Musings on food, cooking, and dining by a New Orleans Foodie

I was driving home from the gym Monday afternoon after a good workout and decided to get on the cell phone and catch up with some friends. Mike, a good friend of mine happened to have his friend John in from Atlanta and suggested I join them for dinner. Dinner with these guys is always a hoot, so I dropped my plans for a quiet evening and went home to change clothes.

Mike decided on Vega Tapas Cafe (2051 Metairie Rd. 504-836-2007), a place that he had been to have drinks but never to eat. I have always heard great things about Vega. The original owner, Allison Vega, recently sold the restaurant and apparently many renovations had been done on the place since the new owners took over. Upon arriving, we were greeted by a smiling hostess who checked the book to confirm our reservation. It was still early and I wanted to get the full experience, so when given the choice, I insisted we sit at the bar and have a couple drinks before sitting down at the table. We were greeted at the bar by Jack, who was doubling as a server and consequently took care of us all evening.

The bar area was beautiful and newly renovated. The room had several bistro style tables, each covered with a white tablecloth and a candle for illumination. A large mirror hung on one of the walls that gave the illusion of a much larger room. I had a few vodka tonics and Mike and John had their respective usuals, Crown Royal and 7-up and Makers Mark on the rocks. After several drinks we decided it was time to get a table and eat. The great thing about Vega is that there are no entrees. "Tapas" is a Spanish word meaning "little dishes." So each little appetizer is served and everyone has the opportunity to try each dish.

We were seated in the main dining room and given a rundown of the specials by our waiter as well as the opportunity to peruse the menu. For our first round, we chose to try two orders of the Crab Salad special an order of Corriander Tuna. The Crab Salad was essentially a pile of lump white crabmeat molded into a cylindrical shape, then topped with baby field greens. The crabmeat was tasty, but not seasoned with the usual spicy New Orleans flavors normally found in boiled crabs. The Corriander Tuna consisted of four small slices of tuna that were seared on the outside and pink on the inside. They were carefully leaning against a pile of avocado-tomato relish finished with a cilantro-chili vinaigrette. It was definitely good eats. It was so good that we decided to get more, but that’ll come in a second.

For round two, we went for hot tapas. Between the three of us, we ordered the Seared Scallops, Steamed Mussels, Fried Calamari and Moorish Pork. Everything they brought to the table was fantastic. While I am not a big fan of scallops, I found these to be tasty and have a good consistency – served with creamy polenta, fried leeks and bacon-balsamic vinaigrette. Not too chewy or soft, they were cooked almost perfect, as was the fried calamari. The Moorish Pork was done really well, served over flash fried spinach with horseradish-sour cream, but it wasn’t anything to write home about (ok, maybe it was good enough to write about here). The highlight of the hot tapas was definitely the steamed mussels. Probably some of the better mussels I’ve had, although I admit I am not an expert and have only recently discovered their charm. They were steamed and served in a big bowl with a sauce of white wine, butter, capers and fresh dill. With three grown men attacking a big bowl of little ‘ole mussels, they didn’t last very long. I think I single-handedly ate two little loaves of bread just so I could soak up the sauce. The mussels were one of our favorites, and alas, we felt the need to go for a third round.

Along with more cocktails (did you expect any less?), we ordered one more round of our favorites. We had one order of Corriander Tuna and an order of Steamed Mussels. Thinking back, I think we may have had two orders of tuna, but some of the details escape me. Once again, the third round of food didn’t last more than a few minutes. When Jack came by to check on us and ask about desert, we figured we would humor him and listen to the selections. There were several, but the strawberry cheesecake sounded like my choice. Unfortunately, we just decided to have a last round of cocktails.

My first time at Vega Tapas Café was unbelievable. The food was tasty and was served in portions for tasting, allowing me the opportunity to try several different dishes. However, the prices are deceiving. Although most dishes are priced around $7-$10, but it takes about three to four of those to feed a reasonable diner (reasonable by New Orleans standards). The wine list was a good size, not the textbook size you would find at Antoine’s or Brennan’s, but it spanned most nationalities and wine types and would probably be adequate for all but the most discriminating diner. The service was great, although there was not enough of it. The dining room was surprisingly busy for a Monday night and only two servers were working and ours was doubling as the bartender. Despite being shorthanded, the food cam out fresh and our drinks were never empty. In my opinion, no amount of time is too much to wait if the cocktails are full. We had a great experience and I will definitely be back there soon, but next time I will be having the cheesecake.

