Take Off Your Skin And Dance In Your Bones

Or: How I Spent My Weekend In New Orleans

Apr 06, 2024

In the end, I didn’t get to pirouette through an old cemetery with bones sticking up out of the ground. I did, however, have a great time last weekend in New Orleans. Fantastic food and strong libations were consumed almost around the clock. Music was ever-present. We averaged more than 18,000 steps per day. I think that warrants sharing all the gory details with you folks. Much like A Thousand Paper Cranes, feel free to use whatever information I provide to flesh out your own itinerary on your next trip to NOLA. Just be warned: if the skeletons do come to life (and bones/worms do equal dollars), bones are in short supply and you may well find yourself the poorest person in all of NOLA.

Things to plan in advance:

Know someone who is incredibly well-known in the area, with deep roots in various niches across the city. For me, that person is my old roommate Drew. You might remember him from the time he tried to raise money to commission a mural of himself to hang on the wall of his favorite bar.
Don’t stay in the French Quarter, but stay close enough that everything is easily walkable. We stayed here, which was a 15 minute walk to the heart of the French Quarter and a 30 minute walk to the Lower Garden District. I’d say it was really well located. The only spots we had to Uber to were the airport and to dinner in the Bywater, which we actually walked home from afterwards so we could have walked there if we wanted.
Pick your time of year wisely. Everyone we spoke to said now was the best possible time to visit because in two weeks it will be unbearably hot. This usually lasts until about Christmas, when it gets rainy until around Easter. You see what I’m saying?
The best spots to eat require reservations, and some of them will sell out in advance. Make sure your meals are planned. Museums, tours, and other local attractions seem to be pretty accessible.

Friday

We landed shortly after noon. Our Uber to the hotel took maybe 15-25 minutes, and check-in at the Eliza Jane was a breeze. We threw our stuff in the room, freshened up, and started walking towards Cochon Butcher for lunch. Our itinerary gave us the option of there or Killer Poboys. One was a ten minute walk from the hotel, the other a fifteen minute walk. We went with Cochon because, honestly, I don’t love them, and if I was going to try one of the menu’s more interesting options (ham and pimento cheese, black beer beef debris) I wouldn’t even be getting a true Poboy experience. So, yeah. Cochcon Butcher. We split the Buckboard Bacon Melt (with collards and swiss on white bread), an order of mac and cheese, and two beers. Ghost In The Machine is always a treat and it flows like water in New Orleans.

After lunch we walked to Bourbon Street because we wanted to slip in and out of a few spots before things got too crazy. We did the requisite stop at Lafitte’s and grabbed some drinks to go. Yeah, not really my scene. Maybe if I was still in college? Eh, even then I probably would have found another neighborhood in which to party.

Before dinner we stopped into Peychaud’s for cocktails. I had to order a Sazerac, and the French 75 was delightful as well. The patio behind the bar is a great little spot to sit and sip.

Dinner on night one was at Jewel Of The South, which is an award-winning bar restaurant which is owned in part by Drew’s brother John! We invited Drew and his wife Liz to join us for this meal, and it was a delicious and memorable experience.

We started with caviar service, which is served with potato scallops (picture a silver dollar-sized french fry), creme fraiche and chives. Well, no. Technically we started with cocktails. The bar program at Jewel is well-regarded and has received numerous accolades. It’s currently ranked one of the World’s 50 Best bars, and is the 5th ranked bar in the US. The Sazerac has been heralded as one of the best in the world (even if — if I have my facts straight — bartender Chris Hannah cut his teeth at French 75, meaning Jewel’s might be better than its Sazerac?). It’s currently a finalist for a James Beard Award for outstanding bar.

So yeah, we started with caviar service and cocktails. We hit most of the menu: foie gras “doberge,” raw tuna with sweetbreads and crystal mayonnaise, mushy peas with wasabi and shallots, boudin noir with rhubarb, broccoli rabe with crunchy greens and salad cream, crab and scallop raviolo with trotter and black vinegar, and…the beef tongue or the pork rack. I can’t really remember. We had multiple cocktails and a couple bottles of wine so the end of the meal is a teensy bit hazy. Whatever the actual order might have been everything we ordered was outstanding. The service was impeccable. The kitchen staff, servers and front of house made it one of the most memorable meals we’ve had in a long time. Drew and Liz were ideal dinner-mates too. Christine was fan-girling over Liz’s baking prowess pretty hard, but more on that later.

After dinner we went to a popular service industry dive called Black Penny with Drew for more drinks. As we had been up since 4:30am, we only lasted one more but promised to see the two of them again before the trip concluded.

