Good eats.

January has had a lot of culinary high points so far:
Baru: a whole mess of tapas: ceviche, excellent fried oysters, mazorca (a roasted corn dish), and patacones (fried mashed plantains with guacamole and chipotle chicken), plus very nice sangria.  My first visit, and it won't be the last.
Dick and Jenny's: barbecue shrimp with goat cheese and thyme grits, and drum with pecan risotto and praline sauce.  I had not been here since 2007 and I think there was a change of management in between; either way, everything was great and I want to go back to try some of the other entrees.
Lilette: gnocchi, roasted duck, and somebody else's leftover beef cheeks.  This was another place I have not visited in years, and it's still amazing.  Very rich, impeccable food.
Peche: shrimp croquettes, baked drum with mushrooms and squash fritters, and rum cake.  I don't think it's been open a year yet, but this is probably my fifth visit.  I'm going to keep returning.  (Special thanks to Kate and Richard!)
Rio Mar: the full tasting menu of appetizers and desserts (the empanadas, grilled octopus, mango sangria, and tres leches cake were particularly memorable), plus baked drum with shrimp-stuffed plantains.  This was a gluttony marathon, and it was all amazing.  (Special thanks to Rina's mom!)

Only one low point to report.  Biscuits and Buns on Banks is a new breakfast/brunch place in Mid-City (I'm not linking to it because I can only find a Facebook page).  It has problems.  We were told there would be a twenty to twenty-five minute wait; forty-five minutes later, we're finally seated, at which point we wait another forty-five minutes for our food.  I was pretty cranky at that point so the food would have had to be pretty darn good to make an impression, and it was not.  I can't think of any reason I'd go back here when Wakin' Bakin' is a block away.

Probably a lot else to report, but I'll just say that I have been to half of the New Orleans "bad decision" bars this month and leave it at that.  Oh, the Saints lost and I got a job.  That pretty much covers it.