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So I've been unemployed since March, when my biotech giant employer decided to move our entire lab and lay us all off. No bitter feelings, but I didn't want to move when it wouldn't have made financial sense to do so, I really enjoy living in NC, and my spouse doesn't want to move either. Plus having a house, five freezers full of heritage animal meat, and one-day-to-be-in-the-freezer livestock on two different farms makes a move impractical.
The unemployment will be changing soon as I got a very nice offer and accepted it. I had two weeks till I started, so Tanith and I decided on like one day notice to take a vacation, destroy my remaining severance money, and go on some culinary tourism.
So I'm currently chilling in a nearly 150 year old hotel in New Orleans, not caring about anything, and both of us are eating ourselves silly. I'm going to share this all with you :D
Day 1: 6-7 hour drive from Raleigh to Atlanta Georgia. Met up with friends, ate at Flip Burger. Fried okra was quite good, the bison burger was also very good. The Lobsteer burger we ordered blue-rare, they delivered it medium-well, and the foie gras milkshake tasted like sugary vanilla and no fatty liver. Sent those back, the replacement on the burger was nice. The head chef came out to discuss, and he received a ton of suggestions for how to improve the shake based on how it could be done and how they did it there (we're both foodies, one of us could cook professionally). He was quite happy with the feedback and suggestions, and in return he let us try a desert he was planning but wasn't on the menu yet. Fried apple slices made up like nachos and salsa, covered with a strawberry gel and a mint espuma. Not bad, but again he got a ton of feedback. And when we left, we gifted him with goat shank, boar bacon, and boar trotters that were leftovers from meat gifted to friends in town.
Atlanta is a nice city. Reminds me of Charlotte but bigger.
Stayed overnight and had breakfast the next morning near the hotel at a place called Briza. Had a nice take on eggs Benedict called Abercrombie Benedict: Fried green tomato topped with a poached egg, ham hock, and jalapeno hollandaise. Rather nice. :)
Then to Octane coffee (though I'm spoiled for coffee, my favorites being Grumpy in NYC and Jubala Village Coffee in Raleigh NC) which was decent. Then onto the road, after a minor incident in which the GPS did its level best to kill me by putting me onto the wrong side of the highway in a very non-obvious you don't enter here from this direction road. Signs pointing backwards is a bad bad thing. But no cars and a swift turnaround and we were on the way out of town (albeit with a gigantic and unplanned adrenaline rush).
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Day 2:
Solid 7 hour drive from Atlanta through the rest of Georgia, through Alabama, through Mississippi, and then over lots of elevated highways in Louisiana till we rolled into New Orleans around 6pm. God bless the one hour time difference between there and EST.
Had dinner at the Columns Hotel, enjoying the ambiance of the architecture, the stained glass on the central stairwell, and the rather nice room we did not originally book. The room we booked was both smaller and decidedly hotter because the AC was totally borked. Ymeri herself was hanging out on the bed, giggling, batting her eyelashes at me in the 90 degree heat bottled up in the room. Top floor, old building, summer, New Orleans: new room time. Next room quite nice, working AC, comfy. Sitting there now typing this up.
But back to dinner.
Shrimp gumbo, and shrimp and grits for me. Gumbo was acceptable, but clearly reheated. I suspect the shrimp were pre-cooked and later reheated because one tail was ice cold. But good flavor. The shrimp and grits was pretty good, nice creamy texture on the grits. The other dish ordered was a shrimp poboy which was ok but nothing special, and the bread was way too thick.
Then followed lots of diet soda on my part sitting outside, listening the drunken college students cheer at the streetcar every time it passed on the street, and my partner in crime enjoying a cigar. But I was exhausted from the drive and we turned in early, intending to try the hotel breakfast the next morning and then wander over to the French Quarter and find awesome things to eat.
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Day 3:
Hotel breakfast sounded promising. Coffee, fresh fruit, eggs whatever way, bacon, and toast or biscuit. Sounded is the key word here. The cream for the coffee was sour, the coffee was standard drip preground stuff which is blech, generally speaking. Eggs were ok. Fruit was ok. Bacon was overdone and not very good. My scrambled eggs were ok, Tanith's poached eggs had already broken before being served. The toast was ok. The biscuit was dry and you could taste the baking powder.
Not going to do the hotel breakfast again even though it's free.
