La Macarena Pupuseria

Pupusas are a staple dish in El Salvador, and La Macarena Pupuseria whips up vegan and vegetarian fare from El Salvador that highlights this Central American classic.

Pupusas are a less famous cousin of the arepa. It's more of a dumpling or pancake than an arepa, which has more in common with a sandwich than a dumpling. There sometimes are subtle differences in the corn flour used to prepare arepas and pupusas. It's safe to say that if you like one, you'd probably like the other.

The staff at La Macarena is fun and friendly like the decor. The menu offers tons of vegetarian and vegan options, and the daily specials often include a meatless option.

The guacamole tostadita showcased fresh avocados and cilantro. The crushed red pepper adds an interesting spicy touch to a fantastic starter.

There were a few different vegetarian combo plates. I sampled one with a tamale, plantains, black beans, cheese pupusas and curtido, a Mexican/Salvadoran cole slaw. The tamale was soft. The plantains were starchy with a hint of sweetness. The pupusas were stuffed with a little bit of cheese that was sweetened up by corn. It paired well with the slaw and the hot sauce.

One other interesting item at La Macarena is the tableside condiment. There is a mild tomato and pepper sauce from El Salvador that is more tomato driven than its hot sauce relatives from other countries. This is another touch that adds an authentic flair to this restaurant.

Vegans, vegetarians and those who like international flavors all should find plenty to like at La Macarena. It's a family owned gem in Uptown New Orleans that is well worth a stop.

La Macarena Pupuseria

Domenica

Domenica is the latest project from New Orleans' resident culinary auteur John Besh. If you have missed Besh on Iron Chef or Top Chef Masters or HBO's Treme, his ever expanding empire gives diners a chance to experience his talent in a variety of different settings.

Domenica is a more casual affair than Besh's more heralded establishments like August. The same attention to detail combined with a whimsical sense of imagination makes Domenica equally successful as its more formal brethren.

The dining room at Domenica fits comfortably into the upscale Roosevelt Hotel. Though the dining room is visually striking, the tables suffer from being a little to small to handle the torrent of fantastic food pouring out of the kitchen. Overall, it's a small problem in an otherwise elevated dining experience.

The menu is divided into classic Italian components: antipasti, primi, secondi and dolci. Diners can pick a dish from every part of the classic Italian meal, or they can order pizza and toss in extra items to fill in the blanks. The staff caters to vegetarians very well and is easily able to address all dietary concerns.

The cheese plates come accompanied by savory beignets. The soft, puffy dough is a great vehicle for sweeping up fig compote and other antipasti components. The beignets are a delightful contrast from their sugar-coated cousins served at places like Cafe du Monde.

The fried squash blossom appetizer was perfectly breaded and stuffed with a creamy goat cheese. The bright flavor of the balsamic reduction and the tomatoes bring a nice acidity to the dish. These are delicious enough to make a full meal out of them by themselves.

The main attraction, of course, is the pizza. The crispy thin crust pies are fired in a wood burning oven. Meatless pizzas include a plain cheese, a Margherita, a goat cheese, scallions, radicchio and arugula pie, a four cheese pie and a spinach pie.

The Margherita was an updated version of an Italian classic. The crust had a great texture, and the blackened portions added a smoky flavor to the pizza. The fresh mozzarella, imported from Italy, is applied in perfect proportion to the tomato sauce and basil. The flavor of the tomato sauce is fresh and warm with hints of basil and garlic. The thinly sliced basil brings another layer of flavor to a flawless Margherita pie.

Cocktails and wine at Domenica are also excellent. The mixologist did a great job incorporating idiosyncratic ingredients into beverages that perfectly accompany the food. The wine list is heavy on Italian selections, but it has otherinternational and domestic component as well. In addition to alcoholic drinks, there are also house-made Italian style sodas at Domenica.

Domenica

Stella!

Stella is an amalgamation of international flavors that join hands in New Orleans to create a completely unique fusion cuisine. It combines European, Asian and Gulf Coast American elements that unify into a deeply satisfying package, all contained in a beautiful restaurant with a fun atmosphere.

