Lotsa food, lotsa questions

[whs]

We arrive on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving at 12:30, have dinner res at Brigtsen's, Thurs dinner res at August, and Fri lunch res at Cochon and dinner res at Meauxbar. Staying at International House. How's breakfast at Luke's? Lunch at Stanley's? Is it crazy to try to fit a lunch at Galatoire's in on Saturday? We have a 3:40pm flight out...want to savor every last delicious morsel. LOVE soft-shell crab. Have to have a Sazerac at the Roosevelt. BBQ shrimp at Mr. B's--gotta fit that in too. Best muffaletta for the plane ride home? Feast and Dominiques look interesting, is it worth bumping anything for a meal there?

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Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Brigtsen's Restaurant
723 Dante St, New Orleans, LA 70118

[whs]

Thanks to all of you for your input. As always, the fine folks and food of New Orleans make every visit a pleasure. Loved being called "Baby" by the waitress who brought us our breakfast of grits, eggs and biscuits at the Commerce (across the street from IH). A significantly pricier but delicious breakfast were the grillades and grits, and the chicken and waffles at Luke. Had my soft-shell crab po-boy at Magazine's with a side of fried okra--great! The Roosevelt Hotel lobby was beautifully decorated for the holidays, and our drinks at the Sazerac bar were top-notch. Love the ocean liner Deco atmosphere of the room. Maybe our expectations of Brigtsen's were unrealistic--though a very good meal, we were not as enamored as others who have posted on this board. I had the seafood extravaganza and aside from the shrimp cornbread, can't remember another thing on the (very large) plate. The menu and atmosphere seemed dated--enjoyed Upperline more on our last visit. Restaurant August was spectacular. Fantastic service, inventive menu, superb presentation. It's all in the details here--we were offered black napkins so as not to get lint on our black clothes. Besh's German training can be seen in the varied game offerings--the wild boar ragout was deep and flavorful. Cochon was fun--loved the meat pie and my fried oyster and bacon sandwich. Headcheese never tasted so good! Standouts at Meauxbar were the steak tartare and the persimmon sorbet--wow. For the trip home, we endured the line at Central, and totally offended our fellow travellers with a garlicky muffaletta on the plane.

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Restaurant August
301 Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Brigtsen's Restaurant
723 Dante St, New Orleans, LA 70118

Upperline Restaurant
1413 Upperline St, New Orleans, LA

[FoodChic]

Yeah, I would have made your flight miserable with that sandwich.

Glad you had a good time!

[kibbles]

the steak tartare at Meauxbar is definitely the best ive had. pricey as hell, but good.

[shanefink]

No, it is not worth bumping any of your choices for Feast.

[whs]

Thanks for the feedback--though nose-to-tail eating sounds up my alley.

[shanefink]

Apparently I am the only chowhound poster that was disappointed with it. A few weeks back, I went on my birthday on a Saturday night at 8:00 and there were 4 tables seated in the whole restaurant. By the time we left, we were the only table. The food was decent, but not great. I didn't think it was nearly as good as Incanto in San Francisco.

[piglet3000]

If you are picking up your Central Grocery muff on Saturday, get there EARLY when they open; you don't want to miss your flight OR go home without one! (I think last time we had to buy ours a day early and it was totally fine on the way home.) They give it to you in a plastic bag, I've never had one leak or get too messy before I got into it.

[BayouTeche]

Luke has a great breakfast (if pricey) and is just around the corner from International House. Open daily at 7:00am. Very convenient.

[whs]

Any reports on Rambla, in International House? Not sure if tapas is something we'd experiment with in New Orleans, but there is a duck cassoulet on the lunch menu...

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Rambla
217 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

[hazelhurst]

It is not fair to allinvolved to try Galatoires with a 3:40 (or, more acurately something like a 1:30) time limit. Do a lunch there when you arrive or Thursday..open all day.

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Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130

[whs]

Is it insane to attempt lunch at Galatoire's and dinner at Restaurant August on the same day?

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Restaurant August
301 Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130

[hazelhurst]

You could do it..just start 11:30 and go until 3:00 or so...by the time dinner shows up you should have some room

[whs]

LOL--we could always push dinner back to 9:30...nap would be essential.

[whs]

How 'bout early lunch at Bayona on Saturday, if we bring the bags to the restaurant and head out to the airport around 1:30?:

SATURDAY LIGHT LUNCH
Saturday Light Lunch Menu-Changes each Saturday 11:30-1:30
PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Select any 3 small plates for $25

To Begin…
Cream of Garlic Soup
Artichoke & Root Vegetable Soup, Bacon & Sage Pesto
Bayona Salad with Balsamic Dressing and Parmesan or Blue Cheese
Caesar Style Salad with Lemon Pickle & Fried Capers
Sea Scallop, Tomato & Roasted Eggplant Couscous, Salsa Verde
Buttermilk Fried Rabbit Livers, Arugula, Apple, Celery Root & Cider Vinaigrette

Next
Gnocchi Gratin, Pecorino, Pancetta, Asparagus & Portobellos
Shrimp Pad Thai, Noodles, Bean Sprouts, Peanuts & Lime
Chicken, Apple & Foie Gras Sausage, Spatzle, Cabbage, Riesling Sauce
Chorizo & Fried Egg on Ciabatta, Grilled Onion Salsa, Avocado
Smoked Salmon & Leek Crepe Gateau, Herb Cream Cheese, Lemon Butter

…Finally
Smoked Duck and Cashew Butter in Puff Pastry with Pepper Jelly
Cheese Plate- Great Hill Blue, Livarot
Warm Chocolate Malted Crepes, Louisiana Strawberries
Gateau de Sirop, Cinnamon Ice Cream & Candied Kumquats
Apricot & Almond Macaroon Ice Cream
Cherry Sorbet

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Bayona
430 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70112

[gort]

Your scheduling style sounds similar to mine! We have yet to try breakfast at Lüke, but lunch/dinner is great IMHO and the happy hour (3-6pm; 50-cent oysters and 50% off much of the already very reasonably priced drink list) is awesome. I'd try to fit it in the itinerary at some point. We thought Stanley's was just OK– the descriptions of the food sounded better than the actual product. One unexpected highlight from our most recent trip was the crab omelet at Lil Dizzy's (the location on Esplanade). Not sure how folks on the board feel about the place, but it was our favorite breakfast.

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Lil Dizzy's Cafe
1500 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116

[mrsfury]

I loved Lil Dizzy's but have not been in a while. Good to know it still rocks.

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Lil Dizzy's Cafe
1500 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116

[whs]

Thanks for the input about Stanley's--we've had lunch at Luke (loved it), so we thought we'd try breakfast.

[midcity]

In my experience, Central Grocery muffs fly well. You can order them ahead packed to fly.

[Monch]

+1 for Central Grocery muffs!

Last Monday I arrived at work and had a whole one sitting on my desk..In Wisconsin...

A good friend..and I mean GOOD...had taken a last-minute long-weekend to to NOLA and gifted me with the sandwich..bought on the previous Saturday.

I polished it off on the next Saturday and I thought it was STILL delicious. Probably (well certainly) past its prime, but an old CG muff is better than no muff at all.

Ask them to "travel wrap" the sandwich. But be wary of opening it on the plane...rumor has it that in-flight uprisings have occured when the aroma wafts through the plane!

[texasredtop]

I like the soft shell crab po-boy at Casamento's.

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Casamento's Restaurant
4330 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115