Taking on New Adventures

One of the greatest advantages of living in New Orleans is the access to restaurants that people actually travel here to eat in. And Chuck and I take as much advantage of those options as we possibly can.

I was lucky enough last week to score a reservation at Alon Shaya’s new restaurant, Saba. Shaya uses influences from the Middle East, Europe and North Africa to create a menu that is wonderfully diverse and tasty. From the hummus options to caviar, the decisions on what my friend and I would eat were not easy. But we decided on the heirloom tomato hummus and three Salatim options: pickled vegetables, labneh and the Harissa-marinated olives. Paired with an interesting and super tasty Greek red wine, this meal was outstanding. I highly recommend it, and definitely get your reservation requests in early!

But my culinary fun didn’t end there. Chuck and I hit Pythian Market for Happy Hour to check out their latest cocktail special and newest stall, Meribo Pizza. I wasn’t really feeling pizza, so had the burrata salad. Best decision as it was freaking fantastic. So far, we’ve had food from 6 of the vendors, and every single dish has been awesome. I’m so glad this cool spot is just 3 blocks from our home.

On Saturday, I met up with friends at Salon by Sucre, one of the city’s coolest brunch spots. While we had a few issues in the beginning, including our poor server being pulled so many directions that she was super slow in getting to us, the food was truly wonderful. The caprese sandwich, roasted cauliflower, deviled eggs with fried oysters and mac and cheese were all so great that our group ate every last bite. Paired with some Cava and we were a happy bunch after two hours there. And even though our server was slow in getting to us in the beginning, we were thankful that she acknowledged how busy she was and she did it all with a smile on her face. She was so wonderful that we all tipped a bit extra to thank her for being so wonderful in the face of adversity.

Those of us who live here really are lucky and I hope to check out more restaurants that I have yet to dine in. I love supporting our local industry and will continue to do so.

Pictured is the heirloom tomato hummus (with an egg, of course) from Saba