Let’s see what to do this weekend? There is the Blues and Bar-B–Que Festival for the next three days with two stages, everything from steel national guitar Delta Blues music to the wailing of Tad Beniot. Did I mention that there are four different Bar-B-Que vendors, not to mention a multitude of other New Orleans edible treats, arts and beer and the weather is supposed to be sunny skies in the 70’s, or that the festival is free? Too much music for you? After all you went and saw Trombone Shorty for free who blew the roof off the park Wednesday night, so maybe something else. Hmm, how about the Latino Carnivale at the Zoo this weekend with dances and more music and food. Not in the mood? Well there is the Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival along the banks of the Tchefuncte River. This fabulous family-friendly event has old wooden boats on display and demonstrations of boat building techniques a quick and dirty boat building contest, races, food and music as well. Don’t want to drive across the Lake? O.K. how about hopping the ferry to Gretna and attending the St. Cletus Oyster Festival where you can gorge on oysters cooked every way possible (and possibly see the 2011 Oyster Queen). You could just go a little further down the road from Gretna to Bridge City and attend the Gumbo Festival and eat yourself a big bowl of gumbo and dance to the Cajun Fais do-do they have planned. Too hot for gumbo and would prefer cold beer in a nice frosted mug? I count three OcktoberFests going on around town. If that all seems too crowded and festive, what about the first annual Daiquiri Festival this weekend where you pay one price and a little shuttle takes you around to six different frozen daiquiri stores ending up at the Hi-Ho Lounge for a dance party. Too hedonistic? How about the New Orleans Film Festival which opened on Wednesday and has films playing in six different venues throughout the city accompanied by panels and discussion groups? Don’t want to go out? You could always stay home and garden and wait to watch the Saints on TV on Sunday and if none of that appeals to you- maybe you should go to a less cultural place, like Manhattan or San Francisco.
Archive for the ‘Eating & Drinking in New Orleans’ Category
A New Orleans Weekend
October 14th, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
New Orleans Food Trucks
September 23rd, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
So often a really wonderful local festival in New Orleans goes viral and the next thing you know the lines for beer wrap around the corner and you cannot get a good space on the dance floor for all these guys from Cleveland who heard about the festival from their cousin from Palm Springs and before you know it the little local festival with killer NOLA food and great music has a high entry price and the local have ceded the event to visitors. Well, time to get in on the ground floor of what I have no doubt will be an annual tradition! Tomorrow is the first annual Street Fare Derby. Promising to celebrate the culture of street food and food trucks, the Derby will be held at the Fair Grounds (the site of that other little local festival the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival) and will have over fifteen food trucks, libations, excellent music to the tune of Big Sam’s Funky Nation as well as Kermit Ruffins. If that is not enough the Derby is being held in on the Closing Day of the track’s Summer Quarter Horse Meet so you can also watch the ponies and place a small wager if you are so inclined. So if we time it right we can start off with a gourmet grilled cheese (perhaps Havarti and Bacon) watch a race, move on to a hybrid Po Boy-Sandwich-Vietnamese Banh Mi,dance it off and then snack on an Asian Noodle Bowl and a Ginger snowball to wash things down and watch them come down the stretch. What a day! What a town!
