FSR September 2022

CHEFS & INGREDI ENT S CHEF PROF I LE

“Her dishes were amazing,” Gulotta says. “She evolved her cuisine to use whatever she could find in NewOrleans. If she couldn’t find the traditional Sicil ian ingredients, she would substitute something local, and that’s the part I love about her cooking. At Tana, I want to show New Orleans is this ever-evolv ing melting pot.” Indeed, melding geographically dis parate cuisines has become something of “You can take something super traditional that you’ll find over in Italy and add one little New Orleans ingredient, and it becomes amajor hit.”

Gulotta’s newest project continues his crossover-cuisine streak and brings a past pop-up to a permanent brick-and mortar space. e restaurant in question, Tana, will put Italian cuisine front and center, with dashes of Creole flavors and ingredients interspersed throughout the menu. e restaurant is slated to open next year in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie—a mere four miles down the road fromMoPho in Mid-City. Tana is named after Gulotta’s great grandmother who, while born in Loui siana, moved back to her parents’ native Sicily when she was a child. When later in life she returned to the States, she blended Italian recipes with Cajun tra ditions. is approach not only sparked Gulotta’s love of cooking, it was also the inspiration for some of the dishes at his new concept.

a trademark for Gulotta and earned his previous two restaurants praise aplenty. In addition to being a four-time James Beard Award semifinalist, Gulotta was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine and Chef of the Year by NewOrleansMag azine in 2016. BothMoPho andMaypop have landed on “best of” lists from pub lications like e Times-Picayune , Condé Nast Traveler , Bon Appetit , and Eater. Although Gulotta was once loath to use the term “fusion,” he’s come to appre ciate its range. Some chefs take a bold, over-the-top approach to blending cui sines, but others, like Gulotta, prefer a subtler touch. “You can either smash things that don’t belong together, or you can use these natural pathways that sort of lead to each other,” he says. And if the pop-up version of Tana was any indication, locals have an appetite

MICHAEL GULOTTA

FAVORITE CAJUN FOOD: Couvillion BEST SEASONING: Shrimp paste FAVORITE GRANDMA TANA RECIPE: Grillades and grits GO-TOCOOKINGUTENSIL: Tasting spoons AFTER-SHIFT DRINK: Mezcal and grapefruit

AT MAYPOP, CRISPY FRIED OYSTERS ARE SERVED WITH MANCHEGO AND BOURBON BARREL SOY AÏOLI.

DENNY CULBERT (2)

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SEPTEMBER 2022