Looking for the log ride at Parrot Pete's

On Saturday, John and I went to have breakfast with two dear friends, Casey and Brandon, who live almost in the middle of the Jean Lafitte Preserve on the Westbank. Seeing as I am very unfamiliar with the geography on that side of the river, the extent of my knowledge being Pho Tau Bay, I asked Casey if she wouldn't mind hunting down an interesting restaurant.

I think we were all surprised when we discovered Parrot Pete's Coffee & Sweets located inside a theme park resort...minus the theme park! This is my 49th cheat and I am down 68 pounds.

When we pulled into Fountain Park Centre, all of us were gawking at the spectacle before us. How often does one find hundreds of palm trees, huge man-made ponds sparkling with tall, playing fountains and scattered statues both in and out of the water mimicking geese, ducks, swans, dogs, turtles and even children on Manhattan Boulevard? I kept expecting to see a log ride or a line of ticket booths off in the distance...perhaps even a man-made mountain with snow-capped peaks, a roller coaster track twisting around it and emitting screams of terror and joy.

Still rubbing our eyes, we stumbled into Parrot Pete's only to be stunned anew by the proliferation of yet even more palm trees, all of which were adorned by several fake parrots, and iron chandeliers with clinging fake cockatoos. One of the many, many staff members told us to choose a seat anywhere in the sprawling restaurant. As this resort restaurant was obviously a great place for families with children,  we attempted, in vain, to avoid the noise and selected a table in the back near a large marble fireplace sporting a painting of (what else?) parrots in palm trees over the mantle.

Since there were only two tables aside from ours filled with rambunctious (and loud) children, the staff outnumbered the patrons and our server was anxious to be busy doing something. He quickly took our order and rushed off to get our drinks.  After he left, we noticed some fun frozen drinks at the bottom of the menu like a "Caramel Freeze" with frozen espresso, caramel sauce and whipped cream.  We were going to order a few when our server returned, but he informed us that the "machine" was down.

We accepted our loss gracefully, especially when our entrees suddenly poured out of the kitchen in a flurry.  Casey and I both got "Lafitte's Pirogue", two delicious buttery biscuits topped with a large slices of spicy andouille sausage, two perfectly cooked, over-easy eggs and a slathering of Hollandaise sauce with dill and large crawfish tails.  I have to admit that the restaurant's theme made me fear an overly-generic approach to poorly prepared food, but I was wrong.  Everything was quite fresh and good, especially the flaky grilled biscuits!  My only complaint would have to be a lack of seasoning on the crawfish tails which were obviously not from Louisiana.

John ordered "Pedro's Burrito", which was basically a large breakfast burrito stuffed with sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheddar cheese, bell peppers and onions.  This mammoth burrito also offered a side and John selected bacon.  The burrito, while nothing special, was quite tasty using obviously fresh ingredients and a whole lot of 'em!  There was a "salsa" on the side that was pretty disappointing though, almost like a spicy ketchup, something that the restaurant could easily remedy.

Brandon went for a sweet breakfast with "Ain't Yo Mamma's Praline Pancakes" topped with candied pecans and an oh-so-sweet praline syrup.  It was a hefty stack of five pancakes and I was impressed that Brandon made his way though half of it before throwing in his fork. He let me taste a bite of his leftovers and I thought they were quite delicious...fluffy pancakes with a buttery praline syrup could rarely go wrong in my eyes.

Since I had a savory breakfast, I couldn't walk away from a pastry shop without dessert.  When I wandered up to the dessert case to make my selection, several members of the staff recommended the Triple Berry Cake with mascarpone frosting. I simply couldn't say no to something with such an overwhelming fan base!  The cake turned out to be quite nice and light with sweet berries mixed into the middle layer of frosting.  Casey opted for a cannelloni which she thought was tasty, but somewhat average.

Since it was still raining steadily when we left, I was unable to get a lot of photos from the theme-park-lacking resort.  So, we all piled into Brandon's car and headed back to their house on the edge of the bayou.  (Remind me to tell you sometime about the "swamp-Sasquatch-monster" they spotted late one night running across Barataria Boulevard)  Until then, I will keep my eyes out for the missing theme park on Manhattan Boulevard.

