It Should Be Delicious

FRIDAY

We began the day with coffee and pastries from our corner coffee shop, PJ’s.

We took a Save Our Cemeteries tour of Lafayette No. 1. A) I was so glad we had a proper tour (one tour guide was singing to her group…no thank you; one gentleman (wearing a laminated permit) stood at the entrance to the cemetery and berated anyone who made the mistake of making eye contact with him- we saw two groups fall for his ‘tour’). B) As a city cemetery, and as a younger cemetery (founded in 1833), it had an interesting mix of greenery, stable paths, and kempt/unkempt tombs. C) I’d like to take a SOC tour of the Metairie Cemetery sometime.

Post-tour, we quenched our thirst across the street with cocktails outside at Commander’s Palace. Service was great; we saw more than a few martini lunches and some glowing cocktails (seriously: neon green, atomic blue, bright pinkish red) which looked undrinkable.

We walked to Turkey and the Wolf for lunch: collard greens melt for me and an inventive open-face concoction for C: roti bread, pork, peppers, etc.

We had a short walk back to our place for a respite and then walked along Bourbon Street (the non-gross part) until we got to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. The people watching was fantastic and C braved the voo doo daiquiri. I was thrilled to have a bottle (clean! Known ingredients!) of a mild-tasting Abita Amber.

We did a bit of wandering along Frenchman Street and other streets- a mix of people-watching, people-avoiding (so many so tipsy so early in the day…), looking at the architecture, etc.

We went to a couple of outdoor evening art markets and then headed to Bakery Bar for the most amazing Doberge cake (marshmallow peeps style- but good, not gross) and a too-fried-tasting Twinkie with excellent condensed milk and boozy blueberries. And Huhu’s Ginger Brew was amazing- the best ginger beer I’ve ever tried.

Then, we headed to our 9p reservation at the phenomenal Saba. A friend had recommended Shaya, the chef’s former restaurant, but we followed him to his new restaurant (Saba) for a sublime meal. The pita was perfect- puffy, lightly charred, stretchy, warm, with a beguiling depth of flavor. We also had the most perfect carrot dish- Moroccan carrot salad over labneh. It defies description. The eggplant was complex as was the lamb skewer thing. I would return in a heartbeat.