I have been to New Orleans umpteen times, each time with a totally different experience.  I suspect here in lies the secret of the town we endearingly call The Big Easy.  New Orleans, means many different things:  the Jazz Festival, Mardi Gras, an anniversary, a fun get away.  This time it was to celebrate my sister’s 40th birthday.  This post should be titled: the Seesters hit the Big Easy — the seesters, all 5 of us and a seester-in-law, had a fine time.  Once you read this post, you’ll see what we really did.  We really ATE and ate well.  If you want to eat well, New Orleans is an easy flight from Nashville.

Our first stop was a famous place on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain called Middendorfs. Middendorfs is a quintessential American dive and its specialty is fried thin catfish.  We waited about 20 minutes to get in and were then served HUGE platters of thin catfish and mugs of chilled Dixie beer.   OK, I have never had thin catfish, but as I asked about the process of “thinning it” I found out that long knife toting elves in the kitchen literally cut paper-thin slices from HUGE catfish.  The end result is deeeelicious.  This is worth the 20 miles out of your way drive.

Jacques-Imos Cafe is located in uptown NO and (again) looks like a dump from the outside (notice a theme?).  Once inside, it was a rockin’ find as plates of crayfish etouffee and gumbo raced by accompanied by exotic drinks for all.  We were escorted next door to another dump-like building and feasted on maux choux ( a Cajun version of succotash with zip), and a fried eggplant shell filled with seafood delights in a lemon cream sauce (calories don’t count on vacation).  Yum.  The owner of this popular joint,  Jacques Leonardi, is a character.  If you want your own private dining experience, the car in front of the restaurant is available.  I’m serious – check it out below.  I give Jacques-Imos a sincere thumbs up.

your own private dining car at Jacques-Imos

By Saturday lunch, my jeans were tight and the idea of yet another fried anything made me queasy.  So with complete reluctance,  I headed into another dive called Domilises. This hole in the wall has about 10 tables with an exposed kitchen and the fryers going full-tilt-boogie.  Huge loaves of the famous Leidenheimer French bread were housed in baskets on the floor!  Not sure how that passes health code…   After ordering my morning coffee and a cold Dixie beer – placed together before me-  I sank my teeth into the BEST and most INCREDIBLE shrimp po’ boy I have ever had.  Another crowd favorite of Domilises is their thin roast beef sandwich with gravy.  I think it was inspired by the Rex himself.

Cafe’ Du Monde.  Everybody goes to Cafe’ Du Monde while in New Orleans.   But navigating Cafe Du Monde on a busy weekend morning takes some skills.   So, here’s my skills lesson: what you do is walk around back and wave a $5 bill at the cute man in the white hat.  He will hurry up, take your order and in less than 5 minutes, hand you a bag of piping hot beignets and cup of  ‘jo.  There are any number of places to sit and savor the delicacies of Cafe’ Du Monde.

The best pralines in New Orleans can be found at Southern Candy Makers.  Owned by the Tomkins Family, it was voted the best in the US by Bon Appetit magazine.  You can order online at www. southerncandymakers.com.

Herbsaint. How could I go to New Orleans without the sage advice of foodie, Julia Reed, creative director of Taigan and enthusiastic resident of the city?  Julia immediately emailed me her list of fave restaurants.  Herbsaint topped the list.  If it is good enough for Laura Bush (yes, Julia hosted Laura) then,  it is good enough for me.  We ordered every appetizer imaginable and then our entrees.  Plates of duck confit, dark roux gumbo, and mussels in broth arrived and yes, the food was divine.  Dropping Julia’s name (hey, I wanted  a good table and waiter) gets you primo treatment. You can read more about Julia in the StyleBlueprint interview. My sister Annie rangled the Coconut Cream Pie recipe from Herbsaint.   It’s to die for!   Herbsaint won the 2007 James Beard Award for Best Chef.

Chef Donald Link of Herbsaint

In the next couple of weeks, I will write part II:  Where to shop, where to stay and where to play.

