Louisville Restaurants Forum

Donna and I have eaten like two coyotes on crystal meth during our two days in New Orleans. We will look like Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade baloons by the time we return on Sunday.

My report so far:
Lunch at Galatoires - Devine and classic decor and service. Galatoires is quintissential New Orleans. Their remoulade sauce is out of this world, and I ate a full plate of fried soft shell crab and crawfish. Donna was more genteel with salad and fresh red fish washed down with a chilled sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. I downed rum after rum and found room for a chocolate pecan pie smothered in hot fudge.
Yummy!

Dinner at Stellas! in the gorgeous courtyard - While the food, setting, and aesthetics were all wonderful, a cold detachment permeated this restaurant and made me want to pinch all ther servers in the butt to lighten them up! I hate pretentious restaurants as you mostly know. I could not coax a smile out of anyone. The sommelier was so up tight serving us the wine that I almost grabbed the towel hanging over his arm and waived surrender. While the food was creative and expertly prepared, a restaurant like Stella! soon fades from our memory. Not only do we want to eat well, we also want to have a good time.

We returned to Bayonna for lunch on Wednesday and I must say Bayonna will remain in our culinary hearts forever. We were there during our first trip to New Orleans in 1990 and have returned many times since. We met the chef-owner, Susan Spicer, in 1990 and bump into her every time we return. We sat in Bayona's gorgeous courtyard and ordered the same wine we always order, a white Graves from Chateau Carbonnieux. This time it was a 2001. I always order the bean cake with grilled shrimp and just devour this dish. I am such a pig, that I also ordered it for dessert. Unfortunately, Donna, the true foodie in our dyad, felt the creativity of Bayona has diminished. We still enjoyed ourselves tremendously and will return to Bayona every time we are in NOLA.

Last night we just wanted a good steak and after drinks at the Bombay Club we walked over to Dickie Brennan's steak house and had an excellent steakhouse meal. This Brennan's is based on the classic New York steakhouse with tile floor, dark wood walls, and clubby chairs. For what it tries to do, this steak house was excellent. They even have an Avignoesi super Tuscan by the glass.

I will continue to keep you posted about our eating. This "pig out" will include a Po Boy from "Mothers," a hamburger from Port of Call, and a muffalatta from the Central Grocery. I hope we will not have another experience like Stellas! I am pretentious enough already!

Take care

This is why Twitter was invented. Phil could provide updates on each course as they are served!

Charles

Am I the only one that feels like Phil's cheating on us (Louisville)?

Hurry up and get back to Louisville so you don't miss Paris Hilton at 4th St Live during Derby!

Thanks for the expert analysis. I plan to head down there for Jazzfest sometime in the future and this will definitely come in handy. I look forward to more updates as they are available!

To maintain the integrity of the new forum setup, I'll shift this thread to the Travel section, but will leave a "signpost" in this forum so it won't get lost.

Wow, all this integrity has me feeling like an alien. Of course, I went to the Madoff School of Financial Investment at the Adam Clayton Powell Bimini University. Robin, I think you are just trying to be Nelson Mandela and prevent posts that may cause duress among the masses. I will confine my future musings to the appropriate heading: "Short Chubby Dudes with too many Opinions about Dining." Or the "Travel" post...................

I'll be in New Orleans tomorrow and will try very hard to eat at the places Phil missed. I'll be posting pictures of the divine JazzFest food on Brightkite.

Mike worked w/ Besh under Kevin Graham in the early 90's. We're buying our cousin's honeymoon dinner there. Hope he still has it! I want DETAILS! (no butt pinching of servers please.)

Love the new travel section Robin. I've missed more than one plane standing in line at Central Grocery for take home muffulettas. I've also been known to empty my carry on into a box at UPS to free up space to carry jars of said mix back on the plane. CD

Hey Everyone!

I am sitting here trying to type with my chin wiggling like a merengue dancer on crack and my stomach having more folds then a staff seargent's bed. The food in New Orleans is great!
More restaurant reports:

Coop's Place - This is a dive bar with real good food. I had a cup of gumbo which was deeeeelicious! I finished my "snack" with a plate of blackened red fish on a bed of rice and string beans smothered in bacon fat. This was all washed down with several glasses of Mt. Gay and cola.

Mat and Nadie's - This was a fun place with good food, but it was not worth the $20 cab ride from the Quarter. I had chicken with waffles (Which I had for the first time at Avalon) and Donna had the seafood special with a fish she never heard of. It was all good in a loud and fun place. I would go if it was a neighborhood hang out, but I would not make a special trip.

My favorite bar in New Orleans is the Apple Barrel Bar on Frenchman Street in the Marigny. It is the quintissential dive bar with bartenders that all appear that they emerged from rehab yesterday. They had more cuts on their faces then a pit bull at a junk yard. Adolfo's, the upstairs restaurant, is purported to be one of New Orleans hidden culinary secrets. We waited at the Apple Bar for two hours before we could get a table. The food was good, not great. However, you got a ton to eat and it was cheap. I would recommend Adolfo's to young people who want a good meal for a cheap price. It certainly is unique and would have made a great date restaurant when I was single.

I went to Cochon for lunch and after being disappointed by fried rabbit livers I enjoyed the catfish tremendously. This is a very casual restaurant and the manager told me they have to turn away people every night. No restaurant recession here.

We went to Iris on N. St. Peter Street in the Quarter for lunch and it is a very lovely, elegant French stle restaurant that provides a respite from the loud, boisterous places typical of the Quarter.

Tonight we have reservations at Restaurant August, supposedly New Orleans best fancy restaurant. We shall see.

Take care

Thanks, Phil. What a great addition to the forum you have become. I love hearing about your travels and experiences. You guys have fun - bon chance! Then come back home and experience the wonder that is Louisville during Derby Week. It's gonna blow your mind!

Thanks dude, I'm traveling vicariously. Write more! CD

Our last meal at the renown Restaurant August was a complete let down. Again, Donna and I were met with "server stiffness." I do not know why restaurants think distant, snooty service translates into elegance. I think I will bring this up on the Louisville restaurant forum. The best aspect of our meal at August was the half bottle of 2003 Zenato Amarone we were able to order. While the food was described with more adjectives then a Shakespearean monologue, it all was rather bland, expensive, and underwhelming. Next time I'm in New Orleans I will stick to the tried and true. Give me a good bowl of gumbo, some booze, and a good tune and I will be happy forever.

Let's bump this thread back up to the top, since some people from Louisville might be going to New Orleans soon.