Patois, an Uptown Favorite {and Give Away Winner}

Though I had certainly heard of Patois, an Uptown NOLA restaurant, I had never been. Patois is located at the corner of Webster and Laurel Streets in a charming neighborhood of Uptown. The occasion for this dinner was BFF Sal’s 33rd birthday. Though his actual birthday was on May 4 (last Friday), Jazz Fest festivities did not all allow us to celebrate with some style and panache. Instead, we celebrated his special day on Wednesday evening.


I really love the charming facade of the building. The Ps on the front French style doors are tres welcoming.

 
The inside did not disappoint either. It to me resembled a quaint French bistro. There was ample light streaming in the abundance of windows, and the furnishings matched the overall decor and ambience.

I fell in love with the bar which takes up a great amount of space in the downstairs dining area. The large bar was finished in a soft gray color with minor distressing. I too adore the lighting atop the bar.


 
After a round of drinks (Ketel One martinis which came in wine glasses---Ugh!), we ordered our appetizers and our meal. From what I hear, the menu changes often and the chef features local fare as much as possible. For an appetizer, I had the Fried P & J Oyster salad- local spinach, Benton’s bacon, parmesan & Meyer lemon buttermilk dressing (No photo, sorry!). It was delicious. I think the appetizer was my favorite part.

For my meal, I had the Almond Crusted Gulf Fish over roast potato galettes, buttered green beans, and satsuma menieure . It too was good.

For dessert, J & I split the bread pudding.

All in all I thought the ambience was excellent, food was good, and the service was rather sloppy. It seemed like we all waited an eternity for our cocktails and refills. I hate to wait for a cocktail or two. Also, every time the server brought out a new course for the table, ONE was always missing- one appetizer(MINE), one main course, and one dessert. I would have thought the staff could have been more apologetic too when told of their mistake. Our party was of 8 friends, and I am certain the staff has dealt with more than that prior to our occasion. I’ll chalk it up to an “off night” service-wise. No hard feelings, of course!

The price of the meal was comparable to my Uptown favs, Upperline and Clancy’s (about $75.00-$100.00 per person with two cocktails).
It was great to catch up with friends and share stories and a bit of friendly gossip.
I know we all had a great time celebrating such a great friend’s birthday.
Congrats “shout out” to one of my newest followers, Babs of Upstairs Downstairs for winning my May Give Away, Coastal Style. Check out Babs blog. Thanks to all who participated. Be on the look out for my June Give Away, June 1.

 

Cheers to good friends and good food, y’all!