Eating New Orleans (Pictures!)

[Jason Perlow]

This week, Rachel and I are in New Orleans following Pableaux Johnson's June 2005 book, Eating New Orleans: From French Quarter Creole Dining to the Perfect Poboy

MODERATOR NOTE, September 2005: Here is the master index to all the places we visited in late May of 2005 and in November 2003:

• Eating New Orleans Snowballs
  
• Eating New Orleans Ice Cream
  
• Eating New Orleans Po Boys
  
• Willie Mae's Scotch House Closed -- rebuilding
  
• Upperline
  
• Deanies
  
• Central Grocery
  
• Sid-Mar's Closed -- destroyed by Katrina
  
• Palace Cafe
  
• Commander's Palace Closed -- renovating
  
• Drago's
  
• Pampy's Creole Kitchen Closed -- destroyed by Katrina
  
• Dunbar's
  
• Tujagues
  
• Jacques-Imo's
  
• Bayona
  
• New Orleans Farmers Market
  
• Crescent City Farmer's Market
  
• Cafe Du Monde
  
• Mosca's
  
• Uglesich's Closed
  
• Bozo's
  
• Pascal's Manale
  
• Elizabeth's
  
• Frady's
  
• New Orleans Rum Closed -- rebuilding
  
• Lemon Grass
  
• Liborio
  
• Mr. B's
  

Outside New Orleans:

• Camille's Cajun Cafe
  
• Lagniappe Too
  
• Plaquemines Parrish Heritage Seafood Festival
  
• Eating Louisiana Andouille
  
• Tabasco
  

see also:

• The Perlows to Visit New Orleans (2003)
  

***********************************

Here's our complete photo album from the trip:

Perlow New Orleans Trip, May 2005 (click for photos)

We'll be adding to this album every day or so, so check in often.

Here's some highlights from some of the places we have visited:

Bozo's (Metarie)

Drago's (Metarie/Bucktown)

Sid Mars

Brocato's

Ye Olde College Inn (New Orleans)

Edited March 23, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

So, how did ya like dem Char Broiled Ersters at Drago's?

[Chris Amirault]

Great snaps, Jason and Rachel. I'm very envious.

Someone once told me that, when his days are done and he's walking toward St. Peter, he hopes Pete'll reach out his hand and give him an oyster po' boy. Then he'll know right away that everything's gonna be just fine.

[Mayhaw Man]

At the pace they are going, they might hit all 100. They only landed in New Orleans yesterday morning at 10.

During the last minute planning of this trip (a week ago) the Gulf Coast and the Deep South had been enjoying a record cool Spring. I assured them that the weather was lovely and that they could not pick a better time to be here. It would seem that I may have spoken too soon.

All of this changed just about the time that the plane they were on was letting down it's landing gear at Louis Armstrong International Airport. It was hotter than a firecracker yesterday and today is more of the same. Record highs for the end of May. Now they will know just what it is like here in the summertime, with the exception of late afternoon rains that you can set your watch by. It is supposed to be pretty dry and hot here for the next week or so.

I never said that I was a weatherman, or that I played one on TV.

[Rachel Perlow]

A week ago? We planned this trip Wednesday night! Thank the lord for Jet Blue, and some last minute luck with a timeshare rental.

Anyway... Yes, it's been quite a whirlwind, already. Let's see, Bozo's was Saturday lunch, dinner appetizers was the Charbroiled Oysters at Drago's (amazing), dinner dinner was Sid-Mar's (disappointing), dessert was gelato at Bracato's. Sunday zydaco brunch was Ye Olde College Inn, a mid-afternood cool down snack was sorbet for me at Creole Creamery, while Jason sampled the Nectar Soda. We went to Hansen's for snowcones but they were closed, haven't opened for the season yet. However, Judge Hansen happened by while we were looking through the book for another place and told us they're planning to open on Thursday (but to call ahead to make sure).

Tonight was another amazing dinner at Upperline. Jason's working on the pics right now.

Later people.

[Jason Perlow]

I've added updated Upperline pics to the Upperline thread.

Here's the Nectar Soda we had at Creole Creamery:

And here's the Ice Cream selection there -- we plan to go back shortly!

