and lots of ice
- Frozen twist on a Grasshopper
- Detonator
- Smoothed-out version of the Hand Grenade
Rum, vodka, gin, cantaloupe and pineapple
- Smoothed-out version of the Hand Grenade
- Rum Crispy
- A tiki-fied Brandy Crusta
- Spiced rum, dry curacao, orange, lemon and sugar
Guests can accompany these boozy treats with an array of snacks from Executive Chef Lydia Solano including Oxtail Croquettes; Fried Hibiscus Pickles with confit garlic and housemade chamoy; Bacon Blue Sliders; and Dumpster Frites – a Bakery Bar specialty featuring hand-cut fries, Urban South Who Dat beer cheese, pork debris, and grilled onions.
Bakery Bar is showing love to locals with their weekly specials.
On Tuesdays, aka S.I.N Day, service industry workers can enjoy 15% off brunch and dinner menu items with valid I.D.; Wednesdays, relish in discounted wine by the glass and bottles with Wine Wednesdays; and take advantage of Bakery Bar’s rotating Happy Hour food menu, available from 4 PM -7 PM Tuesday – Friday.
Summer Tiki Takeover At The Bower Bar
Enjoy Tiki-inspired Cocktails and Dishes June & July 2023
This Summer, The Bower Bar – the indoor/outdoor bar next door to The Bower – is gearing up for the season with a tropical Tiki Takeover during the months of June and July.
With a decked-out space filled with tiki decor, along with an array of tiki-inspired cocktails from Beverage Director Mickey Mullins, guests can enjoy $18 sippables featuring a variety of Don Q rums.
Specialty cocktails include Frozen Pina Colada with rum, pineapple, and coconut; Rum Mango Old Fashioned – Don Q Gran Reserva Añejo XO, spiced mango, and bitters; Painkiller – rums, citrus, and cream of coconut; Jungle Bird – rum, bitter orange, fresh pineapple, and citrus; The Audacity – rum, passionfruit, citrus, orgeat, and absinthe spray; and Hakuna Matata – bourbon, velvet falernum, allspice dram, citrus, aquafaba.
Additionally, larger groups can enjoy large-format (shareable) cocktails, including Zombie Bowl – rums, fresh citrus, passionfruit, pineapple, bitters, and house-made grenadine; and Bower Bowl – a refreshing punch shareable featuring fresh juices and Don Q rums.
Guests can also enjoy a non-alcoholic take on a gin fizz with the Spiritless Fizz.
Executive Chef Marcus Woodham is spicing it up in the kitchen with options like Spam Musubi – sweet soy glazed spam, sushi rice, furikake, spicy mayo; Pineapple Braised Short Ribs – sweet plantains, avocado and cilantro rice, and pickled onions; Huli Chicken Skewers – Hawaiian macaroni salad, spicy pineapple; Spicy Salmon Poke Tostada – smashed avocado, shaved onions, cilantro, wasabi tobiko; and Peem’s Pad Thai.
Tujague’s Celebrates Pride Month With Poppy’s Drag Queen Brunch
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Three-Month Summer Series Features Three-Course Brunch, Bottomless Mimosas & Lively Entertainment
It is quite fitting that Tujague’s, the birthplace of the tradition known as brunch, was also one of the first to popularize drag queen brunches in New Orleans when the restaurant celebrated its 160th birthday in 2015.
The drag queen brunch was created in partnership with cookbook author, media darling and culinary activist Poppy Tooker.
Since then, drag brunches have become wildly-popular throughout New Orleans and the rest of the country.
Now, in its new locale at 429 Decatur Street, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans is celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month with the kick-off of the summer series of Poppy’s Drag Queen Brunches on Sunday, June 25th from 11 AM – 2 PM.
Taking place the last Sunday of each summer month (June 25, July 30and August 27), these festive celebrations will feature a three-course drag brunch prepared by Executive Chef Gus Martin, bottomless mimosas for three full hours, and lively entertainment by nationally-renowned drag queens Laveau Contraire, Debbie With A D, Cucci Licci and Starr Alexander, amongst others.
Prepaid tickets are priced at $70 per person (excluding tax and gratuity).
Full menu for the June brunch is HERE and reservations can be made on OpenTable (under “Experiences”) or by calling Tujague’s at (504)525-8576. Tujague’s is located at 429 Decatur Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter.