Restaurant Info and Reviews

[Blitzzzzz]

Seems to me it's about time to update the Restaurant Thread. I went looking for last year's but I couldn't find it. Can anyone help?
Also, I'm sure there is new news about the old favorites and new arrivals that some of you have been lucky enought to sample since last fest.
Any more news on King Roger's??
Let's hear it, I'm getting hungry.:cool:

[Azeater]

I'm cravin' Godzilla on Oak. Guess I will have to settle for Outback in Flag.

[pokerchick66]

Blitzz, Dank posted this in the Thread Resurrection thread:

"I have the aforementioned threadhead restaurant review in a word doc ... thats probably the most sensible way to bring it back ... maybe Ohio could put it on Threadhead.org"


Maybe Dank can post it here or in a new thread.

I'd like to peruse it myself.

[MzJoey]

I would guess the restaurant scene has changed alot since last year? But that's just my humble opinion (maybe i'm just wishing).

[ibjamn]

Seems to me it's about time to update the Restaurant Thread. I went looking for last year's but I couldn't find it. Can anyone help?
Also, I'm sure there is new news about the old favorites and new arrivals that some of you have been lucky enought to sample since last fest.
Any more news on King Roger's??
Let's hear it, I'm getting hungry.:cool:


Blitzzz, King Roger has been open for awhile, I posted it somewhere on here...

I have awful news about one of our favorites. Fiorella's. We went a few months ago and found out they had sold it. We had a terrible experience, but anybody can have a bad day. Our friends who stayed at our house over Christmas also had a bad experience. Third try, we went this past Saturday. The chicken was uneatable, very salty and garlicky (too much) and the crust was burned in places. We sent it back and were not offered another dish and it wasn't taken off the bill. We won't be going back there.

On a happier note, our favorite restaurant before the thing, Blue Plate, which has shown no signs of life for over a year is coming back in April. We pass by every so often to see if they are working on it. We ran into the owner and he said his wife is expecting a baby in Feb & they will reopen in April.

Mandina's is set to reopen, but I don't know when.

Camellia Grill is reopened.

[funkkjunkie]

Maybe we should start fresh.

[Blitzzzzz]

Maybe we should start fresh.
I'd like to see last year's list posted someplace and I agree, IB's post shows the need to start a new thread for all of this year's news!
I must have missed the good news about King Roger, that just makes my night!:cool:

[MzJoey]

allrighty then...if ya want some Cuban food, reasonable and w/in walking distance of the qtr...

Liborios Restaurant
321 Magazine st.

I found it by walking by (In '04 our hotle was near Mothers'), I ate there twice it was so good, very reasonable. Modest menu, everything was pretty authentic and service was uber nice! I saw a couple of recent postings on comments for this cafe that say it's still good, so I'm hopin to visit this Spring.

[saturn]

La Peniche was new to me last year -- we ate there several times, partly because it was so close to our digs, but also because the food was really good. Great breakfasts.

[glinda]

Thanks for the update, Jen. Man, bummer about Fiorella's, but great to hear about Mandina's. Hope its open for festtime.

[mariena]

Slim Goody's is a great funky little spot for breakfast on Magazine Street. We found in one morning as we were jogging by. The smell just invited us in. It is our tradition (my husband and I) to go jogging in the mornings on Magazine/St Charles street. Great run, by the way. Afterwards, we eat breakfast, go to the Fest and eat more.
Mariena

[rosetree]

Jenn: Did you say Camellia Grill is open again????since when????

Mariena: My good friend Kappa owns Slim Goodies. She was one of the first, if not the first restaurant opened after Kat. She got a lot of national exposure from that. She was feeding a lot of first responders for weeks. Next time you are there, tell her Mark from Rosetree said hello! ;)

[ScoopJohnD]

May I take this opportunity to remind all you foodies that you will be able to buy chances in the Threadhead Raffle for a $75 gift certificate to use toward a wonderful meal at Bayona in the Quarter. Thanks to the generosity of Susan Spicer.

You may drool again. http://www.bayona.com/flash_content/bayona.htm

[pokerchick66]

Jenn: Did you say Camellia Grill is open again????since when????

Mariena: My good friend Kappa owns Slim Goodies. She was one of the first, if not the first restaurant opened after Kat. She got a lot of national exposure from that. She was feeding a lot of first responders for weeks. Next time you are there, tell her Mark from Rosetree said hello! ;)

Mark, here's a list with a link:

http://www.nojazzfest.com/chat/showthread.php?t=755&page=3

[mariena]

Jenn: Did you say Camellia Grill is open again????since when????

Mariena: My good friend Kappa owns Slim Goodies. She was one of the first, if not the first restaurant opened after Kat. She got a lot of national exposure from that. She was feeding a lot of first responders for weeks. Next time you are there, tell her Mark from Rosetree said hello! ;)

Hey Mark,
I will do that. We love Slim Goodies!! The sweet potato pancakes are especially good. I love the fact that they helped out by feeding the first responders after Kat. That place has a great vibe.
mariena

[glinda]

May I take this opportunity to remind all you foodies that you will be able to buy chances in the Threadhead Raffle for a $75 gift certificate to use toward a wonderful meal at Bayona in the Quarter. Thanks to the generosity of Susan Spicer.

You may drool again. http://www.bayona.com/flash_content/bayona.htm

Woohoo Scoop! Love Bayona, Susan's the best.

[windowman]

I am not sure if Camellia Grill has reopened as of today, but there has been a full page ad for two weeks in Gambit about bidding for a seat reopening day, coming soon. Looks to me that it will be before Mardi Gras.

[rosetree]

That's good news, I haven't read the Gambit in a few weeks so I missed it :o ;)

[festivalgirl]

Zagat just put out their Post-Katrina Restaurant & Night Life Guide. They even include Hotels & Attractions. It's a sadly thin version but also a hopeful one.

[VWGal]

Just gotta say "GAWD, I am hungry!" This is one of my favourite threads each year...

[swampwoman]

the most up to date New Orleans restaurant list post-Katrina

Tom Fitzmorris' website, local food critic

http://www.nomenu.com/

[ibjamn]

For those of you who get out to da Parish, we have also been making every couple of month pilgrimages to Rocky & Carlo's in St. Bernard. When we went around Christmas, they were moving refrigeration units in. We went last Saturday, they were power washing the windows. Looks like it's opening soon!

