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Noshing in Nola

17 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by sweepingthesouth in Food, Restaurants, Travel

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felix's, Food, french, goat cheese, martinique bistro, Restaurants, South, Travel, upperline, vacation

This is going to have to be a two-part blog post. My mom and sister came to town to visit for a weekend. And what’s a trip to Louisiana without going to New Orleans and eating lots of delicious food? We spent the morning on Magazine Street, browsing through its charming little boutiques. Finally, when we were absolutely famished, we stopped at Martinique Bistro for Brunch, it’s a quaint and enchanting little bistro. I really adore their outdoor private courtyard. Their menu is crafted by using local ingredients from nearby farmers and fishermen.

Pine nut crusted goat cheese salad

We sat down and immediately ordered some creole Bloody Marys. I began with the pine nut crusted goat cheese over a bed of baby lettuce. My sister had the Gulf Coast Apple Salad with blue cheese and my mother, the asparagus and watercress bisque. My mother must have really enjoyed her soup, because it was gone before I got to try it. The scarlet frill gave my sister’s apple salad an interesting appearance and I really enjoyed my goat cheese salad.

Seared Scallop Nicoise

For entrees we had the house smoked salmon club, the seared scallop nicoise and the French style crepe. Even though we were stuffed, we ordered the chocolate soufflé for dessert served with a Guinness ice cream. I really just wanted to try it because of the ice cream; it almost had a coffee like flavor to it.

Salmon Club

Feeling like we were going to burst at the seams, we headed back out onto Magazine Street for round two of shopping and to walk it off, of course. We drove back downtown, checked in to our hotel and went to roam the French Quarter. My mother had never experienced having chargrilled oysters in the Quarter so we had to bring her to Acme, which was packed and had a line out the door and around the corner.  So we walked across the street to Felix’s, when we sat down to order we discovered they lost their liquor license (no wonder they had no line!) but suggested we walk around the corner and order our drinks and come back. So we did. Drinks in hand, we ordered crab fingers (if you haven’t had these before, you must!), chargrilled oysters and oysters Bienville. I actually really enjoyed their chargrilled oysters, you could taste the smokiness in them. Then back to the hotel room.

Oysters Bienville

We got a taxi back uptown to the Upperline Restaurant, where our driver missed the street because he said we smelled so good! Finally having arrived at our destination, we were presented with a  charming little house that is Upperline. It is definitely a restaurant that the locals frequent. It is warm and inviting, the people there are friendly. They serve mostly Cajun and creole food with a modern flare.  To start we ordered the Fried Green Tomato with Shrimp Remoulade and Spicy Shrimp with Jalapeño Cornbread & Aïoli. I relished in my appetizer (is that weird to say?). It doesn’t sound like anything amazing on the menu, but it is! The flavors are zesty and fiery, but not over powering. For dinner we ordered the petite filet served with fried oysters and a béarnaise sauce, grouper and a slow roasted duck served with a peach sauce.  I don’t think I need to say it again, but we left satiated.

Spicy Shrimp

My advice for anyone going to New Orleans, especially for the food, leave the Quarter! Not that there isn’t great places to eat at in the courter, but there is so much more else where around town. Go out and explore!

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A New Italian Bistro – Zolia

21 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by sweepingthesouth in Food, Restaurants

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crostini, Food, goat cheese, Restaurants, roasted garlic, South, southern delicacy, Travel, tuna tartare

This little bistro is a hit with the downtown crowd during lunch. But my boyfriend and I went one evening after work to check it out. It’s inside of City Plaza II so if you are unfamiliar with the area you might have difficulty finding it. But that shouldn’t deter you!

I truly enjoyed the food at Zolia’s and was pleasantly surprised. We tried various tapas, Tuna Tartare, Abita Shrimp, Salmon Basilica and the Warm Truffled Crimini Crostini, to name a few. They were all delicious. My boyfriend normally doesn’t like sashimi but he loved this tapa. It was fresh and packed with flavor. The texture and consistency were just right.

