A Taste of New Orleans

This past weekend Britney and I ventured to New Orleans and we knew our foodie selves were surely in for a treat. Sara has been to New Orleans many times and we took many of her suggestions when deciding what Creole cuisine to try out.

The first thing we tried when we got to NOLA were some authentic Po boys. We walked through the French Quarter and stumbled upon Johnny's Po Boys, a small, busy restaurant that we were sure would delight our taste buds. We entered the small venue and found ourselves amongst a long line of people anxious for a bite. We even found a sign that stated "even our failures are edible." Luckily, we did not receive anything close to a failure. The menu was extensive ranging from Roast Beef Po boys all the way to Crab Cake. We ordered a crawfish po boy and the daily special, half of a catfish po boy and a cup of seafood gumbo.

Johnny's Po Boys

Next, we had dinner at a Brennan family restaurant (as recommended by Sara) just on the corner of Bourbon street, called Bourbon House. We decided on this restaurant because it was conveniently located in our hotel, the Astor Crowne Plaza, as well as it's claim for the "best people watching restaurant on Bourbon." We were seated next to the giant window side of the restaurant, and got our fair share of the sport of people watching. This was our "classy" meal of the adventure, and it was surely both classy and tasty. 

Britney ordered the Garlic Crusted Fish with deviled crab dressing, browned butter and creole vegetables. The deviled crab dressing was definitely the star of the plate. Britney also loved her fish, and I kept sneaking off bites of the crab dressing. 

I opted for the Grilled Yellowfin Tuna, as I am a huge fan of the dish at a typical restaurant. It came with roasted artichokes, garlic and fingerling potato hash with smoked tomato butter. The fish was cooked to perfection and I am a huge fan of artichokes and made sure not to leave one behind. The fingerling potatoes were also tasty, although one Britney tried was slightly undercooked. Both entrées were moderately priced around $25 and the service was impeccable. I would definitely go back, or love to try another Brennan's restaurant after our experience. 

Bourbon House

After dinner at Bourbon House, I needed coffee and Britney needed dessert. So where else could we both be satisfied other than the famous, Cafe Du Monde. The staple of NOLA cuisine is a very busy place, as we passed by it several times during the day and opted not to wait in the ever so long line. We went around 8:30 and only had to wait for a few minutes. It is a very busy place and you have to scrounge the area for open tables, and wait for someone to come to you to clean them off. Make sure you have cash ready for the waitress. I ordered a cafe au lait, the famous coffee drink that is made with hot milk. It was indeed delicious and so strong that it woke me right up for our long night on Bourbon. We also split an order of the famous Beignets. I must preface my response to the NOLA staple, because I am not a sweets fan. I do not care for donuts or most desserts in general with few exceptions. So, I must say that I could go without a beignet next time I'm in town. However, Britney found them to be exceptional, and judging by the demand and constant lines...most people do too.

Cafe du Monde

The last foodie excursion of the trip, was certainly voted the best by the both of us. I had heard about Willie Mae's Scotch House via a good friend, and after some research on the internet, had found that it was voted the best fried chicken in the nation by Food Network. So, knowing we would be in town I knew this was one adventure we could not pass up.
Now, I love fried chicken and before going to Willie Mae's the best I had ever had was from Eischen's in Oklahoma. I didn't think there was something better out there, but boy was I wrong. 

First, if you are staying in the French Quarter make sure that you drive or take a taxi to Willie Mae's. It is only about a mile or so from Bourbon, but it there is a pretty run down area in between. We arrived at the James Beard award winning restaurant and found ourselves among a great number of others looking for the best fried chicken in the nation. The menu even lists the chicken as "America's Best Fried Chicken." Britney ordered green beans as a side and I had the butter beans. My late grandmother was from Mississippi, so I was born and raised on this type of cuisine. The chicken came out and we were ready to dive in to the glorious crispy chicken in front of us.

