Category: dining

Tea service!

Sucre Salon offers a sweet tea service on the second floor of the Sucre shop in the Quarter on Conti. To get there, you walk into the boutique

…and up the stairs into the restaurant

To begin, a pineapple-passionfruit Italian soda

and a merigold tea that blooms in the hot water

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First, a tray of baked items including a madeleine
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the tea sandwiches (right now they’re doing their new menu, and that includes gin-cured gravlax finger sandwich, poached chicken and mustard, Hook’s cheddar and cucumber, plus a couple of tarts)
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Now, I do love a tea sandwich. There is a tea sandwich-sized shape in my soul that needs to be filled (when I was a little girl, the fact that my Nanny cut off bread crust and sliced my sandwiches into sweet triangles I took as a sign of love). But I have to say: these were just missing something. And while no one wants to gorge themselves at a tea service, and we all wish to stay mindful of lovely little princess bites, there was nothing served that was just crazy delicious. It was all good, but none of it was great. None, including pastry or chocolate, was special enough to get any extra from the downstairs bakery to bring home for the boys.

Bananas foster, raspberry petit four, chocolates, macaroms, eclair

Just about everything but the sandwiches made their way (some minus a nibble) to my go-box
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Macaroon Boutique in Charleston has some of the best macarons ever

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The Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte has a Christmas tree on display with over 8000 macarons this year.

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Hello Kitty macarons are a thing

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Laduree and their macaroons say ‘Joyeuses Fetes’, and I say to Av: one Laduree macaron for each night of Chanukah sounds ‘magnifique’

Lunch at Antoine’s this day was especially wonderful because I got to make a new friend: sitting at the next table was someone who ordered in English, but explained to the waiter that she was from Germany. I took German in high school so being friendly and seeing she was alone, I attempted (heh, attempted) to do a little Deutsch, but her English was worlds better, so we talked in Englisch the entire meal. In fact, we’re planning on getting together when she comes back in a few months!

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$.25 cocktails, friends. Yes. Maximum of three per guest, so ich werde drei haben. haha!

I had the lunch special, and started with charbroiled oysters. No one ever does these as well as Drago’s (btw, last week, Tom Fitzmorris mentioned that they’ve added space with another 150 seats (great, but the parking is *still* crazy)), but they’re always fun to have.
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Next, the petit tenderloin with zucchini, yellow squash, and andoille with an onion and mushroom Burgundy sauce. The meat was so incredibly tender, it could have been eaten with a spoon. Just perfect.
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Dessert was included, so I chose the meringue glasse, but left most of it there, as I had enjoyed most of the entree.

Antoine’s will always have a special place in my heart, as Shug’s first birthday was spent in their private 1840 room, and his first birthday cake, a baked alaska with his name in meringue
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I actually got to the restaurant a tiny bit early. One of the front of house staff asked me if I had ever seen all the rooms, and offered to take me on a tour. I had seen many of the rooms but not all, so took the opportunity to peruse and take some pics.

Main / front dining room

Mystery room — mentioned below

Dungeon

1840 room — this is the room we had Shug’s first birthday in:

Rex room

Tabasco room

Escargot room — this one I had never been in:

Proteus room

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CBS News with ‘10 Restaurants that Changed America‘ from Paul Freedman’s new book

http://www.cbsnews.com/common/video/cbsnews_video.swf

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WGNO did a spot for Repeal Day, when Prohibition was over.

The popular restaurant Antoine’s had a speakeasy, and that room is still here today.
So what if you were a gentleman during Prohibition at Antoine’s and you wanted to get a drink? Well you’d go the ladies bathroom of course. No really – you’d walk right through here, and that door there would take you to the mystery room.

“The gentleman would leave the bar with coffee cups of liquor and they’d be tottering around the bar drunk during Prohibition and everyone would ask, ‘Where did you get that? And the answer is that it’s a mystery—so the mystery room was just the room – where they mystery came from,” said Rick Blount, the owner of Antoine’s.

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Paste Magazine just ran a piece on the oldest restaurants in New Orleans:
French immigrant Antoine Alciatore’s restaurant, which has held more than one location on St. Louis Street, has remained family-run for 176 years (and counting) and is believed to be the birthplace of Oysters Rockefeller, a dish invented by his son Jules. The restaurant you experience today opened in 1868…

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Reveillon menus are going now, and Antoine’s is:
FIRST COURSE (CHOICE OF)
• Charbroiled Louisiana Oysters (4) with Seasoned Garlic, Herb Butter, Olive Oil, and Topped with Romano Cheese
• Alligator Bisque

SECOND COURSE
• Noël Salad of Greens and Baby Spinach, Strawberries, Shaved Carrots, Cranberries, and Walnuts Topped with Feta Cheese and Orange Vinaigrette

