Calcasieu Private Dining by Chef Donald Link

Nice but very noisy. Steak was perfect — couldn’t fault it. But dessert was overcooked, dry and bland. Disappointed considering we were a large group (30) and had a very limited choice menu.
The environment was awesome. Great style and classy. Would have been great to experience a greater variety of the menu.

Beautiful event space, organized & friendly event managers and staff, and the food — wow! Our guests are still talking about the food. Angela, JT and the rest of the event managers were easy to work with to plan our wedding ceremony and reception dinner. Huge thank you to our main event manager contact, Angela, who was always responsive, organized, knowledgeable, friendly, and so accommodating for the guests who had food allergies and special diets.
They went above and beyond to make our day memorable, taking care of all the details, and letting us just enjoy the evening. The cost was very reasonable and they were flexible in working with our budget and special requests. We are beyond thankful we chose them for an easy, no-​stress wedding experience!

This place is great for large events! The staff is super accommodating, there are different rooms for different size groups. The place is really chic and beautiful. The food is awesome! The event I was at had a set menu, no options, but they make exceptions for vegetarians, allergies, kosher needs, or other dietary restrictions.
The meal started with a chicken and andouille gumbo which was a little spicy but great. The entrée was a pan roasted 5oz petite filet mignon served medium with family style potatoes au gratin and creamed spinach. Meal was good, kind of greasy. But the dessert is heavenly. One of my favorite bread puddings in town. Chocolate chip bread pudding.
There are many choices you can choose from when deciding the menu you want to set for your group. You could also do platters instead of having servers bring food to your table. If you do do a set menu, if the group is less than 40 people you can offer two different options to choose from for the second course. If over 40, only one option for the entrée. The first and third courses are always only one option offered.
Parking here is on the street, so you will have to pay to park on the street. But the location is not super busy. It’s right above Cochon butcher.

we reserved this ball room for a big work related group dinner. The space is beautiful and intimate. The food, well the food was awesome. We had a buffet that included items like macaroni and cheese, grilled broccoli with garlic, Cesar salad, fried green tomato and lentils, catfish, and chocolate chip bread pudding amongst a few other things. Everything was SO so good. well prepared and fresh.
The service left a little to want on our particular trip. One of the servers was not well versed in everything the place had to offer so that was a little disappointing. Price point wise it is pretty expensive but if you have a large party and can swing it, you should try it out. You have to set it up like a private party.
We all walked/​took cabs there so I am not sure about parking, it is hard to find because it is tucked into a corner but it is a great space and the food was awesome

We had our intimate destination wedding at Calcasieu and I cannot say enough good things about this venue. Brandy worked with my fiancé (now husband) and I from London to make sure that everything was perfect. The food was OUTRAGEOUSLY good (our guests keep telling me they’ve never had such good food at a wedding). My husband and I barely got a chance to eat but Brandy made a huge to-​go bag with every single thing we had so that we could enjoy it after. It was so beautiful and just the right size. The list of vendors Brandy supplied for other services were so helpful. I could go on and on about how much I loved Calcasieu but let me end by saying, Calcasieu gave us the perfect wedding.

I just got married there on Saturday night and I would give it a thousand stars, if I could. The staff was amazing. Starting with Brandy who booked us and took care of all the details on the front end, continuing with Angela who managed the venue the night of our wedding and finishing with Sean who was our lead server. The two other servers and bartender were wonderful too.
We had a 20 person destination wedding. I’d eaten at Cochon and Butcher before, so I had high expectations of the food, and still everything was better than we hoped. Brandy selected our appetizers for us, blue crab beignets, chicken w white bbq sauce, pork belly on toast. I’m so glad I let her pick. Everything was hot, fresh and just kept coming! I had to stop eating to save room for the gumbo (rich and outta this world), the gulf fish courtbullion and brisket and the best bread pudding I’ve ever had. They also picked wines that paired well given what we told them about our tastes.
The space is gorgeous. They provided our flowers on the table and a zillion votives. It does not need any more decoration than that.
There are 2 other rooms in the venue, but because we started at 5 pm, we had the place to ourselves and could have a trio during the ceremony and cocktails. Normally, they play a nice musical selection that reflects the regional styles.
So food was absolutely first rate, but just as importantly, the staff was too! My guests raved about it afterwards. Do book your party here!

