After a whirlwind week celebrating Mardi Gras, our last night in New Orleans couldn’t have been better, or more relaxing.

We ate at Sac-a-Lait, a new restaurant housed in an old cotton mill in the Warehouse District. It’s strongly influenced by Cajun flavors, so it’s fitting that the restaurant is called Sac-a-Lait, the Cajun-French word for crappie fish. We didn’t realize that’s what the name meant until later, so during dinner we relied on our high-school French to wonder why the restaurant was named “sack of milk!”

It was so nice having everyone together.

We started with the most fun item on the menu: the Oyster Tower. It has dozens of various oysters and generous servings of shrimp remoulade, horseradish crema, celeriac mignonette, and cocktail sauce and is topped with a massive homemade paprika saltine.

We also started with the the Poisson Fumé, which is pecan-smoked cobia served with satsuma basil jam, choupique caviar, tarragon pickles, perdido and black garlic rye bread. It was so good, we couldn’t get enough of it!

For main courses, a few of the group ordered the Lost Fish. (Nemo?!). It is perdu-style gulf fish served with sweet corn calas and a crawfish étouffée. It was the best main dish, in my opinion.

The Alligator & Mirliton was another popular dish, and it’s what I ordered. It has sweet fried alligator accompanied by hand-mashed mirliton and white remoulade. It was fine, but there wasn’t enough alligator!

Only one person, Anton, selected the Wild Boar’s Heart, which has a dirty risotto stuffing and is served with radishes and a fresh cheese and vegetable ash mayo. He let me try a bite, and I just couldn’t enjoy it knowing what it was!

For a side, we shared the Millet Grits, which are flavored with goat cheese and jalapeno pepper jelly. It was hands down our favorite side dish.

We also shared a side of Fries, which are coated in a love-it-or-hate-it truffle honey sauce and black sea salt.

For dessert, I indulged in the Aged Banana Pudding, which is topped with pecan-butter mousse, homemade vanilla wafers, and Chantilly cream. It was fabulous!

It couldn’t have been a better night.

In fact, it couldn’t have been a better trip.

To make reservations at Sac-a-Lait, click here. And for Mardi Gras travel tips, click here.

~A