“Arnaud’s has been open since 1918. We serve traditional Creole cuisine with a little bit of a French flare.” Today Bon Appétit spends the day with saucier Bobby McNab at Arnaud’s, one of the oldest and largest restaurants in New Orleans.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Arno's has been open since 1918.
00:03 We serve traditional Creole cuisine with a little bit of a French flair.
00:08 This place is over 40,000 square feet, almost 5,500 square feet of kitchen space.
00:16 But we have an additional 16 dining rooms, which can seat up to an additional 900.
00:22 It encompasses 11 buildings side by side.
00:24 I've been in Arno's since 2009.
00:26 I'm responsible for all the soups, stocks, and sauces.
00:30 Every single plate here starts with me.
00:32 We do measure everything by the gallon.
00:34 Sometimes you just get so damn busy, it's hard to keep up.
00:37 But we always manage, we always do.
00:40 Morning, beautiful day in New Orleans.
00:49 I'm Bobby McNabb, I'm the Saucier Chef here at Arno's Restaurant.
00:52 We got a lot to do today, so let's get this party started.
00:58 Arno's is a family-owned restaurant.
01:00 They've only had two owners in the over 100 years we've been open.
01:04 You'll see the tile changes as we go along, because Arno's started off as just the main
01:10 dining room.
01:11 Over the 100 years we've been open, we've purchased an additional 10 buildings.
01:17 So you can see how each one of them was a separate house at one time.
01:23 This place is haunted, you know that?
01:26 People that died in here, I guess.
01:30 All right, here we go.
01:33 We're going to show you the kitchen.
01:36 What you got to keep in mind with this kitchen is that it's a street.
01:41 You come in on the right-hand side, you go out on the left-hand side.
01:45 It's just traffic.
01:46 This is a saucier and prep area.
01:49 This is where all the behind-the-scenes magic happens.
01:53 Every dish at Arno's starts out in this area right here.
01:58 We do requisitions the night before.
02:03 The storeroom keeper and the sous chefs coordinate this, and they'll load us up with everything
02:07 we need for the day.
02:08 These are diced tomatoes and tomato puree.
02:12 Just take these, and we have a shelf over here in the back.
02:15 And we'll just start putting these items away.
02:17 So this is our storeroom.
02:18 We limit it to the basic items that we use every day.
02:22 It just cuts down on the traffic.
02:24 Whenever you're coming in, we all bump into each other.
02:28 But when we bump in, we say, "Excuse me, please and thank you."
02:32 And we just keep right on going.
02:34 All right, it's 8.30 in the morning.
02:37 We're going to have a quick breakfast before we get the day started.
02:42 That's Raquel, she's like a sister to me, but she's everybody's mama.
02:45 She prepares breakfast and lunch for us, and she's the heart of this kitchen.
02:49 Let's have breakfast, folks.
02:51 Everyone at this table is family.
02:53 We've all known each other for years.
02:55 Rocky, how long you been here?
02:56 You've been here almost 20 years.
02:58 I started here in '93.
02:59 There you go.
03:00 So, I mean, I've been here 20-plus years.
03:04 Everything's intertwined here in New Orleans.
03:06 People say, "Oh, it's a big city."
03:08 It's not.
03:09 It's really a small village if you think about it.
03:12 We have a lot of deliveries coming in.
03:15 I have some veal bones.
03:17 I have some whole chickens, because we're making two of those stocks and soups today.
03:22 And here in a few minutes, I'll be getting up with the banquet chef and the banquet sous
03:27 chef, talk about what they're going to need for this week.
03:30 His footprints are everywhere on this menu.
03:32 He touches every sauce.
03:33 He's the foundation.
03:34 Is he any good at it?
03:35 Yeah, he's pretty damn good.
03:36 So far, so good.
03:39 Thank you, chef.
03:41 Appreciate that.
03:42 Yeah.
03:43 It's 9 a.m.
03:44 I have 30 pounds of chicken.
03:45 We're going to roast them off until they're nice and golden brown.
03:46 And we'll make a nice, rich brown stock.
03:47 This is the stock pot.
03:48 This is the reduced pot.
03:49 These will hold about 60 gallons, and it is big.
03:50 And I have almost filling it, me.
03:51 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:52 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:53 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:54 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:55 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:56 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:57 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:58 I'm going to put it in the oven.
03:59 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:05 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:06 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:07 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:08 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:09 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:10 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:11 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:12 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:13 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:14 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:15 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:16 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:17 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:18 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:19 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:20 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:21 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:22 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:28 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:29 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:30 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:31 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:32 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:33 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:34 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:35 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:36 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:37 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:38 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:39 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:40 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:41 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:42 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:43 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:44 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:45 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:51 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:52 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:53 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:54 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:55 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:56 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:57 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:58 I'm going to put it in the oven.
04:59 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:00 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:01 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:02 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:03 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:04 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:05 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:06 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:07 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:08 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:14 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:15 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:16 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:17 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:18 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:19 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:20 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:21 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:22 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:23 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:24 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:25 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:26 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:27 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:28 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:29 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:30 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:31 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:37 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:38 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:39 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:40 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:41 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:42 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:43 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:44 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:45 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:46 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:47 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:48 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:49 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:50 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:51 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:52 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:53 I'm going to put it in the oven.
05:54 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:00 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:01 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:02 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:03 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:04 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:05 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:06 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:07 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:08 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:09 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:10 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:11 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:12 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:13 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:14 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:15 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:16 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:17 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:23 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:24 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:25 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:26 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:27 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:28 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:29 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:30 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:31 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:32 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:33 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:34 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:35 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:36 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:37 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:38 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:39 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:40 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:46 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:47 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:48 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:49 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:50 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:51 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:52 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:53 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:54 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:55 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:56 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:57 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:58 I'm going to put it in the oven.
