Cook. Travel. Eat. The Adventures of Kurt and Cristina

Drago’s

Posted by Kurt on March 14, 2013

The Original Charbroiled Oysters at Drago's.

The Original Charbroiled Oysters at Drago’s.

I married well for a number of reasons.  One reason is that Cristina has family in Panama City Beach, Orlando, Washington DC, Italy, and Australia.  It is truly a chore to have to travel to these locations to see family. (By the way Cristina…when are we going to Australia?).  Another is that when they come to New Orleans they want to eat at places they can only eat at here.  Not a bad deal, if you ask me.  This time it was Drago’s.

Drago’s is known for oysters but they do have a lot of stuff on the menu.  Most of the pasta’s are really good as is the shrimp and grits.  The only thing I think they do poorly is fried foods.  There is a complete lack of seasoning in the food as if they are cooking for people with high blood pressure.  Being someone who has high blood pressure, if we are going to cheat and eat fried foods then please season the hell out of it.

However, you really should not go to Drago’s for the fried seafood.  If you have developed a taste for oysters, which I admit is an acquired taste, then you go to Drago’s for oysters.

First, we had a few appetizers.  Their cheesy appetizers are excellent.  Moreover, this comes from someone who is not supposed to eat cheese food.  I had to stop myself to make sure I could eat my oysters.

Cristina’s mom ordered the shrimp and grits.  Having had them once before, they are very good.  Cristina’s step-dad went with an eggplant dish that looked very good even if the shrimp were smaller than the shrimp in the shrimp and grits. Cristina does not like eggplant so it is one of my go to dishes to order when we are out.

However, tonight, for Cristina and I, it was about the oysters.

Cristina is a charbroiled girl.  For any readers outside of the area, a charbroiled oyster is an oyster covered with cheese and butter and broiled until they are charred.  Simply put, they take a great food and make it better.  Drago’s serves the oysters with bread, which allows the diner to consume all the leftover butter and cheese.  In addition, it saves Drago’s some time from cleaning the oyster shells. And the plate.

Since this is an “R” month, I went with a dozen raw.  What were put in front of me were 12 beautiful creatures.  Large, plump, and briny, this was the best meal I have had this year.  If I had not had a large lunch, I would have had a second dozen.

Raw Oysters at Drago's

Raw Oysters at Drago’s

If you like oysters, few places that you can go are as good as Drago’s.

Related articles

Posted in New Orleans, Restaurants, The Suburbs | 1 Comment »

A Tale of Two Chain Restaurants

Posted by Kurt on March 13, 2013

Recently, for various reasons, we did something we rarely do. We ate at chain restaurants. Now, we are not snobs. I could eat at IHOP anytime anyone suggests it. Cracker Barrel is truly a tradition for us when on the road and that comes from both sides of our families. We patron the local chains like Zea’s, Copeland’s, and New Orleans Seafood and Hamburger Company on occasion. We love that chicken from Popeye’s Fried Chicken. Yet, in an area like New Orleans it does not make sense to go to the national chains often. There are too many other cheaper local choices.

While I don’t expect much from the food at a chain restaurant, I do expect a lot from the service. This is what they are supposed to be good at. This is why people go to them because they are experts at treating people well. This is not a food review or a restaurant review. This is a look at how two national chain restaurants made mistakes and how they went about fixing them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Food And Drink | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

The English Tea Room

Posted by Kurt on March 12, 2013

The English Tea Room

The English Tea Room

Cristina has been very indulgent of my new tea obsession. She has encouraged me to get the right tools I need and does not say a word when I buy a new tea just randomly. So, when I took her to the English Tea Room in Covington for Valentine’s Day she did not complain.

The English Tea Room is in Old Covington. It is a beautiful small house converted into a restaurant. The décor is pretty much everything British you can think of. Instead of being too much, it is very charming especially since they made every room a theme.

Having had lunch, we ordered scones. And of course tea.

I went with the classic Darjeeling, while Cristina went with the Strawberry Kiwi fruit tea. The Darjeeling was smooth and a little toasty. In other words, it was perfect. Cristina’s fruit tea was not sweet but wonderfully tart.