Interior shot of Creole Creamery, right before the afternoon rush:

[Mayhaw Man]

We went to Hansen's for snowcones but they were closed, haven't opened for the season yet. However, Judge Hansen happened by while we were looking through the book for another place and told us they're planning to open on Thursday (but to call ahead to make sure).

Later people.

←

First of all, Jersey Girl, it is not a snowcone. That's what they have at the state fair with crushed ice and strawberry stuff on it and it is served in a paper cone shaped drinking cup. Not so in New Orleans, and especially not at that Bastion of Tchopitoulas St, Hansen't Sno Bliz.

They SHAVE the ice off of a huge block, with a machine that was built while FDR was in his second term, and the ice that comes off that block is so fine as to defy description. The flavors are, well, great. I vascilate between the super tart ones and cream flavors like almond-but whatever you do, it's hard to go wrong at Hansen's.

And what a town! A coupla tourists hanging around in front of a locked up shop on a non descript corner near the river and some guy pulls up, introduces himself as the owner's son, and gives them the week's schedule and a contact number. That's my part of the world, in a nutshell.

[Jason Perlow]

Perlow New Orleans Trip, May 2005 (click for photos)

We've updated the Photo Gallery with new places. Some Highlights:

K Jean

Parkway Bakery

Willie Mae's Scotch House

Plum Street Snow Balls

Crabby Jacks

Crescent City Farmers Market

[Jinmyo]

The photo gallery is very interesting, Jason.

[TAPrice]

Oh man do those photos make me hungry.

I helped finish off that plate of Willie Mae Seaton's chicken and can attest that it tasted as good as it looked.

[bavila]

Plum Street. That's what I'm talking about. No one knows a damned thing about shaved ice up here. Makes for long summers drooling over Jason's pictures.

[pableaux]

Hey kids,

Hope you're eating well. I'm tracking down stewed venison pappardale and Tuscan table wines in Siena.

How goes the eatin'?

lemme know,

Pableaux

[Rachel Perlow]

Just to catch you all up, while Jason updates the photo gallery... Dinner on Tuesday was Brigsten's, lunch Wednesday was Vietnamese in Gretna (Tan Dinh), dinner Wednesday was a BBQ Shrimp comparison: the po-boy version at Liuza's by the Track for on appetizer and then we went to the Buckhead Deanie's for BBQ Shrimp and Fried Seafood Platter -- the bellmen/valets at our hotel are starting to look forward to our leftover containers!

All that buttery shrimp made Jason rather ill last night, so we stayed in the room and had some more of the healing pho broth we took home from Tan Dinh, as well as some grilled lemongrass chicken made into a sandwich and some of those fabulous Creole tomatoes on toast. We continued the anti-New Orleans food kick with dinner tonight at Bayona. Just a few southern touches (toothsome stoneground grits, collard greens, spoonbread), but no overly creamy or buttery sauces, it was a welcome contrast.

Oh, and this afternoon we stopped at Tee Eva's and had a snowBALL. I didn't care for the way William's Plum Street Snowballs drenched the shaved ice to the point of drowning in the syrup, so I asked for today's to be lightly dressed with the lemonade syrup. Now that's a snowcone, um ball. Tart and refreshing and the ice didn't melt too quick. Hmm, I wonder if there's another snowball place nearby?

Later people.

[Jason Perlow]

Just uploaded the new photos. I apologize for the quality of the Brigtsen's shots, the light in there is REALLY dark and all the shots are multi-second exposures.

More descriptive stuff next week when we get home.

[Mayhaw Man]

I stopped for breakfast this morning and walked up to the door of the restaurant. There was a sign on the door that said, "Due to a couple of people eating all of the food in Orleans Parish, we will be closed until further notice."

Hopefully they will be leaving soon, before there is famine in the swampland.

[Mayhaw Man]

I enjoyed a little light lunch today with Jason and Rachel. We went to Pampy's and Austin Leslie and owner Pampy Barre' tried to kill us with good food. It didn't work, but it did make me want to take a long nap in the worst way.

