Week in Preview

This week is loaded with special events for food and wine lovers. So open up your Outlook calendar because we have a lot of planning to do.

Monday

• Galatoire's Mardi Gras Table Auction - Grab your paddle and score your seat for the circus that is lunch at Galatoire's on the Friday before Mardi Gras.
• A Toast to All Things French - Swirl kicks off their 6 week French wine tasting series hosted by Michelle Gueydan.

Tuesday

• Barolo Wine Dinner (SOLD OUT) - Herbsaint presents a special dinner featuring the Barolo wines of Podere Rocche Dei Manzoni & Gianfranco Bovio.

Wednesday

• Riverbend Tapas Crawl - The restaurants of the Riverbend invite you to their monthly ambulatory feast.
• Winemaker Meet & Greet - Swirl hosts winemaker Andrew Rich, who will be pouring out samples of his Willamette Valley wines.
• Cigar & Beer Pairing - The Avenue Pub invites cigar lovers to enjoy a smoke along with their extensive beer selection in 6 different pairing suggestions.
• Bushmills Whiskey Dinner - Master of whiskey James McCartney hosts a 5 course dinner paired with whiskeys from the famed distillery.

Thursday

• Gabrielle in Purgatory (WAITING LIST ONLY) - Vintage Orleans is hosting a dinner featuring menu favorites from Gabrielle, gone for now but not forgotten.
• Andrew Rich Wine Dinner - The Oregon winemaker teams up with Vega Tapas Cafe for a 5 course dinner paired with his hand crafted wines.

Friday

• Krewe of Cork - King Patrick van Hoorebeek and his merry group of winos will be parading through the French Quarter on Friday afternoon, celebrating all things great that come in a wine glass.

Muchas Tapas

In light of my recent journey through Madrid and Portugal, it's rather fitting that we reviewed Vega for this month's issue of offBeat. I have plenty of stories to tell and meals to write about from that trip, but I understand that some of you become rather jaded when reading about our adventures through foreign countries. Instead, look out for a special Labor Day edition post on Monday with a few tales from my travels on the Iberian Peninsula.

In the meantime, click on the above link to checkout our review of a tapas bar quite a bit closer to home. As is usually the case with our stories in offBeat, none of our photos were "press worthy." Still, a picture (even a not-so-great one) is worth a thousand words.

The coriander crusted seared tuna could be a lesson in the serendipitous combination of rare tuna and avocado, as long as you get a fresh piece of fish. For best results, order on any day other than Sunday.

Tempura fried frog legs with tomato ailoi. The batter was crisp, light, and greasless, while the aioli provided a nice cooling background.

The Vega Dog of chorizo, grilled onions, and mustard aioli all wrapped inside a cornmeal pancake. Great idea, but it was difficult to eat in a hot dog like manner and the flavor of the chorizo could have been a bit better.

But as I am sure you are well aware, not all sausages are created equal. This special of duck sausage over polenta was the probably the best dish on one particular visit. Smooth texture, rich flavor, with a great spice level.

Monday is the New Friday

I know that you have heard this song and dance before, but half-priced wines at Vega on Monday is a steal. Here are a few pictures from my last dinner there.

We started with a cheese board which included that awesome fig mustard. Then we moved onto the Ensalata de Vaca - seared beef, shaved red onion, gorgonzola, grapes and baby greens tossed in peppercorn dressing

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For all of the vegetarians out there, these next two dishes are for you. First, the Eggplant Napoleon - thick slices of eggplant layered with fresh mozzarella, arugula and oven-dried tomatoes, drizzled with duo of sun-dried tomato and basil pestoes. Next, grilled artichokes basted with lemon, butter, and olive oil, and topped with crumbled feta. (Don't let the picture fool you: the artichokes come 3 to an order, but The Folk Singer could not control herself.) I guess you could leave out the mozzarella and feta if you are a vegan, but let's not get too crazy.

We finished with Moroccan spiced pork ribs, which I know our formidable adversary is a big fan of, but I must say that I respectfully disagree with him on this one. The ribs were cooked perfectly, but the spice combination was not for me. To each his own.

Vega Tapas Cafe - The Cure for a Case of the Mondays

I love wine. But the only thing that I love more than wine is half-priced bottles of wine drunk alongside numerous plates of tapas. It just so happens that Vega has such a special every Monday night to allow for me to satisfy this particular indulgence, so off I went accompanied by The Folk Singer ("TFS").

Tapas fit my personal dining style to perfection. If it were up to me, I would order all appetizers for my entire meal and skip the entree. Unfortunately, when dining with a group of people, the multiple courses for myself would interrupt the flow of the meal for my fellow diners. But not such was the case on Monday night. TFS and I began with a few mojitos which were refreshing with mint and lime, and a perfect way to start the meal.

We decided to order a round of salad and cold tapas to start, and then judge our capacity later on for the rest of the menu. We were first served a roasted duck caesar salad, which consisted of a roasted duck leg paired alongside a caesar salad topped with a copious amount of freshly shaved parmigiano cheese. Though the duck leg was served room temperature and required stripping the meat off the bone, I appreciated both of these details for two reasons. First, I am not a fan of hot protein on top of a cold salad mix. I think that contrasting temperatures result in warm greens which were intended on being served cold. Second, I liked that the leg was served in tact because it assured the recent preparation of the meat, as opposed to precooked and shredded duck meat (which I have no problem with it, just making a note). These are minor details, but I thought that they were worth noting.