I purchased some loose leaf teas for home and the Strawberry Kiwi was one of them. In fact, I do not drink alcohol often but it seems perfect for a vodka infusion. The other two teas I purchased were a black tea called Windsor Castle, which is a blend of Darjeeling, Assam and Kenya teas. The other was a white tea called Tangier Lemon. After a few more brews, I will start posting reviews of those.

Now, if you do not like tea, you should still go to the English Tea Room. The scones were that good. Sweet and filling, they make for a perfect desert. Every dish that came out to a neighboring table looked delicious.

I cannot wait to run out of tea to go back.

Posted in Food And Drink | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Album Review: The Replacement’s Songs for Slim

Posted by Kurt on March 11, 2013

It is no secret that my favorite band of all time is The Replacements. The Replacements are more than a band to me; their music was there for me whenever I needed them in the way a good friend is. Now, in a very small way, I can return the favor.

 

Last February, the replacement Replacement guitarist, Slim Dunlap, suffered a serious right brain stroke that landed him in the hospital for nine months. According to the Songs for Slim website, he will probably need around the clock care for the rest of his life.

 

Quite a few artists have gotten together to create the aforementioned Songs for Slim. Some of these artists include Lucinda Williams, Jakob Dylan, the Jayhawks, Frank Black, Steve Earle and Craig Finn. That is enough to open my pocketbook.

 

Oh, and the Replacements made an EP.

 

This is not a full-blown reunion. Chris Mars, the drummer, is a full-blown visual artist now and did not feel comfortable performing with the other two. The other two, Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, understood. However, Chris Mars did contribute a song to the cd a cover of a slim song called Radio Hook Word Hit.

The other songs are Paul and Tommy with a band covering Slim and some other artists. The EP was first pressed into a very limited 10” vinyl and auctioned off. Unfortunately, I did not know about it at the time and did not get to participate. Fortunately for Slim, I would not have won any of the auctions. In fact, they raised 105,743.42 from the auction.

 

Busted Up, a Paul and Tommy cover of a Slim song, is just a rock song. Paul, sounding amazing, has fun with the vocals and some of the pronunciations of the words. Chris plays all of the instruments on Radio Hook Word Hit and brings out the pop side of the song. I truly believe after listening to this song and Chris’s solo album that he could have been the Replacements Dave Grohl, for whatever that’s worth, if he would have stuck with music.

 

The final three songs, by Paul and Tommy and the band, are covers from all over the musical arc. They cover a seventies singer-songwriter song, a classic country song, and a show tune. They come off at first as silly. Then you realize, after a few listens, they are perfect and actually serious. You realize that this is the band that put Gary’s Got a Boner right before Sixteen Blue on the same album. The first song is about, well, you know, but the second song is what every single sixteen year old feels: confusion, angst, desire, scared. The first cover, Gordon Lightfoot’s I’m Not Sayin’, seems light and just Paul and Tommy having fun. Yet, if you have read interviews with Slim in the past years, which Paul had, Slim did not seem to have fun with the Replacements toward the end. In the song, the protagonist is not saying he is sorry to his lover but he is saying he will try. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but this is the closest that Paul can come to an apology. Lost Highway is a country song that the Replacements just rock out. It sounds nothing like country. For me, it is the hidden gem of the album, because it is great to just hear Tommy and Paul go for broke. The final song is Everything’s Coming Up Roses from Gypsy. The song is what is great about the Replacements. It should not work. It should fall apart at any second. Paul should not try to sing it. Yet, it turns out to just be glorious and fun and a great song to include on the record.

 

Even, if, everything might not turn up roses.

The EP is available in iTunes and a 12″ vinyl should be ready for record store day.

 

Related articles

 

Posted in Media, Music | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Oscar 2013: Ranking the Best Picture Nominees

Posted by Kurt on February 24, 2013

I love going to the movies. I love that I have a wife that loves to go to the movies with me. Movies have a way of transporting you to a very real world in a flat in Paris or to the magical realism of a small island near Houma, Louisiana. This year, we finally achieved our goal of seeing all the films nominated for Best Picture for the Oscar. That does not mean theses are the best films released last year. If we were doing that we would include Skyfall and The Dark Night Rises, which I feel canceled each other out for the tenth spot.