Took the trolly into the French Quarter (after initially riding it in the wrong direction and getting a little bit of extra sightseeing out of that), and on a friend's recommendation (Loki, one of the Planewalker crew who lives in the city) had lunch at a place called Olivier's Restaurant. The Creole Rabbit was amazing. The Eggplant Olivier was likewise amazing. Absolutely would return there and order the same or anything else on the menu. Wonderful, wonderful food.
Hit Southern Candymakers next. Before I leave, I intend to buy like four pounds of jackson squares. Chocolate, rice crispies, peanut butter, chocolate, peanut butter, chocolate. Makes me hate being a diabetic, but soooooo good.
Next, because it's there and tradition, had coffee and beignets. The less said about this place the better. It has a long history, but the coffee is absolute swill and they burned one of the beignets and another was underdone and the leavening was off. Tourist trap and totally overrated.
Hit the Cigar Factory at 415 Decatur Street, hung out for Tanith to be picky about cigars, watched cigars being rolled, grabbed a diet coke and chilled while one was smoked. I've never smoked a thing in my life, but the ambiance was pretty awesome.
More wandering through the Quarter. Amazing how many places have moved or been shuttered since I was last there pre-Katrina. Beautiful city though nonetheless.
Hit one place 'Pepper Palace' which had a hot sauce you had to sign a waiver to try. I signed the waiver and tried some on a tortilla chip. Endorphin rush that was physically tangible. Closed my eyes and smiled. "You're having a much differed reaction than the last few folks." Just smiled and nodded as I got buzzed from the hot sauce. Shortly thereafter -still buzzed- my eyes were running and I was hiccuping involuntarily, but damn was it good. Didn't have more, not because I wouldn't have enjoyed it, but because I would have destroyed my palate for dinner that evening.
Avoided Bourbon Street like the tourist filled puke smelling overpriced booze dispensary that it too often is. But there are exceptions worth visiting, which we did on subsequent days.
We finally had dinner at a place called Sobou (South of Bourbon) on Chartres street. Awesome, awesome food. I had a wonderful vichyssoise soup and a short rib sandwhich (patterned after a banh-mi). Tanith had a trio of butternut squash beignets with a foie gras fondue, as well as a foie gras burger with a side of a foie gras rootbeer float. Apparently it was magical, but I don't care for liver of any variety. Not because it's cruel or anything (which it is not), but because I've worked with livers for six years and it looks like work to me, not food. But she says it was awesome, and from my few bites of the beignets, I'm heavily inclined to agree.
Then for unknown reasons I developed a migraine headache and so we called a cab to get back to the hotel rather than walk our of the Quarter and take the street car back. Sign on the inside of the cab: "There is a $100 dollar cleaning fee on top of your fair for peeing, pooping, or puking inside the cab." I asked the driver if that had ever happened. He chuckled. This is New Orleans, lots of tourists on Bourbon Street..." Puking I can see, but the others... O.o ewwwww.
But back at the hotel I slammed some Ibuprofen and promptly slept for 11 hours.
Sign on the inside of the cab: "There is a $100 dollar cleaning fee on top of your fair for peeing, pooping, or puking inside the cab." I asked the driver if that had ever happened. He chuckled. This is New Orleans, lots of tourists on Bourbon Street..." Puking I can see, but the others... O.o ewwwww.
I've seen people get drunk enough to wet themselves. The other thing might just be from eating the wrong thing at the wrong restaurant...I hope.
Sounds like you're having a blast. Enjoy.
I've got reservations to Louisiana Bistro and Commanders Palace over the next two days. I expect both to be great, and the first to be amazing (my friend is good friends with the chef, and had drinks with them both today at Molly's bar).
I've gotten to go to New Orleans a couple of times for work (though not recently) and I loved it- best food I've ever had. I really like the chicken and andouille gumbo at the Gumbo Shop. Coop's place (Decatur, I think) has excellent jambalaya. I recommend Mother's for breakfast or Po' boy sandwiches. Pretty much every place I went was amazing.
Last time I was there, I did a bayou tour and that was pretty fun (kept thinking of Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu."
I've always wanted to a tour of the Garden District there.
Probably the best all-around po'boy place in town. Their surf and turf is pretty awesome (shrimp and roast beef... though it's not the roast beef you're used to).
My dad is fond of the Acme Oyster House, but it's on Bourbon Street. He goes there every time he's in town (my parents go every couple years for a jazz/blues festival). It is a little touristy, but they don't slouch on their main attraction.
When I glanced at this thread title, my brain saw "I'm On Vacation. Let Me Share Your Goat."
I want to vacation in your brain.