Saturday

Saturday morning was supposed to start with a walk to Liz’s restaurant for breakfast, but we were…a little bit hungover after an early morning flight and drinking non-stop until 1am. So we missed breakfast with Drew. No big deal. We made it to our scheduled cemetery tour by 10:30am, which thankfully started at a building with a coffee shop conveniently located in the lobby. I had two cold brews to wake me up and get me going. I think I had about 10 cups of coffee before the day ended, but it set me up for success for the rest of the weekend.

The cemetery tour wasn’t revelatory but St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was a great one to visit. You get to see the Nicholas Cage pyramid, the Italian Benevolent Society’s tomb as seen in Easy Rider, and of course the tomb of Marie Laveau.

Lunch was at NOLA Brewing and Pizza Co., which wasn’t really on anyone’s list of must-visit spots but it seemed like an easy spot for a couple beers and slices on the cheap. We were both more than satisfied with the pizza, and the beer wasn’t bad either. I had a pint of their brown ale and the blonde with lobster boil seasoning for fun. Christine went with the “plain” blonde.

After lunch we walked through the Lower Garden District/Irish Channel area. We stopped for coffee at HiVolt which is owned by Drew’s friend (it was the best coffee of the weekend). We explored a bunch of local shops and enjoyed the scenery of the neighborhoods just off Magazine Street. We had to get back and shower before dinner so we walked back to the hotel while the sun was still out.

Dinner was at Saint-Germain, a self-described tasting menu restaurant and garden patio wine bar. That totally undersells the experience, which was the best meal we had all weekend and one of the best we’ve had in recent memory. It was an inventive, somewhat whimsical menu which was elevated without taking itself too seriously. The service was — like Jewel of the South — phenomenal. The drink pairings were perfect.

The meal commences roughly thirty minutes before your scheduled reservation (it’s a tough reservation, make sure you get yours like a month before you’re due in town). A cocktail in the garden was a fun way to start the meal. Mine was like a Manhattan but with scotch so a smoky take on a classic. Before long we were taken to the bar where the first few courses and drinks were served.

Highlights included the “white asparagus” course (with the crepe), the sweetbreads (which were topped with bianchetti truffles), and the gougeres, especially the lamb one. The best bite of the entire meal might have been the Saint Andre Cheese Souffle, which seems so deceptively simple I felt like I could make it at home myself (I most definitely cannot).

Saint-Germain is considered on the pricier side for New Orleans, at $145 per person (plus an additional $75 for the drink pairings), but it’s an incredible value given the quality of the meal and service. It would easily be 3x as expensive if it was located in New York or Los Angeles. Treat yourself if you’re in New Orleans, I guarantee this place will leave you impressed and longing to return.

After dinner we walked to Frenchmen Street and took in some live music at DBA. The venue, of course, has Ghost In The Machine on the menu and I wasn’t not going to order a 16oz pint of 8.5% imperial IPA, so that set us up nicely for the remainder of the night. We wandered around Frenchmen for a while and then decided to hoof it back to our hotel. When we were maybe a block or two away from the Eliza Jane I looked over my shoulder and realized we were only a block from Harrah’s casino. So I dusted off my old Caesar’s Total Rewards card and we played some slots for a bit until…it was very late. Or early the next day, depending on how you look at it. That much I remember. We tore ourselves away from the warm embrace of our gambling addiction and made it to bed before we got ourselves into too much trouble.

Sunday

We made it to Liz’s spot in the Lower Garden District early(ish) on Easter Sunday. We were told there would be a line out the door, but at 10:45am we waltzed in with no line. Before our order had been paid for, though, a line formed that stretched out the door and around the side of the building (!). Great timing.

So yeah, Molly’s Rise and Shine is the spot Liz runs with her partner Colleen. She’s also the pastry chef, making excellent breakfast sandos and other foodstuffs that are super-popular. The pair were semi-finalists in 2023 for the “Best Chef(s) South” James Beard Award. She was on Iron Chef recently. She’s a total badass. And the breakfast sandos totally live up to the hype. Drew — hilariously — says that he prefers his classic biscuit sandwich with no mayo and with bacon instead of sausage. We got it only without mayo. We also got the fried chicken biscuit, which might have been better? Both were great. I’m only sorry we weren’t there for Detroit Style Pizza night, which is on Thursdays I think. Next time.