[NYMAMA]

Is Cafe Sbisa reopened? We ate ther 2 years ago and it was great. It wasn't reopened last year for the fest. It's a realy old resturant I would hate to see it closed for good.

[NeenAtlanta]

I have awful news about one of our favorites. Fiorella's. We went a few months ago and found out they had sold it. We had a terrible experience, but anybody can have a bad day. Our friends who stayed at our house over Christmas also had a bad experience. Third try, we went this past Saturday. The chicken was uneatable, very salty and garlicky (too much) and the crust was burned in places. We sent it back and were not offered another dish and it wasn't taken off the bill. We won't be going back there.

Damn, that's terrible knews about Fiorelli's. I made a point to eat there every time I came down to NOLA.

[NeenAtlanta]

For those of you who get out to da Parish, we have also been making every couple of month pilgrimages to Rocky & Carlo's in St. Bernard. When we went around Christmas, they were moving refrigeration units in. We went last Saturday, they were power washing the windows. Looks like it's opening soon!

Thank goodness! Didn't they also own Fiorelli's for a time?
Mmmm, I'm drooling thinking of those long pastas in the mac & cheese and a shrimp po' boy overflowing with TONS of shrimp. And a wop salad, of course.

[piscesgirl]

Mandina's is set to reopen tomorrow - yeah!!!! Unfortunately, I can't go tomorrow - boo!!!!

If anyone is interested in great Spanish/Mediterranean food, my friend Laurentino (he's from Barcelona) has a fabulous restaurant in Metairie. It's super small & out of the way but the food is awesome! He had a good write up in Gambit a week or so ago.

[csoul]

Slim Goody's is a great funky little spot for breakfast on Magazine Street. We found in one morning as we were jogging by. The smell just invited us in. It is our tradition (my husband and I) to go jogging in the mornings on Magazine/St Charles street. Great run, by the way. Afterwards, we eat breakfast, go to the Fest and eat more.
Mariena

I don't mean to drift, but I just GOTTA' SAY......SHAZAAM!! I'm damn lucky if I can walk in the mornings before fest. You run???? Hats off to ya' girl!

[MzJoey]

Won't be able to hit the Spanish restaurant until Jazzfest, but a definite must do!

[rosetree]

For those of you who get out to da Parish, we have also been making every couple of month pilgrimages to Rocky & Carlo's in St. Bernard. When we went around Christmas, they were moving refrigeration units in. We went last Saturday, they were power washing the windows. Looks like it's opening soon!

mmmm....Mac & Cheeeeeeeeeese :D

[jhjpotter]

Seems to me it's about time to update the Restaurant Thread. I went looking for last year's but I couldn't find it. Can anyone help?
BB?

[pokerchick66]

BB?

Beatle Bob?

lol

[Belle]

I love the breakfasts here

[pokerchick66]

I love the breakfasts here

Oooooh, me too. Went there last year; it was divine.

[ohio]

Blitzz, Dank posted this in the Thread Resurrection thread:

"I have the aforementioned threadhead restaurant review in a word doc ... thats probably the most sensible way to bring it back ... maybe Ohio could put it on Threadhead.org"


Maybe Dank can post it here or in a new thread.

I'd like to peruse it myself.I'd be glad to do that! Will look for that thread...

[dank_bass]

Its at work, I'll email it to Ohio tomorrow

[Blitzzzzz]

Oooooh, me too. Went there last year; it was divine.
Me three! Breakfast is great and the waitresses are way wonderful as well. I'm so bad with names but the older lady always treats me like family!:cool:

[glinda]

Eggs sardou... pain perdue... Old Coffee Pot is callin you...

[mariena]

I don't mean to drift, but I just GOTTA' SAY......SHAZAAM!! I'm damn lucky if I can walk in the mornings before fest. You run???? Hats off to ya' girl!

LMAO! That is so funny. We will see how it goes this year.
mriena

[mightyradgumbo]

I love the breakfasts here

Yes great breakfasts, i do agree, didn't get there last year-this year is a must I say.

[marignygreg]

I got some to go a few weeks back. The crust was slightly burnt but the meat was perfect. It was a little salty as Ibjamn said but still damn good.The worst was they didn't put the toast under the chicken or even include toast. Man that toast taste good after sitting under that chicken for a bit. I would not give up on Fiorella's yet, but they better put my toast in next time or else !!

[Zydekitten]

Yes great breakfasts, i do agree, didn't get there last year-this year is a must I say.

I'm rather fond of the breakfasts at Elizabeth's, which is just two blocks away from where I stay during JF. Yum, Yum - gimme some! :D

[ibjamn]

My favorite breakfast is Saturdays at Elizabeth's; grillades & grits, praline bacon & calas. yum yum.

[pokerchick66]

My favorite breakfast is Saturdays at Elizabeth's; grillades & grits, praline bacon & calas. yum yum.

What is calas?

[Zydekitten]

My favorite breakfast is Saturdays at Elizabeth's; grillades & grits, praline bacon & calas. yum yum.

Yeah, Denbear and I had some fabulous stuffed mirliton and calas (amongst other fine foods) there this past December!

[drool]

[ibjamn]

What is calas?

It's a really old fashioned NOLA thing, hard to find in restaurants anymore. It's like a beignet or fritter, made with rice, sugar & spices, fried & covered with powdererd sugar.

[pokerchick66]

It's a really old fashioned NOLA thing, hard to find in restaurants anymore. It's like a beignet or fritter, made with rice, sugar & spices, fried & covered with powdererd sugar.

I'm willing to try it.

[mightyradgumbo]

It's a really old fashioned NOLA thing, hard to find in restaurants anymore. It's like a beignet or fritter, made with rice, sugar & spices, fried & covered with powdererd sugar.

That's some good eatin' right there.

[Zydekitten]

This is a GREAT article from the NYT that explains about calas and other historic foods being rediscovered by New Orleanians after the storm:

"December 6, 2006
'Faerie Folk' Strike Back With Fritters'

By KIM SEVERSON

PEOPLE here despise FEMA, insurance companies and anyone who has anything to do with levees.

But in a city with postal service so spotty that delivery of a magazine is cause for a party, a magazine writer from New York has moved to the top of the New Orleans hate list.

