It was that dark and dreary time of winter after the holidays and into the frigid days with little sunlight and little reason to be outside. What was a city dweller like myself to do but head somewhere warmer for the weekend. A friend of mine moved to New Orleans with his wife last year and had thrown out an open invite to couch surf whenever I could swing it, so I set my date. It was the end of January. The cold weather was making my knuckles bleed, and I was excited to escape the frozen over dirty snow in exchange for light jacket weather and a crisp beer while sitting outside or walking around the French Quarter.
The night before I am packing up to travel down to the Big Easy, I see that for my three days I am in NOLA, the weather will be dipping down to 30 degrees. It was a true gut punch to my nervous system that was desperately craving a spring thaw! But the show must go on as I got a non-refundable ticket. So it was time to come up with different ways to stay warm such as… food! Here are some fun blurbs about places I ate at in New Orleans. Only being there for a weekend meant I only got to scratch the surface of the fine food this town had to offer, but oh my, was it good.
Our first food stop was Marie’s Bar and Kitchen. This is a classic burger dive perfect for a late night bite after a night of walking around and drinking. This cash-only establishment warmed me up from the inside out with a fantastic ‘slap’ burger and some beautifully crispy fries, paired with a delectable Coor’s Banquet. Your friend Matt was an exceptionally happy camper. Also, the staff was so incredibly nice here.
Next up, the following morning my friend and I enjoyed quiet coffee and cafe time at Smoke and Honey. I had a breakfast gyro and got a slice of king cake for the table. The coffee was also phenomenal. It’s brewed up by a brand called Coffee Science, a boutique-y coffee brand in the area. I was perhaps a little overserved on my very first night in New Orleans but rest assured, the breakfast gyro cured that right up. On paper it looks like a total grease bomb but the flavors were complex and there was a good bit of freshness and acidity to compat the fatty eggs, cheese and bacon. Really knocked my socks off!
We did a late lunch early dinner kind of moment because we were pretty stuffed from breakfast but my New Orleans friend took us to a bib gourmand sandwich shop that he’d been wanting to try for awhile. Turkey and the Wolf is a very bespoke sandwich shop that won Bon Appetite’s restaurant of the year award in 2017. Since 2017, it has lived up to the hype. No one is reinventing the wheel here but they are putting really good ingredients, thoughtfully sourced and crafted between pieces of bread and the outcome is glorious. I had the collard green melt, hoping for something a little lighter than my breakfast “sandwich.” Fortunately or unfortunately, this was not “light” at all but it was an absolutely brilliant bite of food “slow cooked collards, swiss cheese, pickled cherry pepper dressing, and cole slaw on toasted rye.” Breathtaking!
Our last big notable stop was Elizabeth’s Restaurant for a lovely Sunday brunch. I had the crabby eggs which were special that day. This was essentially an eggs benedict with crab cakes. Since I am a Midwestern boy and rarely get fresh crab meat, it was important I jumped on that opportunity. A friend of mine got fried oysters. It's kind of a culinary sin of mine, but I really don’t care for oysters. However, it just goes to show you, frying anything will make it delicious. My first fried oyster experience was certainly a hit.
The next day we, of course, hit all the touristy food stops including beignets atCafe Du Monde and a Muffaletta from Central Grocery and Deli. Those were equally phenomenal, but I feel like we all know that at this point.
If you are interested in learning more about New Orleans flavors, sign up for The Chopping Block's hands-on Cajun & Creole Cooking class on Friday, April 17 at 6pm (just 2 spots left!), Thursday, May 7 at 6pm or Saturday, May 30 at 6pm.
You'll learn to make and enjoy:
- New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
- Hot Crab Dip with Crostini
- Chicken and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya
- Bananas Foster Bread Pudding
