Weekend in Review

Friday afternoon drinks at Bridge Lounge. Great spot only one problem. Everyone orders mojitos there. Which is great; although each one of those drinks requires numerous steps and considerable time. So sometimes getting an order in can take a while. On the flip side the bartenders have the forearms of a 15 year old boy. I am not at liberty to say which food journalist on New Orleans cuisine was also there, but lets just say he is easily the second or third most popular food journalist in New Orleans.

Another wonderful dinner at La Boca. That place is top notch. Pisco Sours, Provoleta, hangar steak for Lady, and flank for me. I got to admit the hangar steak beats the flank. Surprisingly fellow blogger Peter also showed up there for dinner (completely random) with the Palm Room Hostess, and two other law cronies. They too enjoyed their meal. Peter was coming off what many would consider a full weekend by 6 p.m. Friday evening: Lunch at Luke with the Papal Family, Old Absinthe House, 2 Hand Grenades and a lap dance. His evening continued; his dry cleaner thanked him the next day.

Then, the 25th Anniversary Rebirth Concert. Fellow Blue Jay Harry Connick, Jr. was in attendance; however the fight song was not sung. That concert blew me away. The best part about it was the Baby Boyz Brass Band; a group of tweens and teens that could really play. To me there is something so frightening and exciting about when the front line of a brass band, finishes a lyric and takes a step back before blasting notes into their instruments. That sight is the most joyous firing line one can imagine.

Saturday, Lady headed off to Shreveport for some baby shower thing. I stayed behind. The Crescent City Farmer's Market had Brian Landry of Galatoire's dolling out Shrimp Remoulade. What a breakfast. I picked up a brisket from Mr. Justin Pitts of Mississippi. Based on some personal instructions from Mr. Pitts and Steven Stryjewski of Cochon I slow-cooked that thing in a dutch oven for about 8 hours. I added a little crab boil, some creole tomatoes, onions and garlic and about a cup of water. What came out was heavenly and matched really well with the creole cream cheese grits I also made. Ok, so I totally stole that from Cochon. Judge if you must.

Saturday for lunch, before checking out The Dude's holdings, I grabbed a quick bite at Baru. A corn, cheese, pink sauce, and potato strips dish turned out to be the highlight. Sweet grilled corn, salty cheese, and then essentially mini-french fries. Also, a wonderful pair of flaky and just greasy enough to cure a hangover empanadas. The empanadas were served with this highly herbal concoction of parsley, cilantro, lime, and peppers. A tres leches cake that was really good but as I was dining solo became to sweet towards the end. Not Baru's fault; mine for having very few friends. Bring your own booze for now at Baru, but when that changes expect this place to really take off.

Sunday completely lazy. Cooked a rump roast by first triming it of some of its fat. Then, I studded the beast with garlic slivers. I then sliced the fat up into tiny pieces and used it to plug the holes where the garlic was and also to introduce fat into a pretty lean cut. Coated the rump in salt, pepper, Tony's, and garlic salt. Seared it on all sides; added onions, and deglazed with cognac and beef stock. Into the oven, covered, at 250 for about 7 hours. Served it over Romano cheese grits and with some caramelized red pearl onions. It tasted good. But the oven needs to go into hiding while the summer does what it does. Even better for lunch today as a po-boy, with Barqs, and Zapp's Cajun Crawtators.

That is in my book the definition of a New Orleans Weekend.