Our next two tapas were served simultaneously. The first was the plato de quesos, which was several cheeses accompanied by accouterments. I will admit, I have no idea what the cheeses were (and neither did our waiter), but I have no doubt that they came from the preeminent cheese mongers at St. James Cheese Company. The board had cheeses of varying strength and texture, but the accompaniments were what made the course. First, the fig mustard was incredible. It had the consistency of jelly but with the spiciness of mustard. To die for. Also included were slivers of tart pear, crunchy toast slices, and sugary sweet pecans. Our final cold small plate was a carpaccio of thinly sliced filet mignon topped with balsamic onions and sauteed mushrooms. The saltiness of the beef and the sweetness of the onions resulted in a delicious contrast of flavors on the palate.

On to the hot dishes. First a trio of tempura fried asparagus drizzled with a spicy aioli. Then a dish of huge shrimp sauteed in garlic and olive oil and then topped with a salty olive tapenade. Finally chicken, mushrooms, leeks and feta cheese wrapped in phylo dough and placed upon a pool of sherry butter. Quite honestly, by the time we had made it to the final round, the bottle of Sierra Cantabria Rioja had been downed and my stomach had reached capacity, but I will say that my favorite dish was the shrimp.

Vega on Monday night. You owe it to yourself to go. Just pretend that you are sitting in a quaint cafe in Madrid or along La Rambla in Barcelona. It will help you forget (at least for the duration of the meal) that you have four more days of work till the weekend.

Given the steal on the wines, Vega is a tap-in birdie on Monday nights.

1179 and Vega Tapas

Went to lunch yesterday at 1179. Started off really promising. The building is a brick and beam structure which is rumored (and no reason to believe otherwise) to be the oldest building outside of the French Quarter in New Orleans. 1179 is extermely convenient to downtown New Orleans, so while Lady had an hour for lunch it would do nicely. Now, previous to this I needed a haircut, only problem is I was shedding the whole lunch which really ruined an appetite, and caused more than a few confused stares from the waiter and busboy as they wondered "I hope the customer didn not notice all the hair on the plate". Lesson learned. We split a Minestrone soup with Italian Sausage. Very fresh tomato based soup that worked well with the fennel flavor which dominated the sausage. So far, so good.

Then with the entrees things went a little south. My lasagna was heaped onto a plate and run under the salamander. No probem with that but it came out sloppy and looked more like cafeteria lasagna. The taste was ok, but just that, ok. Lady got the Veal Milanese with Pasta Afredo; except they forgot the Pasta Alfredo. That omission pretty much sent the lunch into a tailspin. Eventually pasta was brought out with the remark of, "that is how we serve it at dinner not at lunch." Well, then maybe you should have a different menu for lunch. Not ready to give up on 1179 because overall I think it is a great place, just not a great first impression.

For dinner neither of us were very hungry. For about 15 years, it seems, I have been wanting to try Vega Tapas on Metairie Road. Tonight that noble goal became fulfilled. Great spot. In fact the entire row of restaurants in the Metairie Road Shopping area (Oscar's, Great Wall, Mark Twain's, Chateau Du Lac, and Vega) had decent crowds and Du Lac was almost overflowing with people. We started with a Carpaccio and a Tortilla (Spanish for Omelet). The carpaccio was topped with a mixture of onions and big fat wild mushrooms in a light vinagrette and shaved manchego cheese. This was then topped with a light touch of truffle oil. Amazing flavors on that plate and we both marveled at how thinly the bef was sliced. The tortilla was layered with wild mushrooms as well. Lady has a thing for them. A nice Verdejo went well with everything.

Next, Patatas Bravas with a Garlic Aioli. Spicy, garlicy, and earthy. I remarked that I could eat three thousand of those things. That is a lie, if pressed I could eat many more. Gambas al Pil Pil. Firey, paprika flavored shrimp which provided two courses really. One the shrimp, the second as an oily, spicy dip for the pita bread they serve with each course. Arterial blockage be damned. Then an empadanilla de cochnilla. This missed the mark just a little for me. Perfectly cooked pork shoulder (menu describes it as a Cochon de Lait) set on top of Puff Pastry. What I didnt really love was the over abundance of shredded red cabbage. Taste just did not seem to mesh well, but I am not positive as to why. As succulent pork, crispy butter (come on thats all puff pastry is) and a vinegary cole slaw should work.

Dessert was a light affair. One scoop each of Pistachio and Saffron Ice Cream. An Osborne's port for me and some coffee and liquor concoction for Lady (the Nutty Vega was the name of the drink). Really comfortable place with comfortable booths, pillows, and a feeling of being in a Harem's tent. All in all a pretty nice Thursday evening, no time for Home Depot though.

P.S. I decided to drive in from St. Louis on Wednesday afternoon, thereby being in the car for Top Chef. I still have not seen it. In case you were wondering. I am just as disappointed in myself as you are in me.