My wife and I just got back from 4 days/nights in New Orleans - we lucked out when Gordon missed the city, and only had to deal with rain one morning, althugh the humidity was pretty oppressive.
I had used this thread for research - Peche was our first dinner in town, and we really enjoyed it. The smoked tuna dip appetizer, combined with their fried bread, was delicious, and the sauce with the black drum entree was very tasty. We also hit Cochon for lunch - very good as well. And we liked Seaworthy quite a bit as well, although the drum entree there wasn’t quite as good as the one they did at Peche.
We hit Bayona for dinner one night, and enjoyed that as well, and finished the trip off at Arnaud’s.
The only place we went to twice, though, is worth a mention - the Bayou Wine Garden on North Rendon in what I believe is called midtown. Serious by the glass wine selection, and a very funky bar food menu for snacking on. I had a Taylor Ham Banh Mi on my first visit that was deelish, and we split a bacon & brie sandwich the 2nd time that was also good, plus they had these chorizo and cheese deep-fried dumplings/won tons that were positively addictive. Very casual, but we liked it enough to go back for another lunch.
Peche was not quite up to prior visits - still very good and worth the visit, but lacking the magic I had on my first visit.
Brennan’s on the other hand was fantastic, exceeded expectation - great service that perfectly balanced friendly/contemporary and old school classy, and the food also strikes a nice balance between classic NOLA and more contemporary influences - like a riff on shrimp and grits that employed black rice and kimchi to great effect.
Went to Napoleon House out of convenience - decent muffuletta, lousy po boy, good enough Pimm’s cup on a hot day - best thing was a muffuletta salad for those of us not eating bread. Killer Po-boys the next day was damn good for the non-traditional debris with pickled green beans! Really excellent.
Creole cocktail at Arnaud’s French 75 was damn near perfect.
Willa Jean’s for breakfast is fun and good - nice shrimp and grits, impressive baked goods, tasty though strange biscuits (like a pot-pie top more than a biscuit).
We love both Laura’s and Southern Candymakers for pralines and other sweets - and they are both generous with the samples. Always stop and buy things at both.
Heading back down for our anniversary again in March. We are staying at the new “Nopsi” Hotel which we noticed being built last year. It is an old public service building and naturally has a new restaurant called “Public Service.” The menu looks very interesting but I have not seen any reviews yet. Curious if anyone has been or knows anything about it. Any other recent experiences are helpful as well.
Heading down for JazzFest in May…has anybody gone to Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits? Looks like a cool place to hang out and sip some wine before a show?
OK…made a reservation at “Bordeaux,” a brand new place on Magazine. Looks very interesting. We also have rezzies at Cochon and Bywater Bistro . In addition, I left a few nights open to play by ear…guess it depends on how much we eat for lunch!
I am also looking into “Gris Gris” on Magazine…seems quite interesting!
We will probably get crawfish at Grand Isle…fun place near the Casino and Aquarium.
Wanted to follow up since we went here for the first time. It was a great place to get away from the hectic pace that can happen in New Orleans. Walk in, pick a wine, pick some cheese, and pay at the counter. They open your wine and take your cheese to make up a cheese plate. You take the wine grab an ice bucket and head to the “backyard” to find a table and just chill in the shade. Big fans blowing and music on stage, pretty cool place if you’ve got a couple of hours to just chill out. The wine list could be much better, but we had a perfectly fine txakolina which pAired well with the heat.
August- very good, soft shell local was the best dish
Brennan’s- really fun. 6 pages of growers champagne! Sweetbreads and sheepshead fish were excellent.
Arnauds- okay. Classic environment. Faillia Sonoma chard for $60.
Re evolution, great Sunday brunch! Crab beignets and really intense eggs Benedict.
Pat O’Briens- fun, but the food was not that good.
The food at the jazz fest is great- dozens of restaurants from the area. Crawfish bisque, fried bread sandwiches and gumbo til the cows come home. Great food city!
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