Between the fortune tellers in Jackson Square, vampire lore, tours of haunted locales, voodoo shops, and even a rougarou in the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans isn’t exactly a town that’s shy of the paranormal and metaphysical. Which is why it’s surprising that a witchcraft-themed bar and restaurant — and a really good one, to boot — hasn’t really existed in the Crescent City, at least not in recent memory. Enter Tatlo, the recently opened absinthe bar and Filipino-inspired restaurant at the corner of Bourbon and Bienville Streets in the French Quarter, courtesy of chef/owner and head witch Cristina Quackenbush.
Quackenbush’s name might ring a bell as the chef behind Milkfish, the Filipino restaurant that graced Mid-City a decade ago, and she’s worked steadily supplying hungry New Orleanians with their fill of lumpia and chicken adobo since then. When the space formerly housing Belle Epoque became available for a new concept, Quackenbush leapt at the chance to pitch something entirely novel, but also in the spirit of the Vieux Carré. Not only did she want to open a new restaurant, but to also use it as a way to “come out” to the world as a witch herself, using her experience and knowledge of witchcraft to drive the menu, decor and the entire guest experience.
“I’m a practicing witch,” she said, “and all this time, I have been doing these things at home, in the background. I do it in my food, because food is magical. There’s a spiritual side to the ingredients, but also a healing side. So, I was like, ‘I wonder if people would be open to it?’ Because witches have had a very bad rap, but a witch is just a woman who knows her power, and who knows how to use it. When I decided to come up with this restaurant, I went to the [location’s owners], and I said, ‘Let me do this concept, and let me have 100% control over the theme, and I promise you that this will be a success. I’ve been manifesting this for six months.’ And so they looked at me and said, ‘Go ahead.’ That was this past April, and here we are now.”
Tatlo opened this past September, fittingly on Friday the 13th. A trip there will lead you around the corner from the Old Absinthe House into a dark but warm space brimming with witchy decor, including appropriately spooky art, candles, the scent of burning sage, a pair of gorgeously ornate absinthe fountains at the bar, and even Spanish moss — harvested directly from City Park — dripping from the rafters. There’s even a tarot reader spelling out the fortunes for guests in a corner next to an altar. It is, in a word, enchanting. But don’t let the ambiance trick you into thinking that the spot is more style than substance, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
The menu at Tatlo is thoughtful and fun and evokes Quackenbush’s love for the cuisine of her Filipino heritage, with a modern flair. Take, for instance, her riff on kare-kare, one of Quackenbush’s most popular recipes from Milkfish. “I updated that dish, and I called it ‘Peanut Butter and Belly,’” she said. The dish incorporates beef belly and short rib, which the chef cooks sous vide to maximize its tenderness, then wrapped in rice paper and seared for a crispy note, and plated stylishly atop a peanut sauce, Bok choy, eggplant and green beans. The menu describes it as evoking affluence, strength, and virility, but even if you’re not all-in on the spiritual power of ingredients, it’s a delightfully modern take on a classic Filipino favorite.
Other standouts at Tatlo include “Synergy,” another playful take on a popular dish: arancini. Quackenbush incorporates purple sticky rice and chicken adobo into the mix and tops it with house-made pickles. It’s definitely not your Italian Nona’s arancini, and the result is surprisingly creative and wholly satisfying, and illustrates not just the chef’s technical skill, but also that Tatlo isn’t slavishly tied to tradition. “Having Tatlo doesn’t make me just specifically do Filipino food. It’s all over. That’s why I don’t give the menu items Filipino names,” she said. In a similar fashion, no witchcraft-themed restaurant would be complete without a cauldron, and in this case it’s a bubbling pot of fondue. Hungry diners should also seek out the “Triqueta,” a dish featuring pork ribs with a sticky lemongrass barbecue sauce, accompanied by a red cabbage slaw with candied mango, mint and cilantro.
Whether you’re sipping Tatlo’s craft cocktails or absinthes, or if you’re down for a full multicourse dinner, Quackenbush wants to make certain that each guest receives a bit of genuine witchcraft with their experience, whether it’s a potion, a candle, or an offering of “intention cards” displayed on your table. She even strolls the dining room hourly to burn some palo santo and bless her patrons. “Even with everything I have going on in the kitchen, I still want to make sure to go out there [and] just be the head witch.” she said.
“We just really want to give a really good, positive, body, soul, and mind experience,” Quackenbush said. “It’s been amazing, giving people something different to look at, as far as what food can do for you, and what some spells can do….the positive vibes, and the idea of intentionality and focusing on ingredients and how they affect your body and your spirit, I think that’s really wonderful and unique. There’s really nothing out there like that, which, of course, New Orleanians love.”
About the Chef
Originally from Malabon, Philippines, Chef Cristina Quackenbush grew up on a farm in Evanston, Indiana, where she enjoyed cooking and gardening with her family from a young age. After raising a family of her own and traveling the world with her military husband, Quackenbush eventually returned to Indiana, but yearned for something different. New Orleans seemed like the right place for her. “I got here, and I just fell so in love that I was bound and determined to live here. It was the most unique place I’ve ever been. I just felt like something was calling me here,” she said. The chef cooked in and managed restaurants for a number of years before finally deciding to fill a gap in the New Orleans culinary scene by opening Milkfish, a Filipino restaurant in Mid-City, in 2014. After that project sadly shuttered a few years later, Quackenbush continued to cook in various pop-ups and catering projects, until finally opening up her dream project, Tatlo, this past September. “It’s very serendipitous,” says the chef. “First of all, being pulled to New Orleans as hard as I was, and then being able, for the first time ever in my life, to be my total creative self. If I was a witch in my hometown, that would be crazy, you know? But in New Orleans, it makes sense. There’s such a powerful energy here. It’s been a lot of work in a very short amount of time, and I can’t even tell you how happy I am with the result.”
