Louisiana Seafood Festival, All Weekend, City Park.
We have a big eating festival this weekend, the first really major one in awhile. (Everything seems to stop cold in late August and all of September.) The Louisiana Seafood Festival is known as much for its wanderings over the years as for the food there. The first two of its seven years, it took place on the Fulton Street pedestrian mall. It outgrew that and moved to the Old U.S. Mint. From there it drifted into Lafayette Square, where even a tremendous rainstorm failed to slow things down.
Finally, last year the festival found what it says is a permanent home in City Park. Specifically, it’s that field adjacent to Christian Brothers’ School. The event was very well attended, even though the parking for it required a bit of a walk. But walking through the park is not the end of the world.
You will recognize the format. Thirty restaurants–almost all of them very well known, and including many white-tablecloth places–sell tasting plates of their dishes for modest prices. Entrance to the festival itself, with its continuous live music and cooking demos, is $10 for one day and $25 for three days. It opens Midday today (Friday, September 2), and runs all day Saturday and Sunday.
Here is a list of all the food vendors, with my ratings of the best dishes. (They are marked with one, two or three stars, which I’m sure you understand.)
Enjoy! See you there!
Here is a list of the food being served by the vendors, most of which are active restaurants (as opposed to caterers and inactive restaurants). The prices range from around $5 to around $10.
The festivity is sponsored by the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board, a quasi-state entity whose finest hour lately is raising the image of Louisiana seafood around the country to the lofty peak it deserves.
The music lineup is first-class local sound. An Artists’ Village has pieces for sale, children’s activities, and more.
Proceeds from food and beverage sales go to the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation, which supports a number of local educational programs. The Festival opens Friday afternoon and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; it goes on until whenever all three days.
A complete list of details can be had from the event’s website.
Louisiana Seafood Festival
ACME OYSTER HOUSE: Shrimp or *Oyster Poor Boy
AJUN CAJUN: Shrimp or chicken Plate. *Seaweed and Cucumber Salad, ponzu sauce.
ANDREA’S: **Crabmeat Ravioli. Crabcake Eggplant. Seafood Lasagna
BLUE CRAB: *Crab Cakes, remoulade sauce. Shrimp & Crabmeat Salad. Blue Crab Dip. Combo Plate: Crab Cake & Salad.
CAFÉ GIOVANNI:**Voodoo Shrimp & Grits. Shrimp Remoulade Roll. White Beans & Rice, Louisiana shrimp.
DAT DOG: *Crab boil shrimp sausage with a shrimp & corn macque choux. Turducken Special. Beef Hot Dog.
DIRTY DISHES: Smoked gouda mac & cheese with crawfish and tasso.
DRAGO’S: ***Charbroiled Oysters.
ERNST CAFÉ: *Crawfish Nachos. Debris Nachos. Jerk Chicken Skewers.
GALATOIRE’S RESTAURANT: **Fried Shrimp “BLT” Poor Boy. **Shrimp Remoulade. Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.
GOODFELLAS SEAFOOD & POBOYS: Crawfish Etouffee Fries. Crawfish Eggrolls. ***Who Dat Shrimp.
JACQUES-IMO’S: Shrimp & Alligator Sausage Cheesecake. *Citrus Crab & Artichoke Salad. **Slow Roasted Duck PoBoy.
KATIE’S: **Cochon de lait and BBQ shrimp poor boy. ***Oyster Slessinger Poor Boy.
LaDELYO’S CREOLE CATERING: Fried Catfish. Crawfish Étouffée Balls, Cool & Creamy Shrimp Pasta.
LÜKE: **Shrimp & Jalapeño Cheese Grits.
MISS LINDA, THE YA-KA-MEIN LADY: Beef & Shrimp Yakamein. Crawfish & Shrimp Mac & Cheese. Shrimp & Crabmeat Dressing over Fried Eggplant.
MR. MUDBUG & 12 SEASONS CATERING: Fried Crawfish Caesar Salad. Mudbug Hash. Crawfish tails smoked sausage, corn, potatoes and topped with a fried egg. Vegetarian Red Beans & Rice.
PRALINE CONNECTION: Smothered Okra & Shrimp.
**Jumbo Chicken Wings with Greens or crowder peas & okra.
RED FISH GRILL: ***BBQ Oyster Poor Boy.
ROYAL HOUSE OYSTER BAR: *Fish Beignets. **BBQ Shrimp & Grits. BLT Oyster Poor Boy.
SALTWATER GRILL: Crawfish & Spinach Boat. Grilled Alligator Sausage on a Stick. **Crabcake Salad Remoulade Dressing
SEITHER’S SEAFOOD: Tuna Sushi Poor Boy. Backyard Shrimp Boil. **Bananas Brûlée Sundae.
SUPERIOR SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR: *Crawfish Queso.
*Chicken & Alligator Sausage Jambalaya.
