Monday, November 30, 2009

Between the Bread

There are very few things I miss about living in D.C. But one thing that I miss is having about 10 good delis within 4 blocks of work.

Now New Orleans has some great placed to get a sandwich. You have Cochon, St. James, Stein's, and the list goes on. But I haven't known of a ton of places to get a good club sandwich. Oh but did I find one.

Between the Bread is pretty great and it has a decent sized selection of sandwiches. Look how much thought this guy was putting into his choice.

Like I said I got the club. It was a classic triple decker with three meats and two cheeses and I looked like an idiot trying to take a bite out of it but I looked like a satisfied idiot.


And it was a pretty cool little cafe. I went in expecting to get it to go, but instead I sat up on the balcony on a couch and read New Orleans society magazines while I chowed down on this mammoth sandwich. I don't spend a lot of time in the working man's section of the CBD but I assume one day I will have to. Its good to know I won't have to go hungry.
Sunday, November 29, 2009

Two Thanksgivings

I really believe that if you only have one Thanksgiving dinner you aren't taking advantage of the season. I was lucky enough to sneak in two last week. One in New Orleans with my MBA classmates and friends and one up in Atlanta with my parents and grandmother.

Obviously, they were two very different different kinds of meals but I like to think that both captured the true spirit of Thanksgiving.


NOLA Thanksgiving 2009 included 30 dishes from 30 participants and a 30 pound turkey. Also about 30 bottles of wine and a handle of Crown Royal. I don't need to tell you that those things all add up to 121 units of good times.


Seriously look at this plate. That's Chicken Parmesan on there next to the stuffing, cheese mashed potatoes and turkey. "Why?" you ask?

You ask too many questions.


The Villegas' had a more traditional spread. Look there is my mom and grandmother! We went a little more gourmet than usual this year. Check out the menu below.

Appetizers

Hot Tomato, Jack and Crab Dip

with Toast Points

Salad

Pear Salad with Rasberry Cream

Entrees

Herbed Roasted Turkey Breast

Brown Butter Mash Potatoes

Roasted Broccolini with Crushed Red Pepper and Bacon

Orange, Gingered, Glazed Carrots

Cornbread, Wild Mushroom, and Pecan Stuffing

Old Fashioned Apple Cranberry Sauce

Desserts

Spiced Pumpkin and Apple Pie

with Whipped Cream

And that's what it looked like on the plate. It was delicious and well executed by two talented chefs if I do say so myself.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

St. James Cheese and Wine Pairing


Just for full disclosure before I write this post...

I have an issue with St. James. Don't get me wrong. They have great cheeses and great sandwiches and I even like the over priced knick-knacks that litter the place.

But one time I gave them a $20 and they gave me change for a $5 and when I went back to let them know they looked at me like I was trying to steal from them and didn't make amends.

After that I was pretty committed to never going back but their cheese and wine pairing last week peaked Kerry's interest enough that I made an exception.

Now we don't go to a lot of pairings, actually we don't ever go to pairings. But I think we appreciate good wine and good cheese as long as it doesn't taste like feet.

This event was a little of a disappointment though. It had all the right ingredients to be good with three pretty good wines and 6 cheeses and an expert in each field, but there was just a lot left to be desired. The cheeses were plated out of order that caused a lot of confusion for everyone and the explanations were a lot more preachy and uptight then I like (though let it be known I'm a super laid back dude).

I'll be honest these are probably all things I could forgive if the place hadn't stolen 15 bucks from me.

Seriously though, I think this was their first pairing in some time and maybe they are just working out the kinks. If that's the case It might be worth checking out in the future... it just wasn't there yet.

Oh and one of the cheeses did taste like feet.
Monday, November 23, 2009

Po Boy Fest

There aren't enough festivals in Uptown. I know it. You know it.


But what we lack in numbers we make up in Po Boys. There is no better festival to have to have down the street than one dedicated to the classic New Orleans sandwich. Who doesn't love sandwiches? I know I do. No joke I have a DVD called "Sandwiches that you will Like." And I like them all.

