"Good Morning World, It's Jazzfest Day"
The words came out of the radio (old fashioned Frequency Modulation, not fancy satellite) as I lay in bed making a plan for the day. If you didn't know where you were because you smacked around too many brain cells the night before, that phrase would be the giveaway.
What other city would be so absorbed by a jazz festival?
What other city has a radio station devoted to "its sound"? I imagine you could create a radio station with the sounds of New York, but how long would you listen to sirens and car horns?
"I visited New York City once, right before 9/11. Man everything was so fast up there. Everyone in a hurry." That was my cab driver's assessment of New York.
"I know, that's what I'm trying to get away from." I said, thinking of the relentless river of humanity marching to and from the glass cages that line 6th avenue. I remember reading that during the 1960s when some of those buildings went up people said they had no soul. In reality, no architecture could be more appropriate.
There's a type of person in New Orleans called a "never left". A "never left" is someone who came here for some kind of festival, and, well, you know. How many other cities have that?
Last night we went to Cochon. Cochon is co-owned by a chef named Donald Link. In the days after Katrina Link scammed his way past the military to get back in the city to get his first restaurant, Herbsaint, up and running again. His story is well documented in the New Orleans episode of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations", so I'm just going to tell you about the food.
First course was fried rabbit livers. You may be surprised to hear that it was one of the lightest things I've eaten on the trip so far. The livers themselves were crispy and not organ-y at all and they were mixed with a beautiful citrus vinaigrette and a mint and parsley salad. A real delight.
Second course was fried pig ears in a grainy mustard sauce. A little disappointing because they were cut into small strips and lacked a distinctly porky flavor. They could've been fried anything. The Mrs. remarked that they reminded her of clam strips.
Entree was Cochon Lousiana style which was a patty of pulled shoulder meat formed and grilled like a hamburger served over a pickled cabbage and (I think) diced beet salad. Absolutely wonderful. My dinner companions all got the pork chop special which was similar to the famed Happy Pork Chop from Montreal's Au Pied De Cochon in that it was a piece of loin on the bone served with a full rib intact. I tasted a bit and it was sublime, though just slightly below the APDC chop. Must be that Canadian pigs are tastier than Southern ones.
Dessert was an excellent chocolate pudding parfait, and then we were off to Bourbon Street to wander among the tourist drunks.
Bourbon street is what it is, you really only need to go there once per trip to get your fill of the entertainment. It is pleasant on a night like last night to stroll around with a cocktail and since it was Thursday it wasn't completely infested with frat-boy drunks yet. Tonight will likely be a different story, but tonight we probably won't go there.
Dinner two nights ago was at John Besh's August. A good meal but not great, though expectations probably dented our enjoyment of the experience. I stuck to seafood for my appetizer and entree having a crab salad with beets served under a pile of spring greens to start. The crab meat was sweet enough, but I wasn't blown away by it. I suppose I get what I deserve for going for the salad in such a high end place. I could almost hear Tom Collichio's voice in my ear "this is a cooking competition, and he made salad!"
Main course was speckled trout served with gulf shrimp. Interesting temperature contrast as the shrimp were served ice cold with bits of diced citrus and the trout was pan-seared under a fennel salad. A fine entree, no complaints but I expected to be blown away and wasn't.
The Mrs. ordered a lamb entree that was almost blow away with two baby chops, a bit of perfectly braised shoulder and fried loin. Fantastic entree, but Besh judges a lot of seafood competitions and I'm in Louisiana so I wanted to be blown away by the fish. Ah well, maybe on another night.
What was good to see was the restaurant was packed to the gills on a Wednesday, so much so that we had to wait a half an hour for our table even with a reservation. They took care of us for that, dessert was on the house. I was given some black cherry filled beignets with cream cheese ice cream which rounded out the solid-but-unspectacular theme of the night. I'll give Besh's places another chance as he's one of the good guys who got right back to business down here after the storm but we'll probably try a different venue.
Expectations are high for today as well. Jazzfest is known for the food as much (if not more) than the music. Eat, lay in the sun, listen to music. Life is not such a horrible thing, is it? Days like today are why I suffer all the rest in those glass cages on 6th avenue.
