NO Dining -- Great New Finds and Some Disappointments

This may be the first time we have come to this city without indulging in the traditional crawfish étouffé or jambalaya. Instead we decided to search out some of the more recent NO cuisine. One general comment about food in NO: it is heavy, sugar-filled and served in large portions, all of which accounts for the epidemic of obesity on display here this weekend.

We visited some old haunts, too, starting with the Central Grocery (see Roadfood site for more info) for the best muffaletta sandwich on the planet. We are not sure what their secret is since the sandwiches are made behind a wall and no customers or cameras are permitted to go there. As good as the sandwiches are, they sat heavily on our old stomachs for the rest of the day, forcing us to take a nap. ;-)

We also revisited Cafe Beignet on Royal, the site of previous early morning, post-walk stops. With croissants that were really croissant-shaped Parker House dinner rolls and orange juice that contained almost no real juice, that experience was a disappointment, and we will likely cross Cafe Beignet off our dining list for the future. There are plenty of other cafe options in the French Quarter. Though, the best we found was Starbucks -- alas!

Before we came to NO, we made dinner reservations at a perennial favorite restaurant, Bayona. Sadly, this was not our best experience there. The food good, but not outstanding (Paul had a tasty stuffed crab appetizer and an okay pork chop, and Katy had a decent salad and interesting Rabbit entree). The real problem was the slowness of the service. We had 8pm reservations with the hope of being out by at least 9:30 to get to the 9:00 show (late) at Tipitina's, for which we had tickets. As it turned out, we did not get done with our meal until 10:20. It took them 1 hour 10 minutes from the time we ordered to get our entree out. Not sure what the problem was. They were pretty full, as they always are, but they should be organized enough to get food out timely. Of course, by the end of the meat we were too frustrated and tired to wend our way over to Tip's to catch what little might be left of the show. So we missed it.

So much for the old standards. Among the new places we tried, there were some winners and some losers. The losers included the dining room at Snug Harbor. We thought it would be convenient to eat there before the Ellis Marsallis show because there are not many dining options in that area of town. We would not go back. Katy had ordinary fried shrimp of the kind you can find at any cheap restaurant. Paul went for the blackened fish and got blackened hockey puck.

Another so-so choice was Oceana for breakfast -- "Petunia's Breakfast." Its fare is billed as a traditional southern breakfast. Paul, for example, had "Maw-Maw's Cajun Breakfast," which was basically jambalaya with eggs and bacon instead of andouile sausage and chicken. Here is where you really saw the excess portions and heavy food! I think we left behind at least half of what we were served. It may be worth the experience, but only once.

The real treats and finds in New Orleans were Lilette and Le Foret two relatively new restaurants, one just outside the Quarter and the other in the Uptown District. These we will definitely return to at the first opportunity.

Lilette:

A search of Time-Picayune restaurant articles brought my attention to Lilette, which is on Magazine Street in the Uptown area - a trendy area with plenty of art galleries, shops and other restaurants and some great examples of NO architecture. Lillete can be reached via the St. Charles St. streetcar (get off at Antoine St. and go a few blocks south) or by taxi from the Quarter. Since it is closed on Sunday, the only opportunity for a dining foray there was lunch on Saturday. Even so, it was packed. It is clearly a local favorite. The dining was leisurely - no rushing to get you out even on a Saturday when they were turning people away -- and the service great. While we had only luncheon food, its quality portends great dinner fare as well. The food was flavorful, well prepared and in right-sized portions. Katy had an arugula salad and a delicious duck confit with grilled pears from the appetizer menu for her main course, making a thoroughly satisfying lunch. Paul had a half dozen exquisite oysters followed by a chicken salad that contained, among other things, port-infused figs, which he loved.

Le Foret

At the recommendation of a helpful sales representative the Mann Gallery in the Quarter, who declared that the food was so good it brought tears to her eyes, we made reservations for Sunday dinner at Le Foret. While we are not given to easy crying, Paul did nearly swoon at the lobster cappuccino soup he had for an appetizer! The restaurant is located on Camp St. just across from the Sheraton Hotel on Canal, and it has only been open for 10 months. On Sunday it was almost empty. Being so close to the Quarter, at this point Le Foret must predominantly rely on tourists or business men and women for its clientele and Sunday is, of course, a slow day for both.

The meal began Le Foret with a number of ameuses bouches, each a taste treat. The bread was freshly made. Katy had a delicious leek salad, sadly without the Gorgonzola dulce that usually accompanies this Delicious salad (lactose intolerance), and Paul had the aforementioned lobster soup. When we recovered from that we were brought our entrees. Katy had a filet mignon with truffle sabayon, accompanied by potatoes and kale, and Paul quickly devoured his red snapper accompanied by spinach with raisins (a really nice touch) -- all in all, simple flavors, deliciously cooked.

Finally, we returned home on Monday for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and left over pizza dinner -- cuisine ala Kunzweig!