Category Archives: DINING

September 26, 2012 · 2:22 pm

More New Orleans restaurant recommendations


 

Everyone I talk to who has spent time in New Orleans has her own recommendations of the best, classic New Orleans  restaurants to eat and  only seldom do I see overlap from one list to the other, which means I need A LOT MORE TIME in New Orleans than we’ll actually have during our trip next month. But here’s another list of impassioned recommendations – this one from my hair stylist who used to live in NOLA:

But – Irene’s Cuisine is my favorite!! Very New Orleans through and through. Great location (heart of the Fr Qtr), perfect ambiance, and excellent Italian/New Orleans food. My favorite out of those 4. Cochon is great – especially if you like pork. I only went to Herbsaint once, and the gnocci appetizer was the best Ive ever had. Never been to Boucherie.
Here are some of my favorites:
Patois – the best mussels and frites of my life (uptown)
La petite grocery – a very very very good burger (uptown)
Coops Place – a true new orleans bar with perfect New Orleans food and fried chicken that is like dessert. A locals favorite. Decatur St near bywater/frenchmen. Good for lunch. (fr qtr)
Jacques-imos – New orleans food popular with locals and tourists. The best of everything the city has to offer for food. With crazy new orleans ambiance. (Uptown)
And of course Dick and Jenny’s (see photo above). All around good except for the fact you cant make reservations. Everything is understated except the food and the service. (Uptown)
Stella! – fine dining in the french quarter.
Commander’s Palace – Ive never been, but for about $200 per person you will have the best brunch you’ve ever had. Famous for Bananas Foster.

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June 19, 2012 · 6:36 pm

Where to eat in D.C.’s U Street Corridor

515 Florida Ave. NW, Washington DC 20001 | Tues – Sun 5:30pm-10pm, Closed Mondays

The recommendations are many:

My 20-something stepdaughter who lived in DC says her favorite is Cafe Saint Ex.
This from a friend’s 20-something son who lives in DC:
  • I would highly recommend this one Thai X-ing; http://www.thaix-ing.com/though $30 per person is a little pricey but it’s a ton of foodprix. it’s a small rowhouse with a mish mash of tables (though its gotten more professional as its gotten more popular)and the guy cooks you this amazing Thai mealwhich for $30 and BYOB is actually a pretty good deal.multicourse – the pumpkin curry is incredible”
  • Ethiopian is generally affordable and that area is known for that Dukem is good or Zenebech Injera, which is a little further away.
  • Busboys and Poets is also popular and interesting for the atmosphere but food is meh
The  NYTimes recommends: Local 16 (allegedly a Democratic hangout) and cork wine bar. (see below.)
… Head to the always hopping U Street Corridor, and plop yourself on a stool at Local 16 (1602 U Street NW; 202-265-2828; www.localsixteen.com), a popular Democratic hangout. There are multiple lounges and, best of all, a roof deck, where you can see the city lights while you sip your predinner watermelon martini. A lot of Democratic fundraisers habituate the place, so don’t be surprised if there’s a private party in one of the rooms.Have dinner a few blocks away at Cork Wine Bar (1720 14th Street NW; 202-265-2675; www.corkdc.com), which might have the best fries in town. The owners, Khalid Pitts and Diane Gross, are friends of Barack (well, Mr. Pitts is director of political accountability with the Service Employees International Union, which endorsed Mr. Obama, and Ms. Gross has worked with the Democratic political establishment for years). The menu includes both small and big bites, from marinated olives and cheeses to duck confit and sautéed kale. And for goodness’ sake, don’t forget those fries! They are tossed with garlic and lemon. In fact, order two helpings. Dinner for two with wine, around $60.

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December 11, 2011 · 4:38 pm

New italian food (and hotdogs?) old church in Northwest Iowa

La Chiesa in downtown Spencer, Iowa is a new Italian restaurant in an old Episcopal church, so you can eat pasta and pizza in a former sanctuary, complete with  stained glass windows, arched wood beams and a big cross.  So says Family Living, an Iowa Farm Bureau publication (that, full disclosure, my husband edits.) The fare is Italian country – more roasted pork with handmade fettucini and”Pork Belly and Apples Two Ways” than “That’s a spicy meatball.”  No hot dogs that I know of. (Just threw that in to test my theory that people are more inclined to read blog posts that mention hotdogs…)

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August 24, 2011 · 2:33 pm

Leo’s/Royal Oak and Lou Malnati’s in Chicago

Made it home without a hitch yesterday after a 5.5 hour drive from Chicago which started with some very stormy weather. Didn’t have much time to explore the city since we were just passing through but did get a take out pizza from Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria – an outpost of which recently opened in my aunt’s Gold Coast neighborhood in the old Anthropologie building. Looked like a fun place to eat – especially the outdoor patio. We opted for takeout and thin crust, not Chicago thick. It was good  – especially the unusual crust that I believe is made with cornmeal – but wasn’t that bowled over. Certainly will try again. Another place to remember – the original Heaven on Seven, a Cajun restaurant downtown near the old Marshall Field’s and near my stepdaughter’s new place of employment. Comes well recommended by several.

