On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 17:24:31 -0400, Mike Nowak > wrote:

>To anyone living in and around New Orleans at the present time or recent past, are there
>any recommendations of great places to go for groups of 5-8 people - places where I'd kick
>myself for missing when in a great food town like New ORleans - where I can make reservations
>in the next week or so? (I know a lot of good places the reservations are to be made
>exactly 30 days in advance.)
>
>I'm there in a little more than a month for a conference, and I wanted to make reservations
>for a few nights (probably 3 total - Weds., Friday, Saturday), partly to make sure that I hit
>some of the real highlights, and also very much to avoid the typical conference pattern of
>starting to walk out the doors with a couple of friends, and slowly accreting stragglers,
>until suddenly you're a group of 18 or more and can only fit in the Applebee's. I'm looking
>for good places that can fit a small, managable group (but not necessarily the cozy, romantic
>restaurant for two - I'm not *that* fond of any of my colleagues).

We don't live there, but we're there about four times a year.

If you want truly excellent food, even by NO standards:

- La Crepe Nanou is a ton of fun, and doesn't take reservations. It's also in a
residential area (Garden District), and known to very few tourists. We go there
every time in NO. And it has excellent food.

- Peristyle can handle 5-8 easily, and is among the very best.

- Might be tightfor more than 6 in Brigtsen's, but the food is superb amd
Frank's in the kitchen every night (unlike most other name chefs).

- Bayona is similarly superb and can handle the group.

Unless it's a monster big conference, you stand a good chance of getting into
any of these.

These places, plus one other too small to handle groups, are the gustatory
highlights of NO for us. We don't usually bother with any of the Brennans'
places, certainly since Jamie Shannon passed on. And Emeril's disappoints --
even Nola is more enjoyable.

-- Larry