New in New Orleans: Charles & Julia Serves Casual, Light Fare in the CBD
by Andrew Chalk
I just went to Charles and Julia, a new restaurant (it only opened in May) in New Orleans’ Central Business District (CBD) as their guest. It offers a really light menu with a seafood focus. And you know you are in The Big Easy because the menu is two pages of food and six pages of drinks. Advice from the friendly GM gave us a roadmap through the menu. Start with a cocktail (or mocktail) while you read through the menu.
One page is cold dishes. The other page is hot. Choose one of each. For the small appetited or GLP-1 junkies this will be sufficient. Those with larger appetites should add an additional dish, maybe doing a split. There are, currently, no desserts, but this may be about to change.
From my own visit I would add to the GM’s advice: Choose the additional dish after you have finished your initial order. You may decide on something you haven’t tried, but you may be wowed by some of the choices you had.
With your meal there is a well-chosen wine list and an especially good and large selection of wines by the glass.
We started with what turned-out to be the standout dish of the night (at least, in The Moll’s estimation) Tuna and Watermelon Crudo ($19). Equal-sized chunks of watermelon and tuna belly jostled together in a shrimp vinaigrette, with lemongrass for accent and a slice of daikon radish draped across the top. Perhaps the killer feature was a ‘’slice’ of sushi rice that sat like a crisp piece of toast balanced on top (the Marina Bay Sands may be the inspiration) that added a whole textural dimension. That clever touch, plus the vinaigrette having just the right amount of acidity, made this dish a winner.
I chose the Lobster Roll ($27) for my cold dish. Modest-sized but well-conceived was the MO. The bun was brioche, and buttered with all its glorious richness, and it was toasted, creating textual variation and complementary flavors. Lime aioli had a Kewpie lightness and there was celery and cilantro as well. It was delicious as a whole, but I needed to get a smaller mouth, virtually all of it was gone in four bites.
On the hot side I chose the Carbonara Crab Gnocchi ($24) which was also my favorite dish of the meal. The lump crab meat that formed the bulk of this dish was enhanced with pancetta, accented with parmesan cheese and black pepper, and supplemented by soft sweet peas. It arrived impressively topped with an egg yolk that looked ‘locked and loaded’. Just smash once for a tumult of yolk. Then toss together with all for a delicious melange of flavor.
The Moll chose Crispy Softshell Crab ($25) for her hot dish with fennel and mango salad, mint, cilantro, cashew nuts, fried shallots and sweet and sour vinaigrette. It was as good a softshell crab as I have had.
We were not quite full after two courses so added a shared course of Chestnut Mushroom Toast ($17). The mushrooms were served on a slice of country bread, sprinkled with goat’s cheese and topped with half a soft-boiled egg. Now, this assembly got floated in a miso and mushroom broth, which tasted great. However, unlike all the preceding dishes it did not have the photogenic looks. Maybe serve the miso mushroom broth in a small demitasse jug on the side for the diner to pour themselves. This would preserve the flavor while looking good as well.
Back to those NO-obligatory cocktails. I started with a Sazerac, my third of this trip. Everyone does this cocktail differently down here, despite it being something like an “official” cocktail of the city. The common element is the rye whiskey backbone, but after that things vary. The Moll wanted a mocktail and went with a One More Thyme ($13) non-alcoholic gin and thyme combination. We also went with a mint mocktail later and I found the bar chooses their herbs carefully for maximum freshness. If you want to mock, this is a good place to do it.
I chose the Trefethen 2023 Oak Knoll, Napa Chardonnay ($16) but I wonder if Trefethen has slipped. An Albarino on the by-the-glass list is marked “Julia’s favorite”. Maybe I should have chosen that.
This particular evening was Hand Roll Night which meant five hand rolls and three spritzes. The GM thought that that might account for the clientele skewing more than three-quarters female.
Who are Charles and Julia? Just the roads at the junction where the Hotel Perle (which encompasses the restaurant) is located. The restaurant has a rooftop annex at the same address but, given the rain, we did not visit that.
Charles and Julia is a lively, friendly establishment serving light seafood-leaning dishes in a renovated premises that combines raw charm of naked brick walls with sophisticated wallpaper prints. Recommended.
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