McCrady's Tasting Menu {Charleston!}

We ate so much amazing food on our recent trip to Charleston, but one dinner deserves special mention. On Friday we treated ourselves to the tasting menu at McCrady's, one of Sean Brock's two amazing eateries.  McCrady's focuses on hyper-local ingredients and lots of in-house preparations. 

We started with three snacks.  The first was house cured coppa. The second was puffed Carolina Gold rice topped with kimchi. The rice crisp seriously tasted like a pork rind. Amazing! 

The last little snack was mind-blowing. A shrimp and Sea Island red pea fritter. Just one tiny bite, the blend of textures and flavors were awesome! Except I totally scalded my mouth.

 

The snacks were served with a champagne cocktail. I got really nervous because the cocktail was served in a full glass -- but luckily the tastes of wine served with the dishes were only 2-3 ounces. Otherwise, I would have needed a wheelbarrow to get out of there! 

 

The first course was basically potatoes and house-made fermented buttermilk. The fermentation made it taste almost like blue cheese. Underneath the crispy fried potatoes, there were also some slow-cooked potato coins. This dish was comforting and home-y, but the wine pairing was insane! It was an unfiltered sake that looked like chunky milk and tasted like over-ripe cantaloupe. It was so gross. I found myself inadvertently comparing it to breast milk (which I have never tasted). 

The next course was a clams and zucchini with a tomato and thyme broth that was poured table side. The broth was super fragrant and I love how the thyme oil created a ring on the outside of the lighter tomato broth.  The clams and charred tomatoes were served with a delicious, dry Austrian rose.

The smoked fish dish was paired with a peach Mostarda. This dish was served with a slightly sweet Vouvray, which is a French Chenin Blanc from the Loire Region.  This was one of the least memorable dishes of the night for me - definitely tasting, but not as memorable as the others. This is probably because I'm not usually a fan of smoked fish, though.

 

The "Charleston Ice Cream" was simply Carolina Gold prepared rice with herbs. The specially of the region was amazing - I was exclaiming that I could eat an entire huge bowl of that rice for dinner (it would have been a heck of a lot  cheaper than this tasting menu!) The rice was paired with a California Chardonnay - not usually my favorite wine, but it brought out the butteriness of the rice. 

The next dish was slightly crazy but really delicious! This is pig heart with corn and marigold. The corn was both a foam and some individual kernels. The green parts of the marigold were incredibly herbal and like nothing I'd had before. This dish was served with a German Pinot Noir (from the Ahr) region that was… interesting. It had a definitely barnyard-y nose.  

Perhaps my favorite dish was the lamb, raspberry, and truffle course. The black blobs were straight truffle puree (which was a little rich for me). There was a bit of raspberry jam and chantrelle mushrooms scattered around the plate, as well as some shiso on top of the truffle puree.  This dish was served with my favorite wine of the night, a Syrah from the Cote-Rotie region in the Cotes du Rhone. 

To cleanse the palate we had a fig sorbet with yogurt foam and some nut brittle. I loved the tartness of the yogurt, but this was not Biff's favorite.  The yogurt was really sour and the brittle was salty and sweet. I could have eaten this for dessert! 

Dessert was a blueberry cornmeal cake served over a stone fruit (plum and cherry) sauce with a white chocolate ganache.  The dish was topped with basil and lime zest.  The super cold and sweet ganache complimented the not-so-sweet cake (which was almost like a cornbread with berries in it). The dish was served with a Greek Vin Santo. I drank my fair share of vin santo on my Italy vacation, and the Greek version was just as delicious. 

The meal was insane and looking back on the photos makes me want to do it all again tomorrow night. it was great because even though we had so many courses, they were all pretty small. I didn't feel like I was going to die at the end of dinner… which was a good thing! 

Charleston Culinary Adventure {part 1}

This weekend, I took a trip to Charleston and did nothing but eat.  We tried to go to the beach, but this happened: 

Yes, that is a storm cloud directly over my head and only over my head. It was clearly a sign. Eat, jog (to get hungry again), shop, and rest/watch West Wing on Netflix.   Our Friday night dinner at McCrady's was so epic that it needs its own post, so stay tuned for that one. 