Chief Technical Officer
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It has been many, many years since I've been to New Orleans, but I recommend you try the Cafe Brulot at Arnaud's. It's coffee, it's dessert, it's a show. (I don't even like coffee, but this stuff is amazing.)
Actually, I recommend just telling them you want one of each item on the dessert menu that gets set on fire at your table.
Oh man, I went to New Orleans for my birthday, and it was awesome.
YOU MUST GO TO COCHON.
Not that expensive, and made the compiled-from-all-the-individual-critics list of the 100 best restaurants in the country. Man, my mouth is watering just remembering.
The Marie Laveau house/shop is pretty cool, since it's sort of a combination museum/shop. The graveyards are also pretty cool.
When I glanced at this thread title, my brain saw "I'm On Vacation. Let Me Share Your Goat."
I think that's the title of the sequel to the Borat movie.
Oh man, I went to New Orleans for my birthday, and it was awesome.
YOU MUST GO TO COCHON.
It'll have a very high bar to meet given where I ate tonight (which I'll be describing in my next post or two).
But on your recommendation, we'll be hitting Cochon for lunch tomorrow. :)
Day 4:
Was going to make up at 9am to meet a friend for coffee at Cafe Luna (802 Nashville Ave), and well, we didn't wake up till 9:27am. Woke up, texted Loki that we'd be late, and eventually managed to drag ourselves over to the place around 10:30. Not bad coffee. Well balanced, not the best roast on the beans, and not particular iiiinteresting flavorwise but worth spending the time chilling in the place which is spread out over the bottom floor of a remodeled old house with a rather charming partial-wraparound front porch.
Afterwards it was getting to be around lunchtime so we went to a local grocer called Zaras. Tanith had an oyster po-boy and I had a half of a truly gigantic muffaletta. Really good stuff, quite yummy. Sat outside and talked for a while before then walking over to the Creole Creamery at 4924 Prytania.
The chef that owns and operates the place has done high-end food and quit to basically do ice cream. And holy hell does he do ice cream, with really wicked and awesome flavors (like Dill Cucumber ice cream for instance), each done in small batches. You can even watch him through a window making new batches. Really cool.
After that just sat around talking for a bit more and went over to the French Quarter again. At this point I promptly turned my ankle while walking. >:(
Pretty bad sprain, and I kept walking on it for far too long. Hit spitfire again, had an awesome iced pour-over though I don't recall which variety of coffee I chose (notice more coffee consumption? There's a trend here). Then walked around, Tanith ducked into voodoo authentica and Loki and I hit Molly's bar. Nice bar, enjoyed a frozen irish coffee.
While there I met Chef Mars of Louisiana Bistro, who Loki was friends with. Tanith caught up with us and much food chatting was done. Very cool guy, and we mentioned that we'd be at his restaurant the next evening, hoping to take his 'Feed Me' option which isn't on the menu. The option is basically to choose a number of courses between 3 and 5, and the chef prepares what he wants to prepare for you. More on this on the post for the next day.
Parted ways because Tanith and I had to hit dinner quickly before a 'Vampire' tour from 7-9pm (that was highly recommended by friends). Took a taxi over to Bayona (recommended by Loki and Mars as an option for good but potentially quick dining) over on Dauphine street only to discover that it was going to be closed the entire week. Walked a bit before hitting Kingfish for dinner.
Kingfish was initially promising, and we'd read the menu the day before and thought it looked nice. But while the menu was promising, the execution of the food was poor in almost every case. My bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos were good and the sauce on them was quite nice, but the other appetizer was poorly done, the breading on a panko fried deviled egg was too greasy and bland. A duck over ramen noodle dish was completely dry, and also completely missing the cracklings that were supposed to be a garnish on top. We asked to have them and found out why they presumably had been intentionally omitted with the hope that nobody would notice- they were burned to the point of being black and ashen. My stuffed flounder was a mixed bag. The stuffing was quite good with homemade chowchow on top, but the boneless fish was full of bones from improper prep, it was muddy, and largely tasteless otherwise. And then there was a herbsaint mixed drink that was almost entirely ice, a tiny bit of alcohol and some cream. Totally skimpy for being a $10 drink to the point of being ridiculous compared to similar absinthe and herbsaint drinks elsewhere in the Quarter. And the whole meal set us back a cool $156. Totally not worth that, and I would strongly dissuade anyone from going there unless they improve substantially.
My ankle was about to die at that point so we took a taxi back to the hotel, hung out and talked to some other folks till around 2am and then crashed.
Day 5 and some of the best food I've ever eaten in my life next post.