After breakfast we walked for a bit and then took an Uber over to Euclid Records. As per usual, I only found something to buy for someone else (my boss). I never find anything for me when shopping at record stores anymore. I think there are 50 records on my Discogs wantlist and the odds of finding them randomly in the wild are slim. We walked around the Bywater for a bit until we got to Bacchanal, where we crushed a bottle of red wine and enjoyed a cheeseboard while watching/listening to live music. Bacchanal is described as a live music party where you’ll fight for a table, but it was very tame on Easter Sunday. Just a few families dolled up in pastel colors huddled around tables while we were there. The idea is you buy a bottle from the shop in front, then graze while you enjoy the patio. Great people watching. It’s a brilliant concept, and I can see why people return every time they’re in town. It’s a great spot.

At 4pm we walked back to the French Quarter to meet Drew and Liz for the Big Gay Easter Parade. The streets were absolutely packed with revelers. It was wild. We stopped at Good Friends Bar for beers and got to meet Drew and Liz’s baby for the first time. Drew’s brother was there also, so we got to pick his brain about his restaurant (Jewel of the South) for a few minutes. When the parade started to wind down we decided to head back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.

Dinner Sunday was at Compere Lapin, which is a Nina Compton restaurant described as “Carribean and European takes on New Orleans flavors”. Chef Compton was the runner-up of Top Chef season 11, and won Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chef” award in 2017 and the “Best Chef: South” James Beard award the following year. We ordered pretty moderately compared to our other dinners in NOLA. We started with the jalapeno and scallion hushpuppies, buttermilk biscuits with bacon butter and honey butter, tuna ceviche, jerk pork belly, and curried goat. Dessert was the bread pudding with bruleed banana. The goat was far and away the best dish of the meal. The tuna and pork belly were slightly underwhelming. The biscuits and butters were nice, and the bread pudding was quite good.

After dinner we walked to The Saint to finally check on Drew’s infamous mural. It felt like the culmination of the trip, or if I really wanted to exaggerate its importance, a pilgrimage to Mecca. I was nervous before entering the bar. I’ve heard so much about this mural for the past decade, I wasn’t sure what kind of emotion I would feel upon finally finding myself standing before it. Would I faint, like Stendhal at the Basilica of Santa Croce?

It turns out the mural might be in need of another Kitckstarter.

You can imagine my horror as I read the plaque next to the mural thanking those who donated to the Kickstarter campaign. After all those words dedicated to the fundraiser, the interview with Drew, and social media shilling for donations…I never backed the campaign. My name isn’t listed among the donors. As it turns out, I’m not as good a friend as I thought I was. Well, shit.

Drew offered to meet us at Barrel Proof for some late-night drinks, and we hung out until the bar closed at 1am. If you like whiskey and scotch, their menu is jaw-dropping. I had pours of Four Roses Private Selection, Octomore 12.2, a cocktail, and finished the night with some Van Winkle “Lot B”. Everything was very fairly priced. Again, if this was Los Angeles our bill would have been at least double. Our server at one point not-so-jokingly joked with us, “You’re visiting from LA? Please don’t move here.” As the bar closed we sent Drew off into the night, back to his wife and son. I had pretty low expectations when it came to trying to spend time with him during this trip, and was very pleasantly surprised we got to see him at three different spots during our weekend. Hell, most of the spots we visited for food and drink were his recommendations, we owe most of this trip to him!

Monday

No hangover! Yay! We woke up and walked to Cafe du Monde for beignets, because that’s what you’re supposed to do at some point before you leave New Orleans.

Honestly, I would have preferred the beignets without the powdered sugar. And the coffee was awful. I think I threw half of mine out and got a cold brew from somewhere else a few blocks away. Monday was pretty tame. We walked around the neighborhood for a while before checking out of the hotel. Before departing for the airport we stopped by a record store called Domino Sound Record Shack. It was way more interesting than Euclid. I still didn’t find anything to buy but the selection was great. Very eclectic. Good vibes. Just…you know…it didn’t have any of those 50 records I need. And this time I didn’t find anything for someone else, which was ideal because my bags were already packed and I didn’t feel like tearing my carry-on apart to squeeze some vinyl in with my dirty laundry.

From there it was back to the airport. We got there a bit early so we hung out in the Priority Pass lounge for a while, at the worst slice of pizza I’ve ever had at a faux Italian eatery near the lounge (I won’t call it out by name), and then boarded our return flight to Los Angeles.

By the way, as someone who flies almost exclusively on United, I was very unimpressed with the Delta hard product. The flight attendants were very friendly but everything from booking to boarding, the seats, snack/drink selection…yeah, not for me. I know Delta has its loyalists but for now I’ll stick with United.

Ok! That’s it. Finally. That’s my guide to N’awlins. Which is really mostly Drew’s guide to NOLA. Have a friend traveling to The Big Easy in the near future? Here’s how to share this post:

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