In New Orleans, French Bread can easily be your downfall on a 5-day eating spree

TOP LOAF: The best loaf of French Bread I had in New Orleans was in this 10-inch Po Boy Sandwich stuffed with fried Gulf Oysters and fried Gulf Shrimp, dressed Vietnamese style with cilantro, cucumbers, carrots and sriracha sauce ($10 at Banh Mi Boys). The crust was crispy, too.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I blame French Bread for my 5-pound weight gain on a 5-day trip to New Orleans.

Yes. We enjoyed enormous buffet breakfasts at two of the big hotels, as well as lavish restaurant meals, but we also walked many miles, marveling at the architecture in the Big Easy's historic Central Business District (see photos below).

New Orleans is a magnet for seafood lovers like me, offering incomparable Gulf Oysters, fresh (not previously frozen) Gulf Shrimp, Crawfish, Crab and a large variety of fish.

But New Orleanians also love French Bread, a doughy, carb-filled loaf used for the local Po Boy and Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches, and served in many restaurants, usually in a bag or wrapped in paper.

It bears little resemblance to the original Baguette, a slim, crusty loaf you could eat all by itself or dipped in extra-virgin olive oil. 

French Bread has gained a lot of weight, is doughier and usually doesn't have much of a crust. 

For hunger pangs

Still, the bread comes in handy to quiet your hunger pangs after you've ordered a meal in a restaurant.

For example, at the Red Fish Grill  on Bourbon Street, I forget to ask the waiter to bring a dozen Gulf Oysters before that huge fried Redfish with vegetables we ordered, and everything came at once, but not until 15 or 20 minutes after we sat down.

While my wife and I and our friend Dwight waited, we downed big pieces of bread -- no butter needed.

A couple of nights later, we also welcomed a loaf of French Bread at the Bon Ton Cafe, the oldest Cajun restaurant in New Orleans, to dip into the dressing of a seafood salad.

Since we've returned home on April 15, I've managed to lose all but one of the 5 pounds I put on, but this bread lover is still haunted by the memory of a crispy loaf of French Bread used to make a terrific shrimp-and-oyster Po Boy from Banh Mi Boys, which dressed my sandwich Vietnamese-style.

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A WHOPPER: We love whole fish, but we've never seen anything quite as big as this Crispy Whole Redfish with crab-boiled vegetables and roasted corn aioli that we ordered at the Red Fish Grill, a seafood-centric restaurant on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. This generous serving of fish and vegetables was easily enough for 3, and it was a bargain at $32.75.

INCOMPARABLE OYSTERS: After finishing the whole redfish and two side dishes, Potato Salad and Spinach, I didn't think my friend Dwight and I would have room for a dozen Gulf Oysters at the Red Fish Grill ($15.95). But they went down easy (my wife doesn't eat oysters).

GREAT SEAFOOD: We had our best meal at the Red Fish Grill during a 2017 vacation so we made sure the French Quarter seafood restaurant was the first place we had dinner on the day we arrived in New Orleans. Reservations are recommended.

MORE BREAD: A Roasted Eggplant Banh Mi with onions at Magasin Kitchen, a Vietnamese restaurant ($5.50). I also enjoyed a Grilled Shrimp Spring Roll ($6.50), but my wife didn't finish her Pho Combo ($10), and complained glasses, plates, bowls, and forks and knives didn't look clean. We won't return there.

BEST SALAD: My wife and I shared Debbie's Salad, made with lump crabmeat and fresh shrimp ($19 for small), at the Bon Ton Cafe, said to be the oldest Cajun restaurant in New Orleans.

FRESH GULF SHRIMP: At Bon Ton Cafe, my wife's entree was Grilled Shrimp with Cajun Spices, served with a dipping sauce spiked with horseradish ($25). I had a small bowl of Gumbo with shrimp, crab and okra ($8.50).

OLD NEW ORLEANS: The Bon Ton Cafe at 401 Magazine St. is housed in a building dating to the 1840s, and gaslights flank the entrance. The restaurant is closed on weekends.

MADE TO ORDER: One morning, we tackled the $22.95 all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, where we stayed in 2017. Using a form I gave to the server, I placed an order for an omelet with vegetables, fresh shrimp and a sinful Goat Cheese center, above.

SMOKED SALMON: The breakfast buffet in the Hyatt Regency's 8 Block Kitchen & Bar also includes two kinds of smoked salmon with capers and other garnishes. 

SAY CHEESE: The Hyatt's breakfast buffet also includes an array of full-fat cheeses and crusty bread. Hyatt's buffet was far superior to the pricier $24-per-person breakfast buffet we tried a day earlier at the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street.

