Author – Grant
Based In – New Orleans
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157614425372345/
Day 113 represents Ash Wednesday which means the annual failure to give something up for the 40 days of lent. This year Kate will not be giving up chocolate (broken just one day into lent with the consumption of a bowl of Special K containing huge chunks of chocolate) and I won’t be giving up needless appetisers (also broken 1 day into lent by absentmindedly ordering guacamole whilst trying to decide what to have at a Mexican restaurant in Houston). Ah well, hopefully my theory that access to heaven is solely based on not supporting Liverpool Football Club will prevail and we’ll be fine.
Whilst in New Orleans, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to dine at Emeril Lagasse’s modestly named flagship restaurant (Emeril’s) as part of our ongoing mission to further line the pockets of every Food Network chump. His place is in the Warehouse District and is d
ecked out beautifully with a variety of seating choices including a bank of seats looking right into the kitchen. Dinner and a free show – lovely. Unfortunately this means that I struggled to make conversation throughout the meal as I was a bit transfixed by the food porn equivalent of an orgy but I think Kate was entertained as well. Today was probably the worst day of the year to have such a table as the kitchen was full of hungover, deeply unhappy souls and I’m afraid that came across in the food that was coming out. To start, we shared some lamb spare ribs with a barbecue sauce and mint oil which were very tasty but came out only luke warm, a trait that, unfortunately, ran throughout the meal. Whilst the starter tasted great, both our main course
s were lacking in flavour, seasoning, size and heat. My grilled swordfish on rice with coleslaw was really disappointing and gone in about 4 fork-fulls and whilst Kate’s Shrimp pasta with a tomato sauce was slightly more substantial, it was still lacked any flavour or love. The desserts, however, were fantastic. My pecan pie had the crust of a leper (in a good way you understand) and a surprisingly light yet gooey pecan filling and Kate’s Banana Cream Pie was huge, beautiful and had a cream concoction surrounding the huge chunks of banana with a consistency that I can only describe as like ice-cream but without being cold. After such piddley portions for the main courses, it was thanks to the monster cream pie that we left satiated and felling a mild sense of value for money.
We’ve been in New Orleans for two weeks now withou
t ever having visited the area worst hit by Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward which sits just to the east of Downtown. We had heard that a lot of volunteer groups no longer operated in the Lower Ninth Ward as it continues to be a seriously dangerous place to be with muggings and shootings commonplace so with a certain amount of trepidation and four locked car doors we ventured over the rickety bridge that separates the area from the main downtown. The place is still largely uninhabited and the signs of the storm are all around you with either massive damage or writing on the sides of the houses to denote when the property was searched, how many people were found dead inside and extra information denoting if it contains TFW (Toxic Flood Water) or 
the whereabouts of dead animals (mostly dogs) that the initial rescue crews didn’t remove as the removal and identification of humans rightly took top priority. Obviously it’s all pretty disturbing stuff but there are signs that people are returning and the occasional property is awash with new timber and activity. There are also the new houses that Brad Pitt has sponsored but it’s clearly going to be a long time before this neighbourhood returns to anything resembling normality. Apparently there was talk of completely abandoning the place but that seems to have been ignored although it still took 9 months before the electricity grid was reconnected. Miles was telling us an interesting fact that work is underway to fortify the city’s levees so that, if another Category 5 hit the city, they could stand up to it. Unfortunately that work is still a couple of years away from completion and if the eye of another Cat 5 directly hit the city in the mean time then a repeat would be unavoidable. Frightening stuff.
In a complete emotional U-Turn, that night we headed to The New Orleans Ar
ena (nicknamed The Bee Hive) to watch the local NBA basketball team The Hornets play the Detroit Pistons. Embarrassingly I bumped into a couple of ex-girlfriends who now work there and demanded that I have my picture taken with them whilst Kate stocked up in the souvenir shop. Whilst the stadium wasn’t full presumably due to people wanting a break from revelry after Mardi Gras, the atmosphere was still consistently better than anything I witnessed from the fickle crowds at the New York Knicks. There were, however, a few striking local differences between the games. First, the players were greeted with an impressive display of indoor fireworks. Secondly, the ubiquitous national anthem was preceded by a prayer by a local pastor. Thirdly there was a weather report on the big screen mid game. Fourthly the half time show was a roller skating dance crew from ABDC. Lastly, and most importantly, the game was seriously exciting with The Hornets sneaking a three point win in the dying seconds thanks to the magic of local hero Chris Paul all night (who is rewarded with a perfectly coordinated “Whoooooo” every time he scores…hence the blog title).
