The Big Easy!

I promise I'm not taking this in the direction of a restaurant blog but its hard to travel to New Orleans and NOT talk about the food. My friend/colleague and I were there for a meeting this week but we were able to carve out some play time too. Heather's from Charleston but now lives in San Francisco. I have to tell you, she might be one of few people that I know that appreciate cooking as much as I do! Staying right in the middle of the French Quarter, we were easily able to walk to many of the city's best restaurants. Looking for something casual as we got into town on Wednesday, we tried one of John Besh's restaurants, Luke. It was smaller than expected, located on St. Charles right next to the Hilton hotel. It had a french bistro feel to it though the menu certainly had a Cajun stamp on it as well. We decided to a bunch of appetizers so that we could try a variety of things from the menu which was fun. We tried an heirloom tomato salad with crab meat, a flat bread/pastry kind of thing topped with caramelized onions, bechemel sauce, lardons and Gruyere (DECADENT and delicious), and the gumbo. My beet salad with pistachios, radicchio and blue cheese was good but a little too salty. Heather has quite the extensive wine knowledge living in San Fran so I always ask her to pair wines. She went with a really refreshing Rose that complimented the richness and spice very well! All in all a very solid meal- I'll definitely look forward to trying August, another Besh hot spot next time I'm there. Thursday night we found a little wine bar on Orleans, across the street from the Bourbon Orleans hotel, right behind Jackson Square. It was FANTASTIC! They have little tables along the street where you can sit for drinks only I believe, the indoor space was very charming as well, however we opted to sit in the Courtyard which though a little warm, really had the New Orleans feel to it! The menu and wine list were very impressive and I knew it was going to be a good meal when upon arrival they brought us a fresh baked baguette in a paper bag with herb butter. We started with wine flights- three "aromatic" whites as they called them and a cheese plate paired to the wine. The wines were an Australian Savignon Blanc, a barely dry Riesling and a Guwertztraminer- all delicious! The cheeses were a triple creme brie, an aged cheddar, a drunken goat and a stout something a-rother. I could have stopped right there... but it was early and after a little break, we were ready for round two- barbecued shrimp! This dish, unlike my adapted version, was the real deal. . They brought us 6, HUGE shrimp with the heads still on, soaking in the delicious sauce (garlic, butter, rosemary, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce and most importantly, Abita beer), with more fresh bread on the side. Heather picked out a Pinot Gris which worked really nicely with the spiciness of the shrimp. Picking up some steam, we decided to share a lamb entree that was OUT OF THIS WORLD. They called it ginger scented lamb with Moroccan spiced Israeli cous-cous, asparagus and a curried mango chutney of sorts. The lamb was cooked PERFECTLY and the flavors were so incredibly interesting and complimentary. The lamb of course required that we move to a red wine (twist my arm), so our server recommended a Burgundy that was served slightly chilled. Three hours later... we were not short on conversation and had a few splashes of red wine left so we bowed up for one final snack... some chocolate mousse. Food coma and wine buzz in tow... we wandered back through the lively Quarter to our hotel to catch a few hours of sleep before an early morning flight home. Already looking forward to another trip to the Big Easy and while there are so many places to try, this one will definitely make the list again!