New Orleans 2022 - present

[Chris Hennes]

Last year I was in NOLA for the first time, and did a short foodblog about it. In that trip I ate at Luke, Herbsaint, GW Fins, Willie May's, Cochon, Galatoire's, Pêche, and the MSY airport location of Leah's Cafe.

 

I was back again this past weekend, so figured I'd keep on documenting...

 

First up is Trenasse, where we'd intended to eat last time and been forced to divert due to construction that ended up closing the restaurant. I started with the gumbo:

 

My wife with the tomato bisque:

 

They were out of shrimp enough to do the shrimp and grits, but could do the "Taste of Trenasse" which consisted of smaller portions of three different entrees, including the shrimp and grits. So I went with that (Louisiana Crawfish Pie, Pan Fried Redfish Meunière, Shrimp & Grits):

 

And my wife went with blackened redfish:

 

Nothing was bad, but it was pretty forgettable. The Crawfish Pie was probably the highlight, but unless that's really what you're craving I'm not sure there's a lot of reason to seek this place out. Then again, it's attached to the Intercontinental, so if you happen to be staying there you could do worse.

[Chris Hennes]

Next up was Redfish Grill. You will be shocked to know I started with the gumbo:

 

And my wife with tomato bisque:

 

Then I had the shrimp and grits:

 

And my wife the Cochon de Lait & Eggs:

 

Everything here was very good: the gumbo was both rich in flavor and light in texture, the andouille in it excellent, and the relish on the shrimp and grits was a great accent to what can otherwise be a sort of overwhelmingly rich dish. The shrimp and grits also had "beef debris" under it, which was good but probably unnecessary, IMO.

[Chris Hennes]

For dinner that evening we went to Le Chat Noir, which is a bit of a departure from our previous destinations -- it's not really cajun, more "New American with some Cajun Influence" (if that's a thing...). At any rate, this was a communal dining, order-many-things sort of experience. I may have gotten distracted by eating and failed to take photos before I started in...

 

"Bread Royale": Bone marrow and chicken liver mousse (with toast, not pictured ):

 

Roasted carrots:

 

Blackened summer squash:

 

Tomato salad:

 

Roast pork:

 

Roasted potatoes:

 

This meal was fantastic: we enjoyed everything, but standouts were the tomato salad, the chicken liver mousse, and the squash (which was very spicy). 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Last meal of this trip was lunch at Palace Cafe. Gumbo (shock!):

 

Pecan salad:

 

Moules Frites:

 

Pecan-Crusted Catfish:

 

All good: the gumbo was among the better I've had, and my wife reports that the pecan crust was delicious. Despite the hyper-touristy location, I think it's still worth eating here.

[heidih]

Thanls @Chris Hennes I am a NOLA fan. So on the gumbo sampling - do you just really like it or are you looking for your "this is tthe one" moment?  On that roast pork are those frizzled onions or some cool pork skin thing? 

[KennethT]

@Chris HennesThanks for this.  I share your love of really good gumbo.  Years ago, my wife and I used to go down there once a year or so. I would get gumbo at practically every meal!

[Chris Hennes]

5 hours ago, heidih said:

So on the gumbo sampling - do you just really like it or are you looking for your "this is tthe one" moment?

I just really like gumbo .

 

5 hours ago, heidih said:

On that roast pork are those frizzled onions or some cool pork skin thing? 

Just fried onions.

[weinoo]

16 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

 

I was back again this past weekend, so figured I'd keep on documenting...

 

Anything to do with Tales of the Cocktail?  I know that some preliminary stuff was going on this week.

[Chris Hennes]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:22 AM, weinoo said:

 

Anything to do with Tales of the Cocktail?  I know that some preliminary stuff was going on this week.

Nope, there for a dance competition.

[TdeV]

@Chris Hennes, from Le Chat Noir, you had roasted carrots. The dish looks very interesting.

Can you tell me more about it?