Food

I've woken up from a nap after Chinese buffet for Thanksgiving and Cat's watching the Top Chef marathon on Bravo; I am overwhelmed with food.

We had a list of places on the must-eat list. Whenever you come to New Orleans, there's never enough time to eat everything you want, and I knew we were overbooked to begin with. Our meal schedule was nearly done on the drive in. So far we've hit almost everything. Props to Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Menu site- now 709 restaurants open, and only one hundred left to go before we hit the pre-storm number!

The list:

1. Lebanon's: Chef's special: hummus, taboule, labne, spinach salad, baba ganoush, kibby, falafel, grape leaves, Lebanese tea, and burma.
   
2. Lee's hamburgers: A works, hold the lettuce, fries, and a Dr Pepper.
   
3. Franky & Johnny's, sort of. Zeke's is now open by F&J's owners with their menu: Roast beef poboy, dressed no lettuce with Tabasco. Cat had a half-dozen oysters and boiled shrimps.
   
4. Memphis-style Barbecue -> Corky's: Pulled pork, beef brisket, roast turkey, damn good barbecue beans unheard of in Texas, and potato salad.
   
5. Dot's: L1 with cheese; mini burgers and fries made with crack and black magic.
   
6. Five Happiness: Beef teriyaki with peanut sauce, sizzling chicken, bean curd and beef, and white rice.
   
7. A poboy w00t!
   
8. Zea: Rotisserie beef, sweet potatoes, the best corn grits in the world (no lie), tomato basil soup.
   
9. A muffaletta
   
10. Crazy Johnny's
    
11. Roman Pizza
    
12. Rue de la Course
    
13. PJ's Coffee: Pumpkin pie chai, a granita, vanilla tea, cafe au lait, and a white hot chocolate.
    
14. Angelo Brocato's: Florintine, some sort of light cookie with icing and apple filling, tiramisu ice cream, and praline gelato. I cried a little, being here.
    

Coming home to New Orleans has been wonderful, as if a great pressure of unfamiliarity has been removed. Like the man who kept hitting himself on the head because of how good it felt when he stopped, it's good to be home again. I've spent this week back at home, surrounded by my friends and family, playing games and eating.

New Orleans is evocative and emotionally charging, even before the storm. I don't want to go into the negative now- this holiday season is about focusing on the positive.