Delicious LifeStyle - Cochon

A friend of mine from out of town sent me a link to a NYTimes article about restaurants in New Orleans.  The article itself is a little hokey, but let's be honest - pretty much everything about this city (including this site) is somewhat hokey.  Otherwise, it highlights one of NOLA's most attractive attributes - the sheer number of top-notch restaurants around town.

As a law student of meager means, I have yet to patronize most of our best restaurants.  But I have managed to swing by a few, including my favorite Cochon.  The fact that the co-owner/chef is my landlord has something to do with my affinity.  But I think the restaurant's national attention speaks to the quality of food they put out.  Here is another NYTimes article published during the playoffs (Stephen is the one on the right).

What do these photos have to do with eating out?  Nothing.  But it's exam week and I haven't been outside in awhile.  Deal with it.

Tulane Crawfest

Tulane today is having their annual Crawfest on the quad.  Simple setup: lots of delicious crawdads, a solid lineup of local bands, and free admission for students.  As exams are breathing down our necks, most law students aren't able to fully enjoy the day - but I got more than enough crawfish and sunshine to satisfy my needs.  NOLA always has a good way of relaxing me when I could easily be stressed out of my mind.

Cemetery LifeStyle

Cemetery.

Lower Ninth Ward

Today I made a trip down to the Lower Ninth Ward.  Before Katrina, the Lower Ninth was not extremely wealthy, but it was a reasonably well-off blue collar area of town.  However, the neighborhood took the brunt of the flood.  Even though the hurricane missed NOLA entirely, the water from the storm surge caused the levee along the industrial canal to fail.  That levee borders the Lower Ninth, and everything in the area was flooded.  While the Lower Ninth is not a ghost-town, it is a shadow of what it once was.

Many of the houses that existed before the hurricane have been torn down, a few are being rebuilt, and several are simply empty shells.  The photos below are of a vacant house a few blocks from the levee.  The last photo is where the levee gave way during Katrina.  As always, click the photos for a larger view.

Meyer the Hatter

I meant to do a full write-up of Meyer the Hatter, but I am in a law school time crunch, so a few photos will have to suffice.  Meyer the Hatter has been in New Orleans since the late 1800's, which is impressive.  Even more impressive is that it is still a family owned and operated business.  I met Sam Meyer, who still works the floor of his shop, gives brief history tutorials of the store, and strikes some sweet poses for guys with cameras.... look for him on next season's Next Top Model.

BBQ - The Joint

I originate from Birmingham, AL which is home to several great BBQ joints - Full Moon and Dreamland come to mind first.  I am pretty picky about my ribs, and I have only once ever eaten ribs outside of Alabama.  My one foreign rib experiment took place in Kansas City.  The ribs were crap.  So when Kelly - a friend from school - decided to check out some local BBQ, I said yes with some internal trepidation.

We ended up at The Joint, which is located pretty deep into Bywater.  Since I never have the patience to read through a long article/post about a restaurant, I will keep this short.  The dry rub ribs were good.  A little charred on the outside (see photo below), the meat was slightly dry.  The meat wasn't bad - just not what I am used to.  Also, the smokiness of the ribs was a bit on the weak side.  The good news is that the ribs fell off the bone, which is not what I generally see in my usual BBQ haunts.  I ate the things pretty fast because I normally have to work for my rib meat.

While I remain a Bama BBQ purist, if other NOLA ribs are comparable to The Joint then I can see myself getting by around here... if only as a hold-over until I am back in B'ham.

Super Bowl Champs

Hot damn.  I don't have any photos because I left my camera at a friends' house in the Quarter.  And I have relatively few memories since I left my sobriety at home on Sunday.  But it doesn't really matter. 

Here is what you need to know about NOLA during the game.  If you were in New Orleans on Sunday, you had an amazing time.  If you weren't in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, you probably wish that you were.