Hey kids,
This past Labor Day I had the overwhelming pleasure of visiting one of my favorite cities in the U.S., New Orleans! This was the city that made me fall in love with food. My first time there was in 2002 when I took a road trip with two friends from DC to Texas, then over to the crescent city. It was the first time I’d been so far away from DC, but felt like I was home. I distinctly remember being fascinated by my little plate of fluffy gems called Beignets. And despite being only 19 at the time, I also discovered my favorite drink, the daiquiri. I returned in 2004 on vacation with my dad and continued to explore the cajun restaurants and local faves like Jacques-Imo’s where I tried Alligator for the first time. I had not been back since Katrina, so when my partner, Dan, and I started to plan a vacation back in july, talk of the big easy quickly came up. To my surprise, he booked the trip and 2 months later we were on our way!
As soon as we got our stuff into the hotel on Royal St, we put on our walking shoes and headed straight for Jackson square. There was a little restaurant that I wanted to return to because I knew Dan’s first creole meal had to be authentic New Orleans favorites, and there’s no better place to do it then at the Gumbo Shop, next door to the St. Louis Cathedral. Its a quaint little place with large thin windows and dark oil murals on the walls. You have to walk through a narrow brick hallway into a courtyard to get into the dining room, and it’s like walking back in time. Our waitress, friendly and humorous, immediately recommended the sampler platter which came with Creole Shrimp, Jambalaya, and crawfish etouffé. Of course we also had to order the andouille gumbo to start! The meal was a much needed moment of bliss after dealing with airports, tiny coach seats, screaming kids at 10,000 feet and all the other stresses of travel. My favorite was by far the etouffé, the crawfish were tender and succulent. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, you must try them! Imagine a little crustacean sent from heaven for the purpose of bringing happiness into your life. Their flavor is like a cross between shrimp and lobster, but even that seems to over simplify.
The next day we had to get our morning sugar rush at the world famous Café Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait! Although it was 88 degrees with 1000% humidity, so I got the frozen cafe au lait! We spent the afternoon browsing the french market and window shopping the antique stores along the french quarter. Many of them more like museums than shops. For lunch, we went to one of my favorite cheap eats places, Johnny’s Po-Boys on St. Peter St. I’d been there back with my dad and could still recall the texture of the crunch french bread contrasting perfectly with the tender crisp of fried crawfish. Though the prices seemed to have gone up, the portions are huge (Dan and I could’ve easily split one po-boy and been satisfied). For those not in the know, a po-boy is New Orleans’ answer to the sub, hero, or hoagie. They are made with french bread, often a large baguette and are spread with a generous amount of mayo, lettuce and tomato, and your meat of choice. We tried to walk off more of our excessive calories, but we knew it was all in vain since we already had dinner plans.
That night, only about 4 or 5 hours later, we met up with Clare, an old friend from culinary school. She had moved to Nawlins about 3 months ago and we were lucky enough to get the red carpet treatment at her restaurant, Cochon. In a restaurant named for the french word for Pig, I knew I was in for something special. We ordered 2 appetizers for the table, Fried Gator and Braised Pork Cheeks. When they arrived, they were accompanied by a bonus charcuterie plate and oysters on the half shell compliments of the chef! The pork cheeks were perfectly braised, served with figs, goat cheese and some sort of porky orange sauce that made me want to faint in rapture. For our meals Dan got an off menu Goat Special, which was what I wanted, and I got the rabbit and dumplings which was was he wanted. Both were divine. The rabbit and dumplings were hearty and homestyle, but there was an unexplainable sophistication to it as well. The goat was most impressive, cooked perfectly medium rare, it elevated goat to a status shared only by rack of lamb and poached lobster. It was goat taken to fashion week, given a makeover and made the belle of the ball. So tré chic! Although we were about to burst, Clare was the pastry chef there and we had to get dessert. So we shared the peach cobbler with creme fraiche ice cream. The peaches were fresh off the tree sweet, and the cobbler was crispy on top and tender flaky inside, perfectly paired with with sour creaminess of the creme fraiche. We finished our meal with a complimentary shot of moonshine and said goodbye, but not for long to our new friend Cochon. Of all the restaurants I’ve been to in New Orleans, this is hands down my favorite! To not experience it would be to deny yourself the very thing that makes life worth living!
At this point it becomes difficult to continue, because all else pales in comparison, but alas I will try. The following morning we had brunch at Brennan’s, the world famous institution of food. The mecca of Creole fine dining and the birthplace of Banana’s foster and many other iconic classics. Although it was rather overpriced, the experience was one I’ll remember and savor for quite sometime. My brunch started with baked apples in devonshire cream, followed by Eggs Hussard (Eggs benedict with a brown sauce added) and finally the beloved Bananas Foster! Flambeéd tableside, dripping in melted butter and brown sugar, drunk with rum and begging to go in my tummy! In that perfect little moment of bliss, I could’ve died and been happy.
We spent the rest of that day walking off our gluttony in the Garden District, visiting Anne Rice’s house, viewing the graveyards and riding the St. Charles Streetcar. That night we had tickets for the VooDoo tour which was awesome and finally finished our day with dinner at Redfish on Bourbon. I was hesitant to go there because it was on Bourbon, but against my better judgement, I had a great time. We ate with 2 friends we’d met while at a pool party, and it was a nice, relaxing evening after a long day of walking in the hot and humid air of the Garden District. I don’t recall much of the meal because I was so exhausted that day, (and because I had 2 abitas on an empty stomach…did I mention I’m a lightweight!?) but I do remember a filet of beef that was outstanding.
The next morning we regrettably had to pack our bags and head home. But before we could get back to BWI, we had a 6 hour layover in Memphis. Deciding to make the most of it, we hopped a cab to Beale St, the Bourbon St of Memphis. We were lucky to discover a street fair going on where we bought coconut snowcones, goat milk soap, and had true memphis bbq at Blues City Cafe. While walking around we accidentally discovered the Gibson Guitar factory and took a tour and then returned to the airport to head home.
All in all a great vacation! It was actually rather exhausting because every hour of every day was packed with something! Believe it or not, we did do alot more than just eat, but what happens in the Big Easy stays in the Big Easy!!!
(Pictures are on my facebook page)