06:59 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:00 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:01 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:02 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:03 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:09 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:10 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:11 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:12 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:13 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:14 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:15 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:16 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:17 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:18 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:19 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:20 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:21 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:22 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:23 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:24 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:25 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:26 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:32 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:33 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:34 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:35 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:36 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:37 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:38 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:39 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:40 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:41 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:42 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:43 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:44 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:45 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:46 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:47 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:48 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:49 I'm going to put it in the oven.
07:56 We all need to be on the same page all the time.
07:59 100% communication all the time.
08:01 We take care of it.
08:03 Coming up on 1PM.
08:06 We're making veal stock.
08:07 We've got four cases of veal bones.
08:09 Each one is 50 pounds.
08:11 We're looking at 200 pounds of bones.
08:13 We've got to take them.
08:15 We've got to give them a little snap a couple of times.
08:20 Alright.
08:23 These are the femur bones, which is from your hip.
08:26 Got a good marrow in there.
08:28 So what we're going to do, I've got some.
08:30 They got started a few minutes ago.
08:32 These bones are ready to come out.
08:35 This is what you're looking for.
08:37 All the fats in the meat is all dried out.
08:39 Marrow is all nice and cooked and golden brown.
08:42 This is going to give it its color, its flavor, and its texture.
08:46 You want all that fat nice and crispy and crunchy.
08:49 So we're going to take all these out.
08:51 These fresh ones that we just got in,
08:54 we're going to take these and cook these in the oven for about 3-4 hours.
08:58 Let's go get this over there and get it ready to go in the pot.
09:02 Carefully.
09:03 That's why you've got the back brace on.
09:05 Let's hold it up.
09:07 Let's carry it on to the back.
09:08 Coming around hot.
09:10 Let them rest for a couple of minutes.
09:13 This is roasted vegetables that goes into the veal stock.
09:16 We put these in the oven.
09:18 We roast them down.
09:19 I made this a few days ago.
09:22 As you can see, it's almost like a gravy consistency.
09:25 You see all this float around the top?
09:27 That's the gel that we got from making the veal stock.
09:30 This gallon of gravy, if I had to guess, is probably $100.
09:34 It's a very expensive gravy.
09:36 Oh yeah. That's some good stuff.
09:40 This is our Marchand de Vin sauce.
09:43 So we're going to hook this up with about a bottle and a half of wine.
09:47 We're going to have it afterwards.
09:49 Quality wine.
09:50 If you can't drink it, don't make it.
09:52 The amount of ingredients I'm using today is going to make about a gallon.
09:55 Typically, when we make this for a large amount of party, we'll do eight gallons of it.
10:00 So we're going to pour this Borlase in there now.
10:02 A lot of flavor in this little bucket.
10:05 Everything is starting to just flow together now.
10:08 I think she's ready to go.
10:09 So we're going to shut this off.
10:11 Once it cools down, I'll put it into another container.
10:13 And the banquet chef will take care of it from there.
10:16 Three o'clock, we're going to make some shrimp creole.
10:20 We're going to throw in a little bit of clarified butter.
10:23 Celery and onions.
10:25 They just sweat out all that natural flavor, get a little caramelization on it.
10:29 We got our bell peppers.
10:31 We weren't going to make an entire batch for this one, but it was a special request.
10:35 We're going to season all that up.
10:37 We got our fresh thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
10:40 This is a very classic New Orleans dish, shrimp creole.
10:44 This is a base sauce.
10:46 You can use this and turn it into a sauce pecan.
10:48 You can use it with alligator, you can use it with shrimp, chicken.
10:51 Some people throw it in pasta.
10:53 So this is ready to go.
10:55 We'll put in our fresh local shrimp.
10:57 Because shrimp are like sponges.
10:59 They will collect any sauces, any spices, anything that's being used in it.
11:05 As you can see, the shrimp, the tails have started to come up.
11:08 Shrimp creole is complete.
11:10 The sauté chef here will finish the plate up when our guest arrives in about 10-15 minutes.
11:16 Got a lot to do, guys. Let's get back to work.
11:19 All right, it's 4 o'clock.
11:25 Fitting to get set up over here with Chef Homie.
11:27 He is our oyster chef for the evening.
11:29 All these take a few days ahead of time to create because they have to set up.
11:34 Oyster topping, we start off in the tilt skillet.
11:36 So I had to make this ahead of time.
11:38 Chef, we got a banquet coming up tonight.
11:40 We need six dozen of the Rockefeller and two dozen of the oyster biennial.
11:45 The rest will be the oysters arno.
11:47 He'll be assembling those this evening.
11:49 This is Rockefeller, traditional Rockefeller that's world famous.
11:53 This is our oyster biennial.
11:55 This is our creation that we came up with in the '20s.
11:59 This was to rival our competitors, the Rockefeller.
12:03 Chef Homie is going to stuff these oysters.
12:06 I'm going to leave this to him because I got other things to do.
12:09 Okay, guys, it's 5.30. We got people starting to get in.
12:14 I can see the crew's getting ready.
12:16 Thanks for coming out. We appreciate it.
12:18 But it's time for y'all to get the hell out.
12:20 We got things to do, fixing to open for business.
12:22 Have a good one. Thanks for coming.
12:24 Come on, go, go.
12:26 Come on, go, go.
12:28 (electronic music)