On Sunday I drove to Hammond for my sister's engagement party. At this time of year in South Louisiana, any event classified as a party is generally going to involve boiled crawfish. To those who don't understand the boiled crawfish phenomena of Louisiana, I will explain later. To those who do, you will understand my excitement at the end of the day when I discovered some leftovers. I immediately went to work peeling the last couple of pounds I could scrounge up and ended up with a small Ziploc bag half full with well seasoned crawfish tails. I was also able to steal some boiled potatoes, corn and sausage. Well boiled fresh Louisiana crawfish are tough to come by and are something to be coveted. It is expensive to buy them in the store and the best way to acquire them is to swipe the leftovers from a crawfish boil and peel them yourself. I accomplished the first task; the next was to figure out what to do with the leftovers.

Last night I was dining alone. After a great workout at the gym and a filling protein shake, I was starving by seven o'clock. Since I didn't want to use all of the tails at the same time, I decided to concoct a crawfish omelet. I cracked open four eggs, added some skim milk and a little salt, and then poured it into my skillet. For my side dish, I diced some spicy boiled potatoes and a couple of links of sausage and began to sauté them with olive oil in a small fry pan. When the eggs were almost finished, I added some chopped green onion, cheddar cheese and the crawfish tails before folding the omelet. As much as I enjoyed the cooking, the eating part was better. The omelet came out fantastic and the potatoes and sausage were a great addition. Not too bad for a night of dining alone.

For the rest of the tails, I plan to make crawfish enchiladas. I haven't seen a good recipe for them, so I am in the process of writing one. I should have the results by Thursday or Friday, so I'll keep you updated.

So on to the crawfish boil...I really can't fathom what life would be without crawfish boils. In south Louisiana, we use any excuse in the book to boil crawfish. Of course, beer is the drink of choice with boiled crawfish. So here is how we do it.

We buy the crawfish live, in sacks that generally weigh 40 to 50 pounds. A rule of thumb is that five pounds of live crawfish will feed one person. Some eat more and some eat less. We boil the critters live in water that has been seasoned with spices such as cayenne pepper, salt, garlic and lemons. The easiest method is to buy a seasoning mix that has been pre-measured. In addition to the crawfish; potatoes, corn and sausage are usually added. Adventurous cooks can be seen adding items like artichokes or hot dogs. After the crawfish are cooked, they are dumped on large tables covered in newspaper, where crowds of people gather around and fight for their place at the table. So that's a crawfish boil in a nutshell. I know it's not the greatest piece of writing, but I'm counting on everyone understanding. Oh yea, and don't forget the cold beer.

This past Saturday I joined about 15,000 other people for the 10k foot race that we call the Crescent City Classic. The first time I ran was as a kid back in 1988 and did it for several years before taking a little hiatus. I began doing (I call it "doing," more on that later) the race again back in 2000 and have ever since. To understand a road race in New Orleans, it is really important to understand the attitude and mentality of New Orleans as a city.

Fitness is not usually the focus of a New Orleans "activity," as our social events are generally centered around eating and drinking. But don't worry, the Crescent City Classic is just as much an after-party as the race itself. While over 15,000 people participated in the race, I would be willing to bet that a majority were not in optimum physical shape to do a 10 kilometer road race in the swamp-like heat and humidity of a south Louisiana Saturday morning in April. I was not even in my usual good shape. Too many good meals and endless bottles of wine have kept me away from the gym as of late. But I was not to be held back. That is why I use the term "do the race," as opposed to "run the race."

I registered for the race as usual, and knew that come hell or high water, I would cross the finish line. I ended up walking the first three miles with my friend Kevin and his fiancee and when I couldn't take the slow pace any longer, broke into a slow run for a strong finish of the last several miles. Why do we run? One continuous thought that motivated me, as well as many others was the free beer at the end. Well, free with fees I guess. But my $25 entrance fee entitled me to a nifty t-shirt and as much beer as I could guzzle after limping my way over the finish line. And what a finish it was. I estimate that I finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Not as good as my usual running pace, but not too bad considering my diminished physical stamina. As each step brought me closer to the finish line, it was the "free beer" mantra that I repeated every time I felt like taking a break. It felt so good passing all of the yahoo's that were walking in the last three miles, knowing that I would be standing in front of them in the beer line.

So why would 15,000 out of shape New Orleanians put themselves through six pothole- filled miles of New Orleans streets? My best guess would be for the free beer.

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I woke up extra early on Easter Sunday, but I didn't run downstairs looking for my Eater basket. I knew damn well that the Easter bunny couldn't bypass the high level of security at my uptown dwelling. Instead I went downstairs and made coffee. For the first time in a while, I was able to relax on Easter Sunday, as I didn't have any family obligations. So instead I spend time cleaning my house and catching up on paperwork.