For eight pages in the November issue of GQ, Alan Richman, a veteran food writer, talked trash about New Orleans and its food. He did not just take a few jabs at some subpar gumbo. The man essentially called New Orleanians fat, lazy and too hung over to recognize good food. Mr. Richman suggested that before Hurricane Katrina, many of the big-name Creole restaurants -- and here he may have a point -- had the stodgy stink of 1950s French hotel food and might not be worth saving.

But what provoked the most vitriol was his assertion that there is no such thing as a Creole.

''I have never met one and suspect they are a faerie folk, like leprechauns, rather than an indigenous race,'' he wrote. He added that ''the idea that you might today eat an authentic Creole dish is a fantasy.''

That claim had the unifying force of an invitation to a seafood boil. An agitated city attacked.

''I'd like to throw him in the back room at Tipitina's with all the Neville brothers and see if he still thinks Creoles don't exist,'' said Poppy Tooker, a cooking teacher who was raised in New Orleans.

Like some others involved with New Orleans food, she offers a vulgar gesture when Mr. Richman is mentioned. That's because to say Creoles don't exist is to deny the very culture that makes New Orleans different from every other city in the United States.

''You cannot live in New Orleans and not know what it means to be Creole,'' said Greg Osborn, a New Orleans Public Library archivist and historian who is Creole. ''There's a connection among all Creoles that goes beyond the color of your skin.''

But when you try to get people to agree on just what a Creole is, you start to think Mr. Richman might be right. Ask six Louisianans to define it and you'll get 12 answers.

''It's the name everyone wants to be called but no one can tell you what it is,'' said Dickie Breaux, owner of the Café des Amis in Breaux Bridge, a Cajun restaurant and music spot a couple hours' drive west of New Orleans.

Louisiana Creole scholars use a textbook definition that transcends race and ethnicity. They say anyone whose ancestors were born in Louisiana during colonial times is a Creole. But Creole also means a genetic mix of colonial settlers, indigenous people and slaves, so it has a racial connotation. In Acadiana, the Cajun homeland in southwest Louisiana, Creole can be code for anyone who is not white. In New Orleans, some use the word to denote people of color with some white ancestry, but it is also claimed by white descendants of the French settlers.

The word has a larger meaning to people who live here. It takes in everything they are most proud of. It encompasses architecture, in the form of Creole cottages, and music, both zydeco and early jazz. And, of course, there is Creole food.

Not that any of that mattered much to Mr. Richman, who never liked New Orleans, although he came here on his honeymoon several years ago. (He is recently divorced, but insists he doesn't blame the city.)

He says he was simply trying to write the first unsentimental piece about New Orleans food in a world in which having a contrarian opinion is no longer valued. ''You have to be behind everything these days,'' he said. ''You have to be behind the president, you have to be behind New Orleans.''

After his article appeared, Mr. Richman was pilloried by bloggers. An e-mail petition called for his firing, based on ''racist invective.'' A spitting mad Brett Anderson, the food writer for The Times-Picayune, took him on in print, writing that ''Richman's story is a weakling's idea of what it means to be tough.''

Despite the public pummeling, Mr. Richman is unrepentant.

''If people want to call themselves Creoles, fine,'' he said. ''I am now calling myself a tight end for the New York Giants.''

Leah Chase, 83, the city's most revered Creole cook, hadn't read the magazine. She is preoccupied with trying to reopen Dooky Chase's, her restaurant, which was soaked in five feet of water. But she had heard plenty about it.

Last week, standing in front of her Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer, across from her restaurant in the Tremé neighborhood, she pointed out that she happened to be a real live Creole and that she cooked like one, too. But she was too polite to criticize Mr. Richman outright.

''You can never understand what is in a man's heart,'' she said.

One way to understand Creole food is to compare it with Cajun food. Creole is fancy and urban; Cajun is simple and country. Creole gumbo has tomatoes; Cajun does not. Creole dishes rely on butter; Cajun on pork fat.

The most important measure, though, is to remember that what ends up on the Creole plate is determined by who one's grandmother was. The Creole kitchen has been touched by countries including Senegal, Gambia, Cameroon, Haiti, Spain, Cuba, Germany and Italy. The common denominators are the raw ingredients that grow in southern Louisiana and a cultural dip in French haute cuisine.

''It's a better cuisine than any of them individually,'' said Marcelle Bienvenu, one of Louisiana's longtime culinary authorities.

Of course, like any culture's menu, Creole cooking has expanded and contracted with every change that has rolled through town. Sometimes it has been for the better, as when the Italians brought artichokes and red gravy or when Cajun and Creole food met in Paul Prudhomme's kitchen. Sometimes it has been for the worse, as when the lure of the tourist dollar turned some classic restaurants into Creole Disney.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in late summer and early fall of 2005, home cooks and progressive restaurant chefs found that classic flavors like shrimp rémoulade and Creole cream cheese were as important to the city's recovery as a good contractor, and easier to find. That added extra sting to Mr. Richman's article. He attacked Creole culture exactly when people in New Orleans had become serious about preserving it.

One positive post-storm development has been the revival of old recipes. This year Ms. Bienvenu reissued her Cajun/Creole book, ''Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux?'' (Acadian House Publishing). It has helped rebuild many cookbook libraries lost to the hurricanes.

She is also helping The Times-Picayune pull together a new cookbook. Less than two months after Katrina hit the city, the newspaper's food editor, Judy Walker, began asking readers which recipes they had lost, and engaged more fortunate readers to fill the requests. She prints them in a reoccurring column, rebuilding the recipe files of the flood victims and turning young generations of cooks on to dishes they hadn't heard of.

One dish that will be in the book is beef daube glace, which speaks to the fancier aspirations of Creole food. A proper Creole table in the 18th and 19th centuries was often set with slices of the daube, which traditionally requires a daunting day's work boiling calves' or pigs' feet to make the gelatin that binds a mixture of boiled beef and chopped vegetables.

It appeared regularly at the réveillon, the meal served after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and on New Year's Eve. In the 1980s several restaurants tried to reignite the tradition by offering réveillon menus in December.

A more modern version of beef daube glace was developed in the early 1990s in the kitchen of Mr. B's Bistro, a French Quarter restaurant that is still being renovated post-Katrina.

Gerard Maras, then the executive chef, dug through old cookbooks and talked to people who had eaten it for years before developing a dish that had the same flavor and texture but a more modern approach. Ms. Bienvenu will include it in the new book.

