"Liquor," Rickey said.
"Liquor? Dude, I know you're upset about getting fired, but c'mon. Every place in the city serves liquor."
"But no place has a menu entirely based on it."
"You're really losing me."
"New Orleans loves booze. We love drinking it, we love the idea of drinking it, we love being encouraged to drink it. You think all those drive-thru daiquiri stands in Metairie are just serving tourists? Tourists don't go to the suburbs. Locals are drinking most of those daiquiris, and they could get 'em anywhere, but they love getting 'em at the drive-thrus because it makes them feel like they're doing something naughty. We could open a place that does the same thing on a much bigger scale."
"A whole menu based on liquor."
"Picture it, G. A nice dining room -- looks like, say, a cross between Commander's Palace and Gertie Greer's Steakhouse. Big bar in the front, mirrors, three hundred bottles -- every kind of liquor and liqueur, every brand you could name. But that's just the beginning. The real draw is that we use liquor in all the food. Oysters poached in whiskey. Tequila barbecue sauce. Bourbon-glazed duck. Even goddamn bananas Foster. And that's just the obvious shit. There's not a recipe in the world that we couldn't find a way to stick a little liquor in it."
"You think that'd even be legal?"
"It's New Orleans. If you got enough money, anything's legal."
28-year-old chef/owners John Rickey and Gary Stubbs have lived in New Orleans all their lives. They graduated from Frederick A. Douglass High School and have been cooking in local eateries for a cumulative twenty-two years. Liquor is their first independent venture in the restaurant world. After stints at the Pirate Lafitte Grill, Reilly's, La Tour Eiffel, the Peychaud Grill, and many other area restaurants, they shared chef duty at the Apostle Bar, where they began developing the eclectic French-influenced menu you see here at Liquor.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Figs in Calvados + Blue Cheese-Cognac Cream
Pan-Fried Risotto Balls with Absolut Citron Vodka + Vermouth Tapenade
Aquavit-Cured Salmon Carpaccio with Roasted Capers
Fresh Marinated Sardines in a Galliano Sweet and Sour Sauce
Pork Terrine with Wild Mushrooms and Bushmill's Irish Whiskey
Cold Sapphire Cucumber Soup (Bombay Sapphire Gin)
Salad of Mixed Greens, Macadamias, and Manchego Cheese with Walnut Eau de Vie Vinaigrette
Creole Tomato Salad with New Orleans Rum-Pickled Red Onions and Cranberry Beans
Pecan-Crusted Gulf Fish of the Day with Rum Beurre Blanc
Roasted Duck on the Bone + Sauce of Sun-dried Cherries, Roasted Garlic, and Kirsch
Grand Marnier-Fennel Osso Buco + House-made Orecchiette
Garlic-Perfumed Beef Ribeye Flamed with Cognac
Roasted Pork Loin with White Beans, Fresh Fennel, and Grappa
Tequila-Stewed Gulf Shrimp and Avocados + Louisiana Popcorn Rice
Pan-Fried Rabbit with Mustard and Herbsaint
Cognac-Flavored Wild Mushroom and Arugula Lasagna
[To learn about the desserts, you must read LIQUOR. -- PZB]