Wild South
Permanently Closed
Five-course tasting menu of seasonal Southern fare; bar a la carte
Five-course tasting menu of seasonal Southern fare; bar a la carte
"An experimental tasting menu restaurant offering an ever-changing five-course menu using Gulf Coast ingredients to refine Southern staples." - Clair Lorell
"Wild South was an ambitious tasting menu restaurant located in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. It was known for its five-course dinner menu, which changed monthly and focused on traditional foodways, ingredients, and techniques from south Louisiana. The restaurant featured dishes like rosemary Gulf shrimp with chili butter, mushroom toast with burrata, and Mississippi beef with chanterelles." - Clair Lorell
"It’s not hard to find something to love as you dine in Wild South’s intimate dining room in New Orleans’s Lower Garden District. You may be amazed, for instance, at just how crisp a slice of pork belly is. Or swoon over the wine list, which features a slew of esoteric and hard-to-find natural wines. But the most extraordinary part of your evening comes smack dab in the middle of the five-course set menu as a dish titled 'Grilled Flat Bread.' A half-moon of dough, lightly charred but still soft, arrived topped with a generous dollop of tangy ricotta and several slices of smokey grilled mushroom. A just-cooked egg serves as the crown, artfully sprinkled with beads of orange trout roe. The gentle prod of a fork releases the sunset orange yolk, which blankets the canvas in a velvety sauce. Like all of the best things in life, Wild South’s ingenious flatbread is fleeting—the menu changes weekly. You’ll no doubt discover another dish to fawn over when you visit." - ByThe Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors
"In 2022 F&W Best New Chef Ana Castro’s family, Día de Muertos is serious business. The person that Castro is most excited to welcome back is her grandfather Manuel Castro Fernandez, who she credits for instilling in her a reverence for tradition, a generous spirit, and above all, a love of food. What he enjoyed most was a plate of arroz a la Mexicana topped with a fried egg. He loved it so much that Castro put a version of it — albeit a much more elevated version with bottarga — on the opening menu of her first restaurant, Lengua Madre, in his honor." - Sam Gutierrez
"After sunsetting the tasting menu at his Magazine Street restaurant Coquette, chef Michael Stoltzfus has launched a new one at Wild South, a 40-seat tasting menu restaurant in the former Lengua Madre space. The menu changes organically, playing on traditional Louisiana foodways, reflecting the region’s seasons, and tapping into the bounty of its waters: Think steamed oysters with swordfish bacon and leeks; sourdough fried Lion’s Mane mushrooms; and shrimp and strawberries with caviar. Make a reservation in advance." - Clair Lorell