New Orleans

Two years later, the city is still not back to what it was before Hurricane Katrina. It is very quiet and sparsely populated. One of the cab drivers we met left during Katrina and came back as a construction worker making decent money. However, the rebuilding money has run out, so he is back to his cab. One bright spot is that the restaurants are fantastic and service is excellent. My favorite place was Table 1 Brasserie . Wednesday's are $15 bottle of wine nights. Nola, one of Emeril's restaturants, had good service, albeit slow sometimes, and gave me the best roast/smoked duck I have ever had. Marinated for 2 days and then smoked for 6 hours prior to serving, the meat just fell apart. The base of corn mush I could have done without but didn't ruin my enjoyment of the duck.