A view of Antoine’s front dining room.

APRIL 1840

(An editorial excerpt Antoine’s Restaurant cookbook, © Roy F. Guste, Jr. fifth-generation proprietor of Antoine’s.) 

A young 16-year-old Antoine Alciatore opened a small pension on Rue St. Louis in New Orleans.

Antoine had grown up in Marseilles, France, the son of a wool merchant, but at a very young age he was apprenticed to the owner of Hotel de Noailles and began working in the kitchen. During his apprenticeship, he became a qualified chef and even learned secrets, like how to make Pommes de Terre Soufflees, from a great chef, Collinet!

Antoine became restless in Marseille and soon decided to seek his fortune in the New World. Taking all of the money he had saved and what his parents could spare he boarded an ocean liner for New York City. On the ship, he met a young French girl named Julie Freyss and during the crossing they became very close. She and her parents planned to make New York their home. Antoine told them he was headed to New Orleans where they spoke French, to make his fortune. He promised that as soon as he was settled he would send for Julie, and they would be married.

In New Orleans, he was first employed by the new St. Charles Hotel, but was soon lured to the “Vieux Carre”. There he rented a building at 50 St. Louis Street and opened a boarding house. Today the 600 block of St. Louis Street is occupied by the Old Civil Court House.

The cuisine Francaise at Antoine’s “pension” soon brought fame to restaurant enjoyed by travelers and the citizens of New Orleans, alike. He was able to adapt using all that was locally available: produce, fish, meat, and fowl. After 5 years of living in New Orleans alone, he sent for Julie and they were married as promised. Together they worked the pension, which was more a full-time restaurant at this point. In 1860 they moved the business to a larger building at 714  St. Peter Street.

By 1868 Julie and Antoine had seven children, both family and business had outgrown their St. Peter Street restaurant and residence. They bought a piece of land in the quarter and built a large restaurant and residence above, including a few guest rooms for discerning travelers.

In early 1877 Antoine was told by his physician he was dying from tuberculosis. He arranged his affairs and informed his wife and children that he wanted to die and be buried back in Marseilles, France. He told Julie, “I don’t want for you to watch me die. Let’s say good-bye at the boat” and then I will just be gone. Within three months of his arrival in Marseilles, Antoine died in his mother’s home at the age of 52.

Mme Antoine carried on the operation after her husband’s death. Her 11-year-old son Jules began to show interest in the restaurant business. For the next six years, Jules apprenticed under Julie’s management style. She then sent him abroad to study the culinary arts in France’s greatest kitchens and a few in London.

After four years of learning all of the skills and secrets of the best restaurants, Jules returned to New Orleans. His mother helped him get the position of head chef at the famous Pickwick Club in New Orleans and in 1887 she turned all operations of Antoine’s over to Jules’ now skillful control.

Years later Pierre Bienvenu Roy came to New Orleans and stayed in one of Antoine’s private guest rooms. He brought with him his daughter Althea, who won Jule’s attention. Only weeks later Jules was off to Lafayette to meet the entire Roy family and to woo Althea to be his bride. Soon they were married. Althea gave birth to three children, Maria Louise and then a junior Jules, and finally another son, Roy.

As the culinary chef de cuisine, Jules was a master and upped the fame and reputation of Antoine’s to a high international level! He created many famous dishes, most noteworthy was Oyster’s Rockefeller, the restaurant most signature dish.

Jules, Jr. was interested in language and became a professor in that field, so it fell to Roy to carry on the family hospitality business at the house of Antoine. Roy learned all aspects of the business under the careful tutelage of his father, master chef Jules, Sr.

In 1923 the father took Roy to France for a grand tour of the great French kitchens, all over the country, to taste, observe, learn and understand what great food demands. Gradually Roy took over more and more of the management and kitchen at Antoine’s. When Jules died the transition of proprietorship from father to son was smooth as silk.

Roy expanded and improved the operations at Antoine’s through the years. He added the “1840” private dining room, honoring the year Antoine’s was founded and he created the “Rex Room” decorated to honor Kings and Krewe of REX, the final and most regal parade, and ball, during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Roy Alciatore ran the business from 1934 until the mid-sixties when his nephews, the sons of his sister Marie Louise Alciatore Guste, stepped in to help reform the accounting, systems, procedures and any legal work needed, Roy and Billy Guste were both lawyers.

