[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

After a few days of doing the gourmet thing, we decided to have BBQ for dinner tonight, and headed to The Joint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

brisket and sausage with baked beans and coleslaw

 

 

pulled pork with the same sides as above 

 

the meat was moist, the sauces not sweet, the slaw interesting, and the beans well-made

 

the downside being not enough smoke flavor 

 

was better than average...but not a return destination 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

We’re resting for a couple of hours before dinner.

 

Stay tuned....

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Not a bad haul for $73

 

 

I needed this volume to complete the hardcover portion of my FOTW collection 

 

 

 

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Then we went to a used cookbook store 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the 1936 edition of TJOC sells for $200

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

After a jazz history tour, we were famished and ended up at Felix’s instead of Acme because we didn’t want to wait.

 

Bzzt....wrong answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these were the best thing - giant oysters that were fresh-tasting and sweet, served with lemon, cocktail sauce and horseradish 

 

 

these were subpar and probably were sitting out too long

 

 

just average 

 

 

red beans and rice needed oomph (and no andouille sausage)

 

oh well...

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

 

@gfweb - unfortunately we will have to file August and Cochon under “next time”. 

 

rather a pity too since these menus appeal

 

 

on the way back home, B and I discovered 

 

 

located on the first floor of the Roosevelt hotel which will also have to be for the future 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

We went to Compere Lapin tonight.

 

 

 

left - tequila, aperol, passion fruit, lime

right - rose wine, hibiscus, elderflower, honeysuckle vodka

 

 

 

 

 

 

chive-bacon biscuits with chive butter and maple butter

 

 

conch croquettes, pickled pineapple tartar sauce

 

 

smoked tuna tartare, avocado, crispy bananas

 

 

hamachi, guava curry, papaya 

 

nice balance of sweet and heat, with a lingering “bite” that slowly builds in intensity 

 

 

roasted half chicken with rice and peas

 

 

curried goat, sweet potato gnocchi, cashews 

 

a combination that worked and also had no bones which attests to the kitchen’s attention to detail.

 

 

roasted banana zeppole, hazelnut, caramel sauce 

 

 

spiced chocolate mousse, lemongrass, cashews 

 

there was chocolate “soil” underneath the ice cream and faint notes of chile in the mousse, sort of like a mole

 

with a 20% tip, total for two came out to $190. plus the service was better and more attentive than our experience at Bayona.

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Thanks folks

 

After lunch, we took a tour of the Garden District that was bookended by food.

 

First we went to

 

 

where I bought

 

 

and incidentally, the other books on offer were:

 

 

and

 

 

Then we ogled a bunch of houses, like these:

 

 

 

(this and the one immediately below this sentence were once owned by Anne Rice)

 

 

 

 

 

this was the house where the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was shot

 

then, we finished in front of Commander’s Palace

 

 

and took a street car back to the French Quarter where I saw

 

 

which is very likely NOT the same as the classic place

 

We’re resting for a few hours before dinner. More later...

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Those oysters were perfectly breaded and fried, and oh so plump. 

 

Awesome.

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

 

Thanks for the tip re Mother’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

left - green beans and tomato 

 

right - turnip greens and sausage 

 

the beans were garlicky and savory and much better than the greens

 

 

oyster po’boy with unsweetened iced tea made for a satisfying lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

B and I are headed to a cemetery tour today but our first stop is a platter of beignets at Cafe du Monde.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were slightly heavy and faintly sweet.

 

Perfect.

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Thanks for the tips  

 

Some more pix

 

 

notable for the sticker shock

 

ps. I like to take pictures of restaurant menus so expect to see a lot in addition to the usual food shots 

 

 

nice oyster bar name

 

 

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Thanks @Smithy and @gfweb.

 

The pistachio ice cream tasted mostly of almond extract until I mixed in some pistachio crumble that was sitting next to it.

 

Here’s a pic of the dessert menu if you’d like:

 

 

The special ice cream flavor was “birthday cake” - vanilla cake batter mixed into vanilla ice cream and garnished with sprinkles...didn’t sound appealing at all.

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Their desserts:

 

 

guava, coconut and pineapple sorbet 

 

 

lemon olive oil cake with roasted strawberries and pistachio ice cream 

 

There was a service snafu where they served my tea without any sweetener, but otherwise was perfect.

 

With a 20% tip, bill came out to $192 for two.

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Bayona was outstanding and if I have a regret, it’s that I hadn’t traveled to NOLA sooner.

