10 Places to Dine During the Eat Local Challenge

This month is the fourth annual New Orleans Eat Local Challenge. 30 days, 100 mile limit on the origin all ingredients in all food and drink. This year over 75 restaurants have signed up to provide locavore meals so that you're not just sitting at home all month cooking local veggie stir fry in pecan oil over Louisiana rice.

With all the various choices of menus, Eater has reviewed them for the best looking and most creative dishes so you don't have to!

Fancy Pants:

This year, Coquette is making an amazing-sounding squash blossom beignet with local creole cream cheese and honey as well as a burger with Two Run Farms ground sirloin, Covey Rise Farms greens, tomatoes, pickles, house made bacon using Chappapeela Farms pork belly piled on a house made bun.

Bayona is offering an appetizer of padron peppers with pan con tomate, grilled cebollitos, and aioli, a local salad, and a yellowfin tuna with roasted baby squash, red chard, and tarragon mustard vinaigrette entree

Emeril's has an appetizer of house made Louisiana grit bread bruschetta, chopped Chappapeela duck liver, collard greens, smoked redfish, and mayhaw mustard.

Let's Do Lunch:

Slice is serving a BBQ shrimp po-boy with Gulf shrimp, John Gendusa French bread and local herbs and spices.

Theo's Pizza is offering a special "Local Pro Pizza," an olive oil-based pizza with mozzarella, local Creole tomato, heirloom zucchini, feta, black pepper, topped with olive oil and basil

Hanging in the Bywater:

Mariza is serving up lamb belly from Two Run Farms with polenta and local tomatoes.

And check out some of Suis Generis' five local dishes: Tom Thumb Shrimp with Louisiana-style plum BBQ sauce and savory mirliton casserole; Tangipahoa Parish watermelon ginger mint gazpacho; local baby bibb and arugula salad with herb and black sesame cheese curd, and jalapeno vidalia watermelon dressing; and local fish and chicken entrees.

Pop Up:

Even popups have you covered - the Splendid Pig, which pops up at Carrollton Station on Monday nights, offers 3-4 Eat Local dishes every week: like Covey Rise Farms cantaloupe salad with fresh tarragon, Cleaver & Co. capicola, candied pecans, and a muscadine wine reduction; a seared gulf fish with roasted summer squash polenta, charred tomato vinaigrette, toasted Inglewood Farms pecans, and fresh mint; local beet salad; and a variety of desserts like Louisiana blueberry custard with bruleed peaches or a local fruit pavlova with mint merengue, chantilly cream, muscadine wine reduction. Check their menu out every week to get the latest menu.

At the Bar:

Well, even local beer sources non-local ingredients, but if you can find local wine, rum, or other spirit (or if beer is one of your "exceptions" for one of the less strict Eat Local tiers), head over to the pub for local food and beer.

The Irish House offers a boudin rouge salad for an appetizer, Louisiana bouillabaisse for an entree, and an "Irish Oreo" for dessert.

The Avenue Pub has a new chef and a new focus on local food - check out their local charcuterie plate, toast aux champignons, or a foie gras burger.

· Eat Local Challenge begins Saturday: Could you eat only locally grown, caught or raised foods for 30 days? [NOLA.com]
· All Menu Watch Coverage [-ENOLA-]
· All Eat Local Challenge Coverage [-ENOLA-}

— Nora McGunnigle