Weekend In The Big Easy

Our last-minute trip to NOLA included a lot of eating and, there being Bourbon Street and all, a fair amount of bar-hopping. We managed to visit Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral plus Tulane and Loyola, but mostly we consumed. Here's where:

• MiLa - Highlights were duck pate and pork cheek ravioli.
• Pat O'Brien's - Hurricanes! (Plus we had Hand Grenades from one of the many bars along Bourbon St. that sells the neon green drink.)
• Cafe Du Monde - For chicory coffee and beignets of course.
• Bon Ton Cafe - Where the locals go for lunch.
• Carousel Bar - Disorienting but fun!
• Tonique - The bartenders are tops. They do old-timey cocktails like Aviations and Sazeracs, though they'll make up drinks on the spot, too, if you provide them with a base spirit. In my top 3 for cocktail bars.
• Restaurant August - Two words: Mangalitsa pork.
• Central Grocery - One word: muffuletta.
• Crescent City Farmers Market - There's a knife sharpener! I've never seen one at a farm market before, but what a grand idea.
• Luke - Beer and shellfish a la John Besh.
• Cochon - I had fried rabbit livers on toast and a ham hock served over smoky greens and black-eyed peas. The hubby had seriously lacquered ribs served with house-made pickled watermelon rind and a kind of pulled pork loaf. They get whole pigs and they break them down to use all of their piggy goodness. GO HERE!!