COOLinary at The Rib Room
Celebrating 65 years of excellent service and even better dishes, the freshly-renovated Rib Room in the Omni Royal Orleans has extended their popular three-course COOLinary menu through September 30 so that locals and tourists alike can enjoy a hearty pre-fixe meal.
The grey stone floors, candlelight, and flickering faux candles in the antiquated metal chandeliers highlight the dark terracotta-colored ceiling. I adore the tall ceiling of the main room and the mezzanine secondary dining room that overlooks the room through the arched openings. Four gas lamps watch over the dining room bearing the names Belle Chasse, Bayou Goula, Venice, and Mamou. It feels like dining in the old world, especially if you are seated in one of the 15 foot-tall arched windows overlooking Royal Street. You will likely see a second line (or two) meander past at night.
The surroundings are only paralleled by the service. The warm, friendly, highly-attentive service that the best French Quarter establishments are known for thrives here. Our awesome server offered to select wines for us, and his choices were perfect. As a wine novice confronted with such an expertly-curated collection, I could not have done better. Expert advice: if you are a party of two, you can get every dish on the COOLinary menu.
The first course is a selection of French Onion Soup or Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce. I’m a year-round soup fan, so the easy choice was French Onion Soup. The round bowl is so filled with hot soup, bread bits, and gruyere that the liquid overtops the sides of the bowl as you pierce the cheese seal. Unlike almost all French onion soups, Rib Room’s take is not overwhelmingly salty which may come as a relief to those who can’t stand puckering with every spoonful elsewhere. This soup is a great balance of deep onion, nuanced gruyere dehydrated enough for a bit of chew, and bread that still retains some structure after soaking…