This week’s Sunday Bauer review offers a positive take on Boxing Room, the new New Orleans-themed restaurant from the Absinthe folks and chef Justin Simoneaux — but not before Mr. Bauer makes it known that he doesn’t approve of transplanting Cajun and Creole cooking to the Bay Area. “It’s hard to lift a cuisine from its moorings and do it justice somewhere else, especially when it diverges from the more delicate California palate,” he writes, but nonetheless he’s kind to Simoneaux and insists that he “knows his way around a fryer.” He approves of the fried oysters, fried chicken, and even the fried alligator, and Simoneaux’s crayfish étouffée, and he says he “loves” the smothered okra and gulf shrimp stew. There a few complaints: leathery pickles, less than stellar porchetta, and “mealy” pork sausage. But all in all the restaurant scores two and a half stars, which is probably what they were hoping for. [Chron]
Also, over on the blog, Bauer takes us on a tour of some new spots in Carmel and Monterey, including the new Restaurant 1833 where he notes a dish of parmesan-crusted cod on farro with pearl onions. [Between Meals/Scoop]