Anyway, I am sure that Jason will follow up, but I would like to say that I had an extended conversation with Austin about fried chicken and we are of the same mind. I won't bore you with it here, but basically it's all about chicken that has NEVER BEEN FROZEN and a few other things I can't talk about as Dave (aka the enemy) might find them useful as he works out for the big Labor Day Fry off at Vermint's.

Great lunch. Nice folks. Beautiful place. What mo could you axe fo?

[Mayhaw Man]

The last that I heard from Jason and Rachel was that they were heading off to Jacob's in LaPlace to get some andouille and then were going to head over across the Manchac swamp to Middendorf's. Maybe they got lost out there in the swamp. There's only one road, but I guess you could do it if you try.

[Jason Perlow]

Just got back. Oh man are we tired. New photos tonight of Pampy's, Hansens, New Orleans Greek Festival (INSANE!!!) and the Plaquemines Parrish Heritage Seafood Festival (click)

As to Jacobs: There are actually TWO Jacob's in La Place. One is an impostor (Jacob's Original Andouille) which manages to make pretty good andouille and a number of other items and the other is the actual ORIGINAL (Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse) and is a much smaller, low tech, high quality andouille and tasso producer. Wait until you see those photos. We went and bought from both.

Mittendorf's, unfortunately we didn't make it to, as we had to head back to hit the Greek Festival, which was a complete and total waste of time. Argh, insane crowds.

[Jason Perlow]

Some highlights from the last several days, and then we'll start with the detailed reports and the thread index.

Deanie's

Liuzza's by the Track

Bayona

Brigtsen's

Greek Festival

Hansen's Sno Bliz

Plaquemines Parrish Seafood Festival

Pampy's

Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse

[Rachel Perlow]

I'm too exhausted to post much tonight, but I will say the crawfish (and shrimp) boil we had at the Plaquemines Parrish Heritage Festival was the best of our whole trip, maybe ever. Puts the crawfish at Sid-Mar's to shame. It's still going on (until 11 tonight), so get there while you can -- Link to more info. As for the Greek festival, I haven't seen such a sea of humanity since the '96 Olympics in Atlanta.

[Pan]

Whoa, all that seafood! I envy you two! I have some ideas of where to go if I should happen to get to New Orleans some time soon, though (sadly, that's not in the cards).

[Rachel Perlow]

OK, here's my journal of our New Orleans Trip, May 21-28, 2005.

In the early days of this journal post, I just list what we ate, we’ve already talked about most of it in other posts. Later on, I get more chatty. I’ve numbered the “book experiences” in bold, including page number references for restaurants and experiences, I also included address/phone for the places that aren’t “in the book.” The book being, Eating New Orleans by Pableaux Johnson.

A note about water: Any time of year, it’s going to be hot in New Orleans. To us northerners at least. The locals may think it’s cool, but it’s probably 20 degrees warmer and more humid than where you live. So stock up on water and always carry some with you. We bought a case of Abita Springs Water in liter bottles at the local Robert’s Supermarket before we even got to our room. At home we get Poland Spring delivered, I wish they offered Abita Springs, it’s even better. And, yes, it’s that Abita Springs, home of our beloved Mayhaw Man, as Brooks said, “the water that goes through my (plumbing) sells for $1 a gallon at the store!”

Saturday, May 21, 2005 – Arrived in New Orleans around 11 AM.

Lunch

(1) Bozo’s (p 153)

Chicken, Sauasage and Okra Gumbo

Salad

Raw Oysters (p 131, Sauce Yourself)

Butter drenched Toasted French Bread

Fried Seafood Platter (p 153)

Iced Tea

Afternoon cooler of (2) iced café au lait (p 188) at Café du Monde (p 184, but at the Lakeside Mall location, we went shopping for sandals while waiting for our check in time).