After our failed attempt at a beach trip, we stopped by Butcher and Bee, a sandwich shop and bread bakery.  We shared a couple of salads and a gigantic Korean BLT  Pork belly, spicy ssamjang (a wonderful tangy/spicy condiment), and a sweet glaze. The pork belly slab was bigger than an iPhone. no joke.  This place is off the beaten path (don't try to walk there) but the sandwiches are top notch- and they change the menu daily. 

Excuse the blurry iPhone photo… my hand was clearly shaking with pork belly excitement.  How cute is their branding, by the way? I love me some kraft stickers. 

In the afternoon, we did some aggressive window shopping and stopped at a wine bar called Bin 152 to devour a few glasses of Sancerre and some charcuterie (Rosette de Lyon).  

I could hang out at this wine bar all day. The staff is super friendly and laid back.  My photo disguises the giant hunk of cheese (Delice de Bourgogne) that was served with our charcuterie. So creamy. 

On Saturday night, we had a lively dinner at The Ordinary, a seafood restaurant housed in an old-time-y bank.  The high ceilings and tile decor were beautiful albeit super noisy.  The couple next to us apparently got in a screaming, storming-out-of-dinner-fight, and I didn't even notice! I guess that's one upside to a really noisy restaurant - a false sense of privacy. 

It doesn't matter how loud the place was, because the food was amazing. Excuse these crappy iPhone photos -- it was really dark in there. We started with a  few raw oysters.  They looked like oysters, so I didn't take a picture. 

This first dish was a tangy, caper-filled beef tartare served with fried oysters.  Both of these things gross me out when I think about them too much, but this was really delicious. The creamy texture of the beef was well-complimented by the crispiness of the oysters.

I've never had anything like this before.  

We also sampled some New Orleans-style BBQ shrimp -- which is not normal BBQ, but a delicious cream-filled sauce with lots of spices.  Another dish with a killer sauce was the Clams Meuniere, which had a wine, garlic, and cream based sauce (pictured below).

The sauces on both of those dishes were rich and delicious - luckily they served a lot of bread with them! We enjoyed some other courses, including a simply grilled amberjack "steak frites" and a tasty rice pudding with figs and nectarines.  Everything was on point -- next time I want to try their famous lobster roll. 

On Sunday morning, I tromped around town on foot, stopping at various bakeries that I wanted to try. Highlights included a bacon-apple fritter (which I sampled) from Glazed Gourmet Donuts, and sticky buns the size of my head from WildFlour Pastry (which I did not try - need to save something for the next time!) WildFlour only has their sticky buns on Sunday and the line was out the door! Since I was picking up treats for a dinner, I passed -- but they looked and smelled amazing… especially the ones glopped with a big smear of icing!

I had to save up room for our brunch at Husk. I've actually heard mixed reviews of the place from friends and family (but only glowing reviews from critics), so I was eager to try out their much-hyped burger, which contains both beef and ground bacon in the patty. 

The burger was unlike any I'd had before - the addition of bacon into the ground meat made it really smoky.  It was really tasty, but it wasn't my favorite burger of all time - I am a burger purist.  Keep the bacon on top, I say! To each her own. I did appreciate the gooeyness of the cheese, though - it made for excellent fry-dipping.  The house made benne bun was delicate but stood up to the dense burger.

Look at that delicious cheese goop! 

No brunch is complete without a bloody mary, and this one was pretty dang delicious. A drink that includes pickles AND prosciutto? You know how I feel about cocktails that include built in snacks. 

Husk also has a ridonculous bourbon menu, so we'll definitely be back at dinner time to try out a few drinks. It's the first time I've ever seen booze listed as "market price" on a menu, like a lobster! (It was Pappy Van Winkle). 

After this weekend, I'm eating salad every day.  It's really inspiring to me to visit Charleston and see all of the awesome and innovative dishes people are pumping out.  I wish that Charlotte's food scene compared, but we are definitely not there yet.   I'm hopeful, though - I know some pretty talented young chefs around here!

 

 

 

 

Eating Seasonally and Locally (Italy Recap)

As with my French adventures, I found the Italian food culture inspiring for their use of seasonal, local ingredients. As I mentioned before, wild boar was on almost every menu in Florence, because apparently boars run rampant in Tuscany this time of year. The olive oil at even the humblest restaurants is delicious enough to eat straight, because it is remarkably fresh, as it comes from nearby producers.  There were plenty of springtime flavors that I saw popping up on menus again and again, but here are some of the ones that I found most delicious. 

