Cochon Butcher: New Orleans' Best Sandwiches, Elvis King Cake

Happy Mardi Gras! Where are you all celebrating this day of revelry?
In honor of this day, I thought I would post my favorite place I visited last time in New Orleans. NOLA is home to many great sandwiches that were invented here, but this places takes them to the next level. Yes, Cochon Butcher is a hip, "craft" sandwich place. And the sandwiches are amazing.

The Muffuletta was invented at Central Grocery in New Orleans, but I believe the best muffuletta in the city is here at Cochon Butcher. The giant sandwich costs $12.

Sure, there is something satisfying in the messy, old school sandwiches (and you shouldn't miss a pilgrimage to Central Grocery - still a great spot!), but the muffuletta here is perfect. Great sesame bread, the right ratio of olives, various deli meats and mozzarella. Of course, the key is the fact that the meats they use at Cochon Butcher are housemade or house cured, so it's a flavor you won't get elsewhere.

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Willie Mae's Scotch House (New Orleans, LA)

I'm late in posting about my visit to Willie Mae's Scotch House but decided to do so now because of the recent news of Willie Mae Seaton's passing. This great woman ran Willie Mae's Scotch House for decades until she passed away at age 99.

I had the chance to dine at Willie Mae's when I was in New Orleans for the last Foodie Hub North American Awards (formerly known as Chowzter). This hole in the wall had won a James Beard Award! Of course, Anthony Bourdain has been here, too.

Willie Mae's is off the beaten path, but it's less than 2 miles away from the French Quarter, so the pilgrimage here is totally doable. The place was completely packed. You'd probably have to wait in line but thankfully they are quick in serving you and churning food out, so the turnover is high.

Willie Mae's fried chicken definitely deserves one of the top spots on any fried chicken list. The skin is super crispy, the chicken is juicy and seasoned well. We all dug in and loved it! Get it with a side of fried okra.

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Where to Drink Cocktails in New Orleans

Being the home of Tales of the Cocktails and where quite a few classic cocktails were invented, New Orleans is obviously a promising place to grab some cocktails! Thanks to the recent Chowzter North American Awards, which was held in NOLA, I was able to hit up a few bars in this great city.

Now, this is not a comprehensive list by any means, but it's a good place to start!

The first bar I had to try was of course the new tiki bar from the prolific cocktail writer, Beachbum Berry:

Latitude 29
321 N Peters St
latitude29nola.com
A tiki bar, naturally, and one of the best. The cocktail menu is divided into short, long, and communal drinks. Professor Remsberg's Punch came highly recommended, made with "fine old Guadeloupe rum", lime, and "a Caribbean spiced syrup discovered over 30 years ago in San Juan by the Professor himself". Beloved tiki classics like Mai Tai and Missionary's Downfall are obviously on there, as well.
They also serve food like loco moco and dumplings, but I didn't get a chance to try any. They serve food until 10pm and cocktails until 11pm nightly, which is pretty early for NOLA.

by the way, don't you love that rowing Moai stirrer?

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Chowzter North American Awards at Commander's Palace in New Orleans

So last month I was in New Orleans for the Chowzter North American Awards. The award ceremony was held in the historic Commander's Palace! The restaurant was established in the 1880s and is an institution in this city. It was my first time there so I was pretty excited.

During the award, Boston's Rino's Place took home the Best Pasta award for their ricotta ravioli. Yay! You can check out the list of winners through the link above.

Now, on to the dinner at Commander's Palace. The dining room was very elegant, white tablecloth and chandeliers are, of course, to be expected. We headed upstairs for our awards ceremony and dinner.

Before dinner started, we had some passed appetizers that included some great fried oysters.

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Sunday Brunch at Nola's (Downtown LA)

LA needs more Cajun places and Nola's in Downtown LA moved in to fill part of the gap. I was pretty excited to try it when they invited me in, but my schedule only allowed to come for Sunday brunch.
I didn't realize that the Sunday brunch was a champagne buffet until I got there. I was planning to try their jambalaya, gumbo, and po'boy but they weren't offered at the buffet. Oh well ...
The buffet offerings included fried chicken, fried catfish, shrimp Étouffée, red bean and rice, beignets, and fruits. Oh, and of course, free flowing mimosas.

