The Best New Restaurant in the Country is in New Orleans | On The Line | Bon Appétit

the carola is the calese restaurant in New Orleans Louisiana we are known for our pescatarian menu that's full of bold flavors and fresh seafood so I've been the Su chef of DEC carola for about a month now it's been a hectic month but it's been a really big step up for me the weight list at the car is about 40 to 50 people every single day we serve all of our guests at once so it can be a challenge it is Wednesday the car is is closed on Monday and Tuesday so we have a lot of prep to [Music] do good morning my name is shireena Smith I am the Sue Chef here at darar Nola located in New Orleans come on in so I can show you around so this is our beautiful dining area it seats about 30 people with one seating a night we have a sagales tasting menu of seven course I am the first person to arrive every morning to get prep done before everybody else gets here so let's get to it cuz I got stuff to [Music] do the beginning of my day starts off with receiving different type of orders I am the one that is receiving signing and putting them away fish sauce flowers mushrooms okay thank you so much all right you too so I just received a order of mushrooms in we are very proud to Source locally so all of our produce and our Seafood is fresh delivered and local these oysters are actually going to be used for entree service tonight they're going to be sauteed along with red snapper and some eggplants and now I'm going to go ahead and get started cooking I'm about to start butchering fish but but before I start that I want to go ahead and get my onions started sweating so that I can multitask this big pot here is for the yasa sauce it's a process of a good 2 hours normally because I'm waiting for the fish stock so while this is sautéing I'm going to start breaking down some fish today we got red snapper in and look how big it is like jeez so I'm going to start by making sure that the scales on it come off most days fish is my first priority because because I need to go ahead and make a stock at the beginning of the day the stock is the main main thing that we utilize in all of our sauces today I'm breaking down six fish trying to get faster Serene my chef taught me how to clean fish with this technique that I'm about to show you guys so I am starting off with the collar cutting into that going down flipping it on the other side doing the same stroke I'm going to save the bones and the head specifically for the stock and then I'm also going to save the collars for our family meal we are a pescatarian menu I am utilizing each aspect of this fish to be honest I have not butchered anything in quite some time it's been a fun process relearning how to do it it's not the most relaxing but I'm going to get it done that's all I can do is just get it done I do need to just stir these onions real [Music] quick so at this point I just got to keep multitasking so had to stir the onions for a moment and I'm right back at the fish so I'm only going to break down the fish right now because my chef isn't in and he said he wanted to go ahead and do a new way of portioning time management is crucial our first seating is at 7:00 so I have to go ahead and get these bones roastes so I can get my stock [Music] started so it's 10:00 now I am about to get the jalaf base started we serve jila during entree so we'll have it in cast iron pots served communally at the table Chef Serene likes to incorporate both the sagales and New Orleans Fusion because each has its own story and history rice was a big thing during the slave trade this is the reason why we make jela rice here that's part of his culture but it also resembles something of New Orleans as well this is what feels home to him so this is one of his favorite dishes it's near and dear to Chef serene's heart I am making a double batch a busy week means fully booked every night as well as Chef decided to add two more seatings tomorrow so I have a lot of prep to do and I just wanted to get ready for what we have coming this one is giving me problems so I'm currently going to sauté some onions sweat them down and then once I add the tomato paste I'm going to let it cook for about 30 minutes until it gets like a nice dark Rich red color that's what we're looking for it brings out more of the flavor so I'm going to add some Dar spice to give it a little kick Dar car spice adds extra heat to any dish it's processed habanero we like to say bring it back to Africa gelot face you have to consistently watch over it cuz you want to make sure that it doesn't burn at the bottom so you're always stirring it every so often it is noon I got to get this tea going so I am weighing out ginger for the attire tea we start off with the tea at the beginning as a refreshment because it's part of sagales culture the ti tea is really special special because it's a nice Ginger and Jasmine flavor profile top with mint foam I'm going to blend the ginger with the water and then I'm going to let this steep so my fish bones are ready to come out the oven for my stack these bones have been in for