There is something to be said about the perfection that is the dark brown, thin and perfectly crispy skin on the juicy chicken at Willie Mae's. To me, fried chicken is all about the skin and this was the perfect skin-to-chicken ratio and had the perfect crunch. I am not a fan of fried chicken that you bite into and don't get anything but the batter. However, if I just had to eat the skin of this chicken, I would have been just as delighted. The butter beans were good, but the green beans were definitely more delicious. If you are thrifty like Britney, you can even take some of the skin from the chicken and put it in with your green beans. After eating the $10 a plate of 3 pieces of chicken and a side, we knew we could leave New Orleans satisfied. I HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone who wants a little slice of love infused cuisine. I even walked by the kitchen to go to the restroom and smiled as I could smell the friers working. America's best fried chicken? You bet.

Map to Heaven.

Ziziki's Taverna - Opa!

The Foodie Adventures Trio, aptly nicknamed the “taste buds” by one of our favorite followers, decided to check out Ziziki’s Taverna in Addison for our latest review. We had seen Ziziki’s at the 2010 Taste Addison Festival and heard really great things about their hummus, so when it was time for our next adventure we were all really excited to try it.

The décor is homey yet modern and the patio area looks like a lot of fun for the summertime. We were seated immediately and after taking our drink orders, the waitress brought over a small saucer with a handful of kalamata olives and some bright green olives that are imported from Sicily. Man – if you like olives, these will rock your world. They aren’t pitted and while I normally hate having to nibble around the seed, I actually liked it better that way. It made me feel like I was somewhere on the Mediterranean coast eating olives freshly picked from the surrounding trees. While the olives were delicious, buyer beware: you only get one tiny saucer of free olives for your table, so you better savor these little salty trinkets or be prepared to shell out a few extra bucks. That may not be a big deal, but we thought you should know :)

For our appetizer we ordered the Trio Platter, that way we could maximize our exposure. It came with artichoke hummus, eggplant spread, tarama and grilled pita. Luckily our waitress asked if we wanted to substitute hipiti dip for the tarama. She explained that tarama is a Mediterranean caviar spread and hipiti is a spicy roasted red bell pepper and Feta cheese spread.  Which one do YOU think sounds better? No brainer, right? We did the switch and were very glad. The artichoke hummus was awesome – tangy but not overly tart, the eggplant dip was really creamy and had excellent flavor and the hipiti dip tasted like greek pimento cheese (for all you southerners out there!). They didn’t give us a ton of pita bread with our trio upfront and after the olive situation we assumed we would have to pay for more pita…..but as it turns out we didn’t! You can totally have more pita bread – as much as you want! Yuuummmmmy.

For our entrees, Britney and Haley split the greekburger (ground leg of lamb char-broiled topped with cheese, lettuce and tomato) which came with roasted potatoes and I ordered the chicken souvlaki (skewered medallions of herbed chicken breast, served on hand made pita topped with onions and Ziziki sauce) which also came with roasted potatoes. The greekburger was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and the roasted potatoes were crispy and extremely flavorful. The cheese on the burger happened to be the hipiti dip from the appetizer trio, and instead of a bun the burger was sandwiched between the grilled pita bread.

The chicken souvlaki was awesome as well. The chicken skewers had a ton of Greek flavor and the Ziziki sauce was the perfect compliment. I made it into a pita wrap and it was delicious.  In addition to my potatoes, there was also a little salad of pickled red onion, herbs and feta which rocked and was an awesome topper for my wrap.

By the end of the meal we were seriously stuffed. Britney even gave me half her greekburger to take for lunch the next day – thanks Brit! While Ziziki’s Taverna is a tad bit pricy, we LOVED it! We will definitely go back and we recommend it to everyone with a love of Greek cuisine. I can’t wait to go back and am still dreaming of those green Sicilian olives……vision of olives dancing in my head…..opa!

http://www.zizikistaverna.com/

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