Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler: 3 Days in The Big Easy

Posted on March 13, 2013 by AnniesDishList

emeril's new orleans chicken restaurants

Chili Glazed Farm Chicken: Emeril’s New Orleans

I spent this past weekend in New Orleans. Yeah, that’s right – in the Big Easy. I learned a lot over the course of just three days. And, thought maybe a photo essay of the journey (I use ‘journey’ a lot now because of ABC’s The Bachelor) would be the best way to share.

Where it all began: A rough start

I woke to this view from my apartment..Not promising for travel…

And the snow was only getting worse. Still, those nice people at the delta.com flight status board assured me that my 11am flight would be ‘on time’. And, I headed to the airport. Only to find that my flight had been canceled. And, I was rescheduled on a much later flight. Much much later….

lga delta direct to msy flying new orleans

My original flight posting

Posting the delay…upon delay…upon delay

But I made some friends which helped to pass the time….I mean we were all in the same situation….

Bob the Brit, NBFF at LGA

Young chef and all day LGA pal

And, we ate some food, and maybe drank a little – which helped:

Cool way to keep busy and order food at LGA – Order on iPad…

And, we met all kinds of people during our long long wait…

bachelorette party new orleans lga to msy direct delta

Yes, the ‘bride’ is wearing a penis head band.

After about 12 hours at LGA (with a detour to JFK and back), my flight finally took off and I was on my way…

Upon arrival just shy of midnight, a friend and I took a stroll – read elbow to elbow walk through very happy (read drunk) people on Bourbon St. We stopped just once to have a quick drink at a piano bar…nothing notable – then back to the hotel and to bed.

Saturday Brunch with Friends at Brennan’s in the French Quarter

Began as it should – Mimosas in the Garden at Brennan’s

There are a few things one must try in New Orleans…many of these are alcohol based:

Milk Punch – Like a Grown Up Milkshake

Mel not loving her first Bloody Mary

For brunch, I had Eggs Sardou: an amazing plate of poached eggs on artichoke hearts and a bed of creamed spinach…Hollandaise sauce on the side:

Paprika on One, Chives on the Other

And….Of course, we ordered cheese grits for the table. YUM.

cheese grits brunch brennan's new orleans

Cheesy Cheese Grits

For dessert…The Bananas Foster Flambe is a MUST:

The Bananas Foster is a MUST order: This is the Before shot

Drama! Flambe-ing of Bananas Foster – During the Flambe Process

bananas foster flambe brennan's new orleans

And…Plated

That night, we all attended a wedding at The Foundry in the Warehouse District. A couple of things I didn’t know about New Orleans weddings.

1. After the ceremony, all guests join the bride and groom in what’s called ‘Second Line;’ – a brass band lead parade around the block. Really fun and a great way to get the party started.

2. Apparently….you can include a drag queen performance. This was our late night wedding entertainment:

You could see her giant panties through the dress

After the wedding we not so wisely braved the crowds of people on Bourbon St. I mean, we just had to get giant drinks in collectible cups. A couple of notes about life on Bourbon Street:

1. There is no ban on open containers of alcohol…except that booze must be in a ‘go-cup’ which any bar will gladly give you as you walk out the door. In New Orleans, creating the most sugary, insanely boozed up cocktail and then crafting a desireable keep sake container, is a sport

The Grenade: Fruity Boozy and in a Keepsake Container

2. While the drinking age is 21, New Orleans differentiates between the age of purchase and the age of consumption. SO….if you are 18, your mommy or daddy or guardian or creepy older boyfriend can buy you a drink and you are then allowed to drink it. This came in handy as we had an 18 year old with us.

boozy cocktails on bourbon street new orleans

And… We also had these…Shark Attack!

We were back to the hotel after a quick dance at Oz – which made our gay friends happy as it’s a gay bar – and tucked in bed by the crack of 4am.

Sunday…We classed it up and went to one of the most historic and notable restaurants in town.

Galatoire’s Brunch (note the big meal at Galatoire’s is Friday lunch…but since we didn’t make it to New Orleans in time for that, Sunday brunch would have to do)

Galatoire’s Lovely Logo’d Glass

A few tips to fitting in at Galatoire’s:

1. Everyone has his/her own waiter…I mean like the regulars go back and request a specific waiter. Some of the waiters have been there for years…like 35 years. As we didn’t have such history, we were assigned a great waiter named Murphy – I highly recommend him!

2. Don’t ask to see a menu – no one who is anyone does that! Your waiter will guide you to the most amazing dishes – trust him.