To sister Sarah, Happy 40th!  Bon Appetit and de Reve’ la Vie.

I’ve said it before: I’m trying really hard to keep to a budget this year and pare back.  But, I do like to eat out.  And, I like to support local and eat quality good food.  Elizabeth and I picked three of our favorite places that fit this criteria:

1) Woodlands.  This vegetarian Indian restaurant is located in the ground floor of The Continental Condominium Bldg (Is it just me or does the name Continental immediately bring to mind that SNL skit with Chritopher Walken?)  Restaurants have been repetitively going out of business in this location since I can remember.  So, for a cursed location to work, you know the food must be good.  I go for lunch about once a week and it’s served buffet style.  I hate buffets, but I love this one.  I want to be adventurous and try and little of this and that. The menu is easy to eat from if you are a vegan, and the food is tasty enough to enjoy even if you normally have a slab of meat with each meal.  I could eat here every day.  Elizabeth and I often have StyleBP meetings here.  It is open at night and they are great about helping you order off the menu. At night bring some wine for a corking charge.

3415 West End Avenue, Nashville – and check out the google reviews- 36 reviews and 5 stars.  Pretty good!

Vegetarian Indian Stew

2) Tequilas in the Strike n Spare shopping center off Charlotte, across from Costco.  Several people tipped me off about this little gem over the Holidays.  I think I have eaten here 9 times since mid- Dec, including my 4 day in a row streak.  The quality difference b/t Tequilas and your typical little Mexican Restaurant is immediately apparent with your first bite of salsa.  I highly recommend the queso- order the large size as you will love this cheese dip.  Always striving to eat somewhat healthy (I know I just said order the  large cheese dip….) I really like the chicken soup and the fish tacos.  The chicken soup is ordered off the a la carte menu and is loaded down with chicken, vegetables and avocado.  There is no cheese or cream added.  It’s a big bowl of perfect.  The fish tacos, which I order on corn instead of flour tortilla, are my favorite I have found anywhere.  You get three and the fish is pan seared, not fried.  These tacos are what brought me back 4 days in a row.  My kids all love Tequilas as does my husband.  I like the bill as the prices on Charlotte are cheaper than in the ‘05 and ‘15 zipcode.

3736 Annex Avenue, Nashville- google reviews gives it 5 stars as well.

Fish Tacos, just $7.95 Photo by iphone...sorry a bit fuzzy!

Elizabeth ordered the chili relano stuffed with cheese. She said it was her new favorite in town. $6.95

3) Elizabeth’s turn to sing the praises of Fidos: There’s something you must know about me:  I love to hang out in local coffeehouses.  Probably it dates back to when I lived in Denver, and there was a cool one on every corner.  So, I’ve been hanging out at Fido for coffee for a long time.  I knew there was a buzz going on about how fabulous the food was and after thoroughly reviewing the former pet store in Hillsboro Village, it is DROP DEAD AMAZING.  The entire fam went there after church and all I could think was that this place was going to be packed to gills with Vandy students nursing hangovers.  Not so.  And to my surprise, there was no one in line and the only wait I experienced was getting my kids to make a decision.  As I looked for the table, Fidos was filled to the brim.   Surprisingly, our food came in 10 minutes: egg benedict over cheesy grits with fresh greens, bagel and banana walnut pancakes, and eggs made to order with a soy sausage (quite good!).   The entire dining experience was positive and reasonably priced.  The other day I popped in with kiddos after school. We ordered sweet potato fries and a huge slab of pink radio cake (made with beets and buttermilk).  An entire plate of roasted fries arrived with a fabulous horseradish sour cream dipping sauce for only $2.99.  The cake was devoured in a sec.   Do I need to say more? OK,  I will.  Today I stopped by by with my friend Betsy of Plum Charm Bracelets for a quick and inexpensive lunch.  I ordered the Fideau– a delicious sandwich on wheat bread with apples, brie, greens and bacon ($1.00 extra for bacon).  Betsy got the seafood gumbo with sausage, crayfish and shrimp.  Mine was a bargain at $8.99 because it came with a side of Thai Carrot/Coconut soup.  Betsy’s was just under $5.00 and came with 2 yummy slices of foccacia bread.  We topped off our meal with 2 skinny lattes and felt loved by the universe.  Put Fidos on your quick list of great cheap eats.