Tuna Tartare

I really loved the Abita Shrimp served over a chive grit cake. I like to call it the “Cajun Tapa”. It’s really delicious and something different to try. I also enjoyed the Salmon with the tomato caper relish. It was cooked to the right temperature and not dry at all, like some salmon can be. And the Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese on the mushroom crostini really complemented it well. The flavors were spot on.

Abita Shrimp

If you haven’t gone yet, then please go. I can’t wait to go back and try more of their delicious tapas and antipasto boards.

A few more pictures of their tapas:

Salmon Basilica

Warm Truffled Crimini Crostini

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A Yankee Eating Crawfish – Guest blogger from New York

19 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by sweepingthesouth in Food, Yankees

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crawfish, crawfish season, Food, South, southern delicacy, Travel, vacation, Yankee

Sometimes, when I’m throwing a pity party for myself, I’ll express to Andrea how inconvenient it is that she now lives so far away. On the other hand, I’m glad she made that drastic move because that means I get to visit! I recently visited Andrea in May, before the heat really set in but most importantly before I missed out on yet another crawfish season. You see, as Andrea’s fellow East Coast friend, I could live on seafood alone. I love it all, slippery oysters, sandy mussels, and most of all “lobsta”, as Rhode Island natives say. So of course I was going to love diving into a bucket of crawfish, after all they are just mini lobsters, right? I salivated for weeks before my visit, incessantly reminding Andrea that I would be there within days and that she absolutely had to include a crawfish dinner in our itinerary. Kindly, Andrea and her hunky man, made my dream come true. However, when the tray of crawfish arrived at our table and was placed in front of me, my excitement quickly turned to panic.

The site of their ruby red bodies, darkened by loads of Cajun seasoning, piled on top of each other like so, made my stomach drop. You see, I live in New York. The truth about New York is that it is filthy! Making it the most desirable habitat for cock-roaches which render me totally limp and paralyzed in fear. A similar feeling set in when presented with my pile of “mudbugs”. Only then did I understand that vernacular. Andrea and Mathew looked scared for me but I couldn’t let them smell my fear so I started in. After all, I had been talking quite the talk.

Real Flattering

Lets just say, I can cross eating Crawfish off my bucket list. It sure is a lot of work to get to that little piece of meat and all your left with is what I can only describe as a fire in my mouth! I might not be attacking another tray of crawfish anytime soon but I can’t wait to try another Southern delicacy.

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Exploring the Natchez Trace

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by sweepingthesouth in Food, Natchez, Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

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autumn, Food, Natchez, Restaurants, South, Trace, Travel

So I know it’s still hot and only July but all this heat has me thinking of the fall. Autumn is my absolute favorite season and if you love it like I do, you will appreciate this post. I didn’t think the fall existed in the deep south, but last November proved me wrong. My boyfriend and I traveled to Natchez, Mississippi to see Angels on the Bluff (really great experience) and the following day we began the Natchez Trace.

Natchez Trace

It’s a pristine road that takes you from Natchez to Nashville. We only had time to go to Jackson and that took the entire day.

First Stop on the Trace

There are a great many stops and detours along the way, and if you love history like I do, you will want to see them all. It was a beautiful day, the air was crisp and the foliage was lovely. Some of the stops along the way included Mount Locust. One of the oldest structures in Mississippi.

And the Windsor Ruins which I think is a must see! It’s like you are visiting an ancient Greek Ruin. At one time, it was the largest Greek Revival antebellum mansion in the state.

There is also a ghost town known as Rocky Springs (after the spring dried up, it was just rocky). Many of the structures have disappeared but the old church is still there and functioning.

Along the way you can also see areas of the Sunken Trace.


And if you aren’t interested in history at all, you can still take the drive. It’s beautiful in the Spring and Fall and great for motorcycle riding.

Lastly, because I can’t go anywhere without talking about food, we happened to stop at this restaurant for lunch voted best fried chicken by Food and Wine magazine. Two Sisters Kitchen located in Jackson, MS is really delicious!

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