Oceana Grill

Apparently if you say famous people's names loudly enough, you can skip the line and be seated right away! Well, at least that was true at this spot.

My new friends and I decided to get to know each other over some local food and thought we'd try Oceana Grill. It's a New Orleans style seafood restaurant located right off Burbon Street. A little touristy and noisy but still fun. They had a long line of people outside waiting to be seated but for some unknown reason to us we were seated right away! Some of the food was pretty mehh but some was pretty great. My favorite? The crawfish étouffée. YES! My fiancé's family made this for me a couple years back and I hadn't had it since. Boy have I been missing out! Étouffée is delicious!

To start we shared some fried eggplant sticks (exactly what they sound like, and delicious), and gator tail bites. Yes, alligator tail blackened with a remoulade sauce. It really was fantastic. I'm excited to try it again at other restaurants.
For my entree I had their Taste Of New Orleans. It comes with Creole jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, red beans and rice with smoked sausage. It was everything I needed to try in this city on one plate.
I could have lived without the jambalaya but everything else was really good. My friend Jillian had their blackened chicken po-boy and she really liked it.
Also their Kentucky bourbon pecan pie was out of this world. I'm gonna need to learn how to make that. Anyone with a good recipe?

Oceana Grill
739 Conti Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 525-6002
oceanagrill.com

Yo Mama's

My friend Molly sent me a list of all the places I needed to check out in New Orleans and listed as the best burger in the city was at a place called Yo Mama's in the French Quarter.
Now, apparently some will say the best burger is at a spot called Port of Call, so obviously I will be going there too but this burger was no let down.
I had their most popular burger: the Peanut Butter Bacon Burger.
WHAT!?
I know.
This insane combination actually works. The first bite was strange I must admit, but I quickly realized mixing peanut butter and meat isn't all that foreign. I mean, that's exactly what chicken satay is, right? The Thai's know what's up.
And I don't usually prefer my burgers with bacon on them, but chopped up like this so you get some in every bite? It's perfection.
If you're in New Orleans, don't miss this one!

Yo Mama's Bar and Grill
727 St Peter Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
French Quarter

LÜKE in NOLA

Breakfast Menu

I love a good menu design.

I'm really excited to be traveling to New Orleans over the next couple months, and I figured since LA also stands for Louisiana I can still blog about my food adventures here without breaking any rules!!!

PERFECT!

I spent the morning wandering the streets alone looking for place to grab a late breakfast and came across a spot called Lüke. The beautiful and cheerful restaurant was rocking out to some fun oldies music, just my style. I decided to give it a try.
I asked for some tea and spent some time perusing the menu. Then, I went with the waiters recommendation: A biscuit sandwich with fried chicken and spicy mayhaw glaze.
Ya, I didn't know what mayhaw was either, but I decided to go for it. GOOD CHOICE.
This sandwich was fried to perfection; crunchy with not too much dressing, and came with the perfect amount of fruit on the side. I can't wait to take Andy here when he comes to visit NOLA.
They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and every item on their menu looks delicious. A woman next to me ordered their pulled pork pressed sandwich topped with an egg sunny side up that looked incredible. Definitely want to try it! They also had a gorgeous display of fresh seafood: crabs legs, oysters, clams...very New Orleans. A lot of Yelpers also say their shrimp and grits are great.

Check it!

And for those of you interested, a mayhaw is a tiny fruit commonly found in the wetlands of the southern United States. It looks like a red blueberry and is often used to make jellies or preserves.

Lüke
333 St Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 378-2840

lukeneworleans.com

SWIRL GIRL

I am privileged to be a Swirl Girl: A mixed, multicultural, multi-ethnic girl.
My friends over at Swirl Girl Army approached me and asked if I'd like to be a Swirl Girl Icon and I jumped at the opportunity.
Check out the interview I did with them and find out more about me, my blog and what I've been up to!

http://swirlgirlarmy.com/post/60852705671/swirl-girl-icon-amber-stevens

Doughnuts

Hello Friends!!!
It's been months since I've written on here but it's been a crazy year and I've just neglected to make blogging a priority...but I'M BACK! (We'll see how long this lasts)
I've been to plenty of new spots in LA since I last posted and now I'll attempt to play catch up. 
The most recent spot I want to share is a donut shop in Hollywood called Kettle Glazed.

If you don't already know, cronuts are all the rage and this is the first spot I've heard of in LA selling them. If you haven't heard, read this HILARIOUS article about the lengths people are going to in Manhattan to get their hands on one.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/whos-buying-cronuts_n_3389694.html

I did no such thing to get my first taste. Kettle Glazed seems to be fairly under the radar right now so I had no wait at all.

And...it was puppy love at first bite. The kind of love where you feel butterflies and gitty but you know won't last forever. By the end of the cronut I was over it. I don't know that I'm a huge fan. It's absolutely delightful but not something I'd ever wait in line for. I'd much prefer a regular ol' buttery croissant or fresh glazed donut. GLAD I TRIED IT THOUGH!

I still recommend you go have a try yourself. 

I also one of the regular cake donuts. I think it was old fashioned blueberry maple. Very reminiscent of a blueberry pancake breakfast. Now THAT I liked :)

Check it out!
Kettle Glazed
6211 Franklin Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Neighborhood: Hollywood

PS - I stole some of these pics from Yelp because mine didn't turn out so great. 

A "Healthier" Banana Bread Recipe

Hi Friends!

I know I don't usually share recipes on here, but I've adapted my own version of this "healthier" banana bread today and need to write it down...so I thought I'd share it here!

The reason it's "healthier" is because it includes NO BUTTER OR OIL! I've substituted Greek yogurt and added pecans and dried cranberries for some antioxidants and a bit of fiber. 

I know, it's kind of a stretch to call this a healthy dish but it could be worse!!

Here it is!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Crumble

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon flour

Directions

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl
2. Mix brown sugar, bananas, eggs, vanilla extract and yogurt in a separate bowl
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
4. Stir in pecans and cranberries
5. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown, about 50 minutes
7. Mix ingredients for crumble and spread on top of bread and continue to bake for 10 minutes. You'll know it's done when you stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean

Let me know how you like it!

xoxo