We are not taking any further reservations for Christmas Eve.

Friday December 24, we resume our tradition of offering a Creole Reveillon dinner in the 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.

This year, we are accepting traditional reservations, and while we are expected to honor reservations 100% of the time, we will appreciate if reservations made are fulfilled. Reservations are available at this link

A Creole Reveillon

December 24, 2021 4:30-8:00 p.m.

Table d’hôte, Choose one per course

First

Gullah Oyster Rice Gulf Oysters, Carolina Gold Rice, Sea Island Benne

Parsnip & Leek Bisque Coush-coush, quince sweetmeats, pickled Winesap apples

Bread Service

Home-baked Turkey Red Wheat and Black Walnut Sourdough Whipped sorghum butter, huckleberry conserves

Salad

Big Hominy & Bacon Chicory greens, Cherokee White corn hominy, candied bacon, charred onion vinaigrette, pickled peppers

 Ambrosia Gotham Greens butter lettuce, satsuma mandarin, fresh coconut, candied pecans

Entrée

Heritage American Buff Goose Gumbo House-made Chaurice Meatballs, Buttered Aromatic Braggadocio Rice

Creamed Venison Pie Rutabaga, Apple, Fried Greens, Horseradish Jus

Stuffed Rushing Waters Trout, Crawfish Boudin Cauliflower puree, charred brussels sprouts with almond

Appalachian Blue Barley Purloo White rice peas, roasted black trumpet mushrooms, crispy fried broccoli, sweet chow

Dessert

A Traditional Doberge Cake of Chocolate, Lemon, Caramel

Rum & Nutmeg Bread Pudding Homemade apple butter, toasted oat streusel, orange coriander ice cream

Cookies to Go

Wild Fennel-scented Holiday Springerle

Sixty-five dollars per person, beverage pairings TBD, thirty dollars per person