Chow Fest 2012-Day 3

First off, to start off this day, let me just say that if you are in need to put on a quick 20 pounds, follow our suggestions on where and what to eat. I will say this. We are walking everywhere. One of our favorite things about New Orleans is that you can walk just about everywhere and see so many cool things. Yesterday, while in Biloxi, I took my poor husband on an all day shopping extravaganza at the outlets in Gulfport. He was not thrilled. But again, we were burning off calories. Ok, enough about that. Onto the adventure!

For breakfast today, I took my voucher for a free breakfast buffet at the casino while Tadd slept in. I had french toast, a cinnamon roll, eggs and grits and coffee. Shut up. I know it's a lot of food, but I knew it was going to be later before we got to N.O. to eat lunch. I had to fuel up people. And I have difficulties at buffets. I feel like I need to eat a little of everything. It's a problem, I know. Anyway, I brought Tadd a muffin and a banana (the only fruit or veggie you will hear about today), and we hit the road! No ratings for breakfast. It was a buffet. You don't need my ratings to know what it was like.

Day 3-Lunch: So we started getting nervous about our lunch choice. We had seen it on the Food Network several times, and we were gun shy based on our experience with Blow Fly yesterday. We proceeded though with hopes that since Emeril loves it, that we would too. We arrived atDomilise's around 2:00 p.m. Can I just say right now that this is one of the fun things to me about traveling without kids. You can eat when you are hungry. Not when they are!

As we pulled up, we could smell the seafood frying from outside! My french toast had worn off and I was ready to EAT! My wise husband reminded me though that we would need to be hungry for dinner, so we decided to split a small shrimp po-boy.

Now, being from the Gulf coast, I've had many a shrimp po-boy. This one was special. The breading on the shrimp was perfectly crunchy and golden. The perfectly petite crustaceans were laid to rest upon crusty french bread and topped with lettuce, tomato (yeah, we ate veggies!), mayo and Crystal hot sauce. I can't explain the flavor, except perfection. I am one who usually eats tarter sauce on my po-boy, but I decided to let the pros guide me here. I'm mighty glad I did!

Top it off with Zapps Spicy Cajun Craw Tators, and you are set my friend. It was a tasty start to our time here in the Big Easy! Ratings: Tadd-9, Holly-9

Tad and Holly after our po-boy

Day 3-Dinner: After checking in the hotel and walking around for a few hours, mama was hungry again! So we headed to Tadd's favorite place for oysters, Drago's! This place surprised us on our last visit here, as it is in the lobby of the Hilton. Tadd hasn't quit talking about the grilled oysters since then! We ordered a dozen of them and crab au gratin. Yummy! Now, I do not eat oysters, but Tadd made me try them.

I ate 2. They were so good. They grill them while covering them in a buttery sauce (video below...if it works). It is served with grilled, garlic french bread and lemons. And the au gratin was cheesy and full of fresh, lump, crab meat...rich and filling. Just delicious! Ratings: Tadd-10 (he wants to specify that these are the best grilled oysters he's ever had, not the best food). Holly-8.5

Day 3-Dessert: Don't judge. You would eat like this if you were here too. And in all fairness, we ate two appetizers for dinner (even thought they were both bigger than my face). We planned to walk to Nola, but it was raining, so we took a cab.

When we got there, we saw that they were filming a movie in the bar across the street. I tried to get a part as an extra, but they said I was too fabulous. Ha! Anyway, the movie was calledNow You See Me starring Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Woody Harelson. We got to see Mark Ruffalo! I love a star spotting.

Anyway, onto the real star of the night...Emeril's King Cake bread pudding! It was served with creole cream cheese ice cream, strawberry compote and pecan streusel. It was absolutely divine. I loved it so much. It was rich, but not too sweet, moist and perfect in every way. I'm ashamed to say that we both dug into it before we remembered to take a picture. Sorry it's not very pretty!

We sat at the bar where we could see all of the chefs at work, and had such a good time. You can see in the picture that this guy was cooking in this 800 degree wood burning oven. He made us a little sample of warm house-made pancetta with roasted garlic and pickled okra. The combination of all of them together was truly something special.

And to top it all off...a night cap with the one you love. This can't be rated. Off the charts!