When conversation turns to brunch, I immediately think of Surrey’s. I have it in my mind that it’s very popular with locals, but you wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve talked with that are not familiar with it. This, my friends, is my ode to Surrey’s.
Surrey’s is truly a destination for breakfast and brunch foods. While known for their freshly squeezed juices, shots of wheat grass and vegan/vegetarian dishes, you can also indulge in one of my favorite selections, the Bananas Foster French Toast. Tucked away inside the butter-laden bread pieces is cream cheese and bananas. The BFFT is the arch nemesis of wheat grass, and it will rock your world.
It’s sweet. It’s chewy. It’s rich. Look at those crispy little bits on the edges! Why eat pancakes when this dish can satisfy so many breakfast cravings?
Speaking of wheat grass, this is what a $9 beverage combo looks like. Pricey? Yes. Quite possibly the most delicious glass of O.J. you will ever sip? Oh, yes.
Perhaps you’re in the mood for something green, but in a solid state. Here’s the Spinach Cheese Melt with Grilled Chicken. If meat isn’t your thing, add tofu, instead. My favorite meatless dishes are the Vegan Avocado Mash and Creamy Black Beans. Those two sides alone make for a delicious and filling meal.
Now, there are a few tips I want to give you if you haven’t visited Surrey’s. First, they are only open until 3:00 pm. Boo! Hiss! Food this good should be available any time I want it. But, too bad. Secondly, while they close at two, for the love of all that is good in this world, do yourself a favor and do not walk in that door at 2:40. You are probably pushing your luck at 2:30. Service can be a little bristly, which I attribute to the table-flipping mentality that is prevalent here. You see, Surrey’s is tiny. In order for the servers to make money, they’ve got to get you in and roll your ass out. So, if you don’t want major attitude, be mindful of the clock. Lastly, don’t forget to bring cash, because plastic is not accepted. If you forget, there is an ATM on the premises.
Now, go out there, eat at Surrey’s and conquer your morning (or afternoon)!
Are you curious about what farmer’s markets have to offer? Daniele shares her haul from Hollygrove Market and Farm with the rest of the class. -Leslie
For such a long time, I was jealous of all of my friends living in areas that had access to CSAs. What is a CSA? CSA stands for community supported agriculture. CSA members support local farmers by buying a share of the harvest. Each week during the growing season, members get a box of produce (and sometimes other farm products like eggs). I like fruits and veggies and I definitely support the idea of buying food from local sources, so the whole CSA concept was very exciting to me. Except that every time I went looking for a CSA in the New Orleans area, I couldn’t find one!
But then came the Hollygrove Market and Farm (located in the Hollygrove neighborhood, imagine that) offering their own style of CSA. And I must say, I think it’s better than those CSAs I spent such a long time being jealous of. Instead of buying a membership share for the whole growing season, the boxes at the Hollygrove Market and Farm are sold individually every week. I’ve heard from my out-of-town friends that the traditional CSA model of purchasing a whole season’s worth of food can get overwhelming. Having the option to buy a box only on the week’s I know I can use it helps me cut down on wasted food languishing in the bottom of my fridge. And as if that weren’t enough, the nice people at Hollygrove Market and Farm post what’s going to be in the week’s box on their website a few days before it is available to help you decide if you want one or not. They’ll even send it to you in their e-mail newsletter!
Of course, this being New Orleans, you gotta have a little lagniappe. Hollygrove Market and Farm delivers with a “lagniappe table” where you can buy extra fruits and veggies in addition to what’s available in the weekly share. But the lagniappe doesn’t stop there! They’ve also got dairy products, baked goods, and eggs from their on-site chickens (even some meat for you carnivores).
Head on out to Hollygrove Market and Farm on Tuesday or Saturday to buy a box of fresh local produce. And if you can’t make it over to the main location, there are satellite deliveries to Loyola University and Tulane Medical School. Also, a satellite market has recently started at St. Anna’s church on Esplanade Avenue where you can pick up a box or get a few lagniappe items on Saturdays from Noon to 4:00 PM.
Daniele prefaces her latest contribution to NOLA-Eats.com with this: “What kind of a blogger about New Orleans vegetarian food would I be if I didn’t dedicate a post to our city’s one and only exclusively vegetarian restaurant?” I concur. Veg*n visitors and new transplants might be surprised that the city only has one restaurant that caters to their dietary preferences. Today, Daniele gives us her opinion. -Leslie
Like most vegetarians/vegans/etc. in New Orleans, I was thrilled when I heard that we would be getting a vegetarian restaurant in town again. I moved here just after Old Dog, New Trick closed, so having a veggie restaurant option in New Orleans is a novel thing for me and oh so very welcome. I can’t describe what it’s like to finally be able to go to a restaurant where I can have anything on the menu. Usually I consider myself lucky to have two or three things to choose from, so it can get down right overwhelming when the whole menu is open to me. Being a Gemini doesn’t help in the decision making process either. Heh. I’m glad that my dining companions have been patient with me.
