MiLA, New Orleans

Considering its proximity to vast swaths of upriver farmland, it may come as a surprise that there’s not much emphasis on locally-sourced produce in New Orleans. Seafood here may be as local as it gets, but southern techniques of boiling and frying vegetables and French techniques of butter, butter and yet more butter still rule at most restaurants. Fortunately, a handful of new spots are beginning to bring fresh, seasonal produce to the forefront of the menu.

One such place is MiLA in the Central Business District. Husband-and-wife chef team Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing acquire many of their ingredients from a nearby farm, Lujele, which is described in detail on the restaurant’s website. This all sounded vaguely Dan Barber-ish at first, but then came the clue: this duo, originally from Mississippi (“Mi”) and Louisiana (“LA”), logged several well-regarded years at Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar (Vines) and Fleur de Sel in New York (Rushing)  before heading back south. An appetite for green market produce came back with them.

Our first taste of New Orleans during this trip was a propos: a deep fried softshell crawfish amuse bouche, pictured at top, a prequel to the copious amounts of crawfish we were to eat in the coming days. If you can put crawfish in something in this city, chances are it’ll be there. This crawdad was light and crisp and settled atop a sushi-like mound of rice drizzled with basil oil.

Oysters Rockefeller were invented down the street; here at MiLA they come “deconstructed” for $12. Poached in a froth of butter, set on a bed of fresh pureed spinach and topped with smoky, salty bacon chips, these oysters struck just the right notes of farmland and sea.

MiLA’s duck was particularly brilliant. This cornerstone of New Orleans cuisine gets brined in sweet tea, glazed with date jus and served over wilted spinach. One bite and you’re tasting the equivalent of tea-smoked Peking duck in high Southern style.

Pan-roasted grouper with baby squash ($27) could have benefited from a little more spice or more of an herbal kick from the basil sauce, but that’s what you get for ordering plain old grouper. This dish seemed calibrated for the sensitive of palette.

One problem MiLA has is the location: the business district pretty much goes dark when all the business people go home, so at dinnertime it can feel lonesome. Set on the ground floor of a hotel, it’s decorated in a cavernous corporate style that feels very Whiskey-Bar-circa-1995. Think oddly swooping blue banquettes, spot lighting, and lots of floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows that create a fishbowl effect. Most of these problems are alleviated during the day, however, when MiLA becomes popular lunch spot.

If you can set aside a visitor’s desire for old-school New Orleans ambiance for one night in favor of very good, inventive new-school Southern cooking, MiLA is an excellent bet.

MiLA
817 Common Street at Baronne Street
New Orleans, LA
504-412-2580
milaneworleans.com