Chef Dominique Macquet, who received the highest rating (four “beans”) from The Times-Picayune for his eponymous restaurant Dominique’s on Magazine, has created Tamarind By Dominique at The Hotel Modern New Orleans. The restaurant is named after the exotic tropical fruit Macquet enjoyed as a child growing up in Mauritius and exploresVietnamese cuisine from the perspective of nearly a century of French colonial presence in Vietnam.
Macquet has selected his Vietnamese-born sous chef of 12 years, Quan Tran, to be the chef de cuisine of Tamarind. Together Macquet and Tran have created a menu with respect and passion for Vietnamese traditions influenced by French Colonialism. To learn about the current culture of Vietnamese cooking, Tran traveled back to Viet Nam prior to opening Tamarind, where he gained new insight into both traditional and innovative expressions of the Vietnamese cuisine. Macquet and Tran together have created a menu that is both innovative and accessible, comforting yet creative.
Soon to be open for three meals, Tamarind now features a 70-seat dining room for dinner and an outdoor courtyard for cocktails. A 60-seat private dining room will be available soon. The cocktail list, created by mixologist Kimberly Patton Bragg, will highlight local fruit, such as satsumas, kumquats and loquats, in addition to Vietnamese fruit like tamarind, lychee and jackfruit.