New Orleans Recap Part I

I hope y’all like food pictures, because you’re about to get a lot of ‘em! This past weekend MM and I left NYC for a long weekend in New Orleans. My friends Megan & Steve were getting married on Saturday but I’d never been to New Orleans so I made sure to extend the trip to 4 full days in the city. Also New Orleans is on my 30 Things to Do Before 30 list, check!

The food in New Orleans is out of this world so if you’re going, expect to go all out. Above you can click through each image and the caption will tell you where it’s from and what it is. I promise my entire recap won’t be about food…but most of it will be. Buckle up people!

The Louisiana Seafood Festival happened to be going on while we were in Nola and of course we made sure to stop by. The festival was held at City Park, only a mile from where we were staying in Mid City. This was the perfect way to try food from a variety of restaurants without running all over the city. The event was free and then each item was $4-$10, a perfect sampling of different cuisines. I quickly learned that alligator is a big thing in New Orleans and those tacos above were delish. We had lots of seafood and local beers and hung around the park with friends. New Orleans is way hotter and more humid than I expected but it was worth standing in the sun to eat all of this deliciousness. The top photo is a snowball which cooled us down at the end of the event, yum. I will never say no to a snowball dessert.

The next two plated images above are from Mother’s, a restaurant recommended by the bride and groom as the must-visit place; if you only were to eat at one restaurant in New Orleans, this should be it. Who am I to argue with the bride and groom? We went to Mother’s on our last day and made sure to get there early as a crazy line starts to form. We were there by 11am and only waited in line for 2 minutes, not nearly enough time to decide what to order! In a panic, MM and I split the crawfish etouffee omelet and a shrimp po boy (aggressive for a breakfast meal but whatever). Both were excellent! This place is pretty down and dirty, you order at the counter then find a seat. By the time we left around noon the line wrapped around the restaurant, out the door and down the street. Get there early!

And this last photo is actually a picture of the first thing I ate while in New Orleans. We stayed with my friend Emily who lives in Mid City and upon arrival she was at work and we walked around her neighborhood looking for something quick to eat. We happened upon Wakin’ Bakin’ and um, wow. It’s just a random little cafe but the sandwich I had was maaaybe one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in my life (I will admit I don’t eat a lot of sandwiches but still, this was so good). I wouldn’t say you need to head out of downtown to visit this spot but if you happen to be nearby, stop in and enjoy.