1812 21st Avenue South, google has 54 reviews and gives Fido 4 stars.

Want to get your kids to eat beets? Order the radio cake from Fidos

The lattes from Fido are small works of art.

yum. apple, brie and bacon sandwich with thai carrot soup from Fidos

the best deal in town: Fido sweet potato fries at $2.99

Some of my favorite evenings are those I spend with my husband enjoying and exploring downtown Nashville. I’m just as guilty of doing the same old thing as everyone else, even to the point where I could say (oh-no!), I may even be in a rut.  There.  I said it.  There is nothing worse than Rutsville, USA, especially in the dead of winter. If you are living there also, here’s an idea for you and it won’t break the bank:

David Maraniss

Tuesday, February 23, you can enjoy one of the best views of downtown and take part in some stimulating conversation with world-renowned author David Maraniss, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winning author.  He is in town to  discuss his new book, Into the Story: A Writer’s Journey Through Life, Politics, Sports and Loss at the 13th installment of McNeely Pigott & Fox’s Speakers’ Series.  This casual gathering starts at 4:30PM and includes some nice wine and cheese.

*Full disclosure here, my husband is the Fox in McNeely Pigott & Fox

I know it’s hard to put daily life aside and get downtown, but you will not be disappointed if you make the effort.  Two important points about the Speakers’ Series: 1) each installment is FREE 2)you are guaranteed to feed your brain.  (Ms. Cheap if your google search engine is working, I said FREE)

Here is a little more about Maraniss to whet your intellectual appetite.  David Maraniss, a longtime writer and editor for The Washington Post, will talk about some of the 32 stories that make up the “greatest hits” compilation of his work, including biographical pieces on the likes of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Muhammad Ali, as well as his sweeping narrative pieces written for the Post on everything from the Virginia Tech shootings to 9-11.  Recently, Maraniss returned from a three-week trip to Kenya, where he conducted research for a “multi-generational biography” of Barack Obama.

Maraniss is the author of five previous best-sellers.  These include biographies of Bill Clinton, Roberto Clemente and Vince Lombardi, as well as Rome 1960 (a history of those Summer Games that so prominently featured TSU’s Tigerbelles) and the Vietnam classic They Marched Into Sunlight.  Tom Hanks has bought the movie rights to Sunlight, and the Lombardi bio will become a Broadway play this fall.

I have met David Maraniss several times with his son Andrew, who lives in town and works for MP&F.  Both father and son are charming, witty and smart.  Sorry ladies, unfortunately both are happily married.

After the series, you can head out and explore the city!  One place on my radar screen is Paradise Park, owned and operated by the delightful Goldberg brothers.  Liza and I visited Patterson House, another one of their super cool venues, and we couldn’t wait to get the Paradise Park next.  Once at Paradise Park, grab yourself a PBR beer, a double wide cheese burger and relish the fact that only in Nashville can you see a Pulitzer prized author, drink a cold one in Paradise Park, the state’s #one seller of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and wander over to Tootsie’s Orchid lounge for a nightcap and live music.   And, you won’t be living in Rutsville, USA any longer!

• What:  McNeely Pigott & Fox speakers series featuring David Maraniss
• When: Tuesday, February 23rd at 4:30PM
• Where:  The McNeely Pigott & Fox offices, the 28th floor of the Renaissance Hotel at 7th and Commerce.
• Why go?:   So people will think you are smart
• What then?:  Paradise Park & Tootsies Orchid Lounge
• RSVP:  bookevent@mpf.com.