3. Get the Oysters En Brochette. It’s oysters and bacon deep fried and delicious

Fried, Salty, Briny and Amazing Oysters En Brochette

4. Try the turtle soup. You can’t do that at Brennan’s because Brennan’s back yard has a pond with turtles basking in the sun…It would just be rude to order turtle soup there. Our waiter at Galatoire’s, Murphy, brought us a sample as he knows it’s a New Orleans must have

Yes, there are real turtles in there

5. Go with someone who is willing to share. My dining date and I split the lamb chops with mushroom sauce and the redfish…Well, Murphy split it for us….And, a side of the creamiest most amazing potatoes au gratin:

So So good…And, love the sauce soaked white toast

amazing potatoes au gratin galatoire's new orleans

Potatoes Au Gratin, Not So Rotten

6. And….Have a martini. It’s the right thing to do in such a cool, old school venue.

After brunch, we took a walk – read: tried to walk it off. We popped into Carousel Bar to visit with the newly married couple and have a vodka soda. Then took a food coma nap before preparing for dinner.

Emeril’s New Orleans: Sunday Dinner

This is Emeril’s original restaurant. It’s located in the warehouse district, so if you’re staying in the French Quarter…It’s a bit of a walk. Though, really, after all you’ve eaten, you should walk. We took a cab.

Because we were hungry – go with it, you’re in New Orleans – we ate:

Angel Hair with Mushrooms in a Taso Cream Sauce

And we also had….

Roasted Filet Mignon…And, more potatoes

Chili Glazed Farm Chicken

Oozing Chocolate Goodness Inside

Luckily, we also saved room for dessert. After all, we didn’t have dessert at Galatoire’s. At Emeril’s they have an amazing chocolate souffle…but, order it when you order your meal as it takes :30mins to prepare. Well worth the calories!

We paired it with a lovely Schramsberg rose.

Amazing dinner…and a great farewell meal. Definitely better than the eggs and grits I had at the airport Monday morning.

After our three day dining, drinking and wedding dancing extravaganza, I’m in love with New Orleans. And, while the good times certainly rolled this past weekend, the only thing rolling now is the fat on my satisfied stomach.

But the temporary weight gain is totally worth it. And, all I can say is: Get to New Orleans and laissez les bons temps rouler!

The Sandy 15: Part 3 ‘After’

Posted on November 14, 2012 by AnniesDishList

My ‘Bedroom’

This is Part 3 of how one can gain 15lbs during a weather disaster. [Click for Part 1 or Part 2.]

Wednesday, October 31

I think it might have been Halloween – but you’d never know it.

Wake up. Deflate bed. Reassemble living room. Plan the next meal.

This had quickly become the routine in the days that followed the storm. The displaced downtowners were now taking up what seemed to be permanent residence on the Upper West Side.

I’m not overly generous but had given my bedroom to the displaced downtowner as she was rapidly becoming a disgruntled resident. To be honest..surrendering my bedroom was an entirely selfish act: the sight of an aero bed on my living room floor drives me insane. I knew that if I slept out there, the room would be returned to a livable state before my houseguest even stirred.

But, it was day 3 and the routine was getting old. We were running out of things to do. The restaurants, shops, sidewalks and streets were insanely crowded with all of those who had migrated north. TV showed only storm coverage and press conferences. We were bombarded with horrific sights of destruction and ruin.

We rented movies…

We rented a movie to escape the images…but that only lasted two hours. As an aside, it was Moonrise Kingdom and was very good.

And, once it was over, we were back to the storm coverage, horrifying images and endless press conferences.

We all knew how fortunate we were. We were all incredibly thankful as we watched the images on TV. Still, the power-free set was getting anxious and a bit angry.

During the days it had become common for me to receive a call from someone else without power who just needed a hot shower. If only I known that hot, young, male downtowners would be gracing my UWS shower…

The ‘Mini-Bar’

Lovely Snacks

I tried to make my home as welcoming and comfortable as I could for others to enjoy. I even called my refrigerator the ‘Mini-Bar’.

I put out lovely arrangements of wine and nuts in my Williams-Sonoma star-shaped ramekins each evening at cocktail hour.

But by Wednesday afternoon, nothing seemed to help…and the downtowner was mad.

The anger came in flashes…but then became a constant.

I had stocked up on Evian prior to the storm (it was not only on sale at Food Emporium, but I wanted to ride out Sandy in style). After my guest asked for the fifth time which Evian was hers, I wrote my name on my bottle. I hoped this would help to avoid confusion. She looked at it in disgust and horror and said: ‘Really?’

