I posted this message in rec.travel.usa-canada, and someone wrote me to suggest I also post it in rec.food.cooking, since it's mostly about the restaurants that we ate at. I'm also posting it in rec.food.restaurants (since that seems obvious), but please be careful to aim your posts at the correct groups if you want to reply. Enjoy! ------------------------ Saturday. We arrived at the Sheraton New Orleans around 1 pm, checked in, threw our bags in our room, and headed to Mother’s, a restaurant in the Central Business District just up from the Riverwalk. It’s a local hang, and a breakfast favorite. I had my very first fried oyster po’boy and my husband had a fried catfish po’boy. To die for just doesn’t even come close (although that’s not a very New Orleans way of saying it). The oysters melt in your mouth (not in your hand). The order taker (you give your order in a wait-line) misunderstood how I wanted mine, so it came with only mayo and pickles, but it was close to heaven. I *highly* recommend Mother’s. We walked around a little, sweated a HUGE amount, then hit the Quarter (my husband had to have a drink in hand in order to accomplish this small feat). We tried not to eat everything in sight since we were having dinner at Commander’s Palace that night and wanted to save room. Glad we did. Our meal there was probably one of the five best I’ve had anywhere. I had two tournados of beef with incredible mashed potatoes (I should have done this report while everything was still fresh in my mind, but all I can probably remember is what I had at any given meal, and maybe one or two dishes eaten by the people I was with). My appetizer was smoked salmon rolled around leeks w/caviar. We skipped dessert because I had Café de Monde on the brain and had to save room for beignets. Anyway, Commander’s was just about perfection, service included, and I *highly* recommend it to everyone visiting New Orleans as a very elegant, old-world type restaurant at which to dine. Sunday we had to meet my husband’s new boss for breakfast, and since this was a last minute meeting, I just made reservations at Brennan’s, since it was a known quantity. I’ve been before, I thought it was over-priced then, and I still think that now. The cost is $35 for 3 courses - appetizer, some sort of egg dish, and dessert (Banana’s Foster is the "default" dessert). Having eaten at Commander’s, then Café du Monde at around 12:30 am, there was no way I was up for a big breakfast the next day…but being in New Orleans I gave it the old college try. I had bananas in cream for an appetizer, roasted salmon w/a poached egg on top for the entree, and they gave me a small version of Bananas Foster for dessert, even though I said I was ready to explode. Everything was very good, but as I said, a bit pricey. Sunday night our plans got messed up and four of us ended up in the Quarter searching for a place to eat at that didn’t have an hour wait. We ended up at the Royal Café, which we had eaten at on our last trip to New Orleans. There was NO wait (which may say something), but the food was fine. I had just plain roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies. Simple but good. I think we all shared some sort of chocolate dessert that none of us needed. Luckily when you eat in the Quarter, you can then walk and walk and walk in the Quarter until you’ve walked off about 1/16th of the calories you’ve just eaten. Monday and Tuesday I was on my own, because my husband finally had to go to his conference and do real work. I got up early both days and had lunch at La Madeleine. I know it’s a chain, but I happen to like their food, and it was a really nice walk from my hotel to the restaurant. They’ve got a really good breakfast of eggs (about 3 of them) and French bread and bacon. The last time I was in New Orleans, I didn’t spend much (day)time in the Quarter, but this time I spent a lot of time there and absolutely loved walking down the different streets, shopping, eating, looking at the architecture, and then shopping and eating some more!. I had lunch both days at my favorite place for hamburgs in the world - the Camelia Grill on St. Charles uptown. It’s a diner sort or place, with bar-stools only, and seating as you can. I don’t know how they make their burgers, but damn if they aren’t the best things in the world. I got mine with chopped up grilled onions and cheese. Again, to die for. I almost ordered two the second day. The first day the waiter (they’re hysterical) "forced" a piece of chocolate cream pie on me. Yes, that WAS nirvana. Another *highly* recommended place to eat - it’s right on the streetcar line too! Dinner Monday night was at Emeril’s, in the warehouse district. My husband had invited 50 attendees of the conference but only 17 accepted (boy what a mistake). We had our own room in the restaurant, which is really huge and can be noisy, but was fine where we were. The service was, once again, perfect (Emeril Lagasse was the chef at Commander’s before he opened his own restaurant) and the food wonderful. I will say, however, that I liked Commander’s better. I happened to order the same thing at both places (I had pre-chosen the menu at Emeril’s for my husband’s dinner party, so I already knew what I was going to eat there, and the tournados at Commander’s sounded so good I had them there too) and it was better at Commander’s. That’s not to say Commander’s is a better restaurant, but it’s just my opinion on what I ate. Since my husband’s company had budgeted for 50 people instead of 17, they had money left over to spend, so he ordered cookbooks for everyone. Lucky for us, because we already have one of Emeril’s cookbooks, and they didn’t know *which* one we had, they gave us his new Christmas cookbook, which I don’t believe has been released yet. Then, as an extra special treat, the manager gave my husband and I a tour of the kitchen. It was SO neat. The only think lacking was…Emeril! He was out of town, unfortunately. I think I would have been completely tongue-tied if I’d met him (of course, HE would never be tongue tied). Anyway, it was a completely memorable evening and all our guests loved the restaurant (and the menu - yes!). Another high recommendation. Our last night, Tuesday, I wanted to see the lake, so we ate at Brunings on Lake Pontchartrain. Bruning’s is another local’s place and it was great. Totally plain, good food, nothing fancy. And a beautiful view, sitting right on the lake. The best thing I had there were the corn fritters. I have no idea how they’re made, but they’re deep fried little balls and when you bite into one, the inside is like a corn custard. One order is enough for 5 people (at least), but they’re absolutely incredible. I had another oyster po’boy there, not as good as Mother’s, but still lip-smackin good. In between eating (which seemed to be what we did most), we walked (and walked and walked) around the Quarter, Uptown, and the Garden District. The homes on St. Charles are just incredibly beautiful. Tulane University is located right on St. Charles and I walked around the campus and visited the bookstore and bought my son a t-shirt from his to-be alma mater (he doesn’t know about that yet). As far as hotels go, we stayed at the Sheraton because that’s where the conference was. It was OK - a Sheraton. Nothing special, but it was free so I wasn’t going to argue. The last time we were in New Orleans, we were very lucky to be able to stay at the Windsor Court, which is THE most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed at anywhere (besides the Chateau Frontenac). It’s very small (135 suites), and the rooms are so big it’s like staying in a large apartment. We had a huge living room, bedroom, and bathroom that could fit 10 people easily. The hotel is, of course, very expensive, but if anyone ever wanted to splurge on a stay somewhere, THAT’s the place to do it! If anyone has any questions about anything, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me. I’m no expert on New Orelans, but I *can* give you an opinion from a tourist’s point of view - it’s a *great* place to visit with something for everyone! (well, maybe not for that group of senior citizens that some misguided tour group leader marched down the center of Bourbon St. one night around midnight - talk about culture shock!). Enjoy! risa ************************************ Please e-mail me as well as post My server misses lots of good stuff! e-mail: [email removed] home-page: http://www.btg.com/~risa ************************************
New Orleans, LA