I greatly anticipated my meal at John Besh’s Restaurant August. Besh is a former Food and Wine Best New Chef and August has garnered significant praise including being ranked by Gourmet magazine as the 22nd best restaurant in the United States. After my meal, I left August with three major impressions. First, the restaurant is absolutely beautiful. The formality of the crisp, white tablecloths, the impeccable hardwood floors and the formal place settings contrast perfectly with the exposed rustic brick interior walls and the young, approachable wait staff. This is a near perfect setting in which to dine. Second, the service at August is without flaw. This was my first time dining alone at a nice restaurant and I was treated as well as I could have imagined. My final impression of August is and I really hate to say this but “the 22nd best restaurant in a America, give me a fraking break.”
I ordered the five-course tasting menu, and the food was unbelievably underwhelming. No course came anywhere close to wowing me.The meal opened with an amuse of some type of seafood foam thing topped with caviar. The caviar was indistinguishable due to the exploding blandness of the seafood foamy mess.
My first course was the only one that I really enjoyed. It was a melon salad served with 30-year-old balsamic vinegar. The melons, of which one was very fresh and flavorful watermelon, were served on top of amazing heirloom tomatoes. These tomatoes are second only to those that I had at Schwa in Chicago. They were easily the best part of the meal. They were so good that I actually asked my waiter where they came from (the Louisiana north shore)
The second course was pretty much the definition of blandness. It was billed as shrimp consume but was really just shrimp served in slightly flavored water. The consume was so watery and light on flavor that it is really surprising the kitchen even serves it. The dish was not a total failure because the shrimp were very fresh and pretty tasty.
The third course was a quail salad. Grilled quail was served with arugula, fresh peaches and a fruit vinaigrette. The arugula, peaches and dressing were very nice but the quail was overcooked and slightly dry.
The main course of the evening was a substitution. The original menu called for Kobe short ribs, but I am one of only two people in America who dislike short ribs (the other being Sweetmonger) so I asked the chef to substitute whatever he would like. Therefore, I was served what was referred to as August’s signature dish. It was roast duck seasoned with Cajun spices and sugar and served with grits, seared foie, and something else. Given that this was the restaurant’s signature dish, it was the most disappointing of the evening. The duck was overcooked and the foie was near inedible. It reminded me of the awful foie I had at McCrady’s in Charleston.
With regards to dessert, it was fine, but I cannot remember it so I am not going to try to describe it.
Restaurant August is certainly an overrated restaurant, but the setting and the service were so perfect that I still enjoyed my time there despite the tone of the above review. However, if I ever visit New Orleans again, this will not be a place to which I return.
301 Tchoupitoulas St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
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