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"At 1300 Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District, I visited the long-anticipated American-Chinese restaurant from Cochonalums Bill Jones and Richard Horner, which is now serving lunch and dinner. Calling it “straightforward American-Chinese food with the best ingredients we can find,” they offer an extensive menu including peking duck, fried rice, egg foo young, shrimp wontons, blue crab rangoon, dan dan noodles, and blanched bok choy with a sauce made from Louisiana oysters; appetizers range from $3 to $10, most noodle and entrée dishes are $14 to $18, and a whole peking duck is $65. The idea for the restaurant was hatched over drinks at neighboring Barrel Proof, and the pair did pop-ups at spots like Blue Oak BBQ and Turkey and the Wolf; Horner will run the bar and dining room while Jones runs the kitchen, drawing on his experience at Cochon and Cochon Butcher and time in Chicago, and Jones notes he grew up on the North Shore eating at Trey Yuen. They acknowledge the dishes aren’t what you’d find in China but represent the comfort food many Americans grew up eating. Blue Giant is open for lunch Wednesday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m., and closed on Tuesday." - Clair Lorell