New Orleans, May 2001

On this, my fifth trip to New Orleans, I spent the most time (5 days) and had the best trip by far. Coincidence? I think not.

I won't do a full-blown report, but I did do a few new things (and not so new things) that may be helpful for someone out there, so I thought I should report in.

LODGING

I stayed at the Rue Royal Inn. I really liked this place. It's old and worn, with peeling paint and stained rugs, but for $95/night in a great location, I thought it was well worth it. My room was right off the lovely courtyard (not so great for sleeping, by the way, since breakfast is served there from 8:00 to 10:00, and there were guests out there at 8:00am sharp making lots of noise!); the room had a refrigerator and microwave and a very small bathroom; very nice people at the front desk.

FOOD/DRINK/RESTAURANTS

I finally ate at Commander's Palace, which I have been trying to do on prior trips, but I could never get in for the Sunday brunch. (I made these reservations in February.) What an experience! We sat out on the patio and it was a lovely day - not too hot nor humid, with a nice breeze. Turtle soup to start, crawfish with poached eggs, and bread pudding soufflé for dessert; and some killer Bloody Marys. The food was wonderful and the service was top-notch.

On Sunday night, I went to Café Marigny, which I recommend. I had heard complaints about service, but we had no problems at all, and in fact, they were very accommodating considering we had some "different" requests from our party of four (ordering an entree as a starter for a couple people to share, etc.) I should note that it was very quiet, and they were far from full, which I'm sure had something to do with the attentive service. I had some nicely dressed greens to start and wonderful filet mignon with foie gras and vegetables that was cooked perfectly; shared a crème brûlée for dessert. My friend was craving something chocolate and despite there being nothing on the menu to fit the bill, the chef created a glorified hot fudge sundae! This is a BYO restaurant for those who don't know. We ate A LOT and it came to about $180 before tax and tip for four.

I went back to Irene's (I had been there a year ago) on Monday night, expecting the standard wait. We got there at 8:00 and the place was not full at all; only about a 20 minute wait! The food was great - escargots in mushroom caps to start and then soft shell crabs over a bed of linguine in crawfish sauce. Yum! My friend had a great veal dish. That, drinks before dinner, and a nice little bottle of Montepulciano came to about $80 before tax and tip for two. A really good deal for what you get. Service was professional and not rushed, even though it started to pick up later in the evening.

I finally had a muffeletta from Central Grocery. Good stuff. 'Nuff said.

I had my first chocolate martini at the Bombay Club. Yum. I love this place. I was there three times on this trip (I'm not a lush, I swear! ;-)) and it has become one of my favorite haunts whenever I'm in town. (It's in the Prince Conti hotel, by the way, and they have live music most nights; no teeny-boppers in this place!) If you go, tell Marc the bartender that Paula from NY with the fleur-de-lis says hi.

I went to the Clover Grill for breakfast on my last morning. I loved the servers at this place - they are real "characters." I had a really good, fluffy omelet and some grits just drenched in butter!

I went to Harry's Bar for the first time (900 Chartres St.). Vernon, I like this place a lot, and I can see how it would be "cozy" on a chilly night.

Also, one of my favorite places for a po' boy is the Quarter Master deli on Bourbon and Ursulines. On Fridays only, they have a fried shrimp po' boy, and they are really generous with the shrimp. It was excellent.

I went to the New Orleans School of Cooking for the 2:00- 4:00 demonstration on Friday. This was a lot of fun! The featured chef was Heidi, who owns "Elizabeth's" in the Bywater. She made shrimp and artichoke soup, crawfish etouffée and pralines to die for. It costs $20.

I ran into a Farmers' Market on Saturday at the corner of Magazine & Girod. It was pretty small, but had some fresh produce and baked goods. It's open every Saturday morning until noon.

And last but not least on the food front, I went to my very first crawfish boil on Saturday night - given by a local friend of a friend. What fun!! And yes, for those of you who have to know, this Yankee did suck the heads! In fact, there's a picture of me doing it, which should be showing up on the Kats & Rats website any day now. I just loved it.

Gosh, I ate and drank a lot!

SIGHTS & SOUNDS

I went to the D-Day Museum. What an amazing place and what a great job they did with it. I was there for over two hours. The war was way before my time, but my father was in Normandy and he used to regale us with tales (given the proper combination of shots 'n beers, of course; otherwise he would never talk about it.) I became very emotional, which surprised me, but I noticed that I wasn't the only one. Just be prepared to be "moved" if you go. There were quite a few W.W.II vets there. I got there Saturday morning at 10:00 and it started out crowded, but once everyone found their own pace, it wasn't bad at all. I also walked there - takes about 20 minutes or so from Jackson Square.

I took the ferry to Algiers. A nice, quick free ride with a great view of the Quarter coming back.

Sweet Kathleen's. Someone on the board recommended this place (Teresa, maybe it was you...?) and I want to say thank you! It's on the 300 block of Decatur. I was here twice; once to hear the lovely Kathleen play piano (5:00-8:00) and another to catch the last 30 minutes or so of a great Dixieland jazz band. There's no cover, although there is a drink minimum for the band, which was not enforced since we got there later.

I went to "The Historic New Orleans Collection" on Royal Street. This is a nice little museum that currently has an exhibition called "In Search of Yesterday's Gardens: Landscapes of 19th-Century New Orleans." It was very interesting, with a wonderful historical perspective.

MISCELLANEOUS

I didn't get a chance to get out to Martin's, but I did go to Vieux Carré Wines & Spirits (on Chartres, next to K-Paul's) to buy the wine for Sunday night dinner, so thanks all for the recommendations. It's a tiny place, but lots of selections and fair prices. I'm a wine person, so I didn't ask for help, but the staff there seemed very knowledgeable from what I overheard.

MOMENTS

Here's where I get sentimental, but those of you who love NOLA (and I know who you are ;-)), you know where I'm coming from. These are just a few of the mental pictures that I brought back to New York with me from this trip:

Sitting at the bar in Ol' Toones Saloon (a nondescript neighborhood watering hole), with the Rats, all of whom I did not know one year ago, but who all have become such wonderful friends...

Sipping a Cosmopolitan at the bar at the Royal Sonesta with one of my oldest friends from NY, who coincidentally was in town for a conference, listening to a three-piece jazz ensemble...

Picnicking in City Park on a beautiful breezy day with a Central Grocery muffeletta, a Barq's root beer and a special friend...

Tooling around in my friend's convertible on St. Charles Avenue after brunch at Commander's Palace, on a bright, sunny day, smoking a cigar...

Listening to the fabulous "uptown" accent of the woman at the "Historic New Orleans Collection" and browsing in the gift shop, thumbing through a recipe book from the 1800s, written for "proper" Southern hostesses...

Tasting my very first mint julep in the courtyard at Pat O'Brien's during my last hour in NOLA...and knowing that I know what it means to miss New Orleans...

Did I say something about not doing a full-blown trip report?!! Oops! Well, it was fun for me to relive it, so I hope you all enjoyed it!