Chef Emeril Lagasse is so famous, most foodies around the world know him only by his first name. New Orleanians will always remember him as the beloved Commander’s Palace chef who went on to create a culinary empire that includes restaurants everywhere from casinos to cruise ships, without ever fully straying from his ties to contemporary Creole cuisine. These days, Emeril has been gently passing the torch to his preternaturally talented son, EJ, currently the chef/co-owner at the group’s eponymous eatery, Emeril’s. As part of that process, Emeril and EJ decided that their next project would be a love letter to the homeland of the Lagasse clan: Portugal. To the delight of New Orleans diners, 34 Restaurant and Bar opened late last year, and it is every bit as exciting and gratifying as one would expect from the restaurant group’s well-earned reputation in the Big Easy.
With Emeril busy being Emeril, and EJ dutifully creating delicious waves over at the flagship restaurant, father and son made the decision to bring in some fresh talent from abroad to shape the fare and fortunes of their hip, clubby Portuguese spot in the CBD. That coveted job fell to Chris Dos Reis, a Portuguese American chef from New York with a resume that includes a small constellation of Michelin stars.
“I met EJ through social media, and we just became friends through a Portuguese pop up I did in New York,” Dos Reis said. The chef had been traveling and cooking throughout Europe, including stints in Sweden, Denmark, London, and all over Portugal, before heading back to the states. “EJ posted something on Instagram talking about 34’s new Portuguese concept, and I was like, ‘Oh, well, if you’re opening a Portuguese restaurant, you’re gonna need a Portuguese chef! And he commented right back, ‘Perfect I was hoping you would say that. When can you talk?’ A few months later, I made my way down here, right after Mardi Gras, met with him, and that’s it.”
What you’ll find at 34 is somewhere between staunchly traditional Portuguese cuisine and Dos Reis’ modern spin on it, an effective and often dazzling combination of old-guard and new-wave. There is, first and foremost, a jamon bar, a staple of that region and its gastronomic proclivities, where diners can snack on freshly shaved Iberico ham with a number of platings and accoutrements, including snacks like fried fava chips, marinated olives, and salty lupini beans, while sipping carafes of sangria, Portuguese wines, beers and craft cocktails. A pile of vinegary house-made potato chips lovingly draped with jamon paired with a “gintonica” should be enough to rev up the appetites of any worldly-minded New Orleans diner.
Making your way through 34’s menu, you’ll find small plates both novel and classic, including their crudo, a playful take incorporating local red snapper, pickles, trout roe, and a house made “burnt vinegar gazpacho” with dashi broth for a slightly Japanese inflection.
Another standout is Dos Reis’ version of bacalhau à brás, a quintessential regional dish invented by Portuguese marines combining salt cod and potatoes. “It’s like the grandmother’s classic dish, and I know EJ grew up eating it as well. Me and him sort of bonded over it,” he said. It is an artfully plated stack of shredded potatoes and cod, topped with caviar and then mixed tableside, and it is not to be missed. Similarly, you’ll find morcela, a rice-based blood sausage plated with fresh pineapple that will seem familiar to the boudin-lovers of south Louisiana. The same can be said for the saucy pot of pork and clams, which Dos Reis describes as “classic Portuguese.” “I love it so much,” he said. “Typically, you would have it over fries with some mayonnaise. If you’re going out late at night, there’s always an open bar that will serve that. I love this dish.”
Larger dishes at 34 run the gamut of iconic Portuguese staples, including a braised octopus dish native to the Azores. “It has a very traditional Azorian sauce from a specific town where they use white sweet potato, tomato paste, this really fermented pepper paste and a lot of red wine. We kept that authentic. You’ll also be wise not to skip the peppery Piri Piri chicken, which pays homage to the South African immigrant community’s influence on the region’s cuisine, something that Dos Reis was passionate about including.
Yet another one of the standouts here: the Shrimp San Miguel, which tastes shockingly similar to classic Creole barbecue shrimp in all the best ways. And, naturally, you’ll want to indulge in an order of the kitchen’s oven-baked duck rice. “I showed Emeril my version of it, and he loved it. It’s fatty, it’s rich, it has that crispy texture, but it also has this refreshing note to it, from the orange peel and the orange zest.”
Above all, the collaboration between Dos Reis, EJ and Emeril had the ultimate aim of sharing their love of Portuguese cuisine and heritage with New Orleans diners in a way that felt simultaneously exhilarating and comforting. “That was our goal,” Dos Reis said. “We want it to be familiar…a safe space for locals to come in here and feel at ease ordering the food they can relate to. But at the same time, challenge the diner with new flavors and with flavors that are not readily available in the U.S.”
About the Chef
A New York native, Reis got his culinary start cooking in local Italian restaurants and pizzerias, though his most formative kitchen memories come from working summers at his uncle’s high-volume “truck stop restaurant” in Portugal. After earning a degree in civil engineering and working in that field for a few years, Dos Reis did an about-face and began his culinary ascendency in some of the most renowned kitchens in Europe and the U.S., including Denmark’s Kadeau, Fäviken in Sweden, London’s Brat, Momofuko Ko, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, to name a few. His experience working with chef and food historian Nuno Mendez inspired Dos Reis to explore the regional fare of his homeland, an apprenticeship that found him cooking pop-up concepts all over Portugal, and beyond.
