Jun
3
Testimonials 2009
For some reason, and I don’t have the answer, the relatively tiny community of New Orleans attracts creative and talented chefs who desire to practice their craft in a place filled with equally talented and creative masters of cuisine.
New Orleans has a new rising star who is not from our midst. Chef Michael Farrell has not only brought innovation to the dining room at Le Meritage in the Maison Dupuy Hotel, but he has completely taken the concept of a menu and wine pairing and stood it on its head. Wines are paired with dishes, then decisions about both are fully placed in the hands of the diner.
Desire bigger portions of both wines and the accompanying dish? Do it. Want more of one, less of another? Not the first dish but the second; not the second wine but the first? It’s all up to the diner. The heavy work has been done exquisitely. The wines are superb, and Chef Farrell’s creations are innovative and so very tasty.
Our beautiful City lives beyond its means in the richness of our culture, our architecture, our history and our music. Now we have another talent, adding to the plethora of those riches, sending forth from the kitchen and the wine cellar feasts for the senses.
Tim McNally
Host The Wine Show
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Chef Michael blends his national experience with our local seafood to create wonderful treasures. His crabcakes are the best.
Morton Katz
Attorney at Law
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Morty:
We truly cannot thank you enough for the dinner last night. I think that may very well have been the best meal we have had in New Orleans to date. And believe me, that is saying more than you know considering the source. There was not one item that was served to us last night that was not cooked to perfection. The presentation was astounding, sometimes almost too good to eat … almost. I wisely chose to let the chef serve me his best offerings via the tasting menu. To say it was delicious would be a gross understatement. And that was due in no small part to the expertly paired wines – one of which we enjoyed so much we insisted on buying a bottle to bring home.
Your attention to detail was impressive: the sparkling and still water containers; the monogrammed butter dish; the black linens; even the salt and pepper containers were amazing! And your staff deserves to be commended. Emma did an absolutely fantastic job waiting on us throughout the evening. She has a bubbly personality that was the most wonderful accompaniment to the meal. Your wine list it to be commended as well. Such a fine selection of wines I have not seen outside of California wine country, even in the most respected restaurants in New Orleans. You can rest assured I have already recommended your restaurant to several of my friends and family, and we will most certainly be coming back for more!
I doubt that I could ever repay you for making our 7th anniversary so memorable.
Best wishes and with most sincere gratitude,
Kristin & Gene Durand
Jun
2
Dramatic Results: Le Meritage – by Gambit Magazine Best of New Orleans
This is a wine-themed menu with all dishes available as half or full portions. Dishes are listed by how their flavors correspond with wine characteristics, from “sparklers” (fried oysters, smoked salmon) to “robust reds” (lamb chops, beef short ribs). Wine pairings for each are printed along the margin, and they are offered in full and half pours.
It’s a tribute to chef Michael Farrell that initial skepticism about this concept fell away when his beautifully composed, vividly flavorful dishes began to arrive. On subsequent visits, we both played along with the wine pairings and stuck with one wine throughout, but all the dinners were memorable and exciting.
Farrell uses lots of local seafood, and all we tried were assertive. The red drum was roasted with a thick sheath of crinkly skin, as was the black grouper, giving a solid crunch outside firm flesh. Plenty of restaurants brag about their crab cakes, but this one really did live up to our waiter’s glowing praise. Huge knuckles of sweet white meat and a smattering of crawfish tails were held together by not much more than mutual affection.
Many people who dine here opt for a parade of small plates, but don’t confuse this with tapas. Even the small dishes at Le Meritage are usually complete and elaborate compositions with all the balance of a full-fledged entree, just miniaturized.
The perfectly grilled and greaseless quail was one example of big flavors writ small, plated with a salad of earthy greens and a tiny pile of wild rice. Another was the duck, one of the best dishes I sampled. It came on a long, narrow plate anchored on one end by slices of seared breast with fig compote and on the other by a few silken slabs of foie gras scored to catch a mellow, honeyed sauce, with a border between them made of buttery roasted potatoes and, as if a centerpiece, a purple iris blossom.
I regretted not ordering the large portion of the excellent rabbit tenderloin wrapped in pancetta over tagliatelle, but I was glad the excessively chewy and disappointing flatiron steak took only a small bite from both my appetite and wallet.
