NOLA Dining Week

Having been raised in the South with a dad who should be a chef, I have always appreciated a good meal. When I was searching for the perfect graduate school last fall, one of the things that was most appealing to me about Tulane being located in New Orleans was the wonderful restaurants and local cuisine that the city has to offer. As Anthony Bourdain eloquently put it,

“In America, there might be better gastronomic destinations than New Orleans, but there is no place more uniquely wonderful… With the best restaurants in New York, you’ll find something similar to it in Paris or Copenhagen or Chicago. But there is no place like New Orleans.”

As a new citizen to the city of New Orleans and a self-proclaimed food lover, I was very excited to learn that the week of September 9-15, 2013 was We Live to Eat Restaurant Week. Sponsored by the Louisiana Restaurant Association, We Live to Eat Restaurant Week gave restaurant goers a unique opportunity to discover new and old dining spots in the city. With over 50 restaurants in the New Orleans area participating, guests of each participating restaurant were offered the opportunity to purchase a two-course lunch for $20 dollars or a three-course dinner for $35. Having only lived here for a month, I saw this as a golden opportunity to try a couple of new restaurants so I decided on John Besh’s Domenica and the well-known Brennan’s restaurant Commander’s Palace.  After dining at both, I must say that neither were a disappointment. With Besh’s unique twist on Italian cuisine and Commander’s Palace’s classic New Orleans style dishes, I left both places very pleased with my meal and will definitely be participating in next year’s restaurant week.

Picture Description: Praline pecan sunday and pecan pie at Commander’s Palace