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.