Well here is how I rank the films at this moment, since I keep changing my mind everyday except for number 9 and 1.

9. Les Miserables: Even though it is my least favorite film, it’s not a bad film. It’s just a nice attempt. The actors are all great, even thin-voiced Russell Crowe. They work really heard to make you feel something about them. They often choose the emotional note over what the note technically is and that is the right decision. Hugh Jackman does a magnificent job as Jean ValJean, a man who can’t escape one mistake from his past. His memories haunt him and conflict him. Anne Hathaway, who is barely on screen, gives such a powerhouse performance in such a little time that she probably earned the film a Best Picture nomination herself. The cinematography is gorgeous. It’s the direction that is the problem. The director is too fond of close-ups and specifically rule of third close-ups. While that works magically during “I Dreamed a Dream,” it fails almost everywhere else. This is especially true of Mr. Crowe’s scenes. Close-ups help focus on the weakness of his singing voice (this is in comparison to the other actors…he is not a horrible singer). Les Miserables is an epic of a story meant for the big screen, yet Mr. Hooper directs it as if it’s a miniseries for HBO.

8. Amour: I love this film but I wouldn’t recommend it. This film is so real it can be torture to watch. It’s simply about a woman who suffers a set of disabling strokes and her husband who becomes her care taker. Eventually, he has to make a decision about the future…one that breaks his and your heart. It almost exclusively takes place in their apartment which becomes her prison. Emmanuelle Riva has been getting all the accolades and awards for her performance, yet the film isn’t about her. It’s about the husband played with amazing quiet desperation by Jean-Louis Trintigant. While her performance is more noticeable with the transformation of her body, he has to internalize all of his emotions. You can feel his desperation, his hopelessness, his frustration, but he only shows us his love. The best moment of the film has Trintigant sitting in the parlor watching his wife, a former music teacher, playing the piano. He then turns and turns off the CD player. Heartbreaking.

7. Beasts of the Southern Wild: I loved this film. Of all the films, this is the one I am randomly reminded about the most. This may be due to the fact it takes place very close to the area where I grew up. I know people like the characters in the film. They see the world as this idyllic place of beauty not to be spoiled with industry and destruction. They are dirt poor, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t happy. The world they live in provides. The world they live in also destroys with hurricanes being its chief weapon. After one hurricane is the focus of this story and specifically on the 5 year old Hushpuppy and her dying father Wink. The story can many things since it’s an allegory, but for me it’s a coming of age tale told way too early. Hushpuppy has to find her place in the world and to be more exact which particular world. The industrialized world over the levee or the idyllic world of the Bathtub, the island they live on. Quvenzhane Wallis is mesmerizing as Hushpuppy, but again the wrong person was nominated. Wallis best work in the movie is when she is reacting to Dwight Henry’s Wink. Lost it all the love for the young actress, is that this is the first role for the New Orleans baker as well. Yet, it is he who brings the movie its weight. It’s his character that I want to introduce to people who don’t live here who ask us why we don’t leave after every major hurricane.

6. Zero Dark Thirty: Three of the films nominated for best picture have the hard job of making us feel suspense for an event that we already know the ending to. Until this year, to me the standard bearer for this was Apollo 13. Zero Dark Thirty achieves that level. Now, this isn’t straight history. We won’t know what exactly happened until many years from now. But we do know that we got UBL after many years of failure. This film all hangs on Jessica Chastain’s performance. Any wrong notes and the film fall apart. She pretty much is the film. She pulls it off. It’s a hard role because we don’t know anything about her character’s life at all except what she does for a living. Yet, Ms. Chastain finds a way to create a full character. The film, unlike Apollo 13, leaves an unsettling feeling at the end. We are supposed to cheer. Our Navy Seals did the right thing in that they only killed the bad men. We got the bad guy. We did the right thing. Yet, there were children in the house. Children who saw what happened. Children who are innocent, but will remember what happened.