Based In – New Orleans
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157614425372345/
Day 113 represents Ash Wednesday which means the annual failure to give something up for the 40 days of lent. This year Kate will not be giving up chocolate (broken just one day into lent with the consumption of a bowl of Special K containing huge chunks of chocolate) and I won’t be giving up needless appetisers (also broken 1 day into lent by absentmindedly ordering guacamole whilst trying to decide what to have at a Mexican restaurant in Houston). Ah well, hopefully my theory that access to heaven is solely based on not supporting Liverpool Football Club will prevail and we’ll be fine.
Whilst in New Orleans, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to dine at Emeril Lagasse’s modestly named flagship restaurant (Emeril’s) as part of our ongoing mission to further line the pockets of every Food Network chump. His place is in the Warehouse District and is d
ecked out beautifully with a variety of seating choices including a bank of seats looking right into the kitchen. Dinner and a free show – lovely. Unfortunately this means that I struggled to make conversation throughout the meal as I was a bit transfixed by the food porn equivalent of an orgy but I think Kate was entertained as well. Today was probably the worst day of the year to have such a table as the kitchen was full of hungover, deeply unhappy souls and I’m afraid that came across in the food that was coming out. To start, we shared some lamb spare ribs with a barbecue sauce and mint oil which were very tasty but came out only luke warm, a trait that, unfortunately, ran throughout the meal. Whilst the starter tasted great, both our main course
s were lacking in flavour, seasoning, size and heat. My grilled swordfish on rice with coleslaw was really disappointing and gone in about 4 fork-fulls and whilst Kate’s Shrimp pasta with a tomato sauce was slightly more substantial, it was still lacked any flavour or love. The desserts, however, were fantastic. My pecan pie had the crust of a leper (in a good way you understand) and a surprisingly light yet gooey pecan filling and Kate’s Banana Cream Pie was huge, beautiful and had a cream concoction surrounding the huge chunks of banana with a consistency that I can only describe as like ice-cream but without being cold. After such piddley portions for the main courses, it was thanks to the monster cream pie that we left satiated and felling a mild sense of value for money.We’ve been in New Orleans for two weeks now withou
t ever having visited the area worst hit by Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward which sits just to the east of Downtown. We had heard that a lot of volunteer groups no longer operated in the Lower Ninth Ward as it continues to be a seriously dangerous place to be with muggings and shootings commonplace so with a certain amount of trepidation and four locked car doors we ventured over the rickety bridge that separates the area from the main downtown. The place is still largely uninhabited and the signs of the storm are all around you with either massive damage or writing on the sides of the houses to denote when the property was searched, how many people were found dead inside and extra information denoting if it contains TFW (Toxic Flood Water) or 
the whereabouts of dead animals (mostly dogs) that the initial rescue crews didn’t remove as the removal and identification of humans rightly took top priority. Obviously it’s all pretty disturbing stuff but there are signs that people are returning and the occasional property is awash with new timber and activity. There are also the new houses that Brad Pitt has sponsored but it’s clearly going to be a long time before this neighbourhood returns to anything resembling normality. Apparently there was talk of completely abandoning the place but that seems to have been ignored although it still took 9 months before the electricity grid was reconnected. Miles was telling us an interesting fact that work is underway to fortify the city’s levees so that, if another Category 5 hit the city, they could stand up to it. Unfortunately that work is still a couple of years away from completion and if the eye of another Cat 5 directly hit the city in the mean time then a repeat would be unavoidable. Frightening stuff.In a complete emotional U-Turn, that night we headed to The New Orleans Ar
ena (nicknamed The Bee Hive) to watch the local NBA basketball team The Hornets play the Detroit Pistons. Embarrassingly I bumped into a couple of ex-girlfriends who now work there and demanded that I have my picture taken with them whilst Kate stocked up in the souvenir shop. Whilst the stadium wasn’t full presumably due to people wanting a break from revelry after Mardi Gras, the atmosphere was still consistently better than anything I witnessed from the fickle crowds at the New York Knicks. There were, however, a few striking local differences between the games. First, the players were greeted with an impressive display of indoor fireworks. Secondly, the ubiquitous national anthem was preceded by a prayer by a local pastor. Thirdly there was a weather report on the big screen mid game. Fourthly the half time show was a roller skating dance crew from ABDC. Lastly, and most importantly, the game was seriously exciting with The Hornets sneaking a three point win in the dying seconds thanks to the magic of local hero Chris Paul all night (who is rewarded with a perfectly coordinated “Whoooooo” every time he scores…hence the blog title).We’re finally leaving New Orleans tomorrow on a course for Texas, a state founded on BBQ and Rodeo. Yeah Ha.
No comments:
Post a Comment