Barbara Trevigne doesn't know much about beef daube glace, but she does know about the Creole link sausage called chaurice. A social worker, preservationist and performing artist, Ms. Trevigne calls herself a displaced Creole of color. She is living in a FEMA trailer while her soaked home is being rebuilt in the Seventh Ward, which is considered the most Creole of the city's neighborhoods and which took on several feet of water.

She is waiting for a chance to fry some local chaurice, which takes its name from the Spanish chorizo and the French saucission. Ms. Trevigne used to buy hers from a local sausagemaker who lost his business to the flood.
''I miss all the food in the Seventh Ward, but I really miss that sausage,'' she said.

Chaurice is highly seasoned with a slightly loose texture. Traditionally made with a mix of beef and pork, all-beef or all-pork versions are more common now. Its bite comes from black and red pepper, its depth from garlic and green onion tops, and its color from a handful of paprika.

Vance Vaucresson is from a Creole family that has been making chaurice for more than 100 years. Katrina took out the family sausage operation on St. Bernard Avenue, but a competitor from a nearby suburb of Metairie has allowed Mr. Vaucresson to make chaurice there while he rebuilds.

Mr. Vaucresson can talk about Creoles and sausage for days, but he was more excited last week when he watched rice fritters called calas boil in a pan of hot oil.

The cala (pronounced cah-LAH) has roots in Ghana. In 18th century New Orleans, Creole women of color who had the day off from their domestic jobs sold them out of baskets, shouting, ''Calas, belles, calas tout chauds!'' (Beautiful calas, very hot!)

Save for a few Creole grandmothers, who made them for special events like First Communion and Mardi Gras, calas had almost faded away.
Since Katrina, they have reappeared in some restaurants, as a dessert or in the form of savory fritters made with wild rice and smoked catfish or with duck confit.

Ms. Tooker, who is not a Creole, became an unlikely savior of the cala. She has been making it for years at festivals and in cooking classes, and has used her position in the national Slow Food organization to raise the fritter's profile. She makes the batter with baking powder, which traditionalists argue is all wrong. Some people think yeast gives the modern cala the flavor they remember from childhood. Other purists suggest no leavening at all, with a batch simply mixed the night before and allowed to gather natural bacteria and ferment in a warm place overnight.

For modern-day Creoles like Mr. Vaucresson, the leavening doesn't matter a bit. What's important is that one more piece of Creole history is being pulled back from the edge of extinction.

He stood in Ms. Tooker's kitchen last week, eating calas as fast as she could pull them out of the hot oil.

''Whether it's a good cala or bad cala doesn't matter,'' he said. ''Any cala is a good cala because someone is still cooking them.''

He only wished Alan Richman had been in the kitchen to try one.

Calas
Adapted from Poppy Tooker
Time: 20 minutes

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2 cups cooked medium- or long-grain white rice
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar.

1. In a fryer or a deep pot, add oil to a depth of at least three inches, and bring to 360 degrees. In a large bowl, combine rice, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
2. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and vanilla. Add to rice mixture and stir with a fork until well blended. Keep mixture cool (below 70 degrees) so that it will not separate when dropped into hot oil.
3. When oil is correct temperature, drop in heaping tablespoons of batter. Calas will brown on one side and turn themselves over. When browned on both sides, after about 5 minutes, remove them with a wire skimmer and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, and serve hot.

Yield: About 12 calas (4 to 6 servings).

Artichoke and Oyster Casserole
Adapted from Corinne Dunbar's restaurant
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Salt
Juice of 1 lemon
4 large artichokes, trimmed
13 tablespoons butter
6 ounces button mushrooms, thinly sliced then coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons minced scallions
12 oysters and their liquor
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs.

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and add lemon juice. Bring to a boil, add artichokes and cook until artichokes are tender when pierced with a knife through the bottom, 30 to 40 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. Scrape fleshy part of each leaf into a bowl, discarding leaves. Using a small spoon or knife, remove prickly choke at center of base, then cut base into large chunks, adding it to bowl.
2. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add mushrooms and sauté just until mushrooms are tender and have released their liquid; do not allow pan to dry. Immediately transfer mushrooms and any liquid to a small bowl.
3. Place a large skillet over medium-low heat and add 8 tablespoons butter. When butter has melted, add flour and stir until mixture is lightly browned. Add scallions, oysters and their liquor, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until oysters are firm, about 10 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9- to 10-inch round shallow baking pan or pie plate, spread artichoke pieces. Top with oyster mixture and mushrooms. Spread with an even layer of bread crumbs. Dot with small pieces of remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot on small plates.

Yield: 6 to 8 appetizer servings.

Beef Daube Glace
Adapted from Gerard Maras
Time: 3 1/2 hours plus at least 12 hours' chilling

3 pounds beef brisket
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning, or other seasonings of your choice
6 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
6 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Louisiana hot sauce
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
6 cups veal or beef stock
1 cup canned plum tomatoes with juice
Salt
2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin, dissolved in 1/2 cup water.

1. Rub beef all over with Creole seasoning. Place a heavy braising pan or wide casserole over medium heat and melt butter. Add beef and brown well on all sides. Add onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaves and pepper flakes. Sauté until vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, stock and tomatoes with their juices. Cover and cook, turning occasionally, until beef is very tender and almost falling apart, about 3 hours.
3. Remove meat from pan and cut across grain into slices about 1/2-inch wide. Break into small pieces, shredding and crumbling meat slightly. Set aside in a large bowl. Remove bay leaves from pan and discard. Add about 1/2 cup vegetables to bowl of meat. Strain remaining broth into a clean saucepan, and boil until reduced to 3 cups. Adjust salt to taste, add gelatin mixture, and pour into bowl of meat.
4. Pour meat mixture into one 10-cup terrine, pâté pan or loaf pan, or 2 or 3 smaller pans. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled and firm, at least 12 hours. Serve as an appetizer with a sliced baguette, or sprinkle with vinegar and eat like a pâté with cornichons, or season with salt and pepper and use as a sandwich filling.

Yield: 20 to 30 appetizer servings. "

[Blitzzzzz]

My favorite breakfast is Saturdays at Elizabeth's; grillades & grits, praline bacon & calas. yum yum.
Aaiiiyyyeeee! Ib, You're killing me! Thanks for the repost of the Times article ZK.:cool:

[luvoysters]

Zydekitten: OMG! You're makin' my mouth water with those recipes. I'm a virgin to calas too. They sound awesome. Is that your kitten in the picture? Too cute!

