Bywater Brewpub to serve Anh Luu's 'Viet Cajun' dishes and ..

"house-brewed beers when it opens"

Been monitoring this place since they bought the building.

Looks like Nola is finally getting a decent BrewPub.

The chef worked in Portland for awhile.

"Bywater Brewpub (3000 Royal St.) will become New Orleans' third brewpub when it opens in April, says owner Nahum Laventhal. There will be a 75-seat restaurant and a microbrewery offering five to eight beers.

Chef Anh Luu, a native of New Orleans and former owner of Portland, Oregon's Tapalaya, will run the kitchen. Her "Viet Cajun" cuisine generally places Cajun and Vietnamese dishes side by side, she says. But some items from her Portland restaurant combine them. Her crawfish etouffee nachos feature etouffee given Vietnamese flavor with fish sauce, shrimp paste and lemon grass. The etouffee is served over fried wontons and topped with cheddar cheese and cilantro. She has her own style of double fried chicken wings served with brown butter fish sauce, with herbs added at the last minute to preserve their fresh flavors.

Luu plans to make pickles and use byproducts from the brewing process in some items. She expects the opening menu to have small plates between $10 and $18, large plates for $20 to $22, and bar snacks under $10. The menu also will have a burger and some sandwiches.

Luu grew up in New Orleans, and after Hurricane Katrina altered her college career, she moved to Portland in 2009 to attend the Western Culinary Institute, which later was purchased by Le Cordon Bleu and now is closed. Luu started working at Tapalaya and purchased it in 2017. At Tapalaya, Luu was known for fish sauce chicken wings and the phorrito, a Vietnamese-version of a burrito.

Luu also appeared on the TV cooking competition "Chopped."

rest of article at Gambit