I'm in New Orleans, or N'Awlins, as the locals call it. It's my first post-Katrina trip, and I honestly can't tell much difference except that it's a little cleaner and a little quieter. I don't like Cajun food - too many bell peppers, ick! - but I love French food, and N'Awlins has French to spare.
My first meal was at Lilette, on Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District. I started with a drink they call The Alberto- a mojito-like concoction of vodka, fresh mint, and a splash of champagne. My soup course was a sweet corn broth with coriander oil, chives, avocado, and lump crab meat, and then for my entree I opted for 2 small plates: a tower of eggplant crisps- thin, crispy medallions fried like green tomatoes, layered with a thick hummus-y skordalia, oven dried roma tomatoes, basil, and oil cured olives, and savory, perfectly mushy potato gnocchi with sage brown butter and parmigiano cream. Mon dieu! I got the special for dessert, which was an almond-lemon pound cake served with lemon anglaise and huckleberry compote- and an amaretto on the rocks, bien entende.
Good thing I don't come here very often, since for lunch I had fried shrimp and french fries, and that was the least fattening thing on the menu. *raises eyebrow*