THIRD COURSE (CHOICE OF)
• Chicken with Champagne Mushroom Sauce over Garlic Cheese Yukon Mashed Potatoes
• Louisiana Drum Stuffed with Crabmeat and Shrimp topped with White Wine Tomato Velvet and Steamed Asparagus

FOURTH COURSE (CHOICE OF)
• Eggnog Bread Pudding with Warm Praline Rum Sauce
• Raspberry Dark Chocolate Mousse with Whipped Cream and Raspberry Sauce

Is there a meaningful award Alon Shaya didn’t win for Shaya the last couple of years? Hard to think of one. Table 8 made a little list:
Winner: James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant 2016
Middle Eastern: Best New Orleans Restaurants: Critic’s Picks 2016 – New Orleans Times-Picayune
2016 Restaurants of the Year – Food & Wine
12 Best New Restaurants of 2016 – GQ
10 Hottest Restaurants in New Orleans Spring 2016 – Zagat
Best of Food: Best New Orleans Restaurant 2016 – Gambit
Best of Food: Best Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Restaurant 2016 – Gambit
Winner: James Beard Award Best Chef South 2015
15 New Restaurants to Savor in 2015 – Times-Picayune
Best of Food- New Restaurant 2015 – Gambit
Winner: James Beard Award for Who’s Who in Food and Beverage 2014

I promise, they missed a bunch.

Obviously, lunch there is amazing and wonderful and his curried fried cauliflower hummus is one of my favorite things to eat.

I could eat it straight, with a spoon, no pita needed, curled-up-on-the-couch-spoon-in-hand-Netflix-marathon-style.

It’s that good.

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Hi, Av!

He ordered a sandwich, so I chose two small things for my lunch: one, this little plate of shipka peppers, stuffed with goat cheese. I didn’t find the peppers to be spicy, though this chart shows that they’re likely to be hotter than a jalapeno. In any case, they were paired perfectly with the cool, creamy goat cheese interior.
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Here it is: that curried fried cauliflower hummus.
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Av did the chicken schnitzel sandwich, which he loved too. Just a great lunch all around.
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Been meaning to try Alon Shaya’s recipe for whole roasted cauliflower

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If you’re familiar with LA’s Sqirl, Jessica Koslow will be coming to Shaya to cook dishes from her new book, Everything I Want To Eat: Sqirl and the New California Cooking on December 2, 7-10p. They’ll also do a mashup for a ‘Shayirl’ short rib and frittata breakfast pita. Event $120 without cookbook, $150 with.

On our last visit to San Antonio, we went to Ray’s Drive Inn — it doesn’t get the highest ratings or all the attention, but they’re supposedly the inventor / home of the puffy taco. And if you’re the least-bit familiar with SA, you know puffy tacos are a thing.

As Courtney Bond wrote at Texas Monthly,
A puffy taco is distinguished by its tortilla: a round of uncooked masa bobs in hot oil until the moisture evaporates and air pockets form. As for fillings, you’re a Texan—you don’t need to be told what to put in a taco.

The drive inn technically began in 1956 and went through different locations; in 1966, Ray’s brother Arture “Art” moved back home from California and bought the business. With him, he brought a dish he knew from the Los Angeles area: puffy tacos. In 1992, he registered ‘puffy tacos’ and received the original trademark. The menu states that they serve over 500 of them each day.

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First, though, the interior. Did you ever have a friend with one of those low-slung 1970s homes with the basement the dad had overstuffed with ‘dad’ things like gas station paraphernalia and taxidermy and license plates and neon beer signs? The original man cave? Ray’s has got to be the ultimate.

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In keeping with the Drive Inn vernacular, a paper boat to hold chips
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Tecate in can, salt, citrus. Is that a lemon instead of a lime?

nachos served they way they should be: dressed individually rather than piled up. Jalapenos on the side as I was sharing these with the little ones
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Av likes things minimalistic, which means a puffy taco consists of a puffy taco and meat only.
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Me, I go with whatever. Send it to me how you think it should go.
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Ray’s only takes cash, and they’re inexpensive (a beef puffy taco = $2; 3 enchilada plate with rice, beans, tortillas = $6). It was all good but not crazy delicious. Mostly, I loved the atmosphere and supporting a local business that’s been around for so long.

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The Phoenix New Times with 3 Tips for Avoiding Beer Tragedies of the Mexican Variety suggests that if Tecate is presented in a can, it should not be poured into a glass, and should get the salt and lime treatment. Negra Modelo and XX Amber never get lime. And, says the author, Corona is never a good beer.

