"Catch" to open on Magazine

[RouxTheDay]

From City Business
Seafood pub Catch to open in former Semolina's space

by Emilie Bahr Staff Writer

http://dolanadserver.com/nopg/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=194&campaignid=155&zoneid=10&source=up to the minute&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neworleanscitybusiness.com%2F uptotheminute.cfm%3Frecid%3D28079%26userID%3D0%26r eferer%3DdailyUpdate&cb=836f4ee623

Restaurateur Hicham Khodr’s ever-expanding culinary roster will grow again next week with the opening of a new Magazine Street seafood venue.
Khodr owns the Gumbo Shop in the French Quarter, Byblos restaurants in Metairie and on Magazine Street and Camellia Grill locations in New Orleans and Destin, Fla. He is also a partner in NOLA.
His latest venture, Catch, will open Tuesday at 3226 Magazine St., just down the street from his Uptown Byblos location, taking over the space formerly occupied by Semolina’s Bistro Italia.
Catch will be a “seafood pub,” offering a casual atmosphere and affordable pricing, Khodr said. The new restaurant will be overseen by executive chef Ryan Gall, formerly executive sous chef at Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House in Gulfport, Miss., said chef Michael Rouss, corporate chef for Khodr’s restaurant group.
Rouss described Catch’s menu as “a Louisiana twist on an English/Irish pub.”
“We’re gonna have fish and chips and charbroiled oysters ... shepherd’s pie, red fish on the half shell,” he said. In place of the bread traditionally served by restaurants with meals, Catch will feature homemade hush puppies.
“The whole menu is designed to be user-friendly and fun,” Rouss said. “There’s nothing over $23 on the menu.”
Meantime, Catch is not the only new restaurant on Khodr’s plate. He said he plans to open a new French Quarter Camellia Grill location at 536 Chartres St., “hopefully before Mardi Gras.”•

[bam bam]

Gag me with a fork.

[justagirl]

http://www.nolaeats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2282&highlight=Catch

Wow, you're slipping....I made reference to that on 8/27/09...either way, you heard it here first! :p

[jshushan]

I'll try the place. He hasn't messed up the Gumbo Shop. Opinions are mixed on Camellia Grill and Byblos Market on Vets is good. I'll give him a shot.

Jonathan

[mdesign21]

Went there for the opening this past Saturday! Was hesitant at first but the food won me over. The 4 cheeze crabmeat pizza is to die for! I also had the tuna and the shepard's pie. (which I highly recommend). Overall the vibe is chilled out, with great food and good service. It's refreshing to have something new in the area. Can't wait to go back and try something else on the menu! Btw, I met Nicholas Cage there too!

[LauraMc]

Went there for the opening this past Saturday! Was hesitant at first but the food won me over. The 4 cheeze crabmeat pizza is to die for! I also had the tuna and the shepard's pie. (which I highly recommend). Overall the vibe is chilled out, with great food and good service. It's refreshing to have something new in the area. Can't wait to go back and try something else on the menu! Btw, I met Nicholas Cage there too!
Nice to know he still visits here even though his houses were taken away.

[justagirl]

Well, maybe if Bam would have let me order the Sheppard's Pie like I wanted to I could have enjoyed my meal there too, but instead it was beyond gross. It was suggested to me by my wonderful boyfriend that I should venture outside my 'comfort zone' and order something a little off the wall. So I ordered what was called "Fried seafood-potato ravioli" and didn't really know what I'd get. I got two large ravioli with a creamy seafood mixture inside, deep fried and placed on a tomato couli with some carmelized onions on top. I really didn't like it. Actually, the tomato couli was good.

[bam bam]

I hate to tell you this but the Shepherd's Pie would have sucked as well. I am not really sure where to begin, I think I would have an easier time diagnosing what is wrong with the Cleveland Browns than espousing the numerous flaws of Catch. (It is fairly obvious we can add their social marketing firm to that list as well.)

It is probably best (or worst as the case may be) to start with the food, and in short JAG's potato and crab ravioli was a culinary abortion. And a late term one at that. The tomato coulis oozed over the plate in a foul manner. Gross is an understatement.