Fava Beans

We ate some (chicken) liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti.  Silence of the lambs… anyone?  During a long lunch in Tuscan wine country, we ate a huge plate of these beans.  They were served raw, and you dipped each bean in salt before eating it -- kind of like edamame on steroids.  It was a simple, but extremely crisp and fresh way to start the meal. 

 

Tartufo/Truffles

Holy. Truffles.  We visited Italy right in the peak of truffle season and definitely reaped the benefits.  Now, if your'e like me,  you probably associate "truffle" with ruffle fries, a trendy American bar snack (french fries drenched with truffle oil and parmesan).  Truffle oil is heavy and gross and not at all the same as fresh truffles. 

 

This is a red onion custard with a truffle-scented foam, fresh truffles and a parmesan tuile.  The dish was light but rich and had just the right amount of earthiness from the truffles. 

 Then, we hit the MOTHER LOAD of truffles in Rome at Ristorante Tullio.

There is pasta somewhere under there.  Literally this entire dish was buttered pasta with a giant mountain of black truffles shaved on top.  At first we didn't order this because of the absurd price tag, but hey -- when in Rome, right? It was totally worth it. It was hard to believe such simple dish could have such complex flavors.  

Finally, we ate an amazing dish at imago that featured black truffles.  It was a pan fried scallop stuffed with mozzarella that had black truffles shaved on top.   I didn't take pictures at this restaurant because it was really fancy, but I'm kicking myself because the food was gorgeous. After a week of delicious but rustic cuisine, we sat down to a nine-course tasting menu of immaculately plated, modern cuisine.  Maybe one day I'll be a big time food blogger and then I'll have no shame in whipping out my camera at fancy restaurants. 

 

Carciofi/Artichokes

We also hit the high point of artichoke season. I was jumping for joy because artichokes have been my favorite food since I was a little tot (followed by lamb chops and chocolate mousse, obviously).  I ate them at least once a day on our trip.  Here are some examples: 

Pizza toppings. I'm not going to waste too much time discussing this, as I plan to devote an entire post to pizza. It is one of my great loves, after all…. but let's just say that artichokes are a baller pizza topping. 

Roman style artichokes.  Drenched in olive oil.  So tender that you can even eat the stems. I could easily eat ten of these. (By the way, artichokes are one of the naturally highest-fiber foods, so that would be a terrible idea).

Fried Artichokes. Admittedly, this is not my favorite way to prepare artichokes. I find that the artichokes are a little watery to work as a fried vegetable. I think you lose something of the delicate texture once it's battered.  I had the urge to dip them in ranch dressing, which would have been a travesty.

Stuffed artichokes.  These were stuffed with ground beef and tomato sauce.  They look pretty unattractive, but the taste was amazing and one of the only artichoke dishes I've ever had that could be described as "hearty".

Artichoke pasta.  Simply prepared, again with just olive oil, artichokes, and the pasta. The freshness of the ingredients truly elevated this simple dish to something awesome -- this was one of the best things I ate all week. 

 

 

 

 

 

Gelato (Italy recap)

I sampled my fair share of gelato while in Italy, despite my resolution to only steal tiny bites of my travel companions'. It's just too good!  If you are wondering what makes gelato different from regular ice cream, the biggest difference is in the method of production. Ice cream is churned with a lot of air and served at a really cold temperature.  Gelato does not have as much air mixed into it, which makes it seem more dense and creamy. Also, it's served at a higher temperature, so it is less icy and more creamy.  (The ratio of ingredients is also a little different - gelato uses more milk and less cream than ice cream).

After one week of voracious gelato-eating, I can say that I've decided on the best shop in Florence… in my opinion anyway. 

Pignoli: Pine nut gelato.  This was pretty great. The version I tasted didn't have a super strong pine nut flavor, so I imagine that they infused the nuts into the dairy.  I'm going to try to make this one at home to see if I can amp up the flavor a bit. 

Ricotta and Fig: Hands down the best gelato I had all week.  The tanginess of the ricotta balanced out the sweetness of the figs perfectly.  Unfortunately I don't think I could replicate this one at home because the texture and flavor of Italian ricotta is really different than ours in America - it tastes a little bit more sour and the consistency is much thicker. 

Gianduja: Chocolate. Hazelnut. Enough said.  I add this in to point out that if you ever see "Gianduja" as opposed to "Nutella" at a gelato place, you should definitely order the former. 

