Chef John Besh

Here in the Southern Comfort column, we keep up with news and notes from the New Orleans restaurants of Chef John Besh. His is now a household name, what with the honors and awards, appearances on Today and participation on Top Chef. But when you come right down to it, John is a hometown boy from Slidell, Louisiana – I’ve known him since I don’t know when. A top chef, for sure, but also an energetic entrepreneur who has made it his mission to revive the culinary heritage of his city -- my hometown -- many aspects of which he has seen slipping away over the decades or just getting lost behind the big ‘gumbo’ of tourist attractions.

Just as John’s most recent restaurant, Lüke, represents his dream of bringing back the New Orleans institution of the Franco-German brasserie, his next venture, Domenica, is a tribute to the Italian immigrant tradition whose food is so much a part of the great melting pot of New Orleans cuisine.

Domenica is set to open in New Orleans’ historic downtown Roosevelt Hotel late this summer with Chef Alon Shaya in partnership and in the kitchen. I sat down with John to get the details of how it all came about. He showed me a book he’d used as a reference called Italians in New Orleans by Joseph Maselli and Dominic Candeloro (Arcadia Publishing 2004.) We looked through the old black-and-white pictures together and marveled at all the Italian institutions and establishments that have helped define New Orleans.

JB: Look at all these grocery storefronts – every single one is an Italian shop. The biggest wave of immigrants came from Sicily in the 1880s, and they set up doing what they knew, much as the Germans came over as bakers and brewers. Central Grocery is where the muffuletta originated – where would this town be without it?

SR: I prefer the ones at Napoleon House. They’re warmed up.

JB: Well, you’re entitled. But even with a name like Napoleon, it’s Italian, too.

SR: Speaking of names, Domenica means “Sunday” in Italian, right? What’s the significance?

JB: We want to give people the relaxed sense of occasion that defines traditional Italian Sunday suppers, where the dishes have been lovingly prepared over the course of hours and even days – using techniques and rituals that are centuries-old, and made it here to the New World as precious wisdom. The whole family is involved, that’s a given, and the meal may well include neighbors and the larger community. That’s why at Domenica we’ll have a number of long central refectory tables for communal eating, as well as private tables.

SR: Sounds fun -- a good way to meet people. Back to the muffuletta – will you have one on the menu?

JB: We’ll certainly be equipped to: Alon has been curing his own highly specialized Italian pork products for months now, in the smoke house out at La Provence. He spent a good part of last year in Italy learning the art of making salume – and before that at the University of Iowa, learning the science.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for details of Domenica’s menu, interior, roots in the New Orleans community, and adventures of Alon in Italy. This is also where we’ll be chatting about John’s other restaurants: August, Besh Steak, La Provence, and Lüke. Ciao for now!