Our Last Day In Foodie Heaven originally published on Food and Fond Memories on November 16, 2012 by sandyaxelrod Leave a Comment (Edit)
Our Last Day In Foodie Heaven
Even writing about it makes me sad but I want to tell you all about our last day in Foodie Heaven aka New Orleans aka NOLA. Of course I mean our last day of our June trip because I know we will be going back to New Orleans. We just can’t stay away, it is most definitely our favorite vacation location.
Inside Central Grocery
One Quarter of a Muffaletta at Central Grocery
Our main mission for our last day was to go to Central Grocery for all of our muffaletta ingredients. We bought enough meat, cheese and olive spread for four huge sandwiches plus two extra breads for the freezer. Each sandwich of Capicola, Mortadella, ham, provolone, swiss and olive spread can feed 2-4 people depending on appetites. Half of all of the fixin’s was for Brian and Eve and the rest for us. And in our family that amounted to two meals each. Now that I am writing this I am jonesing for a muffaletta. I might just take one of those extra breads out of the freezer and go buy the appropriate cold cuts and cheeses to go with the olive spread that I still have left over and make muffaletta for tonight’s dinner. But I digress. Since we knew we needed to end up in the French Quarter for Central Grocery we decided to walk around that area and do a little more shopping. While there we visited the Holocaust Memorial by Agam which is near the Audubon Aquarium along the Mississippi River. It is quite a picturesque area. The Aquarium is fabulous as is the IMax theater but we had visited those on previous trips.
Woof!
These adorable dogs were all over New Orleans
Israeli Artist Agam’s Holocaust Memorial
The Agam Holocaust Memorial from another angle.
A Mardi Gras Float at Mardi Gras World
On our way back to our hotel we drove past Mardi Gras World. On our very first trip to New Orleans in 1992 we had an amazing dinner there of crawfish and roasted hog. We had gone there for a catering conference way back then and Mardi Gras World was across the river (pre-Katrina). Now it is on the River Walk along with a huge shopping center, hotel, and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. It is really fun to see all of the costumes and floats that are used for the annual Mardi Gras celebration.
Oysters Three Ways at Restaurant Stella!
Gorgeous Fresh Flowers at Restaurant Stella!
Steve’s Fave – Smoking Sorbets
Outrageous Profiterole with Blackberry Sauce
Yes, I Made All Gone
A Lagniappe (a little something extra) of Amazing Sweets
Although we had been invited to have dinner at the Chef’s Table at Maximo’s Italian Grill we decided that we really wanted to go back to Restaurant Stella! since our other two meals there on previous trips had been so outstanding. The food and ambience were as gorgeous as before. But this third time was not the charm. As we have done many times we ordered several appetizers which were all delicious but something was lacking. The portions seemed small even for appetizers. In fact we ordered an additional risotto just to feel we had enough to eat. The restaurant was relatively empty when we arrived and though we had been there a couple of times before and were wowed; we did not have the same feeling this time. I don’t know if it was because the Owner/Chef Scott Boswell was not in the kitchen or because the restaurant seemed pretentious to us. Chef Boswell was busy getting his new, more casual restaurant Stanley ready to open. Cute huh? Stella and Stanley right off the pages of “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Anyhow we decided we should have stayed with our original plan and dined with the chef at Maximo’s. But I do have to add it was still a good meal just not the enchanting experience that it was on previous visits.
Central Grocery
923 Decatur Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
504-523-1620
Toll Free 866-620-0174
Restaurant Stella!
1032 Chartres Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
504-587-0091
www.restaurantstella.com
