The Umlaut Stands for Ümph

We were so enthralled with Chef John Besh's Restaurant August that we went to another of his restaurants for an early lunch the next day, the casual brasserie Lüke.

By the time we left, this place was packed just like Restaurant August was the night before. We weren't the only ones in love with Besh's cuisine. Please cross your fingers that he turns out to be a cool guy on Top Chef Masters. I'm going to be very sad if he's an asshole, even if I'm already rooting for Michael Cimarusti and Wylie Dufresne without having seen the show yet.

We like Besh's food because it's simple, it's hearty, and it's good. Lunch at Lüke really embodied this. I am jealous of people who work near Lüke because the lunch deals are completely insane.

The "express lunch" of the day consisted of a cup of seafood gumbo and a white bean cassoulet slow-cooked with garlic sausage, smoked bacon, and duck confit. The price? Just $15.

And it all tasted wonderful!

Gumbo.


Chock-full of seafood and rich meaty yumminess.

Can you believe this dish?

It was awesome piled upon awesome piled upon awesome on a bed of awesome. Mr. Monkey liked the sausage the most. I liked the duck the most. Together, we cleaned the plate.

We also ordered an omelet of local crabmeat, asparagus, housemade fromage blanc, and chives ($16).

Stuffed to max with crabulousness. In the interest of full disclosure, we did salt and pepper it, as well as add a bit of Tabasco.

The omelet came with these golden frites.

Totally irresistible and eaten in droves.

I spied that spätzle was among the sides available. I got it. I love spätzle ($5).

So cute and bouncy and fun.

The cassoulet was definitely king, though. You would be lucky to try it.

Next: Witnessing the wonders of water wildlife.