New Orleans’ Favorite Son
August 15th, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
While it was a week ago (it is hard to both enjoy all the city has to offer and find time to write about it!) memories of Satchmo Fest are still swirling in our head. It was a hot humid weekend and everything was dampened but our spirits and the beat of the music! Satchmo Fest is put on by the same folks who put together the Jazz and Heritage Festival so you know they know how to get fabulous musicians and incredible food to converge. The Festival is in honor of Louis Armstrong, old Satchmo whose birthday (according to the nest guess one can find) is August 4 1901. So we celebrated his 110th birthday last weekend with a two day long music festival including speakers, seminars and music all over town in the clubs at night and on two stages at the Old US Mint during the weekend. They had tents and misters for the first time (hard to believe it has taken so long to think of that!) and all types of music in which the coronet reigned supreme. On the 4th of August the radio was playing Louis all day long to get you in the mood. I baked two peach tortes and a savory leek custard for breakfast at the inn all to the sounds of “Sleepy Time Down South” and “They Can’t Take that Away From Me” and the most romantic song in the universe “A Kiss to Build a Dream On”. It just makes a girl want to find a dance floor and a skilled partner for a twirl or two. Luckily for me, despite the heat Guy was ready the following day when we went down to the mint and found larger than life statutes of Satchmo and dance floors inside the tents and Leon ‘Kid Chocolate’ Brown playing the tunes to make you swoon. Just another wonderful weekend in New Orleans. Who says the city slows down in August?
New Orleans Cooks
August 3rd, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
It was one of those mornings when all the guests were up and on their way by 9 a.m. so once the dishes were cleared I took myself down to my favorite restaurant supply company to see if I could find little egg warmers. I love the place we go, it is in Mid-City, a fabulous New Orleans neighborhood where gorgeous homes are interspersed with shotgun cottages and industrial warehouses. You can find that special piece of architectural salvage next to a place with classroom supplies and another with a zillion types of brick. Tucked back by the railroad tracks is Claires. You could lose yourself for hours with whisks, popover tins and frothers (or at least I could!) Strolling the aisles I ran into the chef from Katie’s and the sou chef from Coquettes which is our most favorite restaurant. Great fun to share kitchen tips with those who make this city such an incredible dining town. It is a cosmopolitan place but still a small town where you get to know the person who is cooking your meal and pouring your wine. We talked some about the quiet pace of New Orleans in August when it is hot but less crowed and the vibe continues even though the tourist are less numerous. First week of August it is pretty quite but the Satchmo Fest honoring Louis Armstrong and White Linen Night, a ten block stroll through the arts district with street bands and roving bartenders is slated for this weekend. I did not find my egg cups but left happy to be a part of the hospitality community.
A Spirited Dinner in New Orleans
July 22nd, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
Wine pairings for dinner are so routine they are almost passe. Here in New Orleans during the Tales of the Cocktail one of the special events are custom designed dinners at one of twenty different world class eateries paired with cocktails. The chefs and mixologists work for weeks to perfect a blend of tastes in food and libations. We went with friends last night to A Mano’s cock tail pairing where the chef and New York bartender duos the Tippling Brothers created a favorable and unique take on Italian Creole. Our delicious menu is below. I must admit I did not recognize half of what I was drinking, but loved every course. The risotto was a standout although the pairing had a bit more fire than I am used to. Favorite drink was the rum and bittertruth sloeberry with some file . Not your basic gin and tonic! The crowd was festive and appreciative. We went for more toady hoping to spend time in their tasting room but the event has gotten so popular that there were long lines so we bailed, had an oyster poorboy and came home to wait for our guests to arrive. Like so many wonders in this city what started as a local diversion has become a popular destination event. If you enjoy your imbibing you need to mark your calenders for the 2012 event which entails lectures, tasting of every spirit you can image, a speakeasy, luncheons and of course the Spirited Dinners. See you there!
