This past weekend, I left behind the chilly temperatures of New York for the sunny blue skies of New Orleans. The mission? To complete my first half marathon---and, more excitedly, eat my way through the Crescent City. The run was great and such an inspiration. The food? Even better.
1 Friday, 11:45 pm: We arrived to New Orleans Friday night, made a pit stop at a piano bar on Bourbon Street, then beelined to the legendary Café du Monde for beignets and coffee and chicory.
2 Saturday, 11:30 am: A lovely morning stroll through the Warehouse District farmers' market, just two blocks from the apartment where I stayed.
3 I developed quite the addiction to New Orleans-style chicory coffee.
4 Swiss chard and beets from a local farm.
5 Pretty turnips!
6 Rocking R Dairy's selection of fresh goat's milk chevres: garlic, cajun (which we devoured), lemon dill, and black pepper.
7 So New Orleans: a grits food truck.
8 Saturday, 1:20 pm: We took a short drive to Hollygrove Market and Farm, an urban farm operating since 2008.
9 You can purchase a box of produce from Hollygrove for just $25 a week.
10 I love this.
11 More vegetable plots.
12 Organic blood orange, graprefruits, and tangerines were some of the week's goods.
13 Saturday, 2 pm: For lunch, we craved Cajun cooking. We stopped by a hole-in-the-wall market for "dressed" fried shrimp 'po boys, bought a bottle of Louisana Crystal hot sauce, and had a picnic along the Mississippi.
14 Saturday, 8:30 pm: Dinner at John Besh's Domenica. The race was the next morning, so we opted for Italian to fill up on carbs. I started with an arugula salad with beets, gorgonzola, spiced pistachios, and a date vinaigrette.
15 Carb heaven: Tagliatelle with a rabbit ragu and porcini mushrooms, topped with freshly grated Parmesan.
16 I decided it was more than appropriate to indulge if I was about to run 13 miles the next morning. Days later, I am still thinking about the banana zuppa inglaise (below): banana cake, butterscotch mousse, and peanut brittle.
17 Sunday, 11:15 am: We did it! My friend and running partner Eliana and me (right) enjoying a cold one after the run.
18 Monday, 10:20 am: Southern breakfast at Surrey's Café & Juice Bar. Here, the Boudin Breakfast Biscuit with egg and grits.
19 Shrimp and grits in the morning? Yes, please!
20 The cajun New Orleans-style BBQ sauce made this dish unbelievable.
21 You're never without hot sauce: Most food joints keep a collection at every table.
Being a West Coast transplant, this trip was my first-ever taste of the South. And while I didn't have time to slurp down a bowl of gumbo or nosh on some jambalaya (I know, I know), I did manage to find some pretty delish eats, from a late-night stop at Café du Monde for beignets and chicory coffee to a traditional "dressed" 'po boy to a carb-heavy, pre-race dinner at John Besh's Domenica restaurant in the Roosevelt Hotel. (Let's just say I've been eating a lot of fruit this week!) Here's my food journey in pictures.
From: Mike McNeeley | 2/16/11 at 5:52 pm
All the food looks amazing (especially the fried shrimp 'po boys)!!
From: SB | 2/16/11 at 6:03 pm
What a delicious travel log! Such wonderful photos and winsome observations . . . can't wait to visit soon.