The Perlows to visit New Orleans

[Rachel Perlow]

P.S. Rachel/Jason, I'm just a sub-egulleter with not too many posts. I will be alone that week, so I can't join you as a couple but I'm sure you'll get a group together and I'd love to join you.

Singles, couples, groups, whatever. Just like to say hay to local foodies!

And speaking of mother-in-laws be sure to check out the late Ernie K Does Mother-In-Law lounge!

More details please and location?

I'm bringing two ice chests. Half of my stash from Hebert's got raided after the last trip I made.... The best food in Louisiana, like anywhere else, is the food served at someone's home, and preferably by an older relative. If you aren't lucky enough to get that, restaurants are a good substitiute. But if I were you, I'd find an old Cajun grandmother to fix you some pork chop rice and gravy with navy beans.

Anyone got a granny in the area and is willing to bring us home to meet her?

Do people bring stuff home from Hebert's on the plane? I could see picking some stuff up to have for meals at the apartment (no oven only cooktop), but I don't think it's feasable to bring fresh meat home on a 4 hour long plane trip. Do they have any cooked food, maybe we can make a picnic for lunch on the road trip?

Hope you keep us up to date when you get there.

I don't think we'll have a computer along, but Jason'll take plenty of pictures and if an internet cafe is handy, we'll be sure to stop in once in a while.

Hope we can meet for lunch on Tuesday or Wednesday while you are here.

Tuesday or Wednesday. Not and?

OK folks, the beginnings of a plan. Hmm, there's gotta be someone out there lurking who lives in the area and is just dying to go with us on this tour of Lafayette (aka, drive and be our tour guide (since we weren't planning on renting a car if we could help it). If you don't feel like posting, send me a PM. The hotel can arrange for a car for the day with Enterprise, but I don't think they have GPS in their cars, like Hertz, and we're not bringing ours. How will we ever find all these places w/out a GPS?

[Kim WB]

I'm glad to see you are going to Lafayette and environs...I'd been to NOLA numerous times, and just during my last visit took my first road trip. My husband lived in Eunice for a while, we drove out there and it was quite different than NOLA...great food in local shacks, but I wasn't keeping names and records.

[Mayhaw Man]

Rachel,

I will have to check with SO, but if you are really interested in going to see a little of our Rural Environs, I would be willing to spend a day driving you around (avoiding speedtraps and sherriffs like the one in the James Bond movie). BUT, it will have to involve lunch at Joe's Dreyfuss Store in Livonia (google it, you will see ). Outside of that we can drive around and come back to New Orleans the long way (west side of the River down River Road or through New Iberia and Thibodeaux). It is kind of a long day of driving, but very interesting and alot of fun.

I haven't been to Joe's in two weeks and that is too long.

All of the food can be purchased frozen and shippped or carried on the plane as checked luggage. Hebert's, Poche's, Champagne's, etc. are all set up to do this.

You can fill all of your stuffed chicken, sausage, andouille, tasso, boudin, and meat pie needs at any of these places (although Hebert's is the king of the stuffed fowl world).

[Rachel Perlow]

It's a date! Oh, now I'm really excited.

[Mayhaw Man]

Ok, We're on. My wife said as long as I bring home stuffed chickens from Hebert's and some Mello Joy from Lafayette. I will p.m. you, but Tuesday is probably the day if that works for you. Long day of driving, with many stops. Bring antacid. There is eating to do

[FistFullaRoux]

I'm glad I was able to help in some little way. I'll be living vicariously through your posts on Lafayette and surrounding areas. If you'll be in the area around the Christmas holidays, I may be able to hook you up with a working tour of a real live crawfish pond. My stepdad farms them.

And you really would not need a GPS. The roads are flat and pretty much straight. The tour I outlined pretty much stayed on the main roads. Once you get down there, you'll see what I'm talking about. The only exception to that is Lafayette itself, which has this hexagonal thing going, and is divided by a river. It's not too hard to get turned around there, but it's easy to backtrack, and people love to give directions.

And re: Hebert's and hauling it home, I do know they do mail order. It may be worth it to you to order everything there, then have it shipped to your home address. Take a pound or two of boudin with you back to the timeshare. That can be microwaved, if need be.

[Rachel Perlow]

I'm sure we'd love the tour of the crawfish pond if you can arrange it without your being present, since we won't be there when you are around Christmas.

I was mostly joking about the GPS. Mostly.

[FistFullaRoux]

Let me check. I'll get back to you via PM...

