Saturday in the French Quarter

At least once a year, I like to spend a Saturday tooling around the Quarter. I usually start out by myself and meet up with friends along the way, stopping in for a bite here, a drink there. Although the FQ is relatively small, I always stumble upon something I've never seen before. This past weekend I decided I needed one of those days. I actually started the day with brunch at Compere Lapin, not really in the Quarter but pretty close. Nina Compton's new restaurant is hot, hot, hot and I have been there for dinner, but never brunch. I met three friends and we were graciously attended to by Claire. If you go to CL, ask for her! She is delightful and very knowledgeable about the menu.

Although they have mimosas and bloody Marys, typical for brunch, I wanted the Andromeda cocktail that I've had there before. It's their take on a Pisco sour, which I have a well-documented love for, plus they add green chile vodka. It never fails to please. We started with zucchini fritter and a green bean remoulade, which I thought were just fine but nothing remarkable. I wasn't super hungry so I ordered an appetizer for my entree, curried shrimp with picked mango and avocados and fried plantains. I wasn't too wow-ed by this either but I did really like the curry flavor in the shrimp. I know not all curry powders are created equal and this one was special! We had a chia pudding for dessert with toasted coconut and berries, simple but delicious. I'll have to put this in my repertoire.

Next, to the Quarter we go! We went to Sobou for happy hour. One of my friends had told me about a Barbar punch special with rhubarb bitters that sounded incredible. Sadly, I think they made the punch differently that day, it tasted like a Sweet Tart? Meh. I got a shrimp and tasso pincho, $3 for one shrimp. Double meh.

Speaking of happy hour, Tableau has a great one, so we went there next. I get the same thing every time I go; a French 75 to drink and the burrata with pesto and honey for nibbles. I could eat those all day. In colder months, I usually get the turtle soup too. My companions ordered some other things (a pork quesadilla, some yellowtail crudo), but we ended up ordering several more burrata appetizers because they are just that good.

We saw some street performers, bopped into some boutiques and caught a performance of one Ms. Valerie Sassyfras. All I can say about her is that she is one of New Orleans' most delightful delusionals, and there are many! All in all, a very good day.

New Direction

So many thoughts on the past 8 or so years of documenting my life. I'd like this space to be a forum for myself and others on a similar path. My interests are many; healthy eating and fitness sure, but also whole body wellness, reducing stress in my life, appreciating the simple things, finding the "sweet spot" between work and home, family and friends, responsibility and freedom, joy and pleasure. So this space will probably feature mostly my experiences in the kitchen, in the grocery store and pounding the pavement in my tennis shoes. I also will share my travels and talk about financial freedom. Maybe I'll even get inspired and start pursuing more creative outlets besides cooking and writing! Since it's been a while, I'll practice my chops here before I do a whole new design and launch. But all in good time...

I'm getting really excited for my upcoming trip to Italy! I will be gone for two weeks, spending some time in Rome, Positano, Naples and topping it off with cooking school in Sicily. I get to travel with my beautiful mother, with whom I've never had the to opportunity to travel solo before. Our plan is pretty loose; in Rome, I think we'll do a lot of walking, cafe sitting, gelato eating and pizza consuming. I've been to Rome before and I wasn't really into the tourist sites. Renaissance art is not my thing and I've seen enough churches to last a lifetime. I've done a lot of traveling in my time and I've found that I like to do some research ahead of time, but mostly I just like to wander and people watch while eating and drinking like a champ. In Positano, I would like to do lots of staring at the sea, I mean, look at this place!




I can't wait! Have a great weekend.