Alex Patout And Christabelle's Quarter Split
The big news today, uncovered by the Miami Herald, is that Alex Patout has left Christabelle's Quarter, the new-ish New Orleans-themed restaurant in Coconut Grove. Patout, who used to have a restaurant in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and Christabelle's owner apparently couldn't agree on the menu:
''Alex is a wonderful chef -- his cuisine is very rustic, very country, from the heart of Louisiana,'' said co-owner Kim Koch. ``We just didn't see eye-to-eye on the concept of the food.''Interesting. Locals certainly didn't receive the food well; the place was packed each night, but it seemed that was more for the unbelievable decor and live jazz than the food. The food wasn't good enough to attract the foodies — and to be fair to Patout, we're not sure it could ever be good enough on such a large-scale restaurant that seemed to focus more on drinks and music than the menu — so the other option is to appease the palates of the average Miami club-goer. It's a shame, really, because we can't think of any other places serving upscale Cajun and Creole cuisine, with the exception of Emeril's Miami Beach.Koch envisions a lighter, more Miami menu.
''His food was too heavy,'' she said. ``Locals did not receive it well.''
Christabelle's chef packs up his knives [Miami Herald]
Christabelle's Quarter [MenuPages]
Christabelle's Quarter [Official Site]
Emeril's Miami Beach [MenuPages]
Emeril's Miami Beach [Official Site]
Comments
It's about time the chef leaves! The food was horrible! Maybe in New Orleans it's different but in Miami, it was like paying large sums of money for deep fried bar food - bland & without any taste. Bring in a familiar name like Emeril if you want this place to survive!
Posted by: Jon Sanderson | October 15, 2007 09:57 AM