Cajun delights at Mosquito Supper Club

Sometimes when traveling you experience something so unique and authentic it becomes the highlight of your trip. During my New Orleans weekend, I was lucky enough to snag a last minute reservation at the Mosquito Supper Club. The Mosquito Supper Club became that unique travel experience for me. It is not your usual restaurant experience. First it is located in a quaint charming building on Dryades Street in a residential neighborhood. You feel like you are going to a friends dinner party. It is a communal 25 person family style “get to know your fellow diners” kind of event. Families, friends, new acquaintances enjoy the utterly delicious Cajun cuisine of local chef Melissa Martin. She was raised in Bayou Country and was raised on fresh crabs, shrimp, crawfish and oysters. She wants to preserve the cherished recipes of her family and their way of cooking the local catch. Pre-dinner festivities start on the back terrace with freshly shucked oysters and glasses of bubbly wine. Then the party moves to the two long rustic tables in the dining room. Glasses of wine are poured while warm baskets of fresh yeasty rolls are set on the table. One taste of the homemade rolls and you know you are in for a culinary treat. Shrimp fritters, crawfish etoufee, local stuffed crabs, salads made with local produce from the farmers markets. You finish the meal with hand churned blackberry ice cream and strong cups of chicory coffee. By the end of dinner I felt like I dined with old family friends. New Orleans is a magical dining city and Mosquito Supper Club is a relaxed local step back into a slower time and place.