Food: 5 stars
Servers: 5 stars
Organization brings the score down. Donald Link knows what he is doing, and the food was spot on. Servers frequently circled the room, refreshing drinks and serving appetizers. Dinner was served buffet style, and this is where the disorder began. The main meat entrée, sides, and soup were all arranged before the table for plates and silverware. after the silverware table was dessert. People had to enter the room, cross to plate table, then loop back again to get food, creating a hectic environment as the line grew. also, the salad was hidden next to the dessert, so many missed it entirely.
100% recommend this place, hopefully this is something they have worked out as far as logistics/​management of events

We just had a rehearsal dinner for 75. Planning was a breeze with the very experienced and accommodating staff. We requested an appetizer from Peche and it was no problem. We had the Cochon du lait from Cochon as the main course. People are still telling me how much they enjoyed it. The food and service were excellent for both the cocktail hour and the dinner. This was a sophisticated foodie crowd and they were impressed. Thank you Calcasieu staff for making out of town hosts look good!

I absolutely love the food of Cochon and Cochon butcher, but with a heavy heart I still have to give a 3 star for our meal upstairs in Calcasieu.
We were in a fairly large party of 25 – 35 people celebrating a good Friend’s birthday. The seating arrangement was well planned out and they provided plenty of room for our party considering a much larger party was happening in the adjoining room. The Calcasieu space is divided by movable walls and they did a great job of blocking the other party’s noise from us.
First course was a Peche Seafood Gumbo and it was just not right. Someone to my left got all rice, I got no rice, and the guy to my left got all veggie chunks but no meat and so forth. The roux tasted great but it was very runny. Temp for everyone at our table wasn’t cold but wasn’t hot, either. Long story short, it was a bummer for a start after having such high expectations.
Second course was a salad. Lots of folks remarked on how it really needed salt as it came out fairly bland.
The entrée choices for a party our size was either the Gulf Fish Courtbouillon or the Braised Beef Short Rib. I ordered the Short rib and it was superb. They knocked that dish out the park. My wife got the fish and that was equally fantastic.
Krewe Du Vieux was rolling two blocks up so my wife and I and a couple friends snuck out to catch the parade and skipped on dessert. Others who stayed said it was also a great dish.
Tallying up the score, they had two not so great starts and cleaned things up on the end with a great entrée and dessert. Part of me feels that I’m being too judgy considering we were a large party and God knows that’s tough to execute from a kitchen’s standpoint, timing such large portions. That being said, this place specifically caters to those type of meals and I feel they fell short this night.
Would I tell someone to not go here or to either of the Cochons? Heck no. Still a full fledged supporter. I’ll be back if an event comes together there and I’ll be excited to give them a second shot.

The utmost wonderful experience! From the sales staff, event manager, hostess, Brandy and waitstaff… exceptional five course dining EXPERIE NCE! The beef with mushroom skewers, amazing, along with the crab beniets. Highly recommend this venue by Donald Link which combines all the outstanding aspects of his restaurants. This is THE place to host your event. All our guests from the Netherlands, Germany, Barcelona, Australia, UK and NY were in awe. Thank you!

