THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Gabrielle

THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Gabrielle Restaurant Review:

Inside a tiny wedge of a building amid Esplanade Avenue's stately oaks, former Paul Prudhomme apprentices Greg and Mary Sonnier have fashioned a restaurant that no devotee of great south Louisiana cooking should miss. The food is not for timid palates. Most sauces and seasonings richly reflect the robust flavors of Creole and Acadian gastronomy. They radiate from the smoky, deep-brown gumbos, which change from night to night; the barbecue-shrimp pie that warms the soul; earthy roasted duck boned and crowned with the crackly skin; bulbous links of housemade andouille and other sausages ready for dipping into bittersweet fruit sauces; and a pan-roasted pork T-bone shimmering in a Creole-mustard sauce with a blush of tangerine. Mary Sonnier's sorbets, ice creams and other desserts are the ideal complement, especially the homey fresh-fruit cobblers, the apple bread pudding and the Peppermint Patty (dark chocolate cake with pink peppermint ice cream). The list of wines is moderate in size but filled with bottles that pair well with the kitchen's style, and a café au lait deepened by the bitter savor of chicory puts the final coat of polish on any Gabrielle meal.