BEST BREAKFAST: My wife declared the a la carte morning meal we had at Couvant on the day we left for home the best breakfast she had in New Orleans, and I agree, though it wasn't the best value. I loved the salad served with our entrees, Oeufs a la Royale ($14) and Omelette Fines ($16), above and below. I asked for sides of smoked salmon ($7) and hash browns ($4).

FRESH FRUIT AND BERRIES: I clearly ordered too much at Couvant, starting with this Yogurt Parfait ($9) with Greek Yogurt, Vanilla-Pecan Granola and premium fruit. The restaurant is in The Eliza Jane Hotel, where we stayed.

FULL POT: When you order hot tea at Couvant ($4), you get a full pot of brewed tea, above, a nice change from having to ask for more hot water.

NO POCKET BREAD: My eyes also were bigger than my stomach at Little Fig, one of the vendors in Pythian Market, a New Orleans "food hall for all" with more than a dozen food stands and a craft bar. Unfortunately, neither the delicious Falafel Platter ($11) or the side of Baba Ghanouj ($5) came with Middle Eastern pocket bread, which would have had less carbs than the focaccia or French Bread.

FIRST WOMAN PUBLISHER OF A MAJOR PAPER: The Eliza Jane Hotel on Magazine Street, named for the former publisher of The Picayune daily newspaper in the late 1800s, was built within 9 historic warehouses, which housed the newspaper and other businesses.

WWII MUSEUM: Don't miss the hour-long documentary film on World War II, including sound effects, vibrating seats and more, in the theater of The National WWII Museum.

HISTORIC DISTRICT: New Orleans' rich architectural heritage is on display outside the French Quarter in the city's historic Central Business District, including courthouses, former banks and quaint hotels, above the below.

NO A.C.: The historic cars used on the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar Line have no air conditioning, unlike the newer trolleys, which are painted red.

GREEN COFFEE: The New Orleans Board of Trade, which dates to 1880, was renovated in 1993 into an events space. The board traded green coffee, and three clocks showed the time in New Orleans, New York and Rio de Janeiro, said to have been the major players.

HAUNTING: The H.W. Johns-Manville Co. had a large factory in New Orleans, but in 1982, facing unprecedented liability for asbestos injury claims, the company filed for bankruptcy. The word "ASBESTOS" is visible today on this building at 441 Gravier St. Johns Manville, based in Denver, Co., is still in business today.

TARNISHED FACADE, TARNISHED REPUTATION: City Hall in New Orleans isn't very distinctive architecturally, but its drab, faded exterior fits in a city and state whose reputation has been tarnished by corrupt politicians.

Big Oil be damned! Seafood lovers crowd New Orleans for Gulf oysters, shrimp, fish

A whole Red Snapper -- grilled over hickory wood and smothered with vegetables and shrimp -- can feed two at the Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Nothing equals a Gulf Oyster. On Monday afternoon, I enjoyed a half-dozen at the bar in Borgne, a restaurant serving coastal Louisiana cuisine, at my hotel, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

NEW ORLEANS -- They say that oil and water don't mix.

That's especially true in the Gulf of Mexico touching southeastern Louisiana, where oil and gas producers have tried their best to destroy one of the nation's richest fishing grounds.

In the past 70-plus years, industry helped wipe out more than 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands, imperiling the fisheries, according to a 2015 film, "By the River of Babylon: An Elegy for South Louisiana." 

The powerful documentary was screened last Saturday during the French Quarter Festival, a 4-day celebration of Louisiana's rich musical heritage with performances on up to two dozen outdoor and indoor stages -- all free.

The documentary didn't stop me and my wife from enjoying breakfast omelets stuffed with vegetables, shrimp and crawfish tails, and other wonderful seafood meals.

The Gulf, which touches five states, supplies an astonishing variety of oysters, shrimp and wild-caught fish to New Orleans restaurants and markets.

Oysters, shrimp, crawfish

We had our best meal on the eve of the festival at Ralph Brennan's Red Fish Grill, a casual seafood restaurant in the French Quarter.

We were drawn to the restaurant's hickory wood-fired wild fish and jumbo shrimp, which are served with vegetables and a choice of specialty sauces, and topped with crawfish tails, fried oysters or Gulf shrimp for a supplement.

The menu offers both familiar and unfamiliar fish, including Black Drum, Speckled Trout, Cobia, Redfish, Mangrove Snapper and Pompano.

My wife chose a whole Gulf Red Snapper with sauteed Gulf shrimp and a Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette, a large fish that could have fed both of us ($35.50).

I ordered a Black Drum fillet topped with fried oysters and served with a Satsuma Ponzu Sauce ($36.50).

Turkey necks, too

At Borgne, in the Hyatt Regency hotel, I had my first (and best) Gulf Oysters of the trip (6 for $9), and my wife was delighted to find falling-off-the-bone Turkey Necks prepared in a crab boil ($8).