[beegew]

Hey Rachel ~

We'll be in the Bywater for the weekend and please know you're invited to join us at any juncture! Just drop a note. Our schedule....Get in Friday afternoon and then dinner at 6, at Feelings, in the Marigny (It's a first night tradition every darn trip {8^P .) Nightcaps at Markey's (trust me ~ a dive) on Royal, then off to bed early. Have to set up tent at the Bywater Art Market (Royal and Piety) around 7, eat Elizabeth's ham biscuits for energy (They have the food tent for the Market ~ thank gawd!). By 11 or so, I'll send the son unit the two blocks over to Elizabeth's for takeout praline bacon, and whatever the brunch special is. (Normally the husband unit comes, but he's got the Marine Corps Birthday Ball to attend, so dear son gets to earn his keep, this trip.) Market's open 'til 4. A quick stop at Markey's after pack-up, hopefully celebrating lots of holiday spenders , a shower, then out for dinner and a good wander afterward. I will second Bayona, or any of the previous suggestions. We thoroughly enjoy investigating the city's culinary offerings. (We just need, like, four stomachs .) And I SURE wish we had time to do all the out of town stuff in Mayhaw's posts. One of these days...

[Rachel Perlow]

I just checked out your website, very pretty glassware. We'll have to check out the market on Saturday. Thanks.

[hollywood]

I really miss Louisiana sometimes. I can't wait for Christmas. Damn. Made myself cry. In a good way.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans

And miss it each night and day

I know I’m not wrong... this feeling’s gettin’ stronger

The longer, I stay away

Miss them moss covered vines...the tall sugar pines

Where mockin’ birds used to sing

And I’d like to see that lazy Mississippi...hurryin’ into spring

[FistFullaRoux]

And I can't believe I almost forgot this one in Lafayette. Artist George Rodrigue, of the Blue Dog fame, has a restaraunt in Lafayette called (wait for it) The Blue Dog Cafe. Original, I know, but it is a sight to behold.

Details (including menu) here

Edit= typo. Had and has are completely different...

Edited November 12, 2003 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[APPS411]

Objectives:

1) eat great Jambalaya (have had it at several places but always looking for more)

4) Eat great muffalettas and Po Boys (been to central grocery and Mothers, where else should we go?)

Gonzales, LA (just outside of Baton Rouge) has some of the best jambalaya chef around. Not too many places to buy it though. If you decide to make a day trip to BR it's on the way. As stated above, it's mostly home cooked. If your ever in the area during the spring, the jambalaya cooking contest is a must.

I haven't had any real good (non tomatoe) jambalaya in New Orleans, but I don't often look, being that I'm in Baton Rouge were it is everywhere.

Parasols, near commanders palace is a great poboy place. The soft shell poboy is to die for if there in season. I've raved about that sandwich many time throughout the boards.

Upperline is a great choice.

Don't eat any lucky dogs from the street vendors. There's nothing lucky about them.

[Mayhaw Man]

Objectives:

Don't eat any lucky dogs from the street vendors. There's nothing lucky about them.

They haven't killed me yet

And trust me, I've given them every opportunity.

[FistFullaRoux]

And speaking of New Orleans hot dog vendors, you have heard about the new Will Farrel project, right?

Also - An Inc Magazine article about running Lucky Dogs The ones at the airport aren't bad, though.

[Mayhaw Man]

And speaking of New Orleans hot dog vendors, you have heard about the new Will Farrel project, right?

Also - An Inc Magazine article about running Lucky Dogs The ones at the airport aren't bad, though.

Jerry Strahan is an interesting guy. He ran (and later purchased) Lucky Dog's Inc. The book mentioned in the article is a good read and while the writing (imho) could use some polish, it was edited along the way by his advisors at UNO....Stephen Ambrose and Doug Brinkley, serious historians in their own right. The depictions of life in the quarter are not only accurate and identifiable to us residents, but really. really funny. I have gifted this book to many visitors as a nice slice of life story about the Quarter and one of it's more identifiable icons.

And I don't know about Will Farrell as Ignatius, but who knows, this thing has been floating around so long I will be glad to see anybody get it off the ground. I think the general fear is that it is so "New Orleans Centric" that it will only play to a limited audience.

[FistFullaRoux]

I had always held a secret hope that a Jim Carrey or Billy Crystal would play him (even though they don't look the part). The perfect Ignatius would have been either Andy Kaufman or John Belushi, maybe even Chris Farley. Can you imagine what they could have done with the part?

