The Food of NOLA

This special report is written with Emily

Day 1: Best. Meal. Ever.

Upon landing in New Orleans we immediately headed to Bourbon Street for an icy hurricane and a journey through the heart of the French Quarter.  We meandered through the streets and circled Jackson Square while consuming our frosty beverages.  It certainly is a strange feeling walking in a city street with an alcoholic beverage in hand.  After our brief foray into the heart of NOLA, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for a dinner at Restaurant August, Chef John Besh’s flagship restaurant.  The restaurant came highly recommended from several reliable sources.  We entered with high expectations and left as devout John Besh enthusiasts.  This was to be Elliot’s birthday dinner and so we arrived early to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail.  As luck would have it, the first table available for our seating happened to be the BEST table in the house–a comfortably large for two corner table with the seats wide open to the interior of the elegant, mahogany-walled dining room.

Our waiter was particularly informative and the restaurant was uniquely flexible in allowing patrons to “design” their own meal.  Each item listed on any of the day’s menus (a la carte and two tasting menus) could be ordered in any way we desired.  The amuse-bouche tipped our hand to the fact that this dining experience would be phenomenal.  A tasty concoction served in a quail egg shell topped with some fine caviar paved the way for our first course: an heirloom beet salad complemented with smoked bacon, jumbo lump crab and a blend of mustards served on top of a blend of lettuces.  Next we each ordered an appetizer.  Emily enjoyed a delectable gnocchi served with crab meat and topped with an amazing truffle oil sauce.  Elliot ordered the oysters three ways: sauteed with pepper, baked with a delicious horseradish sauce, and deep fried southern style in a tangy batter.  What a start!

For the entrees, Emily ordered the filet mignon while Elliot ordered the day’s special veal served over a creamy spinach.  Through and through this was an exceptional culinary experience.  From the atmosphere to the service to the food itself, everything was simply stellar.  We left the meal determined to sample several of John Besh’s other well-regarded New Orleans restaurants.

Day 2: Brunch at Brennan’s and More Besh

We woke up still slightly full from dinner the night before, but ready for our breakfast (more like brunch, but in NOLA no one’s counting) at Brennan’s.  The baked apple appetizer and the french onion soup each delighted and were unique takes on traditional favorites.  Elliot enjoyed his jumbo lump crab omelet (yep a lot of jumbo lump crab down in NOLA) and Emily devoured her egg’s Portuguese–a NOLA twist on Egg’s Benedict.  Most importantly, the banana’s foster dessert wowed with its fire-y production and candied and sugary blend of flavors.

For dinner we visited our second of three John Besh restaurants–Luke.  This is a more casual, although no less tasty experience than Restaurant August.  We both ordered the day’s special slow-cooked brisket in a horseradish ravigote sauce and bouillon potatoes.  This was yet another satiating and delicious meal that induces hunger just thinking about it.

Days 3-5: The Jazz Fest Days

We started the first two Jazz Fest days with pre-festival trips to Mother’s for some amazing po’ boys.  Between the two of us, we conquered the Ferdi, the turkey ferdi, the fried shrimp and the John G, all the while drinking some of the tastiest Bloody Mary’s.  I will let the fact that we dined at Mother’s two days in a row speak for itself.

The food at the festival itself was outstanding.  We sampled the crab meat po’ boy, the craw fish po’ boy, the fried chicken, crawfish monica, fried plantains, jerk chicken and jambalaya.  It is truly incredible that even in the midst of torrential downpour the vendors pulled together such flavorful and delightful meals.  Each day many Jazz Fest attendees left the music festival talking about the food.  Not to sell the music short or anything (because it was incredible and that review will come next), but the food really captured the attention of us festival goers.

