Thursday-Sunday, April 7-10
Obsessive Eater’s Guide To The French Quarter Festival
The French Quarter Festival has entered the company of Mardi Gras and the Jazz Festival in its ability to pull crowds. Last year, well over ahalf-million people filled both the narrow and broad parts of the Quarter. The recent expansion into Thursday worked well enough: almost as many people show up as on the weekends.
The free festival spreads its attractions evenly, , with musical stages scattered around and playing constantly. Food is sold at small prices from dozens of vendors. All of the best of them are back again, with a few additions and interesting new dishes. Everything is allegedly appetizer size, but three or four items about fills up the average appetite. The best plan is to share things, and to pace yourself.
The Festival organization sets high standards for its vendors. They must be restaurants, and chain restaurants are actively discouraged. French Quarter restaurants get special consideration, for obvious reasons. The food starts at eleven all four days. It goes on until seven in the evening at the Mint and Jackson Square, but continues until nine along the riverfront (seven Sunday). Beverages of all kinds are served in all the food areas.
The food booths only accept cash and Festival tickets. You can use your credit card to buy the tickets.
Here’s a list–provided by the French Quarter Festival and subject to last-minute changes–of all the food being served at the three major areas where the food and music are concentrated. I have annotated it with my recommendations, based on what I’ve found in past years, or the vendor’s track record, if they’re new to the festival.
Recommended. Try it if the dish appeals to you.
Outstanding. Try it even if it doesn’t appeal to you.
Essential. Not to be missed.
Throughout the food vendor areas are stands selling all kinds of beverages, from soft drinks to daiquiris and margaritas, sno-balls to coffee. Maps, schedules for the music, and much more information is at the French Quarter Festival website.
See you there! I will broadcast live from the corner of St. Ann and Chartres from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 7, and Saturday, April 9. Stop by and say hello!
Plum Street Snoballs All Locations
Regular flavors: strawberry, bubble gum, cherry, spearmint, grape $3-4
Sugar free flavors: raspberry, pink lemonade $4-5
Cream flavors: nectar, coconut chocolate, ice cream, iced coffee $3-4
Add condensed milk $1
Add liquor or cordial $5
Antoine’s Jackson Square
Oysters bonne femme $6
Baked Alaska with chocolate sauce $6
Shrimp Regua $6
Broussard’s Jackson Square
Crab cake slider $7
Tropical fruit salad with coconut sorbet $5
Court Of Two Sisters Jackson Square
Crawfish Louise $6
Turtle soup $5
Combo of both above $10
Crêpes A La Cart Jackson Square
Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Crêpe $7 (Veg)
Black & Gold (Nutella & Banana) Crêpe $7 (Veg)
Bacon & Nutella Crepe $7
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse & Bourbon House Jackson Square
Bourbon barbecue shrimp poor boy $8
Prime beef debris poor boy $8
Galatoire’s Jackson Square
Fried shrimp “BLT” poor boy $8
Shrimp remoulade $8 [G]
Fried Sweet Potato & Pecan Pie $4
Haydel’s Bakery Jackson Square
White chocolate King Cake bread pudding $6
Large Chocolate Eclair $5
Jacques-Imo’s Jackson Square
Slow roasted duck po-boy $8
Shrimp & alligator sausage cheesecake $6 [G]
Crabmeat & artichoke salad, citrus vinaigrette $8
K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen Jackson Square
Butterbeans That Make You Crazy (rice, trinity, chicken, pork, andouille, tasso, duck) $56
Chicken grillades with cheddar cheese grits $6
Mrs. Wheat’s Meat Pies Jackson Square
Cajun meat pies 1 for $5, 2 for $9
Crawfish pies 1 for $5, 2 for $9
Muriel’s Jackson Square Jackson Square
Goat cheese and crawfish crepes $7
Shrimp with eggplant stuffing $6