So here are some other sandwiches I like:


Stuffed Louisiana Crab with Creole Tomato Dressing from BOZO's Restaurant. Now I've never been to BOZO's but this wasn't a bad place to start. Now, it doesn't look like much and I don't know what it was stuffed with it but there was a good amount of tasty in there.



Kerry started with this Shrimp Caminada po boy from Grand Isle. It was getting pretty rave reviews next to the booth. It wasn't quite what we expected but it was great... and messy.


Redfish Grill offered a nice little half and half deal with half a Cochon de Lait and half a BBQ Oyster. Both were pretty good but I'll be honest you throw some coleslaw on some pork and you have me pretty much won over.


Alright this was the winner of the day for us I think. Emeril's Bacon Lettuce and Fried Green Tomato with Shrimp Remoulade was pretty incredable. It was the one po boy I was looking forward to for a few days before PBPF and it was worth looking forward to.


Last stop was Boucherie. Kerry got the BBQ shrimp with french fries (second only to Delachaise's) and a smile. Pretty good but the shrimp were a little less BBQ and a little more... something other than BBQ but still good.


And I got two servings for the 12 hour Roast Beef because I had been craving it since they ran out at the Magazine Street Blues Festival a few weeks back. And it was good. Actually maybe better than Emeril's BLFGT but I did have to wait something like 25 minutes for it... and I'm a busy guy.

So there you go. Po Boy Fest is 7 Po Boys. It was a good time. We had some good Po Boys, Met these Guys and this dude (all delightful) in person for the first time and then watched the Saints march at Squeal. 364 days till next year.

Well actually probably more... or maybe less. I'm not sure its been scheduled yet. So I'm sure going to say 250 days till the next one and hope for the best.
Monday, November 16, 2009

The Boot, The Dough Bowl, Sliders, 9-0


Oh man.

Look, it's a rarity that you find me at The Boot over by Tulane's campus. BUT it was a pretty good place to watch a little football on Sunday. $4 pictures, plenty of seating, TV's (even some standard def ones!), oh yeah and a window to cheap bar food paradise.

The best thing that the Boot has going for it is its connection with the Dough Bowl. Until recently I had only partaken in their slices of pizza. Its good pizza, if you don't believe me give it a try... plus anything is better when its ordered and served from a window in a shack.

But obviously this isn't a pizza post. It's a sliders post and I'll be honest I'm ashamed its the first. I love sliders, all sorts, hell - I've even eaten a few Burger King Burger Shots in my time.

But Dough Bowl ain't no Burger King. These suckers cost me $5 - well $6.10 with cheese - but the cheese was blue and the rolls were pretzel bread and the beef was beef (to the best of my knowledge). Oh yeah and they came with fries. And ketchup packets.

Either way, they were a great accompaniment to cheep beer and undefeated football. I'll be there next Sunday for sure. You should come too. We can party it up.
Friday, November 13, 2009

Jackson

So we went to Jackson last night which re-opened three weeks ago. I've only been here since July 2008 so I never got a chance to visit its original incarnation before it closed. From what I hear there wasn't much of a reason to make the trek down to the one-way section of Magazine for the old Jackson.

I want to start this post saying one thing. The food was very good. I'll get into specifics about the food in a second but I want to make it clear that it was good. That doesn't mean the restaurant wasn't without its issues.


You are looking at issue one. The menu lacked a coherent theme. There was some Latin Fusion, some French, some Cajun and some good old American. The decor of the restaurant had a very similar problem. Again really nice and really comfortable but kind of a mixed bag.


Problem two was this. We got a pretty good bottle of Malbec. And we were happy with it but it was not corked in front of us and we didn't get a chance to taste it before the glasses were filled. Again it's a small thing but its probably the type of thing that bothers people more refined than me.

So we started with this Diablo Dip. Actually some pretty good stuff. Pretty much a glorified 7 layer dip but really good still. Even better were the chips that it came with warm and fresh. Oh and good the next day too... left overs are going to be a reoccurring theme in this post.


So Kerry had this. Not the best picture but probably the best thing we ordered. It's the Gnudi or Spinach ricotta dumplings with fresh sage & brown butter sauce. So good. She had leftovers. No way I would have had leftovers.


