Thursday, April 1, 2010
Breakfast with Patrick at Croissant d'Or (504-524-4663, 617 Ursulines Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA): almond croissant, large cafe au lait for Patrick; fruit salad, hot water for me. Walked the French Market and flea market stalls. Patrick said the eating counters were new to him. We stopped at Loretta's. Patrick tasted one praline before approving them as authentic, and then I bought a few boxes of them to take home as gifts. We bought a few other gifts. Watched Smoking Time Jazz Club perform on the street; I bought one of their cds. Lunch at Gumbo Shop (630 St. Peter Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) where the courtyard was smaller than Patrick remembered but the food was very good. 2 iced teas, bowl of seafood gumbo, combo platter entree (jambalaya, shrimp creole, red beans)—$33 after a $5 tip. Hotel. Nap. Tony D picked us up in his car. We drove to Brocato's and had ice cream and cookies. Afterwards we drove through St. Louis Cemetary, and he pointed out where some relatives of Patrick's were buried. He drove us to his place in the 8th Ward—his decorating skills are impressive. He gave us a driving tour of the 9th Ward. Dinner at K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen—Paul Prudhomme's restaurant—where we met Eldric B, who was an excellent server. Patrick had 2 glasses of pinot grigio, fried tomatoes, blackened drum, coffee. I had hot tea; a maque choux (on special); a flatiron steak, medium well; and a hot toddy. For dessert we shared chocolate bread pudding (on special) and pecan pie. I decided to not eat vegetarian for this meal because the vegetarian options just weren't very interesting. K-Paul's was easily the best meal we ate in New Orleans on this trip. All the staff we encountered were relaxed and friendly and seemed to enjoy their jobs. Highly recommended. $126.71, $30 tip, $156.71 total.