I participated in a Seafood Tasting Panel, at the Calcasieu Ball Room, along with a couple of friends and 47 other panelists. The Calcasieu Ball Room is located on the 2^nd floor above Chef Donald Link’s restaurant and deli, Cochon and Cochon Butcherie, at the intersection of Tchoupitoulas Street and Andrew C. Higgins Boulevard. The event was conducted by the Mississippi State University Marketing Division and our task was to rate three different species of fish, prepared four different ways. The three fish species were Catfish, Grouper and Black Drum. The four different methods of preparation were smoked, blackened, baked and courtboullion. The smoked fish were prepared somewhat like Tuna Salad and the ingredients in the recipe heightened the difficulty in distinguishing between species. The blackened fish were all too spicy and similarly, the seasoning overpowered the fishes’ flavor. The baked fish was served with a Lemon Beurre Blanc Sauce on the side which best allowed for a taste comparison of the three fish species. Lastly, the Courtboullion preparation included a very light tomato based sauce, which did not compromise the taste preferences of the three fish species.
The focus of the marketing campaign was to receive input as to consumer preference for Delacata Catfish, a U.S. farm-​raised fish, as compared to Grouper and Black Drum. Panelists were asked to decide on the likelihood of purchasing either species based upon taste and cost. The prices used were $ 17, $ 19 and $ 25. The costs varied however for each species, such that one species was priced higher when prepared one way and then was priced lower when prepared another way.
I applaud Chef Link for investing the effort in doing this research, but I was not able to render opinions based on costs but was more inclined to focus on actual taste considerations. Oddly enough, each of the species of fish fared differently in each of the four test cases. At times, one species seemed too fishy, another to bland and another more suitable. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable event and my friends and I concluded the evening with sharing bacon flavored desserts… a slice of bacon flavored Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake and a Bacon Praline, and we were finally sufficiently satisfied.

I was excited when I found out a rehearsal dinner I was going to was at Cochon because I knew the food would be outstanding. The private Calcasieu room is located just upstairs from Cochon. There was a private bar ready for slinging drinks and the bartender was friendly and quick, never letting a line build up. At this particular dinner, it was set up buffet style. The buffet line was sectioned off from the dining area which was nice because it kept things organized and less chaotic. The big round tables sat anywhere between 8 – 10 people. The staff at Cochon was excellent always clearing off tables keeping it nice and tidy the entire time. The food obviously was excellent as you would expect from Cochon. Based on this experience I would highly recommend this venue for your next private event.

I was very excited my alma mater decided to host our class reunion at Donald Link’s restaurant, a James Beard Award-​winning chef. It was my first time at Calcasieu Ballroom and it was a memorable experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres and cocktail hour. The duck & pastrami sliders were very tasty and everyone loved the amazingly tender, jumbo shrimp wrapped with bacon. The charcuterie station was great and beautifully presented. I was not surprised as Cochon Butcher, another chef DL establishment is conveniently a few doors down from Calcasieu.
The staff was very attentive and everything ran smoothly. There was an open bar and they did not have champagne. I told the bartender that it was ok and I would have a different drink. He graciously stepped away and promptly came back with a bottle of champagne and poured me a glass of bubbly. I would highly recommend this place for a private event if you are looking for professional service and great food!

Uh — this place is awesome! Came here for a doctor-​talk paid for by the peeps who own our hospital. Thank you very much! I probably wouldn’t have a good reason to come here otherwise.
After eating at Cochon a few times, my expectations for delicious food were quite high. The catering did not disappoint. The salads all came together, the entrees were served family style, and the dessert was warm and fresh. The bf (came for moral and co-​dining support) made a passing comment about not eating gluten while apps were going around. BAM– they gave him gluten free dessert without even mentioning it to him or making a fuss. That’s high quality service right there. The portion on the drinks were also quite lovely and generous.
If I ever need to have a fancy event done right, I would highly consider going to Calcasieu.
Hint: the door is literally next to Cochon’s main door (other corner/​not on same street that the Butcher is on). They basically own that little area of the CBD.

