We heard the buzz about the recent changes at The Delmar Restaurant & Lounge in The Loop –or just The Delmar, as we like to say – and had to taste for ourselves. The new head chef, Randy Wilson, was brought in to shake up the menu, and he’s done a doozy of a job. New GM Phil Ingram keeps things moving out front, while Wilson and crew make practically everything on the Southern/Cajun-inspired menu, right down to slicing the fries and crafting corn muffins made with meal from a rediscovered strain of corn. There’s deep-fried, bone-in chicken breast with black-pepper cream gravy and mashed spuds, a huge Missouri trout with mussels (!) and sweet potatoes, buttermilk-fried oysters, a gumbo worthy of being called gumbo and – wait for it – chicken and waffles. Then there’s étouffée, crawfish with andouille sausage, grilled fish, red beans and rice, strip steak and po’ boys. And come crawfish season, we’re bellying up to the bar to suck heads and drink beer. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
– Michael Renner
This article appears in Feb 1-28, 2010.