Craziness and Joy: New Orleans

A small shop near the hotel with an
amazing Mardi Gras display
So I just recently returned from a business trip to New Orleans, and I am officially a convert!  The city at the time was in the early throes of Mardi Gras, and also preparing itself for the upcoming Superbowl.  The French Quarter was covered with police, who justifiably expected a lot of crowd to control between Mardi Gras celebrants and Superbowl partiers.  It was a bit of a head trip.  Jackson Square and the river front area were covered with different stages where the CBS folks were filming interviews and talking heads.  Despite the growing insanity, I had an amazing time, and made sure to keep a food journal. It was such an amazing culinary adventure.  Some of the highlights include

  • Crawfish etoufĂ©e
  • Coconut custard bread pudding, chocolate bread pudding, and Mother's bread pudding
  • Poboys:
    • Sammy's - roast beef poboy
    • Red Fish Grill - bbq fried oyster poboy
    • Mother's - turkey, roast beef, and debris poboy (by FAR the most amazing)
  • Rabbit jambalaya
  • Smoked duck quesadilla
  • Seafood gumbo
  • Fried alligator bites
  • And, of course, cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe du Monde

At Mother's - this was the most amazing poboy I tried. The bread pudding was hot, full of butter, and fruit from a can, and it was breathtaking.
My favorite thing, aside from the food, that I experienced there was definitely jazz. I went with a group from the conference to a jazz club on Frenchmen Street, which is apparently what Bourbon Street used to be - a relaxed place where you can wander around and hear whiffs of jazz coming from almost every door.  We heard a really great group play, I indulged in a sazerac, which was delightful, then we went on to Preservation Hall, the original home of jazz. We got to hear a group of fairly young musicians who were quite impressive, and having a lot of fun. Another gal and I spent most of their set just dancing like the joyful fools we were!


I also managed to find a really charming yarn shop deep in the French Quarter, not far from Jackson Square: the Quarter Stitch at 629 Chartres Street. Super charming, found a superfine merino that was just amazingly soft and is destined to become a hat shortly. They had lots of different things for the needlepointing crowd as well. Great service, sounds like their classes must be a hoot and super helpful.


Despite all the fun, it ended up also being a productive business trip as well.

(P.S. It was on the trip back that I actually finished my socks for the boyfriend!)

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