an american girl in the french quarter

no, i have not earned a stamp in my passport (unfortunately). but i did see the inspiration for parts of downtown san diego. that's right, this so cal girl went to nola. and i had a kulinary adventure indeed.

first let's do the rundown of what all i ate:

day 1:
(flying all day, arrived in time for dinner)
drago's at our hotel, charbroiled oyster appetizer and shrimp and grits

first time eating an oyster. first bite was delish. i think my mouth was tricked by all of the butter and garlic. so i went in for the second bite. my mouth realized that i was eating an oyster and was not so pleased. it went (and stayed) down but was not going to let another one in. the shrimp and grits-delish and more delish. i love grits. they are great. and the creole seasoning, yummy!

day 2:
(breakfast and lunch at preconference-it was not that i didn't want to explore)
cafe du monde for a chicory cafe au lait and beignets on our way to eat dinner & coop's place for dinner for coop's taste plate (seafood gumbo, shrimp creole, cajun fried chicken, red beans & rice with sausage, and rabbit & sausage jambalaya)

first, i love that as an adult, i can eat dessert before dinner. awesome! and fried dough covered in powder sugar is a delightful way to ruin your dinner. so i talked chris into ordering the sampler plate so i could taste one bite of everything but not actually commit to eating a plate of anything (because my belly was full of beignets). i will say that the cajun fried chicken was good and their coleslaw (not pictured) was fantastic (veggie plug #1).

we weren't ready to call it a night yet so walked around and i found a cool old building that was once a slave trading post and meeting spot for andrew jackson. after a while, i got hungry again and was told that the bread pudding was the best dessert on the menu. that was an understatement. i present to you bread pudding from the original pierre maspero's. that's right, homemade caramel sauce. i ate dessert, snacked for dinner, and had yet another dessert. bliss!

day 3:
lunch at johnny's poboy, the surf and turf (shrimp and roast beef) poboy, and dinner at the original pierre maspero's, fettuccine corn maque choux.

these are supposedly the best poboys in new orleans (which is like saying the best fish tacos in san diego). it's a hard claim because everyone has poboys in new orleans. i thought shrimp poboy was the quintessential one to get but their claims of having the best homemade roast beef sounded appealing. so the surf and turf was ordered...and immediately inhaled. they were dead-on with the roast beef claim, it was like something grandma made. and the shrimp were light (for being fried). and call me crazy but i loved the lettuce and tomato (veggie plug #2). the fettuccine corn maque choux was a refreshing change from the other fried foods we had been eating. there was not only corn but also peppers (veggie plug #3) tossed with tasso (ham) in a cream sauce. this was topped with blackened chicken. we also had the fried green tomato appetizer (not pictured) and those were glorious. good food with good people (bf and former grad school buddy) made for a great friday night.

day 4:
lunch at lucy's retired surfer bar, the cali burger (not pictured)
at this point, i needed something not fried, and something with veggies on it (veggie plug#4), hence the turkey burger with grilled onions, sprouts, avocado, tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickles on a whole wheat bun served with a salad. o.m.g. this was tasty and i felt like i was home. i felt that the veggies actually cleared some of my arteries so that i could proceed to dinner...
dinner at mother's, fried chicken special, with dirty rice, potato salad, and a biscuit

this was the best fried chicken i have ever had. it was fried but it was not at all greasy. the biscuit was the lightest, fluffiest biscuit i have ever had. and both the rice and salad were good. got me some tasty soul food.

day 5:
breakfast at the old coffeepot restaurant, calla cakes and grits.

again, i love grits. they are delicious with a little butter. and these calla cakes were a blend of sweet spices and long grain rice rolled into these cakes, which were then deep fried and dusted with powdered sugar and served with maple syrup. very dense and very tasty and unlike anything i have ever had for breakfast. wonderful! plus juice and coffee (great coffee) and a song performed by one of the servers (not our server) meant  breakfast and a show. a great start to the day!
dinner at deanie's, bbq shrimp appetizer and crfawfish quartet (crawfish etouffee, crawfish au gratin, fried crawfish tails andcrawfish dressng balls)

the bbq shrimp were way too much work. first, they were the most jumbo shrimp i have ever seen. then you had to peel and de-vein them-gross. not a fan. the crawfish four-ways: au gratin was creamy and cheesy and was good while warm (but not as good when it cools and coagulates); fried tails were sorta like fried shrimp with tasty homemade cocktail sauce; dressing balls were deep fried and were good with their homemade tartar sauce; and the etouffee had a tasty, smothered sauce, buttery, spicy with creole seasoning, but the rice it was served over was under cooked and crunchy. all in all, not the biggest fan. again, i liked the fries and the coleslaw.

that was our last night in the big easy and i can tell you that fried food, lots of seafood, and the lack of vegetables was not easy for me. i love vegetables. i love whole grains. i don't love everything fried or covered in lard, bacon grease, and other oily substances. i love that i tried lots of new things. some of them had very good flavors, and i look forward to having them again. but i am happy to be home and have eaten a bean and cheese burrito, tons of salad, fruits and vegetables.

all in all, it was an amazing place for food and non-food reasons. rich history (plantation visit), beautiful architecture (st. louis cathedral, jackson and lafayette squares), interesting people and cultural norms (we watch the krewe du vieux-the first of the mardi gras parades). we had a wonderful time and a kulinary adventure indeed, and i look forward to my next big adventure.