Welcome Cocktail
Averna Amaro, orgeat, guava, prosecco, cucumber
Antipasti
Tuna crudo, watermelon, herb salad
Shrimp, giardinara, Creole tomato diavolo
Grilled peach, lardo, sprouts, saba
G’Vine Floraison gin, Esprit de June, lemon, basil
Primi
Seafood Risotto-saffron
Barsol Pisco, fino sherry, red pepper, orange, Tabasco air
Secondi
Duck conservata, orange, fennel-legs, fennel pollen
Rhum JM VSOP, Bitter Truth Sloeberry, filé syrup, Bitter Truth Creole and Chocolate bitters
Dolci
Lavender panna cotta, honey, sea salt
Excellia Reposado tequila, Averna Agrumi Sambuca, pink grapefruit, black pepper, honey
Count Down to Jazz Fest
April 26th, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
Remember when you were young and your birthday fell on a weekend and you had decided every element of your party down to the type of icing on your cake and all you had to do is get through the days between now and then? That is sort of how the whole town feels the beginning of the week of the first weekend of Jazz Fest. The weekly newspapers are twice their size with advertisements for Fest Dresses , Fest Hats and music club acts. All the hanging baskets adorning porches throughout the city are overflowing with brightly colored annuals and every restaurant is advertising a Fest special (although all the good places pretty much have all their tables reserved by now ). Even the weather is putting on its Fest best with sunny skies slight breeze and no hint of the wrap around humidity which is right around the corner (maybe Sunday??)The Fest puts out their music schedule of the seven days in which the times are blocked out on a grid and these are affectionately called Fest Cubes which visitors and locals alike study closely trying to map out their time on the Fairgrounds in between the incredible food, second line and Mardi Gras Indian parades which wind their way through the paths between the stages. Out in the coffee shops people are studying the cubes like an Ouija Board. As I bolt around town doing the errands all good innkeepers do I can see New Orleans the way the thousand of visitors who are about to descend see it with its Caribbean colors, intoxicating mix of Palm Trees and live oaks, the faint sound of a trumpet in the background the clop clop of a mule drawn carriage in the foreground against this unique light which makes the sides of buildings look as if they are lit from within and even the blighted wooden shotgun with the faded sign offering hot lunches and p’orboys painted on the side looks magical. And this time of year there is a smell of crawfish cooking mingling with the scent of the confederate jasmine blooming in riotous abandon along every fence. I must admit as much as we love our visitors we do not put this joy for the sense just for you, it is our back drop everyday and we cannot wait to share it with you over the next ten days. Let the Festing begin!
Eating in New Orleans
January 21st, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
We love to eat and that does not make us unusual residents in New Orleans, maybe in Paris and San Francisco does going out to eat make up such a large part of one’s social activity. There are definitely a zillion restaurants in New York City but I think that is because everyone’s kitchen is so small. Here dining whether it is classical Creole with white table cloths or elbows propped up on oilcloth munching a fully dressed oyster po-boy food consumes a great deal of time, attention and delight. Most of our guests come for the music and the food and we love talking to them about both. In fact we have our own four page list of favorite places to eat we provide our guests when they arrive. Our website lists our most favorites all within walking distance of our inn. We take pride in our list, revising it every few months (they disappear – guest take them when they leave which is the sincerest form of flattery) and I take as much enjoyment adding a new found treasure as I do taking off one which may have a great reputation but we just don’t find the food special enough or the staff attentive enough to make it on our list. Changing the list meets my need as a frustrated food critic, and we try to have a good sample for those who are headed up to Tulane, down to the Quarter or strolling the streets of Uptown. Now don’t misunderstand me, the demands of inn keeping and the fact that it does get pricey to eat out all the time, we do not get to sample all the choices nearly often enough- but there is one place which is on short top twenty fabulous places we went to last night after all the guests were taken care of and all the chores were done. The lines were not as long as we sometime find them and the choices were abundant and seasonal. After hemming and hawing and a long discussion with the server and a few samples I settled on the malt mocha chip and Guy had the salty caramel. I cannot be convinced that an ice cream parlor does not belong on a list of great places to eat! The Creole Creamery is in an old drug store a half a mile up the road from the Sully Mansion Bed and Breakfast and the 1950’ neon McKenzie’s sign still hangs out front. With selections like Creole Cream Cheese, Steen’s Molasses Cookie, Mexican Hot Chocolate and Salty Smoked Chocolate Almond, the ice cream is rich, inventive and flavorful. They have seasonal specials like blood orange sorbet and in the summer they are well known for both their dill and cinnamon ice cream. Old, young, rich, not so rich, black, white, the place is always mobbed with customers peering intently over the counter to make their choices and they can savor their ice cream inside or on benches on the street. If you cannot decide they have four and six scoop samplers and for the really gluttonous among us you can order the Tchoupitoulus with eight scoops and four toppings. If you finish it all (by yourself) they take your picture and put it up on their hall of fame.
