By David Nelson
SDUN Restaurant Critic
The red bull embroidered on Frank Terzoli’s chef’s coat has nothing to do with the beverage of the same name. The jacket itself is purple, a distinctive color for a man who enjoys owning the nickname “Frankie the Bull.”
Terzoli began cooking as a teen, and has had the restaurant bug in his blood ever since. He’s been in more than a few kitchens, and is known as the first San Diegan to have appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef” TV program. He didn’t win, but he undeniably found the experience as savory as the Steak Diane he serves with wild mushroom-enriched grits and a puddle of “sauce Diablo”($25). His title at The Big Easy is executive chef, but he frequently finds his way from the kitchen to the dining room, where he schmoozes with guests and checks satisfaction quotients (if you don’t like something, tell him).
Terzoli must buy nicknames by the pair, since he also bestowed one on the restaurant. New Orleans residents frequently describe their city as “The Big Easy” because of its celebrated lifestyle; the name was adopted well before Katrina came along to wash away the fun, at least for a while. However, the cuisine isn’t restricted to the Creole cooking created by the sophisticated blend of cultures that populated New Orleans from the early days onward, or the Cajun cuisine that developed in the bayous and backwaters of French-speaking Southern Louisiana. Big Easy co-proprietor Stuart Kraemer describes the places as “a homey, true-blue Southern restaurant,” and while the regions around New Orleans seem as culturally distant from the South as New York City (this writer has considerable experience with the area), the menu does extend to meatloaf with sweet potatoes and greens ($17), and roast chicken with the same spuds and collard greens ($18).
The Big Easy occupies a century-old building that has housed several eateries, most recently a place called The Better Half. Purple, the color of Mardi Gras (and of Lent, the penitential season that commences at the stroke of midnight after the final evening of revelry) plays a role in the decor that extends to the napkins with which diners protect themselves from dribbles of gumbo and shrimp Creole. The recorded music that plays loudly enough in the smallish dining room (there is a fair amount of outdoor seating, too) veers from Big Band standards performed by the Benny Goodman Orchestra and similar outfits to the wonderful French singers of the last century.
At present, The Big Easy does not have a license to serve wine and beer, and consequently invites guests to bring their own at no charge. Order a soda or a sweet tea and it will be served in a canning jar, a conceit that has been a specialty of San Diego-area Creole eateries for a couple of decades, although it’s rather puzzling, since you never would drink from such a vessel at a quality New Orleans establishment. During the morning and afternoon, the restaurant doubles as a coffee house, serving quite a roster of coffees, hot chocolates and French “press” teas, as well as numerous house-made sweets.
Terzoli usually prepares an amuse bouche with which to welcome his patrons, and this complimentary appetizer might be a duck galantine (a rather complicated pâté), built around a creamy, luscious heart of foie gras and served on a toasted slice of baguette. Eat it with the fingers and enjoy every last marvelous flavor. A most unusual presentation of foie gras is expensive at $17 but worth it when you crave this unrivaled product. Since foie gras often is paired with something on the sweet side, Terzoli constructs his plate by expertly pan-searing a thick medallion of fresh foie gras and posing it atop a folded crepe garnished with a few Mandarin orange segments and a buttery, slightly sugary sauce in the “crepe Suzette” mode. So far, so good – although this might be considered rather outré in Paris. What might well provoke riots in Paris is the hunk of butter pecan ice cream the chef used as an additional garnish one evening. He’s too good in the kitchen to indulge in silliness such as this. Other first course options include creamy grits dressed with marinated shrimp ($12), assorted vegetables fried Southern-style and served with lemon aioli ($10), highly and hotly seasoned jambalaya ($10 buys plenty of rice jumbled with chicken, spicy andouille sausage and shrimp), and oysters Bienville, a classic of home-grown New Orleans cooking that bakes fresh oysters with a tasty sauce ($15).
The gumbo ($9) probably is considered a starter, too, but the restaurant serves a large enough portion of this stew of shellfish, vegetables and seasonings to make a meal, given baguette or cornbread on the side. It’s a good version, noting that Terzoli does not flinch when adding Cayenne pepper to certain dishes, and the gumbo is at the upper range of tolerable heat. A scoop of white rice would satisfy New Orleans requirements but The Big Easy avoids this. You can have a spoonful of the strongly seasoned “dirty” rice that accompanies other dishes, but frankly, white rice provides the quiet background needed to highlight the flavors of a sharply seasoned preparation. There usually is a soup of the day as well, along with a Caesar salad, a “peach salad de maison” ($8) with butter lettuce and hearts of palm, and an arugula salad dressed up with duck confit, pecans and other goodies ($10).
The entrée list mostly highlights Louisiana favorites like shrimp Creole ($20), the more exotic crayfish stew called crawfish étouffée ($20), and a blackened catch of the day served with fried green tomatoes ($23). Meats include a duck with orange sauce ($22) and a nicely finished Australian lamb rack with greens and dirty rice ($23). For those in a more daring mood, the alligator Arcadian offers plenty of strong and unusual savors ($26). Follow any of these with cherries jubilee or bananas Foster, both served for two ($12).
The Big Easy
127 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
294-3279
TheBigEasyRestaurant.com