Chef Scott Boswell brings his fun personality to Stella. His adventurous spirit comes to play in everything you eat at Stella. It quickly becomes evident why Chef Boswell was nominated for a James Beard award this year.

The amuse bouche was a mango puree prepared with taro root strips and spicy kimchi. The sweet flavor of the mango puree is pronounced at first, and the tangy bits of kimchi and the crunch of taro root join into a synergistic whole.

My appetizer was a chef's garden Bibb lettuce and organic purple radish salad with sweet red onions, fiddlehead ferns and blueberry vinaigrette. The salad combined crispy lettuce and crunchy radishes with a tart dressing, and the pop of fresh ground pepper made the flavor explode.

Stella prepares a vegetarian composition daily. Its contents are determined by whatever the freshest ingredients of the day are. The latest creation is cauliflower, beets, turnips and white asparagus with sugar snap peas, wild rice and potato croquettes, cauliflower puree, tapenade butter and a micro green salad. The croquettes were soft, hot and delicious. The veggies were crisp and flavorful. The dish was presented beautifully

The most minor complaint I had about the choices available for vegetarians was that the appetizer/entree combination available for vegetarians on the night I went to Stella was a little too salad heavy. I like mountains of greens as much as the next guy, but the portions might have been more in order if there was a non-salad appetizer available, or if the entree had a smaller green salad and more of the fresh veggies and croquettes. Overall, this is a minor complaint. The fare was so amazing that it overcame this slight oversight.

The dessert grilled cheese (yes, you read that correctly), however, hit the bullseye. Small tea sandwich portions of bread were stuffed with Explorateur triple-cream cheese and luxurious chocolate ganache. It was augmented with artistically applied blueberry sauce and fresh berries. The dessert wa so rich, and it was impossible to tell where the chocolate began and the Explorateur ended. The acidity in the blueberries adds a great contrast to this fantastic dessert.

Dinner came with an additional lagniappe in the form of a plate of delicious candies and cookies. While the strawberry marshmallow wasn't vegetarian-friendly, the chocolate coconut macaroons, absinthe truffles, white chocolate coconut nougat and passion fruit candies were both vegetarian-safe and satsfying.

Service at Stella was outstanding. The staff was jovial, knowledgeable, and deeply capable of addressing vegetarian dining concerns.

The wine list runs the gamut from trophy wines from DRC, Guigal, Margaux, Ridge, Peter Michael and Antinori, to idiosyncratic labels like the Friedrich Becker Pinot Noir from Germany and Surh Luchtel Page Nord Vineyard Rhone blend from Napa. Stella also has a full bar.

Stella

Green Goddess

Green Goddess is a small French Quarter restaurant with a great array of vegetarian and vegan fare paired with exciting cocktails. What it lacks in size it more than makes up for with gigantic flavors that come from the fresh ingredients.

Calling Green Goddess intimate would be as apt a description as calling Shaquille O'Neal big or Glen Beck opinionated. The place isn't just intimate; it feels like you are sitting in the chef's home kitchen. The decor is eclectic and eccentric.

The menu at Green Goddess allows you to order a degustation or to make selections a la carte. While the degustation may have meat or seafood ingredients, the staff would happily prepare a vegetarian degustation if you ask nicely.

I started off with a cheese plate as an appetizer. The menu features about seven local, national and international cheese choices. I selected Mont St. Francis, a crumbly goat cheese with a full flavor, Veneto d'Estate, a medium bodied cow's milk cheese with grassy, herbal notes, and Brillat-Savarin, an unctuous triple cream. The cheeses were presented with pepitas, olive oil and a soft pita bread. It would have worked equally well as an appetizer or as dessert.

The main course was an example of how Green Goddess turns great ingredients into exciting international fare that defies category. The huitlacoche crepes made with fresh mushrooms in a brandy sauce are a great fusion of French technique and Mexican ingredients that combine into something that is greater than the sum of its parts. There are layers and layers of earthy flavor that pick up additional richness from the crepe and sweetness from the brandy. Still more layers of flavor come from the porcini salt and butter. Any time I see huitlacoche (a corn fungus) on a menu, I must order it, and Green Goddess rewarded my predilection for corn smut kindly.