5. Django Unchained: This film, more than any other, bounces up and down my list. It’s the one that I’ll probably watch more often than any other. The film is funny and violent. What the film is not, is historically accurate. I’m not talking about its liberal use of the N-word because that was mostly accurate. The film is deliberately inaccurate. It shows you this right after the opening credits when it says the film takes place in 1858 – 2 years before the Civil War. Yet, the Civil War begins three years later. This isn’t a small mistake. This is a deliberate mistake. I feel this is Tarantino saying right from the start that this is his world and he can do anything he wants with it. And what he does, is create an origin story of a hero. A black hero who was a former slave. A Tristan who would do anything to get his Isolde. In other words, it’s a superhero story. The superhero just happens to be a former slave who becomes a bounty hunter who finds white men and uses his super power, remarkable aim, to kill them. He uses his superpower to get revenge on those that oppressed him. The film has no bad performances with Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington doing some of their finest work. Leonardo DiCaprio is even better going for broke through out the movie.

4. Life of Pi: This is the most beautiful film out of the nominees. It’s also the one I want to talk the least about except for what you might have seen in the trailers. The young man who plays Pi, also a first timer, does a magnificent job going through every emotion in the book on his journey through the see with a Bengal tiger. The film is simply beautiful. The tiger, named Richard Parker, is a marvel of CGI. I had to search the trivia section of the IMDB of this movie to find out when a real tiger was used compared to the computer one. Also, this is the first movie where 3D felt completely natural and added to the feel of the movie instead of coming off as a cheap gimmick. This is one movie I want to own to find out how good my televisions are.

3. Lincoln: I took an American Character in Film class in college in which we watched Birth of a Nation. In doing my research on that film, I found that Woodrow Wilson has said upon seeing it that it was history written with lightening. With all due respect to President Wilson, he was flat out wrong. This movie deserves that quote more. That doesn’t mean it gets every fact straight as recently pointed out by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. As a history major, I don’t look for every fact to be correct. No one wants to watch what really happens. History is often one great exciting moment surrounding by thousands of boring ones. This movie is about the making of law, one of the two things no one should ever want to see made. (The other is sausage). Yet, Spielberg pulls it off. He makes a film as exciting as any action pick…well to people who like history anyway. The master class of acting that Daniel Day Lewis puts on aids him. Mr. Lewis disappears and you are left with watching Mr. Lincoln.

2. Argo: Before I start, I want to say how much I love Mr. Affleck’s other two movies: The Town and Gone, Baby, Gone. I felt The Town was snubbed the year it came out. And then this year, I feel that Mr. Affleck was snubbed. Another movie in which you may know the ending, Argo manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. He makes you understand that the Canadians took an amazing risk in taking the Americans in and that we should be grateful for their brave work. He makes you feel the claustrophobia that the six feel living in the ambassador’s house. Yet, he doesn’t just make a tense thriller which would have been the easier route. Everyone could have played it straight and it would be a great movie. Mr. Affleck sees the humor in the situation and allows it to come to the top in almost every scene. In this way the film transcends it’s genre and that is what makes it a great film.

1. Silver Linings Playbook: Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy that also transcends the genre. Dramas usually win Best Picture because it is easier for them to transcend the genre into being something great. I mean almost all Lifetime movies are dramas but because they stick to the conventions of drama they aren’t great movies. Great movies become something more that what they are at heart. Silver Linings Playbook does that and more. It’s a tale of mental illness, it’s a tale of gambling, and it’s a tale of love. It’s expertly acted and directed. While it’s funny, the humor comes from dark places that most people don’t talk about at parties. In fact, the meet cute is one of the oddest and romantic meet cutes I’ve ever scene. This film spoke to me in ways great art is supposed to. That may say more about me than the movie, but this is a movie that I plan on watching often.

Now for my actual predictions even though I didn’t see plenty of these:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Argo

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Jessica Chastain

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert De Niro

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway

Best Achievement in Directing: Steven Spielberg

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Amour

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Silver Linings Playbook

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Brave

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Amour

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Life of Pi

Best Achievement in Editing: Life of Pi

Best Achievement in Production Design: Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Costume Design: Lincoln

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: Life of Pi

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Skyfall

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Skyfall

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Django Unchained

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Life of Pi

Best Documentary, Feature: Searching for Sugar Man

Best Documentary, Short Subject: Monday’s at Racine

Best Short Film, Animated: The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare

Best Short Film, Live Action: Henry

 

Posted in Media, Movies | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

And the Oscar goes to…

Posted by Cristina on February 23, 2013

For the past few years, Kurt and I have tried to see all of the best picture nominees for the Oscars; unfortunately, we’ve always missed one of the bunch. This year, we finally managed to see all of them. Here’s my breakdown from my least favorite to my most favorite.

