Mardi Gras is right around the corner and what better way to pay homage to the great city of New Orleans than with a New Orleans themed posting. I’ll come clean, I’ve actually never been to actual Mardi Gras. The idea of New Orleans filled with THAT many people just boggles my mind. I mean, we’re talking 500,000 people PLUS, PLUS. Bourbon Street is not even THAT long of a street. The equivalent would be dropping myself into the middle of Times Square on New Year’s Eve and that idea just doesn’t appeal to me. BUT, New Orleans during Halloween is just lovely. The number of people that attend is significantly less. You get the parade and the fun and the beads up close, right on the route lines without having to elbow your way through. The weather is mild and crisp sans the humidity & mosquitoes (though they do sometimes stick around!)
Anyway, New Orleans is hands down a culinary & spirits extravaganza. It’s already been months since I’ve been there and the flavors I experienced there are still fresh in my mind. The hotel I stayed in during my week-long visit is located in the Historic Garden District, a few St. Charles Avenue trolley stops away in a more quiet, traditional area. In the Garden District is where you will find all of those grand, amazing historical homes with elaborate wrought iron fences and balconies. It’s where Lafayette Cemetery #1 is located and across the street is the famed Commander’s Palace. In operation since 1880, Commander’s Palace offers traditional southern & Creole food served in a setting that is also traditionally Southern.
The waiters are dressed to the nines, ever attentive and aim to please. Additionally, and more importantly, Commander’s Palace serves 25 CENT martinis during the week! YES, 25 CENTS! But, wanting to get the full experience that Commander’s has to offer, I took the liberty of booking myself for the Sunday Jazz Brunch. YOU will need to make a reservation if you choose to go there on a Sunday. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of the food to be honest, but nothing prepared myself for the food that I ate that day. My brunch experience set the bar HIGH for the rest of the week. The food was DELECTABLE. I opted for the Price Fixe menu that included three courses and a Bloody Mary served from an ice block. The first course, a Gumbo YaYa included whiskey barrel chicken simmered in a rich poultry stock, RICH was not the word. The andouille sausage was house made and also amazing. The second dish, Eggs Couchon de Lait featured perfectly poached eggs served over rosemary biscuits with a smokey braised pork debris & bourbon bacon fat hollandaise. You don’t understand how PERFECT this dish was. It was smoky, savory, decadent! This dish was one of the BEST dishes I’ve ever eaten in my life.
Forget Daniel Boulud, forget Thomas Keller & Colicchio—I devoured every last bit, demanding that the waiter go back to the kitchen and tell the guy at the sauce station that I wanted to bring a gallon of this sauce home! Okay, I just told him to send my compliments, but you get the drift. When I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, the dessert came out, Creole Bread Pudding Souffle. The waiter comes over, breaks the soufflé and then pours a warm whiskey cream sauce onto it. The experience was pure heaven.
The jazz band took my A-Train request and I never wanted to leave Commander’s Palace. We loosened our belt buckles and decided a walk was in order to digest what we had just destroyed.
The next day we took a walking tour of Lafayette Cemetery #1, organized and led by a member of the Save Our Cemeteries Organization a non-for profit dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the historic cemeteries in Louisiana. The tour was $10 a person with proceeds benefitting the organization. The tour guide was a true LA native and gave us a history lesson like no other touching on everything from the origin of the Po’ Boy to an education on the public use aspect of Louisiana cemeteries (the above ground tombs are reused when the bodies decompose!) The cemetery is beautiful and memorable and is JUST like every movie you might have seen it in, Interview With a Vampire & Easy Rider included.
Speaking of Po’boys…we ate A LOT of them. We had shrimp po’boys, oyster po’boys, steak po’boys. By the third day of the week we were ready to detox from all the fried food, but we ate on!
On the opposite end of the spectrum of the Southern Traditionalism found at Commander’s Palace, was a casual, comfy, albeit amazing dining option down in Bywater area (near the 9th ward) called Bacchanal Wine. The front of the Bacchanal operates as a wine retail shop stocked with an impressive selection. Towards the back of Bacchanal, past the cheese station (more on that later) is a huge backyard where their chef, Joaquin Rodas cooks up amazing culinary delights in his outdoor cooking station & grill area. Ok, you’re thinking grilled meats, right? So was I! What I got instead was a braised lamb shank coated in Moroccan spices served over a bed of yellow lentils. The lamb so tender it must have been braised for hours! A creamy sweet potato soup punctuated with autumnal flavors- clove, cinnamon, perhaps a bit of cumin. The wine never stopped flowing, since a bottle is a walk to the front of the store, where the employees are happy to recommend something to you based on what you might be eating. You can also pick up a cheese plate based on your wine selections by the deli counter. Also, the music never stopped playing, because did I mention, there was a live jazz band on a stage in the backyard as well? If I lived in New Orleans, I would surely call Bacchanal my second home. It was comfortable, fun, the food made at a standard you find in a fine restaurant and the entertainment was excellent. We left New Orleans properly after that night, with a hangover!! But it was worth it. AND yes, we did all the requisite Café du Monde, Antoine’s, Pat O’Brien’s, Preservation Hall and more. I get why people fall in love with New Orleans, it’s easy just like the nickname so apropos, the Big Easy.
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