Combo plate (both above) $12
Quintin’s Ice Cream Jackson Square
Ice Cream: Vanilla Bean, Café au Lait, Chocolate, Roasted Strawberry Creole, or Salty Caramel, cup or cone $6
Sorbets $6 cup or cone
Trey Yuen Jackson Square
Crawfish with lobster sauce $6
Shrimp fried rice $5
Egg rolls (2) $5
Vegetable lo mein $5 [Veg]
Combination plate (3 items above) $8
Tujague’s Jackson Square
Shrimp, crabmeat stuffed mirliton with Creole sauce $6
Chicken & andouille jambalaya $6
Vaucresson Sausage Co. Jackson Square
Creole hot sausage poor boy $7
Creole crawfish sausage poor boy $7
Barbecue chicken sausage poor boy $7
Jack Dempsey’s Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Stuffed crab with baked macaroni $8
Fried shrimp with baked macaroni $8
Softshell crab poor boy $10
Baked macaroni $5
Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Spicy meat pie $6, with Creole potatoes $8
Crawfish pie $7, with Creole potatoes $10
Soulful shrimp boat, potatoes $9
Mushroom pie, Creole potatoes $6 [V]
Loretta’s Authentic Pralines Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Pralines – original, chocolate, rum or coconut $3.50
Praline shoe soles $5
Praline beignets $5
Praline cupcakes (vanilla or chocolate) $5
Crab beignet $8
McHardys Chicken & Fixin’ Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Two pieces of fried chicken with potato salad or cole slaw $8
Two fried chicken strips with potato salad or cole slaw $7
Eight all white meat fried chicken bites, potato salad or cole slaw $5
Miss Linda The Yakamein Lady (New for 2016) Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Beef yakamein $7
Shrimp & beef yakamein $8
Fried pork chop sandwich $6
The Rum House (New For 2016) Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Brisket taco 2 for $7
Jerk chicken taco 2 for $7
Curry shrimp rundown $7
Theo’s Pizza Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Pizza by the slice: pepperoni or cheese $3
“The Expert” slice (olive oil, spinach, mozzarella, tomatoes, purple onions and bacon) $4
Reba’s super soaked salad (romaine, artichoke hearts, olive salad, & romano cheese dressing) $4 [V] [G]
Voleo’s Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Smothered rabbit poor boy, Cajun slaw $8
Crawfish enchilada with green chili meat sauce $8
Crawfish rolls with sweet & sour sauce $4 or 2 for $7
Zatarain’s Food Truck (New for 2016) Jax Lot (500 Decatur)
Zatarain’s jambalaya $7
Alligator sausage poor boy $8
Thin fried catfish with dirty rice $7
Dirty rice fritters $6
Cafe Reconcile Old U.S. Mint
Turkey Necks $5
Bananas Foster Bread Pudding $6 [Veg]
Rouse’s Old U.S. Mint
Hot boiled crawfish with all fixings $10
Family size $30
Rue 127 Old U.S. Mint
Deep-fried cupcakes three for $4
Pulled pork mac & cheese tots $5
Mortadella sandwich $7
The Big Cheezy (New In 2016) Old U.S. Mint
Roast beef debris sandwich with cheddar, pepper jack, & grilled green peppers $5
Crawgator: Alligator crawfish sausage with cheddar, pepper jack & green peppers $5
Tomato basil soup $4
Original grilled cheese with tomato basil soup $9
The Blue Crab (New For 2016) Old U.S. Mint
Crab Cake $7
BBQ Shrimp Stuffed Po-Boy $6
Chicken Pasta $5
Three Muses Old U.S. Mint
Korean beef poor boy $7, with fries $10
Feta fries $5 [V] [G]
Wink’s Bakery Old U.S. Mint
Buttermilk drops $2 or 3 for $5
Red beans & rice with sausage $7
Fried green tomatoes with rémoulade $6
Charcoal’s Gourmet Burger Bar Riverfront–Aquarium Plaza
Alligator corndog $7
Boudin ball $3 or 2 for $5
House beef burger $7 add cheese $8
Cool Fruit Sensations Riverfront–Aquarium Plaza
Fresh Squeezed Juices, $6 or Large $9
Fresh Squeezed Juices with vodka or rum , $10 or Large $13
Kingfish Riverfront–Aquarium Plaza
Blackened shrimp and grits with piquant chili butter $8
Alligator chili frito pie $8
Koz’s Riverfront–Aquarium Plaza
Toasted muffuletta $7
Gravy debris cheese fries $6
Pecan pie cheesecake $5
Combo Plate $10
