Grilling & Chilling at the Red Fish Grill

New Orleans is notorious for sweltering summers, so to beat the heat, Ralph Brennan’s casual seafood restaurant Red Fish Grill invites you to relax and enjoy their $25 Grilling & Chilling menu (excluding tax and gratuity).

The limited-edition special, which runs through the end of August, gives diners a three-course meal of tasty appetizers, fresh seafood and refreshing desserts.

“New Orleans is a city celebrated for our gastronomic gatherings,” Ralph Brennan, owner and operator of Red Fish Grill said. “In this spirit, Red Fish Grill is encouraging locals and visitors alike to visit the French Quarter and enjoy the benefits of grilling, while avoiding the heat and hassle of cleaning up the kitchen.”

Red Fish Grill retaining a focus on fresh, regional cuisine, the Grilling & Chilling menu features an assortment of local seafood specialties. The restaurant kitchen’s wood-burning grill results in enhanced flavor.

“Some of our most popular menu items are grilled dishes and this menu features a great blend of grilled items and local favorites,” said Red Fish Grill Executive Chef Gregg Collier. “Redfish, Gulf shrimp, P&J oysters—as you can see it’s our job to keep the menu hot and the customers cool.”

The limited-edition menu is available by request upon seating with advance reservation through June, July and August.

Tie-Dye Traveler Reviews Red Fish Grill

Double Chocolate Bread Pudding Named 'Best in the Quarter'

I wrote before last week's New Orleans Food & Wine Experience that anytime is a good time to visit New Orleans for great food.

Reviewing travel and food blog year-round posts about New Orleans cuisine is proof that the cities culinary genius isn't seasonal.

It's my job to bring media into the restaurants to review the food. Since I am pretty impatient it can be hard waiting for reviews to print, but when you get a good one it's definately worth the wait.

That said, I love to come across bloggers unsolicited comments about the restaurants. It's always a treat to here a new perspective on the food, service and such. A great review validates our excitement about the restaurants and the service provided.

Recently Kat Robinson, writer for Tie-Dye Travels posted about her trip to New Orleans. She focused on nine great places to visit in the city and included Red Fish Grill in her list. Read Kat's post to see which eight other locations made the list. Take a minute to enjoy a typical Red Fish Grill meal with her... but save room for dessert!


"You’re doing yourself an injustice if you don’t save room for the Quarter’s best bread pudding -- the Double Chocolate Bread Pudding." - Kat Robinson


Bread pudding is a New Orleans classic dessert, so Ralph Brennan included two versions of this dessert in the cookbook. You can make Ralph Brennan's Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce (pg. 277) or Chocolate Bread Pudding with Two Chocolate Sauces & Almond Bark (pg. 280) at home. I promise you will be pleased with both.


Photos: Red Fish Grill sign and Double Chocolate Bread Pudding from Tie-Dye Traveler

Meet Chef Gregg Collier

Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook features recipes developed by Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group Chefs, among them the Executive Chef Gregg Collier of the Red Fish Grill, located in the French Quarter. A 1990 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Collier served his apprenticeship under Chef Emeril Lagasse and Commander's Palace's own Executive Chef Jamie Shannon in the early 1990s.

While at Commander's Palace, he learned all the culinary stations of the operation. He later moved onto Chef Allen's Restaurant of Florida and to New Orleans' own Bayona under Chef Susan Spicer, but returned to the Commander's Palace Restaurant Family in 1998 to assist in the opening of Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. He began to develop his unique culinary signature characterized by creativity and whimsy while at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. After a stint at Foodies Kitchen in Metairie, Louisiana, he joined the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group as the Executive Chef of the Red Fish Grill.

jtison5 in a post dated November 11, 2007, had this to say about his dining experience at the Red Fish Grill:

We had the opportunity to eat at the Red Fish Grill on November 3 while in town for the Jaguar/Saints game. The Hickory RedFish with crab meat mentioned above is one of the best meals I have ever had. Kudos to Chef Collier!

The above link also features a video of Chef Collier in action, preparing Red Fish Grill's signature hickory grilled red fish with crabmeat and lemon butter sauce. He prepares it over the Red Fish Grill's hickory wood burning grill and states that the restaurant uses about 25,000 pounds of Red Fish annually. The recipe is included as well.

Yahoo! Travel lauds Chef Collier's extensive seafood menu which features a minimum of seven types of gulf fish daily. The Red Fish Grill is called, ". . . a triumph of cuisine, style and design."

SOURCE: "Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook"
SOURCE: "Red Fish Grill"
SOURCE: "Cooking New Orleans Style! with Chef Greg Collier of the Red Fish Grill" 10/31/07
SOURCE: "Red Fish Grill"
photo courtesy of Bob Jagendorf, used under this Creative Commons license