And Will Farrell is about as close as we're gonna get these days. I honestly think he has the skills for it. Although he better have an authentic speech coach. If it's done in the spirit of an indie film, it should be great. If it is going to be promoted as the new summer blockbuster, forget it.

And to keep it on a food topic, I wonder if Lucky Dogs is going to do the tie-in? Or if it will be a generic hot dog cart setup...

Edit to add John Goodman to the list...

Edited November 12, 2003 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[VeryApe77]

If it's done in the spirit of an indie film, it should be great. If it is going to be promoted as the new summer blockbuster, forget it.

Off topic, but David Gordon Green is meant to be directing it. If this happens (and, according to an interview with Will Farrell in the onion last week, it's been delayed again) it should definitely be in the indie spirit. I think he's the perfect choice for director. If it ever happens that is....anyway, sorry, I'll get my coat.

[Rachel Perlow]

So far our itinerary is as follows:

• Friday - arrive at hotel, unpack, then dinner someplace not too far way. Perhaps the Palace Cafe because we enjoyed it last time we were in NO and it is one of the few places we wish to return to.
  Saturday - Brunch at Elizabeth's then check out Beege and the rest of the Bywater Art Market, then Dinner w/Beege & son at Mr. B's. for BBQ Shrimp!
  Sunday - Galitoires for lunch -- or maybe someplace else, Jason hates dressing up.
  Dinner at Upperline.
  Monday morning we're being given a tour of a local rum manufacturer, Jason (and the rest of the rum forum?) is excited about that. Meals still unplanned. (JoAnne at Upperline said we should go to Jacquimo's for Dinner, by 6 PM to avoid a line since they don't take reservations.)
  Tuesday - Mayhaw Man is going to tour us around Lafayette -- we're in his hands.
  Wednesday early lunch at Ugliches (we've been instructed to arrive at 10:30 as there'll be a line by 11).
  Dinner?
  Thursday - Commander's Palace for lunch
  Dinner?
  

I have no desire to eat off a hot dog cart while in NO, so let's get this thread back on topic and plan my trip!

Edit: Updated with suggestions below and from PMs.

Edited November 13, 2003 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

Commander's Palace for Brunch. That or just go to Galitoires for plain old lunch. You won't be dissappointed either way.

Actually, being Sunday morning after a big Saturday night our, Galitoires would be easier as it is literally around the corner from your hotel.

[Rachel Perlow]

Thanks, someone else said to stay away from Commander's for Sunday brunch, so I've slotted them in for Thursday lunch. Do I need a res for lunch for them or Galitoires?

[Mayhaw Man]

Rachel,

Monday Lunch-You'll be in the neighborhood- Incidentally, the rum tour is fun. You will enjoy it. I have a couple of James Mich's paintings that we bought years ago. He is an interesting guy.

How about Mandina's? It is broadly in the neighborhood. Food's great and some serious New Orleans Atmosphere (not that you won't get enough anyway, you'll be dripping in Funk by the time you leave )

There is also Mandich's and Liuzza's by the Track if you want a good sandwich

Wednesday Night-Brigsten's would be my choice (you will need to make a reservation, but should be no trouble for city sophisticates like yourselves).

Thursday night- Mosca's is a possibility. It is wonderful. My favorite place to eat in New Orleans. THe down side is that is is over the Huey P Long Bridge and a pain in the ass to get to in a cab. It is also much more enjoyable with a a large group. So maybe not.

How about the Praline Connection on Thursday night? The foods great. You can walk through the Quarter to get there, and gorge yourself on dessert to keep your energy up on the way home.

Thursday night you could also never leave the Quarter and go to :

Redfish Grill

GW Fins

Mr B's

K Pauls

Bayona (you might want to think about this one as a last splurge)

Mike Anderson's (underated, good, with great soups)

NOLA (Emeril's BIG FOOD place. I love it. Alot of people can't get past the Emeril Thing. Small Minds )

Antoines (just in case you don't get enough "old" at Galitoires)

And out of the Quarter-

Emeril's

Paristyle

Joey's

Delmonico

Cuvee

The possibilities are pretty endless. Maybe it would be better to sit down and look at what you have eaten before Thursday and decide from there. And depending on the timing of our drive on Wednesday (there is alot of time in the car involved. If you a draw a map of the route from N.O. to BR to LAfayette-New Iberia- Thibodeaux -N.O. you will see roughly the route) we could stop at Mosca's just before we get back to NO and fill all of our garlic and oyster needs.