When Roy Alciatore died in 1972, Roy and Billy Guste took over the proprietorship of the family business.

Editor’s Note: My $20.19 Three Course Lunch at Antoine’s!

The day in April 2019 when we were at the restaurant, Antoine’s was offering a $20.19 Spring Lunch Special. So I had to try it. A three-course meal at Antoine.s one of the great restaurants of the world for only $20? Wow!

Charbroiled Oysters

3 Charred Louisiana oysters with seasoned garlic, herb, butter and olive oil, topped with melted Romano cheese

 

Crawfish Étouffée

Classic crawfish étouffée served with Louisiana popcorn rice.

 

Pecan Bread Pudding

Cinnamon, golden raisin and pecan bread pudding topped with a Louisiana praline rum sauce.

Café au Lait

 

Recipes inspired by Antoines

Oysters Rockefeller: Antoine’s

(The exact recipe for Antoine’s oysters Rockefeller is a secret of the house. Some say this as a close facsimile.)

INGREDIENTS

36 freshly opened oysters on the half shell

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons finely minced raw spinach

3 tablespoons minced parsley

3 tablespoons minced celery

5 tablespoons bread crumbs

Tabasco sauce

1/2 teaspoon Herbsaint

1/2 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add all the rest o the ingredients except the oysters. Cook, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes or until soft.  Press through sieve or food mill. Cool. Place rock salt in pie tins. Set oysters on half-shell on top and put a spoonful of sauce on each oyster. Broil under medium heat until the sauce begins to brown. Serve immediately in the pie tins. Serves 6 .

 

Pigeonneaux Royale: Antoine’s

(Roy Alciatore, 1909 -1973 4th generation manager of Antoine’s created this dish and sauce.)

INGREDIENTS

6 royal squab,

Butter

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped onion

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Sauce Paradis

INSTRUCTIONS

Rub with butter inside and out

Sprinkle squab inside and out with salt and pepper

Combine celery, carrot, and onion and spread on the bottom of a roasting pan

Place squab on top of the vegetables in the pan.

Roast uncovered in a preheated 325º oven for 30 minutes.

Place partially cooked squab in a deep casserole and pour Sauce Paradis over them

Cover and bake for 15 minutes more.

Serve immediately. Serves 6

 

Sauce Paradis

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups reduced by 1/2 veal stock

1/2 cup Madeira wine

2 Tablespoons red currant jelly

2 cups seedless white grapes

2 large truffles slices

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt butter, add flour and stir until smooth. Add veal stock and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Add wine and jelly and stir until jelly has melted. Add grapes and truffles. Makes about 4 cups of sauce. (A double rich chicken stock can substitute for veal stock.)

Crevettes a la Richman: Antoine’s

(Shrimp Richman)

INGREDIENTS

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup finely chopped carrots

1/3 cup finely chopped white onions

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

2-inch stick of celery finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 cup of tomato pulp

2 1/2 cups of raw peeled shrimp

1/4 cup warm Veloute Sauce

salt, ground white pepper, and cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

3 Tablespoons grated Swiss cheese

3 Tablespoons grated Romano cheese

3 Tablespoons grated Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup fine breadcrumbs

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the carrots, white onion, green onion, celery, garlic, and tomato pulp. Cook on low fire for five minutes then add the shrimp. Continue until vegetables are limp and the shrimp are cooked. Add the Veloute Sauce, stir and season to taste with salt, white pepper, and cayenne. Add the parsley and cook without boiling for 10 minutes more.

To serve: spoon the mixture into individual ovenproof dishes. Mix the grated cheese and breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the tip of the shrimp mixture. Bake in a 400º oven until the cheese melts and the top begins to brown. Serves 6

Veloute Sauce

INGREDIENTS

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons flour

salt and ground white pepper

3/4 cup clam juice

3/4 cup rich chicken stock

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt the butter and stir in the flour. Stir and cook until the mixture becomes foamy. Add the warm stock and bring to a boil. Turn fire down to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. remove from heat and put a few pieces of butter on top to prevent a film from forming. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

 

(Source: Antoine’s Restaurant website, cookbook and an onsite staff visit.)