My dessert, Saturn Calling, is a black rice pudding with rings of coconut milk and Arborio rice stars surrounding it. Instead of being cloying, the rice pudding had a subtle sweetness that envelopes the mouth. The cinnamon adds a horchata note to the dish. It is deeply satisfying.

The beverage list has some very interesting cocktail choices. Since it was Derby weekend, I sampled the See Rock City mint julep, made with Catdaddy Carolina moonshine, ginger syrup, lychee juice and muddled mint. I am not a mint julep fan, but this drink was absolutely delightful. Other cool cocktail options include an absinthe/sugar cane juice drink, a Rob Roy made with Scotch finished in Sauternes barrels with high-end vermouth and a cherry, and a horchata and brandy milk punch. Green Goddess also offers idiosyncratic wines by the glass and bottle, and it also has a decent selection of craft beer.

The staff at Green Goddess is tremendously friendly, and their service is outstanding. They did an excellent job presenting the vegetarian and vegan options on the menu, and the effervescence of the menu is matched by the vitality of the service.

The intimate environment at Green Goddess does create a few issues. The best plan involves showing up early on weekends, because the 25 seats fill up quickly. Once you get yourself in the door and in a seat, however, the fun of the Green Goddess is immediately evident.

Green Goddess

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is a two week event in late April and early May that celebrates the music, food and cultural heritage of the Crescent City.

You expect the music to be great (see the calendar for details). The bonus is that the fest also has scores of vegetarian dining options conveniently marked by an asterisk for your meatless dining convenience.

Much like New Orleans, the food at Jazz Fest is a melting pot. There is Cajun fare and Creole cooking in addition to food from other parts of the U.S., Italy, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and Japan. Most of the vendors are from the New Orleans area.

Jazz Fest provides a tremendous opportunity to try a little bit of everything in the Big Easy. When paired with a great soundtrack, it's a winning combination.

Red beans and rice is about as New Orleans as a dish can get. It's at least as New Orleans as gumbo, jambalaya, andouille sausage, muffulettas and po' boys. Unfortunately, carnivores often up the flavor of their R-B-R with ham hocks, sausage or bacon. Luckily, Burks & Douglas prepares a vegetarian red beans and rice that packs all of the flavor with none of the guilt.

Ya ka mein (pronounced yock-uh-mean) is a dish of indeterminate origins with a flavor that is 100 percent New Orleans. Ostensibly, ya ka mein was introduced to New Orleans by Chinese port workers, and it was later adopted by the African American community. It is sometimes called old sober because it is utilized as a hangover cure. Miss Linda's catering makes a vegetarian ya ka mein (ya ka mein is typically a beef soup). Vegans be warned: it does contain a hard boiled egg. The hot soup has a mushroom broth base turned up by soy sauce and hot sauce, then filled with spaghetti noodles, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, scallions and of course the hard boiled egg. You don't have to know who created ya ka mein to know that this one tastes delicious.

Bennachin is an African restaurant in New Orleans that specializes in the cuisine of Cameroon and Gambia. The vegetarian combo plate that they serve comes with jama jama (sauteed spinach) and fried plantains. The spinach is prepared with onions, garlic and hot peppers. It is soft and satisfying. The plantains are soft and thickly breaded. The savory spinach pairs well with the sweet plantains.

Mona's Cafe is a small Mediterranean chain in New Orleans. Like most Mediterranean places, Mona's features many vegetarian choices. The combo platter comes with falafel, hummus, tabouli and a Greek salad. While the food was tasty, it was definitely a pain to eat salad at Jazz Fest while the sand and wind are whipping you in the face. Unlike myself, I would recommend taking shelter before engaging this dish or you will end up coating yourself and those who surround you with lettuce, dressing and feta cheese.

DiMartino's Muffuletta's makes a vegetarian muffuletta that is absolutely killer. The thick, sesame seed sandwich roll is stuffed with Swiss cheese and covered in an olive salad with red peppers, yellow peppers, mushrooms, green olives, spices and olive oil. Flavor explodes from the olive salad, and it's so good that there are no condiments required.