More to Come

Incidentally, would you like me to make a reervation for you at Jacquimo's on Monday night? I can if you would like. PM me

[Rachel Perlow]

Hey everyone, just checking in from New Orleans. A brief report for now, more details when we get home. Jason's taken LOTS of pictures so look out for individual restaurant reports when we get home. So, we went to Palace Cafe on Friday night. The while apps and mains were good, the salad (two different kinds, both had too many onions) and desserts were poor. Also, the service wasn't up to snuff. All in all a disappointing experience compared to our last visit.

Saturday was much better. We hit Elizabeth's for brunch. Wow, amazingly good. Casual, local, comfortable. Doing everything from various versions of eggs bennedict to real homestyle food to, our favorite, a big bowl of marinated crab fingers (huge bargain at $5!). Jason's eggs florentine with fried oysters compared favorably to anything we had at Breakfast at Brennans at half the price. For dinner, we joined Beege and her son at Mr. B's. Best Brennan's experience we've ever had. The only bad note was Jason's app, Gumbo Ya Ya, was way too salty. The rest of the food was excellent and perfect service to boot.

Sunday we had lunch at Tujague's. Eh. I've heard it's very good for dinner. Don't bother going for lunch. Dinner last night was at Upperline Restaurant. FAB-U-LOUS. Funky casual and artsy atmosphere, with very professional service and modern New Oleans cooking. Owner and hostess, JoAnn Clevenger, chatted with us much of the evening while Chef Ken Smith produced a unique tasting menu for us. My favorite was the fried green tomato topped with Shrimp Remoulade. The tartness of the green tomato really cut the creaminess of the sauce. This place should be on everyone's must-go list, but fortunately it isn't and is mostly habitued by locals in the know.

Today, JoAnn played tour guide for us. This morning she joined us for our tour of Celebration Distillery, a local rum venture. They produce the very excellent New Orleans Rum, and are just now introducing a premium version called Cane, because they add Cane Syrup to the product for a unique flavor. Jason will soon post more on that in the Rum forum. We went to Ugliches for lunch, JoAnn ordering many of her favorite dishes for us to sample. My favorite was a current special of bacon wrapped shrimp atop a sweet potato casserole. This was followed by a second lunch at Pascal's Manale, where the three of us shared an order of the original BBQ Shrimp. Interestinly, it was a completely different product than the version made at Mr. B's (whose BBQ Shrimp was in a brown, roux based sauce), PM's BBQ Shrimp is very peppery, as much or more from ground black pepper as from hot sauce. Both were very good, but neither was better than the other. A quick stop to sample the excellent black eyed peas and fried chicken (again, one order split between the three of us) at Dunbar's Creole Cuisine (more soul food restaurant though) and now we're back at Upperline, where JoAnn has graciously allowed us use of her office computer (restaurant's closed today). I don't know how I'm going to manage dinner at Jacques-Imo's tonight!

[alanz]

Rachel,

I was in New Orleans last week for a conference.

We had a memorable meal at Mr. B's, and a forgettable meal at Nolas (great service, good but not great food).

However, my most joyful portion of the visit was Acme Oyster on Iberville, off Bourbon St.

Absolutely the best oysters I've ever eaten. We went back there three times during our visit (best to go around 1pm, where you're likely to get a seat, preferably at the oyster counter). I hear it's a long line at night.

Their gumbo was very good... the fried food was well... fried food (a waste of perfectly good seafood).

I didn't get a chance, regrettably, to try their crawfish.

The raw oysters were outstanding! $6.95 per dozen! The shuckers were a kick, professional funnyguys.

Never argue with a man carrying an oyster knife... just take what he wants to give you <vbg>

They have a web site complete with webcam

Acme Oyster

I hope you get a chance to try this place.

Edited November 17, 2003 by alanz (log)

[Holly Moore]

I'm heading to NOLA and environs in mid January. Sure I'll be asking more later, but such great info in this thread that I've got a few top of mind questions.

Breakfast - No matter what objections are raised, I'm going to do Eggs Hussard at Brennan's one morning. But where else for breakfast. The Hummingbird is closed. For me Cafe Du Mond and Morning Calls are for finishing off the evening as opposed to breakfast. So where else to eat?

Oysters - Had my first-ever three dozen raw oysters at Felix's Oyster Bar way back when. Is it still a good choice or other recommends?

Hot Dogs - Lucky dog of course. Any corners better than others? Any other dogs worth downing?

Where to stay? Going to be spending some time at the convention center, but not sure that's where to stay. I am one who, while appreciating grand hotels, is loath to spend grand sums for the experience.