Tag Archives: new orleans

Cafe Du Monde – New Orleans, Louisiana

After that light lunch at MRB, I decided to check out the well oiled operation at Cafe DuMonde. I think the thing that makes it very easy to serve and DuMonde is the very small menu, which includes only beignets to eat and only a few things to drink. Of course, a powdery, sugary mess comes out after you order but it’s a good powdery, sugary mess. It is pretty clear that Cafe DuMonde was a very touristy place, but aside from that a great place to get a quick coffee and pastry in the morning. I especially like the operation of this place, servers basically run the show. They take your order, powder your beignet, get your drinks and finally act as your cashier. Of course lines can stretch really long throughout the day but they move very fast. There is no one hostess, you’ll just need to hunt for an open table and seat yourself. Someone will be along shortly to clean your table and get your order.

Cafe Du Monde
800 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70116

The Chicory coffee is a new orleans thing. Here is a plate of beignets with a cafe au lait.

Crawdad Boil, MRB – New Orleans, Louisiana

Everyone kept saying, “You gotta go find a crawdad boil, it’s the best thing ever”. I’ve never heard of such a thing so I ask around and everyone is like “Oh, its too early in the season for crawdads”. So needless to say I wasn’t having any luck finding one of these things. I did some searching online which yielded no results and then one day, around lunch time, I stumbled upon this place advertising the boil. A quick search yielded some positive reviews so I decided to give it a whirl. MRB’s has a chill dark bar up front with a bar dog who saw my camera and quickly put his sunglasses on ran away. (much in the same way that Brooke Shields did a few days earlier when I stumbled upon her brunching it up in the French Quarter. I had my camera at my hip but little did she know I’d be more interested in shooting her plate than her face). In the back of the restaurant sits a partially shaded patio area with an outdoor bar and an area where this place does its grilling and big batches of crawdad boil. The crawdads themselves were spicy and juicy. I had a choice between 1 pound or 3 pounds. When asked if I could eat 3 pounds, the chef said, “Oh, yeah, no problem”. I was a little intimidated but like all good shellfish, more than half of their weight is their armor. It was more like a snack…or I guess a light lunch. Can’t wait to do it again!

MRB
515 St Philip St
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 222-5672

Crawdad Boil at MRB - New Orleans, Louisiana

Green Goddess – New Orleans Louisana

Located on a beautiful small alleyway of the French Quarter, lined with trees is a little restaurant with an open kitchen and a tiny inside dining area, called Green Goddess. Outside of the dining room is an quaint open-air dining area where the majority of the diners will sit. The food is fantastic, and the Chef, Chris Debarr, is a character, to say the least. To top off the amazingness of this place, they have an out-of-this-world, knock-your-socks-off Bacon Sundae! I wanted to eat a second one!

The Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-301-3347

Preparation of the Creole Curry Lamb Baklava

Lafcadio’s Creole Curry Lamb Baklava – savory lamb & mirliton baklava baked in Jamaican coconut curry, with curried walnuts & local honey

“Notorious” Bacon Sundae – Pecan praline ice cream with a creamy bacon caramel sauce carrying a bit of both Pink Himalayan & Black Lava Salts, & micro-planed Nueske’s Applewood Bacon, layered with whipped cream

Great Bars in New Orleans, Louisiana

Of course, the favorite past time of locals and tourists alike is drinking and New Orleans is the best place to imbibe with a great selection of bars. Here is a list of memorable places that I stopped in to have a drink or two (or 10).

Bar Tonique
820 North Rampart St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 324-6045

This place is a cocktail mecca. They make their own tonique water and have an impressive list of original and classic cocktails that always have a creative twist. The bar is beautiful and is a great place to hang at night or even just a great middle of the day drink place.

Making of a Sazerac

Sazerac

Dark & Stormy

Bar Dog (not a cocktail, just a dog)

One Eyed Jacks
615 Toulouse Street
New Orleans, LA 70130

Chill Bar up front, club in the back. The place hints of Burlesque and sure enough, they do a show there along with live bands a few days a week.

One Eyed Jacks

Three Muses Jazz Cafe
536 Frenchmen Street
New Orleans, LA

So far, my favorite place for Jazz. Great musicians like Glen David Andrews and Aurora Nealand’s Royal Roses. The food here is just as outstanding as the music. Come early, to get a table it gets crowded fast!

d.b.a
618 Frenchmen Street
New Orleans, LA. 70116
504.942.3731

We have two d.b.a’s in NYC and i’ve always known it to be a place to get an obscure beer or whiskey. The d.b.a in New Orleans is where you go for swing dancing and jazz singers.