That’s MY Water

I had secured guests passes to my gym and when we were getting ready to go over there that day she looked at the bobby pin I used to keep the hair out of my face and said: ‘Seriously? Couldn’t you get a smaller pin with like…a flower or something?’

Uhm, no, I couldn’t.

The sounds coming from my phone started to drive her insane. Any time the text ding dinged, she cringed. I silenced the phone.

There were bright times too. We broke into hysterics mimicking Boomberg’s announcements in Spanish and couldn’t contain our laughter as we watched the ASL interpreter sign his messages. We were getting exceedingly punchy.

Sign Language Lady

Wednesday night we met some of the other displaced at Kefi for Greek food. I think meeting others in the same temporarily homeless situation was a comfort for my downtown guest. It became an impromptu support group for the three of them as over hummus and Tzatziki sauce they compared stories of their experiences. They were kind about the refuge we had offered, but they truly felt we flaunted our electricity and they couldn’t help but complain about non-downtown things like the multitude of stollers crowding the streets.

Thursday, November 1

Still no improvement downtown.

Wake up. Deflate. Reassemble living room. Eat.

We hoped for a quick escape…

I tried to mix it up a bit. And, the day started with an early morning trip to see Anderson Live. I hoped that taking advantage of the many available seats to live tapings in NYC would break up the monotony and give us an escape from the horrifying images of destruction that were the only thing on television.

But, as the papers had warned on Sunday, there was no place to hide from Sandy.

The show on Thursday was an hour of commentary and images from Sandy. Anderson spoke live on the air with the Mayor of Seaside Heights, NJ. Mayor Akers took long breaths between sentences and then just broke down as he said to Anderson: ‘I think I’m just so tired.’ We cried.

Thankfully, Anderson taped another segment after the Sandy show and we were finally given a moment away from the storm coverage. The segment featured two lovely southern women who have just landed a webcast. The webcast features the women as they go on ghost hunts – the schtick is that the women are afraid of ghosts and hope never to find one. Very funny. And a few moments without Sandy.

Taking The Edge Off

For dinner, we broke out and went South…Well, 50th St…but the west 50’s was now the new downtown. Cancun mexican restaurant. V good and well priced. There were three downtowners and two uptowners there. The margaritas helped to take the edge off a bit. As did the guacamole, enchiladas and my favorite: the chicken chimichanga.

The 8,000 Calorie Chimichanga

We were rapidly approaching the Sandy 15.

Friday, November 2

Wake up. Deflate bed. Reassemble living room. Eat.

There were rumors that the lights were slowly coming on downtown. Con Ed promised to have all power restored with limited exceptions in Manhattan by 11pm on Saturday.

We decided to celebrate and bring the week full circle with one last lunch at Cafe Luxembourg. No surprise…I had the Country Salad. It has lardons. Lardons – what’s not to love?

Bringing the Week Full Circle

Later that day, though power was still out downtown, the disgruntled guest headed home. Hoping for the best and sporting the first genuine smile she had worn all week, she left.

I put my apartment back in order. I did laundry. I went to the gym. I sat in silence and thought about it all.

NOW

I spent the past five days off of the island – out of New York and away from the destruction. But, I have been having very vivid dreams of sheltering the displaced. Of howling winds. Of incredibly high tides. Of floods. Of storm surges. Of the darkness.

I know how lucky I am. For me, the worst is over. Taking in the power-free set was only part of what we, the fortunate, can do.

I urge all to donate to the Red Cross or to the Mayor’s Fund To Advance New York (call 311 or text ‘NYCFUND’ to 50555). Donate. Volunteer.

Sandy has taken enough from all of us. Now it’s time to forget about her and, start losing the Sandy 15.

The Sandy 15: Part 2 ‘During’

Posted on November 5, 2012 by AnniesDishList

This is part two of how one can gain 15lbs during a weather disaster. [click here for Part 1]

Part 2

Monday, October 29, continued

These are great…btw

The lights had flickered and though I do have a gas stove top, I thought it best to make a quick dinner before I ended up in the dark. As previously noted, I have a deep seeded fear of starving to death – though have never been out of food – or even in any remote danger of starvation. I decided on a Trader Joe’s frozen turkey burger – quick and easy and would, hopefully, be done before the lights went out.

The beginning.

Right around 8:30pm I had heard from my downtown friends that the power was out. Half of Manhattan was in the dark and though the wind was whipping up here, I realized for the first time how lucky I was.

Friends who live outside but near the evacuation zone (Zone A) were now living in the dark as their streets flooded with rushing water.