Mascarpone:  This was  crowd favorite, although it didn't top my list.  Mascarpone is a key component in tiramisu; it's actually a soft cheese (like, really soft - almost liquid) with a really mellow taste.  I think this gelato would be perfect to pair with a rich plated dessert.

Nougat:  I ordered this one by accident from a place that didn't have English translations (the lady told me what it was after I ate it). I  think nougat and I imagine the nasty filling inside of a three musketeers bar.  I should have known better after culinary school -- nougat basally means something that is nut based.  In this case, the gelato was filled with bits of a hazelnut praline (almost like a hazelnut brittle). A happy surprise,  indeed! 

Fior de latte: After tasting this a few times, I still had to google it to fully understand what it means ("milk flower").  It's confusing because this is also the name of a type of mozzarella, but in this instance, ti's basically a sweet cream or vanilla flavor. 

Cookies and Cream: I got a kick out of this one, because the "cookies" were little broken bits of biscotti -- not the oreo-inspired flavor I'm used to! It was tasty, but a different texture, as the cantucci added a bit of crisp.

And, just so they don't feel left out, here are some other, more traditional flavors that I sampled: Salted Caramel, Lemon, Raspberry, Coffee, Tiramisu, Coconut.  A gelato a day keeps the doctor away, right?

The Italian Meal

Lunch aftermath.

Three important things I learned in the past few days: 

1. Don't watch a movie about being stranded at sea on a tiny raft while you're flying over the Atlantic Ocean.  Thanks a lot, Pi, for making my heart rate 190 BPM for the past 10 hours. 

2. If you are afraid of getting hit by a car, don't go to Rome, ever.  Most of the crosswalks don't have lights and the traffic is akin to New York City, except drivers (seem to) go twice as fast.  Basically, you just have to jump off the curb and hope that people will slam on their brakes before turning you into a pancake.  Or you can be like me and wait for someone else to cross the street and scoot right next to them. 

3. Always bring an extra fold up suitcase when you're traveling. Duh.  I'm pretty sure when I sat on my suitcase to try and zip, it caused a black pepper and sesame blend I was smuggling home to explode all over everything.

This past week I was lucky enough to travel to Florence and Rome and I had some pretty excellent food adventures.  I've had enough gelato, pizza, and cheese to last me a month -- which is fortunate, because my wedding is six weeks away and I'll be eating spinach and water only from now until then.  I couldn't possibly put all of the tasty things I ate into one post, so I'll have to split it up.  I was too cheap to buy internet access at our apartment in Florence, so this is going to be a slight delayed reaction. 

There was so much amazing food and so many amazing meals in Italy that I decided to do a few topical blog posts to outline some of my favorite eats. In case you are 0% Italian (like yours truly), I thought I'd write a bit about the experience of the Italian meal -- because I had no idea how many different elements were involved! Luckily, I only read tourism books focused on food, so I wasn't entirely blindsided. 

The Italian meal… oh boy.  I seriously can't imagine how Italian people eat so much food and stay so skinny. I never saw anyone eating breakfast, with the exception of espresso shots (which you drink standing… DRIVE BY CAFFEINE!) 

Antipasto - the best versions of this usually involve prosciutto, a giant blob of mozzarella cheese, and some sort of grilled or marinated vegetable (artichokes, please).  Other taste examples include bruschetta or crostini.  Oh, and in case you wanted me to solve an age old debate - it's officially pronounced "bru-SKET-ta"  and not "bru-SHEH-ta"… the latter is the name of a famous Italian mob boss. 

Primi - Pasta dishes.  Specialities vary regionally -- in Florence, wild boar ragout was on almost every menu.  Rome is famous for cacao e pepe, which is a simple but delicious spaghetti with cheese, pepper, and tons of oil. 

Secondi - Lots of meat, especially in tuscan cuisine.  Bisteca Florentine, a huge t-bone steak, is popular and fairly absurd.  The minimum size is 1kg -- 2.2 pounds.  

Contorni - vegetables and salads. served along side the meal. 

Cantucci and Vin Santo - this was served at many places we ate.  It's a dessert wine to dip biscotti in -- I don't think you're actually supposed to drink it, but rather suck it out of the cookie

Dolci - dessert.  Cheesecake, napoleons, and panna cotta were on most menus. 

 

As you can see, this is quite an ambitious undertaking! Our really ambitious meals ended with grappa or limoncello and some espresso. 