Before leaving Michigan, we had to cram in a trip to Leo’s Coney Island in Royal Oak for my son who happily and quickly devoured two Coneys. And I do need to add – for one blog reader who protested – that Lafayette Coney Island was much more crowded when we tried to go there Saturday night than when we passed by midday Saturday. Unfortunately it was so busy that we couldn’t find a place to park and had to forego our visit.

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August 9, 2011 · 12:22 am

Tried a new restaurant in Kansas City – Po’s Dumpling Bar.

We didn’t have time in Wichita last weekend to eat at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Market so we tried Po’s Dumpling Bar on lively 39th Street  in Kansas City – not bad. The dumplings were unusually oblong-shaped and fresh tasting. The spicy (but not too) Kung Pao chicken and two vegetarian noodle dishes (one with thick and wide homemade noodles that reminded me of the egg noodles found in Midwestern’ chicken-and-noodles) also were also fresh tasting, with good quality meat and crisp vegetables.

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August 2, 2011 · 7:03 pm

A visit to the Swamp Fox in Knoxville, Iowa

After touring a reconstructed prairie in 100 degree heat (which was lovely except for some very irritating little flies with a nasty bite), we stopped by the Peace Tree Brewery in nearby Knoxville, which is in an airy old brown brick building, and then ate burgers around the corner at the Swamp Fox, in the town’s cultural center (which were guessing was once an old meeting hall.) Darned good patty melt! We passed a good looking ice cream stand on the way west out of town but were too full to partake. Peace Tree is open officially for samples on Thursday and Friday late afternoon and eves and on the weekends. We’ll have to return sometime.

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July 19, 2011 · 12:23 am

Odds and ends from West Central Wisconsin

In Sparta, we ate at Angelini’s – a nothing fancy but good old-fashioned Italian restaurant downtown that was packed on a Saturday night and makes a good tomato meat sauce and has good thin crust pizza. One minor quibble – among the photos of presumably Italian notables (Sopranos actors, Al Pacino, Sinatra et. al.) hanging on the wall was one Benicio del Toro, who is Puerto Rican (full name: Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez)

In Westby, we ate at a nothing fancy very Norwegian cafe, Borgen’s – motto is “Spis, drik, a ver gla!” (Eat, drink, and be glad! in Norwegian I’m guessing. We didn’t  get too adventurous or Norwegian  (we skipped the Meatballs & Gravy with Lefse and the “Feisty Norwegian Chicken Sandwich”) but they served a good BLT. We had bacon several times during our Wisconsin trip (each morning at our B&B) and it never disappointed. But then bacon rarely does.  I also was intrigued by a replica of a Kransekake, Norway’s signature cake often served at weddings, birthdays and anniversary parties – a conical tower of thin layers of cake made out of almost paste, that narrows as it rises from bottom to top.


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June 14, 2011 · 6:27 pm

Fest in Andersonville

We weren’t thrilled to discover there was a festival going on in the Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville today but we braved the crowds and visited some fun shops (Transitor, FourSquare) and got to watch some fun male line dancers dressed in red and white checked shirts, blue jeans, and cowboy hats. Later we had dinner at an old favorite that remains as good as ever – Francesca’s on Taylor, an Italian restaurant. My brother and sister-in-law had a biz dinner tonight at Sepia, which I’ve been to twice in the past and enjoyed.

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June 7, 2011 · 3:37 pm

BBQ in Chicago

As usual, my family doesn’t know what we’re doing in Chicago during our upcoming visit except where we are eating – or want to eat.  One place my Chicago-based stepdaughter wants to try:  a newish BBQ place Lillie Qs: http://www.lilliesq.com/.  Supposed to be really good.

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May 27, 2011 · 11:34 pm

where to eat in Dubuque

This according to AAALiving: L.May’s for pizza; The Bank Bar and Grill in a 100-year-old former bank; Calico Bean Market for organic coffee and gourmet candy.

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