Revisiting Bywater American Bistro

Steve and I were so excited to be revisiting Bywater American Bistro (BAB’s) for our first dinner out while living in New Orleans.

Living in New Orleans

What made this visit to New Orleans different from all of the many others? This time we were actually living here. Since we could now stay as long as we wanted, we decided to stay for at least a month. And actually turned into six weeks. I cooked most of our meals, including lunches. Of course we did take out our favorite sandwiches on several occasions. There were a few muffaletta and po’ boys eaten in City Park. Add to that Bagels with whitefish salad, tomato and slivers of red onion brought back to Ladybug from our new fabulous find Stein’s Deli on Magazine Street. Oh and of course, Steve brought back those luscious, decadent beignets from Café du Monde a couple of times when he went for a bike ride in City Park.

Rouse’s Market

Plus we discovered the fabulous soups prepared by Rouse’s Market. All I had to do was pour the contents of a container into a pot and heat to piping hot. Add some salad or a loaf of great bread and call it dinner. Our favorites that were on constant repeat were the Stuffed Artichoke Soup, Portobello Mushroom Soup and the Tomato Basil Soup. Luckily I looked online and was able to get the recipes for the Stuffed Artichoke and the Tomato Basil so we can continue to enjoy those where ever we are!

But even chefs like to eat out once in a while. With this awful pandemic we are extremely wary about dining out. So we have to have confidence that every precaution is being taken to keep everyone safe and healthy. And we also want to know that the meal will be worth it.

Bywater American Bistro

Having dined at Chef Nina Compton’s Bywater American Bistro before we knew it was a place we wanted to return to. We had been there on our last trip to New Orleans when we were celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary. The entire staff and made the evening as special as what we were celebrating. We formed a special bond with the chef who I admire so much.

When we arrived this time, we knew that it was likely that Chef would not be there. She was filming Top Chef in Portland, Oregon where she will be a guest judge. We did not even expect that anyone on the staff would have remembered us. Oh boy, were we ever wrong. The first thing the hostess asked was “Are you RVing yet?”. After a nice chat we were seated far from other diners. Nice and safely in a cozy corner.

It was New Orleans’ version of Restaurant Week called Coolinary Week. So that made our menu choices easy. And our meal was quite reasonably priced at $39.00 for 3 courses. We made sure to order different dishes which enabled us to taste more of BAB’s amazing cuisine.

Bywater American Bistro is an American neighborhood restaurant. It’s truly a place you come because you’re already friends, or you soon will be. This is a casual energetic place with yummy food, authentic Southern hospitality, great libations and wonderfully friendly faces.

BAB’s is a place where they are cooking ingredient driven food. Inspiration comes from the staff’s personal experiences or one of the many cultures represented in the area, past and present. The cooking here is also inspired by small local farms, using ingredients that are seasonal and raised or caught with care. With New Orleans being their home, they have created a place with an amazing sense of community and meaningful relationships. It’s our favorite kind of place!

Our menu selections

Steve and I shared first and last courses equally. The entrées not so much. I had a taste or two of his pasta. And Steve was lucky that I (reluctantly) offered up a bite or three of my pork belly.

We started off with the Potato and Celery Soup with Buttermilk Sorbet and the BAB’s Antipasto Salad with Italian Dressing. Both were full of flavor and great combo to share. Why choose between soup or salad when you can have both?

For our entrées I chose the Roasted Pork Belly with Delicata Squash and Gremolata. Steve opted for the Spaghetti with Tomato Basil. My pork belly was incredibly fork tender with just the right amount of crunch on the edges. It was amazing, succulent, delicious, yummy… Do I need to say more? Steve’s pasta was so fresh that you could visualize the tomatoes being plucked from the vine and combined with freshly torn basil into this etherial sauce that graced the handmade spaghetti.

We made sure that we had left just enough room for the desserts that we knew we wanted before we even ordered dinner. And were we ever glad we did. Our desserts were exquisite in both flavor and appearance. Taking tiny bites of our Semifreddo with Brûléed Citrus and Mint and the Chocolate Ganache with Hazelnuts and Coconut Sorbet made them last longer so that we could savor their extraordinary deliciousness.