Day 5:
Woke up, went out for more coffee (yes that pattern again), initially at Velvet. Velvet is a tiny little place with room for perhaps three people to stand inside, but alas their roast dates on their coffee (Stumptown as the roaster which is pretty good) were past the point that we'd drink it, so back to Cafe Luna because it was within walking distance. Hit a few small places along the way as well for window shopping and browsing.
Hit Hansen's Snow-Blitz for snow cones (which I could only nibble being a diabetic sadly). A little place that has been around like 60 years, and for a reason. Very good and highly recommended.
Then we hit Dat Dog, a really nifty hotdog place that does all sorts of sausages from brats to keilbasa to duck sausage, alligator sausage, etc with all sorts of toppings. I had a hot bratwurst with saurkraut, chilli, and jalapenos. Nom. :D Also had some crawfish etouffee topped french fries.
Then wandered back to the hotel to chill for a bit before going into the French Quarter for dinner. Took the street car, wandered around and of course, I reaggrevated the ankle that I'd turned the previous day. Much cursing and limping later we arrived at Louisiana Bistro on Dauphine Street a little early and picked out a table with a view into the kitchen.
Louisiana Bistro is a tiny place, with perhaps twelve tables in total. We had some amazing food, among the best that I've ever eaten, and a floor show to boot. I'll let Tanith's review provide the details. So copy paste from Yelp next post.
"Dinner and a floor show too! Before I review the food, let me mention the diner's eye view I had of Chef Mars throwing out a large group of folks who were clearly quite outraged that their party of ten adults, a small army of poorly behaved children and two giant stroller carts could not be accommodated in a small, quiet fine dining space on a moment's notice. They certainly did try though. Their small children were being oh so helpful tugging and knocking over chairs at empty tables and at other diners' tables while the adults attempted to move their massive baby buggy bumpers inside to take up the rest of the space that their kids weren't already running through and despoiling.
Chef Mars was initially polite and just said, "I'm sorry folks, this just isn't going to work - we're too small of a space." He was nicer than I would have been had it been my table that this bunch was crowding into with their child army and their vehicles. Other diners could not move out of their chairs in the small space due to where they were trying to park their stuff. When the chef apologized for not being able to accommodate their large unruly party and vehicles with no reservations, they got rude and belligerent, and the entire unwashed bunch of them hung around the entrance yelling obscenities in Spanish until the staff told them to leave or the police would be called.
We were deeply grateful that they did not allow our experience to be ruined by this rowdy crew, who clearly needed to be dining at Denny's and not at a fine restaurant where the focus is, deservedly, on the excellent food.
It is worth noting that another family with well behaved young children was dining at the restaurant's only large table, and they caused no problems and had no problems since they were not ruining the experience for other guests. It's really not that you can't take kids here, you just can't use a small fine dining room as your kids' jungle gym and personal storage area to the point that other customers can't get up from their tables.
The food was superb, demonstrating a mastery of classic local flavors and techniques while retaining originality, creativity and flavor profiles I would best describe as fun and playful. The respect this chef demands for his space, his time, and for the other diners in his restaurant is well earned.
The crawfish beignets with fresh lemon beurre blanc and a hot-sweet pepper sauce were perfectly fried to be both crisp and tender, with flavors that danced across the tongue. Escolar was rubbed with deep, rich spices and served with a crisp salad of apple shreds, sweet pecans and toasted bacon. A perfectly grilled black pepper quail rested on a bed of collard greens and 'pot liquor' with a luscious jalapeno hollandaise. Frog legs were offered perfectly tender and steaming in a flavorful sauce of tomatoes, peppers and onions over a laginappe of fluffy white rice. The slow cooked bison short ribs were beautifully accompanied by sweet and white mashed potatoes and a piquant spicy sauce.
To finish off this amazing meal, the Creole cream cheese ice cream was covered with the best rendition of a balsamic dessert sauce I've ever tasted, a deep rich praline with absolutely beautiful acidity and complex sweetness. Absolutely nothing came out of a can or a jar. This is entirely fresh cooked, competently sourced food in very thoughtful flavor combinations.
I'm not from anywhere around here - alas - but Louisiana Bistro will be a stop for me any time I am traveling through New Orleans despite a plethora of other excellent restaurants. Service was knowledgeable, friendly and attentive, and the food was superb. I saw diners who behaved with respect for the chef and the premises being treated with respect, including the ones who, like myself, politely mentioned food allergies or sensitivities. I was very grateful that Chef Mars did not allow my fine dining experience to be ruined by allowing people in who were not respectful of the restaurant or of other diners.