Royal House Riverfront–Aquarium Plaza
Chargrilled oysters $6
Oyster patties $6
Gulf fish beignets $6
Westin Canal Place Riverfront–Aquarium Plaza
Cajun Cuban Sandwich $6
Cottage Chips with Crawfish Fondue $5
Combo plate $10
Boucherie Riverfront–Canal Street
12-hour roast beef poor boy, horseradish cream, pickled red onions $6
Krispy Kreme bread pudding $5
Ninja Riverfront–Canal Street
Yakiniku poor boy (garlic ribeye beef) $8
Crab stick & cucumber salad $5
Seaweed & cucumber salad $5 [V]
Shrimp yakisoba (fried noodles) $6
Praline Connection Riverfront–Canal Street
Grilled chicken livers, red beans and rice $8
Grilled chicken livers, sweet hot pepper jelly $7
Fried jumbo chicken wings, mustard greens $9
Vegetarian plate (mustard greens, crowder peas and okra $8 [V]
Ruth’s Chris Steak House Riverfront–Canal Street
Mini steak sliders with barbecue butter (2) $8
Sweet potato casserole $5
Combo plate: 1 slider & sweet potato casserole $8
WWOZ Mango Freeze Riverfront–Canal Street
Mango Freeze $5 (G)
Audubon Nature Institute Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Pork chop “lollipop” $7
Crawfish bread $7
Bennachin Restaurant Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Jamaican jerk chicken with rice, steamed veggies $7 [G]
Caribbean fish with rice, steamed veggies $7
Combo plate: curry chicken pattie, jerk chicken, rice & veggies $10
Homemade sweet potato pie $4
Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Shrimp cakes (3) $5
Cajun shrimp bowl $5
Combo of above, with bread $7
Love At First Bite Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Crawfish pasta $8
Mona’s Café Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Gyros sandwich $7
Falafel sandwich $7 [V]
Chicken shawarma sandwich $7
Combo platter: gyros or chicken or falafel, Greek salad, pita, hummus $10
Mrs. Wheat’s Meat Pies Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Cajun meat pies 1 for $5, 2 for $9
Crawfish pies 1 for $4.50, 2 for $9
Original New Orleans Po-Boys Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Fried shrimp poor boy $8
Chicken, sausage jambalaya $6
Crawfish nachos $7
Combo plate: fried shrimp & jambalaya $10
Red Fish Grill Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
BBQ Oyster Po-Boy $9
Red Fish Bisque $6
Rib Room Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Prime Rib Debris Po-Boy $7
Chicken Andouille Gumbo $7
Walker’s Southern BBQ Riverfront–Kohlmeyer Lawn
Cochon de lait poor boy
Desire Oyster Bar Riverfront–Palm Lawn
Oyster Rockefeller poor boy $10
Fried chicken & waffles with Bourbon cane syrup $7
New Orleans bread pudding, whiskey sauce $6 (the best dessert at the Festival since the very beginning in 1984)
GW Fins Riverfront–Palm Lawn
Fish & chips $8
Ponchatoula strawberry shortcake $5
House of Blues Riverfront–Palm Lawn
Voodoo shrimp $8
Chocolate praline brownie with caramel sauce $4
Lakeview Harbor Riverfront–Palm Lawn
Crawfish bread $7
Alligator sausage kebab, zydeco sauce $7
Louisiana blue crab cakes with remoulade sauce $8
R’evolution Riverfront–Palm Lawn
Beef debris po-boy, truffled cole slaw $8
Andrea’s (New for 2016) Spanish Plaza (New Food Area)
Eggplant crab cake meuniere $8
Crawfish ravioli $8
Crabmeat ravioli $8
Diva Dawg (New for 2016) Spanish Plaza (New Food Area)
Étouffée chili dawg $7
Gumbo dawg $7
Crabmeat grill cheesy $7
Combo 2 for $10
irty Dishes (New for 2016) Spanish Plaza (New Food Area)
Dirty mac & cheese $7
Whoodoo BBQ (New for 2016) Spanish Plaza (New Food Area)
Quarter rack of ribs $10
Pulled pork on French $10
Smoked bacon baked beans $4
Combo: 1 meat and beans $13
Chicken In The Sticks
Here’s a nice, light chicken dish with a good flavor and a pleasant textural contrast from the crisp vegetables. It’s inspired by an old dish at the Peppermill in Metairie. It was called “chicken Dusseldorf,” but nobody knows why. It included shrimp, which I’ve left out. (But you could add it in step five if you like.)
