Dinner With Friends

Dinner With Friends originally published on Food and Fond Memories on December 31, 2009 by sandyaxelrod Leave a Comment (Edit)

Dinner With Friends

Sweet Baby Orangutan
Photo Credit: Sandy Axelrod

Tuesday morning we woke up to a brisk very clear day.  In fact there was not a cloud in the sky.  So we decided that it was the perfect day to go to the New Orleans Audubon Zoo.  We knew that the forecast for Wednesday was a 75% chance of rain and figured it would be a good day for an indoor activity.  The zoo was really fantastic.  We saw two female Asian Elephants who loved performing for us.  We saw endangered Whooping Cranes, flamingos, snakes, lizards, dragons, apes of all kinds, lions, a pair of white tigers and even dinosaurs.  But my personal favorite was the 5 month old baby girl orangutan named Menari.  She really stole my heart.  After walking around the zoo we had worked up quite an appetite so we decided to head over to Domilise’s for another of their delicious Po’ Boys.  As always it was crowded but we have fun talking with people while we wait.  One hip young man, Brian, who lives here gave us some new suggestions for places to eat including a restaurant called Stella which we might try to go to for our last dinner on January 1, 2010.  Our sandwiches were finally ready.  This time we had Smoked Hot Sausage Po’ Boys with lettuce, pickles and Creole mustard and now I don’t know which one I like best.  The sausage might just have edged out the Oysters.  While we were eating a camera crew came in and someone with the crew came around to each table and told us they were filming a commercial for Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu who was running for Mayor of New Orleans.  She was just making sure that we didn’t mind being filmed.  Mr. Landrieu came around to each table and shook everyone’s hand, as politicians do, and he actually knew Brian who we had just met.  He was really quite personable.  It was a fun experience for us!

Waiting for Our Number to be Called
Photo Credit: Steve Axerod

Making the Best Po’ Boys in New Orleans
Photo Credit: Steve Axelrod

TV Crew at Domilise’s
Photo Credit: Steve Axelrod

Future Mayor of New Orleans
Photo Credit: Steve Axelrod

Dinner last night was at David Link’s Herbsaint and started with Grey Goose Martini’s at the bar while we had a brief wait for our table.  As we walked to our banquette I noticed that our two top was really close to the couple next to us and hoped it wouldn’t be awkward.  Actually quite the opposite happened.  We started talking with them before we even sat down and the conversation never stopped throughout the evening.  Beverly and Michael were friends who travel together often. They are foodies like us, and we spent the time really feeling like we had dinner with friends.  I hope our paths will cross again in the near future.  I have to say that one of the nicest parts about all of the traveling and dining out is the wonderful friends we have made along the way.  We started our meal with Crispy Greens and Bacon with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing and the soup of the day which was White Bean Soup with Pork Meatballs.  They were both fabulous.  Next we each had the Chicken and Mushroom Ravioli with Pancetta and Sage because Michael and Beverly raved about it.  I must say we were so glad we listened because it was amazing.  Just a perfect combination of flavors with the pancetta a little salty and very crisp.  Again at their suggestion we shared the Veal Stuffed with Fontina and Ham with Angel Hair Pasta and Capers.  Yet again they had steered us in the right direction.  So we decided to discuss dessert with them but actually chose totally different ones from what they had.  Michael had the Chocolate Layer Cake with Orange Cream Filling and Beverly had her favorite dessert Coconut Cream Pie, however she said that she felt there was much too much whipped cream in the pie filling.  She would have preferred the more traditional pudding like texture that most coconut cream pies have.  Even though I am a chocoholic I opted for the Banana Brown Butter Tart with Fleur de Sel Caramel and Steve ordered the Fried Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream.  Both desserts were absolutely outstanding.  Of course I liked mine just a little better, especially the slices of banana with crisp caramelized sugar on top.