Review: The Three Muses

The Three Muses on Frenchman St. in New Orleans serves notbronly incredible food, but also a heaping dose of real New Orleans culture.

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The Frenchmen pass on Bourbon

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On a recent trip to New Orleans my wife, Paulette, and Ibrwere directed, by the owner of the B&B where we were staying, to bypassbrBourbon St. and head on over to Frenchman St. brWe were told that Frenchman St. is the locals’ Bourbon St.  That was good enough for us as I had grownbrvery weary of the touristy trappings of Bourbon St. 

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And so it was we found our way just past The French Market,brhung a left on Esplanade, then a couple of blocks down to Frenchman.  Once we parked a block or so off and walked.  When we got there we saw and heard a threebrpiece rock band playing in a vacant corner lot. brThe three musicians were long haired, shirtless, and unbathed.  The drummer had a set of symbols, a base, andbra snare, and he was killing it.  A bassbrguitar coupled a lead guitar with a mic and the group was complete.  A familiar opened guitar case caught thebrpublic’s offerings for their work.  Webrknew immediately this was the place we were looking for. 

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The vibe is incredible there.  It’s gritty, authentic, and honest.  The street smells like a city.  Not necessarily in a bad way, but your nosebrtells you exactly where you are on the planet. brThat’s right Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.  The scene is not about who can be morebroutrageous or who can consume the most alcohol, no.  It’s about people just doing their own thing,brtrying to make a buck, and having a great time doing it.

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Amuse me thrice

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While there are several places where you can spend some timebron Frenchman, we were told that The Three Muses was worth the price ofbradmission, which is one drink by the way. brThe Three Muses is a small stage, large bar establishment named for itsbrthree proprietors, Sophie Lee, Daniel Esses, and Christopher Starnes.  This is a plastic cup and wine glass kindabrplace. It’s narrow and deep, dimly lit with local art on the walls.  It’s loud and crowded with lots of laughingbrand gathering at the bar and absolutely no pomp and circumstance In otherbrwords…it’s perfect.  So give your name tobrthe nice lady at the door, spend the hour or two wait roaming up and downbrFrenchman taking in the sites, and then return to be seated.  Oh, there is a vacant lot about a block and abrhalf down where local artists display their work…very cool.

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TTM features local musicians playing jazz, blues, rock, andbreven a little gospel now and then.  Whilebrthere we were treated to Aurora Nealand’s Royal Roses followed by Glen DavidbrAndrews.  The Royal Roses werebrincredible; go see them at all costs.

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Feed me my muses, feed me

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So far we’re doing pretty good here.  Great music, check.  Great atmosphere, check.  Funky, contemporary, chic little joint off ofbrthe beaten path, check.  Now all we needbris some excellent eats to seal the deal, and boy do they deliver.

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TTM’s menu is small; one page to be exact.  The plates are the same.  Their idea of service reminds me of tapasbrstyle eating, which is small plates from a varied menu.  I love love this type of dining.  The diner, that’s you, gets to choose frombritem across the menu.  There’s nobrcommitting to a large entrée and the salad and sides that accompany. 

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So it kinda goes like this. brYou get yourself an expertly prepared drink and enjoy some excellentbrmusic; you order a little plate and enjoy while listening to some great musicbrand share with others at the table and their little plates; you order anotherbrdrink and laugh a little more; you order a different little plate, as do othersbrwith you and so on.  Lather, rinse, andbrrepeat well into the night or until they close, which is sometime between whenbrthe light disappears in the west and reappears in the east.

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A more than amusing menu

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We started off with the Feta Fries.  I mean who doesn’t want some hand cut,brperfectly browned, salty, pungent, little sticks of goodness?  Then we quickly ordered the Tempura Shrimp, abrmoment please while I collect myself….thank you. 

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This unassuming little dish, served in an equally unassumingbrlittle bowl, was incredible.  Now thisbrisn’t your Chinese buffet sweet and sour shrimp, far from it.  The shrimp are cut into pieces, lightlybrbattered, fried to perfection, and dressed with this incredible sweet Chinesebrmustard sauce, and served.  You see thebrthing about cutting the shrimp into smaller pieces is that the crunch factorbrgoes up by about 10. 

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Hey you, yeah you reading this…knock, knock…go get thatbrdish.  I’m telling you this is a simple,brstraightforward dish that is expertly executed, and I haven’t stopped thinkingbrabout it since.

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After a little while of enjoying where we are Paulette ordersbrthe Steak and Cake, and I go for the Smoked Duck Pizza because I’ve been eyeingbrthat little beauty all night.  Oh yeah mybrlittle friend, you’re going down.

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The Steak and Cake is a small piece of hanger steak cookedbrto your liking, served atop a crab cake, and topped with Béarnaise sauce.  All was well and good, but Paulette and Ibrboth picked up an overpowering fishy flavor towards the end of the dish.  I suspect either the crab meat was too farbrpast prime, or frozen/thawed claw was used. brEither way we decided it was a minor setback because the plate wasbrreturned empty.

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On the other side of the table was my Smoked DuckbrPizza.  Do yourself a favor and order itbrwith a soft fried duck egg on top.  Ibrthink they snuck a chicken egg on mine judging by the relatively small yolk tobrwhite ratio but no matter because it was delicious.  You see what you have here is locally sourcedbrduck, brussel sprout leaves, tiki masala tomato sauce, and a little Fontina andbrgoat cheese thrown in for good measure. brServe that on a wafer thin, slightly charred crust and that my friendsbris a winner.

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Let the muses amaze you

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TTM is one of those places you are looking to find.  Trust me on this.  It’s a jazz bar, gastro-pub, and speakeasybrall rolled into one.  When you walk in itbrfeels fresh and familiar at the same time. brExcellent local musicians playing great tunes, a relaxed, welcomingbratmosphere, and truly great food is what you can expect.  Mix in the local vibe of Frenchman St. andbryou have a place I will go to again and again. brBesides, I gotta get some more of those shrimp.

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Stay hungry.