N'Orleans Y'all (Part 2)

The eating saga continues… For more of our faves see Part 1!

Port of Call (838 Esplanade Ave, French Quarter)
Ben had been to Port of Call once before, and insisted that we visit them again so that Allie could refuel with burgery goodness after running her marathon earlier that day. We showed up that night around 5:30, and already faced a 45 minute wait. We put in our names, ordered some Monsoons (their version of a hurricane), and drank them on the street (I love this town!) until they called us in. They may have had some other options on the menu, but all of us went right to the burger section, and none of us were disappointed.

What we ate: Cheeseburger (medium rare, covered with a pile of shredded cheddar) with a baked potato (loaded). Cheap and beyond delicious, this place is well worth the wait, just make sure you hunt down the hostess with the notepad to get on the list.

Best dish: Cheeseburger. We wouldn’t waste time with anything else, except of course the loaded baked potato that comes on the side.

Domilise’s (5240 Annunciation St, Garden District)
This is another joint that Ben’s parents frequented when they went to Tulane, and one which he’s visited every time he’s been in town. It’s a tiny, hole-in-the-wall place run by a family who lives in the same building as the restaurant. They have a massive menu of Po’ Boys, and all of the ones that we had were amazing. We were particularly intrigued by the menu item which read, “Rest in peace pepper weiner.” They spelled it wrong (not us!), which is weird, because it’s spelled correctly above… it only adds to the mystery…We don’t know what a pepper weiner was, but we were all a little sad we missed it.

What we ate: Roast Beef Po’ Boy (above) , Fried Shrimp Po’Boy, Zapps Chips. The “Voodoo” flavored chips are AWESOME!

Best dish: Too hard to say. They were all so good. Had a bite of Kim’s Catfish po’boy, which was outstanding. Make sure to get any sandwich “fully dressed.”

Commander’s Palace (1403 Washington Ave, Garden District)
That night, we had an amazing experience at Commander’s. See our previous blog post, "The Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind." We also hear that they have a pretty mean 25¢ martini lunch special. Yes, 25¢ martinis!!!

New Orleans French Quarter Historical/Dive Bar Crawl (Um…French Quarter)
On Tuesday afternoon/evening, we met up with our bartender friend Dawn, who took us to some great bars in the French Quarter. We ended up visiting an amazing mix places: everything from century-old established bars to much newer dives. Over the course of a few hours, we went to:

• Napoleon House (500 Chartres St.)
• Opened since 1797, it’s one of the oldest places in New Orleans. We had the Pimms cup, but later returned for a Bloody Mary.
• Flannigan’s (625 St. Phillip)
• A great Irish-inspired bar, complete with a fireplace and old wooden floors.
• Alpine (620 Chartres St.)
• Right off Jackson Square, they served up a good Bloody Mary.
• Sneaky Pete’s (135 Chartres St.)
• We walked by here at 6:00 am on the morning of the marathon and saw that they were packed. We decided we had to come back and have a drink there, mostly because we loved the name. The drinks were cheap, but we were a little disappointed by the bar. It didn’t have much in the way of character, however the characters at the bar ranged from sketchy to certifiably insane.
• Old Absinthe House (240 Bourbon St.)
• While walking to the next bar we wanted to visit, we cruised right by this place. They had fires burning, which drew us in, and we ended up downing some pricey drinks (not cool) in a building that had been around for 200 years (pretty cool).
• Three Legged Dog (400 Burgundy St.)
• This was one of the first bars Ben had been to in New Orleans, and remains one of our favorite off-Bourbon places. They have some good cheap pub food (highly recommended: tater tots), video poker machines, and a permanent 2-for-1 happy hour special (they put the second bottle on ice until you're ready for it). We ended our crawl here. We actually stayed for a few hours due largely to the bartenders and their awesome/hilarious service. Plus, they let us pick the movie to show in the bar… and the winner was… The Hangover (how fitting).

K-Paul’s (416 Chartres St, French Quarter)
We’d originally had reservations at John Besh’s restaurant August, but we changed our minds at the last minute after we met one of the cooks at Paul Prudhomme’s restaurant K-Paul’s the night before. We didn’t regret our decision for a second. We enjoyed more food than we could eat (or should have eaten for that matter). Although we didn't doubt the deliciousness of anything we ate, we were amused when we got home and watched Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” and saw that they highlighted a dish from K-Paul’s!

What we ate: Turtle Soup, Fried Green Tomatoes with warm shrimp remoulade, Shrimp Etoufee (above right), Blackened beef (above, left), Banana Foster Cheesecake, and Chocolate Hill Dessert (courtesy of the kitchen).

