Stella!

On Easter Sunday we dressed in our finest and headed out to a popular fine-dining restaurant in New Orleans called Stella.  

This restaurant only serves two fixe prix menus, one that is four courses for $85 per person, and the other that is seven courses for $125 per person.  The four course menu has some choice, but the seven course menu is completely set by the chef.  We opted for the seven courses.

The service at this restaurant was impeccable. 

Dinner started with some house-made bread:

This was followed by an amuse bouche (a steamed brioche bun with lobster salad):

The chef then sent out another amuse bouche (salmon with chia seed sauce):

1st Course - Prime beef carpaccio, shaved fois gras, raw oysters, oyster-truffle emulsion, rye bread, arugula and radish blossoms:

2nd Course - Stinging nettle soup with smoked quail egg, parsnip curd, crispy green garlic and miner's lettuce:

3rd Course - Confit of Chinook salmon with pickled ramps, morel mushrooms, English peas, munjebel & wild cherry bark beurre rouge and ginger gel:

 

4th Course - Cochon de lait confit with fingerling potatoes, raclette, basque cider jus & pickled beets:

5th Course - Prime beef tenderloin, glazed short rib, bone marrow, cabbage embeurree, grilled cabbage rapini, Brussels sprouts, king oyster mushrooms, pomme dauphine:

 

6th Course - Strawberries & cream with violent, almonds, oats & tarragon ice cream:

 

7th Course - Frozen chocolate, beet ice cream, black sesame rocks, yuzu, hibiscus & lemon balm:

 

Complimentary dessert:

 

What an epic meal!  We both agreed that the 6th course was probably our favourite.  We also thought that the portions were very big for a fixe prix menu like this - they could have been smaller and we wouldn't have been disappointed.

Which course looks best to you?