Back to my question: Will be in NOLA March 9-12 celebrating an anniversary. Any restaurant suggestions? Upperline? Jacques Imo's (sp?)? Bayona?

BTW, what is the Fete Francaise Festival: A Celebration of Creole Heritage, on March 10th? Never heard of it, and the email updates I get don't have any details. Sounds like (yet another) excuse to eat good food.

[rosetree]

Again, this is only my humble opinion, but I feel that Brigsten's is the best restaurant in the city! Call Marna and tell her Mark from Rosetree sent ya!!;)

[pokerchick66]

Again, this is only my humble opinion, but I feel that Brigsten's is the best restaurant in the city! Call Marna and tell her Mark from Rosetree sent ya!!;)

Tell us why you think it's the best.

[luvoysters]

Thanks, Mark! As many times as I've been to NOLA, I've never eaten there. Do they have a Website so I can check out the menu? What in particular do you like there?

[Zydekitten]

Aaiiiyyyeeee! Ib, You're killing me! Thanks for the repost of the Times article ZK.:cool:

Yup, it's hard to resist jamming calas in your mouth right after they're done - that's how good they are . . . however that activity can burn the crap out of your tongue and then you're really screwed for eating more incredible local food!

You're very welcome - it was one of my favorite articles over the past couple of years about New Orleans after the storm and I'm happy to share it and hope that other folks enjoy it as much as I do.

:)

[luvoysters]

BTW Mark, where is your glass studio and gallery? Would love to check it out.

[funkkjunkie]

I love PalaceCafe on Canal.And jaqueimos too. Haven't made it to brigtsens and i'm thinking i want to try gwfins during fest. It's close to the Lemoyne. Tried Cafe Maspero last jazzfest and was way disappointed. Also had a few things from AcmeOyster bar as it was close to my hotel last fest.

[Zydekitten]

Zydekitten: OMG! You're makin' my mouth water with those recipes. I'm a virgin to calas too. They sound awesome. Is that your kitten in the picture? Too cute!

Back to my question: Will be in NOLA March 9-12 celebrating an anniversary. Any restaurant suggestions? Upperline? Jacques Imo's (sp?)? Bayona?

BTW, what is the Fete Francaise Festival: A Celebration of Creole Heritage, on March 10th? Never heard of it, and the email updates I get don't have any details. Sounds like (yet another) excuse to eat good food.

Calas are awesome - a great NOLA companion to the beloved beignets! My kitty is an older version of that one, that's just a great kitty photo that I came across and liked it's expression.

My honey, Denbear is a native, born and bred New Orleanian and he loves Jacques Imo's and Brigtsen's - I've never been lucky enough to eat at either of those restaurants (hopefully this year I'll make it), but I LOVE Bayona!!! They have incredible food and atmosphere (reserve a table in the garden outside)!

I also love Gabrielle's, but they've closed I hear.

[Belle]

Me three! Breakfast is great and the waitresses are way wonderful as well. I'm so bad with names but the older lady always treats me like family!:cool:

Ms. Pearl is my favorite. Makes you feel at home

[stlbarb]

May I take this opportunity to remind all you foodies that you will be able to buy chances in the Threadhead Raffle for a $75 gift certificate to use toward a wonderful meal at Bayona in the Quarter. Thanks to the generosity of Susan Spicer.

You may drool again. http://www.bayona.com/flash_content/bayona.htm

i'm going through the couch (sofa,divan), looking for change so i can buy more raffle tickets!

[rosetree]

Here is their website...it has menus, awards, location , and other info...the picture on the home page is their seafood platter---that is what I usually get. It has no fried food like a traditional platter--all good combos. The duck is also to die for. Their softshell is superb, as well as their bisques and gumbo. Frank, his wife Marna and the rest of the staff are great, we have gotten to be good friends with them. I brought another friend, who is a magazine publisher, and has eaten in great restaurants all over the world, to Brigsten's and she said that it was the best she has ever had! (she brought us there the next time she was in town!)

http://www.brigtsens.com/

[luvoysters]

THanks for the website, Mark. And thanks to others for suggestions. Too many great restaurants, not enough time, only one stomach...

[rosetree]

Tell us why you think it's the best.
I think that the food is superb and the service is great. They make me and Brenda feel like we are in a friends dining room (and now, we are) :D

They are always in the top few restaurants in the city. Frank is a Beard Award winner. For those of you who watch the Food Channel, he was on the Seafood Challenge which is to be aired soon. I'm not sure, but I think he won ( it hasn't aired and my memory is sketchy from the article that was in the paper when it was shot:confused: )

[ScoopJohnD]

No email on that website Mark/Jim/Bill. I was going to try to pry a gift certificate out of them for the raffle.

[rosetree]

Y'know Scoop, I'll try. I didn't even think of it...shame on me:o
I'll call Marna and see if they do certificates. Do you have something you send other than the homepage from TH.org??

[ScoopJohnD]

Y'know Scoop, I'll try. I didn't even think of it...shame on me:o
I'll call Marna and see if they do certificates. Do you have something you send other than the homepage from TH.org??

I have a little standard letter that I send and alter to suit whoever I send it to. I just sent one to ONE Restaurant and Lounge so send your email to jdachik@earthlink.net and I'll forward it to you and you can make whatever changes you see fit.

[rosetree]

Scoop: My email isn't working from here :mad: . If it's not a bother, please email it to me at info<at>rosetreegallery<dot>com THANKS!

[rosetree]

...come to think of it, I'll also call Kappa at Slim Goodies tomorrow....

[ScoopJohnD]

Just sent it, Mark. Hope it helps.

[rosetree]

It doesn't hurt to try, all they can do is say no...

[Michelino]

But if they say yes....then you guys are the best. Especially if I win that one.

[ibjamn]

Zydekitten: OMG! You're makin' my mouth water with those recipes. I'm a virgin to calas too. They sound awesome. Is that your kitten in the picture? Too cute!

Back to my question: Will be in NOLA March 9-12 celebrating an anniversary. Any restaurant suggestions? Upperline? Jacques Imo's (sp?)? Bayona?

BTW, what is the Fete Francaise Festival: A Celebration of Creole Heritage, on March 10th? Never heard of it, and the email updates I get don't have any details. Sounds like (yet another) excuse to eat good food.