One of the other New Orleans specialties that was on display at Jazz Fest was the Snoball. If you ask for a Snow cone, a vendor will assume that you are a stupid Yankee and spit in your dessert. Plum Street Snoballs had stands set up all around Jazz Fest. I sampled the chocolate snoball with an extra dollop of condensed milk, which adds both sweetness and richness. It is a great cure for the blazing hot sun (or whatever else ails you).

There were many other vegetarian eats available at the fest that I didn't get a chance to sample. Other options include fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob, spinach artichoke casserole, fried eggplant in marinara, broccoli cheese pie, seaweed salad, Tunisian salad, Jamaican steamed vegetables, grilled veggie pitas and gelato from La Divina Gelateria.

I will have to wait for another time and another forum to extol the music I saw at Jazz Fest. You can see some of the music I caught in the slide show below. However, the food alone makes the Jazz and Heritage Festival a destination all by itself.

Jazz Fest

Restaurant August

Restaurant August is as fine of a restaurant as there is to be found in the Big Easy. The jewel in Chef John Besh's crown, August does as fine of a job with their vegetarian preparations as they do with everything else on the cutting-edge menu.

For those who are unaware of John Besh (those not interested in fine dining and/or foodies living under a rock), his resume is impressive. Highlights of his career include graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, being named Top 10 best new chef by Food & Wine magazine in 1999, winning a 2006 James Beard Award for best chef in the Southeast and finishing second to Cleveland Chef Michael Symon on the Food Network's Next Iron Chef after beating Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. Besh was a contestant on Top Chef Masters. He is also noted for his service in Operation Desert Storm, and for his brave return to New Orleans post-Katrina, where Besh came with a boat, a gun and enough rice and beans to feed some of the people of the city who were unable to feed themselves.

The atmosphere at August is striking. The restaurant is divided into about four or five intimate dining rooms, and the low lighting shows enough of the beautiful woodwork in the building to impress. The wine loft above the dining room is another beautiful aesthetic accent to Restaurant August.

There are vegetarian appetizers and an entree on the menu. The degustation can also be ordered by vegetarians, although 24 hour advance notice should be given. The chef can also prepare a main course that highlights the freshest ingredients (which is the choice I made).

The amuse bouche was a citrus salad prepared with pink grapefruit, sweet potato, purple lettuce and rosemary. It was a clean, bright explosion of flavor that began the meal with a beautifully understated prelude.

My appetizer was organic greens with pumpkin seed brittle and Point Reyes blue cheese in a pumpkin seed oil vinaigrette. The brittle was a savory addition to an unbelievably perfect salad. The brittle was crunchy, and had a faint spice that made the dish march on in a lockstep unity.

The bread sticks were sourdough, and came with a house whipped butter. They were absolutely fantastic.

The main dish was a vegetarian trio of sweet potato tortellini in brown butter and parmesan, a sweet pea saffron risotto and a dark grilled broccoli and cauliflower combo. All three parts of the dish were great. The tortellini pillows were topped with greens and slivers of cheese, and the rich, herbal butter sauce sings with umami.

The risotto was a bright green foundation supporting herbal foam and chopped tomato, garlic and white onion strings. The risotto was the essence of spring, with fresh flavors that emerged from a creamy base.

The broccoli and cauliflower were deeply charred, and the cooking process added a sweet, smoky note to the veggies. A fresh piece of thyme added another layer of flavor to this simple yet refined item.

The cheese plate came with a variety of local and international selections, as well as another piece of the delicious pumpkin seed brittle. It was served with an herb-infused lavash bread.

The wine list at August is excellent, as one would expect with a restaurant of this caliber. The Dr. Frank Finger Lakes Rkatsiteli, an ancient Georgian varietal produced in New York state, was an interesting selection by-the-glass.

Service at August is also fantastic. The staff did an excellent job addressing vegetarian concerns and creating an experience that sparkled.

Restaurant August is a place that is deserving of its mountain of accolades. The vegetarian experience is as excellent as the reputation of August would indicate.

Restaurant August

Cafe du Monde

Located across the street from historic Jackson Square, Café du Monde is home to some of New Orleans' most famous beignets. The French doughnut is a deep fried dough fritter covered in powdered sugar. It is typically dunked in coffee like its American cousins.

The closest Americanized equivalent of beignets is the fair food known as elephant ears. Beignets are one of the simple pleasures of New Orleans breakfasts.

