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Balise (Lafayette Square/Historic District, New Orleans, LA)

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Justin Devillier does it again! His original restaurant, La Petite Grocery, is a more refined restaurant with delicate, rich French flair. The new Balise is more of a communal hangout/bar type of restaurant with the same refined flavors but with more of a bold and masculine flair. There’s more of a bachelor’s hangout kind of feel, but can be laid back and romantic at the same time. The service was great. The waiters are very knowledgeable and make great recommendations!

 

IMG_0696eFancy Rose Lemonade. 

 

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Gulf Shrimp. Uni. Clam Vinaigrette. Fennel. Saffron Mayonnaise.

 

 

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Chilled Roasted Beets. Sheep’s Milk Ricotta. Red Vein Sorrel and Spiced Pecans.

 

 

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Crab & Camembert Gratin. Lemon and Fines Herbes.

 

 

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Cauliflower Soup. Fried oysters. Black Truffle.

 

 

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Cheeseburger. Sharp Cheddar. Caramelized Onions. B&B pickles. Comeback Sauce. Hand Cut Fries.

 

Balise’s menu is very different from La Petite Grocery in that it has more small plates on the menu. First, we ordered the Gulf Shrimp, which attracted us since there was uni, clam vinaigrette, saffron mayonnaise, and fennel. Somehow, every component and flavor profile meshed together so well. It was refreshing and interesting at the same time.

For our veg, we ordered the Chilled Beet Salad with spiced pecans and ricotta. A touch of ricotta for richness and the spiced pecans added a ton of flavor. I wish I could make this stuff at home.

I ordered the Crab & Camembert Gratin, because I can’t turn anything crabmeat down! Camembert is a type of cheese, similar to brie. It was yummy! I took the bread and topped it off with some of the crab au gratin.

Next, was the Cauliflower Soup topped with a crispy, fried oyster showered in black truffles. DE. LISH. I sometimes wonder why they give you such small portions, but due to the law of diminishing returns, small delicious bites are meant to leave you yearning for more. I can still remember those few bites of soup…

Despite our fine dining tasting menu that we created,  I am always craving a burger. So we ordered the burger as our main entree. haha..It definitely hit the spot. What makes this burger is the juiciness and the sauce. They call it the Comeback Sauce. It tastes like a remoulade and a buttery aioli at the same time.

What a great meal! If you’re looking for a laid back bar with fine dining, then Balise is for you. It’s worth trying at least once, but keep it mind, it is fine dining so it may be a little on the pricier end. Our whole meal with alcoholic beverages was around $111, but we left completely satiated.

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Rating: 4.5/5
Balise on Urbanspoon


 

Blaze (Warehouse District, New Orleans, LA)

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Blaze is a new concept that has reached the NOLA scene. You can create your own 11-inch personal pizza and it’s ready in 180 seconds! It’s very similar to Chipotle or Subway. The menu has a few signature pizzas ready to order for $7.95 and you can customize them by adding more toppings  (including meats!) for no additional charge.

 

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Our Pizza Maker crafting our pizzas!

 

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A bunch of cheeses, toppings, and meats. 

 

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Before the Blaze. 

 

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Our friendly pizza maker. 

 

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The finished product: thin, crispy, flash-fired pizzas!

 

Our pizza makers were especially friendly and helpful. I ordered the Meat Lover’s Pizza and added fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, and basil. My fiance ordered the White Top pizza and added chicken, garlic, jalapenos, and spinach. The pizzas were flash-fired quickly and out came two thin, crispy gourmet pizzas. You can top it off with your sauce of choice. We added olive oil to the Meat Lover and Pesto to the White Top pizza. The crust was thin and crispy but still had a nice bite to it. The pizzas are pretty large considering they are a “personal pizza”, but I can probably eat a whole one with no problem if I was hungry enough.  I only ate half of the pizza tonight as a snack.

Next time I’m craving a quick late night bite, I know where I’m going. I love that Blaze opens later than most fast food joints: Monday- Thursday til 11PM and midnight on the weekends. Also, they serve draft beer! Since my fiance often gets home late from work, we’re always looking for late night joints for dinner. Blaze will have to be one of the top on our list now (especially since it’s only a few minutes away from our home!).

