Maurepas Foods + Tales of the Cocktail = Great Meal

So, I finally made it down to Maurepas Foods in the Bywater & I am proud to say, it did not disappoint. A group of 4 signed up for the Tales of the Cocktail 5 course food & vodka pairing dinner. It was epic!

As you can see, the menu was fairly extensive and experimental. The total cost per person before tip was $65. 360 Vodka sponsored the event & did a great job with shirts, coasters, and providing the booze.

Below are some of the plates Maurepas served with the variety of exotic vodka cocktails:

Above is the sweet peppers and cucumbers which was a great opener - very refreshing!

The best of the 5 courses pictured above - Fried Tofu Sandwich. The bread was terrific!

Photographed above is the gulf crudo & kimchi puree. This was a great palet cleanser, but a bistro style portion.

Last, but certainly not least is the grilled beef with the aged balsamic salad. Delicious. This meat looked like it was cooked in a sous vide = perfect!

Overall, Maurepas seems like the place to be in the bywater. Hip with all walks of life inside having a good time. Loud & exotic. I cant wait to go back!

Guess that Restaurant: I bet you can't...

Happy Monday ya'll. In an effort to brighten up your day / give you a good break from the grind, I have uploaded the following photos of my recent dining. Can you crack the mystery? Can you solve the case? Let's get to it...

Clues for photo #1: Arguably the best dessert in uptown New Orleans. Huge portion at a place known for it's atmosphere. Great date spot.

Clues for photo #2: All veggies underneath this gigantic pile of cheese. This restaurant is definitely good value & BYOB.

Clues for photo #3: Not the best value, BUT a great portion. A little bit of a drive from that UPT...and no, the Soph Monster does not come with the meal.

Hope ya'll enjoyed your work break! Party on!

New BBQ Restaurant on Magazine Street: Saucy's BBQ

There is a new Uptown restaurant located at 4200 Magazine Street. Saucy's BBQ took over the former Ignatius space. The layout and decor is extremely similar if not identical.

I tried Saucy's today for lunch & thought it was ok (77/100). I ordered the grilled chicken plate with smoked beans and spicy cole slaw.

The highlights were the smoked beans and two grilled chicken breasts. The downers were the slaw and two BBQ sauces.

One of the sauces was a traditional BBQ sauce and the other looked like a remoulade style sauce with a cream base. I started dipping my chicken into the smoked beans which was terrific. The smoked beans served as a much better sauce then the two actual bbq sauces.

As you can see, the menu is fairly diverse for a BBQ joint. Personally, I am thrilled to have another great takeout option in the uptown area. I always embrace BYOB restaurants as it definitely helps with keeping cost down at dinner. My lunch plate today, which was very filling, cost $9.72. I will definitely be back.

Small side note: I once ate BBQ every day for an entire year at a place called Bert's BBQ in Austin, TX. I ordered what was known as the Toe Man. Once If I made it to 1000 orders at Bert's, they promised to rename the Toe Man to The Case Man. Burt's burned down in 2007.

BBQ in the Bywater

Nothing could be better than getting a bunch of good people together for an afternoon BBQ. Even if it's 90 degrees & super humid. And even better than a regular BBQ, is a BBQ with a bunch of local New Orleans chefs who absolutely know what they are doing! Well, this is what I was lucky enough to attend yesterday!

You may be asking yourself, what is that shelter /bunker pictured above? That's no bunker. It's a hand built slow-cooker built for slow cooking a large piece of meat.

Pictured above is a whole lamb provided and cooked by Two Run Farm. The lamb was placed on a spit at 2 pm Sunday afternoon and cooked for 6 hours! You would not believe the aroma this lamb & slow-cooker produced.

Most of the attendees of this Sunday BBQ, brought a dish to share with the group. Classic potluck. There was salsa, guacamole, cucumber salad, macaroni salad, green bean salad, and much more. The spread was one of the best I have ever seen. There was a keg of Abita and an amazing strawberry & watermelon liquor drink that was topped off fresh spritzer. Perfect for cooling us all down on this horrible July day.

And then GOD said, "let there be burgers!" Oh Yeah! These patties were just like I like 'em - thick. This made me rethink my philosophy on BBQ's. The proper BBQ should have two meats cooking:

(Attack the menu from two angles)

1)Fast meat (ie. burgers) that can be ready in a flash to prevent the group from getting hungry

2) A low and slow meat that keeps the group excited for what's still to come.

ValueNola approves of absolutely everything involved with this BBQ. Great job Two Run Farm! This Sunday get together made me want to say " Goodbye Uptown, Hello Bywater!"

Sriracha + Hummus = YummyHummy

Have you ever felt that plain hummus are plain boring? I have. The cracker / dipping tool is what gives the hummus flavor, right? And that is not a healthy way of eating this amazing protein. So companies like Sabra have started doing flavored hummus which has been very successful. Also, very successful right now is Huy Fong - Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. Americans seem to be adding this spicy red sauce to just about anything and everything. This the clear bottle with the green top and rooster logo. So, last week, I decided to add some Huy Fong to my boring hummus...BAM!!! The hummus were instantly better and more flavorful. Tons of flavor! This inspired me to get up from the Corporate Realty lunch table and go straight to my desk and buy the domain Srirachahummus.com -- That's right! Srirachahummus.com

I know. It's very tough to spell and in hindsight it probably wasn't the best investment of my career, but I still like the flavor combo. I urge all my readers to try this very simple - two part recipe next time they are having hummus. You will not be disappointed.

In other news, check out this most (below) interesting sign I came across in the bywater yesterday:

Can you say Ron Paul?

Summer Cooking Ideas: Carrots, Figs, and Peaches

Three ideas for summer cooking to kick it up a notch & try something new!



#1 - Carrot fries: Super easy to make. Cut those carrots thin, bath them in EVOO, spice em up, and bake them in the oven. Super delicious and healthy!



#2 - Grilled Peaches: On sale right now from Rouses for $0.97 per pound. Fire up the grill, slice the peaches in half, wipe the grill grates down with EVOO, paint the peaches with honey and salt, and grill then until you get some nice grill marks.



#3 - Fig Chutney - Nothing adds flavor to a meat (chicken, pork, etc...) like some cooked figs on top.

Guess that Restaurant: ValueNola visits California

Welcome back! Congratulations to last weeks winner, Ashley Orr, with her lucky guess of La Petite Grocery! La Petite is definitely one of the great New Orleans brunch spots, BUT DAMN it will burn a hole in a brother's pocket.

This weeks edition includes both New Orleans & California restaurants / dishes. Good luck!





Clues for Photo #1 & #2 (both are from the same restaurant): This west coast upscale burger joint features truffle fries, tempura onion rings, and a trendy decor. Burgers are in the $10-$14 range.



Clues for photo #3: This all american breakfast spot would be near impossible to guess unless you were at the Fishman wedding in Ojai, CA last weekend. So, this will be guess that dish: The special of this popular brunch spot is the ______________ which needed no syrup. Also note, I ordered turkey sausage to save on calories and a possible heart attack from the special.



No guessing on the above photo. I included this photo because I totally want/need one of these smoker / grills for my backyard. F'ing Amazing.



Clues for photo #5 - A $20 Cobb salad = only in _____, CA!



Clues for photo #6 - Tuesday lunch special at this popular & classic New Orleans pink restaurant. Great low carb entree.



Clues for photo #7 - same restaurant as above. This special is the ultimate half soup & half sandwich lunch entree. Panera Bread ain't got shit on this. Can you say heart attack?

OK. I think that is enough for today. Good luck.