The cafe au lait at Café du Monde is blended with chicory. Chicory gives coffee a deeper roasted flavor. According to the Café du Monde Web site and a cursory look at history, chicory came into use during the French Civil War when coffee became scarce, and was brought to Louisiana by the Acadians.

Café du Monde is hopping busy in the mornings. However, since it is open 24/7, you should have plenty of opportunities to sample the fare at New Orleans' original coffee stand.

Cafe Du Monde

Crescent City Brewhouse

Let me fire the first warning shot across the bow: Crescent City Brewhouse hates vegetarians. Posts on this blog always address places that are vegetarian-friendly. And Crescent City Brewing is just about the opposite of that. The meatless menu is limited to baked brie and a salad.

Also, the ground floor is virtually a seafood raw bar that smells as such. If you can get past these issues, however, Crescent City makes some tasty brews.

The easiest places to escape the veggie prejudice at the brewpub are the open air balcony on the second floor, and of course with the convenient New Orleans vehicle called the Go-Cup. Plan accordingly.

The best of the regular brews is the Red Stallion. This Viennese-style, red lager possesses a medium carbonation, a surprisingly rich malt character offset by a clean alpha hop note. The finish is grassy and malt-driven.

Other regular brews include a weiss, a Schwarzbier-like black beer and a classic pilsner. The seasonal offering was a dunkelweiss. If you're following the theme, all of the beers are rooted in a Teutonic tradition.

Crescent City Brew Pub

Lilette

Lilette is part of the creme de la creme of the New Orleans dining scene. Others come and go, but the classic approach to fine dining employed by Lilette creates a timelessly successful experience that is always sure to please.

Some of the accolades that have rested on the mantle of Chef John Harris include him being recognized as one of Food & Wine Magazine's best new chefs in 2002, as well as being named 2001 Chef of the Year by New Orleans Magazine. The restaurant is also often in the top 10 rankings of New Orleans eateries.

The atmosphere of Lilette rests somewhere between staunch formality and that of an upscale bistro. The fare is French and Italian with a New Orleans foundation. The wine list favors Europe but has options to satisfy the New World palate with equal effectiveness.

There are a large number of appetizers that are acceptable for vegetarians, including the grilled beets with goat cheese and walnuts, the cheese plate and potato gnocchi with sage brown butter and Parmesan cream. There are also a number of meatless salads, including a delightful hearts of palm salad in a lemon, olive oil and Parmesan dressing.

I started with the eggplant crisps with skordalia, tomatoes, basil and oil-cured olives. The crunch of the eggplant was offset by the vibrancy of the tomatoes and the basil. The olives provided a nice salty contrast to the rest of the dish.

There is not a vegetarian entree on the menu. However, the staff plans for a vegetarian dish each night based upon what is freshest in the kitchen.

My entree was fluffy gnocchi in an oil and sage base topped with spinach, lima beans and grape tomatoes. The gnocchi were delightful. The pillowy texture of the potato pasta soaked up every last bit of flavor from the vegetables.

The cocktail list was small but well chosen. I absolutely love the Hendrick's gin martini with a cucumber garnish as an apperatif.

Desserts are also very nice. Pastry Chef Beth Biundo makes great treats for after dinner. If you're too stuffed after the meal, you can always contact her side business (Cakes by Beth) and have something made to take home with you.

Lillette

Sucre

On top of all of the rich food and booze and general debauchery that characterizes the New Orleans experience, the trip just wouldn't be complete without dessert. New Orleans just wouldn't be New Orleans without beignets, pralines and Bananas Foster.

Now keep in mind that I am in no way criticizing the merits of New Orleans' signature desserts. However, if you take a trip down the Mississippi River, Sucre will give you a clue as to how many other ways sweets can be amazing beyond the realm of the traditional.

Sucre is captained by Chef Tariq Hanna. Hanna applies his passion for pastry arts to create a abundance of savory sweets to satisfy a sweet tooth of any shape and size. He'll throw in a few hints of pralines and bananas to please the purists, all the while combining new elements that make you think deeper about dessert.

