Louisiana Redux: Roadfood Heaven in New Orleans

After a fantastic visit to New Orleans last October filled with good meal after good meal (read about it here) I eagerly hoped I would return “some day” to repeat the experience. That someday was scheduled when Roadfood choose New Orleans as the site of their 2009 Roadfood Festival.

The Roadfood people have inspired and directed me to good eating all across the country. This was an opportunity too enticing to pass up.



All of our meals were good.Is that too much of an understatement? Our first night we settled on Cochon, 930 Tchoupitoulas, based on a Tablehopper recommendation. Thank you Marcia, it was yummy. We had Shrimp & Deviled Egg Gumbo, Paneed Pork cheeks with Goat Cheese, Smoked Beef Brisket with Horseradish Potato Salad and the special Soft-Shell crab. We later heard raves about a recently opened extension, Cochon Butcher, just around the corner but were disappointingly unable to fit in a visit. As point of interest to my fellow San Francisco foodies, chef Donald Link has put in his time at SF restaurants such as the Elite Café and Jardinaire.

The next day was the incredible Largest Po’boy. It was 330 feet long on Bourbon Street and quite the thing to be a part of. I especially love the blessing offered “Dear Lord … Bless this Sandwich.” Amen. What took over an hour to construct was devoured in less than three minutes. John & I were front and center and thoroughly enjoyed our tidbits of oyster po’ boy. I would have taken a picture to document what we ate but my fingers were covered in sauce, hence the aftermath photo. The Po’ Boy crowd paraded down a block to Royal Street for the Roadfood Festival. Three blocks of tantalizing aromas greeted us. We perused and settled upon Shrimp Remolade Po’ Boys. Incredible.

Grazing our way from booth to booth on Bourbon Street we were shoulder to shoulder with many other Roadfood devotees along with Pirates in town for the PyrateCon Festival and athletes participating in the New Orleans Ironman Triathlon. As if Bourbon Street isn’t interesting enough already!?

Dinner that night was our main event: The Roadfood Crawfish and Shrimp Boil.

We queued up for the first bus, signed in, received our hats and boarded. Buses detoured by a New Orleans institution for over 70 years, Hansen’s Sno-Bliz at 4801 Tchoupitoulas at Bordeaux. Three flavors were featured for the Roadfoodies: satsuma, nectar and strawberry. With an optional topping of condensed milk if you choose. I opted for the tart satsuma with milk and John chose the nectar. Both were refreshing and fun.

Forty minutes down the road we pulled into The Bayou Barn where they had barrels of boiled crawfish, boiled shrimp, jambalaya and a pig roasting on a spit waiting for us. We slowed to get some shrimp and then made a bee-line for the crawfish. Staking a table conveniently between the keg of Abita and crawfish canoe we had a terrific time. Our fellow diners were great fun and we ate our fill keeping an eye on our other companions 5 to 6 alligators lurking in the bayou less than 15 feet from us. Occasionally one would venture closer for a snack…very atmospheric, but rather unnerving. A Cajun band played throughout the evening with many of the crowd trying their skill playing a washboard.

The evening ending with teams performing a Roadfood jingle vying for galley copies of Jane & Michael Stern’s new book: 500 Places to Eat Before it’s Too Late: and the Very Best Plaes to Eat Them, scheduled for release in June. I thought John’s jingle was a contender but he declined performing. Guess I’ll have to purchase a copy.

When we were finally able to eat again the next day we went to the Chartres House Restaurant for oyster platters. The food wasn’t as good as it could be but we were very satisfied with our balcony seats overlooking the panoply of humanity on the streets below. John happily waded through their special bloody mary which appeared to have everything but the kitchen sink in it. I spied a pickled green bean, pickled okra, an olive, and an onion but I suspect more swim beneath the surface.

Our final dinner was at La Cote Brasserie. We loved the raw oysters and Granny’s recipe: duck & andouille gumbo. The Bienville Oysters and Charbroiled Oysters didn’t wow us as much. The Bread Pudding was downright boring. Not bad just not worth it when there are oysters! If we were in town another day you would have found us back at La Cote for their dozen oysters for $7 happy hour special.

