The Brooklyn Papers / Daniel Krieger

Oui oui!: NoNo Kitchen chef-owner Gregory Tatis offers up a bowl of jambalaya at his Seventh Avenue restaurant.

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There’s a whiff of Bourbon Street on Park Slope’s Seventh Avenue. The dreary India House has closed, and in its place is NoNo Kitchen, a Louisiana-style eatery with a setting meant to "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" - or "let the good times roll."

Gregory Tatis, the chef and co-owner of NoNo Kitchen, and his wife, pastry chef Monica Jaramillo-Tatis, opened the restaurant in October. Before coming to Park Slope, Tatis was the executive chef of the Delta Grill in Manhattan. He worked for eight years with the man who brought everything "blackened" to New York in the late 80s, Paul Prudhomme of K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. A photo of Prudhomme hangs in the restaurant.

If diners can get past the restaurant’s name - which seems more like an omen that an inviting moniker (NoNo is an abbreviation of "north of New Orleans") - they can have an enjoyable meal in a lively room. Long, etched glass windows facing Seventh Avenue have the frosty look of white lace. The ceiling is high and tin covered, and wooden tables line the space from front to back. At night, with the music bouncing off the ceiling, the screams of laughter and shouted conversation, NoNo can have a theme park feeling.

I prefer the ambience at lunch, when the sun-filled space has a sleepy, lulling serenity.

Since its start, the dinner service has been packed. With an onslaught of customers, the kitchen hasn’t had time to perfect certain dishes or edit down the menu. However, patrons who order carefully will be rewarded with a complexly spiced, soul satisfying meal. But there are clunkers among the dishes.

The "blue crab cake" holds together by sheer willpower; it’s 95 percent jumbo lump crabmeat, delicately spiced and accompanied by a subtly fishy, tangy remoulade (a French, mayonnaise-based sauce that’s flavored with mustard, gherkins, herbs and anchovies). It’s the king of crab cakes.

I could have eaten 50 of the oysters. Each plump little mollusk is dipped in corn flour and fried to a crunchy, just-salty-enough deliciousness with every bite awash in the mineral brininess of the ocean. They’re great dipped into a slightly sweet apple and caramelized onion tartar sauce.

The smoked duck and crackling gumbo, one of three gumbos on the menu, arrived barely warm. In addition, the stew, which should be one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, was oversalted and its spices barely surfaced on the palate.

At lunch, a huge bowl of jambalaya, made with tender, dark-meat chicken, slices of spicy pork andouille sausage, chorizo and tasso ham helped me forget the gumbo. The menu warns diners: "this dish is spicy!!!" And the jambalaya is spicy - at first bite. A few minutes later, my palate had adjusted, and I wished its seasoning was a bit hotter.

One nearly perfect item on the menu, and a lovely starter to the meal, is a basket of warm cornbread. The crusty little loaves were slightly sweet at dinner one night, and just barely so at lunch. I prefer the less sweet version. Either way, the bread makes joyful eating when smeared with butter.

So does Nono’s macaroni and cheese, which is the best on this side of the Mason-Dixon Line. You’ll love Tatis’s traditional take if you’re into creamy mac and cheeses, rather than the dense, loaf-like style. This version is a mix of Brie and sharp cheddar with mild cheddar creating a chewy, crispy top hat.

Two of the entrees we sampled are disappointing. Heavy batter overwhelmed the delicate "trout meuniere amandine," that couldn’t be rescued by sides of lush mashed potatoes and crisp, sauteed squash and string beans.

"Monday’s Red Beans and Rice" is a washout. The beans and grain are perfectly tender but lack any discernable spices, and the boneless fried chicken breast that keeps the duo company is about as exciting as a slice of Wonder Bread. This is one dish that needs a whole lot of love from the chef.

Jaramillo-Tatis’s bread pudding, studded with chocolate and raisins, comes topped with a sauce (butter, powdered sugar and a touch of orangey Grand Marnier) that melts over the top. Tatis says that the sauce is a typical Prodhumme touch. It gives the dessert a homey spin, but it seems like a missed opportunity to contrast something cold, like a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with the warm, custardy bread.

The coffee, blended with chicory, was strong and rich.

With the opening of the vibrant NoNo Kitchen, we’re reminded of what New Orleans once was and the long journey still ahead to restore its streets and spirit.

NoNo Kitchen (293 Seventh Ave. between Seventh and Eighth streets in Park Slope) accepts American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Entrees: $16-$24. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner daily. Brunch is available on weekends, from 10 am to 4 pm. Take the F train to Seventh Avenue. For reservations, call (718) 369-8348.

©2006 Community Newspaper Group