The storefront is located on the busy Magazine Street thoroughfare. Sucre makes ice creams, gelatos, pastries, candies, cookies and cakes. The artistry of the fare is breathtaking.

I enjoyed the sugar-free raspberry sorbet. It was a deeply sweet expression of pure fruit. Another Columbus resident reviewed the (non-vegetarian) macaroons. She enjoyed them, but gave a slight nod to local favorite Pistacia Vera.

I'm hardly the first to notice Sucre. It seems that everybody adores the macaroons. See O Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and even Maxim extolling the virtues of the sweets at Sucre for proof. I particularly like Hanna's quote in Southern Breeze Magazine: "Everything in moderation, as long as you moderate frequently." Check me off in the box as another adoring fan.

Sucre

Trolley Stop Cafe

On the trek to Magazine Street, a local gentleman recommended that we stop at the Trolley Stop Café for breakfast. Who am I to argue with the locals?

The Trolley Stop is open 24 hours and it serves breakfast all day. There aren't a tremendous amount of vegetarian options on the menu. However, they make all the standards (silver dollar pancakes, waffles, toast, bagels, etc.).

The hash browns are delicious, and different from any others I've tried. Whole potato pieces were griddled in an ocean of butter. It's very rich and very filling.

Trolley Stop Cafe

Jacques-Imo's

Amid the hustle and bustle of Uptown New Orleans, it's hard to miss the activity at Jacques-Imo's, the flagship operation of high-energy chef Jacques Leonardi. Jacques-Imo's offers new spins on Creole and Cajun delicacies, all prepared under the watchful eye of one of the city's most talented and idiosyncratic gourmands.

It's very easy to get a feel for how Jacques-Imo's operates. The animated Leonardi roams the floor checking on customers. These same customers are ushered into the restaurant right through the kitchen, giving them an insider's perspective on operations at one of the busiest restaurants in the city.

The colorful decorations match the spirit of the restaurant and the cuisine. Signs order patrons to "Be nice or leave," although the hospitality is far more gracious than the signage would suggest.

The meal is supplemented by small plates brought out between starters and the main course. The corn bread muffins were divine. They were drowned in a bath of garlic butter and tasted good enough to justify me eating three plates worth of corn bread.

The vegetarian delight was an acorn squash stuffed with broccoli, cauliflower, black beans, sweet potatoes and onions in a coconut curry. The presentation was a beautiful array of colors. The flavors ran the gamut from sweet to spicy to rich to vegetal. Many of the sides are vegetarian, as well, including mashed potatoes, okra and collard greens.

Dessert was a bread pudding that was like a liquid version of a cinnamon roll. It was a savory take on delicious.

The bar does a fairly brisk business. Jacques-Imo's doesn't take reservations for parties less than five, and patrons wait patiently at the bar for tables to open up.

My personal highlight from the bar was the special Jockamo IPA from Abita. The aggressively hopped brew was a perfect foil to the spicy food.

One of the other highlights at Jacques-Imo's is the two top truck. Two patrons may sit at a table in the back of a Jacques-Imo's pickup truck in front of the establishment and enjoy the atmosphere of Oak Street.

Jacques-Imo's

Vegetarian tips for New Orleans

Before I get started on vegetarian dining in the Crescent City, I will dole out some advice on meatless eats in a city that would put bacon in the drinking water if they were so permitted. With some careful planning, enjoying the simple pleasures of New Orleans' food without the burden of flesh-eating guilt can in fact be as easy as it is epicurean.

One of the more useful resources I stumbled upon in my searches was a blog Eating Out New Orleans. It's a mish mash of reviews of vegan restaurants in New Orleans. They offer short, humorous takes on the many different cuisines, markets and hot spots for all types of palates in the city. The author has moved away from New Orleans, so you might want to call these places before venturing there. That being said, I found some great places on this site, and this is a fun way for a vegetarian to walk in someone else's shoes and eat in (or out) NOLA.

When you're in New Orleans, there is obviously no shortage of big name chefs in bells-and-whistles establishments that anybody in any city would know. K-Paul's. The trio of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants. Brennan's and Commander's Palace. And while I'm sure that these places might attempt to cater to vegetarian dining requests, many other big ticket places do a better job highlighting a commitment to vegetarian-conscious dining. That is why I choose to highlight them instead.