When we visited New Orleans last October I was charmed by the Monteleone Hotel. This New Orleans institution appears in literature and it the place to stay in the French Quarter. I took advantage of a special rate for Roadfooders and reserved a room, stepping out of my usual Hilton comfort zone. Upon checking in I was informed that we could check back the next to change rooms. Excuse me? “Yes, a very nice room with a view might be available if we appear at the desk between 11AM and 12PM the next day.” My fears were confirmed when I slipped the key into the door of room 1227. Out of 600 guestrooms we won the jackpot and were awarded one of 14 rooms without a window. I was not pleased but I must admit it was beautifully appointed. We didn’t linger in the room and the next day checked out and moved to the Warehouse District Embassy Suites where we had two windows and a balcony and all of the perks Hilton properties offer a frequent guest. I’m not suggesting that you avoid the Monteleone Hotel. Just be very, very specific that your room have a window (one windowless broom closet is on every floor with a room number ending in 27).

We still visited The Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar daily. This revolving bar looks out over Royal Street and serves THE BEST Sazaracs, Vieux Carre’s and Ramos Fizz’s. One 15 minute rotation of the bar helps to make a day in New Orleans all that much more fun!



Continuing on my fascination with the Highpointers: The highest point in Louisiana is Driskell Mountain.
“When most people think of Louisiana, mountains are the last thing to come to mind and with good reason. This state is one of 3 in the U.S. with its lowest point located below sea level, and its highest point is the 3rd lowest in the country; only Florida's Britton Hill and Delaware's Ebright Azimuth are lower than this 163m (535ft) bump known as Driskill Mountain. The area is very densely forested as is common in the Piney Woods of East Texas and Louisiana.”

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151925/driskill-mountain.html

Napa County, California

Napa County was established in 1850 as one of the original 27 counties. The county seat is the City of Napa but most of the area’s fame lies north as you travel up into the Napa Valley. I graduated from High School in Napa, spending many of my formative years in the area. This visit was a trip down memory lane: cruising by former residences, places of employment, schools and shopping haunts.

The area has grown tremendously. It was a food and wine mecca when I called it home and it’s only become bigger, more renowned, more crowded and more commercialized since. It’s still a stunningly beautiful place offering the some of best wine and food hands down. Almost 4.7 million people visit the Napa Valley annually, making it second only to Disneyland as California’s top tourist destination. The Napa Valley Vintners Association lists 344 wineries in the valley. With a population of 124,279 that a winery for every 361 people, or a winery every 2 square miles.

The purpose of my visit was to dine in Yountville at Michael Chiarello’s new hot restaurant Bottega Napa Valley. Chiarello’s Tra Vigne was one of my old haunts before he went on to the Food Network and I just went on. The weather was sunny and a perfect 78 degrees. It would have been ideal to sit on the patio but apparently everyone else thought so too. We were seated inside and I pouted for about 5 seconds. Appeased by the beautiful light fixtures and Frette linens I turned my attention to the menu. We ordered the Grilled Octopus starter, Garganelli with Balsamic Rabbit Sugo & Chanterelle mushrooms and the Garlic Roasted Dungeness Crab in a crab-saffron aioli. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon! Accompanied with a crisp Carneros (Napa Valley) Chardonnay we savored every morsel. I second the San Francisco Chronicle review’s raves.

Driving up to Napa from San Francisco I tuned to 99.3FM to listen to KVYN. I’d forgotten about this radio station and really enjoyed the mostly ‘80’s playlist that took me right back to my ‘80’s in the Valley. There’s something about music that triggers memories. I was pleased to see that they stream on their website and will be there whenever I want a hit of The Vine.