The Spotted Cat Music Club
623 Frenchmen Street
New Orleans, Louisiana

Also a great jazz spot on frenchmen street. This is the place to be for Jazz folks. Arrive in New Orleans and make a bee line to this street, great food, even better music!

45 Choup
4529 Tchoupitoulas Street,
New Orleans, LA
(504) 891-9066 ‎

Very Cool Bar in Uptown. Its made from reclaimed wood from Katrina. The bartender here was one of the sweetest bartenders I’ve ever met.

Absinthe House
240 Bourbon Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 523-3181

I almost don’t want to put this place in the list because they were very rude about me taking pictures and actually kicked me out of the place. But, despite its stupid football helmet motif, it is a very old and very cool bar. The bartender was cool though.

The Old Absinthe House - New Orleans, Louisiana

The Parkway Po’ Boy & other sandwich terminology – New Orleans, Louisiana

Baguette = a long thin loaf of French bread
Po’ Boy = Poor Boy = Sandwich on a french-like baguette
Dressed = Lettuce, Tomato and Mayo

It all just kind of comes down to fancy ways to make a sandwich. just a different name. In fact, there are at least 13 different names for a sandwich in the USA. The most recognizable Po’ boys are made with Roast Beef, Shrimp or oysters. However there seems to be limitless types of ways to make the sandwich. The one in the picture is a combination of shrimp and roast beef in gravy. Parkway Bakery and Tavern in Mid-City may lack in character of their establishment (plastic tables stretched across a concrete patio area) but more than make up for it in flavor. It appears to be a fan-favorite among residents in New Orleans.

Parkway Bakery & Tavern
538 Hagan St
New Orleans, LA 70119
(504) 482-3047

Parkway Bakery & Tavern - New Orleans, Louisiana

Roast Beef & Shrimp Po’ Boy, Dressed

Napoleon House – New Orleans, Louisana

As I said in the previous post, New Orleans invented the cocktail. The Napoleon House perfected it. The must tries here are Pimm’s Cup, Dark & Stormy and Sazerac. Love all three. The food here is decent, although, I’ve had a better muffaletta. Still though, this is a great place to chill on a sunny and warm afternoon with a ice cold drink and a book. This place is so old and beautiful. Loaded with character. I found myself gravitating to this place anytime I was thirsty.

There seems to be a million ways to make a Pimm’s cup. I like the way Napoleon House does it:

1.) 1 shot of Pimm’s No. 1 into a high ball glass over ice.
2.) Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
3.) Top with Soda
4.) Garnish with a half cucumber slice.
5.) Enjoy!

edit: I think its important to note that the cocktail was not really invented in New Orleans. In fact, I don’t think that that debate has been settled yet. However, NOLA has made several cocktails famous, and have been called “The Birthplace of the Cocktail” by many.

The Napoleon House - New Orleans, Louisiana

Bar & Dining Area

Dining Area

Bar

Bust of Napoleon Bonaparte – this building was given to Napoleon as an option to escape exile from France in the early 1800′s. He of course, didn’t take it.

Muffaletta & Pimm’s Cup

Shrimp Remoulade served in Half Avocados

Mr. B’s Bistro – New Orleans, Louisana

Welcome to the first of many blog posts on New Orleans. The French Quarter is littered with all sorts of restaurants. One thing is for certain, most of the places on Bourbon St. should be avoided, if not simply because most of them are overcrowded bars, but moreso that they are overrated creole/cajun knockoffs. Mr. B’s is located a few blocks from Bourbon on Royal, which on most days is a much quieter part of the district that is very popular among locals and tourists alike. It was quite busy the night I dined, so I sat at the bar, which gave me the opportunity to try a few cocktails, including Brandy Milk Punch. It should be known that the cocktail was invented in New Orleans so I made sure to try a lot of different cocktails…you know, for the blog! It was rough, but hey, I do it all for you people! Brandy Milk Punch is a favorite for brunch. Mr. B’s is made with soft serve ice cream (they have a soft serve machine under the bar). See the recipe below for my take on the Brandy Milk-Espresso Punch.

Mr. B’s Bistro
201 Royal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 523-2078

GUMBO YA YA – A rich country style gumbo made with chicken and andouille sausage

SHRIMP AND GRITS – A sauté of applewood smoked bacon wrapped jumbo Gulf shrimp served with creamy stone ground yellow grits and red-eye gravy

HOT BUTTERED PECAN PIE – Topped with vanilla bean ice cream

Brandy Milk Punch – Brandy, Ice Cream, Nutmeg

Brandy Milk-Espresso Punch
4 oz. of Brandy
2 oz. of fresh brewed espresso
3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
3 oz. milk
a handful of crushed ice
dash of nutmeg

In a blender combine brandy, espresso, milk and ice and blend until well mixed. Poor into a glass and garnish with nutmeg. Enjoy!

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