My favorite thing about hosting visitors has to be the opportunity to eat out and try new places. After taste testing donuts for breakfast, Geoff and I decided to fill up for dinner at Charcoal’s, a gourmet burger bar at the corner of Magazine and Jackson.

Geoff has kindly been filling me to the brim with useful knowledge and camera tips. Our weekend together has taught me more about photography than I learned in high school or college.

He really is a great teacher because he’s knowledgeable but not too hands-on, but I’ll tell you more about all the awesome things he taught me later.

Now, for the food. The cheesy, gooey, delicious burgers and crispy fried pickles that we stuffed our faces with.

Since we are both vegetarian, neither of us can offer up pictures of a big juicy burger with bacon on top. But from where we stand the vegetarian option was phenomenal.

In true New Orleans fashion, the veggie option featured a beans and rice patty. I opted for the build-your-own-burger route and topped mine with Thomasville Tomme cheese, Abita root beer caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, arugula and sun-dried tomato aioli served atop a toasted brioche bun.

Geoff made sure to get avocado slices and pepperjack cheese on his in addition to the typical burger fixings.

We worked a little backwards here. We started off with the burgers and chips and ended with an appetizer of fried pickles. But forwards or backwards it was all good. In the future though, I think I’d go for fries or onion rings instead of the chips and pickles.

When our order of fried pickles finally came around, they kindly topped off our basket with a few extra. Great news for me, since the leftovers would be lunch later on.

I was spoiled in college and have yet to find fried pickles that stand up to the one’s at Pawley’s, but these were pretty good. However Geoff proclaimed these were the best he’s ever had, so I guess it’s up for debate.

After dinner, we ran outside so Geoff could teach me how to adjust the settings for a long exposure. Here I am patiently awaiting my turn to show what I learned.

And the result (as you’ve already seen earlier in the post):

I may still be learning, but that’s some pretty exciting stuff for me.

Now go grab a burger and bon appetit!