Oregon Redux: Tasting Wine

Oregon is renowned as one of the premier pinot noir growing regions of the world. This visit was all about WINE. We flew into Portland and jumped in a rental car to travel the 45 minutes to the Dundee Hills region. Here are the details:

WINERY TASTING ROOMS:
Our first stop was the larger, more commercial Duck Pond Cellars where were convening with my parents. Duck Pond was welcoming but we were wowed by the wines at our next stop: Rex Hill Vineyards. They are a favorite pinot producer of mine and the elegance of the wines was matched by the tasting room. They also sold the A to Z label which might just become the signature wine of this blog. I obviously have some tasting ahead of me.

The next day we had a full slate of wineries on the agenda. We started with Sokol Blosser Winery where were impressed with their dry rose. Erath Winery offered their tasting in fantastic glasses by Riedel designed especially for Oregon Pinot Noir. Just down the hill we stopped in at Maresh Vineyard’s Red Barn Tasting Room. They produced single vineyard wines that are sold exclusively through the winery. We had been wowed by Rex Hill’s Maresh Vineyard Pinot and couldn’t resist a taste of what else the vineyard has to offer.

We wound up the hill on pothole riddled gravel roads to Lange Vineyards. A glimpse at the labels featuring beautiful Atlantic salmon fishing flies had lured us there, where we were charmed by Maggie Lange, the golden retriever, and enjoyed the sweeping views. To cap off our visit we finished at Domaine Drouhin Winery. This grand dame of the area is the Drouhin family’s sole venture aside from their French estate. The winery was gorgeous and we really enjoyed walking through the tanks.

Without exception we were impressed with all the wineries we visited. The region prints an annual map and visitors guide that made it simple to find out way around. I had ordered one ahead of time from www.willamettewines.com/brochure.shtml but we found them readily available at wineries we visited. The tasting rooms were staffed by knowledgeable, friendly people and we felt welcome everywhere. All the wines we sampled were remarkable. In my opinion the outstanding ones were at Rex Hill and Domaine Drouhin but I would proudly serve selections from all the wineries on our agenda.

ACCOMODATIONS:

We stayed at the Oregon Wine Cottage in McMinnville. This two bedroom, two bath house was comfortably appointed and we were thrilled with the selection. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

DINING:
I also highly recommend Bistro Maison in McMinnvile, a French bistro where we had an over-the-top meal. We decadently dove into the fondue with abandon. Ambrosia! The wine list was incredible and accessible and I cannot say enough about the professional service. If I lived in the area I would frequent this place. All I can say is that if you are in McMinnville, GO THERE! McMinnville has a few other intriguing restaurants that we hope to check out next time, if we can tear ourselves away from Bistro Maison. We enjoyed a lunch at the Dundee Bistro. We were told that they change their menu twice a day which might explain the fact that 95% of the dishes were pork that afternoon. Taking advantage of the facilities at our cottage, our final dinner was a smorgasbord of Bistro Maison leftovers and selections from the local Safeway. I suspect there were preferable places to provision than Safeway and do not recommend you visit this particular supermarket but we did put together a great meal.



OTHER SITES
Red Ridge Farms nursery was a must visit for us and we lucked out because they had just opened for the season the day before our visit. Maybe it’s for the best that I couldn’t load up on plants but my Mom was able to get a few. They have an impressive number of lavender varieties and everything looked healthy and thriving. They also have a one bedroom suite available to rent. The location is spectacular and it seems like a great place to stay. We had wanted to start our visit tip toeing through the tulips at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm but we were a little too early in the season for their 40 acres to be in bloom. Next year? Why is it I always come away from a trip with a list for next time?

Also on the next time list is the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville. Home to the Spruce Goose this facility is amazing. In addition to two cavernous museums they have an IMAX theater. We drove up at the end of our tasting and could only stare agape. It was too much for us so late in the day, but we all vowed to return refreshed and ready to take it all in. We were even unable, or I suppose unwilling is more accurate, to sample the wine tasting in the shadow of the wings of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose. Let hear it again: next time!

My 50 States in ’08 song pick for Oregon is Loretta Lynn’s Portland, Oregon and my book selection comes from Melanie Jones at the Columbia Spectator via Book Club Classics: Ken Kesey’s Sometimes A Great Notion.