At night we enjoyed Bourbon House and Tony Moran’s on Bourbon Street, as well as Emiril’s NOLA and Besh Steak (our third Besh experience).  After the long, food-filled days of Jazz Fest, we weren’t quite as hungry as our earlier meals in the city; however, each restaurant had unique highlights: the bbq shrimp at Bourbon House, the chicken parm at Tony Moran’s, the short rib and friend chicken at Emiril’s, and again a Besh filet at Besh Steak.  I can comfortably say that at no moment in Jazz Fest did i feel “hungry.”  Eating in the city was an activity unto itself.

Out and About at Pat O’s: Our brush with fame

During one night out at Pat O’s on Bourbon Street, we were sipping one of their famous hurricanes when a group of guys and a bachelorette party both started shrieking as if they were seeing the Beatles step onto the stage at Shea Stadium for the first time.  We are talking high-pitched, loud and uncontrollable shrieks.  They run up to some guy who Elliot at first guessed was Seth Rogen.  He was close.  It was Rogen cohort, Jason Segel.  Segel was out on Bourbon Street with his hot non-actress/model girlfriend made even hotter by her non-actress/model status.  We both agreed that her “normalcy” made her even hotter.  While the screaming boys and girls clamored for pictures with Segel, his girlfriend was brushed aside and landed right next to our table.  Elliot quickly struck up a conversation and gathered all the important information: Segel is in town filming a new movie with Ed Helms (of the Daily Show and the Office fame) entitled Jeff Who Lives at Home.  She was friendly and talkative and handled well the chaos surrounding her famous beau.

With all that being said, we both now must satiate our hunger with some delicious New York bagels.  Look for the music review in the next couple of days.

Who Dat!

Yep that’s right, it’s me and I’m back from New Orleans.  What a great time it was.  Every detail on this trip, both large and small, played out to perfection–the music was stellar, the food outstanding, and the city was vibrant.  Thanks to my beautiful fiance Emily for orchestrating such a phenomenal vacation!  Since each aspect of the trip had distinct features to it, I figured it would be best to review everything in two parts: first, I will run through my New Orleans post-Katrina observations, and next I will delve into the music and culinary review (when I get to it, you’ll see why I linked the tunes and the eats).  My first trip to NOLA came as a young and naive college freshman in search of the Mardi Gras experience (and what an experience it was) during which time  I quickly fell in love with the city’s food, music, and architecture.  There is truly a unique and American feel to this city that boasts an amazing blend of cultures.  These cultures gels into their own personality at the mouth of the river that so personifies American Grandeur and the pioneer spirit of the New World.

Because of my fascination with the city, I tracked Katrina with great concern  and mourned the losses suffered–human, spiritual and physical–in the storm’s wake.  I really had no clue what to expect on my first visit since that disastrous time.  Sure enough, I was thoroughly impressed.  Before I delve farther into the specifics, I need to make clear one caveat: I did not actively seek out touring through the particularly hard hit areas, but I did pursue conversations with a diverse array of locals. I am not naive, but I went to New Orleans in search of highlights and signs of strength with an open mind and an awareness to some of the complexities and inequities in the rebuilding effort.

A prominent theme throughout the city was a common purpose amongst the locals.  It was amazing to experience the New Orleanean’s sincere love of their home and hunger to rebound, rebuild and thrive together.   I got this sense that New Orleans was like a New York City at the turn of the 20th century or Chicago following the Great Fire, or the spirit of the “Greatest Generation” following World War II.   Everyone in the city openly appeared determined to chip in and play their part in not only rebuilding the city, but developing and spreading its cultural influence.  In some respects, I think that Katrina and the post-Katrina diaspora of New Orleaneans stranded throughout the country helped build up a buzz about the city’s unique and personal strengths.  Many tourists were making first-time visits and the city center was full of an abundance of travelers from from Europe and throughout the U.S.A, and as far away as Australia and while the city always attracted tourists, it was even more prominent than expected.