 

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Rating: 5/5 spoons

 
Blaze Pizza on Urbanspoon

 

Hot Spot (Fairfax, VA)

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In Washington, D.C. Asian cuisine is limited, but there a few unsuspecting spots if you venture a little further out. Hot Spot is a “hot pot” place located in Fairfax, VA. For about $22.99 you have the choice of broths, meats, veggies, and get to create your own dipping sauces at the sauce bar. Next, it’s easy. You just cook your selections in the broth, dip into your specially made sauce, and enjoy! To learn more about Hot Spot’s hot pot style, check out their website: http://www.eatdrinkhotspot.com/

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Fresh broths.

 

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Fresh Seafood and Meats. 

 

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Veggie plate. 

 

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Hot Pot. 

 

We had a party of 6 and after a whole day of museum going and site-seeing we were starving! For an all-you-can-eat restaurant, the selections are very fresh and the broths are flavorful. On the other hand, every time we ordered more vegetables or meats, the same portion size would come out each time (even if we put down an order of 100). That would have to be my only complaint, however, I do understand from their standpoint since they are all-you-can-eat BUT they should supply enough for a large table who is sharing, since it can be frustrating to have to order multiple times during the meal. Regardless, this has to be the best hot pot restaurant I have every been to. The quality, freshness, and service was on point. I wish I could’ve brought this Hot Spot home to Louisiana with me!

 

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Rating: 4/5 spoons
Hot Spot on Urbanspoon

Crave Cupcakes (Rice Village, Houston, TX)

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Cupcakes are the perfect dessert. It’s a portion controlled sized cake. I’m not saying it’s a healthy option, but it’s definitely a smaller version of a could-be much larger cake slice. There was once a time I was obsessed with Sprinkles’ Strawberry cupcake, that is, until I found out about Crave’s delicious Strawberry Cupcake…

 

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Coconut Cupcake. Vanilla Cupcake. Strawberry Cupcake. Margarita Cupcake. 

 

While I visited Houston, I had to visit my top favorite places to eat and Crave Cupcakes was one of them. (Especially since I’ve been craving cake so badly lately!). I find that the Strawberry Cupcake is much  more wholesome and fruity. There are small chunks of strawberry within the super moist cupcake and the flavoring is very subtle. I really enjoy the sprinkle that Crave Cupcakes uses too. It’s a softer and more edible sprinkle compared to Sprinkle’s sprinkle (theirs is almost unedibly hard). My only disappointment is that we don’t have a cupcake place this good in New Orleans!

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Rating: 5/5 spoons
 
CRAVE Cupcakes on Urbanspoon

Tivoli & Lee (Lee’s Circle, New Orleans, LA)

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On Easter morning, “The Chef” and I had brunch reservations at Tivoli & Lee. It’s located right in the center of Lee’s Circle, a very prime location for an up and coming restaurant. Tivoli & Lee’s menu had a variety of interesting dishes that I couldn’t wait to try…

 

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Bottomless Mimosa. Usually, they place it in a different cup as an identifier for “bottomless” and unlimited refills, but this day was so busy they ran out of the bottomless mimosa cups. This is the cup for a single mimosa.

 

 

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Boudin Dip. Duck cracklin. Seasonal jam. Dijon Mustard.

 

 

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House-made Drop Biscuits. Devil Ham spread (highly recommended by our waitress)

 

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Charlie’s Gumbo. Chicken. Oyster. Andouille Sausage.

 

 

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Quail-N-Waffle. 

 

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Oyster Salad. Arugula. Frisee. Celery. Chopped Egg. Spiced Pecans. Blackberries. Candied Mustard Seed Vinaigrette.