I’ve recently become aware of the Highpointers. This is an organization that focuses on climbing to the highest point of every state. An admirable goal in my estimation. From http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150189/mount-hood.html In case you’re interested…

“Mount Hood, located about 50 miles east of Portland, Oregon, is one of the most climbed glaciated peaks in North America (#2 in the world behind Japan's Fuji-san, according to some). While it last erupted in 1907 and still has active fumaroles, it is now considered a dormant volcano. Its relatively low altitude (compared to Rainier and Shasta), easy approach, and short hiking/climbing distance (see South Side Route below) makes it much more popular among less experienced climbers. These climbers, lacking experience, and severe weather, which can move in quickly, account for most accidents. Skiers can descend directly from the summit. Dogs are permitted and frequently make the summit.
The South Side Route, which begins at the 5,800' Timberline Lodge parking area, is the shortest (< 3 miles) and most popular route to the summit. Above the the Palmer ski lift there are 3 variations of this route, the most popular of which is the Hogsback / Pearly Gates route. The Hogsback / Old Crater variation is used when the Pearly Gates are congested while climbers looking for more of a challenge can use the West Crater Rim variation.
CLIMBING CONSIDERATIONS
While Mount Hood has reportedly been summited by a woman in high heels, this does not discount the need for climbing experience on this mountain. An ice axe and crampons should be considered mandatory for most climbers, with climbing helmets being a popular addition, especially higher up.
On warm days it is recommended you get an early start (which is closer to midnight than sunrise), to be out of rockfall areas by 10am.
Due to the loose rock, climbers are urged to tread lightly, staying on the snow and ice while climbing and not dislodging any rock.
Check and be wary of the summit cornice, especially during the winter and early spring.
Do not linger around the fumaroles which create oxygen voids that have asphyxiated (suffocated) unsuspecting climbers.”

You can read about my previous visits to Oregon at http://50statesin08.blogspot.com/2008/03/8-oregon.html and
http://everywherefromatoz.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-osf-opening-weekend-time-again.html. No mountains were climbed.

Guten tag!

Thanks to a combination of an unbelievably low airfare and a practically free Hilton January special I spent the last weekend of January in Mainz, Germany on the banks of the Rhine River. This opportunity is a direct result of the current financial crisis. January is always a low travel time but this year hotels and planes are barren and they’re desperate to fill them at any cost.

The trip was part mileage run, part mattress run but more a fun weekend adventure. I arrived in Frankfurt and was on a Mainz bound train by 11am. The Deutsch Bahn (Germany Railroad) is easy to negotiate even jetlagged and seriously lacking language skills. The E3.80 ticket

Mainz sits on the banks of the Rhine River and is a center of the German wine trade. It’s been a wine growing region since Roman times.. The Haus des Deutschen Weines (House of the German Wine). There are also several wineries in the old town. I thought the Gutenberg Museum was amazing. It sits across from the cathedral and gives you more information than you thoguht possible about the “father” of the printing press
The highlight of my Mainz weekend was a 14 mile Sunday walk along the Rhine. Undeterred by freezing temperatures and snow flurries I shared the path with bicyclists and walkers young and old. Finding the appropriate bus to take me back was a little tricky but part of the adventure.

I took advantage of the same airfare a month later when John & I connected to Vienna, Austria through Frankfurt. Our layover during our return travel allowed just enough time to stash our bags at the Admirals Club and take a train to downtown Frankfurt. This was John’s first visit to actual Germany and he reveled in explore a smidgeon of his German heritage. Frankfurt was decimated during WWII and has been rebuilt as a financial capital but lacks many the historic buildings of other European destinations. Some say it lacks the charm and culture of Berlin or Munich but I definitely recommend a visit. We ducked under awnings to keep dry as we walked to the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt (someday we’ll see the inside of this opera house!) and then to Goethe Museum & House. This museum and home the German man of letters was intriguing and well worth the E5 admission. We quickly headed to the St. Bartholomew Cathedral before hopping our train back to FRA for our Chicago bound flight. Not a bad three hour introduction!