Best Dish: Fried Green Tomatoes. Allie lucked out by ordering this appetizer on a whim. The remoulade was warm, well-seasoned and creamy, and the tomatoes were firm and tart on the inside with a crispy crust. It would be well worth a visit to K-Paul’s for this dish alone.

Other Things We Did…
In addition to the amazing food and drink mentioned above, we thought of a few other events worth mentioning:

• Music at Preservation Hall
• We got here at the end of the show (which meant that we were able to sneak in for free), and caught some great music.
• Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s
• Dishonorable mention to POB’s. The hurricanes that night were terrible, and the weather was too gross to go on the patio (That part isn’t POB’s fault, but the patio is the coolest part of the bar). Imagine Robitussen mixed with off brand cherry Kool-Aid, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what we tried to choke down that night. You know it’s awful when BOTH of us abandon an $8 drink half-way through. We’re chalking this up a fluke though. Every other time we’ve been here, the hurricanes have been tasty, and the patio is a fun place to hang out, weather permitting.
• Cooking Demonstration at the New Orleans School of Cooking
• Our teacher was adorable (think Paula Dean meets Dr. Ruth) and the food was pretty tasty. On the menu that day were biscuits with cane syrup, jambalaya, gumbo, bread pudding and pecan pralines. Not an amazing experience, but it was a fun way to spend a morning when the weather was cruddy, plus beer was included.
• Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
• This bar was right across from our friends’ hotel and was the first bar we visited. Only then did we find that they claim to be the oldest continually occupied bar in the country! It was definitely a fun place with a chill atmosphere, and a lot of history.

N'Orleans Y'all (Part 1)

Although we probably consumed enough calories during our trip to Commander’s Palace to keep us full during our entire five day trip, Commander’s was just one of the many amazing places we ate and drank while in New Orleans. In fact… throughout the majority of our journey, we were faced with the classic New Orleans eating dilemma: more restaurants to visit than meals we could possibly eat. At least, that’s the dilemma we face every time we come here. We did our best, though, and will give a quick run-down of some of the not-to-be-missed spots that we visited.

Fuel Coffee House (4807 Magazine St, Uptown)
As soon as we got off the plane, we made a B-line to Fuel, which our friend Kim had found written up on a great New Orleans food blog. As soon as we got out of our cab and walked inside, we were hit with a blast of Southern hospitality and deliciousness. Upon seeing the four of us, people, without being asked, shuffled their tables around to give us (and our luggage) plenty of room to sit. We ordered a giant breakfast and tasty coffees, and couldn’t have been happier, which is saying a lot, since we just got off the red eye (which included a 3 hour layover in Dallas) half an hour earlier.

What we ate: Gumbo, Biscuits and Gravy, Praline Bacon (Bacon encrusted with pecans and a sweet brown sugar rub), Sweet Potato Pancakes (which came with about half a stick of butter… and an offer for more butter in case that wasn’t enough), and Southern Eggs Benedict (which included collard greens).

Best dish: Praline Bacon and Sweet Potato Pancakes. The pancakes were big, fluffy, and flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon, so they tasted a bit like carrot cake. That is always a good thing in our book. Instead of syrup, they were served with a warm side of a balsamic vinegar-based sauce that had blueberries bobbing about in it. Sounds a bit strange, but the tangy contrast with the richness of the rest of the dish was very pleasant. And praline bacon…enough said.

Hermes Bar (725 Rue St. Louis, French Quarter)
On the recommendation of my Mom (and based on the fact that it was half a block from our hotel), we had our first meal of the trip Hermes Bar, a recently-opened bar associated with (and next door to) the New Orleans classic restaurant Antoine’s. We got there early, were greeted by an extremely knowledgeable and old-school bartender, and ordered everything he suggested off the bar menu, which mirrors all of the classics that have been served at Antoine’s for over 160 years.

What we ate: Sazerac, Shrimp Remoulade, Oysters Two by Two by Two (Rockefeller [which they invented], Thermidor, and Bienville [which they also invented] above), Oysters a la Foche, and Soufflee Potatoes.

Best dish: Oysters Two by Two by Two . The oysters themselves were fresh and succulent. Each of the toppings complimented them perfectly, but each in its own distinct way. Decadence, sheer decadence.

Big Fisherman Seafood (3301 Magazine St, Uptown)Since we were in N.O. during crawfish season, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss out. Our friends John, Kim, and Marissa were staying in a hotel with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street and were willing to host a Crawfish boil at their place. We got some takeout mudbugs (aka crawfish) from Big Fisherman (we got their recommended 5 pounds per person, but we would have been better with 2 or so), as well as some sausage, corn and potatoes. We spilled them out on some newspaper, bought some cold beers, and proceeded to suck the heads and eat the tails to our hearts contents.

