The Pelican Club is one of the many restaurants that will be offering a special menu this year for Coolinary, a month-long collaboration throughout August among some of New Orleans’ finest dining establishments who offer specially curated prix-fixe menus at unbeatable prices.
The Pelican Club was opened in 1990 by Chef Richard Hughes and his wife, Jeanne Stinnett Hughes. A native Louisianian, Richard began his career as an apprentice to Chris Kerageorgiou at [the now-closed] La Provence in Lacombe, Louisiana. From there, he served as a saucier under chef Gerard Thabius at Winston’s, night chef at The Sazerac, and chef at Dante by the River.
In 1983, Chef Hughes was hired as executive chef at Memphis Restaurant in New York, regarded as one of the top restaurants in Manhattan under his tenure. After opening three more restaurants in New York, where he served as executive chef, Hughes and his wife moved to New Orleans, where they raised their children.
After deciding to open their own restaurant, the couple scouted locations throughout the French Quarter and settled on a 19th-century townhouse on Bienville Street and Exchange Alley. The space, which boasts Italian marble columns and floors, hand-painted ceramic, a wall of arched, wood-mullioned windows, and three dining rooms, is perfect for any date night or celebration.
The menu here is as elegant as the space. One of the signature dishes is the whole crispy flounder served with citrus chili sauce and jasmine rice. Hughes also recommends Louisiana cioppino, a stew consisting of basil garlic tomato sauce, gulf fish, scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, and buttered linguini in a hot pot.
Cioppino, photo courtesy of The Pelican Club
Much of the menu is inspired by former chef de cuisine and restaurant partner Chin Ling. Ling is from Singapore and has added Asian touches to many of the dishes. Hughes said that one of the restaurant’s most-ordered appetizers is the Korean pork steam bun with kewpie mayo, sriracha, and hoisin sauces served with house pickled vegetables. Other menu highlights include baked oysters with applewood smoked bacon, parmesan and garlic herb butter; Bell and Evans half-fried chicken with iron skillet jalapeño, sweet onion, and cheese cornbread, chinois slaw and chow chow; and panéed Gulf fish with jumbo lump crabmeat with jalapeño hollandaise, meunière and baby potatoes.
For Coolinary, The Pelican Club will offer a three-course menu of an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for $45. Dishes on the Coolinary menu will also be available à la carte.
The Pelican Club, 312 Exchange Place, 504-523-1504. Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.