So, is Café Bamboo the best vegetarian restaurant that I’ve ever been to? No, probably not. But is it a good restaurant? Yes, definitely. I know that this place has gotten mixed reviews on various social networking food websites, but most of the things that others have complained about were things that I either did not experience or that did not bother me. I know that Café Bamboo had a change of chefs in recent months, so I’ll just talk about my most recent experience there.
My friends and I braved the cold and the rain to have dinner there last Friday. I had the Bourbon Chick’n, which was phenomenal. I am not sure if the “chicken” was made of soy or gluten. What I am sure is that it was crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and slathered with a great sweet and spicy sauce. The sides that it came with were good for the most part as well: wilted spinach cooked with plenty of garlic and amazing mashed sweet potatoes that had coconut milk in them. The super-dry cornbread wasn’t as impressive, but it served its purpose as a conduit for the extra sauce left on my plate.
So, if you are a vegetarian or a vegan, you should definitely check out Café Bamboo. And if you are the friend of a vegetarian or vegan, humor them by tagging along. They (We) put up with the paltry veggie offerings at your favorite meat restaurants all the time. I am going to go out on a limb here and recommend that even if you are a meat-eater and all of your friends are meat-eaters you might enjoy a visit to Café Bamboo when you are in an adventurous mood.
Cafe Bamboo
Downstairs @ The Dragon’s Den
435 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, 70116
(504) 940-5546 Get directions
Daniele, NOLA-Eats.com’s veggie contributor, is back from her trip to Buenos Aires. Today, she covers tempeh and Garage Pizza. -Leslie
Those of you who aren’t vegetarians may have read the title of this week’s post and asked yourself “What in the heck is tempeh? Is she talking about a town in Arizona?” To which I’ll say that while I am sure Tempe, AZ is a lovely place, I am pretty sure you can’t make a sandwich out of it. What you can make a sandwich out of is tempeh – a fermented soy bean product. Oh come on, stop making that face. It’s good! The soybeans are dried and mostly left whole. The fermentation process helps them stick together to form sort of a cake. It is a traditional food originating from Indonesia, and has been a common offering in health food stores since my mom was wearing patch-work bell bottoms. Think of it as the world’s first veggie burger!
Quite a few months ago, a colleague told me that there is a restaurant in New Orleans that actually serves the stuff. And that restaurant is… Garage Pizza on S. Robertson (next to Handsome Willy’s in what’s left in the medical district). Say what? A pizza place? Yup. You read that right. In addition to an extensive specialty pizza menu, Garage Pizza also offers a few things you wouldn’t expect from a pizza restaurant such as brown-rice tofu bowls and tempeh sandwiches. I had a rare day the other week when I found myself with enough time for a restaurant lunch on a week day so I decided to check things out.
My verdict? Meh. I didn’t have a particularly bad experience with Garage Pizza and their tempeh, nor did I have a particularly good one.
The restaurant itself is a nice enough place: a mix of airy-modern style (high ceilings, celery colored walls, concrete floor) with corner dive details (large wooden bar, street signs and license plates hung about the room). But what could have been a casual-cool ambiance was pretty much ruined for me by the big screen TV at the corner of the bar where the staff was watching soap operas. I don’t want to listen to your stories when I am eating lunch; put that nonsense on closed-captioning and turn up the radio.
I ordered the tempeh sandwich, which comes served in a whole wheat pita with mayo and greens (p.s. vegan friends, ask them to hold the mayo) and a side salad. The side salad was minuscule, which is a shame because the citrus vinaigrette that came with it was really, really good. I would have liked more lettuce to enjoy it on.
I thought the tempeh itself was a little over-marinated and too salty. But I eat very little salt in my food, so it might taste just fine to you. At first I thought that the $8.00 that they charged for this fairly simple sandwich was a little pricey. When I thought about it though, the sticker shock dissipated as I came to realize that tempeh is a fairly expensive ingredient and I was given quite a bit of it.
So, would I go back to Garage Pizza? Yes, I would. I’m sure I will at some point. However, when I’m there I’ll probably get a pizza or give the tofu bowl a try. If you are really desperate for tempeh or just want to support a restaurant that goes out on a limb to offer it, by all means get the tempeh sandwich. Otherwise, order something else (and maybe bring your headphones).
Today, Daniele, our vegetarian contributor, writes about her long-lost love — a damn good bagel. -Leslie
In this week’s post I am going to show my Yankee roots for a minute and talk to y’all about bagels. I love bagels. Bagels in my homeland of the NY/NJ area are delicious and plentiful. Bopping down to the neighborhood bagel shop in the morning for some fresh-baked, warm, chewy goodness was a ritual that brought me joy and comfort when I lived up North.
And then I moved to New Orleans – where the bagels are scarce and a good bagel is even scarcer.