9. Amour – This is a French film about an elderly couple and what happens when one of them gets sick. It’s sweet, emotional, and sad. There is no soundtrack, so what you see happening feels more like real life. I put it as my least favorite not because it is a bad film, but because although it was heart-wrenching and real, it also dragged in some places. It almost felt too real, and I personally don’t want to be depressed when I’m trying to watch a fantasy tale. Also, I don’t like the idea that it’s a French film and was nominated in Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film. It feels like double dipping, though it probably deserves the win for Best Foreign Language (I didn’t see any other ones).

8. Les Misérables – This film was beautiful visually with wonderful vocals, but I feel like it is severely overrated. At least 20 minutes could have been shaved off the film for a tighter script and less dragging. Anne Hathaway was the best thing in the film, and Russell Crowe tried his hardest to match the singing of Anne and Hugh Jackman. Some of the camera angles should have been opposite; for example, don’t pan in on Crowe’s face, but rather zoom out to display the depth of the scene. Personally, I wouldn’t have included it in the Best Picture nominees at all.

7. Beasts of the Southern Wild – This one definitely hit home, given that it was set in coastal Louisiana after a hurricane. Quvenzhané Wallis was very good as Hushpuppy, but I personally think her father, Dwight Howard, aka Wink, was more powerful. She played off him beautifully. In fact, I would have given him the Best Actor nomination over Hugh Jackman. This movie definitely shows the struggles of extremely rural people who don’t know nor care to know about life outside of their immediate area. I shudder to think of the bigots who will watch this and think poorly of the people and culture that’s different from their own, because this is a very true-to-life movie about a subset of people living in a bigger culture. Great movie, and yet, there are still better ones.

6. Zero Dark Thirty – This movie could have definitely benefited from some additional editing. It ran excessively long and Joel Edgerton did not even enter the movie until the last 45 minutes. Some of the movie was just flat and lifeless, though the exciting and intense parts certainly were. Jessica Chastain was as superb as could be, though I did get tired of her off-in-space stares that got a little overdone sometimes.

5. Life of Pi – I hate that this one is at number five, because it was beautiful, touching, and really made me think. Visually, it was amazing. Suraj Sharma, who’s only role thus far is this, was amazing. I felt his pain and heartache and tears of sadness and was moved to tears myself. This truly was a spectacular film and everyone should see it.

4. Argo – This was another great film. It is a shame that Ben Affleck was not nominated as Best Director, because I could truly see him winning that award. I wouldn’t be surprised if Argo won Best Picture as some sort of retribution for his lack on nomination. It was very interesting to see such a trying point in history, and it really made me think. I could see how this might be called propaganda, because it does make you question things about America and whether what we do is right or wrong.

3. Silver Linings Playbook – This movie was like watching my life. It affected Kurt and I profoundly. When Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, told Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence, “Thank you. I love you. I knew it from the moment I saw you. I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up,” it felt like I was having Déjà vu. Cooper did some of the best acting of his career, and Robert De Nero was equally impressive. Jennifer Lawrence is still young so I think she has some more great acting ahead of her.

2. Django Unchained – I adore this movie. I adore Quentin Tarantino. I ADORE Leonardo DiCaprio. And Christoph Waltz isn’t too shabby either. Neither is Jamie Foxx. Or Samuel L. Jackson. Dang, I just love this movie. It was funny. It was well acted. It showed the triumph of good over evil. I could watch this over and over again. Kurt even won me a Leonardo DiCaprio poster as Calvin Candie turning the trivia between movies. In all, fantastic film. If you don’t mind blood and the liberal use of curse words. Which I don’t.

1. Lincoln – This deserves the number one spot for many reasons. Daniel Day-Lewis was Lincoln. This is pretty much the only time we will see Lincoln as alive as possible. I’m not sure it’s possible to bring history more to life than this. To see how the 13th Amendment was passed (dramatized or not) was like taking a time machine back and watching real history. I really was in awe. I understand how some people might say it is too long, and they could have shaved some of it down, but I thought it was nearly flawless.

