Saturday, October 14, 2023
Vacation day 5 of 11. Patrick and I had oatmeal with milk, sliced almonds, and diced half banana. I wrote in my journal. I think we rested in the Airbnb for the morning. We rode Lyft to Commander's Palace. Service by Jaelyn, Logan, David. A three-piece band entertained the room and us personally. At one point midmeal there was a change of water glasses, which none of us had ever seen in a restaurant before. The woman changing the glasses said, "Yeah, it's a Commander's thing." When plates arrived, all plates set within five seconds of each other. Specifically, three at once, then the fourth no more than five seconds later. Appetizers: Patrick and Andy had turtle soup with tableside sherry pour. Chris had shrimp remoulade. I had salad du jour. Entrees: Chris had des allemands catfish muddy waters (crispy corn dusted Louisiana catfish with marinated red cabbage, warm bacon fat fingerling potato salad, and andouille-jalapeño röti), Andy had cochon de lait eggs benedict (16-hour barbecued shoulder of pork over warm buttermilk biscuits, sauce forestière with roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, soft poached hen's eggs and tasso hollandaise), Patrick had wild white shrimp and grits (toasted garlic and lemon seared Gulf shrimp with roasted peppers, sweet onions and grilled kale over stone ground grits with charred red pepper paint and New Orleans style barbeque butter), I had pecan crusted fish (prosecco-poached jumbo lump crab roasted corn, asparagus, grilled kale and melted leeks with whiskey spiked crushed corn cream). Dessert: Chris had the dessert du jour. The rest of us each had creole bread pudding soufflé ("The Queen of Creole Desserts", finished tableside with warm whiskey cream. This was easily the best meal of the trip, and the excellent service was a big part of that. Patrick returned to the Airbnb. Chris, Andy, and I walked to and visited The Southern Food and Beverage Museum then the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The three of us rode a streetcar to our Airbnb. Napped. Dinner at Pizza Domenica: Drinks: I had wine, everyone else had beer. Appetizers to share: woodfired cauliflower and italian chop salad. Pizza: funghi e salsiccia. The kitchen was slammed. They gave us a discount. Afterwards Andy stopped at CVS for water and insect repellent. Dessert: ice cream from Creole Creamery. Walked back to the Airbnb.