Review of LeMoyne's Landing in Santa Fe, New Mexico

After being blown out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, Le Moyne's Landing owner Honey Howard and chef de cuisine Thomas Woods have settled in Santa Fe. Remodeling the former Rooney's Tavern on Guadalupe Street, they painted the walk Mississippi-mud brown, hung pictures evocative of the swampy regions back home, and declared themselves open for business. Le Moyne's Landing, named after Howard's former restaurant on the Riverwalk in the Big Easy, not only serves the same Cajun and Creole menu all day long but may begin to stay open late at night, New Orleans-style. In the words of our server, New Orleans is "the home of guts and butts," and Le Moyne's is doing its best to help Santa Feans attain that exalted status with large servings of fried food, a "big bubba" burger with Cajun fries, and the classic Nawlins po' boy - a kind of sub sandwich that comes with optional gravy or gravy and cheese. If just the thought of that doesn't make you want to run out and buy a bigger pair of jeans, you've been living in the 'burbs too long.

The closest things to health food on Le Moyne's menu are the salads. The plantation salad comes with Creole tomatoes, which looked like sliced tomatoes to me, but maybe I missed something. The salad also features artichoke hearts, purple-onion rings, fresh steamed asparagus, and Monterey Jack cheese - as a primary ingredient. The tasty chop salad - crunchy iceberg lettuce with hearts of palm, stuffed green olives, purple onions, and a hard-boiled egg - was jazzed up with blue cheese, crunchy bacon, and onion rings. With those kinds of additions, who wouldn't eat their vegetables?

The menu at Le Moyne's is dense - 12 kinds of po' boys, 10 appetizers, a wide selection of entrees, two soups, and salads. The specials menu features a large selection of dishes and a couple of desserts. There are 11 different sides; I want to go back and try the spicy smothered okra and collard greens, both traditional Southern dishes. A signature dish, Oysters Le Moyne, baked on the half shell and topped with an artichoke dressing and Parmesan cheese, held scary-looking oysters packed in gray-green matter. Jonathan Swift's observation came to mind: "He wasa bold man that first eat an oyster." I know what he meant. I wasn't man enough to eat more than one. Crispy salmon cakes with spicy dijonaise had a nice crunch. They are homey, just like the ones Mom used to make.

The "peel and eat" barbecue shrimp is full-carapace shrimp - eyes and feelers intact - so if that kind of thing makes you uneasy, order the fried-shrimp platter. We had the fried-seafood platter: a nice, moist piece of white catfish with rubber) shrimp and strong-flavored oysters came with a potato salad significantly charged with cayenne.

Two specials were tempting: chile-lime ribs and blackened catfish with three cheese macaroni. We expected the ribs to have some punch, but the chile was mild and the sauce uninteresting. The meat was falling-off-the-bone tender, however. The blackened catfish was moist and flavorful but burned around the edges (I know, I know - but it really shouldn't taste unpleasantly charred). The super-rich day boat of three-cheese macaroni was a meal in itself, and served alongside the fish with no garnish it was not visually appealing.

Desserts from the specials menu - a dry, mild flavored mango shortcake and a super sweet pineapple upside-down cake with nuts - failed to thrill. Service tends to be slow, and waiters are stretched thin. Both our lunches were long; luckily, we had time to linger. But lingering over food is one thing. When you're finished and trying to pay the check, lingering can feel tedious. Le Moyne's Landing is located at 402 N. Guadalupc Street in Santa Fe, 820-2268. They are opened from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday