Wednesday December 24, we continue our tradition of offering a Creole Reveillon dinner in the true spirit of New Orleans holiday dining. Through most of the 19th century, Reveillons were held in the homes of the French Quarter’s Creole population, when churchgoers would arrive home after midnight mass famished, ready to break the pre-communion fast. As you might imagine, in the homes of the food & drink-obsessed Creoles of the French Quarter, these dinners came to be many hours long, featuring course after course of unabashed decadence meant at once to celebrate the holiday, as well as break the fast in spectacular fashion, as New Orleanians have always been wont to do.
During the 20th century as the restaurant business developed in the emerging dining capital of the South, the finer restaurants in New Orleans began offering Reveillon menus themselves. After World War II particularly, as the demographics of the Quarter changed in addition to changing mores regarding Catholic Church canon and changing habits among churchgoers, the Reveillon tradition died, only to be revived over the last several years by the city’s white-hot restaurant scene. Dozens of restaurants there now offer Reveillon menus. Our humble dinner at Big Jones seeks to extend that tradition, to give a portrait of a beautiful time and place in New Orleans’ culinary history, to serve the many Louisiana expats who now call Chicago home, and to share our love of Southern hospitality with you in a uniquely seasonal way.
Please join us for a very special evening. Reservations are very highly recommended, it will sell out in advance. Reservations can be made by calling 773-275-5725.
Christmas Eve December 24, 2014 4-9pm
Table d’hôte, choose one per course
First
Oyster and Carolina Gold Rice Perlau
House Vintage 2012 Country Ham, Watermelon Molasses
Crispy Duck Liver
American Chestnut Grits, Stewed Gizzards, Huckleberry Bounce
Butternut Squash Bisque
Cajun Coush Coush, Homemade Quince Honey
Bread Service, Sweetmeats
Home-baked Red Fife Wheat and Black Walnut Sourdough
House Cultured Butter, Satsuma Conserves, Preserved Peaches in Bourbon
Second
Genesis Growers Beets Three Ways
Buttermilk Puree, Frisee, Lemon Marmalade, Celery Salt Croutons
Living Water Farms Butter Lettuce
Green Goddess, Hook’s Blue Cheese, Crispy House-cured Bacon
Entrée
Heritage American Buff Goose Gumbo
House-made Chaurice Meatballs, Steamed Arkansas Delta Rice
Creamed Venison Pie
Nichols Farm Celery Root, Rutabaga, Horseradish
Stuffed Rushing Waters Trout, Crawfish Boudin
Hook’s Cheddar Cauliflower Puree, Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onions
Anson Mills Black Barley Purloo
Speckled Butterbeans, Roasted Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Three Sisters Garden Pea Greens and Brown Butter-Fried Pecans
Dessert
A Traditional Doberge Cake of Chocolate, Lemon, Caramel
Rum & Nutmeg Bread Pudding
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Crumble, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Warm Cranberry and Bone Marrow Pudding Pie
Whipped Kilgus Farmstead Cream
Forty-nine dollars per person, ttenty per person under age twelve