Dinner

(3) Drago’s (p 130) for appetizers

Charbroiled Oysters

(4) Sid-Mar’s (p 158)

Marinated crab fingers

Corn & Crab Soup

Hushpuppies

Salad with Grilled Shrimp & Remoulade

Crawfish Boil (it wasn’t good, but at least it was cheap, market price=$6.25/2 lbs) (p 233)

Iced Tea, Jason had a Sazerac (p 49)

Dessert

(5) Angelo Brocato’s Gelato (p 192)

Baci and Statchiatella gelato

Sunday, May 22

Brunch

(6) Ye Olde College Inn (p 69), Zydaco Brunch

Oyster Loaf

Grillades & Grits (p 174)

Onion Rings

Iced Tea, Bloody Mary (p 95)

Snack We tried to go to Hansen’s, but not open for season yet, so

(7) Creole Creamery (p 195)

Apricot Sorbet

Nectar Soda

Dinner

(8) Upperline (p 79)

Most of the menu, but we ordered:

Cane River Shrimp

Field Greens Salad

Roast Duck with both sauces (Peach and Port/Garlic)

Spice Shrimp with Jalapeno Cornbread

Water, Iced Tea

Monday, May 23

Lunch

(9) Willie Mae’s (p 177)

Fried Chicken (see p 171)

Fried Pork Chop

Smothered Veal

Red and Butter Beans & Rice

Lemonade, no iced tea

(with TAPrice and friend)

Dessert – back to Brocato’s

Spumoni, Praline Gelato

After dessert, we picked up some (10) boiled shrimp (p 66) from K-Jean, a seafood take-away shop, which is conveniently located about two doors down from Brocato. We had the shrimp for Tuesday’s breakfast.

Dinner

(11) Parkway Bakery and Tavern (p 139)

Po-Boys: Roast Beef, Hot Sausage, Shrimp

Garden Salad (surprisingly good)

Iced Tea, Barq’s Root Beer in the Blue Bottle

(12) Hubig Blueberry Pie (pp 167, 244)

Dessert

(13) William’s Plum Street Snowballs (p 203)

Mango with Condensed Milk

(can’t recall what Jason got)

Tuesday, May 24

Breakfast – Shrimp Boil (see above)

(14) Crescent City Farmer’s Market (p 204)

We bought:

• Tomatoes: Creole, Louisiana, Heirloom
  Berries: Strawberries (last of the season), Blueberries, Blackberries
  Granola
  Creole Cream Cheese, Yogurt, Hard Ricotta Cheese
  Tamales, Tortilla Chips, Salsa Verde
  Spinach and Artichoke Bread
  Peach Iced Tea
  

These became snacks and breakfast foods for the rest of the week.

Lunch

(15) Crabby Jack’s (p 154)

Po-Boys: Un-Fergie (ham and roast beef), Slow Cooked Duck, Paneed Rabbit with Mustard Sauce

Oyster Platter with Jambalaya and salad

Cole Slaw, heavy on the red cabbage, excellent with the duck po-boy

Iced Tea

I went shopping while Jason fiddled with pictures.

Dinner

Pre-dinner snack at Pampy’s, but more about that later (see Friday lunch, and p 171)

(16) Brigtsen’s (p 71)

Amuse: Smoked Salmon with Potato Cake and Red Pepper Sour Cream

Appetizers: Oyster gratin, Fried Soft Shell Crab (p 106 with (heavily) Worcestershire spiked meuniere sauce with pecans, Baby Spinach Caesar Salad with Oysters & Applewood Bacon en Brochette & Roasted Peppers

Mains: Pork Tenderloin with debris sauce, sweet potato dirty rice, jalapeno coleslaw, sautéed veggies; Seafood Platter: small portions of various crab, shrimp, crawfish, oyster and fish preparations; Beef Tournedos with Pecan and Blue Cheese quenelles, mashed potatoes, veggies, coleslaw (we felt the coleslaw made sense on the pork dish, but not on the beef)

Dessert: Pecan Pie with Caramel Sauce, Tres Leches cake (special), Trio of Homemade Sorbets with Honeydew Melon Puree (this was everyone’s favorite after that big meal)

Wednesday, May 25

Breakfast – granola, yogurt and berries; tomatoes & creole cream cheese on toast (from yesterday’s visit to the farmer’s market

Lunch

(17) Vietnamese in Gretna (p 181)

Tan Dinh (not in the book, but many others are, so I’m counting it, as there’s a blurb about Vietnamese immigration to the area). Tan Dinh was recommended to us by TAPrice), 1705 Lafayette St, Gretna, LA 70053, 504-361-8008

After the past few day’s indulgences, we needed some cleansing pho soup, accompanied by Spring Rolls (what I call summer rolls, the cold kind), and some grilled lemongrass chicken, etc.

