Peche Seafood Grill

So two good friends of mine are in town and were looking for a good “last night in town” dinner. One is a former resident of New Orleans, so the pressure was on… especially when we sat down to dinner and they said “Order for us.” Luckily for me, we were at Donald Link’s Peche. Honestly over the course of several visits, I’ve always been impressed with both their service and how delicious their food is. Chef Ryan Prewitt continues to serve some of the best seafood in town. The daily menu emphasizes the freshness of the seafood and his practical and light approach to cooking it. Yes, you can get seafood here in New Orleans that’s not deep-fried.

It’s absurd to me that I’ve never written about this place, so here we go:

We kicked things off with a dozen oysters on the half shell from Hopedale, Louisiana. (Yes, Peche will tell you exactly where their oysters are from. The night’s other oyster option was from Dauphin Island, Alabama.) Cocktail sauce, mignonette sauce, crackers. Classic.

We also ordered smoked tuna dip, which one of my friends loved so much that we did a second round of it. I always recommend their crudo of the day—In this case, it was tuna with LA navel orange and pecans, vinaigrette, and black pepper. That disappeared quite quickly.

Added to that some royal red shrimp, grilled with garlic and butter. If you’ve never had royal reds before, you have to try them. They have a great color, a natural saltiness. and a delicate texture. And last but not least, some beautiful stone crab claws, steamed with Meyer lemon butter.

For our main course, we split their signature grilled whole redfish with salsa verde, a dish that’s won countless (and deserved) accolades. Of course we needed sides, so we got some of the best brabant potatoes in town, fried brussel sprouts with chili vinegar, and white beans stewed with bacon. Washed the meal down with a few pitchers of Southern Pecan and called it a night? Nope.

We wrapped up our meal with pastry chef Rhonda Ruckman’s key lime pie with buttermilk chantilly. Peche’s desserts, like sister restaurants Herbsaint and Cochon, are always refreshingly simple. This was no exception: Bright and satisfying.

Peche Seafood Grill

800 Magazine Street

New Orleans, LA 70130

504-522-1744

Monday – Thursday: 11am – 10pm

Friday – Saturday: 11am – 11pm

Sunday: Closed