Cafe Du Monde (1039 Decatur St, French Quarter)
It is our firm belief that no trip to New Orleans trip is complete without a visit to the historic Café du Monde, perhaps even two or three visits. That being said, we were both shocked that we’d been in New Orleans for more than a day without satisfying our beignet fix, but we made up for it starting on Monday morning. We met our crew there, and immediately ordered our favorite: a large Cafe au Lait (heavenly chicory coffee) and an order of three beignets… each. Sharing beignets can get ugly, we’ve learned that the hard way. It was just as good as every other time we’ve been, and a breakfast that we repeated the next morning.

What we ate: Large hot Cafe au Lait and Beignets.

The fun isn’t over yet! Stay tuned for the thrilling continuation of our mission to give ourselves heart attacks in a mere five days.

A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind (The Commander's Palace Story)

We just got back from a trip to New Orleans, which is one of our favorite cities. We'll have a few posts covering the entire trip, but because this is primarily a food blog, we thought that we'd start with our most incredible culinary experience of the trip. In a city known for its food, the bar was set pretty high and we had a lot of amazing foodie experiences. The chef's tasting menu at Commander's Palace, however, handily beat anything else we ate in the city. We'd picked Commander's for our fancy "spendy" dinner not only because it is one of the oldest and most established fine dining restaurants in New Orleans, but also is where amazing chefs in the area jump start their careers. Among those chefs: Emeril Lagasse, Paul Prudhomme, and John Besh. Even with our sky high expectations, Commander's Palace did not let us down.

With a group of friends who had come to N.O. with us, we headed to our 7:00 reservation an hour early because we wanted to grab a pre-dinner cocktail at the bar. Our trip to the bar began with a trek through the kitchen (which was pretty amazing), and included sightings of James Carville (aka the Rajin' Cajun) and the owner of Commander's Palace, . The service at the bar was attentive and friendly (particularly to Allie) and the cocktails were good (but not great), but Commander's didn't get famous for their drinks.

After we were seated, it only took minor cajoling to get everybody to agree to the $100 "Chef's Playground" (which required a unanimous decision at the table) and four of us (including both of us, of course) also opted for the $68 wine paring, which was worth every penny. Without further ado, here it is, in all of its glory:

Truffled Egg & Caviar
Shaved black Oregon truffles, Atchafalaya Basin bowfin roe and sassafras chantilly
(1996 Duval-Leroy Brut Champagne)

Tortellini en Brado
A rich mushroom consommé with black trumpet mushrooms and herbed goat cheese tortellini
(1997 Kalin Cellars Potter Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino)

Foie Gras "Du Monde"
Cast iron seared foie gras over roasted pecan and foie gras beignets with a foie gras cafe au lait warm sugarcane syrup & chicory coffee "mist"
(2003 Royal Tokaji Red Label Aszu Five Puttonyos, Hungary)

~Le Coup De Milieu~
Maker's Mark, Grand Marnier, Cherry Herring, lime juice, and Peychauds bitters

Louisiana Crawfish "2" Ways
Crispy soft shell crawfish and a sauté of crawfish tails with grilled corn, tomatoes, Creole crawfish bisque and toasted garlic popcorn rice
(2007 LIOCO Chardonnay Sonoma County, California)

Cracklin' Crusted Duck
An air dried Muscovy duck breast with potato Boulanger, caramelized Louisiana citrus and roasted pecan duck fond
(2007 Domaine Jean-Jaques Girard en Charlemagne, Corton Grand Cru)

Artisan Cheese Plate
Bocage honeycomb, kumquat marmalade, shaved apples, and warm pecan biscotti
(2004 Dme. Stephane Pichat le Champon Cote Rotie, Rhone Valley)

The Angry Ice Cream Cone
Vanilla-toasted black pepper ice cream in a dark chocolate cone over a confiture of pink peppercorn and golden pineapple with Sailor Jerry's rum caramel
(2007 Chateau Gravas Sauternes, Bordeaux, France)

A few notes about the experience:

• The service was great. Super-attentive without being stuffy. A perfect level of New Orleans friendliness. Every course and wine paring described to us as it was served.
• Our favorite course was the Foie, which was creamy, sweet, savory, and salty. A well-balanced and beautiful course all around, paired with a wine that cut right through the richness of both the foie and the beignet.
• Our favorite wine was probably the Sauvignon Blanc that came with the tortellini... perhaps the richest and most complex white wine we've ever had.
• We were a little trepedatious about the angry ice cream cone, but sweet vanilla flavor really set the tone, and was followed by a slightly spicy peppery finish, which were both set off by the sweetness of the pineapple and caramel.
• And of course, like true food geeks we got our menus signed. Potentially by a future New Orleans celebrity chef.