This is what I ordered. The Blackened Seared Tuna. It came with a Strawberry Jalapeno butter that I was a little worried about but I was wrong to be worried. It was a good. It was also a lot of tuna and made for a good lunch today. I picked the truffle french fries and grilled veggies to go with it. A good selection I think.


So this was dessert. The stuffed cookies. Two with hazelnut and two with chocolate ganache. Again. They were great. Probably worth going back for.

Alright so like I said everything was great if not a little disjointed. The last concern is that we were the only people in the restaurant. Not a great sign for a resturant that I think really does show some good promise. They make good food. If they can get their i's dotted and t's crossed it could do really well. If they are around long enough to fix a few things it could be a really good addition to the area.
Monday, November 9, 2009

Buenos Aires

Alright so I think a mistake was made when we did a bunch of posts from France. So this is how this is going to go. One post, 15 pictures and short captions. I figure there is one or two of you who have been to Buenos Aires or will go sometime in the future. But I dont want to waste everyone else's time. So here it is, quick and dirty and then we wont ever discuss it again...

Here is Banchero... Pizza Place in near the hotel we stayed in the the middle of the city. It was good and you knew it would be because it was in a book. A tourism book.

Here is the pizza. Hey look unexpected green olives. So that's weird. And it came with a spoon to serve it. Alright!

After a day of walking around we came across Florida Garden (In the book!), a bar/cafe which is a common set up in Buenos Aires.

Alright here was a drink from Florida Garden. Its a Bailey's on the rocks. Why Bailey's? Because getting drinks you can get at home at South American import prices is the bomb.



So here is a place called Cumana. You can tell from the outside that the light is going to be too low for good pictures of the food right? Right!

Nonetheless, look Kerry got a tamale and an empanada. The empanadas were 3 pesos. That's like $0.80. So the devaluation of money isn't all bad.


And I had this. It was called something but I forget and I can't find it on Google. It was a casserole with pumpkin, corn, cheese and honey. It was pretty amazing. It was almost like dessert.

And and we could draw on the table cloths (always classy). I drew this. And then two hours later they did Go... and beat the Falcons.

Okay, here was an Italian place we ate at. It was called something I can't find on Google. It was great though. Homeafes pastas and baked cheeses are something I don't eat enough of.

Alright the next pictures are from a pretty good dinner at a Steakhouse in San Telmo... so real quick...


Skirt Steak


Beif de Chorizo (cut from the back of the cow).

Rib Eye


Loaded baked potato.

Rosemary Potatoes
Oh man and bread pudding. It was all pretty great.


Okay last one. Club Zarate in La Boca. La Boca is a pretty cool little 'hood. We stopped at this place for a snack.

Empanadas, Coffee, Pepsi, and a cookie. It was so good Kerry's head popped off.

Alright thats it. No more Argentina. Obviously I was too lazy took up the details about a lot of the places and there were places that were just too darn dark to take pictures. So if you have an impending trip and want any suggestions from someone with a fairly limited experience let me know. What we did do was eat in most of the neighborhoods so I have some tiny idea about a few different places.

Oh and I'm not going to proofread. HA!
Sunday, November 1, 2009

Bacco Lunch



What better place to eat a New Orleans lunch before leaving for Buenos Aires than Bacco? What's ironic is that I'm writing this post sitting in the Miami airport where apparently every possible place to get food closes at 9 on Sundays. But back to Bacco.



Hey look at that salad up there! It was mine and It was the market salad and the market salad was greens with a warm bacon vinaigrette, seasonal tomatoes, Gorgonzola, and candied pecans. Best bacon vinaigrette I've eva had.



This one was Kerry's. That's goat cheese on there and pine nuts over greens tossed in sun dried tomato vinaigrette.



Alright I'm on my iPhone so I'm just gonna move it along. Up there? Oh that's my pasta with garlic, garden vegetables, and herbs. I might have made the herbs up... I mean I'm sure there are some in there.



And that's Kerry's lobster and gulf shrimp ravioli with caviar. It was real good too.

OK. Next post will be from Argentina... After a 10 hour flight.


- Post From My iPhone