Dick & Jenny's, near Tipitina's.

[Goose]

Again, this is only my humble opinion, but I feel that Brigsten's is the best restaurant in the city! Call Marna and tell her Mark from Rosetree sent ya!!;)

In total agreement re: Brigtsen's! We love it and make it a point to go back every year when in town for fest. Already have my ressies for Wed night of days between! :)

[pokerchick66]

In total agreement re: Brigtsen's! We love it and make it a point to go back every year when in town for fest. Already have my ressies for Wed night of days between! :)

It does look good.

[jhjpotter]

Beatle Bob?

lol
BreamBob, our reviver of old threads. He's in the know on going back to the old boards to find stuff

[Goose]

It does look good.

Their softshell crab appetizer is AMAZING.

[pokerchick66]

Their softshell crab appetizer is AMAZING.

Stop it.

[Festvet]

Too bad re. Firorella's but I have to agree that it was going downhill for awhile. Last few times I ate there they had no ersters. Said they were unavailable, but Domilise' and other places all had 'em. Their fired chicken was, as ibjamn said, inedible. Could definitely do w/o Camellia Grill although I did always like the staff, just not the food. I tried Slim Goodies twice around New Years '06 but they were always closed by 11am. I will try again this year as it's near my hotle but the good thing was that's when I found out about Ricobono's. Their buckwheat pancakes are just great. Heard last year that Elizabeth's was sold??? but last day in town for JazzFest I had a fantastic 1/2 chicken dinner for lunch. Very nice staff too.

[Festvet]

mine was undercooked (which if not fried doesn't bother me) and the skin was the consistency of a pork rind that was dipped in pure grease. Service was horrendous. 1/2 hr just to get a tea and another hour after that before appetizers.

[pokerchick66]

mine was undercooked (which if not fried doesn't bother me) and the skin was the consistency of a pork rind that was dipped in pure grease. Service was horrendous. 1/2 hr just to get a tea and another hour after that before appetizers.

Well I went last year when it was supposed to be good and it was just regular old southern fried chicken to me. I've made better at home.

It was a nice day in the quarter, though.

[Festvet]

someone recommended the Coffe Pot last year so I tried it. Def. not impressed but I did love the ladies. Figured I'd give 'em a second chance and I can say it's just OK. Nothing special but the treatment.

[Festvet]

It was "old people's" fried chicken. made woithout a lot of thought.

[mno]

I've been back to NOLA about 5 times since the hurricane, and I've eaten at a bunch of places. Sad to hear about Fiorella's. Cuvee was classy and amazing, with a great wine list and great service. Stella! was a little overly ambitious, we thought and REALLY expensive. We ate there on Easter Sunday, and it was fun, the food is really asian-themed, not really huge with local ingredients. Good though, but good like a NYC restaurant. Bon Ton Cafe was traditional cajun and simply amazing. Jacques Imo's is great - the scene alone is worth the trip and the long wait. My wife was not impressed with Brigtsen's seafood plate, but I was blown away by the brontosaurus burger-sized hunk of duck they served me, and its cool ambiance is like going to grandmas house. Dick & Jenny's was good, not too ambitious, good grillades and grits. Upperline was FANTASTIC. And their winelist is good and cheap. Bayona is a favorite, but I've eaten everything on their menu and ya gotta try new stuff, ya know? Casamento's - whatever they batter their seafood in, I wanna be embalmed with it when I die. Best crab fingers on earth. This year we're gonna try to eat at August, and maybe La petite Grocery. I hear good things about restaurantone in the riverbend too. Oh and Pascal's Manale is going to be a must stop.

What I want to know is, where are the best CHEAP EATS in the city? - And I don't mean burger king - I mean good 'street food'. ?

[ibjamn]

I think Le Peniche is the best dine-in good food value for your $$. If you're there on a weekday, nothing can beat the entree, 2 sides, salad, desert, jalapeno cornbread & drink for $8 at Cafe Reconcile.

[rosetree]

Y'know Scoop, I'll try. I didn't even think of it...shame on me:o
I'll call Marna and see if they do certificates. Do you have something you send other than the homepage from TH.org??

DONE!!!!
Marna is sending me a certificate for dinner for two at Brigsten's!:D ;)

[NeenAtlanta]

What I want to know is, where are the best CHEAP EATS in the city? - And I don't mean burger king - I mean good 'street food'. ?

Anything at the fairgrounds!

[Michelino]

DONE!!!!
Marna is sending me a certificate for dinner for two at Brigsten's!:D ;)

Wow....very nice.

[ibjamn]

DONE!!!!
Marna is sending me a certificate for dinner for two at Brigsten's!:D ;)

You ROCK!!

[glinda]

Way cool Rosetree... man, Bayona, Brigsten's, and uh... wrere there more restaurant certificates? Somebody gonna be eatin GOOD!

[Orleansnj]

Y'all...Tom Fitzmorris - a local food critic and wonderful personality has a rock star website for everyone to visit it is at http:// www.nomenu.com (http://www.nomenu.com) you can access plenty of the site for free = including his list of the 744 restaurants open in New Orleans....(this doesn't include the fast-'feeweeed' stuff like BK etc.). And, if you want to give a little $$ - you can also access his restaurant reviews, food info etc. All in all this is a serious site for serious foodies....and great info for everyone else who needs a comprehensive list .....

[rosetree]

well, I wasn't done......

I just spoke to Kappa @ Slim Goodies. She is going to donate 10-$10 certificates + a t-shirt to go with each! :D :cool:

[glinda]

YYR, neworleansnj, I susbcribe to his daily email newsletter and it has fun & intesting stuff, in addtion to restaurant news (when I have time to read it).

[NYMAMA]

Thanks for the web site. It' very helpful.

[Orleansnj]

No problem - and glad to help..... I have only one request of anyone reading this post....If you make a reservation - please keep the reservation or cancel the reservation....and don't think you're going to get to a restaurant at 8 pm if the fest closes at 7 .....think late night - I promise you will not regret that decision !!!

There are so many AMAZING restaurants in the city you won't go hungry and you shouldn't be disappointed.....

[ibjamn]

Y'all...Tom Fitzmorris - a local food critic and wonderful personality has a rock star website .....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Having said that, it's a great site for finding out which restaurants are open. ;)

[dank_bass]

I think Rachel Ray went to Brigstens on her $40/day show, and they have some sort of early bird special that was an INCREDIBLE deal ... anyone familiar with it?

