Mirrors in dark wood panels, an antique bar, and various tilts and skews that reveal the building's age make one expect a traditional style of cooking. About two years ago, after the last with-it chef departed, the owners turned the kitchen over to traditionalists, and it all seems more comfortable now. The food is beautifully presented, hot, made with first-class ingredients, amply served, and in most cases deftly flavored. Start with crab cakes, made with a great deal of lump crabmeat, held together with a relatively small amount of the traditional mixture of bread crumbs, herbs and egg. They're served with an original sauce of horseradish and sour cream, one that sets of the flavor wonderfully.
Soups here are good.
They make a very good gumbo, particularly of the seafood variety. Different, but good. Two entrees are considered signatures, though both actually came from other restaurants. Barbecue shrimp are made according to a recipe left behind by Gerard Maras, the last of the aforementioned cutting-edge chefs here. The butter is emulsified into the sauce, which gives it a creamy look, a great mouthfeel, and a big flavor release.