Lemonade Soda

Shopping: (18) Martin’s Wine Cellar (p 204) – the book emphasizes the deli counter lunch options (a good choice for a mid-week leafy green fix), but it is also a gourmet shop and excellent wine and liquor merchant. Jason bought some hard to find bourbon to bring home for himself and jhlurie (the dogsitter). I got some luscious locally produced drained yogurt at the cheese counter. We were looking for andouille, but they didn’t have any and neither did Langenstein’s (1330 Arabella, NO, 504-899-9283), which is a great local grocery recommended to us on a previous trip by JoAnn Clevenger and Mayhaw Man.

Snack

(19) Sophie's Ice Cream

We had an assortment of mini-scoops. Favorite flavors included the lemon ice, carrot cake, peanut butter, chocolate and strawberry.

Dinner – (20) Barbecue Shrimp (p 149) Comparison

First: (21) Liuzza’s by the Track (p 164)

Oyster Rockafeller Soup – oysters and spinach in a creamy broth. Good, but not worth finishing when there were better things to come, so we didn’t.

Barbecue Shrimp PoBoy – to quote Pableaux, their “hollowed-out section of soft French bread filled with tiny sautéed shrimp and a gooshy overdose of thick, garlicky gravy. If you’re a fan of lemon pepper and want to perfect your elbow-licking technique, here’s your chance.” The bread is only opened on one end, not sliced open, so you eat from the top down. I swear it actually got hotter towards the bottom of the loaf. Really, really good. I would have been happy to order another or something else and stay at this cute neighborhood spot for dinner. But eGullet must be served…

Second: (22) Deanies (Metairie) (p 155) – the French Quarter Deanie’s has drawn the majority of tourists away from the Bucktown original, so that’s where we went, since we had a car and a GPS. We originally went to Deanies on our first trip to New Orleans (pre-eGullet), and it definitely had fewer tourists, heck, there was no wait!

Barbecue Shrimp – as we remember it, shell and head on, plenty of huge shrimp among some smaller, but still big ones. Nice peppery sauce.

Fried Seafood Platter (half, still too much, the bellman at our hotel are getting fat from our leftovers! See p 153)

Iced tea (should I bother adding this line anymore? Just assume it, OK?)

Thursday, May 26

Breakfast/Lunch: Stayed in the room to relax for a while. Jason was kind of ill from the previous nights buttery shrimp fest. (Advice: Bring immodium, alka seltzer, pepto bismal, whatever keeps you going, or plan on a late night stop at Walgreens).

Granola, Fruit, Tomato on Toast, leftover Vietnamese (pho, grilled chicken sandwich)

Afternoon Snack

First: Croissant D'Or Patisserie (617 Ursulines Av, NO (French Quarter), 504-524-4663)

Not in the book, but we passed it while going to a gallery we were checking out on Royal. Pretty store, OK filled croissants. More interesting because it was the original location of Angelo Brocato’s Gelato, the tiled entry spelled that out, I think Jason got a picture of it.

Second: (23) Tee-Eva’s (p 175)

Lemonade Snowball (more like a snowcone this time, more crunchy than snowy ice) – I asked her to go easy on the syrup and it was the perfect amount for me. We ordered some bite sized pralines for Saturday pickup. Her regular pralines are $2 each, and you can get them by the box (dozen for $24) as well. However, you can also get a 2 lb gift basket of bite-sized pralines (individually wrapped) for $18, but you have to pre-order them. These impeccably fresh pralines are a perfect gift for the guy watching your dogs or picking up your mail back home.

Dinner

(24) Bayona (p 82)

JoAnn Clevenger made a comment earlier in the week about which of Susan Spicer’s restaurants to go to, she said that we should “go to Herb Saint, as Bayona doesn’t really have New Orleans food, and Herb Saint does.” By Thursday we were ready for some non-New Orleans food, so we decided to go to Bayona, and we were glad we did. The food has a fabulous Southern flair without being too heavy, and perfectly attentive service.

