I’m not sure what’s better in New Orleans — the food or the music. It’s too close to call.
We started our evening on Frenchmen Street at
the Praline Connection. It’s a cool soul food spot where the waiters wear black pants, black Fedoras, and white shirts with neckties. The tables in the restaurant have a permanent plastic covering for easy clean up and feature two condiments — a hot sauce, and a hotter sauce.
We began our meal with some appetizers and our first beer of the evening — a local brew called Abita Amber that was quite good. The appetizers, selected after careful analysis of a menu that was filled with tantalizing options, were alligator sausage slices with a thick and tangy tomato dipping sauce and fried chicken livers. Both were excellent. I’ve always had a soft spot for fried chicken livers, and these were plump and crunchy.
For my entree I ordered crawfish etouffee. I’ve loved that dish since I spent time in Lafayette, Louisiana on a case in the early ’90s and had my first crawfish etouffee at a wonderful restaurant called Cafe Vermilionville. The Praline Connection version of this traditional Cajun dish more than met my lofty expectations. Served with a volcano-like mound of white rice in the center of the gravy and tender crawfish tails, with cornbread to crumble over the top and help to soak up the goodness, it was the perfect start to our New Orleans adventure. We ate every morsel and were ready for some music.