BY FAR the best wedding reception I’ve ever attended! The food was ridiculously good — blue crab beignets, fried alligator with chili garlic aioli, beef and mushroom skewers, shrimp on kettle chips as pass-​arounds, and a cochon de lait buffet dinner. The setup of the bar, buffet, and seating made for easy access and served to highlight the dance floor perfectly. The lighting was gorgeous. The servers and bartenders were attentive, extremely friendly, and went above and beyond to make our evening spectacular.

Amazing food (we did the cajun tasting menu), great attentive service. They even accommodated a vegan in our group with some fantastic looking courses. Now, the drawback…
Our group of 17 rented out the wine room for a bachelor party. Were we rowdier than your normal crowd? Probably, but this is New Orleans, it was over Jazz Fest, and it’s not like we were swinging from the chandeliers – just a few rambunctious jokes. The problem arose when an adjoining rehearsal dinner went through about 30 minutes of toasts and staff demanded pindrop silence from the entire floor, including our party in the adjacent room. I’m all for accommodating others, but this ask was pretty inexcusable for an expensive meal billed as a private dining experience. Calcasieu needs to add drapes, a sliding door, something so that the wine room is separated from other event spaces to accommodate situations like this. Until then, I would strongly caution livelier groups from booking this space unless you’ll be the only party that night.

This is long. Sorry. If you want to read about the food jump down to near the bottom…
My daughter eloped in the fall of 2011 and my husband and I struggled with finding the perfect way to celebrate their marriage and make it special, without making it a «wedding reception,» which they DID NOT want. We don’t live in New Orleans but we have ties there and visit often. Since so many relatives were going to have to travel to attend this event anyway, we went for it and sought out a venue in NOLA.
I did some asking around and reading on the web and found that it was a challenge to find something that was more than just a room off of a main restaurant with a limited menu. Those options made it seem like going out to dinner, rather than an event. Some places said our party was too small (50 guests) and others seemed to not be interested for whatever reason (my inquiry at the WW2 museum was never acknowledged.) At the time, Calcasieu was fairly new and there wasn’t much to read about it, except the online menus. We had eaten at Cochon and Butcher several times, so I knew the food would be outstanding.
Long story short (too late!) we talked to the event planner at Calcasieu and put down a deposit for Feb 2011. Not even a week later we found out that the Navy had changed schedules and my submariner son-​in-​law wouldn’t be available on that date. The folks at Calcasieu didn’t bat an eye. They just said to let them know what the new date would be. Turned out to not be possible until Nov 2012! Again, not a problem for them.
I mention all this because this was only the beginning of how awesome the staff was. When it came time to (finally) plan the menu and details, we made several special requests, including a few vegetarian meals and a bride with food allergies, which they were happy to accommodate and also offered seriously valuable guidance throughout the process. Any time I sent an email, it was answered within hours, usually minutes. They were able to refer me to a great florist (Fat Cat Flowers) and offered to help us find a band or DJ. We didn’t need that help because my amazing brother already found us a great jazz combo, but the point is they were all over whatver we needed.
By the time the date of the party rolled around, I have to say that our expectations were probably ridiculously high and yet they managed to exceed them on every count. The food, the servers, the gorgeous rooms — every single thing was impeccable.
Speaking of food, we ordered a LOT of it. Nobody goes home hungry from one our our parties, but even by that standard it was a lot of food. We did an hour of hors d’oeuveres/cocktails then dinner
Passed hors d’oeuvres —
— Blue Crab Begniets (A crowd favorite)
— Duck Pastrami Sliders (MY favorite!)
— Tomato/​goat cheese bruschetta (These went fast!)
Platters —
— Assorted artisanal cheeses (I thought I knew about cheese, but oh I learned much.)
— Charcuterie (Sublime. Words escape me.)
— Pimiento cheese with house made crackers (Sounds boring, but NOT)
— Tiny pork belly and mint sandwiches from the Butcher menu (A special request from the bride.)
Dinner —
— Chicken and Andouille Gumbo
— Salad
— House made rolls
— Grand Dad’s Chicken and Dumplings
— Braised Short Ribs with Chive Mashed Potatoes and Onion Jam (Oh my!)
— Buttered Local Vegetables
— Pancetta Mac and Cheese (Another special request, from the Butcher menu.)
Carving Station —
— Cochon de Lait (This seemed over the top, and it was! But no regrets. How can you NOT order this?)
Dessert —
— Chocolate Doberge (The groom wanted this and he was not wrong!)
— Red Velvet Cake (The bride wanted this and she was not wrong! So many people mentioned how they loved this even though they don’t even like Red Velvet!)
— Lemon Buttermilk Pie
— Seasonal Fruit Tarts (I could not even taste one of these or the lemon pie due to there being NO MORE ROOM IN MY BELLY, but I’m told they were good.)
Oh, yeah, open bar. Not much to say here except it was well done.
I wish I had the words and the time to describe each dish in detail but I’m no food critic, though you may have noticed that we like to eat and have some experience in that area. I can say that individually all the dishes were absolutely sublime. All together, as an experience, the event was something that our family and friends will be talking about for a long time to come. It just doesn’t get any better. Best. Party. Ever.

