New Orleans is the favorite city of millions of people. We've been among those millions ever since the Brennan family, of restaurant acclaim, befriended us thirty-five years ago. Every time we visit we are reminded of what Southern hospitality and graciousness mean. This visit was no exception.

Among the friends we’ve made through the Brennans, we count Father Thomas Bouterie as someone very special. We see him almost every year when he preaches at local parishes in Massachusetts through his work for Food For The Poor, and he hosts us in some way or another on our visits to his city, this time with a soiree for us and our friends. The evening was a treasured time for us, filled with laughter and (of course) wonderful food where we have a chance to catch up with people for whom who have great affection.

When people go to New Orleans the first thing they usually think about is how many meals they can squeeze into their visit and then, naturally, where to eat. Although our first thought is of the friends we will be seeing, our clothes alway fit more snuggly when we leave town as a result of the fine hospitality afford us by the Brennans.

Our first stellar dinner was at Mr B's, Cindy Brennan's buzzing restaurant in the Quarter. Here's the menu so you can start planning your meal before you go.

Next was our meal at Brennan's, which Ralph Brennan recently brought back to life and returned to its previous splendor. We felt like we landed in a tableaux from an earlier, more gracious time period. And of course there's drama, as well, for those who order Bananas Foster for dessert.

And then it was Sunday brunch in the perfectly iconic New Orleans setting of Commander's Palace where Lally Brennan's caring touch sees to it that the welcome is always warm, the jazz is always hot, and the food is always the stuff of which memories are made.

Between all these meals, we heard great music both on the street ....

... and at vooDoo Fest, a wild celebration/collision of food, art and music which takes place at the end of October and neatly coincides with Halloween. People come as they are, or as whomever they'd like to be.