Q&A: Liz Emery and Why NOLA is Baller

Today’s post is a mouth-watering snapshot of the eats and treats in New Orleans, brought to you by my whacky and loveable coworker/homegirl Liz Emery!

When Liz isn’t sales planning the crap out of our company, she has been experiencing all sorts of awesome foods around the country. Hailing from Chicago, she visited the land of beignets and bourbon earlier this month. She agreed to chat about her trip and provided all the photos in this post today. Enjoy!

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What kind of food do you usually like and eat? Are you adventurous with your eatings?

I’m usually a healthy eater (chicken, kale salads, turkey lettuce wraps, etc). I just started experimenting with my recipes. Within the last year, I have adopted the “try anything once” mentality with food – I started eating sushi about 8 months ago!

Tell me about that!

My mom always hated seafood, and you know that when your mom hates something, you hate it too. I’m also a texture eater – things that are too chewy, etc., weird me out. Finally I had this epiphany to get out of my comfort zone with food and with life. Now, I love sushi – I have cravings for it!

What was your first impression of NOLA? 

New Orleans is amazing. It’s a melting pot of beautiful architecture, music, people & food.

Did you have any idea of what you absolutely HAD to eat when you were there? 

My friends and coworkers gave me recommendations before I left – I knew that beignets were a MUST from Cafe Du Monde.  I was also dead set on eating as much seafood as possible – lobster, crab, oysters, etc….really as much as I could stomach!

What was the best, worst, and weirdest thing you ate there? 

Best = Jambalaya wrap with Cajun fries; it was unbelievable. Worst = NOTHING, it was all good! Weirdest = Alligator; it tastes like chicken, once you get past mental block that what you’re eating isn’t chicken/beef/pork. 

How is NOLA food different from Chicago food?

The food I ate in NOLA was unlike anywhere else – you can’t get this combination of flavors in any other city.  Po boys, beignets, gumbo, jambalaya, muffalettas & seafood…YUM! 

Was there ever a point where you went, “Okay, I’m too full?”

NOPE – I love food too much…it’s a problem.

So I love eating quesadillas after a night out with friends. What was the post-midnight food like, and it is better than a quesadilla? 

Oh yeah – I went to the casino one night and had the most amazing cheese fries I’ve ever had in my life. It was a combination of about 4 types of cheese and bacon from a hole-in-the-wall on Bourbon Street…AMAZE BALLS!

Final words?

[NOLA] is one big city of deliciousness. I didn’t have any food that I didn’t love, and even though I gained 5 pounds, it was worth it 🙂