I went to meet Chef T at Fat Harry's in the early afternoon for our usual "meeting of the minds." At least that's what I like to call it, even thought the conversation turns mindless after six or seven Abita Amber draft beers. Fortunately, Chef was only a few beers ahead of me, so we were able to sneak in some stimulating Easter-like thoughts. But it only went downhill from there. I was starving and ready to knaw off my hand and wanted to eat. Not to giving in to the urge to dine out, we decided once again that we were cooking.

We paid the tab and made our way to Sav-a-Center. Still recovering financially from last weekend, we decided on grilling some burgers. Of course burgers turned into burgers, blue cheese, bacon, cheddar cheese and all of the fixings. When we got back to my house, we dug around in the fridge and pulled out some sausage and a pork loin left from last week. With all of the chopping and prepping, I got the wild idea that I would cook some black bean soup. Fortunately we had lots of help. Chef Clay came over and was immediately assigned to making the burgers. I had already made guacamole and Chef T made some salsa. He was already finished grilling sausage, potatoes and asparagus by the time Clay showed his face. We grilled the burgers and the pork and ended up with a whole lot of food. My friend Nixon came over since he just arrived in town, and the another chef came over with a friend to help with the eating.

I have to say it was a unique Easter dinner. Here's a recap - hamburgers with lettuce, tomato, blue cheese, bacon, cheddar and guacamole (not all on the same burger), grilled sausage, grilled asparagus, potatoes on the grill, grilled pork loin, guacamole, homemade salsa and finally, black bean soup. Good friends, cold beer and hot food on an open grill, I couldn't have asked for anything better on Easter Sunday. Well, the one thing that could've mad it better was fried rabbit.

Wednesday evening I dined for the first time at La Crepe Nanou (1410 Robert St., 504-899-2670) with a group of friends. Our party of six arrived at about 8:30 and were faced with an hour wait; one that we considered normal and reasonable for this restaurant. Fortunately, the bar was easily accessible and we all enjoyed several rounds of drinks. As they don't carry many domestic beers, I sipped on a few Amstel Lights, each with its own frozen glass - a detail that I found delightful.

The weather was perfect. A temperature in the seventies and humidity to match made the wait in front of the restaurant rather pleasant. We were seated in the front of the restaurant, at the large round table next to the window. It gave us the opportunity to sit inside with the illusion of outdoor dining. The atmosphere was charming; dimly lit and clean, with just the right volume of ambient chatter from the well distanced tables.

We began with the fondue ($19.95), one of the restaurants specialties. It was a cheese and red wine mixture melted to the perfect temperature, served with cubes of fresh French bread and a fruit bowl consisting of banana slices, grapes, kiwi and orange wedges. In conjunction, we ordered a bottle of sangiovese Chianti, but the name escapes me. My next seat neighbor, Scott, ordered the escargots and I was able to steal a couple from him. They were soft but not too chewy and were served in a fantastic white wine sauce.

For my entree I chose the big bowl o' mussels. Actually it was a large order of mussels ($11.95), as opposed to the small order. Also one of the house specialties, the mussels were steamed in a white wine and butter sauce, were served in a large bowl with a plate of Pommes frites. Scott ordered the filet mignon and I sampled that as well, along with the veal. Everyone in our party was thrilled with their meal, and they ate in almost silence. The meuniere sauce on the steak was fantastic, so I ordered some on the side as a sauce for my frites. I couldn't have asked for a better meal.

For dessert, we finished with a Crepe Nanou, a chocolate filled crepe, topped with an scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and coffee flavored ice cream, and finally covered in whipped cream. Our full stomachs dictated that we only order one dessert, but I think we sent the server into shock when we engulfed the delicacy and devoured it in record time.

The bill worked out nicely, as everyone threw in more than enough cash to cover the total. Christian was our waiter and he provided fantastic service. This was my first time at La Crepe Nanou, but I intend to return as soon as possible. The food was fantastic, reasonably priced and the atmosphere was charming. Not much else to ask for in a restaurant.

On Friday afternoon I had the pleasure to join six others for lunch at Antoine's. The organizer of the group was Tom Fitzmorris, the local New Orleans food authority and critic. He had posted a message on his Talk Food message board about a week prior asking who wanted to join him for lunch. I had seen the post but didn't even consider it until ToddMa let me know that he was going. I didn't even give my final decision until a couple of hours before lunch, but I don't regret it for a second. We all met at Antoine's for one o'clock. It was the first time I had dined there and I wasn't sure when I would have another opportunity, so I joined in. Lunch was fantastic, and I will have a full report in a couple of days in my "Notes from a New Orleans Foodie," number three.

