Things ain't what they used to be at Molly's. At least not completely. The Soulard spot best known for its immense outdoor bar area has taken over the former Norton's next door and gone serious about food, without abandoning the patio and its frolic. How serious? Well, Eric Brenner, best known to most of us as the chef at Chez Leon and the creator of Moxy, both excellent Central West End bistros, was hired to create the menu and train kitchen staff, something he has done at a number of quality restaurants here and throughout the Midwest.
And the interior has been redone, honoring Soulard's French heritage with colors, light and decorating notes that range from Moulin Rouge to post-Civil War New Orleans. Two dining rooms, with another under construction for private parties; both dining rooms are non-smoking.
That French influence, more New World than Old, shows up a lot in the menu. Plenty of seafood seasoned and cooked in Creole style bounces here and there. We went all out on the appetizers, devouring four riffs on the fishy theme. Etouffe lasagna? Oh, why not? The pasta and cheese tone down any of the potential fire that may lurk in the heart of the seafood stew, and its creamy, slightly gooey mouth-feel turned it into comfort food.
It's not a particularly handsome dish, with the sauce oozing and crawfish tumbling around the plate, but extremely tasty, and a serving large enough to be a main course for light eaters. Oysters Rockefeller have been re-thought with cornmeal-battered oysters over small toasts topped with a spinach spread containing the proper note of licorice, here achieved with fennel rather than absinthe. Sauced with a dollop of Hollandaise, they charmed anyone grumpy enough to mutter about fooling with a classic.
A bowl of mussels steamed with lashings of white wine, diced fresh tomato, garlic (of course) and some fresh basil was totally satisfying, lacking only a spoon to slurp up every bit of the juice. That brought memories of an old vaudeville chestnut: A waiter serves the soup. The customer tells him to taste it. The waiter asks if there is a problem. The customer repeats. This goes on as long as the audience appears interested. Finally, the waiter says, "There's no spoon." "Aha!" says the customer.
And then came a combination that reminded us of Richard Collin, a 1970s chronicler of New Orleans food whose ultimate compliment, describing a dish that reaches the ideal, was to call it “platonic.”
Brenner, who was in the house but not cooking the night of our visit, has created a great combination. He fries slices of green tomatoes in a spicy cornmeal batter and tops them with New Orleans-style barbecued shrimp, broiled in lashings of butter and plenty of herbs. Platonic, indeed.
The duck entree sported slices of rare grilled breast and a leg that had been cooked as a confit, all sauced with a sweet-tangy peach bourbon sauce that was tasty enough to eat with a spoon. The green beans were not as long-simmered as Grandmere might have done them, but all the better for contemporary tastes. And the spicy new potatoes, roasted and slightly crunchy, worked well. Steak frites, on the other hand, didn't reach the standards previously set. Slices of hanger steak were topped with a little bearnaise sauce, but it was difficult to appreciate because the steak had a strong flavor of petroleum from the grill. One of us seems particularly sensitive to that influence, and it seemed strong that night. The frites, or French fries, were mundane and the promised drizzle of truffle oil seemed to have been forgotten.
The wine list is splendid, with a fine selection of reds and whites from many countries available by glass and bottle, most of them at reasonable prices.
No menu like this would be complete without bread pudding, and even in New Orleans, there are as many variations as there are households. At Molly's, it's flavored with maple syrup and a blueberry compote, nicely fluffy and with the berries bringing a good tartness to offset the maple. We also had a molten chocolate cake, which turned out to benefit from the blueberries, too. We know there are folks who love the little cakes with the gooey inside, but for frequent diners-out, it's become a little too familiar. We understand why it stays on menus, and this is a reasonable rendition, but a little above-and-beyond is nice.
Service? You'll see several familiar faces around here, and some new ones as well, particularly eager to prove themselves knowledgeable about the menu and wine. Parking is in the restaurant's lot, farther west on the same block.
Molly's in Soulard
804-816 Geyer Ave.
314-241-6200
Lunch Mon.-Sat., Dinner nightly, Brunch Sunday
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Entrees: $16-$26