TJ GOURMET: **Crawfish Bread. Alligator Sausage Kabob with Zydeco Sauce. *Mango Sorbet with Rum Sauce. VOLEO’S SEAFOOD: ***Smothered rabbit poor boy with fried oysters & remoulade. Crawfish Enchilada. Crabmeat Boudin Balls
WOODY’S FISH TACOS: **Blackened Fish Taco. Sauteed Shrimp Quesadilla. Alligator Sausage Burrito.
NOMenu invites restaurants or organizations with upcoming special events to tell us, so we might add the news to this free department. Send to news@nomenu.com.
Thursday, September 2, 02016.
Storms Divert. Forks & Corks. Out Of Time, Out Of Gas.
The tropical disturbance that presented a possible hurricane danger to New Orleans has moved away in the direction of Tampa. I always feel bad when someone else gets a bad fortune that had our name on it, but I’m even more strongly relieved that we’re safe for now. I’m also pleased to see one of my Amateur Meteorological Theories continues to predict hurricanes accurately. Tom’s Theory: If there have been a lot of regular, widely-scattered, very rainy summer thunderstorms throughout the season, no hurricanes will come to the same general area.
But what do I know?
ML continues to hang out around Gulf Shores alone. She hasn’t dined out a lot, but she did go to a restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffet’s sister and thought it pretty good. Nearby is an outpost of a familiar friend: the Acme Oyster House.
Mary Ann and I have a late lunch at Forks & Corks. MA says it’s close to being her favorite restaurant on the North Shore, and I like it too. We begin with soups: white bean with shrimp for her, a chicken-andouille gumbo for me. The latter has a nice, deep roux and a fine flavor, except for one thing I find common among F&C’s otherwise excellent soups: they make them with a bit too much salt. Or could their salt component be perfect, and the problem with my low-sodium habits? Everybody wants every restaurant to cook everything to his own tastes.
The chef has been using us as guinea pigs lately-not that I mind even a little. Today he has made a gratin of crawfish tails, chunks of white Gulf fish, and a good bit of melted cheese, all nicely spiced. Too much, I’d say, but I have no doubt that this will be a strong seller.
Blackened fish salad with spinach. Kinda like the one we have with fried oysters.
We wrap up the lunch by splitting a spinach salad topped with fried oysters. This is solidly good, especially in the 99-degree heat outside. I decided to run a poll on the radio show as to which baby salad green is best. Spinach, I am surprised to see, comes in last.
We linger too long at Forks (no Corks today) and run into traffic on the way back home. En route, I see I am nearly out of gas. I fill the tank a quarter of the way and speed off, just barely making it by airtime. Worst of all: I will get no nap before signing on. The nap is very important to the show, and I find myself less that coherent.
Forks & Corks. Covington: 141 TerraBella Blvd. 985-273-3663.
Red Snapper With Italian Courtbouillon
This is a wonderful, flavorful, but light entree employing one of the best of Gulf fish. Although I use the word “courtbouillon,” this is really a preparation that Italian chefs call “in humido.” That’s hard to translate, but it’s somewhere between steamed and poached.
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
4 red snapper fillets or whole fish, 4-6 oz. each
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chopped ripe plum tomatoes (fresh, canned, or a combination)
4 artichoke hearts, quartered
2 cups fish stock or water
1 sprig fresh thyme
6 leaves basil, sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1. Heat olive oil in a large, stainless-steel skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic cloves until they begin to brown around the edges, along with crushed red pepper.
2. Add two of the fish fillets and saute about 30 seconds on each side. Remove from pan and keep warm. Saute the other two fillets the same way and remove.
3. Add the wine, tomatoes, artichokes, fish stock, salt, thyme and basil to the skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer the sauce for five minutes.
4. Return the fish to the skillet, and put the skillet into the oven for five to seven minutes, or until fish is cooked through.
5. Place a fillet on each plate and spoon on the sauce and artichokes.
Serves four.
Carpaccio @ Ristorante Del Porto
Carpaccio is a translucently thin slice of raw beef. The thinness can be achieved either by slicing frozen beef that wy, or by pounding it on a counter so you can almost see through it. It’s served cold as an appetizer, and is one of the specialties of Harry’s American Bar in Venice, Italy. Not enough restaurants offer it here, but the best of those is Del Porto, whose style is Tuscan and whose heightening of flavors is skillful. The beef slices come with truffled creme fraiche–just a little.
Ristorante Del Porto. Covington: 501 E Boston St. 985-875-1006.
This is among the 500 best dishes in New Orleans area restaurants. Click here for a list of the other 499.
September 2, 2016
Observances
The three-or-four-day Labor Day weekend begins later today, depending on what time you get off work. (I’ll have my nose to the radio grindstone all the way until six o’clock.). Labor Day is Monday, traditionally the last day of summer vacation, and the date of the last barbecue of the year in the northern states. Here in New Orleans, we keep on going with the outdoor grill until it just gets too cold and rainy for it to make sense–sometime in late December.
My fondest memory of a Labor Day picnic is of a day in 1960 or thereabouts. I was about nine or ten, and my extended family–including several aunts, uncles, and cousins–gathered on the lakefront, near the London Avenue Canal. We all went swimming in Lake Pontchartrain, descending into the water down the steps of the seawall. The water was clear enough that we could see crabs walking on the bottom.