[rosetree]

Yup, she did! I'm not sure that they are doing the special since the storm. It really was a great deal! You can give them a call and ask, all they can do is say no!;)

[festivalgirl]

I can taste Ma Meres Crab Soup & Smothered Veal .................


Leah Chase Gets Big Donation From Starbucks

POSTED: 3:27 pm CST January 31, 2007
UPDATED: 3:33 pm CST January 31, 2007


NEW ORLEANS -- Starbucks is making a big donation to help reopen a historic restaurant.

The coffee company gave Leah Chase $175,000 to finish repair work on Dooky Chase Restaurant.

The Treme landmark got 4 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina and is scheduled to reopen in April.

A Starbucks executive proposed the donation after a post-Katrina visit to the restaurant. The NAACP also played a role in the donation.

[rosetree]

I was looking for this article...I heard it on the news and then couldn't find any other references...
Now my Leah Chase story...Someone came in to the studio a few weeks ago and we got to talking about the storm. They had mentioned that they bought one of my perfume bottles to give to Ms. Chase. After the storm Ms. Chase went back to her flooded home and one of the only things that she salvaged was....you guessed it ....her cherished Rosetree perfume bottle! ;) :D

[glinda]

I was looking for this article...I heard it on the news and then couldn't find any other references...
Now my Leah Chase story...Someone came in to the studio a few weeks ago and we got to talking about the storm. They had mentioned that they bought one of my perfume bottles to give to Ms. Chase. After the storm Ms. Chase went back to her flooded home and one of the only things that she salvaged was....you guessed it ....her cherished Rosetree perfume bottle! ;) :D
Wow, great story rosetree! Hope it makes you feel all warm & proud, it should.

[pokerchick66]

DONE!!!!
Marna is sending me a certificate for dinner for two at Brigsten's!:D ;)

GET OUT!

[festivalgirl]

I was looking for this article...I heard it on the news and then couldn't find any other references...
Now my Leah Chase story...Someone came in to the studio a few weeks ago and we got to talking about the storm. They had mentioned that they bought one of my perfume bottles to give to Ms. Chase. After the storm Ms. Chase went back to her flooded home and one of the only things that she salvaged was....you guessed it ....her cherished Rosetree perfume bottle! ;) :D

This was the short version. Google "Dooky Chase and Starbucks" and you'll find the longer articles if you are interested.

Now I need Crab Soup, Veal AND a perfume bottle!!!! :D

[ScoopJohnD]

DONE!!!!
Marna is sending me a certificate for dinner for two at Brigsten's!:D ;)

WOO HOO!!! Way to go Mark/Jim/Bill!!!! Some good eatin in the raffle.

[rosetree]

WOO HOO!!! Way to go Mark/Jim/Bill!!!! Some good eatin in the raffle.

I'm starting to feel like Sybil..:eek: :eek: ;)

[Amy Winette]

DONE!!!!
Marna is sending me a certificate for dinner for two at Brigsten's!:D ;)

OMG, you rock!! Adding to list . . .

I did try Emeril's and Brannan's, no response from Brannan's, Emeril's sent me an automated response that I need to send something on the charity's letterhead with tax i.d. number, etc., as of yet the raffle itself does not have a tax i.d. number and I'm not wanting to go there :)

[windowman]

Brigtsen's is good eating, indeed. Nice going, rosetree!

[ohio]

Just happen to be wearing my Uglesich's shirt today...Any new rumors???

[ibjamn]

OPENED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(mmmmmmm.......mac'n'cheese! WITH brown gravy!)

[Zydekitten]

OPENED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(mmmmmmm.......mac'n'cheese! WITH brown gravy!)

I think the Stuffed Trout and the Mac & Cheese at Jack Dempsey's rocks the house - not to mention their FREEZING, COLD Abita Amber draft beer, served in huge goblets that I can barely lift with one hand!!! :D

[ibjamn]

David loves the crab stuffed lobster at Jack Dempsey & I like their fried seafood & onion rings, but there ain't no mac'n'cheese like R&C's! :) or oyster po boy, or chicken parm, or wop salad....

[Zydekitten]

David loves the crab stuffed lobster at Jack Dempsey & I like their fried seafood & onion rings, but there ain't no mac'n'cheese like R&C's! :) or oyster po boy, or chicken parm, or wop salad....

Den and I ate at J.D.'s three times when we were there in December (partly because it was close by bicycle from the Musicians' Village where we were working) - he used to work across the street at the Naval center, and hung out at Dempsey's a lot.

I had never eaten there before actually and really enjoyed it . . . but it sounds like I'll have to try Rocky and Carlos' on this upcoming trip! :)

[ibjamn]

We're especially fond of JD's because they opened up pretty quick after we came back into town and that meant a lot. Nothing much open then....

[Festvet]

Domilise', Cafe' Reconcile, Pascal's (just for the oyser bar) & Bon Ton are all must stops for me. Port Of Call once before I leave and at least one stop at Frankie & Johnny's and parasol's complete it for me. Wish Ugly's would come back. Oh, and lunch at Elizabeth's too!

[Festvet]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Having said that, it's a great site for finding out which restaurants are open. ;)
yyr about that!

[Zydekitten]

We're especially fond of JD's because they opened up pretty quick after we came back into town and that meant a lot. Nothing much open then....

Yup, Den was pretty happy that they were back in business.

[doctorgmb]

I'd really like to encourage everyone to make a trip to Dooky Chase while in town this Fest.
For those of you who don't know about it, Dooky Chase has been around since the 1940's. It's chef, Leah Chase, is world renowned for her Creole cooking.
At the time of this posting, Dooky Chase is not yet open, having sufferred extreme damage during Katrina. However, the family believes they will be up and running by Jazz Fest (in fact, perhaps for Mardi Gras).
This restaurant is a little off the beaten path, located at 2301 Orleans Avenue, in the Treme district, but it is well worth the cab ride. It's been the backbone of this neighborhood since it's inception and it will be a real boost for the area when it gets back up and running----but it's gonna take folks like us showing up to grab a bite!!
Do yourself, the Chase family, and New Orleans a favor by showing Dooky Chase a little love during the fest and grabbing a bite to eat there!!