Yes there is a place for blacken redfish and bar b que shrimp and stuffed mirlton but between the bread pudding and beignets rich delicious ice cream stands on its own and I know just the right place to get it!
New Orleans’ Ten Best
December 31st, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
It seems every magazine and newspaper article has their selected ten best lists of 2010 today so while I am waiting for the guests to come down for breakfast I decided to compile my own 10 best New Orleans personal experiences in 2010.
1. Fishing for redfish in Barataria Bay – A month after they capped the well in the Gulf ad some spots were open for fishing, we decided to support our local charter boat captains and spent the day out on the water catching redfish. They were plentiful and shimmering in the water and delicious to eat!
2. Listening to roosters’ crow on an early morning in the Marigny- We stayed with friends in the Fauborg Marigny (the neighborhood to the east of the French Quarter) who have a large backyard garden. Sitting with coffee in hand in the diffused morning sun we heard roosters throughout the neighborhood and it brought me back to times in the Dominican Republic. We really are the northern most Caribbean country!
3. Treme at Treme- Going to the Treme Gumbo Festival and seeing Wendall Pierce and Clark Peters from the HBO Treme series there eating gumbo and dancing to Shamar Allen like the rest of us.
4. Beignets at café Du Monde- Yes a touristy thing to do but something every local enjoys every once in a while. Our son and girlfriend were visiting, the sun was shining the café au lait was perfect and the powdered sugar five inches deep, good company and yummy beignets.
5. Marching with the Krewe of Dead Pelicans- when the BP oil spill happened we all felt so angry and helpless and worked out our frustration with a good old New Orleans parade complete with costumes and a brass band.
6. Attending the Burlesque Review- New Orleans hosts a national burlesque competition in the fall. Curious about how burlesque is making a resurgence we went to the final night review showcasing the winners of the competition, while I enjoyed the acts, it was the merchandise in the lobby I really loved, who knew there so many versions of fishnets and pasties existed?
7. Wearing my Saints shirt every Sunday- I never really rooted for a team before and living in New Orleans in 2010 means you are a Saints fan. Everyone dresses on game day and you cannot go anywhere without seeing folks in saints shirts, and that includes nurses working in the hospital, wearing them under their scrubs. I sport my “12” Colston jersey with pride and feel part of something larger than myself on game day.
8. Listening to Kermit Ruffins rehearse with a full orchestra swing band – We made the rounds on my birthday and one stop was at the Mid City Rock and Bowl (dance hall and bowling alley for the uninitiated) and before the show we went in and listened to my favorite trumpeter play and croon songs from the 1940’s, even took a spin on the dance floor!
9. Surrounded by tubas- Tuba Fats was one of New Orleans most famous tuba players and they had a second line for him this year at the jazz and Heritage Festival with all the best tuba players in the city participating. I don’t know how but I ended up in the middle of them as we marched throughout the Fairgrounds, tubas as far as the eye could see and the swell of their music, it was like marching in the midst of musical elephants.
10. Landing a Drew Brees football during the Bacchaus Mardi Gras Parade- Long story, suffice it to say there were crowds, Superbowl champions , Saturday before Mardi Gras and Drew Brees throwing plastic footballs to the crowd. I am my far the smallest and most sober of those around me, but when the smoke cleared, we have a keepsake on our mantle! Here’s hoping for a wonderful 2011 and Two dat to all!
