3 Martini Lunch

That’s right, I said it,  three martini lunch. On a Thursday. Quit judging me! Or you know, judge me, because at the end of the day, I was drinking three martinis at lunch time on a Thursday. What can I say? New Orleans really brings out the best in me!

My friend Nick and I made a bet, which he lost of course because I only ever bet if I’m really, super duper sure I’m right. Naturally, he lost because he is a sucker, so he had to take me out to lunch. I, of course had done my research about where I would want to  have lunch when I won this bet, so off to Commander's Palace we went.

Naturally, we asked about the .25 martinis immediately. Our host brought us a menu and pointed this out:

Now, I hate to be picky, but I think we can all agree that by definition a martini is, in fact, a cold glass of gin with some (for me VERY little) vermouth in it. What you do with it after that is up to you. Put ice, olives or a twist in it, or dirty it up with some salty olive water. All of those things are acceptable, but please, for the love of all that is holy do NOT try to trick me into thinking that a martini has vodka or any other liquor in it. It does not. Obviously, only one of the "martinis"listed above is actually a martini.

That being said, I'm not even trying to drink well gin. So, I ordered a cosmopolitan after politely pointing out to the server that it was in no way a martini. Nick went for an actual martini. We each decided on the prix fixe menu which entitled us to a choice of several soups and salads and an entree. 

I got the commander's salad:

and griddle seared gulf fish with butter braised potatoes, bruléed shallots, roasted mushrooms, wilted greens and a white truffle beurre blanc, it was fantastic!

Nick had the chicken and oyster gumbo:

and creole couchon de lait - Abita braised pork shoulder and green onion boudin with Tabasco onion rings, corn chow chow, red pepper paint, and smoky pork jus. I tried his and the pork was really tender and delicious and the dish itself had a myriad of flavors:

Of course, we had a second drink with our meals. This time I had a commander's "martini" and Nick stuck with an actual martini:

 Did I mention we were sitting outside and it was 78 degrees and sunny? We were and it was. I love NOLA.
That's the food and drink. However, I failed to mention something else. While we were settling in at our table a woman walked up to our table, showed us her outfit and told us what she was wearing and the designer and then walked away. Nick and I looked at each other and simultaneously said: "What the fuck"?!?! Weird, right? Then, a second woman approached our table. This time, we stopped her before she could escape and asked her what was going on. Turns out, once a month Saks sends models over to Commander's Palace to parade around in fancy designer clothes and tell the diners all about them. Weird. These are two of the models who were showing us the clothing:

Needless to say, we'll avoid this monthly affront to my delicate sensibilities in the future.