For the past dozen years, chef Cristina Quackenbush has been making magic, cooking what she calls Filipino soul food under the Milkfish banner. With the opening of Tatlo Divine Cuisine & Absinthe House behind the Old Absinthe House in the French Quarter, she’s kicked that conjuring into overdrive.
Tatlo is for the “bewitched and hex curious,” Quackenbush says, and it’s the next phase of culinary devotion for the dynamic chef.
“I practice witchcraft,” she says. “It’s part of my personal journey that has helped me through a lot of challenges. I’ve dabbled all my life.”
From the sticker on the front door that says “protected by witchcraft” to the candlelit altar of crystals and witch goddesses and the library of spell books, Tatlo’s vibe is otherworldly. Spanish moss hangs from the ceiling, the lighting is dim and a tarot card reader is sometimes in residence in a corner of the room.
“There have always been powerful spirits in New Orleans, Voodoo priestesses and witches, and there still are today,” Quackenbush says. “And absinthe is a powerful spirit all on its own.”
Because it’s in the French Quarter, it would be easy to assume there is gimmickry at play. But for Quackenbush, this sorcery is as authentic and real as her green crab curry and the garlicky noodles she stir-fries with shrimp butter and roasted garlic.
“Tatlo” means three in the Tboli language indigenous to the Philippines, and the number holds great power in witchcraft. The restaurant is in the same building as the Old Absinthe House, with the entrance on Bienville.
“This was the room that women were allowed to come to,” Quackenbush says. “So, it’s been a goddess zone for a long time.”
The restaurant was originally conceived with three partners. Chef Anh Luu brought Southeast Asian flavors to the small plates menu, but she has since exited for another opportunity. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts graduate Hayley Vanvleet is still in the mix.
“Hayley created the entire bar menu,” Quackenbush says. “We’ve been friends for years.” Vanvleet’s resume includes Meauxbar, Peche Seafood Grill and Belle Epoque, the last restaurant to occupy this space until it closed during the pandemic.
Tatlo is a family business. Her husband helps with service, and her youngest daughter tends bar.
Like Glinda in “The Wizard of Oz,” Quackenbush is a good witch. The Filipino chef is a whirling dervish of energy, a force for good not just through her plates of chicken adobo and lumpia, but through the nonprofit she co-founded in 2020, Good Trouble Network.
“I honor all forms of witchcraft, but positivity is what I practice,” she says.
At the restaurant, Quackenbush uses ingredients that have long been associated with healing and good health. Each named dish on the menu corresponds with some kind of personal growth, and the menu reflects the cycles of the moon.
Order the Cauldron, a cheese fondue with roasted crudite and pickled vegetables, to drive change, grounding and growth. Synergy, a soy- and vinegar-driven chicken adobo with purple sticky rice, conjures fertility, abundance and growth. Paper Magick, a salad of arugula, mango and peanuts with a tamarind dressing, boosts prosperity and success.
Some ingredients, like turmeric and ginger, are well known for their healing properties. Other ingredients are more esoteric, but still in the chef’s books of spells and magic.
“The idea is to nourish both the physical and mental well-being of the guest as the dining experience channels the spiritual world,” Quackenbush says.
The bar has an absinthe fountain, flights of absinthe and absinthe-infused cocktails. The cocktail list exudes the supernatural with names like Spell Breaker, made with elderflower, pineapple and calamansi, a Filipino citrus. Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble is sangrita with ancho and mezcal.
Rituals can come into play during the Tatlo experience. A diner might be asked to think of one word that sums up a fervent wish and write it on a bay leaf. Burn the leaf in the candle on the table to activate good juju.
“This is not just dining,” Quackenbush says. “It’s an immersive trip through the personal, the mystical, the historical, exclusive New Orleans experience.”
This article was originally published by a www.nola.com . Read the Original article here. .