Grilled chicken with vegetables on the table
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini (mirliton or cucuzza would also work)
1 large carrot, peeled
2 Tbs. melted butter
2 tsp. chopped fresh garlic
3 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs. Creole mustard
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 oz. prosciutto, cut into thin sticks
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
1. Slice the squash, zucchini, and carrot into julienne strips–about the size of kitchen matchsticks.
2. In a large skillet, heat the butter and saute the vegetables and the garlic for about a minute, until tender but still crisp. Remove and keep warm.
3. Mix the flour, salt and pepper. and dust the chicken breasts lightly with the flour, seasoned with the salt and pepper.
4. Add the olive oil to the skillet where you cooked the vegetables, and heat it until it shimmers. Sear the chicken breasts, turning once, until browned. Remove the chicken to a pan and put it in the preheated oven to cook the rest of the way. and keep warm.
5. Add the wine, lemon juice, mustard and Worcestershire to the pan. Bring to a light boil, and heat until bubbling. Add the prosciutto and reduce the sauce by about half.
6. Return the vegetables to the skillet and toss to coat with the sauce. Serve the chicken with the vegetables underneath.
Serves four.
Beef Daube And Spaghetti @ Two Tonys
Two Tonys has a mailing list to let regulars know when beef daube is served as a special. When it is, the West End restaurant quickly sells out of the dish. Before we get into the whys of that, we’d better note that two related but very different dishes fly under the name “daube.” One is a cold, hogshead cheese-like appetizer from the holiday season. The other is pure Italian: roast beef sliced or into thick pieces, cooked in Sicilian-style red sauce until it falls apart. Once common in New Orleans Italian restaurants, beef daube is almost never encountered these days. But here it is at Two Tonys. . . sometimes. The beef is top round–same cut that most roast beef poor boy sandwiches use, without the brown gravy. It is not often encountered, mainly because it takes so long to make. But when it’s here, get it.
Italian beef daube at Two Tonys.
Two Tonys. West End & Bucktown: 8536 Pontchartrain Blvd. 504-282-0801.
This dish is ranked # in NOMenu’s list of the 500 best dishes in New Orleans restaurants.
April 6, 2016
Days Until. . .
French Quarter Festival 1
Jazz Festival 17
Annals Of Convenience Food
The TV Dinner was introduced by Swanson Foods today in 1954. The genius was Gerry Thomas, whose story can be found here. He was trying to figure out a use for leftover turkey from the preceding year’s Thanksgiving supply. He and came up with a pre-cooked, packaged dinner with cornbread dressing, peas and sweet potatoes in a three-compartment aluminum tray that you could just warm up in the oven. It sold for ninety-eight cents. Swanson thought it would be a hit if they sold 5,000 the first year. By the end of 1954, ten million of them had been were snapped up. We were excited by the idea of TV dinners when I was a kid, but we never liked the flavor. We always figured we were doing something wrong, otherwise it wouldn’t taste so bad. The saddest fact what that this stuff we were so excited about could not possibly compare with our mother’s home cooking.