• August--Superstar Chef John Besh has no shortage of accolades. According to his bio, Besh has been named Top 10 Chef in America by Food and Wine Magazine, Best Chef of the Southeast by the James Beard Association and a number of other stratospheric recognitions too numerous to credit here. Suffice it to say, the guy is talented. There isn't much on the every day menu or the pre-set degustation that is vegetarian appropriate. The degustation can be ordered vegetarian with advance notice, and coupled with the atmosphere and the service, it would be certain to amaze.
• Galatoire's-- Smack dab in the middle of the madness of Bourbon Street sits Galatoire's. It is an old-fashioned Creole/French affair where both the staff and the patrons are dressed to impress. There are a number of vegetarian side dishes in addition to the grilled vegetable platter. The salads are also mostly vegetarian.
• Andrea's--Italian restaurants are typically very kind to vegetarians. Andrea's, considered one of the city's finest Italian restaurants, is no different. There are many salads, bruschetta, and an assortment of of pasta dishes on the menu (There were a few other Italian places with vegetarian options on the menu, including Carmelo's).

New Orleans is a giant melting pot of culture. As a result, the Crescent City's restaurants share a similar international flair.

• Sake Cafe--This is a funky Japanese place in Uptown New Orleans. There are portabella sushi rolls, edamame, miso soup, noodle dishes and a number of other vegetarian options on the menu.
• Hoshun Restaurant--Hoshun is a Pan-Asian spot that also has a couple of vegetarian choices on the menu. The cuisines represented on the menu are Thai, Chinese and Japanese.
• CoCo Hut--This Caribbean outpost has many options for vegetarians and vegans alike.
• Juan's Flying Burrito--This colorful place features plenty of international vegetarian and vegan choices in a Mexican vein. It is not necessarily the most authentic option, but the menu looks fun and flavorful. A Midwestern equivalent would be Mad Mex or Casa Nueva.
• Byblos--Mediterranean restaurants always do a great job feeding vegetarians, and Byblos is no exception. All of the favorites, from hummus to falafel to grape leaves, are available in addition to vegetarian entrees and combos.
• Salt N' Pepper--I eat Indian food all the time, but I must say that I have never eaten at a Pakistani restaurant. Salt N' Pepper features Pakistani food coupled with New Orleans favorites. Many of the choices are vegetarian friendly.

There are many fast and faster food restaurants in New Orleans that cater to vegetarians. One of the most notable is the Gumbo Shop. Gumbo is not a dish most associate with vegetarianism. However, the Gumbo Shop features Gumbo Z'Herbes, a vegetarian gumbo eaten during Lenten months. Although some restaurants sneak ham bones or bacon into their Gumbo Z'Herbes, the Gumbo Shop makes its version for vegetarians. There are a number of other vegetarian options on the menu, including a veggie po' boy and a Creole vegetarian dish of the day.

There are a number of other options in New Orleans that I haven't even begun to discuss. I'll write about a few others in the coming days. Even that won't really begin to scratch the surface of the international boiling pot of vegetarian stew simmering in this Mississippi River city.

Road trip to N'awlins

So I'm off to the Gulf Coast for a few days. I'll be hanging out at Jazz Fest and proving that vegetarians can, in fact, eat Creole cuisine. I'll update when I return (if not sooner).

A Tall Glass of Blackwater

News keeps pouring in about the misdeeds of our hired mercenary goons in Iraq. Apparently Blackwater, a security company meant to protect American officials in Iraq, made a number of poor decisions in evacuating people from a secure compound in addition to their poor decision to kill Iraqi civilians. Who would have imagined that letting a bunch of cowboys run around Iraq armed could have turned out so badly? Apparently not the White House, that's for sure.

Further evidence of the federal government ignoring those displaced by Hurricane Katrina comes in the form of cities attempting to close down the confederated trailer parks where those who lost their homes in the storm currently live. Boy, if the people of New Orleans didn't get jobbed well enough by the shortsighted efforts of FEMA and their minions, now they'll get to experience the unbridled joy that comes from getting screwed at the local level.