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Saturday night I ended up at Sugar Magnolia with my roommate's sister and his girlfriend. The obvious question of the evening was "where is your roommate?" Not to worry... he is an engineer and works offshore, so he is only in town for two weeks at a time. I was tired and didn't feel like doing anything too involved, so I joined the girls for dinner.

For appetizers, we split the Eggplant Napoleon and the Fried Green Tomatoes. The tomatoes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, cooked perfectly and topped with shrimp cocktail and a tasty cream sauce. The layers of eggplant were filled with shrimp and crawfish stuffing, but the eggplant didn't seem to be cooked well; still a little hard and not too tasty. I chose my favorite entree, the Wasabi Crusted Wood-Grilled Ahi Tuna. As always, it was perfect. The outside was well seasoned with wasabi and seared on both sides before being cooked to the optimum consistency. The girls each ordered the grilled chicken cobb salad.

We brought a couple bottles of wine with us, a Beringer Pinot Noir that worked well with the appetizers and a Trimbach Pinot Gris that we consumed with our entrees. It's crisp, refreshing flavor blended elegantly with the Tuna and the salads. After the meal, we cracked open our third bottle.

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On Sunday afternoon Chef T and I cooked steaks at my house. Chef prepared some chimichurri sauce and I cooked the steaks. We argued over who would cook the steaks. Chef wanted to grill them but I was adamant about my usual method - searing and broiling in my cast iron skillet. When Chef attempted to fire up the grill, he quickly discovered that I was out of propane. That settled the argument, and I was the chef for the day.

I also made some of my almost famous guacamole. It came out better than usual. I'll have the steak method and the guacamole recipe on my page pretty soon.

We paired the steaks with some fine wines from Chef's personal cellar. Lots of eating and drinking!

Last night for dinner I had "leftovers." In the past, I think the term has received such a negative connotation due to the obligatory repeat of a boring meal. Well, the days are gone of the stereotypical casserole leftovers that Mom used to prepare. I was lucky enough to have a gourmet cheese plate, followed by a pan fried chicken breast topped with a citrus vinaigrette sauce and a Caesar salad. It was quite tasty, and paired with a bottle of wine made a pretty satisfactory meal. Of course, I wasn't the one who prepared it the first time.

Tuesday night Ms. X came over to cook at my house. She was reluctant, as anyone is, to cook in an unfamiliar place, but she blazed the unknown trail of the tiny kitchen in my large Uptown house. She surprised me by first stopping at the cheese counter at Martin's Wine Cellar uptown to pick out some gourmet cheeses. She arrived at my house and while I was changing clothes upstairs went to work on a plate with three cheeses, some pâté, crackers and grape tomatoes as garnish. I was delighted to come downstairs to an appetizer and two full glasses of red wine. We listened to music and enjoyed the aperitif before getting to the cooking.

It was impressive to watch her work, as she followed the recipe from "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook. The chicken breasts were lightly rolled in seasoned flour and then pan-fried in a little bit of olive oil. When the chicken was cooked, she deglazed the pan using some balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and a honey substitute (I didn't have any honey, so we improvised). The sauce was also supposed to have rosemary, but due to the volume of wine we consumed, the chopped rosemary sat quietly in the Pyrex dish waiting for attention that it would never get. As a side dish, she cooked some fresh green beans, seasoned and prepared to perfection. I admit that I had the hardest time letting someone cook in my kitchen. I wouldn't call it a control issue or insecurity; I just felt a little useless standing around continually pouring wine into our adequately filled glasses. Maybe that is what contributed to our eventual intoxication.

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Before dinner, Ms. X and I journeyed down Prytania Street to the Garden District Book Shop at 2727 Prytania (in the Rink at the corner of Prytania and Washinton). Poppy Z Brite was there for the release and book signing of her newest work, titled Liquor, about two lifelong friends who aspire to open a restaurant in New Orleans. It was great meeting Poppy, as I had worked with her father, another foodie and gourmet cook, as well as a retired college professor. Poppy is also a regular contributer to some of the New Orleans food message boards and quite a foodie herself. That would explain the hors d'oeuvres and wine from Commander's Palace. I haven't cracked open the book yet, but it looks super interesting and can't wait to get to it. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

I was impressed with the selection of local books available at the book store and can't wait to return. I could've saved a couple of bucks by buying the book online, but I was happy to support a local bookstore and I want to suggest you do the same. Ms. X did make the observation that there were "a lot of books about porn." I prefer to call it erotica, and although I didn't feel that the erotica selection was dispropotionate to the other books, it may have been her "selective sight," so to speak!