Christmas Shopping in New Orleans
December 16th, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
Yes Christmas is coming and there is baking and shopping to be done as well as parties to attend. If most of the country is finding their bundles for under the tree on line or at the mall, here is New Orleans we prefer to perform our elf duties at street festivals. After all our guests were settled on their activities for the day, Guy and I spent the entire Saturday going from one street festival to another to get our fill of presents, music and of course food. We started at the Kingpin Christmas Fair which is a small little watering hole
a few blocks from the inn, described in Zagats as one of the greatest dive bars in the city.. Every December they host an art market for the holidays, it is strange to enter a bar (the contrast from a bright sunny day to the dark diffuse light of a dive bar was a novel Christmas shopping experience!) and see handmade masks and pottery on the bar and hand painted purses next to the jukebox. My favorite this year were necklaces made of zippers fashioned as flower petals and rosebuds. A friend of ours was selling her small ceramic dolls which looked like a cross between Mexican Day of the Dead figures and Toulouse Lautrec dancers. Very bohemian and perhaps a bit much for early Saturday afternoon so we headed to Ferret street for their annual Ferrestivus a fusion of art market, libations and music. So many wonderful crafts to choose from, I particularly loved the antique leather fingerless gloves refashioned through a batik tea stain and small rosettes at the wrist made from the fingers. There were beautiful ceramics and soaps and heavenly jewelry. Strolling through the aisles to the sounds of the Free Agent Brass band, munching on a tasty cochon du lait po-boy and sipping fresh spiced tea. There is a friendly neighborhood vibe there and everything to hand rolled tamales to Christmas wreaths done up in black and gold in honor of the Saints. 
We then headed down to the Treme Gumbo Festival which is put on by the Jazz and Heritage Foundation. Again more Christmas present possibilities (we picked up a 2008 Jazz Festival tote bag for $5, what a bargain) and admired the blown glass pelicans. The highlight of the festival is the multiple samplings of gumbo available and the music. We arrived in time to hear Shamar Allen and Kermit Ruffins play. Fabulous music and food all for free. While catching up with friends and the gumbo and music was great the highlight was seeing Wendell Pierce and Clark Peters both featured actors on the HBO series Treme. How perfect to see the cast of Treme in Treme! That was all we wanted for Christmas. Beats a day at the mall anyday!
New Orleans Thanksgiving Food
November 16th, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
We are rounding the corner into holiday season, and of course New Orleans has its own way of doing the most traditional of American meals- Thanksgiving dinner. No roast turkey for the true New Orleanian, nope they will be chowing down on Turducken. That’s right a a Turducken “What the heck is a Turducken?” As any good cook will tell you a turducken is a chicken stuffed inside a duck that is then stuffed inside a turkey, all of which have been de-boned. Between each bird is a layer of stuffing, which ranges from the mild and traditional cornbread stuffing to other Cajun fare such as andouille sausage stuffing, oyster stuffing and even shrimp étouffée. The entire trio is then either deep fried, Acadian-style, or slow-cooked by braising, roasting, grilling or barbecuing. According to local lore, the Turducken was born on that fateful day when there wasn’t enough room in the oven for all three birds side by side! No one’s quite sure who got it started. There are records of “nested bird roasts” from Europe in the 19th century, while the noted chef Paul Prudhomme is said to have created the first in America sometime around 1983. We have memories of when we first hosted the extended family for Thanksgiving (and a four day stay at our home- we should have known then that inn keeping was in our blood) we awoke to the radio and Emeril Lagasse’s voice explaining how to debone the birds to allow them to be stuffed inside one another- suddenly our carefully prepared meal featuring a smoked turkey out on the grill sounded so mundane. But there were yams to peel and cranberries to crush,so if memory serves we crept downstairs past our sleeping guests, poured ourselves a good luck shot of bourbon and got to work! Hoping your Thanksgiving time is filled with those you love and a taste of turducken.
Keeping the New Orleans Music Tradition Alive
NOLA's Loney Planet
We Love a Good Parade