I won!

Before you get your hopes up, I didn't win the lottery. Apparently my horoscope was wrong! Who knew? Well, I suppose I should have known because I usually never win anything.

But this time, this rare and special time, I did win something! I won a Whole Foods Gift Bag full of gluten free, organic goodies from the Gambit!

See?  Now you can be a winner too!

Lager, stout, ale and more beer at The Bulldog

Even though there is a vast bar and restaurant selection within walking distance of my old apartment on Harmony Street, I would often find myself at The Bulldog.  Not only does it possess a very comfortable and relaxed atmosphere, they also serve up some of the tastiest bar food in the city. When I walked into the bar a few days ago, it was the first time I'd been back in several years, but much to my relief, not a whole lot had changed.

The Bulldog, with it's wooden floors, bar and ceiling (reminding me of the hull of an old boat), still offers one of the largest selections of draft and bottled beers in New Orleans. Grinning, I strolled along the length of the bar reviewing the different brands in a long line of uniquely-shaped taps. Craving a stout, but seeking a change from Guinness, I finally selected a Rogue Chocolate which is a sweet stout from Ashland, Oregon (also home of possibly the coolest Shakespeare Festival in the U.S.).

I sipped slowly on the thick, rich beer while watching the other folks in the bar. To the right of me, a few ladies were enjoying what looked like a huge pile of cheesy goo, but I am pretty sure it was the King's Nachos featuring fresh corn tortilla chips, house made refried beans, several different kinds of cheese, jalapenos, diced tomatoes, sour cream and Pico de Gallo.  It was such a large plate of nachos that the three women had no problem sharing.  There was even a decent amount remaining after they got up and left.

Seeing as it was happy hour (2 to 7 p.m. every weekday), I slugged down the rest of my stout and selected a beer on the complete opposite side of the ale spectrum, a Stella Artois. Taking my pint glass in hand (Yes, they use glass!), I wandered outside.  When I used to hang out at The Bulldog, the patio was not heavily used or even in existence.  But now, with a myriad tables and chairs, large umbrellas to block the sun and a cool "fountain" featuring water endlessly gushing from a line of taps, it has become the perfect place to relax and watch the traffic roll by.

As I was drained the remnants of my Stella, the patio was already half-full of folks who had just left work and had met up with friends for a few beers, maybe a few bites and some good conversation.  It was good to see that my old neighborhood tavern hadn't really changed all that much...just enough to make it even better.

Pinkberry: I'm not a groupie...really!

For many months now, folks have been buzzing all over town about Pinkberry, the new frozen yogurt craze that is "swirling" the nation.  When I discovered it's origins in West Hollywood, I thought to myself "OMG! It'll be totally radical dude!"

Well, not really. I was sure it would highlight the plasticity that is Los Angeles. Just looking at the website made me cringe a little (and turn off my computer speakers). Pinkberry's marketing strategy focuses on three things; happy, peppy employees, store design and atmosphere and a great product.  They are community-concsious (like most of our local businesses), but it comes with that California pretension and, well...insincerity.

When I visited the first New Orleans location on Magazine Street yesterday, I was not at all surprised by the clientele packing the tiny shop.  The parking lot was a money-scented slew of BMW's, Lexus and Mercedes and their owners carried Louis Vuitton purses and wore Moss Lipow sunglasses. I suppose I could also blame that on the Whole Foods across the street, but it was still unnerving.  Every single person who walked through those spotted lime-green doors oozed affluence and an innate sense of privilege.  It all felt so elitist...so materialistic...so very California.

In my mind this shop represented everything New Orleans wasn't. New Orleans is wonderfully down to earth and folks take you for who you are, not who you are trying to be.  They'd love to share a meal or a drink and it doesn't matter one whit that you drove a beat-up Pinto to get there.

My only problem now is that not welcoming a unique shop like Pinkberry would be very inhospitable and very unlike New Orleans. Well, that and the fact that the yogurt rocks!