May
4
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Chef Michael Farrell of Le Meritage Named a Chef to Watch by Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Jyl Benson, Publicist
504.899.1413 (ofc), 504.913.4747 (mobile) or jylb@cox.net
Chef Michael Farrell of Le Meritage Named a Chef to Watch by
Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine:
Eighth Annual Award Ceremony to be Held in August
NEW ORLEANS, LA, May 4, 2009 – Wow, that was quick! After less than two months in the kitchen Chef Michael Farrell of Le Meritage has attracted the attention of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine’s network of foodies throughout the state to be named one of five up-and-coming talented chefs to watch. Chefs are chosen for their talent, skill and ability to produce menus full of fresh, innovative takes on traditional Louisiana ingredients.
“We are very excited about Chef Farrell, said Susan Ford, Publisher
of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine. “What he is doing is just right for right now. “
The Chefs to Watch program donates thousands of dollars to Café Reconcile, the nonprofit organization which trains at-risk youth to lead productive lives through culinary education and job placement. The money is raised through a dinner at which each chef contributes a course. This year the dinner will take place at the end of August. Chef Farrell’s Grilled Pork Filet with Fig Compote has been chosen as the entrée for the dinner.
Chefs to Watch will be featured in the July/August edition of the nationally-distributed magazine and on the magazine’s website, LouisianaCookin.com Make reservations for the event by calling Louisiana Cookin’ at 504.482.3914, ext, 205 or 888.884.4114, ext. 205 or visit chefstowatch@louisianacookin.com.
Michael Farrell, Executive Chef, Le Meritage
Michael Farrell hails from central Virginia, the youngest of Diana and Tom Farrell’s five children. Growing up, he observed with awe as his mother carefully planned and shopped for the frequent dinner and cocktail parties she and Tom hosted at their home. Diana was very deliberate in her china, cutlery, flowers and wine choices. The Farrell’s were known throughout their circle as gracious and gifted hosts.
“I learned from watching my parents entertain,” Farrell said. “It is in the smallest of gestures that the gap is bridged, from ordinary dining to extraordinary dining.
Of course it is the food,” he said. “But it is also the shade of the flowers, the
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Page 2, Michael Farrell
texture and fragrance of a fresh herb, the placement of a napkin, a warm welcome upon arrival.”
His mother taught him well. Michael started working in profeesional kitchens at the age of fifteen, and never looked back. Over twent-five years later he has been recognized by among many others, DiRoNA, Wine Spectator, Zagat and Bon Appetite, in a career that has taken him across the United States.
He has served in a variety of prominent positions including Owner and Executive Chef of Nantucket’s Summer House. Executive Chef of Colorado astablishments such as Beano’s Cabin and Saddle Ridge in Beaver Creek and Castle Pines. Chef Farrell also opened Anthem Country Club in Las Vegas.
In January 2009, that same warm welcome Chef Farrell is careful to share, was extended to him in New Orleans when he took the lead as Executive Chef of Le Meritage at the Maison Dupuy Hotel. His wife Gina Ciolino, is a native New Orleanian with strong family ties to the community. Despite the success Michael had honing his talents through different culinary opportunities, His wife Gina, like a true child of New Orleans, was ready to come home to build a life for their daughter. With a passion for food and entertaining and desire to make his own mark in a city he had always loved, Michael was only too eager to oblige.
While embracing New Orleans, Chef Farrell is free to indulge his lifelong zeal for the Southern foods he grew up with on his parents’ Virginia horse farm. With his Pan Roasted Red Drum with Fried Green Tomatoes and Succotash, he opens a door to a childhood spent picking fresh vegetables in a garden, hunting quail and grouse and fishing in the streams and lakes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His Molasses Pork Tenderloin served with Braised Beet Greens and Duck Breast with Foie Gras, Fig Compote and Butter Potatoes also claim their origins well below the Mason-Dixon Line.
He refers to his food as Southern Coastal Cuisine.
There is a formula, he says, by which a chef may arrive at his or her personal culinary vision: “You bring together all the things you grew up loving, all of the things you have been taught, and all of the things you have in front of you in abundance. From this collection of influences, you make something wonderful.
Apr
22
Maison Dupuy and Le Meritage Host the 3rd annual French Quarter Wine Festival
By: Louisiana Road Trip Magazine – April 2009 – Deb Burst
Click on the link below and scroll down to page #21
