T-Fitz Names 10 Best Foie Gras Dishes in New Orleans

All things lasagna, fried calamari, and red sauce aside for a moment, Tom Fitzmorris forgoes his usual star-searching this week to reveal an epic listicle featuring Foie Gras, his fave fattyfats "delicacy since ancient times." But T-Fitz trades in his cave dwelling for his professorial podium, teaching us it wasn't until the glory days of the 1980s that America actually began to produce its own foie gras (much like we did hair metal) with the eventual demand for it becoming so great that now "the supply has been expended into less-than-excellent grades." These days, it's easy to get stuck with a Nelson-twins grade of crappy, bland 'liver fat," so one must know what to look for. T-Fitz warns that "second-rate foie gras has a little toughness and a lack of richness," kind of like late 90s Axl Rose and Bret Michaels, except in this case, there are no bandanas to hide what truly lies beneath.

Well, not entirely. Tommy Boy argues that simple preparation is key to great foie gras? his "preference is to have the liver seared and served with just a sprinkle of salt" because powerful sauces and garnishes (much like bandanas, cornrows, and thorny rose tats) are merely a sign of a "chef of unsure taste." But the Top 10 reveals more of a hypofitzcritical foie hodgepodge, including three variations served alongside scallops, another with "black truffles, fig jam, banana bread and aged balsamic" and yet another in a gumbo, which "sounds ridiculous" and "irresistable" as, say, serving the foie gras on a 360-degree rotating drum kit that sprays fire and dollar bills. But here now is where to find T-Fitz' Top 10 Foie Gras Dishes in New Orleans (and in Covington and Darrow).

1. Restaurant August: foie gras prepared three ways
2. Latil's Landing: Foie gras with lost bread
3. Dakota: simple foie gras serving, sauces on side
4. Clancy's: "I'm pretty sure Clancy's was the first place where scallops and foie gras were paired."
5. Commander's Palace: foie gras "du Monde", including foie beignets and foie-infused cafe aulait
6. Le Foret: ever-changing serving, with lots of accoutrement on side
7. Annuncitation: sea scallops and foie gras again
8. Muriel's: simple, pan seared foie gras
9. Pardo's: "Another manifestation of seared diver scallops and foie gras... The formula remains solid and you will not say you didn't have enough either."
10. Chateau Du Lac: foie gras gumbo

· NOLA's 10 Best Foie Gras Dishes [CityBusiness, subscription required]
· All Tom Fitzmorris Coverage [-ENOLA-]
Annunciation [Photo: Facebook]