about 45 minutes we're looking for a golden brown color so we're going to go ahead and get the stock going I'm going to cut up some onions and and some celery the stock is used in everything almost it's in the jalaf it's in the yasa it's in the onion sauce so it's really important that I get it right every day so that I'm just making sure that it's Incorporated in everything so now I'm going to add the fish sauce and the red vinegar as that's finishing off I'm going to go ahead and start putting the bones in normally we get three in each day today's a heavier day so we got six in tomorrow we're going to make another stock with that fish looking at the teeth like crazy and then we're just going to let that sit for about 3 hours until my co-workers come in and then we'll strain it so this Gela base is currently almost done and I'm going to take a small portion of it and utilize it for the onion sauce so I'm going to sauté some more onions so my onions are going to cook up all the flavor of the gala base that was just in this spot the onion sauce is accompanied with the acara the black IP fried Fritter and then we also serve the akura with caviar so you get a little bit of that salty but sweet flavor from the tomato and then the spice from the takar so now that the onions have sweated down I'm going to add the gala fix this is fish sauce that I'm adding we don't use a lot of salt because we use a lot of fish sauce instead all right so this onion sauce is done all I have to do is blend it up and then we're going to adjust it right before service it's going to be a good sauce and then I'll be done with this no I won't be done with this pot no I won't be done with this pot cuz I forgot I'm making a big HT of the super Kanye getting all that [Music] flavor so this pot right here is the super Kanye which is our version of Gumbo when we serve it for service we top it with puffed rice that we cook dehydrate and Fry and then it's also topped with crab meat it's strictly ochre based traditional gumbo is made with a r this gumbo does not need it the okra itself is the thickener as it reduces down with the fish stock it'll get more thick on its own when it's done it has a semisweet Umami flavor the stock really elevates that flavor so I have my chef his name is Ron he's going to go ahead and strain the stock for me that I need for the yasa as well as the onion sauce because I have another task that I have to do which is going ahead and portioning this fish hey Chef Serene you mind coming over we Chef you got a towel one of those towels this is executive chef Serene MBE of darar Nola he is the owner and Chef of this restaurant so he's going to go ahead and show me how to portion the fish today cuz he wants to do it a different way all right so check this out this is a good job of laying it so we're going to get our knife come around we put this here put our knife behind the tail of the fish okay just gliding boom cut the edges trim this side so let's move all the bones kind of feel it with your hands you see the bones gently pull you want to make sure when you're pulling it so that don't over pull it so that way the whole fish will stay intact boom there's no bones you going to put all the fish here okay after you done with the fish we're going to lightly cure the fish so season will sof it's going to help to remove all the moisture from the fish and just it so just season it high boom flip the other side kind of same thing Chef seren is the one that I lean on when it comes down to executing the food she started when we first opened this restaurant and she was having with Pati you live and savory and then um the past 3 weeks yeah this whole month this whole month flew by so fast exactly right this whole month Chef seren had transfer to completely Savory she always trying to improve on her scales two weeks ago she know how to break down fish and now she's breaking down fish really well and I'm very proud of her thank you Chef thank you course I definitely feel the pressure sometimes doing the fish properly cuz I want to make sure that it looks very clean and presentable for the guest when it's fully finished off and pan Seer or seared on the flat top so I'm very cautious I'm I'm always trying to make sure that it's right cuz I want to represent the car and Serene really well we always save the scraps cuz we always end up using them for family meal so everything about this fish every time it's broken down it always gets [Music] utilized Chef you said after about 5 minutes use a towel and damp it no don't don't damp it what we want to do is remove all that moisture completely dry feel it see how dry it is and then we're going to put in the cooler for another 15 minutes or so to get a little bit more dry and then we'll slice it okay so are those ones ready to get sliced or no if these ready to get sliced I'll show you how I want to be sliced about 2 and2 oz portion so slice down come up voila nice beautiful size in the beginning process everything is a demonstration so I know exactly how he wants it and then from there I can go ahead and follow his instruction cuz this is his vision