la bonne nourriture et de bon temps

I never visited New Orleans when I was younger, and I'm kind of glad I didn't. I think that back in the day, I would have spent the entire time on Bourbon Street, drinking sickly-sweet concoctions out of glasses that were ginormous. I would have stayed out all night and slept til mid-day, then headed back to Bourbon Street where mardi-gras beads and boobs are the featured attractions.

I was in NOLA for about 4 days last week and spent all of 10 minutes on Bourbon St. - and that was only because I forced Larry to take me so that I could at least see it. (I'm lying - we actually walked down Bourbon St. on our way to catch the St. Charles streetcar, but it was during the day so I don't know if it really counts.)

Anyway, what an amazing city. The buildings are beautiful. I would love to be in an Architecture course and travel there to go on a scavenger hunt. Sarah captured all sorts of other great observations on her blog, such as how friendly the people are and how much that city loves their NFL team. (Saints banners EVERYWHERE!) St. Louis cathedral is incredible, Royal St. has the best shops, the French Market is like a fun giant flea market, the houses on St. Charles are - well, I'm running out of adjectives - they are um, pretty. It is safe to say that I really enjoyed our trip there.

However, I am now feeling the repercussions. As in.... my jeans barely fit. We seriously ate our way through New Orleans. Between Larry and I, we enjoyed the following:

Thursday night: Shrimp Remoulaude and red beans and rice at The Napoleon House.
Friday morning: Beignets at Cafe du Monde followed by an omelet, burger and grits at Camilla Grill.

Friday mid-morning snack for Larry: fried chicken from the Brother's convenience store

(photo courtesy of Sarah)

Friday lunch: fried chicken and sausage and rabbit jambalaya at Coops
Friday dinner: Stella restaurant (we all wanted a "fancy" dinner, plus it was Dale's birthday.)
I had "Lobster Scented Lemon Fish with Grilled Eggplant Ratatouille, Fried Pearl Mac & Cheese, Tomato Confit and Garden Basil Pesto and Tapenade Butter,"
Larry had "Miso and Sake Glazed Japanese Mero Sea Bass with Udon, Green Tea and Soba Noodles, Canadian Lobster, Blue Crab and Shrimp Broth."
It was fancy but perfect - it started with an "amuse-bouche" of one shrimp and a shot glass that contained pureed mango with champagne and caviar. It ended with a fancy complimentary assortment of bite-sized desserts - some truffles, raspberry marshmallows, pralines, meyer lemon tartlets, etc.... Since we aren't exactly well-bred, Larry grabbed one of the chocolate peanut butter desserts as soon as it was set on the table - hence the one missing dessert in the photo:
Saturday brunch: Muffaletta at Central Grocery
Saturday dinner: ravioli, cannoli, pesto pasta, meatballs, roast beef, Italian wedding soup, caprese salad, chocolate covered strawberries and about a zillion other things at the wedding (Not to mention an open bar...)

Sunday brunch: The Palace Cafe - Shrimp Tchefuncte and crabmeat quiche (picture n/a)

Sunday dinner: 2 dozen chargrilled oysters and a roastbeef po'boy at Acme Oyster House (where we shared a table with a very nice math professor from Canada that teaches in Arkansas - he shared his pitcher of beer with Larry. I declined, as I wasn't drinking any beer other than Abita.)
Monday morning: a muffin at the airport (not pictured)

Monday lunch: boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings in the airport (not pictured)

It was really almost a perfect trip. When you travel with 14 people, you never know how things are going to turn out... but this was an amazing group of friends and we had a great time.

Laissez les bon temps rouler indeed....