Washington at 12th St – photo by T Schultz

I clutched a flashlight in one hand and as my windows continued to bow with the pressure, I prayed the winds to stop. And thanked goodness for every watt of electricity that powered my apartment.

By about 12:40am on Tuesday morning the winds had died down a bit and I felt OK about going to bed.

Tuesday, October 30

In the morning, I ventured out for a quick walk. There were passing showers and some wind – but nothing like the day before. Save a few downed trees and some debris in the streets, the upper west side was in really good shape. We were so very lucky.

Downtowners are brave. As noted in several blogs over the past week, they seem cooler, they are more fierce and younger than the typical upper west sider. That said, it was cold and dark downtown. There were no stores open. No traffic lights. No heat. And, we had everything they needed just a walk away.

The migration north was on.

While waiting for our friends to make it uptwown…at about 11:30am something happened. Something good. For just a brief moment, a small hole in the sky cleared and the light bounced off of the clouds that still loomed overhead. And, there was a rainbow – a beacon calling the power-free to the well electrified upper west side.

A beacon of hope – the view from my 14th floor apt

As uptowners, we prepared for our guests. I cleaned and made sure I had sheets, towels, water and, of course, wine. [I had gone to 67 St Wines the afternoon before. The line was long, but people were patient.]

Still, I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood was prepared for the influx of people coming to the lucky land of electricity.

The migration

Once they arrived, the eating frenzy went on…The downtowners were here in full force. We tried to go to Cafe Lux – they had tables available, but not enough staff to serve. We gave PJ Clarke’s a try – but it too was jam packed with people and they told us it could be up to an hour wait for our party of five. Ultimately, we ended up at Shun Lee West and were fortunate to arrive just as they opened the doors at 1:30pm.

Inside, the iconic NYC Chinese restaurant looked like it did on a Lincoln Center Saturday night. Packed with people, waiters bustling to get everyone what they needed.

A nighttime crowd at 1:30 on Tuesday

After a lunch of tres fattening grand marnier prawns, crispy beef, some veggies and …wine, we took our guests home and let them settle in.

We passed the afternoon watching the reports. It was so bad and we hadn’t even heard the worst of it yet. The mayor, all three governors (NY, NJ and CT) were holding constant press conferences updating the media on deaths, power outages, floods, rescues etc.

Sandy coverage dominated the airwaves and…we watched. And watched. And watched. All afternoon.

With not much to do, we started strategizing our dinner plans. A lot of the neighborhood restaurants were closed – because although we had electricity, there was still no public transportation and the staff couldn’t get to work. The tunnels and bridges were closed with few exceptions…it was a mess.

Most of the crew of six decided to stay in. We were an equal mix of the UWS residents and the displaced. Two of us though went to my fave Italian spot, Bello Giardino on West 71st. Nick, the owner, had personally driven to pick up each member of his staff and was going to drive them home after the dinner rush.

I love Bello Giardino – it’s a longtime neighborhood spot with a very personal feel. I think Nick knew how important being open would be to his regulars.

Nicky’s Famous Meatballs

Della Nonna Della-Licious

And, we ate. More fat food…I had spaghetti and ‘Nicky’s famous meatballs’ and my downtown guest enjoyed the ravioli della nonna.

No dieting going on. At. All.

We had survived Day 2. The Manhattan displaced were happily entrenched in the warm, electrified safety of uptown.

The downtowners were settling in. There was no news as to when power might be back on.

We watched more coverage…until we just couldn’t watch any more. And, went to bed.

After

By the way, that crane collapsed in the winds early on in the storm…

……………………………………………….More tomorrow

The Sandy 15: Part 1 ‘Before’

Posted on November 4, 2012 by AnniesDishList

This is the story of how to gain 15lbs in one week of a weather disaster…

Sunday, October 28

It started out innocently enough. Lunch with Sam at a local favorite on a somewhat soggy October Sunday. I had the country salad with a perfectly poached egg on top. Sam, having given up her vegetarianism, had the Luxemburger.

Doesn’t the poached egg look a little like Sandy?

We had a few drinks as we read the doomsday warnings in the NY Post and Daily News. The headlines were daunting. They screamed ‘There’s No Place To Hide’ and ‘Play It Safe & Evacuate’ – But since there was no place to hide, we weren’t sure where to evacuate to. We were told it was a ‘Monster Storm’ and wished a ‘Happy Hell-Oween’.

There’s NO Place to Hide!