 

I understand that Easter brunch is a very busy time, but we had made reservations around 1:30 PM. Our waitress was sweet and made some decent recommendations. I ordered the bottomless mimosa, because who can eat brunch without bottomless mimosas?! Plus, the single mimosa price was $3, but unlimited was $10. It’s worth it! Unfortunately, it was such a busy day that they ran out of the unlimited mimosa cups and there was a ton of confusion when I did not get refills. To start off my meal, I wasn’t too happy with that…

45 painful and “hangry” minutes later, we received our first wave of appetizers: Boudin Dip with Duck Cracklins, Drop biscuits with devil ham spread, and the Gumbo. The boudin dip was interesting. I don’t think I’ve seen that dish anywhere in the city and it had to be my favorite of these 3 dishes. The Drop biscuits were dense and dry, but the Devil Ham spread was pretty good. If only it had a fluffier and more delicious medium to be spread onto. The Gumbo (see pictures) was obviously sitting for quite a while under a heat lamp. There was a layer of soup skin that had formed on top from sitting for so long. I can’t tell if it was the kitchen’s fault or the wait staff’s fault for the delay in food expediting. As for the gumbo itself, I wouldn’t try it again…

30 minutes after our first wave of appetizers, we received the Quail-N-Waffle and Oyster Salad. The Quail was cold and the waffles were soggy from the sauce. Eating any type of poultry dish that comes out cold is always disappointing. The Oyster Salad had to be the highlight of the meal, since you can’t really go wrong with fried oysters and the salad was refreshing, but easily forgotten.

It’s not often that I do poor reviews, but I feel this was worth sharing because the menu at Tivoli & Lee was very attractive but the execution was lacking. At the same time, I don’t know whether or not to blame the wait staff or the kitchen. Although our waitress was nice, she didn’t address the long wait and didn’t update us on our food progress. It was a long and disappointing brunch…Hopefully, Tivoli & Lee can improve on this, because I see potential for a good restaurant, but service issues need to be addressed.

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Rating: 1/5 spoons
Tivoli & Lee on Urbanspoon

Carrollton Market (Uptown, New Orleans, LA)

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My fiance and I try to have date nights as often as we can. This is super gag-worthy, but he still tries to surprise me. I never know where we’re going on “date night”. On this particular night, he surprised me to Carrollton Market. Carrollton Market is located on the further end of South Carrollton, among other great restaurants worth mentioning such as Brigtsten’s and Dante’s Kitchen. The restaurant was one of the few things that were actually open in the area. It’s nestled in an almost residential area among a few boutiques that are only open during the daytime. The area is very safe and quiet and has a romantic feel to it…

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“Buttery Biscuit Roll”. At least that’s what I called it. This dinner roll is flaky and buttery like a croissant but in a biscuit.

 

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Brick Wall Farms Baby Lettuces. Shaved Radish. Fennel. White Balsamic Vinaigrette.

 

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Oysters Goodenough. Flash-fried Oysters. Benton’s Bacon. Creamed Leeks. Sauce Bearnaise.

 

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Crispy Veal Sweetbreads. Sauteed Spinach. Roasted Oyster Mushrooms. Caper-Brown Butter.

 

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House-made Creole Cream Cheese Cavatelli. Louisiana Crabmeat. Cherry Tomatoes. Grana Padano.

 

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House-made Potato Gnocchi. Braised Oxtail. Raisins. Pine Nuts.

 

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Buttermilk Panna Cotta. Ponchatoula Strawberry Compote. Pecan Brittle. Local Honey.

 

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Baby Beignets. 

 

The first thing that came out was their bread. The bread is like a biscuit but a dinner roll at the same time. It was so buttery, flaky like a croissant. Loved it! I could eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For our salad we ordered the Brick Wall Farms Baby Lettuce salad which had a light and citrusy White Balsamic Vinaigrette. Next, there were the Crispy Sweetbreads, which were bathing in a browned butter sauce. They were moist with a light crisp on the outside and how can you not like anything bathing in browned butter?

Culinary fact: I went out with some friends recently and asked them if they’d ever tried Sweetbreads. Immediately, they shouted, “No, but I LOVE bread!”. I had to quickly explain that sweetbreads aren’t what you think. Sweetbreads are a type of Offal, a group of edible organs and entrails that aren’t considered muscle/bone and are considered a delicacy in the culinary world.

The Oysters Goodenough (named after the Chef) were like charbroiled oysters, but topped in a Bearnaise Sauce and Benton’s Bacon. They were exceptionally rich and flavorful. My fiance couldn’t stop talking about them. If only we had room for more…

We also ordered the Cream Cheese Cavatelli topped with crabmeat. If you know how I like order, you’d know that if I see crabmeat on the menu, it will end up on my dinner table. The Cavatelli was fresh and perfectly cooked. I loved that although this was a pasta dish, the citrusy and wine notes lightened it up and didn’t make you feel to heavy. Since we had good amount of seafood themed dishes, we ordered the Potato Gnocchi and Oxtail to finish off the dinner. The sauce was deep and savory.