Lunch at La Petite Grocery on Magazine Street

Chef Justin Devallier started as a line cook there in 2004, was promoted to executive chef in 2007, purchased the restaurant in 2010, and since has been named a James Beard Best Chef: South finalist multiple times. He and wife Mia also own Balise.
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This day, Av ordered one of the specials, a roasted beef dish with frites that was perfect in every way
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I had the braised short rib from the appetizer menu, which was so luscious and dark, and popped with the accompaniments: pickles and fried peanuts
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not sure how big my main was going to be (since it was from the appetizer menu) I had roasted broccoli for a side, with bagna cauda and chili flakes — and that was the best broccoli of my entire life.
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We recently had lunch at sister restaurant Balise, and I’ll post that (along with its fab artwork) soon.

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Justin tells Coastal Living where to eat in New Orleans, and I had no idea about the baleadas they’re making at Ideal Market.

He mentions famous Mr. Okra in his similar list to Saveur from September.

Last month, Zagat came out with their list of the 30 best burgers in the US, and La Petite’s is included (as well as also-in-NOLA’s Company Burger, and Port of Call).

Having lunch at Nina Compton’s Compere Lapin is just too easy. They’re on OpenTable, it’s a very short walk from the Quarter (with easier parking), and if you’re staying at the Old No. 77, it’s even the room service. If you’ve watched Top Chef, you know that this is Nina Compton’s still-newish place that she wished to make after living and falling in love with New Orleans during the 2013 TC season.

Here, seated along the far wall with a view of the quite long bar:

First brought to the table are biscuits with columns of perfect cylindrical butter.
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That biscuit really deserves its own image. Tall and light and laminated so lots of buttery layers
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The ‘hot fire chicken with pickles’ for lunch
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perfectly crunchy crust on the chicken (though not especially spicy) with nice bite of quick-pickle alongside and atop
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Afterward, a complimentary scoop of mango sorbet. Perfect way to finish.
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Next time, if it’s still on the menu: trying the curried goat with sweet potato gnocchi and cashews

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The new season of Top Chef begins December 1 in Charleston with newcomers vs. returning chefs. Among the new: Jim Smith, who’s the ‘executive chef of the State of Alabama’
http://player.theplatform.com/p/PHSl-B/tLGNZ7qPWAH0/select/media/guid/2140479951/3126772

After 55 years, Peggy’s in Philadelphia, Mississippi announced October 28 was its last day of business. Just three blocks south of the Neshoba County courthouse, an old Geocities site they had from who-knows-when listed that $7 lunch included everything: salad, drink, dessert, and tax. That’s how much it was when we were there first in 2005; more recently it’s been $9 ($8.42 plus tax).

Once a home-turned-restaurant, Peggy’s had made quite a name for itself, appearing in food tour books and magazines; in 2013, it made Southern Living’s Best Restaurants in the South list:
…You entered the home (hallways covered in family photos), fixed your plate of comfort food (fried chicken, pork chops, creamed corn, butter beans) off the make-shift serving counter at the kitchen entryway, sat at one of the folding tables scattered throughout the house (at whatever seat was available), and left your money in the basket by the door (making your own change)…

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Truly, that was the charm. There were family photos everywhere. The food came from what looked like a residential kitchen. It was…it was food from home. Fried chicken, beans, potato salad. I don’t think they had an account with Sysco. Likely nothing came from Restaurant Depot or its ilk, including the china, which was pretty, but a little worn and chipped. And that was part of the charm too. When it was time to go, there was a simple straw basket, and you paid and made your own change. The honor system proved that they loved you enough to feed you and trust you to make it right in return.
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While there is the very occasional house-restaurant, more often it’s easier to find the family plate-lunch fundraiser, or curbside rib plate or fish fry. Am I remembering correctly that somewhere in Georgia there’s a funeral home that serves lunch? We definitely want to get to Masada Cafe at the United House of Prayer the next time we’re in Savannah.

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Mississippi Roads came to Philadelphia and the segment with Peggy’s begins at 3:18

Av and I finally got over to the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia. It was soooo very nice.

This was our dining room (below). When we arrived, we were asked if we had reservations (I for some reason didn’t even *think* about reservations) but we only had to wait about ten minutes to be seated. I think the idea is that entire rooms of the home get seated at about the same time (but I might be wrong about this) because when we were called, so were people for every other table in the same dining room. We all had the same waitress, who was wonderful and really was sort-of a fan herself for the place and what to have…sooo nice.

These are the Blue Willow dishes:

The serving room:

Here’s my plate – some dressing, sweet potatoes, collards, biscuit, and chicken livers. All of it was *delicious*! For dessert, I had peach cobbler (one of my favorites) and it was really terrific, too. Av had the fried chicken which he really enjoyed (plus dressing and potatoes), and for dessert had pecan pie, which he says was really, really good.