Mardi Gras feast and festivities came early for us this year as we celebrated Fat Tuesday at Tastemade's Bite Club event at their Santa Monica studio featuring sips and samples of the best NOLA eats in L.A. From spicy crawfish etouffee and sweet beignets, to deep fried frog legs and turtle soup, here's a look at some of the best bites of the bayou that we were treated to and where to find them around town. Note: You're going to want to plan some DTLA nights in the near future.

DTLA's Bar & Kitchen located inside the O Hotel served up more than 400 spicy shrimp and grits (also pictured at the top) along with stuffed dates, and foie gras butter with rhubarb jam. Wine came courtesy of D'Vine, the rustic cellar located beneath the restaurant. 

Bar & Kitchen // 819 S. Flower St., Los Angeles, CA 90017 (inside the O Hotel)

The Little Jewel, a New Orleans grocery and deli that opened in Chinatown last summer, served up traditional jambalaya and cornbread. Take a look inside with this video shot by Tastemade's @Tacoman. 

The Little Jewel of New Orleans // 207 Ord St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Crawfish and crab etouffee from The Flavor Table. These guys are a full service catering company but they specialize in creole cuisine. 

The Flavor Table // 2812 W Florence Ave., Los Angeles, 90043 
(323) 751-6000 

Gumbo Mumbo from Orleans & York Deli gets some social love at Bite Club. This Inglewood deli features a lengthy menu of NOLA style po' boys as well as NY style heroes. 

Orleans & York Deli // 400 E Florence Ave., Inglewood, CA 90301

Muffulettas unite Sicilian and New Orleans flavors between two delicious ciabatta buns, and these sandwiches are always on the menu at Del Rey Deli, whether it's Mardi Gras or any old regular Tuesday.

Del Rey Deli // 8501 Pershing Dr. Ste 3, Playa del Rey, CA 90293

This Creole soul kitchen on wheels rolled up to Tastemade and served tasty shots of turtle soup. Brun's is often seen making the rounds Downtown, but you can see when it's planning to be in your neighborhood next by following along on Twitter.

Brun's Creole Soul Kitchen

It was a first for many, but not the last. Preux & Proper showed up with their deep fried frog legs, a must-try on the menu as well as the bread pudding and Jameson ice cream. Take a look inside at this Bourbon Street-meets-DTLA restaurant and cocktail bar with Tastemade's @Tacoman and friends.

Preux & Proper // 840 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90014

Everyone raves about BakerCakeMaker's Filipino style ensaymadas, but Tastemakers were sweet on their Nola style beignets too. 

BakerCakeMaker // 5173 W Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90027

Bananas foster bread pudding was a sweet way for The Little Easy to tempt Westsiders Downtown to visit its just-debuted NOLA-inspired lounge and cocktail bar.

The Little Easy // 216 W. 5th St, Los Angeles CA

Thanks again to our friends at Tastemade for another evening of great food and great fun. If you'd like to get a first-hand look at where everyone's going for the best eats in LA, then stay in the loop with Tastemade LA. And if you'd like to get in on the Bite Club events that happen every eight weeks or so, just download the Tastemade app and start shooting your own appisodes. Check out our video page to see our appisodes and others shot around Venice.