College Touring: Culinary Highlights

[docsconz]

I had a "College Boy Blog" day with my own soon to be college boy, yesterday (though, much to my entire family's dismay, he is on his way to Baton Rouge, thanks to the Stelly Plan and a not very well thought out arrangement made, years ago, with his parents and  grandparents ). Hansen's, Parkway, and the Saints game were all part of the day, and all of them were great, though the Saints, as they do most of the time, managed to perform just well enough to blow yet another game.

Had the highly underrated ham and cheese poboy at Parkway. I love that thing. It's a big, giant greasy mess of pork and cheese nirvana. Most people can't break away from roast beef or seafood, but I promise this is a fine choice if you intend on not needing another bite of food for about a week. It's a helluva big sammich.

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They do have options for smaller sandwiches at Parkway. The problem with a short visit like this is I want to try everything, but can only do so much. What kinds of ham and cheese do they use? I have no doubt that the quality of that sandwich is great given the quality of everything else they do.

[docsconz]

Friday night my son and I met Brooks at MiLa for our farewell dinner. When we arrived, we were to be seated at a dimly lit table. This time, I saw several empty tables with much better lighting. I asked if we could change to one of those. The response tonight was a simple "yes."

The entire menu was enticing, but rather than order a tasting, we ordered a number of ala carte dishes.

For an amuse we were given a tasty...

Lobster gratinee.

I started with the subtle, but delicious...

Oyster Rockefeller “Deconstructed”

Poached Louisiana Oysters, Spinach, Bacon Chips, Grated Licorice Root.

The dish did not bash one over the head, but it did satisfy with a subtle blend of flavors and textures. This was nicely done. Along with several other oyster dishes this week, I have never enjoyed cooked oysters as much as I did in New Orleans this visit.

My son had the ...

New Orleans Style Barbeque Lobster

Poached with Creole Spiced Butter, Garlic Confit, Fresh Thyme

No complaints there!

I'll let Brooks describe what he had, if so inclined.

I decided to put my own multi-course meal together. Next for me was the absolutely incredible...

Pan Roasted Sweetbreads

Creamy Black Truffle Grits, Sherry Bacon Jus

This dish was so satisfyingly good, it was one of the finest dishes I've had the pleasure of eating this year - simply outstanding! The crisp and tender sweetbreads, the creamy grits with enough truffle flavor for depth, but not so much as to overwhelm the rest of the dish and the salty, smoky goodness of bacon provided tremendous balance and pleasure.

My last appetizer was another subtle but wonderful dish...

Tian of Louisiana Crab

Ripe Tomato Concassee, Scallion Remoulade

I will post the rest of the dinner later...

[Shelby]

Why oh why am I reading this while starving at my desk at work!

[philadining]

Hey Doc,

it hasn't even been that long since my visit, but this account out your trip is making me NEED to get back to New Orleans, like, immediately...

so glad you managed to get shots of the dishes at MiLa, we'd enjoyed the food, but were sitting at the bar and just couldn't find any good light! Thanks for taking the trouble to ask for a better-lit table. (And yeah, I don't think there's any way to get a good shot at Chris's bar with that back-lit glass!)

I loved that Crab Tian - as you said, subtle but wonderful. And I'd been having a hard time describing that barbecue lobster, which we enjoyed, even as we wished it had a little more of a kick. Great to be able to point people to pictures to aid the always-insufficient verbal descriptions.

It's also great to have a few different accounts of the same dishes and/or places. They point out an interesting phenomenon I think we often forget: cooking is an ephemeral and unpredictable art form, the final result can vary so widely based on the specific product chosen at the moment, the attention paid to the preparation, and so many other uncontrollable factors. Combine that with the personal preferences and varying moods of the diner, and any given dish can have a widely-divergent impact.

Your reactions to the Sweetbreads and grits at MiLa, and to the Pork Cheeks at Cochon are exact mirror opposites from mine: I still dream of Cochon's pork cheeks but was not especially enthralled by MiLa's sweetbreads. I suspect it has less to do with differences in our perceptions, and more to do with the inherent variability of the culinary arts. A skilled kitchen should be able to be very consistent, but on any given day, that particular sweetbread lobe or pork cheek might be of better or worse quality, the pan and oven may or may not be at the exact perfect temp, the grits might or might not have gotten the precise number of stirs required...

The upshot for me is, based on your reaction, and my trust of your palate, I think I'll try those sweetbreads again the next time I'm down there! And I still recommend the pork cheeks at Cochon.

Thanks again for the report, and look forward to the rest!

