Summer special dining events at New Orleans restaurants

Beef shank pot pie is a special dish prepared at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse for the annual Steakhouse Summer Picnic each August. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Deep summertime is slow in New Orleans, but there are some seasonal consolations, at least at the restaurant table. It’s a time for special dinners, collaborations and other events to spark up the doldrums, in addition to all those ongoing Coolinary menus this month at more than 100 restaurants.

Here’s a look at a few dining events and series on the books for August:

For one night each August, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse (716 Iberville St., 504-522-2467) transforms its subterranean dining room into something like a fully air-conditioned indoor festival of beef for its Steakhouse Summer Picnic.

The tables are cleared out, and the serving stations are set up across the restaurant, each featuring beef dishes using cuts from Louisiana producers Gonsoulin Cattle Ranch, Coastal Plains Meat Co. and Crescent Bar F.

Culinary teams from the steakhouse and Dickie Brennan & Co. sibling restaurants Palace Cafe, Tableau and Bourbon House collaborate on a wide range of dishes, from cocktail party-style passed appetizers to a dessert bar.

Beef Wellington is a special dish prepared at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse for the annual Steakhouse Summer Picnic each August. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

That includes mini and whole beef Wellingtons, strip steak and filet, short ribs, brisket and giant beef shank pot pies served from black iron skillets. There’s an open bar for wine, beer and cocktails.

Beef shank pot pie is a special dish prepared at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse for the annual Steakhouse Summer Picnic each August. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

This year, DJ Matty will spin classic country and western tunes. Many people turn up in western attire.

This year's picnic is Aug. 17, from 6 p.m. Tickets are $125, with VIP tables available. Get them via eventbrite.com or at dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com.

Mister Mao restaurant opened in the summer of 2021 in the Tchoupitoulas Street address in New Orleans that had long been home to Dick & Jenny's. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

The menu at chef Sophina Uong’s restaurant Mister Mao (4501 Tchoupitoulas St., 504-345-2056) brings her own lens on flavors from around the globe. In August, she's inviting chefs from around town to prepare special menus focused on different barbecue traditions, for a weekly series called Little Mao BBQ Mondays.

That includes Pablo Reyes from Galaxie for Mexican barbecue dishes like mixiotes de pollo and cochinita pibil (Aug. 7).

“Asian BBQ Potluck” (Aug. 14) has Hieu Than, who ran the much-missed Kin, with betel leaf lamb, chicken fried catfish and Khmer beef on sticks.

Hieu Than, chef/owner of Kin restaurant, in the kitchen at his New Orleans restaurant on Tuesday, January 30, 2018. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Chef Prince Lobo of Addis Nola brings Ethiopian flavors (Aug. 21) like awaze ribs and gomen greens; and on Aug. 28 it’s Alabama barbecue from chef Nathan Barfield of Turkey and the Wolf, with smoked chicken wings, spare ribs with potato salad and banana pudding.

Each collaboration has an a la carte menu, so you can pick and choose between the dishes; make reservations as usual from 5-9 p.m.

A mural by artist Margie Tillman Ayres covers one wall at Mister Mao restaurant on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Little Mao nights are on Monday, and prices for dishes and bar specials are being kept low, to encourage fellow hospitality workers to come out.

“It’s a community effort to have some summer fun,” Uong said.

Pedestrians pass Coquette on Magazine street in New Orleans.

“No Menu Tuesday” is back this summer at Coquette (2800 Magazine St., 504-265-0421). The menus are kept secret; diners only know the theme going in, so it’s a bit of trust fall dining. However, things reliably land well at this always-inventive Uptown bistro.

The popular weekly special runs through August and September with a different five-course dinner served for $55 each Tuesday.

Hanging out at the bar during dinner at Coquette restaurant on Magazine Street in New Orleans in 2017.

Upcoming themes newly announced include “Seinfeld” (Aug. 8) teased by the restaurant as “some of our favorite and most infamously edible moments based on the beloved TV series;” then “Italian American” (Aug. 15); “Single Ingredient: Tuna” (Aug. 22) and “Gas Station Cuisine of Southern Louisiana” (Aug. 29), which sounds like an in-town road trip and trust fall all in one.

Themes for September will be announced later.

Bacchanal photographed in New Orleans, Thursday, June 9, 2022. The Bywater establishment turned 20 years old this month. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

They’re lighting the fires again this hot summer at Bacchanal for its weekly Primal Night. On Tuesdays, guest chefs turn up to cook over open fire outside - backyard barbecue style. They pledge proceeds from food sales to community groups.

Joaquin Rodas, managing partner of Bacchanal, poses at Bacchanal in New Orleans, Thursday, June 9, 2022. The Bywater establishment turned 20 years old this month. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

It's a throwback to the days when Bacchanal was just adding food to the mix, and the menus were varied and often adventurous. In the weeks ahead, look for guest chefs from Vals and Cane & Table (Aug. 15), Gris Gris (Aug. 22), Bakery Bar (Aug. 29) and Turkey and the Wolf (Sept. 5). Primal Nights continue through October and begin at 6 p.m.

Julia Child partakes in beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde in April 1991. (File photo from the Times-Picayune archive)

Chef Susan Spicer once had the opportunity to serve Julia Child at Bayona (430 Dauphine St., 504-525-4455) and she calls the iconic American ambassador of French cuisine a personal hero. Spicer has made a Julia Child menu a summer tradition at Bayona since 2009 to mark Child’s birthday.

The Bayona dinners this year are held Aug. 18 and 19 (reservations available between5-9 p.m.) with a special three-course menu for $75. All-French wine pairings are available for $35, and there will be a special bottle list. Chef de cuisine Christy Engeran is overseeing the menu, drawing dishes from Child's French classics.

This being New Orleans, don’t be surprised if some of the people partaking in the Julia Child menu arrive in costume. There are often a few look-alikes in the dining room during the annual event.

A dining room at Bayona where murals evoke the French countryside.

Also in August, Bayona is marking its 33rd birthday with a lunch special, with three courses for $33 and 33-cent martinis on offer, each Thursday, Friday and Saturday through the end of the month.

Chef Todd Pulsinelli at work in the kitchen of the Chloe, the hotel and restaurant in a St. Charles Avenue mansion in New Orleans on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

The Guest Chef Night has been a popular draw for Liberty’s Kitchen, a nonprofit that uses the structure of a commercial kitchen to build life skills and tap the potential of young people. The next edition features Todd Pulsinelli, chef at the Chloe, the hotel and restaurant set in a St. Charles Avenue mansion.

The dinner is Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Liberty’s Kitchen home base (300 N. Broad St.). Tickets are $75, and the dinner is BYOB. Get tickets online.

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