Appetizers: Crispy Smoked Quail Salad with Bourbon Molasses Vinaigrette, Seared Scallops with Corn, Poblano, Crawfish and Tomatillo sauce.

Mains: Buttermilk Fried Rabbit Leg and Tenderloin with Creole Mustard Tasso Sauce and Stoneground Grits, Double-cut Niman Ranch Pork Chop with Cheddar Spoonbread.

Dessert: Chocolate Mousse and gelato with cinnamon churros and lemon tart. They were both great, but I think I should have ordered the fruit special dessert (rhubarb and blueberry pannacotta), it looked really good at our neighbors table. Jason also ordered a dessert wine that went very well with the rich chocolate mousse.

I actually ordered a cocktail! Tropical Splash (mostly pineapple juice and rum), Jason got a Negroni Cooler. Then we stuck to water.

Friday, May 27

Breakfast – we aren’t getting tired of those fab tomatoes yet

Lunch – (25) Pampy’s (OK, it’s not in the book (address: 2005 N. Broad Ave, NO), but Austin Leslie is mentioned within in the context of his previous kitchen (Jacques-Imo’s Café, p 65) for his “renowned fried chicken.” He’s been making his fried chicken since October 2004 at Pampy’s, which opened in July 2000. We stopped in on

Tuesday night to sample the chicken, it was good, but not as good as Willie Mae’s. We learned later that it was supposed to have a garnish of chopped raw garlic and parsley, and ours definitely did not have that. Apparently, when the hostess gave Austin our card (he wasn’t in when were there on Tuesday), he recalled us from when we went to Jacques-Imo’s in 2003, and he and Pampy invited us back to sample more of the menu and, of course, photograph the food for eGullet. Disclosure, yes, this meal was complementary. We knew there’s be too much food for just the two of us, so we made sure that Brooks Hamaker, aka Mayhaw Man, joined us for the tasting.

Some highlights: The properly garnished fried chicken (make sure yours has the parsley & garlic on top), Stuffed Speckled Trout Meuniere (special), Barbecued Shrimp, Crab & Corn Bisque, Stuffed Bell Pepper, Deep-fried Cornish Hen (perfectly moist and served with terrific and meaty collard greens, and yams). I didn’t care as much for the Buffalo Shrimp, it was way hot and seems out of place in NO, or the okra gumbo, but Brooks loved it!

On a Mission: We needed to get some andouille (p 119) to restock our freezer back home. We were heading to “Jacob’s” in LaPlace “Andouille Capital of the World” Louisiana. Our GPS directed us to Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse and Restaurant (769 W 5th St, La Place, 985-652-9990), which is not in the book. Jason took a boatload of pictures, while I headed over to Walmart (my first time in a Walmart, BTW) to by a Styrofoam cooler. We picked up andouille, smoked sausage, tasso, jerky, and some bones for the dogs. They produce a fabulous, artisinal product, but it is not USDA inspected, so they can’t ship out of state. It’s less than an hour drive out of NO, so it’s worth the trip when you’re here.

When heading back to the highway, we saw a sign for the place that apparently was supposed to be our original destination, (26) Jacob’s World Famous Andouille (p 246). They are able to ship out of state and have a website. We’d already bought a full cooler’s worth at WJ’s, so we just got one pork and one chicken andouille so we could compare. We used a piece of the pork andouille this week when cooking up some greens. It was quite good, but a little drier and had smaller pieces of meat than WJ’s.

Snack

(27) Hansen’s Sno-Bliz (p 196)

We were lucky enough to be there on their opening day for the season (about a month late due to a death in the family). Orangeade with condensed milk for me (easy on the syrup, but still pretty drenched), Nectar and Chocolate combo for Jason (as per Judge Gerry’s recommendation). What a great summer treat.

Dinner

Intended: The Greek Festival

(28) “Nearly every community celebrates . . . during an annual free-for-all festival. Any time of year, you’re never too far from a celebration, cultural fair, street dance or world championship cookoff of some local specialty--all you need to do is wait for the next weekend.” Pableaux Johnson (p 242).

