Got your New Orleans must-eat checklist ready? If classics like gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp po’ boys, muffulettas, and beignets are high on your list, you’ll do very well for yourself. But those tried-and-true dishes are only the tip of the culinary iceberg that is the Big Easy. Things really start to get interesting when you break free of the casual weekend tourist scene and dive into the local spots for a Tuesday afternoon nosh. Beat the crowds for a peek beyond tradition, into the new New Orleans canon.
On your way from (or to) Louis Armstrong Airport, hang a quick sandwich stop at Bevi Seafood Co. in Metairie (or Mid-City, opening in fall 2015). This refined execution of your divey po’boy shop has classics like fried oyster and fried shrimp on offer, but what you really need to try is “The Peacemaker” (pictured above). Fried Louisiana shrimp, big and plump, meld with melty Swiss cheese and juicy bits of roast beef debris. It’s a surf and turf sandwich multiplied by a grilled cheese; and much greater than the sum of its parts.
Fried foods come in all shapes and sizes in New Orleans, but fried pig ears aren’t something you often see. Things are about to change if Compère Lapin has anything to say about it. Their ears are deep-fried to a golden-brown crisp and coated in a secret seasoning blend, sliced a little longer than French fries. The skin crisps up in the fryer while the fatty interior stays a bit chewy, with the cartilage adding a nice crunch to the mix. Dip ’em in the smoked aioli and you’ll be convinced that pig ears should be on every bar snack menu.
Usually a throwaway appetizer to keep things light before a hearty bowl of phở, spring rolls aren’t typically much to write home about. But at MoPho, where Asian flavors get a cajun twist, the rolls are a transcendent study in textures and temperatures. Mint and shiso leaves wrap diced carrots, chewy rice noodles, fermented peppers, and succulent, still-warm grilled pork shoulder. The balanced peanut dipping sauce is a great foil, adding a touch of creamy-nutty sweetness to the savory pork-bomb inside (but honestly the roll doesn’t even need the sauce).
You’re probably not expecting Middle Eastern fare when headed to this melting pot of French and Cajun cuisine, but perhaps it’s the surprise that makes the falafel platter at 1000 Figs so delightful. Richly seasoned chickpea fritters are expertly fried yet pillowy-light inside, paired with hummus made fresh in-house, a mélange of quick-pickled veggies and a snappy garlicky salad. It’s the best falafel platter you can have without flashing a passport.
Step aside, cheeseburger. Eat your heart out, Patty Melt. This is the big league in the Big Easy, where Cochon Butcher’s Buckboard Bacon Melt—the mother of all cheese-and-meat sandwiches—comes out on top. Impossibly flavorful house-cured, thick-cut lean shoulder bacon, stewed collard greens, and a piquant pepper aioli come together on golden buttered white bread for the perfect bite, every bite. Your only problem will be realizing it’s over far too soon.
Instead of drowning in the onslaught of gumbos and étouffées around town, take a trip out to New Orleans East and find yourself transported to the Far East. The historic Dong Phuong Bakery—known for its banh mi counter (order 10 and get one free!) made on best-in-the-city French bread—also serves up this Vietnamese noodle soup, bún riêu. Starting from a pork and shrimp paste broth, they mix in egg to give the soup a creamy consistency. Thinly sliced fish cakes, shrimp, squid, minced pork meatballs, and vermicelli rice noodles join the party. No judgment if you slurp it by the gallon.
If you’ve gone through life a raw oyster purist, things are about to change. Cooked in their shells over a roaring grill—in a buttery, herb-flecked garlic sauce—the plump Gulf oysters from Drago’sSeafood Restaurant are still the star of the show underneath that still-bubbling Parmesan and Romano. Fatty, briny, cheesy and utterly transcendent, this is what Poseidon would serve at his wedding. And don’t forget to swipe the French bread through the pool of sauce collecting on the bottom of the plate for the best bite of oyster garlic bread ever.
Just like any other meat cooked on the bone, fish cooked whole is impossibly flavorful and moist. The showstopping whole fish at Pêche Seafood Grill comes off the wood-burning grill with no apologies—gills, eyeballs, and all. Dig between the bones with your fork (don’t be shy) and you’ll be rewarded with morsels of flaky meat underneath crisp skin. The fish rotates daily depending on whatever comes off the boat from the Gulf that morning—some recent favorites have been redfish with salsa verde and American snapper with Meyer lemon.
This is not your grandmother’s cauliflower—that is, unless she roasts hers whole until it comes out of the oven a browned, crackly masterpiece. At Domenica, they’ve turned the cauliflower into the surprise star of the antipasti menu. It’s served on a big plate with a sharp knife as if it were a Flintstone-sized steak, with a creamy whipped feta cheese sauce to finish the dish. If you go during happy hour (between 2-5pm daily) you can wash it down with half-price beer or wine by the glass. After you experience this next-level cauliflower, you’ll definitely want to try it at home.
Beignets are on everyone’s bucket list, and rightfully so, but there’s another fried dough in town you need to meet: buttermilk drops. A New Orleans original, these cakey orbs from Wink’s Bakery in the French Quarter have a slightly crisp shell glazed in a sweet coating that stay soft and moist inside—hello donut holes on steroids. And if that’s not enough, you can get yours dipped in coconut flakes or chocolate with pralines. Wash ’em down with hot chicory coffee; it’s a bite of New Orleans that you’ll remember and want to come back for.
