{"id":32681,"date":"2016-11-02T16:32:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T22:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=32681"},"modified":"2016-11-03T09:18:20","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T15:18:20","slug":"le-marais-chef-owner-duo-to-appear-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/le-marais-chef-owner-duo-to-appear-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Le Marais chef, owner duo to appear here tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ALAN SMASON, <i> Exclusive to the CCJN<\/i><\/p>\n<p>New Orleanians have long loved their association with classic French cuisine, but iconic restaurants like Antoine&#8217;s, Galatoire&#8217;s and Tujague&#8217;s have cared not a whit to incorporate kosher observance into their kitchens. There simply are not enough observant Jews to warrant it.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32722\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32722\" class=\"wp-image-32722 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Le_Marais_duo\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32722\" class=\"wp-image-32722 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Le_Marais_duo\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Le_Marais_duo-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-32722\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Both Chef Michael Hennessey, left, with Jos\u00e9 Meirelles, the owner of Le Marais, will be in New Orleans Thursday and Friday to promote their new book. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Conversely, in New York with its huge Jewish population, kosher kitchens have enjoyed a celebrated and accessible status. While most Jewish fare consists of obligatory hot helpings of matzo ball soup, cold or hot sliced meats piled high on rye bread and generous offerings of pickles, some restaurants have opted to approach traditional food offerings while maintaining kashrut.<\/p>\n<p>The finest example of such a new tradition can be found at Le Marais, a superb French brasserie that serves steaks, chicken and other gastronomic wonders in the style and manner of haute cuisine. It also just happens to be kosher.<\/p>\n<p>The extraordinary restaurant is located at 150 West 46th Street, in the heart of the Theater District. It is but a stone&#8217;s throw from the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where &#8220;Hamilton: An American Musical&#8221; is the hottest ticket on Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>Inside the restaurant, festooned with tables exquisitely fitted with starched white tablecloths, there is a brick and finished wood-paneled dining room. Strategically placed mirrors at eye height along the right side give the room an expanded appearance.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32723\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32723\" class=\"wp-image-32723 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Dry_Aging\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32723\" class=\"wp-image-32723 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Dry_Aging\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dry_Aging-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-32723\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meat is dry aged for 28 days in the walk-in cooler at Le Marais. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But room amenities aside, it is the fine food that brings patrons to the establishment and for that they need only thank wonder Jos\u00e9 Meirelles and his executive chef of 12 years, Mark Hennessey.<\/p>\n<p>Meirelles had previously enjoyed fame as the proprietor of Les Halles, another wildly successful French brasserie in New York, whose executive chef Anthony Bourdain has since become a recognized celebrity and TV star.<\/p>\n<p>Hennessey had been working as the chef at another New York kosher eatery when Meirelles offered him the opportunity to open the kitchen at Le Marais. The rest is the stuff of culinary legend.<\/p>\n<p>It is this story of how two non-Jews &#8211; one, a Portuguese immigrant and the other an Irish New Yorker &#8211; got together to make Le Marais the crown jewel of kosher eateries that has led to their authoring a new book &#8220;Le Marais: A Rare Steakhouse&#8230;Well Done&#8221; just released by Gefen Publishing House.<\/p>\n<p>Both Meirelles and Hennessey sat down for an exclusive interview in their New York establishment prior to their arrival in New Orleans for a cooking demonstration and tastings at the Btesh Chabad House tonight at 7:00 p.m. The couvert for the event is $25 per person or $36 per couple.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32744\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32744\" class=\"wp-image-32744 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"LeMarais_interior1\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32744\" class=\"wp-image-32744 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"LeMarais_interior1\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/LeMarais_interior1-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-32744\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The interior of Le Marais on W. 146th St. in New York&#8217;s Theater District. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A private event for students next door at the Rohr Chabad Student Center at Tulane tomorrow night will follow Shabbat services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;They are coming to New Orleans because they are looking to promote the restaurant and the new cook book in Jewish communities outside New York,&#8221; explained Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin, who helped set up the unusual cooking demonstrations. &#8220;They love New Orleans and they know how important the food culture is in New Orleans, so they thought it would be a great place to promote.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Hennessey, a bearish figure clad in a white chef&#8217;s coat, gave further reason for the publication of the book. &#8220;The book is something that Jos\u00e9 actually wanted to do for a long time,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was only a matter of three years ago we really had serious discussions between each 0ther as how we were going to do this, (even) if we going to do this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Hennessey, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a former executive chef at Lavana, another kosher restaurant of renown, recalls beginning the process, shuttering himself away in his New York office and placing the first of the book&#8217;s characters onto the waiting computer screen. Over the course of six months of weekends he wrote about mother sauces, the need to work in concert with a kosher butcher, provided recipes culled from his own menu items and documented the success of Les Marais in a frank and funny matter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Guided by Meirrelles through the editing process, Hennessey included recipes for treasured French classics like veal sweetbreads with mushrooms, roast prime rib of beef and cassoulet, a creamy, duck-laden meal that requires three days of preparation, but which he calls &#8220;the perfect Shabbos dish.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The paperback book is punctuated with beautiful black and white and color photos by Meirelles&#8217; son Martim, which refine and complement the work.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32747\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32747\" class=\"wp-image-32747 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"JoseMeirelles\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32747\" class=\"wp-image-32747 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"JoseMeirelles\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/JoseMeirelles-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-32747\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jos\u00e9 Meirelles, the owner of Le Marais, in one of two walk-in coolers used to age beef. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;When we first opened the restaurant, we got a lot of flack, because people would say &#8216;How can it be that you have a kosher restaurant and you don&#8217;t have Jewish food?&#8217;,&#8221; Meirelles noted. &#8220;&#8216;You don&#8217;t have chicken soup. You don&#8217;t have gefilte fish. You don&#8217;t have matzo balls.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He countered, &#8220;No, we are a French restaurant that happens to keep kosher.&#8221; After a while, people began to understand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In setting up the kitchen, both the chef and the restaurant owner understood the need to work closely with a kosher butcher. Their butcher, Dominique, is spotlighted before the first of the salads, soups or other dishes are explored and expanded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">They dry age their beef for 28 days in house. The process results in an approximate 30 per cent loss of the meat due to shrinkage, but the flavoring is worth the cost, both Meirelles and Hennessey agree.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;Le Marais: A Rare Steakhouse&#8230;Well Done&#8221; features an introduction by Hadassah and Senator Joe Lieberman, who are longtime customers. The book retails for $29.95 and will be on sale throughout the night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Both Meirelles and Hennessey struggled for a decade before the restaurant began to turn the corner, according to the book. Today, though, it enjoys legendary status as dozens of observant Jews have become faithful customers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This is, after all, New York, the most populous Jewish city in America. Yet, there is a glaring reminder of the larger New York world in which it is situated when leaving the kosher establishment. That would be the name of the adjacent restaurant: Pig &#8216;N Whistle. <em>Oy veh<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Le%20Marais%20chef%2C%20owner%20duo%20to%20appear%20here%20tonight\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8790,8795,8145,8143,8146,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32681"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32681"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32750,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32681\/revisions\/32750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}