[docsconz]

Hey Doc, 

it hasn't even been that long since my visit, but this account out your trip is making me NEED to get back to New Orleans, like, immediately... 

so glad you managed to get shots of the dishes at MiLa, we'd enjoyed the food, but were sitting at the bar and just couldn't find any good light!  Thanks for taking the trouble to ask for a better-lit table.  (And yeah, I don't think there's any way to get a good shot at Chris's bar with that back-lit glass!)

I loved that Crab Tian - as you said, subtle but wonderful. And I'd been having a hard time describing that barbecue lobster, which we enjoyed, even as we wished it had a little more of a kick. Great to be able to point people to pictures to aid the always-insufficient verbal descriptions.

It's also great to have a few different accounts of the same dishes and/or places. They point out an interesting phenomenon I think we often forget: cooking is an ephemeral and unpredictable art form, the final result can vary so widely based on the specific product chosen at the moment, the attention paid to the preparation, and so many other uncontrollable factors. Combine that with the personal preferences and varying moods of the diner, and any given dish can have a widely-divergent impact.

Your reactions to the Sweetbreads and grits at MiLa, and to the Pork Cheeks at Cochon are exact mirror opposites from mine: I still dream of Cochon's pork cheeks but was not especially enthralled by MiLa's sweetbreads.  I suspect it has less to do with differences in our perceptions, and more to do with the inherent variability of the culinary arts.  A skilled kitchen should be able to be very consistent, but on any given day, that particular sweetbread lobe or pork cheek might be of better or worse quality, the pan and oven may or may not be at the exact perfect temp, the grits might or might not have gotten the precise number of stirs required...

The upshot for me is, based on your reaction, and my trust of your palate, I think I'll try those sweetbreads again the next time I'm down there!  And I still recommend the pork cheeks at Cochon.

Thanks again for the report, and look forward to the rest!

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Excellent post. This is why it is often very difficult to judge a place with a single negative visit. While the best places are pretty consistent, they too have variability. I think that it is easier and fairer to judge a place on a good meal, since it shows what that place can achieve. Of course, if that only occurs once in a blue moon, it becomes simply a case of what might have been. I suspect that was the case with the cheeks and the sweetbreads as I think our palates and stylistic leanings are generally pretty similar.

As for the backlit bar, that was only a problem with the silver cup for the julep. It was kinda cool for the other drinks.

[jdanton]

The sweetbreads and oysters were excellent when we had them there in January.

Sorry about your August experience.

[docsconz]

Main Courses at MiLa:

My son's

Tenderloin of Pork

Creamed Corn, Confit of Farm peppers, Madiera Sauce

This was simply outstanding - a great blend of flavors.

Brooks and I both had...

Crispy Skinned Mangrove Snapper

Braised Artichokes, Baby Carrots, Orange-Chili Reduction

The fish was lovely, the flavors well balanced and delicious, but the only significant flaw was that the skin was not as crispy as it should have been, especially given its title role.

My son had the tasty...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

Peanut Brittle, Chocolate Sorbet

while I had the fun and delicious...

Root Beer Float

Vanilla Bean Bavarois, Ginger Snap Tuiles, Abita Root Beer Sorbet

I had to have this as root beer seems to be ubiquitous in NO. In addition, the flavor of this root beer was selected by Brooks' kids. While not as exciting a presentation as some desserts, it did what it was supposed to do.

In addition to those desserts, Chef Allison Vines-Rushing sent us out one of her signatures, the delicious and refreshing...

Muscadine Wine Gelée

Served with Ripe Tropical Fruits, Sweet Cream, Mint Chiffonade

We had the pleasure of being able to chat with Chef Vines-Rushing, a most pleasant and friendly woman. Her husband had the evening off, a balance that they often have to do to be able to run the food and beverage service in the hotel and still have a life. Earlier this evening, I enjoyed seeing both of them on the episode of Daniel Boulud's After Hours with Daniel at Cochon. In addition to meeting Chef A. Vines-Rushing, I also had the pleasure of meeting Brett Anderson, who also happened to be dining at MiLa that evening.

Unfortunately we had to be up and out early the next morning to catch our plane home. We had, however, in our short time in New Orleans achieved our goals learning more about Tulane, seeing New Orleans and eating very, very well. Given my son's heightened interest in Tulane as a result of this fine visit, I may very well be spending a fair amount of time here in the future, which may afford me the opportunity to explore the places I reluctantly had to miss on this visit as well as to return to some of those presented here. I can think of many worse things.

[MikeHartnett]

glad you enjoyed it!