File Gumbo Bar Serves the City’s Best Gumbo | Eater NY

"At 275 Church Street near White Street, Filé Gumbo Bar has felt like a righteous home for Cajun-Creole for nearly two years; helmed by chef Eric McCree, who was schooled in New Orleans cooking by his grandfather 'Tiny', the narrow dining room—with tables pressed against one wall opposite a very long bar ending in a glassed-in kitchen—has a slight fin-de-siècle glitz (mustard-yellow upholstery, stamped tin ceilings, whitewashed brick and neatly displayed bottles). The menu concentrates on gumbo: the highlight is Tiny’s gumbo ($29), based on grandad’s recipes, finished at the bar in gleaming metal contraptions, built on a very dark roux made with duck and chicken fat and finished with filé powder; it comes in nine permutations (chicken, andouille, shrimp, crab or combinations) and I recommend the “all-in.” For Lenten fare try the gumbo z’herbs ($24), a year-round vegetarian version with leafy greens and fresh herbs that’s every bit as enthralling as the meat options. The crispy okra and crawfish étouffée ($25) comes close to an okra-thickened gumbo though frying dispels okra’s mucilaginous quality and the roux there is milder, sweet and tomatoey. Other mains I’d check are the jambalaya (a pleasing reddish rice studded with shrimp and andouille) and the fried chicken smothered in red beans, each served with long-grained Louisiana rice; entrees are full-plate meals so you could easily order a gumbo, jambalaya, or étouffée and skip apps. Quirky offerings include barbecued shrimp ($25)—a Sicilian-influenced dish that tastes like shrimp poached in a cross between marinara and barbecue—and a muffuletta that a friend called a bit heavy on cheese but still quite good; the spice-dusted potato chips are amazing (they can be ordered for $10 or come free with the fried oyster po’ boy $25, which contains four cornmeal-encrusted bivalves). For dessert skip the overboozy bananas foster and share the supremely wonderful brown butter bourbon bread pudding ($18): dense, lightly glazed and too rich for one person after a meal like this." - Robert Sietsema