Recently, my husband and I went exploring the French Quarter in New Orleans for a place to dine for brunch. Sunday brunch has become a tradition for us. Being away from home made the search for a restaurant serving brunch even more exciting. Café Amelie was on my list of places to eat before arriving to NOLA so when we stumbled upon it during our walk down Royal Street, I was like “OMG we have to eat here!” We made our way to the hostess stand and the host let us know that there was a 45-minute wait. My husband didn’t want to wait but I staged a sit in on a bench in the courtyard. We were added to the list. The host even agreed to call us on the phone to let us know when our table was ready so we could still explore the French Quarter while waiting. Hubs then asks “well what makes this place so special?” Well let me tell you guys what makes Café Amelie worth the wait.
First of all, this place is ridiculously gorgeous! The restaurant is located within the historic 150-year-old Princess of Monaco Courtyard nestled in the middle of the French Quarter. It feels regal when you walk through the gates. The scenery alone made me want to dine here.
Secondly, the food. OH MY GOODNESS, the food! I would take a flight to NOLA and camp outside this place to just to eat the food again! God blessed the hands of whoever is cooking in that kitchen.
I would classify the food as Southern with an upscale twist. For an appetizer, the hubs and I ordered one of my favorite dishes, shrimp and grits.
This dish featured stone ground grits with Louisiana sweet corn, an andouille maque choux and 3 gulf shrimp. It was delicious. So delicious in fact that we ended up cleaning the bowl with a piece of crusty bread to make sure none of that goodness went back to the kitchen! Next time I won’t be sharing 🙂
Hubs ordered a rosemary infused cocktail while we waited on our main courses to arrive. I’m not a fan of rosemary or alcohol so that didn’t appeal to me. It was very pretty though. He said it tasted great.
The entrée we each ordered was the chicken and waffle. This dish featured a golden waffle topped with a piece of roasted chicken and covered with andouille sausage gravy. 2 words: très délicieux!
After eating all this delicious food, we were stuffed and in a semi food coma. I knew I was going to have to walk at least a mile around New Orleans to burn some of these calories. It was definitely worth it though. My husband even said, I’m glad we ate here. *insert side eye* I guess it was special after all. It was a great ending to our first trip to New Orleans. It definitely won’t be our last because I must eat here again. It is currently ranking at the top of my list of Sunday Brunch restaurants from all my travels thus far. Next time let’s make it a family affair and you guys can come with, deal?
