"It's a dream space
in a stretch of the Marigny increasingly populated by freshly minted, highly priced condominiums, yet it's as close geographically to the grit of St. Claude Avenue as to fashionable Frenchman Street."

"...rooted in a belief that a striving restaurant can help sculpt a changing community's identity."

"I'm betting that people in the Marigny will talk about its opening as the time when the neighborhood turned yet another corner."

"My favorites: the warm spinach-frisee tossed with juicy, warm morsels of duck confit, each meaty bit as richly delicious as the pancetta in the vinaigrette, and the peppery watercress salad thinly coated with garlic-habanero dressing and finished with satsuma sections and several sweet, large grilled shrimp."

Brett Anderson, Restaurant Critic
Banking on a Good Meal
The Times-Picayune Lagniappe Dining Section
January 14, 2005

"Stepping into Bank Café for a drink, I felt like I'd stumbled upon a rare animal outside of its natural habitat. Bars this sleek are normally found off the streets of San Francisco or Amsterdam."

"The building, a former bank, has an air of decadence -- we drink where responsible people once saved for their retirement."

"Daniel Esses brings a sterling resume -- Café Degas, Peristyle and Restaurant August -- and enormous talent to his first post as executive chef... the menu displays a graceful bravado that balances a range of flavors on a single plate."

"One rainy night, I ordered a seared redfish fillet suspended on fingerling potatoes above an earthy saffron broth. It was warm and filling, and the bright basil oil across the fillet offered a preview of spring."

Todd A. Price, Restaurant Critic
Pumping up the Volume
Gambit Weekly Cuisine Section
March 15, 2005

"The chef calls his cooking light and ‘very colorful with oils and purees and juices. We want to use a lot of local ingredients, like local fish and game.’”

Brett Anderson, Restaurant Critic
Cravings & Loan
The Times-Picayune Living Section
July 27, 2004

 

"One of the most promising young chefs in the city is cooking at this renovated bank in the Marigny Triangle. His name is Daniel Esses, and he has a gift for reconfiguring familiar combinations and ingredients in fresh ways."

Brett Anderson, Restaurant Critic
Eating Outside the Gates
The Times-Picayune Lagniappe
Dining Section
April 22, 2005

 

"A suite of four canvases extending over 20 feet across the wall, each filled edge to edge with leaves, vines, grass and weeds, is like a conference call among van Gogh, Soutine and Pollock."

Ken Johnson
Art in Review; Chuck Connelly
The New York Times
Leisure/Weekend Desk Section
October 11, 2002