The prices were also more than reasonable for the quality. Highly recommended, and enjoy the floor show if you happen to be in on a night that unreasonable, rude, entitled, annoying or drunk people show up. You can dine with confidence that those folks will not be allowed in to degrade the quality of your delicious food experience."
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With each course, Chef Mars came out and told us what everything was, and watching the kitchen I honestly think that he was personally doing almost everything back there rather than letting his sous chefs take some of the workload, letting him be a tyrannical perfectionist with each dish. And oh man was it awesome :D
The family that he booted after they made jerks of themselves in the restaurant proceeded to hang around at the entrance arguing and taking pictures before the threat of the police being called finally drove them off. Thank goodness.
After dinner, having eaten a full 5 course dinner plus nibbling on the desert, we took a bike-taxi through the quarter to get weight off my bum ankle and had then meander a bit before dropping us off at the Cigar Factory again so I could sit, elevate my leg and surf the internet on my phone as Tanith enjoyed a good cigar. Relaxing in the extreme.
Then afterwards I hobbled my way back to the streetcar stop and currently sitting at the hotel with a pitcher of diet coke at a table on the porch. One more full day left on my vacation. Tomorrow, Cochon for lunch and Commanders Palace for dinner.
When I glanced at this thread title, my brain saw "I'm On Vacation. Let Me Share Your Goat."
Sharing a whole cooked goat is a great experience.
With each course, Chef Mars came out and told us what everything was, and watching the kitchen I honestly think that he was personally doing almost everything back there rather than letting his sous chefs take some of the workload, letting him be a tyrannical perfectionist with each dish. And oh man was it awesome :D
The family that he booted after they made jerks of themselves in the restaurant proceeded to hang around at the entrance arguing and taking pictures before the threat of the police being called finally drove them off. Thank goodness.
After dinner, having eaten a full 5 course dinner plus nibbling on the desert, we took a bike-taxi through the quarter to get weight off my bum ankle and had then meander a bit before dropping us off at the Cigar Factory again so I could sit, elevate my leg and surf the internet on my phone as Tanith enjoyed a good cigar. Relaxing in the extreme.
Then afterwards I hobbled my way back to the streetcar stop and currently sitting at the hotel with a pitcher of diet coke at a table on the porch. One more full day left on my vacation. Tomorrow, Cochon for lunch and Commanders Palace for dinner.
I am starting a six course dinner in a few hours.
Day 6:
Lunch at Cochon didn't happen, because while their online reservation system allowed us to reserve a spot at noon for lunch, they never mentioned on the website or the reservation system that they would be closed for July 4th. Bah.
So we did lunch at SoBou a second time. Very good, except that being July 4th the B team was apparently in the kitchen. The bun on my sandwich was dry and stale, and there was a giant rosemary stem in the filling, but otherwise everything else I had was awesome.
Afterwards, still walking around on a bad ankle, we wandered around some more, doing random stuff till that evening.
Commander's Palace was our destination for dinner, so dressed up as formal as I'd been for a while and since we arrived there early and the kitchen wasn't ready yet, we wandered around one of the local cemeteries (so strange to see someone listed as dying of yellow fever on a grave marker, but given the period and the climate, was something they had to deal with then).
Started out with a trio of soups: turtle, vegetable, chicken and andouille gumbo. All of them good, but the turtle soup was too salty for Tanith's tastes. Also had a dish of stuffed shrimp drizzled in hot sauce over top of a melted pepper jelly, really good. Tanith tried something referred to as an Absinth Dome, which was a puff pastry filled with all sorts of yummy things including osyters. Unfortunately it also contained several jagged shards of oyster shell which she only found out when she bit down on them. Not cool. They profusely apologized, didn't make us pay for that, gave us some free wine, and I'm sure that some prep chefs got serious chewed out later on.
The highlight of the evening was a creole surf and turf dish of veal and crawfish, perfectly cooked, exceedingly tasty.
Finished off with some housemade cheesecake.
Overall very good food, but nothing particular special. Given the price I'm not sure that I'd go back. As I was told by a friend who was once a waiter there, the food is good, but it's more about the ambiance and the service than it is about solely focusing on the food. I'm inclined to agree.
The evening was spent with a pitcher of diet coke and planning doom for my players' PCs in that weekend's upcoming game (where they found out that they'd been fighting a cult of Urgathoa on behalf of a dragon).