We liked the oysters and turkey necks so much we ordered them again last Monday afternoon just before we were picked up by the airport shuttle for the flight home to New Jersey.

At our Borgne dinner, we also split a Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese ($12), and a whole Flounder with Shrimp and Crab Stuffing ($32).

Borgne (pronounced BORN) is named for the lake where Chefs John Besh and Brian Landry grew up fishing.

We also ate in the Hyatt Regency's 8 Block Kitchen & Bar, Namese Vietnamese Cafe, the Half Shell, Parkway Bakery and Tavern, Betsy's Pancake House, Li'l Dizzy's Cafe; and at the French Quarter Festival, where food and drink stands were operated by top New Orleans bars and restaurants (see photos below).  

Wood-grilled Black Drum fillet with fried Gulf Oysters at the Red Fish Grill, below.

At the Red Fish Grill and other New Orleans restaurants, bread is served in a paper bag.

An appetizer of Turkey Necks at Borgne, with dressings for my raw Gulf Oysters.

The kitchen at Borgne split our Whole Flounder lengthwise and served the creamy Shrimp and Crab Stuffing outside.

Borgne's Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Spiced Walnut Granola and Dandelion Vinaigrette.

Dining-room columns covered with oyster shells are part of the seafood motif in the dining room of Borgne.

A gallon jar of Tabasco Sauce and a board offering oysters from Louisiana and Alabama near the entrance to Borgne.

Also in the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, 8 Block Kitchen & Bar offers a groaning-board breakfast buffet for $17.95 or $22.95 with a made-to-order omelet and other hot food. My plate included an egg-white omelet with shrimp and crawfish tails, breakfast potatoes, smoked and cured salmon, pickled okra and olives.

Before the omelet, I started breakfast with a bowl of granola, premium berries and non-fat Greek Yogurt, Green Juice (celery, kale, apple and lime) and Peach-Infused Water. That big breakfast allowed me to skip lunch, of course.

Charcuterie and sumptuous cheeses at the Hyatt Regency's breakfast buffet.

At Namese Vietnamese Cafe, our friend ordered Garlic Shrimp topped with extra-cost Crab Rice, covered in both a delicious sauce and picked crab meat ($18).

I chose lighter fare, including a small plate of Five-Spice Tofu ($8), above, and a Papaya Salad with Shrimp ($10), below, asking the kitchen to hold the pork belly.

My wife ordered ground pork-and-vegetable Egg Rolls with Lettuce Wrap ($7), and a bowl of Pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, with thin-sliced brisket she cooked in the anise-scented broth ($12).

At the Half Shell Oyster Bar & Grill in New Orleans, I ordered Blackened Redfish with potato salad and asparagus ($24.94), but sadly, the fish was overcooked.

My wife fared better by ordering a small Caesar Salad with Grilled Shrimp ($12.94).

She also liked the Crab Cakes made in the restaurant ($9.95).

I enjoyed another half-dozen Gulf Oysters at the Half Shell ($6.99). Note: The next day, the restaurant moved to a bigger space and is expected to reopen in two to three weeks. 

On Saturday night, we went to the 105-year-old Parkway Bakery & Tavern for Poor Boys, including this Large Catfish Sandwich (about 12 inches long), with added Creole Mustard and sliced jalapeno peppers from a condiment bar ($10.90), washed down with a bottle of Abita Amber, a local beer. I had my heart set on an Oyster Poor Boy, but they are only served on Mondays and Wednesdays.

On Monday morning, we visited another institution, Betsy's Pancake House, for our last breakfast in New Orleans. I ordered 2 Eggs and Fried Catfish ($9.50), above.

My wife ordered her usual, Banana Nut Pancakes ($6.75), above, and our friend ordered the Breakfast Special, 2 Eggs, Grits and Bacon ($5.50). Other Monday specials included Smoked Alligator on a Bun, below.

Betsy's is popular with police officers, firefighters, lawyers, judges and city officials.

Gulf Tuna Loins and Gulf Swordfish Loins and Steaks at Rouses Supermarket on Baronne Street in New Orleans, above and below.

During the French Quarter Festival, Rouses set up a stand near the stage at the Old U.S. Mint and boiled hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds of Louisiana Crawfish. A takeout container with crawfish and all the fixings was $10.

We made sure to have Sunday brunch at Li'l Dizzy's Cafe on Esplanade Street in New Orleans, where I ordered a house special and true comfort food, Shrimp Grillade ($9.99), also known as Shrimp and Grits.

Our friend ordered the Sunday Brunch Buffet ($17.99), and loaded one plate with a Turkey Wing, Grits and Cornbread Stuffing.

The buffet included Gumbo with meat and seafood.

Li'l Dizzy's Cafe usually is packed on Sundays, and only a loyal customer like our friend can land a table there.