The Patriots have picked their quarterback. My work, therefore, is done here until game day. Unless someone wants me to find out London Fletcher’s favorite movie. It seems odd trying to write a Pulsecard at this most pulse-less of Super Bowls. So I thought I would give you a little local flavor.

I have dined at two Emeril Lagasse establishments, NOLA and Emeril’s. Both meals (pork chops at NOLA, filet mignon at Emeril’s) were worthy of his reputation and almost made me regret the cancellation of his sitcom. Tomorrow another New Orleans culinary legend, Paul Prudhomme, will be making breakfast for Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg during their ESPN Radio show. K-Paul will be working the grill from 6 to 8 a.m. local time, but I’ll be present.

I had lunch on Wednesday at Commander’s Palace, a nationally known restaurant where Emeril got his start. During Mardi Gras, which is apparently all the time down here, the Commander’s Palace offers 25-cent martinis at lunch. For some reason, I had water. But the sherried turtle soup, bread pudding souffle and shrimp remoulade more than made up for it. Sort of.

A bunch of us also went to a nice place called Clancy’s in Uptown. No tourists (except for me), just locals. Great food. I had more filet mignon with an amazing béarnaise sauce, but also tried one of the house favorites, baked oysters wrapped in brie. You can actually get that at the McDonald’s in Bristol, but they’ve always just run out when I stop by.

As great as the food is, my favorite discovery down here is a local cocktail called a Sazerac. There are recipe variations, but it goes like this: Swirl Pernod in a chilled old-fashioned glass to coat, dissolve some sugar and add a couple of dashes of bitters to taste, fill with whiskey and garnish with a twist. Traditionally served neat.

The Sazerac is believed to be the first cocktail ever made, and was created by Antoine Amedee Peychaud, though his recipe was Sazerac cognac, absinthe, sugar and his own Peychaud’s Bitters. I’ve had them everywhere this week and the best one, not surprisingly, was at the Sazerac Bar in the Fairmont Hotel.

Other Big Easy and Super Bowl notes: My first note is that I have always wanted to write one of these dot-dot-dot Larry King-style notes columns. So far, they’re as easy as they look ... This will be the first Super Bowl since the demise of Tina Brown’s Talk magazine ... My per diem would allow for 168 luncheon martinis at the Commander’s Palace. I would be glad to share a few with Drew Bledsoe, though he strikes me as a beer man ... If you are looking for a movie with hobbits, you can’t go wrong with The Lord of the Rings ... I have run into several hookers who have greeted me warmly and offered a complimentary and very topical frisk ... Best sign on Bourbon Street: 16 oz. Beer -- $2.00 ... Second Best Sign on Bourbon Street: "Come on in and wash the girl of your choice." No kidding ... The elevator music in my hotel, and others, is often Louis Armstrong, so it really isn’t elevator music ... At the Patriots' press conference today, the Major League Baseball logo was carefully blacked out on Lawyer Milloy’s backwards Yankee cap, but Tom Brady’s backward Red Sox cap proudly bore the MLB mark.

John Hassan is covering the Super Bowl for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at john.hassan@espnmag.com.