A New Era

I have good news and bad news... Bad news is I no longer have much time to write these lovely posts, but the good news is I still have a million gorgeous pictures of scrumptious food that I just can't let go to waste. So for the time being, the Hungry Heretic is going to act as a gastronomic photo diary. I know that photos are at least 90% of why most people like food blogs so hopefully no one will be too disappointed. And to kick off this new phase of the Hungry Heretic, feast your eyes on the tantalizing pictures of Lilette, one of my favorite restaurants in the city, starting with my favorite dish: White truffle parmigiano toast with wild mushrooms, marrow and veal glace -12- I'm literally drooling.

Raw fish plate of the day -13- (2nd best appetizer I've had)

Potato gnocchi with sage brown butter and
parmigiano cream -9.5-

Raw salad of brussel sprout, beet, onion, fennel, carrot, arugula, hazelnut and Banyuls vinaigrette -9.5-

 Bouillabaisse with lobster, scallop, cod, shrimp, clams, mussels and Alaskan king crab claw in a saffron-lobster broth with rouille crouton -38- 
Yummmmmm!!!!! Pricey but soooo good and enormous! It's big enough for two if you get apps. 

 Paneed black drum with Israeli cous cous, leeks,
tomato and ver jus mussel butter -28-

 Grilled Hawaiian fish of the day with braised escarole, 
sunchoke puree and satsuma-basil butter -31- The Basil was overwhelmingly delicious!

Quenelles of goats cheese crème fraiche with poached pears, pistachios and lavender honey -8.5-This dessert was what made me decide that Chef/Owner John Harris and I have the exact same taste in food, palette soul mates if you will. 

Brigtsen's

For years, this has been one of my family's favorite restaurants. In fact, it may be my entire family's number 1 in New Orleans. We first came to this adorable converted shotgun almost 5 years ago, on a trip to check out Tulane. My dad had heard from his friends who were from here that it was no doubt the place to go. When I first entered this warm and cozy restaurant I knew it was our style. Great (fancy) food, with a relaxed atmosphere, and friendly service, not something you find everyday back home in Vegas.

Their menu is pretty consistent, which would probably get old if I went there more than once a year. But my annual meal at Brigtsens is always divine. This year I unfortunately was extremely sick on the night of my graduation, when we came to Brigtsens and could barely taste my food. But I did take lots of photographs as usual, and each dish got rave reviews from everyone at the table.

I ordered the seafood platter seen above. As you can see, there were a million things to try on that tiny little plate. Even with my stuffy nose I did manage to still taste the incredible jalapeno and crawfish corn bread and stuffed crab. The plate also came along with baked oysters, redfish topped with crawfish tails, and coleslaw topped with shrimp. Not to mention the crawfish garnish. This is definitely a great dish to get if you're not from here and want to try a little bit of everything... or if like me, you just love seafood and have food ADD. My parents got their usual tuna steak with incredible mashed potatoes and sauteed veggies and Eric got the speckled trout topped with hollandaise. Everyone was mesmerized by the flavors and aroma of their food, except me of course who spent most of my time trying to discreetly blow my nose in one of the nicest restaurants in the city.

There is one thing that is disappointing about Brigtsen's though, the Pecan Pie. Ordinarily I would think it's good, not great, but still a yummy after dinner sweet, but my expectations were set too high when I heard it was featured on a Food Network TV show called Best Thing I Ever Had. This disappoints me greatly because it is literally steps away from the BEST pecan pie in the city, Camellia Grill of course! There pie is tastier to start off, but they really drive it home when they butter it and put it on the grill, which is really the only way to order it (and a la mode of course). Brennan's does have a close second, that is served hot and nice and gooey as well, but I actually like Camellia Grill's food better than the infamous Brennan's.... but that's a story for another time.

So the next time you want to treat yourself to a fancy, romantic dinner at a friendly place go uptown to Brigtsen's and then get dessert down the street!

Shellfish Extravaganza

Living in South Louisiana gives me many opportunities to have delicious shellfish caught right off the Gulf of Mexico. With all the fresh seafood many restaurants in the area have incredible dishes for very low prices. Tons of different Asian cuisine joints create traditional dishes with a local flair.

Pho Danh 4 (the best Pho place in the city in my humble opinion) has a special called #24 which is served with pork, chicken and shrimp. You can get a huge bowl of it for less than 6 dollars and then do your shopping next door at Hong Kong Market. Definitely a winner.

But the best Asian seafood soup in the city is Hoshun's Seafood Udon Noodle Soup. It has octopus, squid, shrimp, and an awesome fish broth (not to mention the soft, thick udon noodles). It's a great midnight snack after I get off work. Hoshun is open till 2am so my coworkers and I are big fans.

Then of course there's Sushi. Aside from traditional rolls, Ninja Sushi has a selection of creative crawfish rolls. I recently tried the "Swamp Roll," a roll filled with crawfish and topped with seaweed salad. The name was very fitting, but I think I liked the name better than the roll itself.

And of course you can never go wrong with thai flat noodles, especially when they're paired with fresh caught scallops. This lovely dish is actually not a New Orleans creation, I had the pleasure of eating these scrumptious noodles in Gulf Shores, Alabama (where I went on Spring break). But I highly recommend the combo if you ever see this dish on a menu.

Of course we also have our own seafood cuisine. Gumbo is definitely our most famous, and one of my favorites. And I'm convinced Hank's has the best gumbo I've ever had. Hank's is a pretty sketchy joint in the Bywater on St. Claude. They sell two pieces of fried chicken for 99 cents, enough said. The chicken is a little on the greasy side for me but their gumbo is spot on. They have crab, shrimp, turkey neck and pigs feet cooked right in, shells and all and it is awesome! I highly recommend it.

Then there's always good old raw oysters. I was a little skeptical at first but they are actually really good! I got a dozen at Luke recently and it was absolutely love at first bite (or slurp). I don't really know about the whole aphrodisiac thing but they definitely got me in the mood for some horse radish and cocktail sauce. Now I have to try Drago's famous chargrilled oysters, which are supposed to be phenomenal.

Finally, in honor of the recent Italian American parade I'll highlight one of their best creations: creole shrimp pasta. This particular dish came from Restaurant De Famille, a beautiful restaurant that sits right on the bayou, just 45 minutes from the city. The best part of dining there is the alligator view, but the food is also very tasty. This spaghetti dish came with a crab and shrimp cream sauce. It was definitely on the heavy side, but not bad if you skip dessert! 

And the view was just spectacular. I had never seen an alligator up close and personal before, especially not during dinner. Definitely worth the drive.