Both the fried chicken and fried catfish were great, I went back for seconds for both of these. Since the beignets were put out buffet style, they were unfortunately not that fresh and kind of hard. I liked the shrimp Étouffée too - the good thing about having the buffet style is that I could get as many shrimp as I wanted.

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Bombay Club Martini Bistro (New Orleans)

If there's one place where I feel comfortable ordering a Brandy Alexander, it would be Bombay Club in New Orleans. Bombay Club is a martini bar. OK, hold on, don't cringe yet. It's not an appletini kind of bar. Classic martini, Martinez, Aviation in coupes. They actually do have Cosmopolitan and Appletini, though (under the "Millennium Martinis" section). They have it all, the whole history of the Martini and classic cocktails.

The menu is vast, and each item description comes with the history of that drink. The Brandy Alexander was "served (and said to be created) in 1922 at the wedding of Mary Princess Royal and Viscount Lascelles at Westminster Abbey in London."

Here's one for Negroni: "In 1919, Italian Count Negroni sailed to America to experience the American rodeo. Trying to sound tough, he asked the barkeep for an Americano (Campari, Italian sweet vermouth, and soda water), but to replace the soda with gin."

It's not just the history, of course. They know how to make them well, too.

The Bombay Club is only a couple blocks away from the zoo that is Bourbon St. With well made classic cocktails (and a history lesson), a chill crowd, and live jazz music, it is certainly an oasis.

The Bombay Club Restaurant and Martini Bistro
830 Conti Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
504.586.0972
http://www.thebombayclub.com/

Meltdown: Artisanal Popsicles in New Orleans

On a blistering hot day in New Orleans - which seems to be every day - there's hardly anything better than a quick stop at Meltdown, a gourmet popsicle store near the French Market.

Made with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, Meltdown offers some pretty interesting flavors that change regularly. My friend got her favorite Salted Caramel (do try this!) and I tried their lime ginger pop which was very cooling and refreshing! I can't remember what our third flavor was now ...

If you're not in the mood for popsicles, they also serve fresh squeezed lemonade. What happens during the winter? Stop by Meltdown anyway for some hot chocolate and soups!


Meltdown
508 Dumaine St
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 301-0905
http://meltdownpops.com/
@meltdownpops

NOLA/New Orleans, LA

RESTAURANTS
Cafe du Monde
Cochon Butcher
Commander's Palace
Cuvee
Frenchmen Grocery and Deli
Johnny's Po Boy
Meltdown
Willie Mae's Scotch House

BARS
Bar Tonique
Bombay Club Martini Bistro
Cane and Table
French 75
Latitude 29

Classic Po'Boy at Frenchmen Grocery and Deli (New Orleans)

If there is one thing one must eat in New Orleans, it's a po' boy. For my trip two years ago, I did some research and went to Johnny's Po' Boy. This time, I stayed with a friend's friend and decided to go with the local. She said the best traditional po' boy is at Frenchmen Deli, so to Frenchmen I go!

Frenchmen is a tiny grocery store with a deli just beyond the French Quarter. If you walk up Frenchmen St, you can't miss its colorfully decorated front.

Inside, it's a cramped grocery store with barely any aisle space (they sell Louisiana-made Zapp's potato chips, with many unexplained flavors like Voodoo or LSU Tiger Tators). Order your sandwiches at the register, or call ahead for pickup.

My favorite po' boys are probably shrimp or oyster, but since I can only fit one (alas), I went with the Fried shrimp Po'boy ($6.79). As far as po' boys go, you don't choose individual condiments but instead you either ask for it "dressed" (that means lettuce, tomato, and mayo) or not.

Crispy battered juicy shrimp, a light touch of mayo, fresh lettuce and tomato, on a fresh, moist baguette. It doesn't get better than this. Oh wait, it does get better with a bit of Louisiana's Crystal hot sauce!

*Sigh* I want a po' boy...

Frenchmen Grocery and Deli
602 Frenchmen St
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 944-6800

Johnny's Po' Boys in NOLA: Even Poor Boys Gotta Eat Well

Po' boy. There are several theories about the origin of the name (and the sandwich) but most of them agree that the name originates from "poor boy". Basically, it's a poor boy's lunch.

Nowadays, po' boy shops in New Orleans are ubiquitous and most po' boys are now filled with deep fried seafood such as shrimp, oysters, catfish etc.

