Le Chat Noir Restaurant

Chef Seth Temple is onstage, front and center, at Le Chat Noir, the former cabaret theater at 715 St. Charles Ave. Temple's artful food commands the spotlight, the star of the show that went curtains up in early December 2021. Temple drives a veg-forward menu with big flavors and farm-fresh ingredients. Take what he does with hakurei turnips, for example. A sauté of the small, crunchy vegetable, greens attached, in a miso-fueled umami sauce studded with candied Meyerquats and fronds of bronze fennel is hauntingly simple. Then there's the daily fresh fish served with an oniony soubise, mushroom and capers. And that crab fat agnolotti is to die for. Sommelier Kevin Wardell, who moved to New Orleans from Healdsburg, California, curates an affordable wine list with small, boutique producers and lesser-known grape varietals.