If I recall correctly, there was one bagel shop in town when I moved here in 2004. I think it was called Bayou Bagels? But they only had two locations and neither of them were near my house. They didn’t return after Katrina, which is just as well because their bagels were extremely mediocre. Their staff clearly didn’t know a thing about what makes a good bagel, as evidenced by the fact that my shouts of “No! Please don’t toast it!” were met with confused looks from the lady behind the counter as she retrieved my bagel from the toasting rack. Which leads me to Bagel Rule #1: If you have to toast a bagel, there is something wrong with it which. Toasting a bagel means you have something to hide: staleness, lack of density, poor crust formation, excessive preservatives – something.
Post-Katrina there have been a few stores and coffee shops in the area that carry H&H bagels imported directly from NYC. I do enjoy H&H bagels very much, but something is lost when they are frozen and shipped 1200 miles away. The inside isn’t quite as dense and chewy. The outside isn’t quite as crisp and crunchy.
But there is a glimmer of hope.
I happened to catch a rerun of the Food Network show “Diners, Dives And Drive-Ins” in which they paid a visit to Surrey’s Juice Bar and Café on Magazine Street to profile their “Brooklyn-style” homemade bagels. I remained skeptical, but my interest was piqued. So the next time I went to Surrey’s I went ahead and ordered the bagel plate and I have to say I was really impressed by what I got. So impressed that I think I have ordered the bagel plate 4 out of the last 5 times I’ve been there. The bagel had all the hallmarks that a good bagel should have: dense and soft inside with a crispy crust. It’s served with a little salad, some capers, and your choice of either cream cheese or a delicious avocado mash. I always pick the avocado mash. The recipe seems to change a bit depending on what herbs are available, but it is always great. Last time I had it they went heavy on the fresh basil which sounds kinda weird but works really well with the mellow, buttery taste of the avocado.
However, when I went there and ordered the bagel plate last weekend, they broke my sacred Bagel Rule #1. Yes, my friends, I am sorry to report that my bagel arrived toasted. I’m trying to remember if the previous bagels I’ve had there also came toasted. I’m pretty sure they did not, but now I am worried that my brain has created false memories of wonderful fresh bagels as a reaction to the continuous disappointment I feel when I try to eat bagels in New Orleans. Please, Surrey’s, I’m pretty sure you’ve got a good thing going on. Don’t stick it in the toaster and ruin it!
As promised, here’s the first contribution from guest writer Daniele Farrisi, vegetarian, health professional & Bywater resident. -Les
Hello, fellow NOLA Eaters! A few weeks ago I was g-chatting with our esteemed leader, Leslie, about the new NOLA Eats website. She had the wonderful idea to solicit input from those of us who had a special interest in a particular facet of New Orleans cuisine. At that moment, I invited myself to become the NOLA Eats vegetarian correspondent. So here I am and here we are.
Before we start with the food-talk, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself.
Hi. My name is Daniele. I’ve been eating food all of my life and cooking food since I could barely see over the counter-top in my mother’s kitchen. I have been a vegetarian for nearly 19 years and a vegetarian living in New Orleans for just over 5 years.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that there isn’t much room for vegetarian fare in traditional New Orleans cuisine, or in the modern New Orleans dining scene for that matter. Plenty of pork, plenty of seafood, even some chicken. But veggies? Just veggies? Not so much. It was quite an adjustment to make when I moved here from NYC where vegetarian options are abundant. But I manage. And I’m hoping that this blog will help other vegetarians who find themselves in New Orleans manage to find delicious things to eat, too. I know you are out there, other New Orleans vegetarians! I hope that as we make our voices heard, vegetarian cuisine will continue to expand and gain respect in New Orleans.
As I mentioned in my first blog post here, I have a few tricks up my sleeve for NOLA-Eats.com. One thing I never like to claim is that I am an expert on anything. Well, maybe ’80s pop trivia, but that’s about it. That’s why I have enlisted the knowledge of some of those near and dear to me whom I believe know a lot more about certain things, such as vegetarianism.
I don’t eat a ton of red meat, pork or chicken, but I love me some seafood. So, while being a strict pescetarian doesn’t work for me, I like to think of myself as a meat-reducer. Some people have committed to a meat-free lifestyle, choosing to either go vegetarian or the more extreme vegan, and I applaud them. One of those folks happens to be my good friend and long-time vegetarian Daniele Farrisi. Daniele will be posting here once a week from the perspective of a vegetarian in a very veggie unfriendly city. Be sure to watch for her introductory post in the morning.
If your idea of getting your veggies is eating the celery from a Bloody Mary, I’ve got you covered, too. Christy Lorio, yet another one of my awesome gal pals, will also be contributing weekly with her reports on local watering holes, notable wine selections and other adult beverage news. We’re going to have a lot of fun with this one, folks. Her first article will be up tomorrow, as well.
What Is NOLA EATS?
Social Dining in New Orleans.
Combine new media & social networking with food & libations and you get NOLA Eats, a New Orleans-based social dining group and blog. Founder, Event Coordinator and habitual socializer Leslie J. Almeida writes about her favorites in New Orleans restaurants and nightlife while promoting a "live local" lifestyle.
You can follow more of Leslie's NOLA adventures by connecting with her on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