(A brief digression: this sense of oneness, hometown pride and unity in purpose is something missing from the big picture United States today.  While there are fragmented ideas and  people from divergent backgrounds, everyone understands that there is a common goal to unite behind in New Orleans.  Nationally, on the other hand, there is a huge void in the political and economic culture of the U.S.  What does our country value?  What is our economic competitive advantage?  How do we, as Americans want others to see us?  Historically, this country was amazing at bringing together a diverse array of cultures all with the goal of living the American Dream.  New Orleans seemingly does this well right now, America does not.  These are some philosophical ideas that I would like to explore at more length moving forward.)

This is the real world, and as such, not everything is perfect.  I did observe some cynicism from the people I encountered.  One common theme, sometimes subtle and several times overt during my trip, was that the city and its people recognized the need for tourism in the effort to rebuild.  On our cab ride from the airport to our hotel, our taxi driver urged us to “spend as much money as we can in New Orleans, because the city really needs it.”  The uptown area was beyond the early recovery stages and seemed to be thriving, while the lower, poorer parts of the city looked the part.  A sense of injustice continues to pervade the handling of issues leading up to and following the Katrina disaster and the tagline “heck of a job Brownie” lives on in the music and vernacular of the city.

I get the sense that New Orleans has to a large extent completed the initial bounce-back from the storm and is now in the process of building upward.  The city’s football team, the Saints, perfectly embody this trend.  Once known as the Aints, they are now the  joy of this incredibly prideful city.  Americans all over now sport the black and gold of what has now become America’s team (I held off on mentioning the Saints because I think they are an effect rather than a cause in the city’s rejuvenation and I don’t want the two to be confused).  The city understands that its culture is a main attraction–both spiritually and economically–and it is rallying around that fact in redesigning itself to maximize the benefits from that identity on a national level.  This upward growth will go a long way towards creating a sustainable and safe future for this wonder of a city.  Check back later today or tomorrow for the music and culinary review of Jazz Fest 2010 as well as some NOLA pictures.

Down South in New Orleans

Tomorrow morning, Emily and I fly down to New Orleans for this year’s Jazz Fest.  This is an event that I have been itching to attend for years now.  As a college student in Atlanta, I spent several weekends and breaks over in the city and it quickly became one of my favorite places to visit in the country; however, Jazz Fest always coincided with the end of the semester and finals.  Despite the festival always falling on my birthday, finals were the one time I could not manage to sneak away from school for a weekend of fun.  This is my first time returning post-Katrina and I anticipate some disappointing changes; however, I still expect to experience a vibrant and rejuvenated French Quarter still glowing in the aftermath of the hometown Saints’ Super Bowl triumph.  New Orleans is a truly American city with its blend of French, Spanish, English, African, Cajun and Creole cultures.  This cultural “melting pot” resulted in one of the finest and most uniquely American cuisines, as well as the invention of the inspiration for this particular festival–jazz. I look forward to thoroughly enjoying both.

As this is Jazz Fest, I am most excited for the music.   This weekend I will surely enjoy Levon Helm’s return to singing, My Morning Jacket, the Allman Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and of course, a whole slew of New Orleans favorites including the Funky Meters and Galactic.  Unfortunately the schedule gods refused to cooperate with my intentions in putting My Morning Jacket’s slot opposite Simon and Garfunkel’s as the Saturday evening headliners demanding that I either split myself in two or allocate some sort of division of time between their respective stages.  We shall see how that plays out in real time.  Although I am most excited for the jazz, I also cannot wait for the food.  We already carved out an extensive culinary tour of the city taking us from some local funky favorites like Camellia Grill and Mothers’, to some  fine dining like Restaurant August (it’s my birthday so I do have to indulge!).

While on vacation posting will be sparse and I will definitely fall behind on the news-flow, but I will try my best to give some quick reviews of favorite places, people, food and music experienced throughout the week.  Following my return, come back over to check out my observations and feelings with regard to the city’s post-Katrina resurgence (and/or continued difficulties), as well as my reviews of the music, food and good times.

See you on Bourbon Street!