 

 

Stormy Morning cocktail - creme de violette, lime juice, St. Germain, champagne 

 

 

Driving Glove cocktail - tres agaves reposado, pamplemousse rose, fluer de Sommer, lime juice 

 

 

Sweet potato brioche, cane juice butter 

 

 

Veal sweetbreads, lemon, capers

 

 

Seared scallops, plantain chips, pickled slaw, guasacaca

 

 

Redfish, corn, okra, jalapeño-basil vinaigrette 

 

 

Pork chop, Savoy cabbage, apple relish, spaetzle, mustard jus

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Thanks for the tips @kayb - I’ll file that away for future trips as a lot has been reserved, but maybe we can squeeze in some time at Mother’s.

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

We’re at Bayona tonight for dinner and here are pix of some of their menus.

 

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Then we happened across an art gallery devoted to Modernist Cuisine.

 

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Next, we passed the pink palace (better known as the restaurant Brennan’s) where B had obtained a reservation on Sunday for brunch.

 

 

 

We thought we had reserved well at first, except that it turns out that the day of our brunch will fall on one of the worst days of the year with respect to dining out since it will be Mother’s Day.

 

Hopefully the food will be good....

 

 

Thoughts on their dinner menu and wine list?

 

 

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

 

We stopped by Antoine’s Annex for a snack and the apple danish I had ordered was dry and disappointing.

 

Oh well...

[A Hobbit in New Orleans]

Well met!

 

B and I flew to NOLA today for the foodie part of my vacation and here are some pix for your perusal. Think of the next few days as an unofficial eG Foodblog....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants]

I told my hubby that I want to go to Benu for my b'day dinner this year.

 

Major food porn at the link below.

 

https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/top-100-restaurants/

 

We've been to quite a few:  B. Patisserie, Cala, Californios, Chez Panisse, Frances, Gary Danko, Kin Khao, Kokkari Estiatorio, La Ciccia, Lord Stanley, Nopalito, Petit Crenn, Prospect, Yank Sing and Zuni.

 

Maybe this will be of some use to you.

[Dinner 2018]

I've been working a lot for the past few weeks, so tonight was the first dinner I've cooked in quite a while. It'll be the last one for the next couple of weeks b/c on Thursday, we fly out to Austin, TX for a week, and then to New Orleans for another week.

 

Tonight, we're having

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dizi (Iranian lamb stew with cinnamon, chickpeas, sumac and dried lime). Contains a base of olive oil and lamb fat, to which was added lamb, onion, cinnamon, dried lime, sumac, turmeric, salt, water, then chickpeas, white beans, potatoes and crushed tomatoes and stewed for 2 1/2 hours. This was served with an herb plate (parsley, mint, cilantro), pita bread, olives and pickles.

 

Recipe from "Taste of Persia", pages 188-189.

 

I promise I'll have lots of pix when I return in three weeks, so stay tuned...

[Dinner 2018]

We went to SPQR for dinner last night.

 

It reminds me of a revamped Babbo, right down to the rock-and-roll blasting from the speakers.

 

 

Sweet corn and quinoa "frittella", smoked trout, roe and red onion crema fresca.

 

I wanted to like SPQR especially since I'd heard so much about it. Style is "nuevo Italiano" and left much to be desired. Also not every day you're served a dish with a sauce that reminds you of Pepto-Bismol.

 

The "frittella" was fine and the goo inoffensive.

 

 

Sicilian artichoke, romano bean and kohlrabi salad, smoked wagyu beef, pecorino.

 

Take away three ingredients on that plate and you've got a great salad. BTW the artichokes tasted like they were canned.

 

 

Wild rice stuffed quail, creamed greens, heirloom apple.

 

Their secondi were a bit more imaginative. The quail was perfectly cooked and the greens in keeping with the season. There was some sort of demi-glace-based sauce poured over the quail.

 

Again, too many elements on the plate. Tasty though, for what it's worth....B liked it.

 

 

Squid ink spaghetti, red wine braised octopus and mussel "puttanesca", black olive crumb.

 

They redeemed themselves somewhat with the pasta. I suppose if I were to return here, I'd start with their primi instead.

 

 

Chestnut clafoutis, black truffle gelato, honey ($22). Served with a glass of passito moscato from Cosenza, Calabria ($15).

 

This dessert was the best thing I ate all night, and that says something. Very flavorful and everything complemented each other.

 

 

Meyer lemon goat yogurt, lime honey, grapefruit sorbetto.

 

Was pretty good.

 

Would I return? Maybe, if I didn't have any other options. You can do better in San Francisco.

 

SPQR
1911 Fillmore Street (Wilmot Street)
Pacific Heights

[$5 Meal Challenge]

Original post also assumes via implication that food costs are the same throughout the country.

 

I suppose I could make a tasty meal for under $5 here in SF if I had the need to, given that SF is one of, if not *THE* most expensive city to live in the continental U.S. but I would have to look really hard for a store that could fit those parameters. And it would involve a real schlep to/from my house which is not something I'm remotely interested in doing.