Makin’ Up

NOLA has officially made up for last nights culinary disaster. But it was off to a rocky start.  Americans seem to things that if we do the thing, we did it well.  Breakfast, for me, does not consist of juggling a cup of coffee, a breakfast burrito, croissant and OJ in the middle of a bustling hall. So I felt crabby. Then come to find out I could have drug it into the keynote session room and dined at a table like a civilized person.  The keynote, Gail Stern

is funny, raw and true.  I had heard her before, but she was even better second time around, what she has to say is powerful and sadly true, that jokes diminish the ugliness of what people say.  That allowing humor to cover up the rape culture in which we live, just perpetuates it.  The other sessions were good and the lunch meeting was a smart move on the boards part, there were more people there this year at the business meeting.  We had salad, fixings for ham or turkey sandwiches, chips ( my dirty little secret is that I like ham sandwiches with potato chips on them).  and cute little key lime pies, and strawberry short cake shots.  Delish, but our table alone left enough food for a family of 4 for lunch or dinner.  When I asked the wait staff about the disposition of the food, hoping that they got to take it home, they told me that they had to throw it out.  I am finding that the conference industry is not very earth friendly.    

Dinner tonight was at the suggestion of one of our lunch companions, Coterie,

just around the corner, on the NOLA Restaurant Week list, and delish!  I had, at the suggestion of an old friend who knows I DO NOT like oysters very welll, à trio of chargrilled Oysters, each was amazing,

and Stephanie had Boudin Balls,

we mixed it up and shared.  My main was shrimp and grits,

which I coud not finish and dessert was bread pudding.  I MUST humbly admit, mine is better!  

We walked down to Jackson Square and back down Bourbon St.,

Stopping in to listen to a little Louis Armstrong and have a glass of wine for me and a margarita for Stephanie.  The music was nice, I got all warm and fuzzy when he sang La Vie en Rose!