So we dutifully went to the current local festival, in this case, Greek Fest 2005, at the Greek Orthodox Community of Holy Trinity Cathedral, website (checking the website, I see why there were so many people in togas, it was the “Friday Night Toga Contest: Wear a Toga, Get in Free.”) We arrived around 7:30 PM on opening day, and I haven’t seen such a sea of humanity since the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta. It was crazy. We paid our entrance fee ($5 each), did a quick walkthrough, bought some baklava at the “Pastry Express” booth (the only line that wasn’t at least 100 people long) and high-tailed it out of there. On the way back to the car, the shuttle driver (same one that got us there) said, “what are you doing back so soon?!” A nice lady in the van with us suggested an alternative place with a similar cuisine, since we were in the mood for middle-eastern food at that point, hence:

Actual: Lebanon’s Café, 1506 S. Carrolton, 504-862-6200

Chef’s Special Appetizer, what we’d call a mezze platter, spinach pie, roasted vegetable filo (excellent), Chicken Shawarma, Grilled Chicken Salad. Plenty of warm pita bread, iced tea, very nice waitress. What more can Greek Fest refugees ask for?

Saturday, May 28

Breakfast: Finished off the tomatoes with some leftover hummus and pita from Lebanon’s. Mmm, mmm.

Lunch

(28 redux, as it is another local festival not specifically mentioned in The Book (as we came to refer to it) Plaquemines Parrish Heritage Festival. For a county fair it didn’t seem that big to us, but the food sure was good. We had some grilled oysters, then some boiled seafood (crawfish and shrimp), both served with spicy sausage and corn on the cob, with some remoullade sauce for the shrimp, finished off with a strawberry milkshake (thankfully there was softserve ice cream vendor in the 95 degree heat!) and some kettle corn for dessert. That was the best crawfish of the week, btw, probably the best we’d ever had. Thanks Plaquemines Parrish!

We stopped back at Tee Eva’s to pick up our praline order and grab a couple more SnowBalls, lemonade again for me, which Jason got the (very very green) lime. He looked like he was freezing when we went to the pool afterwards, because his lips were so blue/green.

Lunch at the festival was actually in the mid-afternoon (we slept pretty late Saturday morning), so thinking we wouldn’t want much dinner, we picked up some Summer Rolls to eat in the room at Tan Dinh, since we were passing by. Although Jason did go out for a take out burger at Igor’s Laundromat & Bar, next to our hotel, later on. Sorry there was no big last night/Saturday night blowout to report, but we had to get up at 4 AM Sunday morning to get to the airport for early morning flight. Oh yeah, we stopped at a Denny’s by the car rental return for a quick breakfast. The eggs were OK, but the hash browns suck. Good waiter though, quite cheery and quick for 5 AM.

Epilogue

So, last week we had at least 28 of Pableaux Johnson’s 100+ recommended eating experiences, and we’ve been to more than a dozen other places he recommends on our previous trips (Tujague’s, Camellia Grill, Elizabeth’s, Jacques-Imo’s Café, Mother’s, Uglesich’s, Emeril’s, Brennan’s, Commander’s Palace, Mr. B’s, Palace Café (he conveniently groups all the Brennan’s into one chapter), Mosca’s, Pascal’s Manale, Dunbar’s, Café du Monde, Aunt Sally’s, French Market, Zara’s Lil Giant, Poche’s, and New Iberia), so I think we did pretty good for a spontaneous, no weeks in advance reservations, trip to the Big Easy, oops, I mean the Crescent City (p 10).

Please note: if you'd like to reply to this post, please do not quote the entire post. Edit your quote down to just this relevant bits, as this is a pretty long post. Thanks.

[pennbrew]

So who're those young folks behind the counter at Hansens?

---Guy

[Rachel Perlow]

The guy at the sno-bliz machine in Judge Gerry, the young'n in the background is the granddaughter, Ashley, who mostly runs the shop these days. It's a family run business. If you want to work there, "you have to marry Ashley," says the Judge.

[Jason Perlow]

We bought a case of Abita Springs Water in liter bottles at the local Robert’s Supermarket before we even got to our room.

And then we REFILLED that case of liter bottles from a 5 Gallon jug we got at Robert's only a few days later!