Here’s some other predictions, just for fun:

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables

Best Achievement in Directing: Ang Lee for Life of Pi

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Argo: Chris Terrio

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Wreck-It Ralph: Rich Moore

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Amour

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Life of Pi: Claudio Miranda

Best Achievement in Editing: Life of Pi: Tim Squyres

Best Achievement in Production Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright

Best Achievement in Costume Design: Anna Karenina : Jacqueline Durran

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: Skyfall: Thomas Newman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Skyfall : Adele, Paul Epworth (“Skyfall”)

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Les Misérables: Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Life of Pi (2012): Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Life of Pi (2012): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott

Posted in Media, Movies | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Combatting the Ugly American Response

Posted by Kurt on February 15, 2013

Hello, please, excuse me, thank you, and goodbye are the most important words when traveling. If you can learn those four words in the native tongue of the country you are in, you will have a successful trip.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Travel | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Top 5 Romantic Cities

Posted by Kurt on February 14, 2013

For Valentine’s Day, I decided to write my favorite romantic places I have visited with Cristina

5. Venice: Venice can be grueling because it is all cement and water. That is also what makes it beautiful. Best thing about Venice is that it is a perfect city to get lost. Eventually you find your way, but its a beautiful adventure.

4.Barcelona: My favorite walking city I have visited. Barcelona is a place to do lots of shopping at high fashion stores and at outside food markets. Coffee shops and restaurants are plentiful to sit and have a nice conversation. In addition, the architecture is full of wonder.

3.Paris: Sure the Eiffel Tower is romantic, but so is most of the city. A leisurely stroll down the Champs-Elysees is hard to beat in the romantic department, yet a cruise down the Seine comes close.

2. Rome: Rome is another city best seen by walking (I’m sensing a theme). The best time is sunset when the natural light and the city lights bring the Eternal City alive.

1. New Orleans: Yes, I am a homer, but I cannot see any reason why our city should not be number one. If you know how to walk the French Quarter (mainly stay away from parts of Bourbon), you can easily pretend you are in the Old World. If the moon is out, a walk along the river near Woldenberg Park is as good as it gets. Moreover, I have not even mentioned Uptown and Oak Street which are just as good if not better than the Downtown. As far as restaurants go, well, I think we have it pretty good.

Posted in Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Eating During Lent: Smitty’s Seafood

Posted by Kurt on February 13, 2013

The Hamper

The Hamper

Boiled seafood must sound like the most boring bland food in the world to an outsider. Yet, we all know in Louisiana our boiled seafood is everything but boring or bland. Boiled seafood is more than a meal; it’s a celebration.

We were celebrating the fact that Cristina’s mom and step-dad came to visit. We needed a place that served boiled seafood. Smitty’s in Kenner did just fine.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in New Orleans, Restaurants, The Suburbs | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

We Live in a Good Place for a Cold One

Posted by Kurt on February 11, 2013

Being an ex-smoker I don’t drink a lot of beer. Some people prefer coffee with the cigarettes; I always preferred beer. And the cheaper the beer usually the more I crave a cigarette. It’s truly the only time I crave one. So I rarely drink.

 

Yet, I do enjoy a good beer every now and then without a cigarette. Now, I’m no expert on craft beers. I have no problem with PBR and Miller High Life. Yet, if I’m going to spend the money on beer I prefer to shop local. That’s why I’m happy we live in an area with so many good local beers.

 

NOLA Blonde is my favorite second blonde after my wife. Abita Amber is like an old friend that will never let you down. Purple Haze is the definition of a refreshing beer. Pontchartrain Pilsner from Covington Brewhouse and a dozen raw oysters sounds like a perfect meal to me. So does a piece of king cake with Strawberry Ale, also from Covington Brewhouse. If I’m cooking, my favorite beer is Hopitoulas.

Hopitoulas from NOLA Brewing

Hopitoulas from NOLA Brewing

 

Don’t worry designated drivers out there. Abita Root Beer is a good as a root beer can be.  In fact, I drink way more of that than any of the above beers.

 

 

Posted in Food And Drink, New Orleans | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Previous Entries
 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 62 other followers

%d bloggers like this: