Ahhh Day Three at Essence Festival 2015… After a really fancy meal at Emeril’s Delmonico, and super casual food from the Essence Festival Food Truck Rally we closed out Essence Festival food fun with a stop at Chef’s John Besh and Aarón Sánchez collaboration restaurant Johnny Sánchez. Our dinner at Johnny Sánchez was absolutely delicious. We started with chips and salsa and of course we had to have guacamole. They have these amazing crispy brussels sprouts with Cotija cheese, potatoes and peppers with an outstanding spicy vinaigrette. I could eat that as a meal by itself, and be very satisfied. In fact I think the next trip, if they can have that boxed up for me as I arrive in New Orleans, I will set that up for sure.

I ordered the beef tongue tacos, well because, I had to. I wanted to try something that I never had before, and it was not a mistake. The meet was so tender, and flavorful, and the fresh toppings that it was served with had the perfect crunch.

Dessert was like it was from a completely different restaurant, that is not a bad thing. What I mean is that the tacos are so casual, and the desserts were so refined, it was a perfect ending to the meal. My sister Renee had the best dessert of Masa Cake with all sorts of corny yummy goodness, there was buttermilk foam, roasted corn, and grilled peaches. AMAZING!

The other dessert was a Lime Tres Leches with a very flavorful lime sorbet. Though it was tasty it was a little drier of a cake than I would expect, maybe more like a biscuit than a cake, nonetheless it was still very good.

Finally the stop that most tourist take in New Orleans in the later hours for something sweet, yep you guessed it, Café Du Monde for fresh hot beignets.

If you have never explored the culinary oasis that is New Orleans, I suggest you make a special trip, and Essence Fest during 4th of July weekend is an excellent time to visit.