I visited the Calcasieu Room last night to attend a wine dinner with german food/​Rudi Weist wines for NOWFE. I was very impressed with the décor and ambiance of the room. It is very clean, and the view is spectacular. We had around 25 people at the dinner, and we sat at one long table in the middle of the main room.
The Good:
The plates for the dishes were warmed/​chilled according to the dish on them. A big plus. Food was fantastic, and needless to say, I’m very impressed with Link/Stryjewsky’s German cuisine. The wines were impeccable (not that this is to the credit of Calcasieu), but the stemware was cleaned properly and paired properly. Hugely important for a wine dinner. The wine pouring and food expediting was proper as well, as the ladies were served first and from the right side. I also enjoyed getting to see the cooks through the gauzy veil that was pulled in front of the expo window. Very nice, quiet, precise service.
The Bad:
The seating for this dinner was a little tight, as I had my leg slammed up against another chair/​table leg for the whole night. Had everyone attended, the seating would have been far too… erm…“intimate.” Getting out and in for restroom breaks with this setup was difficult. Service was nice, but there were some servers with a small attitude. They might have had a bad day, or tired of our 3-​hour dinner, but small, somewhat underhandedly snarky comments are not necessary.
Overall, a very pleasant and enjoyable experience. This is the perfect venue for a rehearsal dinner or business dinner. I would say that the main room could comfortably seat about 60 – 70 at separate tables, and the small side room around 20. There is a private bar in the main room that is elegant, as well as a small side wine room that would seat about 16.

A vendor brought me here for a nice dinner while at a conference and I must say, i was impressed.
Since it is a spot for larger parties, there is not much of a choice on the menu, but they make up for that with the quality of the food. I loved the Courtbuillion (?sp) fish that they cooked up for me and the gumbo was fantastic. Drink selection is a little lacking but you are not going there for the bar.
If you want to impress a group of people at a dinner, this is the place to go.

I’m surprised that I’m the first local to review this place.
I was fortunate to dine here for a CE Dinner tonight. This was the smallest CE Dinner I have ever attended there was only 10 of us all together so we were in a side room.
I loved how our dinner setting was setup. It was very formal even though there was no white tablecloth or anything. I loved how the wine glasses were stored on open shelves in the room.
The food was great we only had 3 courses. 1^st course was gumbo it was good but that style is not my preference. 2^nd course we had a choice of chicken with squash casserole or redfish courtboullion. I and the majority went with the redfish and that was also the waiters recommendation. This entrée was a bit spicy for my taste buds soo spicy that my coworker grabbed some bread. Dessert was fried apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. One patron who happened to be pregnant loved this item very much that she made the comment «her baby was very happy and no longer kicking.»
To end I enjoyed my dinner experience here and hope other drug reps book this space more in the future.