Limoncello: not just for ladies.   Stay tuned for some highlights from my amazing vacation.  Ciao! 

 

Chapel Hill

A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to visit some friends in the Chapel Hill area.  Even though I live in NC, I'd never spent any time in that area, and I have to say that I loved Durham and Chapel Hill! Not as much as Charlotte, obvi, but I can't wait to go back.  We had an awesomely food-centric weekend. 
Also, we played about a million games of Rummikub. I'd never heard of this game before, but I'm now addicted despite the fact that I'm embarrassingly terrible. I've found that in my old age, I've become a really graceful loser.  As long as I don't come in last place, I'm happy as a clam.  My fourteen year old self shudders. 

 

We had a really amazing meal at a restaurant I've been wanting to try for awhile: Lantern. 

This is a really popular restaurant, and when we arrived at 7pm there was a two hour wait. Luckily, there's an awesome bar across the street, the Crunkelton, which serves amazing craft cocktails. I thought the name was because people GET CRUNK when they go there, but it's actually the owner's last name. The place had a great atmosphere with oversized, rustic furniture and cozy lighting.  I had one old fashioned, which nearly knocked my non-liquor drinking self on my bum.  Such a wino. 

Lantern is a nice looking restaurant, but the bar in the back is really where it's at.  The tables in the back are cozy booths and the atmosphere is way more relaxed. 

Some of the highlights included a ginormous, whole flounder

Don't order this on a first date unless you feel comfortable picking tiny fish bones out of your teeth in front of a complete stranger. 

 

A meaty pork chop with kimchi croquettes

Call me uncultured, but I can't really get behind kimchi. It just…stinks. The combination of kimchi and mashed potatoes was a little different. 

This steak was tasty, but the dish was really made by the spinach… which was deep fried! It was like amazing crispy spinach potato chips.  I want to eat spinach like that every day! 

 

The desserts were pretty outstanding.  I'm not just saying that because we were a glass of champagne and two bottles of wine deep. (Yikes). 

 

Frozen passion fruit custard with meringue wafers and grapefruit-prosecco sorbet. Um, my love for grapefruit is only surpassed by my love of prosecco and passion fruit.  This was pretty much made for me.  The only thing I didn't like about the dish was the candied ginger sprinkled all over it. The taste was a little bit strong with all of the other delicate flavors. (I was going to say "feminine flavors"… is that sexist? Meh.) Ugh - I want another one of these right now. 

We also ordered a chocolate molten cake, which is my significant other's favorite. Of course the future husband of the pastry girl loves the most eighties-tastic dessert out there. This was a good one though, it was served with a pecan brittle ice cream that had a great balance of sweet and salty. 

 

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic meal. I'm never one to take pictures at a restaurant, but for some reason I was feeling it this night! (I blame Mr. Crunkelton).  If you are ever in Chapel Hill, I seriously recommend trying to elbow your way into this place.  Also, our server looked almost exactly like Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother.  I'm pretty sure he didn't appreciate me talking about it all night, but you really should go get a look at him. 

 

 

 

The Big Easy, Pt. 2

Oh my goodness. I survived the DNC. Barely. Charlotte turned into a madhouse for the past week or so… I had to go through several different security clearances even to get into the restaurant. After six days in a row of that, I needed a little break. I spent the weekend vegging out in sweatpants, watching football, and making lazy lounging around foods like risotto and chili. Oh, and registering for a crapload of expensive pots and pans at Williams and Sonoma. I think I may have gotten out of control with that little scanner thingy. It might be time to go online and trim up that list a bit. 

Anyway, I'm glad to take another look at my New Orleans trip because it's like reliving the fun all over again!  Hopefully you caught Part 1 of recap already. On to part 2! 

I'm from New Jersey. When people say Sno-Ball, I'm envisioning a pink, round, high-fructose bomb covered in fake coconut.  Apparently this is not the case in New Orleans. I was skeptical that the Snowball would pale in comparison to my beloved Italian Ice, but I have to say that it was pretty amazing! We went to Hansen's Snow Bliz and I had a cherry snowball. It was actually exactly like snow with slurpee flavoring on top. Wonderful! It sort of inspired me to buy some slurpee syrup and dump it on real snow.

