Thursday, March 29, 2012

Like a food truck without the truck

Where will J'Anita's suddenly pop into being next?
When J’Anita’s closed its kitchen inside the Rendon Inn recently, J’Anita’s proprietor Craig Giesecke said he was looking for another line of work but did leave the door open that someday the noted – though highly nomadic — bar food operation could return somewhere else. It’s taken just about two months for the next opportunity to walk through that door.

Giesecke and his wife Kimmie have a new plan in place to run the kitchen at the Blind Pelican (1628 Saint Charles Ave., 558-9399), a newly revamped and reopened tavern in the Lower Garden District not far from two of J’Anita’s three previous locations. This doesn’t exactly signal the return of J’Anita’s, though Giesecke plans to serve some of the greatest hits he’s taken on his journey through a succession of tavern kitchens.

“This will not be another version of ‘J'anita's at Someplace,’ but staples like the St. Chuck Duck, the Best Fish Sammich and a few others will certainly be on the menu,” he says. “We'll start with a small menu and work our way into things. At this point, at least, I might be a little more seafoody than in the past. I'll also have the smoker out back, so the pulled pork and house-smoked cheeses will certainly be in the mix. The place also has a pizza oven, so that opens all kinds of possibilities.”


Whatever, at least it's back within stumbling distance of Yellow Blogging World Headquarters. We do enjoy that duck sammich. Oh and those bacon-wrapped cheese-stuffed apricot thingies, I hope they bring those back too.

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