PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Chef-owner Susan Spicer is a local treasure, and certainly her grit in reopening her business -- she lost her house as did her co-manager, business manager, and assistant, and Spicer regularly commuted from her temporary digs in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early days of her restaurant's return -- has only increased that affection. Happily, Bayona's lovely courtyard came through the storm just fine and was blooming like crazy by summer 2006. Be sure to begin with the outstanding cream of garlic soup, a perennial favorite. Appetizers include grilled shrimp with cilantro sauce and black-bean cakes, and delicate, flavorful veal sweetbreads sautéed with scallions and diced potatoes in sherry vinaigrette. Knockout entrees have included medallions of lamb loin with a lavender honey aioli (a mayonnaise-based sauce) and a zinfandel demi-glace; a perfectly grilled pork chop with a stuffing of fontina cheese, fresh sage, and prosciutto; and yet another lamb dish, this one topped with goat cheese, that may have been the best lamb we've ever tasted. Heaven. Entrees come with a well-balanced selection of sides such as gnocchi, puréed butternut squash, or fresh sweet corn. And lunch brings a smoked-duck (with cashew butter and pepper jelly) sandwich that has been boxed to go on many a plane flight! A light lunch on Saturdays features three courses of tapaslike plates you can mix and match for $20. They are offering parking at the nearby Chateau Lemoyne at 301 Dauphine St.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New Orleans 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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