We also ate one of the most amazing inventions on the planet: TATER TOT-CHOS.  Yes, tater tot nachos.  They were at this little bar called 13 and they may have changed my life.  I actually may have scared a group of eligible bachelors away from my friend with my enthusiasm about tater tot-chos (sorry about that, btw). It was like "Game over, jokers. Two of the best foods on the planet have become one and I'm about to dive face first into this plate". 

Tater tot > tortilla chip. I will use a potato as a vehicle to eat almost anything. Also, please excuse this crappy iPhone photo. I was trying to be stealth… and my hands were shaking with excitement. 

 

We also went to a really cool brunch spot called Atchafalaya.  I know, it's a silly name. Half of the words in New Orleans sound made up to me. A few years ago, during one of my first trips down there,  my friend texted me to meet him on Tchoupitoulas street and I was all like "Whoa… look at this crazy drunk text Daniel just sent me!". Silly me. Incidentally, it's one of the main roads in the city. 

Anyway, I had a really interesting and delicious dish -- duck confit with blackberries and mangoes tossed in a bacon vinaigrette. The whole thing was topped with a poached egg and hollandaise.  It sounds like an incredibly random combination of ingredients, but it worked so well together!  The menu was full of unique combinations like this - this place definitely put a creative spin on brunch classics.  A nice little light breakfast before an afternoon of shopping. Ha. Ha. 

 

Impressively, three animals on one plate - duck, pig, and chicken. Oh my. 

 

Finally, I can't wrap up a New Orleans trip without visiting the place where i had my very first cup of coffee when I was 11 years old, Cafe du Monde. If you've ever spent more than 2 hours with me, you know how much coffee I drink, so clearly this establishment has played a pivotal role in my life. Though super touristy, it's still fun to visit and get a cafe au lait and a famous beignet buried under a pound of powdered sugar. 

My nearly all-black wardrobe is not beignet compatible.

I think those are all of the culinary high points from my New Orleans trip.  It was great to catch up with my girlfriends and it was certainly a nice break before the craziness of the DNC.  I'm already excited for my next Sno-Bliz. 

 

 

 

The Big Easy, pt 1.

Oh my goodness, New Orleans. Every time I leave, I feel like I've been hit by a bus full of oysters, bloody marys, and heavy cream.  I was lucky enough to spend a few days there this weekend catching up with my awesome friends!  Am I the only one that feels like friend reunions revolve around a steady rotation of eating crazy amounts of food, drinking crazy amounts of booze, showering/getting dressed, and sleeping a teeny tiny amount? I need a vacation from my vacation to catch up on sleep! 

Here are just a few of the high points: 

I got to hold this baby alligator! If you have never held a baby alligator (who has, really?), I will have you know that it is smooth and cold, not scaly and dry.  Weird, right?  I love this adorable baby alligator. A few hours later, when I was back in the city, that I guiltily realized that I was chowing down on his auntie about halfway through an order of alligator nuggets. 

Whoops.  Alligator really does taste like chicken. I kid you not.  We ate these at  Cochon, a restaurant I've been itching to try for a couple of years. It did not disappoint. 

 

My weekend was full of plenty of these: 

I have no idea why I associate Bloody Marys with New Orleans. The best part about the Bloodies there is that it seems to be a contest as to who can put the most garnish in the cocktail. It's basally a meal and a beverage all in one. I feel pretty good about myself knowing that I'm getting, like, five servings of vegetables with every glass. And two servings of vodka. And probably six servings of hot sauce.  

 

Another staple of a good New Orleans trip (in my head, at least) is grilled oysters. 

These were from Superior Seafood. I hate eating raw oysters because it feels like you're eating a booger (NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW), but if you cook them up and drown them in butter and parmesan, I'm in heaven. It's probably a faux pas to drink cheesy butter from an oyster shell, right? Oh well. 

One fantastic thing that I didn't get any pictures of was our lunch at Commander's Palace. It was on the fancier side, so I didn't want to whip out my iPhone and snap photos.  The gumbo, sautéed drum, and banana soufflé were all delicious, but what really blew my mine were the 25 cent martinis. Seriously? That's a pretty ridiculous bargain, considering my dining companion ordered hers with six olives. I mean, that's at least forty cents worth of olives!!!

One unfantastic thing about New Orleans is the tap water. Boy, is it gross. It tastes like a swamp.  Anyhow, this is just a small sampling of the delicious fare that I indulged in this weekend -- stay tuned because there's more to come!