When Stan Williams opened Stan’s Place
in January 2005, he wanted to offer the Boerum Hill community
a comfortable cafe with the feel of New Orleans. It’s a city
that’s close to Williams’s heart, and the customers enjoyed his
down-by-the-Bayou po’ boys, spicy gumbos and bananas Foster.
But Williams longed to serve full meals, too, where his guests
could really dig into Big Easy favorites.
In August, he closed for a month’s renovation, transforming the
cafe into a restaurant that brings the warmth of that city to
the neighborhood.
Shortly before the transformation, Williams was talking with
Robert McManus, hoping to lure the Louisiana chef to Brooklyn
as a consultant. Then hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New
Orleans, and McManus, whose catering company was destroyed, made
his way to Stan’s Place.
"He came right from the airport, wrote up the menu, and
got to work," says Williams of McManus’s arrival. "He’s
been shaking things up ever since."
McManus worked with Peter Kaiser of the renowned Buckhead Diner
in Atlanta before catering in New Orleans. He refers to Cajun
and Creole cooking as "the original fusion cuisine, combining
classic French cooking with Creole styling, and tastes heavily
influenced by local ingredients."
McManus’s dishes reflect the spirit of the city: big exuberant
flavors, lots of spice and heat, and a long list of ingredients.
Walk into the eatery on a Saturday night and you’ll find a lively
party underway. The Deedle Deedle Dees, a Brooklyn band with
a longstanding weekend gig at Stan’s, play "Fats Waller’s
version of jazz," from a perch from the second floor balcony,
says Williams.
The dining room has brick walls, a long bar, a huge, gilt-edged
mirror and candlelit tables. The feeling is brothel meets elegant
eatery. I can’t think of another restaurant in the borough quite
like it.
I can’t think of another chef who serves crab cakes the way McManus
does, either, and I’ve had hundreds of them. His "Creole
jumbo lump crab cakes," shaped like little cylinders, are
on the baroque side. They are spicy; are full of the winy tasting
crab; have slivers of roasted red peppers and capers; and are
served with ravigote (a tangy French sauce seasoned with capers,
vinegar, shallots and herbs). They’re complicated but exceptionally
good.
One of the hallmarks of a good Louisiana chef is a great gumbo,
and McManus’s rich, multi-layered stew, full of tender chicken
and andouille sausage, does him proud. So does a fabulous wedge
of slightly sweet cornbread with delicate crumb and a crusty
edge, perfumed with bits of fresh rosemary.
Equally satisfying was a saffron-laced bouillabaisse, a seafood
stew studded with moist sea bass and shrimp in a briny stock
heady with sherry.
McManus fries up a superb chicken and serves it with well-matched
sides. The crunchy, peppery crust on the breast meat looks like
ebony-colored lace. (The bird was so good, I ate the entire large
piece right down to the bones.) McManus serves it with creamy
garlic mashed potatoes; slow-cooked collard greens – as mellow
and tangy as any you’d dream of; and a decadent, smoky "redeye
gravy" (made of ham drippings, water and sometimes coffee).
The "Abita braised lamb," features one meaty shank,
slow-cooked in beer from Louisiana’s Abita microbrewery. The
ale acts as a tenderizing agent, softening the meat and imbuing
it with yeasty tang. While a side of orzo in a Brie cream sauce
was cloying, the pungent "gremolada" (chopped parsley,
garlic and lemon zest) added color to the dish and lent a fresh,
herbal note.
Order a side of macaroni and cheese, and you’ll receive a serving
large enough for an entree. The dish is on the creamy side, with
a crisp top and filled with perfectly al dente pasta, but it’s
slightly bland.
Desserts follow the more-the-better mode but with less finesse
than the previous dishes. Bananas Foster, a dessert that originated
in New Orleans, features sliced bananas sauteed with brown sugar
until they form a thin crust; then they’re splashed with rum.
The fruit is usually served over vanilla ice cream. Here, the
crusty-topped slices form a ring over a small disc of bread pudding,
served with a whisky creme anglaise. The fruit and sauce were
delectable, the pudding so-so.
A towering, red slice of velvet cake looked like Mardi Gras on
a plate. A splash of creme fraiche and three maraschino cherries
made a tacky – but fun – presentation.
Lovely to look at, the confection was slightly dry and topped
with overly sweet, white icing.
The restaurant serves chicory-flavored coffee, a specialty of
New Orleans’s famous Cafe du Monde, which is a strong, rich brew
with a pleasingly bitter edge.
Until the end of March – when Williams expects his liquor license
– there’s a BYOB policy without a corking fee.
I left Stan’s Place with a tinge of sadness for what New Orleans
once was and the long struggle it faces to rebuild. It’s comforting
though, to know that at Boerum Hill’s Stan’s Place, the spirit
of the Big Easy lives on.
Stan’s Place (411 Atlantic Ave. between
Bond and Nevins streets in Boerum Hill) accepts American Express.
Entrees: $16-$18. A three-course, $25 prix fixe dinner is available
Tuesday through Thursday. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch
and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Brunch is served on weekends,
from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Closed Mondays. For reservations, call
(718) 596-3110.
