New Orleans, LA, Part I

Bridge Nationals have taken me to some sad, sad culinary wastelands, New Orleans makes up for it and then some. I went out everyday, sometimes twice a day to a restaurant on my list and I still did not get to it all; I could have really used another nine days. I should have taken notes, or pictures to help with recall. Forgive me if the details are cloudy.

Breakfast/Lunch

Mother’s

It’s a classic, some people think it’s overrated, but I really enjoyed Mother’s. We actually came here twice – for breakfast and lunch. For lunch, I had the shrimp po’ boy, turnip greens and jambalaya. The sandwich was okay, it needed more dressing? Hot sauce? Something to give it more kick. I loved the greens and the jambalaya was quite good. Steve seemed to really enjoy his fried chicken po’ boy. We returned for breakfast later in the week and I had an excellent biscuit with their house made hot sausage and grits.

http://mothersrestaurant.net/

Café Fleur de lis

It is a small eatery, down the street from our hotel. It was packed to the gills. The most notable thing was the hash browns – they were crispy, well seasoned and delicious. Everything else was good, but not great.

http://www.cafefleurdelis.com/

Croissant D'or Patisserie

I woke up and decided instead of going out for breakfast, that coffee, croissants and the newspaper was the way to go. My early morning stroll revealed a very different Bourbon St from the night before. People hosing off the sidewalks, cleaning up the broken glass, and trying to get rid of the vomit before it bakes in the hot New Orleans sun. The pastry shop is small and cute and I couldn’t decide between all the options so I got 6 croissants for 2 people: blueberry, raspberry, almond, chocolate, sausage and a ham and cheese. The croissants were not outstanding; but an admirable attempt in the impossibly hot and humid climate. I think the ham and the almond were the best of the bunch.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/croissant-d-or-patisserie-new-orleans

Café du Monde

Oh, what a cliché and a tourist trap – I would hate it if it wasn’t so perfect. You can’t go to the French Quarter and not have a beignet and iced coffee there. The first time we went the line for a table was down the block – at least an hour wait. So, instead we went to the take out window (15 minute wait), got 2 frosty frozen café au laits and a bag of beignets covered in half a pound of powdered sugar. We enjoyed our breakfast in the park across the street. We returned later, on a weekday, and a table was easily procured. Powdered sugar flew everywhere from the cooling breeze of the ceiling fans and my frozen café au lait gave me an unbelievable ice cream headache, yet it was so iconically right. The beignets are perfectly fried, light and fluffy. I love that when you call fried dough by it’s French name you can eat it for breakfast.

http://www.cafedumonde.com/

Somethin’ Else Café

Steve and I happened upon this place in desperation – it was nearing game time and we wanted breakfast not lunch (hard to find at noon). We liked it enough that we returned later in the week. The most notable thing was the chicken fried bacon. It was a thick strip of bacon, battered and deep fat fried. It was so crispy and delicious, and yet it felt so wrong.

The second time I went I had the Roast Beast, an astounding mountain of roast beef chunks and ends and gravy covering a tender biscuit. It was overly salty, but otherwise quite good.

http://www.somethinelsecafe.com/Welcome.html

Central Grocery

It’s a small grocery store that sells the classic muffaletta by whole rounds or halves.

What is a mufflaletta? It is a sandwich on a round sesame studded Italian loaf with layers of capicola, salami, mortadella, emmentaler and provolone and then covered in a marinated olive, celery, carrot and cauliflower salad. The whole thing comes together in a symphony of deliciousness. Many places in New Orleans sell this sandwich - Central Grocery’s is my favorite.  

(504) 523-1620

923 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70116