Are you ready for music, fun, food, partying and a 300-year old city celebration?

Pink-Geek's list series - restaurants

Are you ready for music, fun, food, partying and a 300-year old celebration?...If you are head over to New Orleans for a weekend.

Airport Code: MSY

If The New York Times’s annual 52 Places to Go lists New Orleans as it’s top place to visit in 2018, you better believe it and start packing your bag. I just returned from a quick trip in which I am still wishing I had more stomachs to be able to go to all my favorite restaurants in just a short period of time. Here I’ll provide you with a glimpse of my culinary weekend.

If you are traveling to New Orleans, my best advice is to travel on a very empty stomach, leave your favorite pair of shoes home, and take your good manners everywhere you go. One of the hardest decisions will be where to dine, as there are plenty of awesome restaurants. Not only are they delicious, when compared to similar restaurant in San Francisco, New York or Miami, the restaurants in New Orleans are reasonably priced and the waiters are extremely friendly. Also, you will be walking and dancing even in the streets, so comfortable shoes are required. People at New Orleans are extremely friendly, one of the many mottos they act by is “be nice or leave”, rude people are not welcomed.

Waking on the streets is like walking into a decorative museum. Where else can you see strings of beads from years past celebrations dripping off every tree like moss. Where else do trees have such a cool style with all that blin?

Now lets get to the foodie part.

While at New Orleans you have to eat like a local, and that means having at least 1 po’ boy, po-boy, or po boy, they are all referring to a hearty New Orleans sandwich which represents the bedrock of New Orleans and a proud working class ethic. The sandwich was meant to keep workers full for long hours.

My favorite PooBoy sandwich can be found at: Parkway Bakery and Tavern - This place has been operating since 1911, as a family run business. Pictured here is a crispy french loaf with the tasties friend shrimp. It is hard to find shrimp where the batter does not over empower the taste of the shrimp. These shrimps were just perfect.

Moving on from something casual to something more elegant, the next stop is a hearty elegant breakfast at:
Brennan’s This is a New Orleans restaurant staple since 1946, a must go for brunch.

While at this place, make sure to go to the courtyard to visit the turtles, usually named after sauces: Béchamel, Espagnole, Hollandaise, Tomate Velouté, Remoulade, Ravigote, Bordelaise or Mignonette.
Weather-permitting request to seat at their lovely courtyard:othwerwise, inside is just as cozy.

To drink or not drink, that is not the right question... the question is to drink something salty or something sweet?
Cajun Bloody Mary - Housemade Bloody Mary Mix, Vodka,pickled Okra & Spicy Beans
Sparkling Watermelon - Local Watermelon, Lime, Sparkling Wine

Before selecting your COOLinary experience, ask your self whether or not you want Banana's Foster at the end. I made the mistake of ordering too many plates and by dessert time I was already too full to even just have a bite; :disappointed: nevertheless, these were awesome:

Buttermilk Biscuits - because we all need some biscuits when we are brunching, right?

New Orleans BBQ Lobster - Creole Spiced Butter, Lemon Confit, Thyme, Toasted Baguette

Sorry readers, but this item was a SPECIAL OF THE Day: Blue Crab Tempura with bacon and eggs, yet is worth asking if they can prepare it.

Eggs Cardinal - Crispy Shrimp Boudin, Spinach, Lobster Cardinal, Black Truffle Hollandaise

GW Fins - regrettably, I was still full from Brennan's brunch, so I decided to splurge only on light appetizers, and of course their biscuits fresh out from the oven. This place is a like walking into heaven for anyone who enjoys seafood, and its conveniently located just off bourbon street.

Lobster Dumplings - White fish mousseline, tomatoes, lobster butter
Barbeque Shrimp - Deglazed with Abita Amber, goat cheese grits
Watermelon feta salad
Pictured below:

Other must-try items on the menu:

Parmesan Crusted Halibut -Jumbo lump crabmeat, spinach, local tomatoes, Chanterelles

If you are in the mood for something less traditional, dine at COMPERE LAPIN a hip restaurants which opened in mid-2015 that blends flavors and techniques from the Caribbean island of St Lucia and New Orleans influences. This place is perfect for a Fun Friday night out in the Warehouse District. The ambiance is relaxed and the decor eccentric, with exposed brick walls, wood finishes and a mosaic tile floor...and rabbits all over, a magician's dream.

Your meal will start with absolutely perfectly double cooked, fluffy, flat, flaky, greasy, dense, tall, delicious biscuits. Be sure to smother them with any of the compound butters! (pictured above)
On whatever dish you decide, make sure to try the following appetizers:

Conch croquetas - with pickled pineapple tartar sauce
Cold smoked tuna tartare - with avocado on top of crispy bananas

The beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and lavishly covered with powdered sugar. There are beignets ("fritters"), or french donuts as some locals like to call them, all over town; cut the guess work short on where to go:

• If you like the traditional, head Cafe du Monde at Jackson square - The original French Market Outpost since 1862
• If you like the gourmet, head to the Ritz-Carlton hotel, they seriously have the best ones in town, on top of the powder sugar you get to add chocolate or caramel. Lucky you :yum:
  

I hope you and your stomach enjoy the Big Easy!

-Pink-Geek ... or should I write Hungry Geek?