I had the Mahi Mahi with cheddar polenta and fried plantains. The dish reminded me of an art project that the little psycho skateboarding kid in 7th grade would have made. Shades of visually unappealing grays and yellow depress one's appetite in a way that is only augmented by cutting into partially cooked frozen fish. The polenta came swimming in some kind of grayish-broth that pretty much killed any textural enjoyment one might get from the dish.

The atmosphere can best be described as early Red Lobster, the wait staff intrusive without actually delivering, the wine list mediocre yet overpriced. Cleaning house would not be a good start for Catch, taking a flame thrower and burning down the house (most likely on New Year's Day in two years) would be about the only avenue for Catch to improve.

[dansteino]

It's supposed to be a "pub."

So . . . pardon me for asking . . . how is the beer list?

[Hobbes]

Nice to know he still visits here even though his houses were taken away.

Guess Nicholas didn't read the review by the BamJags or he would not have been caught at Catch.

[dansteino]

Guess Nicholas didn't read the review by the BamJags or he would not have been caught at Catch.

I prefer "jam jam" to "BamJags"

[Blue Cross Sux]

I was hopeful about the "pub" aspect as well. But if there's an extensive or even sufficient selection of brews behind the bar, I don't see them. They appear to have three taps, one of which is Abita. Maybe they have a bunch of bottled beer in the cooler, but I kind of doubt it. I didn't go in. I just looked in from the street and scanned their menu.

The menu is bizarre. Almost schizophrenic in its attempts to meld the commonplace with the fanciful. Some of the dishes don't even make sense. They're trying to cover too many bases, trying to attract the downscale regular folk along with the more aggressive high flying diners but likely failing both. They should just concentrate on doing one thing and doing it well. It's like when you open a bar, make it an Irish bar or a sports bar or a wine bar, whatever. What you can't pull off is an Irish/Country Western wine and sports bar with ear splitting techno music on the dance floor. You think you're pulling everyone in, but you're really turning everyone off. It's insulting.

[justagirl]

I attacked the menu immediately. I saw it as we were walking in ( the one posted outside) and commented on it before we even sat down. The first thing on the menu is a steak and it's the highest priced thing on the menu at $23. That should be LAST. The burgers, po-boys, paninis should have been at the top IMO, being basic and the lower priced items. I tried to rationalize the rest of the menu by saying it could apply to many...but even I wasn't buying my own BS at that point.

It's a disaster.

[buzd]

http://loringaudin.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22:qcatchq-this&catid=1:blogs

Discuss

[flyinbayou]

http://loringaudin.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22:qcatchq-this&catid=1:blogs

Discuss

I don't know the owners but I am bit more skeptical than Lorin is about Catch positioning itself to hit up BP for its losses. Perhaps "money-grubbing jerks" is too strong of a label but if you don't think a savvy restaurateur wouldn't try to get money from BP, regardless of who's fault the failure of the business is, I think you are being naive. Why the sob story on the sign then?

As for the mention of Fatz, that's just funny!

[Blue Cross Sux]

While I agree with her beef about restauranteurs' preoccupation with "concepts" over quality and execution, I see Lorin hasn't lost any of that cattiness that I've found so unpleasant. There seems to be a fundamental mean-spiritedness that runs through so much of her writings. This constant trashing of Tom is just pathetic.

[Oyster]

This constant trashing of Tom is just pathetic.


Let me fix that up for you:

This Tom is just pathetic!

Better? You bettcha!

[paz5559]

While I agree with her beef about restauranteurs' preoccupation with "concepts" over quality and execution, I see Lorin hasn't lost any of that cattiness that I've found so unpleasant. There seems to be a fundamental mean-spiritedness that runs through so much of her writings. This constant trashing of Tom is just pathetic.Funny, I thought just the opposite - I have criticized Lauren int the past for being a cheerleader, and NOT voicing her negative views as lustily as her positive ones.

I, for one, am glad to see she has evolved to take on the role of food and restaurant journalist - New Orleans needs someone who advocates on behalf of diners, and doesn't just shill for his or her favorite restaurateurs