My Romantic Times Day 2 — Antoine’s and What Followed After

So, back there in a previous post, I talked about being a wannabe foodie.  I also love grand old restaurants.  So, when Jessica Freely suggested lunch at Antoine’s, I said YES.  Cold or no cold, I was not missing this.

Antoine’s is a genuine New Orleans establishment.  It moved to its current location in the 1860s. Our waiter was the 3rd generation of his family to work at the restaurant.  It has 15 dining rooms, including the Japanese room which was closed on D-Day, and did not open again for 50 years.  All the Mardis Gras kings and queens have their meals here before the parade.  It has also hosted 5 presidents and at least 1 pope.  When Katrina hit, the only damage the restaurant took was to the wine cellar, but the entire collection was lost when the power went out, over $2 million dollars worth.

They have a prix fixe lunch too.  Life is good.  So is lunch.  I had the vichissoies, which was amazing, breaded pork chops (on the bone) and pecan bread pudding.  All amazing, but that soup was the star of the show.  We toured the restaurant afterwards and even were allowed upstairs to the private rooms, including the Japanese room, and we were allowed out on the balconey to see the view:

Me and Jessica in the Proteus room, where the Mardis Gras queens dine.

The Rex Room

The Re-Stocked Wine Cellar

The Japanese Room

The View

I had to be back at the conference for the annual Sci-Fi shindig — the Intergalactic Bar & Grill.  Unfortunately, this was when the Cold decided it and I had had enough.  I’m told I was really not looking good.  I sure as heck wasn’t feeling good.  Went back to the room and to bed.  I meant to stay there, but I got an email from Mallory Loehr of Random House inviting me to dinner with some of their other YA authors, including Tamora Pierce whom I hadn’t seen in years.  Oh, heck.  Slept as long as I could, got dressed, headed out to SoBu to meet the gang.

This place was pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum from Antoine’s.  Also fine dining but about as modern as it could be.  Cutting edge cocktails and small plates to share.  Of what we ordered, the winners were definitely the spicy pulled pork tamale and the sweet potato “biegnets” which were, IMHO, less like biegnets and more like hushpuppies.  Whatever.  They were really tasty.

The food was good, but the company was great.  Unfortunately, I started turning odd colors again and had to once more go back to bed.  Slept hard and didn’t get up until the next morning.  Apparently missed a great discussion about Robin McKinley.  Sigh.