Eating in NOLA:

** This is be the last post that makes use of my trusty iPhone camera.  It didn't always take the best pictures or the clearest pictures, but I like to think it really gave this blog the gritty, tough, hardcore persona you have all come to love.  That being said moving forward all pictures on this blog will actually look like food.

We went to One Restaurant yesterday.  Kerry had been a few times before but it was my first time.  I wasn't disappointed.


It's nice having a few nice places in the River Bend neighborhood.  One is a pretty good lunch spot.  Prices are fairly reasonable and not at the expense of quality or portions.

Kerry started with the char-grilled oysters with Roquefort and red wine vinaigrette.  I'm not really into oysters (gasp) but I am into Roquefort and they were great.


I had the tomatoes three ways to start.  The three ways were marinated, raw and stewed.  All were good.  The marinate was a balsamic one which was pretty good.  I think my favorite was the raw though.  Cant beat a little salt and pepper on some raw tomatoes.


Kerry had the BBQ shrimp and grits.  Again, it was just really well prepared.  The BBQ had what tasted like a ginger soy base which was surprising but worked really well with the grits.


And I had the pulled pork sandwich because I love pulled pork.  It wasn't bad.  It wasn't quite what I expected.  I was expecting bbq even though there was nothing on the menu that indicated that would be the case.  Also it came on forcaccia which I think might have been a little better had it been grilled up.  All of that aside the pork was really tasty and it came with a mound of shoestring fries which is always going to win me over.  No joke, if me and you got into a shoestring french fry eating contest I'd probably eat a million and chances are you would eat like 3 or 4.


We got dessert too and we got it to go.  Deserts to go always look terrible but look at this.  This is how it looked when I opened it after just kind tossing it around in my car and throwing it on the table.  Not too shabby.  It was a flourless chocolate cake and thats what it tasted like.  It was good and a good way to finish off a solid lunch.

We tried out Besh's newest offering, The American Sector a few nights ago.  Now I'm a pretty big fan of Luke so this place had a little bit of living up to do.

Now, we showed up on a Thursday night and I assume the majority of their business must be done around lunch and during the hours the WWII Museum is open.  But we were one one of only three tables in what is a pretty large space.  In all fairness it could be because everyone in their right mind has spent the last 4 days hiding from the cold indoors but either way its always a little weird having a full staff waiting on you in an empty restaurant.That being said the service was very good and you got the feeling that even if the place had been a little more hopping we sill would have gotten good service.

The food was pretty excellent as well.  The menu was what I would call upscale Americana with things like Spicy garlic glazed fried chicken with watermelon pickles and Daube of beef with roasted root vegetables and egg noodles.


Kerry had the Chicken and Dumplings which came in its own cast iron dish.  Everything was really fresh and well seasoned and filling.


I had the Short rib “Sloppy Joe” on an onion Kaiser roll.  It was a little messy but also really good.  And it came with fried onions on it which is was fine with me... I would be fine eating fried onions out of the French's can as long as no one was looking.




These were the sides.  French fried potatoes, homemade kettle chips, and jalapeno cheese grits. All really good.  The fries are similar (if not the same) as the ones you get a Luke and the grits were as tasty as I was hoping they would be.




Dessert really capped off a great meal.  We ordered the Cane-sugar and bacon iced cupcake.  Above is what we got - the advertised cupcake, another pumpkin cupcake which we were told was the seasonal selection, and a mound of vanilla ice cream.  It was all pretty amazing.

So The American Sector was a pretty big success.  There are a few other things on the menu I wouldn't mind having an opinion on so there might be a good reason to go back soon.

I had a friend drive through on her way back to Mobile from Louis Armstrong. She wanted brunch so we took her to Elizabeth's on Gallier over in the Marigny. We had to drive further than expected but I'd say it was worth it.



We got there at 11 on Sunday so they sent us to an upstairs bar to wait. Other was pretty lively and we had a Mimosa.



We sat and had we all split a plate of the praline bacon. Here was my piece. The bacon alone was worth the drive.


Kerry had the Red Neck Eggs. Fried Green Tomatoes and poached eggs with grits. It looked pretty good. I'm not a big poached eggs guy but she seemed to like it.



I had the Carolina Shrimp and Grits. They were pretty good too and came with a big biscuit. And I just remembered that I have the left overs in my fridge so I'm going to go eat them. Good reasonably priced brunch stop though.

jpv
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Post From My iPhone

Well it has been while since we posted. We have been busy. Mainly with school but also with French Quarter Fest like everyone else. So why not a festival food post? Evey one loves New Orleans festival food and we are no exception. We got a few pretty good things too.

We chose Love at First Bite on Friday when we went to see Soul Rebels on the waterfront. This is what the people that worked there looked like.


And this is what the food looked like. Crawfish Pasta for KM and I had a Cochon de Lait po-boy for me. Maybe the best po-boy I've ever had. There was so much pig in it I almost felt guilty.


Saturday we met up with some fellow MBA's and drank a few drinks and listened to a little music, but also ate some shrimp. Like this shrimp with cheddar and bacon grits from Saltwater Grill.

AND... these "shrimp" skewers from Bubba Gump's. I like that in New Orleans Shrimp Skewers come with Andoullie.

So... sorry for a delayed post but it should be a good warm up for Jazz Fest posts. I'll probably live blog via my phone so that should be really really exciting for everyone. Tell your friends and see you there. And more posts soon I promise.

Before I start this post let me address one thing. So, almost as a rule, some of the posts that we have that should be the most interesting (ie the ones at nicer restaurants) come up a little short by our high Eating in NOLA standards. The reason is that the pictures never quite come out how we would like. Some might blame iPhone camera quality and lack of a flash. I like to blame mood lighting. Either way if anyone would like to buy us a nice expensive camera I'm sure we can get our readership up from 8 readers to a readership like the guys over at Blackened Out and Appetites.

Well, Friday night after filling up on crawfish we decided to keep up the seafood theme at Cafe Atchafalaya on Louisiana in the Lower Garden District.

Kerry had been there with some of her sorority for the debut of the restaurant under new management back in November. She thought it was a good place to take Jordan for a meal where you didn't have to use your hands. She was right.

Both Kerry and Jordan started with the Caesar Salad. The romaine lettuce was so big you had to cut it with a knife, and it came with some parmesan and crostini on top.

I had a beer, cheese, and potato soup. I will eat a potato soup any chance I get. This one was particularly good. This picture makes it look like it was an alien space ship full of soup but it was just a bowl's worth.


For our main courses Kerry went with the Shrimp and Grits. It has a little more of a broth to it than some shimp and grits meals I've seen in the past. It was good though and I know because I had a bite of it. There was some sausage in there too I believe. By the way, we started eating before we remembered to take pictures... so, sorry about that, but we were ready to get started.


I had the Red Fish with Lump Crab over top and served with spinach and green onion rice (I think thats right but when I type it, it sounds kinda weird). It was more food than I expected and I didn't quite finish it, which is something I can rarely say. It was good though.


Jordan had two appetizers, the crab cake and the fried oysters. I assume they were good, though I don't really know because I didn't ask. I guess I'm a bad host. Oh actually, I know both of the sauces that they came with were good 'cause I dipped my bread into them. I guess I'm a host with bad table manners.


We headed to Monkey Hill afterward for some drinks. That's not really relevant but it is a great bar and a good next stop after a great meal.