In the habeas corpus department, selected members of the Gitmo gulag will be able to request lawyers to help battle their status as enemy combatants. If they want to put up a real fight, I would suggest getting any one of the lawyers who represented Phil Spector to fight their case.

Those looking for another reason not to support the Clinton 2008 rush to the White House need to look no further than her controversial campaign advisor--George W. Bush. He knows what he's talking about, because if there was any candidate that won an election after a more controversial tenure than the Clintons, it would have to be junior Bush.

Google and Microsoft are now taking off their gloves in the battle for computing supremacy. Whichever company wins, the public probably loses. Between Microsoft's monopolistic practices and Google's invasion of privacy, it's akin trying to pick your favorite type of genocide.

The new media revolution has now moved to Myanmar, where bloggers are a major frame of reference for media organizations looking for information about the protests in the country and the violent government backlash that followed. While the channel may have been closed by government officials when they clamped down on the internet, it's interesting to see that somebody uses a blog for a useful purpose (as opposed to yours truly).

Finally, in news of the weird, Slate produced a feature that detailed the best articles about sex from the year 2007. Just missing the cut were Larry Craig's restroom hijinks and Michael Jackson, who is probably having massive problems getting laid since he isn't actually married.

Tanks and Time Bombs

Tank Johnson--Rumbling out of a Cook County Jail and into your neighborhood today. After his 8 game suspension, he should have a lot of free time on his hands.

Commanders in Iraq say that the push is falling short of expectations. The soldiers control few parts of the city and are being killed by increasingly sinister methods. The campaign is methodically collapsing like the Soprano crime family.

Everybody is transfixed by the opacity that passes for political discourse in this country--a.k.a. the debates. This round was the Democratic debate, which featured Hillary settling in as the assumed front-runner and Barack Obama delivering an I-told-you-so karate chop to Edwards about Iraq. While you get some feel for the candidates in this arena, I would prefer a steel cage death match format as a forum for determining the best candidates. I'm sure that is the only way that Mike Huckabee or Dennis Kucinich would end up coming out on top, so they might prefer that format as well.

Hillary Clinton is attempting a You Tube coup, having supporters suggest the theme song for her campaign. Some of the more tongue-in-cheek offerings include Foreigner's "Cold as Ice," Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" and Lou Reed's "Vicious." I might also suggest "The End" by the Doors, "Sparkle (Laughing Fall Apart)" by Phish or "She's a Bitch" by Missy Misdemeanor Elliott.

On the other side of the fence, The NY Times detailed how Mitt Romney amassed his ridiculous fortune. You don't really need to read the entire article. Just read over the parts that call him a "robber baron" and accuse him of unethical business practices. You'll get what you need out of that information.

According to a Los Angeles Times article, the concrete wall meant to keep people out of Jerusalem is not working and is having unintended consequences. Perhaps the United States should consider this before they start on the Mexican border fence.

The federal government is aggressively prosecuting crimes in New Orleans. Crime increased greatly after Hurricane Katrina. I'm sure the citizens of New Orleans are happy to see the federal government do...something. Better late than never guys.

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is boycotting his war crimes trial at the Hague. Perhaps the Cubs should try that approach at press conferences after their embarrassing weekend. Luckily CBS Sportsline put together a fantastic quiz that can help you catch up on all of the mishaps. All I know is that Taylor and Zambrano are both guilty.

The International Herald Tribune discusses the differences in viewpoint between commercial interests and the sharing culture of the internet. If anybody is going to have a handle on the issue, it would have to be the Gibb brothers that were featured in the conference presentation. Anytime a crybaby millionaire musician whines about legal reform, I am drawn to the South Park episode with Lars Ulrich being unable to buy a gold plated shark tank and Brittney Spears being forced to downsize to a Gulfstream III from a Gulfstream IV because of illegal downloading. It sounds even better when experts call modern copyright "obsolete."

Texas, the state that treats capital punishment and human life as a complete joke, has an inmate scheduled for execution who is looking for a good joke to deliver as his final words. As a prisoner on death row, all he'll need to do is look around for some inspiration. Or he could take inspiration from the Polish man who awoke from a coma he had been in since the communist party was in power. At least he missed "Full House" and Vanilla Ice.