Bread Pudding Soufflee @ Commander's Palace
Premiered at the 100th-anniversary celebration of Commander's in 1980, this brilliant approach to New Orleans's favorite dessert blew minds of then (I was there) and now. An unusually light but otherwise classic Creole bread pudding to start with, it's mixed with meringue, baked in a soufflee dish, and brought with its whiskey sauce to the table in a grand flourish. Even though it is now known that Commander's didn't turn 100 until 1993, the bread pudding soufflee lives on as not only a memorial but as one of the two or three best desserts served in any New Orleans restaurant.