Since we were so full, the waiter suggested that we opt for a lighter dessert: the Panna Cotta. It was topped in local strawberry compote and local honey. So light, refreshing and delicious. It paired so well with the mini beignets that we ordered on the side. I know, so much for a light dessert, but it’s so worth it!

The feel is very romantic and the restaurant is small, but there is room for large groups. Just be sure to set a reservation. I love the menu at Carrollton Market since they offer local items on their menu. There’s a Southern sophisticated flare to each dish. Every dish that we ordered not only melded together so well, but it also complimented the other dishes on the menu. I can’t wait to see what they have to offer again soon.

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Rating: 4.5/5 spoons
Carrollton Market on Urbanspoon

Atomic Burger vs. Mooyah Burger

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This past week I have been craving burgers like crazy! I found two burger joints off of Veterans Memorial that are both delicious and similar, but which burger had the best bite??

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The Atomic Burger. Fresh ground beef. Special A.B. sauce. American Cheese. Dressed.

When I have a stressful day at work, I get into my car and drive home thinking “burgerrrr…”. A coworker recommended Atomic Burger as her favorite fast food burger joint so I drove straight to it. The patty was really fresh…even fresher tasting than some local, restaurant burgers. This is a neater-eating burger and doesn’t cause much of a mess. Atomic Burger’s menu is a lot more simplified and sometimes you just don’t want to complicate a burger. Every now and then, I just want my beef patty on burger buns with a side of fries and in that case Atomic Burger has my vote!

Atomic Burger on Urbanspoon

 

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Rating: 3.5/5 spoons




Mooyah Burger. Double meat. Swiss. Dressed. Fried Onions. Mushrooms.

Mooyah isn’t too far from Atomic Burger and is located right next to World of Beer, where they have probably THE widest selection of beer. Unfortunately, the burger joint itself doesn’t sell beer so I couldn’t enjoy a cold one while I ate my burger, but that’s okay. That’s what the bar next door is for! Anyways, back to my burger, there’s the option for a double patty burger and on this particular day, I definitely needed a double. I have to mention that the service at Mooyah is a little lacking. The cashier at the counter wasn’t helpful or friendly  at all. It wasn’t busy and there was only one person behind me. Regardless, the menu is easy to figure out. Mooyah also offers a variety of toppings. I ordered my classic swiss, fried onions, mushrooms burger. Everything was great, but I will say that the bottom bun is thicker and more pillowy than most burgers. The Mooyah Burger is a lot messier, but probably a result of adding a double patty and a multitude of toppings. I like the variety and options that Mooyah offers.

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Rating: 3/5 spoons

Mooyah Burger & Fries on Urbanspoon
So it comes down to, who has the better burger???

 

In this battle of the burger, Atomic Burger wins! Both burgers are great, but when it comes down to flavor and eatability, Atomic Burger’s patties are clearly fresher tasting and ergonomically pleasing.




DC Coast (Downtown, Washington D.C.)

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Years ago, an uncle of mine visited Maryland and brought home THE freshest and most delicious crabcakes. I can’t remember where they were from, but while I was in DC, I had to try DC Coast…

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Bottomless Mini Ciabatta Bread. 

 

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Seasonal Salad. 

 

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Crab Cakes. Comes with choice of sauce and sides. I ordered the Spicy Remoulade.

 

The building itself looks pretty fancy, but once inside, it’s more casual to dressy casual. Very fine service to go with the decor and quality of the food. The pictures don’t show it, but the bread was little mini ciabattas.  Cute and buttery…mMmmm! It doesn’t look like much that we ordered, but the whole trip was just one restaurant after another. We at at maybe 3-4 restaurants per day so all I could fit were the crabcakes, but they were so worth it! Purely crab with minimal breading and hardy enough to finish the day off as dinner. One order of crab cakes costs $35 with choice of sauce and side. It’s a little on the pricier side, but well worth the bottomless basket and quality crab cakes. I’d definitely visit again for great service and good food!

 

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Rating: 4/5 spoons
DC Coast on Urbanspoon