Eating Our Way Through New Orleans

I sometimes joke that I run because I love food. That’s partially true, though there’s a host of other reasons that I run. The full list of reasons would definitely include fighting my genetic predisposition, staying fit, feeling strong, and setting and achieving goals.

But when it comes to New Orleans, I most definitely believe that I’m running in order to eat. Because the food in New Orleans…oh my goodness.

Here’s where we stopped and noshed while in New Orleans to eat run the full and half marathon.

Mulate’s | We last ate at Mulate’s in 2007 while attending a New Orleans destination wedding. Memory along was enough to bring us back.

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The food – in this case, the seafood platter we split for lunch – did not disappoint. We ate at Mulate’s twice during our 4-day stay in New Orleans.

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Court of Two Sisters A colleague posted amazing photos of the jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters during Mardi Gras. We tried to get into the jazz brunch, but it was sold out. (Lesson learned: Book a couple of weeks in advance!) We went for dinner instead.

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We both had the fixed price dinner, selecting different starters, main dishes and dessert. Kelly had the gumbo to start, while I ordered turtle soup. It is, in fact, soup made with turtle meat. If you’re wondering, it’s delicious.

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After small salads, we enjoyed catfish (Kelly) and probably the best shrimp and grits I’ve ever had.

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Pat O’Briens | No trip to New Orleans would be complete without a stop at Pat O’Brien’s.

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And what to get at Pat O’Brien’s? A hurricane, of course.

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Cafe Beignet | We’re not fans of Cafe du Monde’s breakfast, because we don’t like chicory coffee. But we do like beignets, so we headed one morning to Cafe Beignet.

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We enjoyed the Cajun hash (smoked sausage, potatoes, sourdough bread and an egg).

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Of course, we also split an order of beignets – very very fluffy!

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Cochon Butcher | We took a friend’s advice and headed to Cochon Butcher for dinner the night before our race. Normally we eat a sandwich pre-race…when in New Orleans, do a sandwich New Orleans style.

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The ambiance was fan-tastic.

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So were the sandwiches. And those Brussels sprouts!!!!

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Next time we’ll share this bad boy…it was huge!

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Acme Oyster House | Post-race eating is much more fun. You can have butter and all sorts of terrible-for-you stuff!

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We split the charbroiled oysters at Acme (ohmygoshsogood).

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We also took the bartender’s advice and switched our hushpuppy order to crawdaddys instead – that’s a hushpuppy made with crawfish meat. Delicious!

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Bourbon Street | You just have to wander down Bourbon Street with the masses when you’re in New Orleans. Even better if you can run into friends and hang out with them.

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Cafe du Monde | While we’re not huge fans of Cafe du Monde, eating an order of beignets there is a New Orleans must. We had a great time introducing a friend to the wonders of the powdered sugar overload.

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Mother’s | Our last breakfast before flying out was at a New Orleans institution – Mother’s.

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Behold the most tender, fluffy and light biscuit I’ve ever eaten. And can you believe they serve it with the butter pats tucked underneath? Because of this, the butter is perfectly soft. Why doesn’t EVERYONE do this?

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Eggs and sausage.

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Eggs and debris (the pan scrapings after you cook a pot roast). Ah-maz-ing.

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In short, we ate far too much food to compensate for the calories burned during our run. But we were in New Orleans, so it’s to be expected.

Now we’re on a diet.

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