Today’s Flavor
It is Citywide Calas Day here in New Orleans. Calas are Creole rice cakes, rolled into a ball with cinnamon and sugar and fried. A century ago, calas were widely sold from street corner carts. For years, the only restaurant that serves calas is the Coffee Pot on St. Peter Street; they still do, as a breakfast item. In 2008, the Calas Bistro in Kenner tried to revive and expand the scope of the dish. It didn’t work out, and now it’s another location of Mr. Ed’s. Thank goodness for the Coffee Pot!
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez:
If you’re making calas or rice pudding, use brown sugar. Rice needs a little caramel flavor to keep from being insipid as a dessert. Cinnamon wouldn’t hurt, either.
Deft Dining Rule #708:
If you’re in a restaurant where they serve a dish you hardly ever see anymore, order it. You may be the last person ever to do so. Don’t expect much from it.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Buster Lake is in East Texas, 131 miles northeast of Houston. It’s unlikely that buster crabs are caught here, but possible. The lake is an abandoned curve in the Angelina River, which runs through a marsh before flowing into the Neches River behind the Ba Steinhagen Lake, a reservoir. Crabs need brackish water at least, though, so maybe it’s better to fish for sac-a-lait and catfish here. If even that fails, the Catfish Hit is eight miles east in Jasper.
Music To Drink Martinis By
This is the birthday, in 1960, of jazz guitarist, singer and composer John Pizzarelli. He’s a terrific interpreter of standards, with a unique, velvety sound. And he has (more or less) a food name!
Edible Dictionary
Gibson cocktail, n.–It is unanimously agreed what makes a Gibson: it’s a gin martini with a pickled pearl onion instead of an olive. That’s the only difference. But the stories about how it came to be are so numerous that I think it’s safe to say that nobody knows for sure. They involve lots of different guys name Gibson, who wanted the onion in there for a wide variety of reasons. If you ask a San Franciscan, he’ll say it was created there. New York-based writers say it came from there. Speaking for New Orleans, I would like to say that the Gibson was absolutely not created in the French Quarter. However, here’s an idea: let’s pickle pieces of bell pepper and celery, line them up with the onion on the toothpick, and call the drink The Holy Trinity.
Junk Food Through History
Twinkies were introduced on this day in 1930. James Dewar of the Continental Baking Company wanted to get more use from the pans used to bake strawberry shortcakes, which sold well only during strawberry season. The new product was a runaway success. A half-million hens are needed to lay all the eggs used in Twinkies in a year. What a way to make a living!
Food Inventions
Today in 1938 Roy Plunkett, a DuPont researcher, cut open a tank of a refrigerant gas he was working on. For some reason, it had no pressure. He found that the gas had polymerized into a slippery white powder which, to make a long story short, became Teflon. Teflon-coated cookware is handy for a couple of things. It’s perfect for an omelette pan. Or a muffin-tin-like pan for making popovers. Otherwise, I avoid the stuff, because I like the juices and browned bits to stick to a pan a little. And ultimately non-stick coatings flake off. Which stands to reason: if nothing will stick to it, how do they get it to stay on the pan? Answer: Not very well.
Food Namesakes
Roger Cook, an investigative television journalist in England, was born today in 1943. . . Brown Sugar was the first hit for Rolling Stones Records, which was formed on this date in 1971 for the group of the same name. . . Sugar Ray Leonard won a fight with Marvin Hagler today in 1987. . . Early NASCAR race driver Herb Thomas was born today in 1923.
Words To Eat By
“There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk. And that is my answer, when people ask me: Why do you write about hunger, and not wars or love?”–M.F.K. Fisher.
“Cutting stalks at noontime. Perspiration drips to the earth. Know you that your bowl of rice each grain from hardship comes?”–Chang Chan-Pao.
Words To Drink By
“To buy very good wine nowadays requires only money. To serve it to your guests is a sign of fatigue.”–William F. Buckley, Jr.
Farm To Table.
A very big table, with few seats.
Click here for the cartoon.