Day 4 - Monday 30th October 2006

Decide that I really must get round to resetting the clocks as I woke an hour early again. Had a leisurely cup of tea or two and got ready for a slow stroll to Brennans. My legs are killing me – I have hardly sat down since reaching Houston – pains running up my shins and my arthritis is playing up big time in my right foot. I dress in my black trousers and grafitti shirt, hoping that this will be considered smart enough, and that I won’t overheat too much as the weather is still lovely – much warmer than anticipated, no rain (in fact not even a cloud in the sky) and quite humid too. Walking to the restaurant I bump into Wayne M Coyne (the lead singer of Flaming Lips) and his girlfriend. They both seem very friendly.

Brennan's Restuarant

Brennan’s is nice, but not quite what I expected. Sure is incredibly expensive though! I was also disappointed that almost all the other diners are in shorts and t shirts. I definitely feel overdressed for the occasion. I have the New Orleans breakfast - a mimosa to start, followed by southern baked apple with cream (nice but very sweet), eggs hussarde (lovely), hot french bread and finally banana’s foster (marvellous but yet again very sweet) with a glass of pinot grigio with the entrée. The tea is awful, they have no idea how to make a decent cup over there, and so I only have ½ a cup and then have 2 glasses of water (not bottled either) which knocks the bill up by $5. The meal took about 1 ½ hours and cost me $82 including tip. At least I can say that I’ve had some world famous dishes in their original settings and the meal left me completely stuffed – I have no idea how anyone could eat the Brennan’s breakfast which is the same as I had but with a 14oz steak and chips before the bananas foster. Unfortunately the table I was sitting at was in bright sunlight for most of the time I was there and they didn’t apparently have any other tables available.

Jackson Square

When I finished my meal I meet up with Leslie and Kim in Jackson Square. Whilst walking down through the French Quarter I am surprised and pleased to hear ‘Jagged’ by Gary Numan coming from one of the cars. Kim tells me that she has had a call from Ashley the security guard. Apparently, she has something for me from Duran Duran. I phone her to give her my address in England, but due to her accent I am unable to make out what it is she is sending me – I think it is a staff t shirt from the festival, as she had mentioned this the previous night, but Kim is convinced it’s DD stuff to make up for their behaviour the night before. Maybe, but I won’t hold my breath. Once again I am overwhelmed by people’s generosity on this trip. I have been lucky to meet so many nice and friendly people. We walk around the French Quarter, trying to find something related to voodoo that isn’t a pencil and then buy one of those commercial cocktails in Bourbon Street (I went for something blue).

Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith's Bar and Shop

By then it is time for the girls to get their taxi to the airport (only a weekend trip for them) and I leave them at their hotel, before hobbling back to my room. I only drink ½ the blue drink, freezing the rest for later, although I didn’t bother in the end as it wasn’t very nice. Having rested for a while I made my way back out to Walgreen’s to stock up on painkillers etc. En route I stop at a lovely boutique in Canal Place shopping mall and buy the cutest black ballet pumps (yep I know, I’m not supposed to wear flat shoes, especially with the way my feet are feeling at the moment, but I couldn’t resist at $28 ). By now my feet are really killing me so I head back for a cuppa and to put my feet up before going out tonight. I can’t decide what to do tomorrow – French Quarter or Magazine Street.

Italian Plaza (almost directly behind where I was staying and en route to Restaurant August)

At 8.30pm I leave to walk (slowly) to Restaurant August. I am dressed in black trousers and my 16-47 blue shirt, with a navy camisole underneath. I am also wearing high heels – a definite challenge considering how much pain my feet and legs are in. The meal is completely amazing – It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best food I have ever tasted in the whole of my life. The meal is also incredibly filling - although the portions are very much nouvelle cuisine size – the intense flavours ensure that they are more than sufficient. As I was a little early I waited at the bar with a mimosa (better than Brennan’s) and eventually chose to eat there rather than in the main restaurant, not something I had originally wanted, but the other single diners were doing this and after being asked about 5 or 6 times if I was going to eat there I got the hint. However, the bar tenders and serving staff were all very friendly, courteous and knowledgeable, and I did at least get some conversation with my meal. The only downside to this was that it was the only smoking area and so everyone was nipping out for a cigarette between courses.

I chose to go for the 5 course tasting menu with wine pairing – and I wasn’t disappointed by either the food or the wine. First a lagniappe (a little something extra as New Orleanians term it) – a porcini and white truffle zabaglione served in a real white eggshell – amazing! The flavour was really intense and added an interesting flavour to the bread course. First course was a blue crab mousse wrapped in smoked salmon with caviar; shrimp, chilled cucumber and vermouth soup and shrimps and cress in a spicy sauce, accompanied by a rose cava. This was followed by the most amazing food I have ever eaten – I would return to this restaurant purely for this course alone – a white truffle filled raviola on a ragout of wild mushrooms with a truffle sauce. It tasted like nothing on earth I have ever had before. I thought I had died and gone to heaven (well I am a mushroom lover so this was my ideal food). It was paired with a bold and quite heavy pinot noir which was absolutely perfect for the dish. The third course was roasted sea bass. By this time I was already feeling a little full, but was determined to enjoy everything. I felt this course was a little let down by the ham in the sauce. It was very strong flavoured and rather overwhelmed the fish, but there was yet another fantastic mushroom sauce. This was paired with another pinot noir, not quite as bold as the previous one, but still and excellent choice for the dish. Out comes course four and this was quite a large plate – wild boar cooked two ways, with sweetbreads and roasted tomatoes in a vegetable sauce. It was gorgeous, but I was so full up I really had to force myself to eat it, and didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as the dish deserved. Another bold red wine with this, although I can’t remember what now, but yet again the perfect accompaniment. Finally, came the dessert - creole cream cheese panna cotta between white chocolate biscotti with a berry compote. This came with a very sweet Hungarian dessert wine called Tokaj. The wine was vile on its own but the perfect offset for the dessert. By this time I was really struggling, but I did manage to get through about 1/2 of it. All this cost me a very reasonable $126 with tip - definitely much better value than Brennan's). Note to self – no more tasting menus!

I then took a very slow walk back to my hotel and read for an hour or so, as I had to wait for the food to digest a little before going to bed. Still feeling shattered so I decided not to set an alarm – I’ll sleep as long as I need to.

Restaurant August