The adults sat around drinking Falstaff Beer from cans. On one of those cheap round barbecue pits everybody had then, they cooked hot dogs, chicken, and hamburgers. We all had so much fun that when we packed up to go home, after what seemed like eight hours or so, my mother said to the patch of grass where we’d spent the last eight hours, “Good-bye! See you next year!” But we never did that again, and in a way I’m glad. A Labor Day picnic couldn’t possibly be better than that one.
Today’s Flavor
This is National Frittata Day. A frittata is an unfolded omelette. The ingredients added to the eggs are usually incorporated into them rather than being enclosed by the finished omelette. They’re served flat on a plate when made for one person. Sometimes they’re made rather large, with as many as a dozen eggs, then sliced before serving. When made with cheese and the likes of bell peppers, tomatoes, and sausage, it becomes something like a breakfast pizza, with egg instead of the bread crust. The style began in Italy, but has spread into other cuisines.
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez
The best frittatas start on top of the stove and end in the oven. This is how restaurant chefs cook a lot of things, and it may be the biggest difference between restaurant food and home cooking.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Apple Street runs parallel to S. Claiborne Avenue for a dozen blocks, from S. Carrollton Avenue to the Jefferson Parish line, It’s one of a half-dozen streets in that neighborhood named for fruit trees. It’s the continuation of the better-known Fontainebleau Drive. No restaurants are on Apple Street, but it’s only four blocks from Ye Olde College Inn, the neighborhood’s most famous restaurant. It’s two more blocks to Mikimoto, a good sushi bar.
Edible Dictionary
shortbread, n.–shortbreadA cookie made with one cup of sugar, two cups (a pound) of butter, and three cups of flour. All of these ingredients are mixed together until no powdery consistency remains, and everything is clumped up into small morsels about the size of grits. This is where the name comes from. “Short,” in a now-obsolete usage, meant flour that and fat that had become crumbly. The buttery crumbs are formed into a cookie shape and baked at a very low temperature (as low as 250 degrees) until they’ve formed into hard cookies. The low temperature leaves them a very pale color. Sometimes the shortbreads are sprinkled with sugar on top. They are deceptively rich, what with all that butter.
Deft Dining Rule #130
Grits are delicious, but hash browns go better with an omelette.
Food And Sports
Eddie Price was born today in 1925. He was a major football hero during his years at Tulane. He went on to have a professional career with the New York Giants. After he retired, he opened a restaurant and bar on the corner of Broadway and Zimpel, near the Tulane campus. It was open twenty-four hours and was a major hangout for Tulanians in the 1960s and 1970s. Eddie Price’s was the place I ever played a pinball machine that would pay off. Eddie handed me the $5.75 I won on one of his nickel-a-play, no-flipper machines himself, in 1968. He was the father of the recently deposed mayor of Mandeville, Louisiana.
Dining On The High Seas
Today in 1985, after decades of fruitless searching, the wreck of the Titanic was found on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery fired off a swell of interest in the luxurious ship. The dining rooms for the first-class passengers were alleged to have been magnificent. The cruise ships of today are much larger than the Titanic and incomparably more luxurious–to say nothing of being more egalitarian. The only ships on which the classes are kept apart now are the Cunard ships Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. The Queen’s Grill and Princess Grill passengers have their own dining rooms and even their own section of the deck. But even the hoi-polloi live very well on those ships.
Food In Show Biz
Meinhardt Raabe was born today in 1915, but he never got a lot bigger. He played the Munchkin coroner who declared the Wicked Witch of the East dead in The Wizard of Oz. He went on to work for the Oscar Meyer wiener outfit, portraying Little Oscar, the World’s Smallest Chef. He traveled around the country in the original Wienermobile in the 1930s. He wrote an autobiography, and he still turned up on television now and then. He also has a food name: raab is one of the words for the vegetable also known as broccoli di rape.
Great Food Disasters
Today in 1666, a baker who lived on Pudding Lane in London started a fire that spread to the entire city. It ultimately burned down over 10,000 houses, and became known as The Great Fire. Ironically, a pudding maker named Tommy Tucker who lived on Baker Street was one of its victims.
Food Namesakes
William Frye, who represented Maine in Congress from 1870 to 1911, was elected to life today in 1830. . . Jim DeMint, the current U.S. Senator from South Carolina, was born today in 1951. . . Grady Nutt, a comedian and Baptist preacher, made his mother smile today in 1934 by being born. This is the second day in a row we’ve had someone named Nutt in this department.
Words To Eat By
“He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart.”–C.S. Lewis.
Words To Drink By
“Whoever takes just plain ginger ale soon gets drowned out of the conversation.”–Kin Hubbard, cartoonist and humorist, 1868-1930.
This Restaurant Staffer Makes More Than The Chef.
So he has nothing really to gripe about, except in terms of a struggle between egos. Here’s something else we can tell from this conversation: the dress codes in this restaurant are agreeably high.
Click here for the cartoon.