Good morning world, it's Jazzfest Day.
What other city would be so absorbed by a jazz festival?
What other city has a radio station devoted to "its sound"? I imagine you could create a radio station with the sounds of New York, but how long would you listen to sirens and car horns?
"I visited New York City once, right before 9/11. Man everything was so fast up there. Everyone in a hurry." That was my cab driver's assessment of New York.
"I know, that's what I'm trying to get away from." I said, thinking of the relentless river of humanity marching to and from the glass cages that line 6th avenue. I remember reading that during the 1960s when some of those buildings went up people said they had no soul. In reality, no architecture could be more appropriate.
There's a type of person in New Orleans called a "never left". A "never left" is someone who came here for some kind of festival, and, well, you know. How many other cities have that?
Last night we went to Cochon. Cochon is co-owned by a chef named Donald Link. In the days after Katrina Link scammed his way past the military to get back in the city to get his first restaurant, Herbsaint, up and running again. His story is well documented in the New Orleans episode of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations", so I'm just going to tell you about the food.
First course was fried rabbit livers. You may be surprised to hear that it was one of the lightest things I've eaten on the trip so far. The livers themselves were crispy and not organ-y at all and they were mixed with a beautiful citrus vinaigrette and a mint and parsley salad. A real delight.
Second course was fried pig ears in a grainy mustard sauce. A little disappointing because they were cut into small strips and lacked a distinctly porky flavor. They could've been fried anything. The Mrs. remarked that they reminded her of clam strips.
Entree was Cochon Lousiana style which was a patty of pulled shoulder meat formed and grilled like a hamburger served over a pickled cabbage and (I think) diced beet salad. Absolutely wonderful. My dinner companions all got the pork chop special which was similar to the famed Happy Pork Chop from Montreal's Au Pied De Cochon in that it was a piece of loin on the bone served with a full rib intact. I tasted a bit and it was sublime, though just slightly below the APDC chop. Must be that Canadian pigs are tastier than Southern ones.
Dessert was an excellent chocolate pudding parfait, and then we were off to Bourbon Street to wander among the tourist drunks.
Bourbon street is what it is, you really only need to go there once per trip to get your fill of the entertainment. It is pleasant on a night like last night to stroll around with a cocktail and since it was Thursday it wasn't completely infested with frat-boy drunks yet. Tonight will likely be a different story, but tonight we probably won't go there.
Dinner two nights ago was at John Besh's August. A good meal but not great, though expectations probably dented our enjoyment of the experience. I stuck to seafood for my appetizer and entree having a crab salad with beets served under a pile of spring greens to start. The crab meat was sweet enough, but I wasn't blown away by it. I suppose I get what I deserve for going for the salad in such a high end place. I could almost hear Tom Collichio's voice in my ear "this is a cooking competition, and he made salad!"
Main course was speckled trout served with gulf shrimp. Interesting temperature contrast as the shrimp were served ice cold with bits of diced citrus and the trout was pan-seared under a fennel salad. A fine entree, no complaints but I expected to be blown away and wasn't.
The Mrs. ordered a lamb entree that was almost blow away with two baby chops, a bit of perfectly braised shoulder and fried loin. Fantastic entree, but Besh judges a lot of seafood competitions and I'm in Louisiana so I wanted to be blown away by the fish. Ah well, maybe on another night.
What was good to see was the restaurant was packed to the gills on a Wednesday, so much so that we had to wait a half an hour for our table even with a reservation. They took care of us for that, dessert was on the house. I was given some black cherry filled beignets with cream cheese ice cream which rounded out the solid-but-unspectacular theme of the night. I'll give Besh's places another chance as he's one of the good guys who got right back to business down here after the storm but we'll probably try a different venue.
Expectations are high for today as well. Jazzfest is known for the food as much (if not more) than the music. Eat, lay in the sun, listen to music. Life is not such a horrible thing, is it? Days like today are why I suffer all the rest in those glass cages on 6th avenue.
Good morning world, it's Jazzfest Day.
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