PREUX & PROPER
MODERN SOUTHERN CUISINE HITS THE FASHION DISTRICT

The term ‘southern hospitality’ refers to southerners’ particularly warm, sweet and welcoming nature—especially their knack for extending a gracious invite into their homes to weary travelers.  And that’s the same charm and spirit that Preux & Proper, a New Orleans inspired Southern restaurant in downtown’s Fashion District, aims to embody as it welcomes guests into its lovely respite housed in a historic turn-of-the-century flatiron wedge building—formerly The Parish at Spring and Main.

Think of this Big Easy West as more Garden District than Bourbon Street, meaning it has charm, class and chic factor. A winning combination indeed when restaurateur Joshua Kopel teamed up with Chef Sammy Monsour.

“Everything fell into place when Sammy came on board,” says Kopel. “His food is the vehicle for our guests to experience the warmth of the Southern table.”  

Walk into Preux & Proper’s ground floor bar and you will find yourself in a laid-back setting where cold libations—we’re talking frozen daiquiri bar—meets Southern bites. And upstairs in the dining hall is where the proper dining experience takes place.

At Preux & Proper, Thursday evening kicks-off the weekend’s festivities with Live Jazz & Oysters, featuring the weekly offering of three unique varieties of raw oysters, freshly shucked and served with chunky horseradish cocktail sauce, fresh lemon, and apple cider mignonette, while jazz musician Ryan Cross & Friends entertain guests with their eclectic repertoire. Happy Hour is offered every Monday through Saturday from 4 pm to 7 pm and every Sunday from 4 pm to 9 pm, and Sunday Brunch runs from Noon to 4 pm. And don’t forget about Monday’s $1 oysters from 4pm to close.

During our recent visit for dinner, we started with drinks downstairs, including a solid and proper Vieux Carre—a French Quarter classic cocktail. Our proper dinner evening began with the flavorful Grilled Yellow Sweet Corn with pork cracklins, queso fresco, Aleppo, and smoky miso aioli, alongside the delicious Spicy Roasted Carrots with golden beets, labneh kefir, roasted greens, crunchy jerk chick peas, and okra leaf.

From the Hand Made Charcuterie menu, we enjoyed the Chicken Liver Pate with Knob Creek whiskey, bacon fat, house piccalilli relish, creole mustard seeds, and baguette, along with the hearty House Andouille Sausage with Anson Mills Sea Island red peas, blackstrap molasses, majorjam, and house gorditas.

If you’re in need of more cocktails (and why wouldn’t you be?), The Rising Sun with Toki Japanese whisky, egg white, yuzu, ginger, and tea tincture is very nice and easy going. The Green Gullah with St. George Gin, pineapple, lime, Green Chartreuse, ginger beer, and chipotle is a winning tiki libation. And the Voodoo Queen made with Appleton Estate rum, falernum, tiki bitters, and Jamaican jerk bitters, is a little spicy but extremely pleasant.

A menu favorite of mine came from the Fresh Off the Hook section as the Charred Octopus with crispy Weiser fingerlings, anchovy remoulade, mustard frills, and blood orange mojo was utterly delectable.

Not to be outdone, however, the stars of the night where the hearty and heavenly entrees, which included the Liberty Farms Organic Duck Breast, and the 30-Hour Prime Boneless Beef Rib.

The rib is pricey at $52 but it will handily feed at least two people. Served with garnet yam puree, crispy parsnips, charred leeks, trumpet mushrooms, and potlikker demi (a liquid that is left behind after boiling greens or beans), it is so soft and tender and flavorful.

If you save room for dessert—and do save room for dessert—you have to get the beignets, a New Orleans sweet staple. Made with pate a choux dough with “bananas foster” dulce de leche and powered sugar this is a calming chunk of the Crescent City.

As Chef Monsour likes to put it, “We don’t see customers, we see guests being welcomed into our home.”

I love the easy-going vibe at Preux & Proper where the bites are big and the drinks pretty daring and dynamic.

The Preux & Proper Proper Dining Hall is open for dinner Thursday from 6 pm to Midnight; Friday and Saturday from 5:30 pm to Midnight; Sunday from 4 pm to 9 pm and Monday through Wednesday from 4 pm to 10 pm. Call 213-896-0090.

Story & Photography By: Jose Martinez

Photography Courtesy Of: Preux & Proper Proper Dining Hall