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A Hobbit in New Orleans

ProfessionalHobbit
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ProfessionalHobbit

ProfessionalHobbit

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

 

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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....

 

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Thoughts on their dinner menu and wine list?

 

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Edited by ProfessionalHobbit (log)
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kayb

kayb

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Assorted thoughts: 

 

Brunch at Brennan's -- I'd highly recommend the egg yolk carpaccio and the eggs Sardou. 

 

Dinner menu -- hard to go wrong with Gulf fish (it would hopefully be grouper) amandine.

 

I think the soft-shell crab at Antoine's is consistently the best I've ever had.

 

Add to your schedule if you can squeeze them in:

  • Shrimp and grits at Mr. B's Bistro
  • Chargrilled oysters at Drago's

Should you want a steak, La Boca Argentine, in the Warehouse District right near the Central Business District, is excellent. As I recall, it's either on Tchopitoulas or right off of it.

 

I've heard great things about Luke, although John Besh is in disgrace at present. Am also fond of Restaurant August. I usually sit in the bar and eat appetizers and drink wine.

 

Crawfish cheesecake at the Palace Cafe is a marvelous thing, as is the fried chicken at Willie Mae's Scotch House.

 

Eat a po'boy, somewhere. Mother's has a good one. 

 

And you should have a drink in the Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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KennethT

KennethT

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How was Bayona? My wife and I were there years ago (we sat in the garden right next to The Radiators) and it was really good.  A nice thing about NOLA is that if you don't finish your of wine you can get it in a to-go cup.

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KennethT

KennethT

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Also, you're in prime boiled crawfish season. I'd be eating my weight in them right about now.... Even though it's touristy and a bit overpriced, we thought the boiled crawfish at Acme was the best of any other restaurant in the Quarter, over our years of trying numerous places. Nice and big, and their boil is just about perfect.

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ProfessionalHobbit

ProfessionalHobbit

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

 

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

 

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

 

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Sweet potato brioche, cane juice butter 

 

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Veal sweetbreads, lemon, capers

 

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Seared scallops, plantain chips, pickled slaw, guasacaca

 

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Redfish, corn, okra, jalapeño-basil vinaigrette 

 

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

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Smithy

Smithy

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You picked the entrees at Bayona that I would have picked. They looked intriguing on the menu, and beautifully done in your photos. The creativity of the associated sauces is impressive. 

 

I'm looking forward to more of your visit!

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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ProfessionalHobbit

ProfessionalHobbit

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Their desserts:

 

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guava, coconut and pineapple sorbet 

 

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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.

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ProfessionalHobbit

ProfessionalHobbit

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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:

 

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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.

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suzilightning

suzilightning

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I second the Eggs Sardou .... or the Eggs Hussar perhaps.

Crawfish or any seafood.....oysters for sure if you like them.

Fried okra.....be still my heart.

 

Eat on Hobbit....

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Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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ElsieD

ElsieD

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8 hours ago, ProfessionalHobbit said:

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:

 

E087F18F-5587-4C71-AC65-1AE0F896556B.thumb.jpeg.459027929e6fa8b31dc4ae0b24e8586e.jpeg

 

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.

 

I would have been all over the Asian Crème Brûlée.  Great looking meal.

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TicTac

TicTac

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Fantastic.  Thanks for taking us along.

 

I would have picked both the sweet breads (how were they?  hopefully not overdone!) and the red fish as well!

 

Love the shots of the menus - gives not only a greater perspective but also a creative blast to us living vicariously through your efforts.

 

 

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MelissaH

MelissaH

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14 hours ago, kayb said:

Eat a po'boy, somewhere. Mother's has a good one.

I second the po'boy at Mother's. When I've been to New Orleans, it's always been for a conference at the convention center, and Mother's is close enough to walk there during lunch. Given our minuscule travel budgets, the price tag is also right.

 

And don't forget a muffaletta to eat on the plane ride home. Those sandwiches are awesome plane food. (Or if you want to eat one while you're still in residence, we've enjoyed Napoleon House's rendition.

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MelissaH

Oswego, NY

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Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

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KennethT

KennethT

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Wow, they've really expanded their menu... I remember when it was basically just the beignets, chicory coffee and hot chocolate.  There was no where to go inside (well, there was a gift shop with canned coffee, tshirts, and beignet mix) but basically, you hovered around a table that looked almost done, then swooped in and waited for someone to saunter over and wipe down the piles of powdered sugar off of the table, and if you were nice, they'd wipe the chairs too as they were also covered - then you'd just place your order with them...

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

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1 hour ago, ProfessionalHobbit said:

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.

 

Lovely!  I'm reading and thoroughly enjoying Ed Lee's Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine.  

If anyone here would like a little side-trip while we wait for our Hobbit to return, the first chapter in the book,  "Pilgrimage for a Beignet" is available to read via Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, including his recipe for matcha beignets. 

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ProfessionalHobbit

ProfessionalHobbit

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Thanks for the tip re Mother’s :)

 

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left - green beans and tomato 

 

right - turnip greens and sausage 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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