We went item by item down the list of things we were instructed to have in our ’emergency’ kit – some we had, some we didn’t. We had a few questions about the list:

Did some loose bandaids and a tube of expired Neosporin count as a ‘First Aid kit’?
What am I supposed to do with duct tape even if I did own some?
Besides my stock of canned artichoke hearts, what other ‘canned goods’ should I have in my pantry?
What’s the conversion between gallons of water and liters of Evian? Evian was on special at the Stop & Shop, so I bought a lot, but I’m not sure I had 1 gallon per person per day. Also, there was no mention of how many days I would need.
If I packed a ‘go-bag’ where was I supposed to go…I mean, there was no place to hide from this monster super storm!

While at lunch, we learned that the Mayor had ordered a complete shut down of the City’s subway system at 7pm followed by a complete shut down of the bus system by 9pm. The elimination of public transportation coupled with the doomsday forecasts forced all NYC businesses and schools to announce they would be closed on Monday.

So, there was like no work on Monday….but no way to get out or home to meet people? I knew very early on that Sandy was evil.

A-Mazing Meatballs

That night, after Sam caught one of the last subways home, I met some upper west side friends for dinner. First, we went to Barcibo for wine and some amazing meatballs.

Dinner at PJ Clarke’s followed – cheeseburger, duh.

Monday, October 29

The morning arrived and the storm didn’t. I had some toast – might have put butter and peanut butter on it, but can’t remember. That’s what happens after an event like Sandy. You lose track of days and time and specifics…

Tons of water BEFORE the storm

I met friends for a walk. As we strolled along the Hudson River on the west side, we were amazed at the already extremely high level of the water. The waves – yes, there were waves on the Hudson – crashed over and had already created giant puddles on the walkway. The floating docks were pounding into one another. The river was so high that the boat ramps were literally inverted – like going up. And Sandy wasn’t even here yet.

We stopped by The Time Warner Center to see if anything was open and the doors were locked. I looked east and saw a giant crane stretching up into the sky. I said something along the lines of ‘Don’t you think they should have taken down that crane before the storm?‘ My friends thought it would be fine. Still, I was concerned…and snapped this picture:

Monday Morning

By noon, the winds had picked up and we all went home.

But, I was quickly bored….And decided to venture out one more time before it was too late to venture out at all. ABC7 in New york warned that the storm was growing and speeding up and that very soon stronger winds would be here.

Amy Freeze ABC7 forecasting winds…

I walked up CPW and noted the signs posted outside each entrance to Central Park: Park Closed Due To Storm Conditions. I worried about the tents and bleachers that were erected for the NYC Marathon – how would they withstand the winds?

I noted all of the stores that were closed or closing early. I witnessed dozens of people carting bottled water out of Food Emporium. (Food Emporium never closed. Never – amazing).

Every restaurant and bar was closed and it was only 2pm. Even Cafe Luxembourg who the day before promised to be open, was closed. I decided to stroll up Columbus for a few more blocks before giving up and going home. I know, crazy, I cook and have a lot of food in my apartment…but, the threat of being cooped up there for the next unknown number of days drove me to fight the winds and rain which had started and find a place to eat.

AG Kitchen was open. I hadn’t been there yet and there was one seat at the bar…It was packed. Maybe because it’s relatively new and very good. But most likely because it was the ONLY thing open.

I mixed with the people – sharing stories of preparedness with the couple to my left who lived on a very high floor of an apartment building nearby. Chatting up the pair of building utilities management guys from ABC who had been brought up from DC to help ensure that ABC would have power throughout the storm. I jokingly asked if I could stay at the station if I lost power….they didn’t really get my humor.

pic borrowed from Mariya

I had a pretty decent bowl of roasted tomato soup and grilled cheddar cheese.

I had started comfort food eating…and Sandy had yet to arrive.

At around 2:45pm a tree fell in front of the restaurant blocking the entrance and almost taking out a couple and their dog. Once the manager at AG Kitchen and some other guys got the tree moved. It was time to go home.

I was home in time for the winds to really pick up and the heavier rains to start. I kept in contact with my friends via text or phone – comparing winds and rains and talking about what we thought might happen.

It was bad. Like scary bad. The winds were bowing the windows in my 14th floor apartment. They were literally moving…almost like breathing…like the walls in a haunted house of a scary movie. I called and asked the door guy to check with the super to reassure me that the windows were built to withstand winds of 80 mph and higher. I wasn’t the only panicked resident who called.

The lights flickered…twice.

—————————————————-More tomorrow.

AnniesDishList

A passion for cooking supersedes the size of the kitchen.

Category Archives: Restaurants

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler: 3 Days in The Big Easy

The Sandy 15: Part 3 ‘After’

The Sandy 15: Part 2 ‘During’

The Sandy 15: Part 1 ‘Before’

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