to accomplish so I'm literally helping facilitate it right [Music] now it's 3:30 and I'm getting ready to start family meal family meal is important to us it gives us a chance to sit down and eat together and just kind of give us a break for a moment right before we get right back into it and go ahead and start service and it's cool because I don't cook the whole thing by myself I do have everybody else hands involved so normally I'm doing the protein and then I may be doing the vegetables as well I have Ray doing a salad right now and then I have Chef Shard that's going to go ahead and make the family juice and we're just going to go ahead and start getting going I normally start family off because I'm here earlier than everybody else today we're utilizing the fish scraps that I cut earlier and I'm going to go ahead and pan sear it I don't find it difficult to incorporate family meal only when things get a little chaotic and I have like multiple things going on at once sometimes it can be a little bit of a distraction but I still manage and we're going to make sure we all get fed cuz we got to eat it's 4:00 currently I just finished family meal I'm about to bring it out so we can go ahead and hurry up and eat right before service normally we start off quiet and then we'll go into our me what we got going on for today how many numbers any dietary restrictions [Music] Etc welcome back I just want to say that throughout the days I was gone to Paris thank y'all for holding the restaurant down so that means a lot so we have a very special group eight people coming from New Orleans and Company I don't know if you guys know but they are the leading tourism organization here in the city they're responsible for bringing conventions weddings the Super Bowl you know you name name it and they would like to come dine here so are we still going to roll with how we had it set up last week kind of like serving the table one and then moving over are we still good with that I'd say we can still start off with the large table so s and one it actually helped smooth things a lot better um the incorporation of that along with us getting the acara out as we're pouring the soup and when we're pouring the soup setting up the salad plates and getting that uh pre- started as well so continue doing what you're [Music] doing it's 5:30 currently we just finished up with family meal I have a little bit more to do so currently right now I'm about to make some Dar spice to give that extra kick it's super spicy is processed Habaneros cooked down with sugar vinegar and oil at the car we love to add flavor and build up on that heat so this darar spice is one of those things that definitely adds extra heat to any dish that we put it in I'm going to be honest I don't even like to taste it anymore I know what it tastes like if I have to taste it I will but it's so hot that it literally touching on my lip it burns it's very spicy a little goes a long way literally a little goes a long way so cooking it down brings out the heat way more flavor and then with the sugar and the vinegar it balances it out to where it's not not too hot but it's tolerable so I'm going to let this cook down and then we're going to get started on my next project which is going to be raw so raw consists of green pepper parsley and spinach as the main ingredients and then we put in Dijon mustard balsamic Vin and olive oil to give it that paste consistency we're putting the Roth on top of the fish this is something that we make right before service normally because it gives it a nice bright green color the color does hold up but we like to keep it fresh so normally I'm making this every 2 [Music] days so this parchment paper I am setting up for wrapping the fish it holds the Roth that I put on top of it together as we put it on the flat top excuse me chef Ron thank you it can and get a little crazy in here as we're doing our last minute things everybody's kind of moving around front of the house is coming through back of the house is running through so we're just trying to finish our last projects at this point I am spreading the rough on the top of the fish that we portioned out earlier and I'm going to go ahead and wrap it after we wrap it we put it back down below and we wait until service to start cooking [Music] it it's 6:45 currently as you can see it's getting a little hectic the last thing I'm going to do is get this gelof rice going it's one of the things that we make last minute so I appreciate y'all for being here but yall got to go [Music] bye

Channel: Bon Appétit

Views: 1,097,483

Keywords: best restaurant in new orleans, bon app, bon appetit, bon appetit on the line, dakar nola, day of a sous chef, food, fresh seafood, inside a professional kitchen, new orleans, new orleans restaurant, one the line, professional kitchen, restaurant life, seafood, seafood prep, seafood restaurant, senegalese food, senegalese restaurant, sous chef at work, west african food, west african restaurant, what a real kitchen is like

Id: dLuVoGkBmMI

Length: 17min 22sec (1042 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 31 2023