Apologies for my absence. September was a crazy month for me (I was home all of one weekend) so there wasn’t much cooking or writing or anything other than working and traveling happening in my world. But to compensate, I bring you a massive list of things to do in New Orleans.
I turned 30 this weekend. It feels perfectly right — my 20s were amazing, but I’m really excited for this next decade of my life. To celebrate, I convinced seven of my closest friends to join me for a weekend in New Orleans. I’ve always wanted to visit (any place that celebrates food, drinking, music and dancing as much as NOLA is a place I must be) and man oh man did it deliver. Literally every moment of the weekend was amazing: the city is just imbued with an energy and a vibe that is all its own. It’s truly magical.
… And the food? Every bit as delicious as you’d think. It was actually impossible to narrow it down, so I didn’t, hence the novel below:
Fried Chicken at Willie Mae’s
I’ll be honest: I’m not sure if my meal here was real or a fever dream. We came here after a long night of Bourbon/Frenchman Street partying, waited over an hour in the hot sun, and I may have been slightly delirious when I finally sat down. Is it possible that fried chicken could actually be that shatteringly crisp on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside? Do the laws of physics account for such things?
Apparently so. Willie Mae’s has won a James Beard Award and been named “America’s Best Fried Chicken,” so the fried chicken is really that good. The wait is long, the menu is short (only five entrees, though the sides are endless and delicious, especially the red beans and rice, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese), but you really only need one thing: the fried chicken. It is perfection, especially after a night of drinking, and absolutely worth all the effort to get it.
Cochon
This place is on every “Essential New Orleans” list, so I’m not exactly unearthing a new gem by telling you to go here. But sometimes everyone is right. The wood-fired oysters with chili garlic butter were the single best thing I ate on this trip — creamy, spicy, smoky and perfect. The fried alligator bites were also delicious (they taste like chicken, I promise!) and the Louisiana cochon was excellent, though, on our waiter’s recommendation, I also got the rabbit and dumplings, which was savory, hearty and exactly what I needed to fuel myself for a night of drinking.
Bacchanal
This was the first place I went to on my trip, and it’s quite possibly one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to. It’s a wine shop with live music in a gorgeous backyard (seriously, one of my favorite things about New Orleans is how lush and green it is. Plants everywhere! Really warms this plant lady’s heart). I’ve spent a lot of time in the subsequent days wondering why Brooklyn doesn’t have something similar, but I think it’s the kind of magical place that only exists in NOLA.
Beignets from Cafe du Monde
I know, it’s horribly cliche. But the beignets at Cafe du Monde really are that good. They’re crisp on the outside, pillowy soft on the inside, and just barely sweet — hence the mountains of powdered sugar on top. Paired with a coffee (mixed with chicory, another NOLA tradition), it’s an A+ breakfast. Just get there early — we got there before 9 and were seated immediately, but as we were eating, the line grew and grew to ’round-the-corner-and-down-the-block proportions. (Cafe du Monde is also open 24 hours and the beignets make a great post-drinking snack, so there’s always that option as well. We did both and were very very happy.)
Muffalettas from Verti Marte
We stayed down the block from this tiny hole-in-the-wall deli, and had no idea that it’s kind of a big deal. Everyone talks about the muffalettas from Central Grocery (they were invented there), but Central Grocery closes at 5 p.m. and Verti Marte is open all night long. Plus, their muffalettas are serious business — stacked so high with meats and cheeses that one order can easily feed a few hungry people. Related: If Verti Marte sold the olive salad from their muffalettas in jars, I would buy a dozen. It’s that freakin’ good.
Po’boys from Killer PoBoys
While I didn’t visit Killer PoBoys myself, my friends brought back five different sandwiches (I have the best friends) from this popular sandwich shop. They’ve branched out from the classics to feature all kinds of po’boys, including rum-glazed pork belly(!) and sweet potato with a black-eyed pea and pecan spread(!!). The shrimp version takes its cue from bahn mi and was so good that I wanted seconds while still eating the first.
The French 75 Bar
French 75 is located just off the madness of Bourbon Street, but when you walk in, it feels like you’re immediately transported into another era. There are waiters in tuxes, dark wood and brass everywhere and the cocktails are a far (far) cry from a hurricane or a hand grenade. (In fact, head bartender Chris Hannah won a James Beard Award for the drinks he’s mixing up here.) We stopped in for a pre-dinner drink on my actual birthday, and it was the perfect birthday treat.
BONUS ROUND (because I couldn’t stop at just 7!):
Coquette
This cute restaurant in the Garden District offers modern versions of Creole classics. We came here for dinner our first night and basically ordered everything. The smoked catfish dip? Bomb. The rabbit charcuterie? Also delicious. The charred okra? Who knew okra could be that delicious. Snapper? My favorite. The smoked short rib? Everyone else’s favorite. Basically, if you find yourself in NOLA, come here with a huge group of friends, get everything and walk out extremely full and happy.
Cane & Table
I never thought I’d enjoy a drink served in a pineapple with two different types of rum. Cane & Table somehow got me. The bar is a bit hard to find (there’s very little signage out front) but so worth it — inside has a very cool old-school vibe, there’s a cute backyard, plus the cocktails are kind of weird and very delicious, which is always something I can get behind.
Pat O’Brien’s
Given that this was my first time in NOLA, there was no way I wasn’t going to visit Bourbon Street at least once. However, my tolerance for “spring break”-style debauchery is fairly low at this point. (#Thisis30.) Thankfully, a friend who used to live in New Orleans recommended Pat O’Brien’s, which was comparatively inoffensive and dare I say, actually pretty fun. There’s a nice big courtyard, a flaming fountain, and apparently the hurricane was invented here. (It was … surprisingly not terrible.)
Green Goddess
If you’re anything like me, at some point in your trip you’ll probably want food that isn’t breaded and fried. Green Goddess is here for you. It sits on a cute little alleyway in the French Quarter and offers actual green things — the freekah salad was exactly what I needed after my beignet breakfast.
Air Boat Tours by Arthur Matherne
I really wanted to do a swamp tour after hearing this story. On a friend’s recommendation, we booked with Air Boat Tours by Arthur Matherne, which tours the Bayou des Allemandes about an hour outside of New Orleans. We got real up close and personal with #swamplife, meeting (and petting!) four different alligators and seeing turtles, all sorts of birds and a lot of prehistoric-looking trees. The swamp was really beautiful in its own way, and riding around on the boat was a lot of fun. If you’re in the mood for a little bayou time, I’d highly recommend this tour company!
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