Since a trip to New Orleans wouldn't be a NOLA trip at all without getting a po' boy, I insisted that my first lunch there be at Johnny's Po' Boy, a popular shop in the French Quarter. My po' boy staple: the Crawfish Po' Boy
Crispy batter, meaty and fresh crawfish, "dressed" with lettuce, tomato, and mayo, but nothing overwhelming.

Simply put, po' boys in Los Angeles don't hold a candle to this sub. If you come to NOLA without trying one, you'll regret it.

If you can't decide what to get, Johnny's Muffaleta (Muffuletta) sandwich may offer a solution. The muffuletta is a Sicilian bread, flat and round, and at Johnny's the muffaleta sandwich is stuffed with various fried seafood: catfish, oyster, crawfish, and what have you.

The gumbo was unremarkable and while good, you're bound to find better around town.

The bread pudding was typically heavy and sweet. This huge and satisfying piece cost about $2.50



Johnny's Po-Boys
511 St Louis St
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 524-8129

NOLA: Grand Final Dinner at Cuvee

In honor of Mardi Gras, I decided to do one of my New Orleans post! Cuvee was my very last meal there - the conference had booked the entire restaurant, open bar and all! The place was small that our group occupied the whole space (about 60 of us or so?).

Amazing hors d'oeuvres were being passed around like this duck rillette:
(I had like 2 ... or 3). Very flavorful and tender. We only had 30 minutes at the bar so on top of eating these rillettes I also quickly went through a Sazerac and a French75.

Apparently that might not have been such a good idea. I wasn't aware that a 6-course wine paired meal was ahead of me! (No, really, I always thought these conference dinners were capped at 100/person!)

The first course was a choice of two:
Course #1, Choice #1: Foie Gras Torchon (apple, honey chutney, cinnamon brioche)
Dr. Loosen Riesling, Mosel Saar-Ruwer 2007, Germany
There was no way I wouldn't choose foie gras! It is not the best foie gras I've ever had but it was pretty good and I liked the apple & honey chutney. I also thought the Riesling was a pretty good pairing.

Choice #2: Blue Crab Boudin

Course #2:
Taste of North&South Pasta (scallop + fresh ricotta ravioli, butter poached lobster & sweet corn puree, shrimp tortelli with sauce etouffee)
Tegernseerhof "T-26" Gruner Veltliner, Wachau 2006 Austria
The highlight of this dish was the butter poached lobster with sweet corn puree. The lobster was fresh and nicely done and although both the lobster and the puree were on the sweet side they worked quite well, both texture and flavor - wise.

Course #3: Basil-crusted Sea Bass (parmigiano reggiano polenta cake, vinaigrettes of citrus and sweet pepper)
Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon, Macon 2007 France
The seabass was just a tad overcooked, but I loved the polenta cake.

Course #4:
"The Duck" (confit-walnut-blue risotto, cured smoked breast)
Greenhough Pinot Noir, Nelson 2005 New Zealand

Course #5: Black Angus tenderloin. At this point I lost my menu notes ... probably too much wine or something silly like that ..
The meat was not bad, and it was cooked pretty well, but it was a little on the dry side, although the sauce definitely helped a lot with it.

Dessert: Pineapple beignets. This was served with your selection with dessert wine/liqueur/coffee/tea, so I opted for some Nocello (hazelnut liqueur).
This was not really like the beignets I "normally" have, like Cafe du Monde's all dusted in sugar. This was crispy and filled with pineapples.

A very satisfying meal (as I drank the last drops of my Nocello). If you're in New Orleans and looking for a nice place for some Creole-influenced continental food - I recommend this place!
Happy Mardi Gras!

Cuvee
322 Magazine St
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 587-9001


www.restaurantcuvee.com

NOLA: The Beignet Hunt

I stopped at almost every cafe on the streets of the French quarter featuring beignets, hunting for the best ones and encountering disappointments.

In the end, the best beignets are that of the well-known commercialized brand. I guess there was a reason for its commercial success after all (sorry mom and pop shops).

Cafe du Monde's beignets are puffy, fluffy precious things, "lavishly covered", as they say, (shake the bag with the beignets and powdered sugar to cover em up) with powdered sugar. Their beignets are nice and fluffy, while the other places' beignets are too dense for my taste.
They're perfect, really.


Cafe du Monde
Various locations in New Orleans, LA
http://www.cafedumonde.com/