PS: You can also check out Leah's daughter (also named Leah) in the Jazz tent during the 2nd weekend. She is a fabulous singer and a real delight to see at the Fest.

[Orleansnj]

I'd really like to encourage everyone to make a trip to Dooky Chase while in town this Fest.
For those of you who don't know about it, Dooky Chase has been around since the 1940's. It's chef, Leah Chase, is world renowned for her Creole cooking.
At the time of this posting, Dooky Chase is not yet open, having sufferred extreme damage during Katrina. However, the family believes they will be up and running by Jazz Fest (in fact, perhaps for Mardi Gras).
This restaurant is a little off the beaten path, located at 2301 Orleans Avenue, in the Treme district, but it is well worth the cab ride. It's been the backbone of this neighborhood since it's inception and it will be a real boost for the area when it gets back up and running----but it's gonna take folks like us showing up to grab a bite!!
Do yourself, the Chase family, and New Orleans a favor by showing Dooky Chase a little love during the fest and grabbing a bite to eat there!!

PS: You can also check out Leah's daughter (also named Leah) in the Jazz tent during the 2nd weekend. She is a fabulous singer and a real delight to see at the Fest.

I could not have said it better- and I tend to think it may just be open a littler sooner thanks to - of all places - starbucks (to which I usually refer as starsucks)...apparently they have provided a 175K grant to help with the rennovation. Although I won't drink their coffee - they have moved up in my book big time because of this.....

And - for those of you who are feeling truly adventurous - Rocky and Carlo's has reopened in the Parish !!!! Who would have thought !

[rosetree]

Hold Everything.....did you say Rocky and Carlo's IS open???? When did this happen?? How did I miss it??? Did you see it with your own eyes???

[Amyloves...]

I didn't know that either! I keep hearing it's almost open, or it's about to open, etc. Did I miss it actually being open??

[pokerchick66]

Rocky and Carlos gives you a TON of food. I ordered the seafood platter and it was the BIGGEST and BEST seafood platter ever. Good mac and cheese, too.

[mightyradgumbo]

Rocky and Carlos gives you a TON of food. I ordered the seafood platter and it was the BIGGEST and BEST seafood platter ever. Good mac and cheese, too.

That is some good eatin' fo sho, chipchopchick. I didn't think it was open as of yet either-but I ain't local.;)

[Blitzzzzz]

I'd really like to encourage everyone to make a trip to Dooky Chase while in town this Fest.
For those of you who don't know about it, Dooky Chase has been around since the 1940's. It's chef, Leah Chase, is world renowned for her Creole cooking.........Do yourself, the Chase family, and New Orleans a favor by showing Dooky Chase a little love during the fest and grabbing a bite to eat there!!

PS: You can also check out Leah's daughter (also named Leah) in the Jazz tent during the 2nd weekend. She is a fabulous singer and a real delight to see at the Fest.

By all means, check out Dooky Chase while you are in town, but one does not grab a bite to eat at Dooky Chase, one dines there! It is very much an old school classic Creole restaraunt.
I hope all the press will help them rebuild their customer base which had slipped away due to changing times, hot shot, hip young chefs (all of whom give Ms. Leah her props,) and the general deterioration of the surronding neighborhood (Treme.) The place is hardly the backbone of Treme, it is more like a prisoner, hard up against the Iberville bricks, public housing which suffers all the problems mentioned elsewhere on this board. When we ate there in '02 or '03, there was one other couple in the place the Monday night after Fest. They seemed surprised that we wanted a table for 8 and made a big deal about coming to the side door in the cab. When we got there and saw Iberville, we understood why.
I'll miss the sort of neo-classical 70's decor, but I'm happy to report that the large collection of original art, including some wonderful Bruce Bryce oils were ignored by the looters. As young Leah Chase put it, the looters were drunks, not art lovers!:cool:

[Orleansnj]

Domilise', Cafe' Reconcile, Pascal's (just for the oyser bar) & Bon Ton are all must stops for me. Port Of Call once before I leave and at least one stop at Frankie & Johnny's and parasol's complete it for me. Wish Ugly's would come back. Oh, and lunch at Elizabeth's too!

Lunch and Dinner are both available at Eliabeth's (u mean in bywater - right?)....I ended up being late for breakfast three weeks ago and just looked at the poor woman like she had three heads (it was 10:31 am) -when she asked if I wanted lunch....I just held my head down and said 'no....i wanted some praline pecan bacon and eggs...' in a real quiet voice. She patted me on the back and said real sweetly ' baby, you shoulda gotten up a few minutes earlier.....' and I laughed so hard that she started laughing. ...although my lunch plate did have a piece of praline pecan bacon on it....mmmmmmm you know she got a 10 dollar tip for that one.

[ibjamn]

Hold Everything.....did you say Rocky and Carlo's IS open???? When did this happen?? How did I miss it??? Did you see it with your own eyes???

Mark, Rocky & Carlo's opened yesterday. We're headed there for lunch in about an hour!

From my hero, Tom Fitzpompous (not!)

Rocky & Carlo's Returns; St. Bernard Rejoices

What an amazing week! On Wednesday, Mandina's reopened, making everybody in Mid-City feel much more at home. Then, on Thursday, the essential restaurant of St. Bernard Parish unlocked the door. Rocky & Carlo's is back, and even though the reopening was kept a secret, the place still managed to fill completely.

Reports from callers on the radio show tell me that the layout of the restaurant hasn't changed. The bar still takes up most of the long wall on the left side of the room, with the food line in the rear. What has changed is the interior, which needed to be gutted. (Like almost everything else in Chalmette, Rocky's was washed over by a deep wall of storm surge flood water.) The old dark wood-paneled walls are now covered with wallboard, painted a light color. The bathrooms are all new (for which we give many thanks). And all the furnishings are new.

The menu, of course, is the same. Sandwiches and classic platters, with an emphasis on Italian dishes, all served in uncomfortably large portions from a self-service, cafeteria-like line. It never was great food, but it was as authentically New Orleans as could be imagined. Only in a place like this would you ever see macaroni and cheese served with a choice of "red gravy" or "brown gravy." (The jury's out as to which is better, but my father favored the brown.)

The population of St. Beranrd is still largely gone, but they're rebuilding as furiously as we knew they would. The return of Rocky & Carlo's is an event that will add another critical comfort to Chalmatians, Violations, Merauvians, and Arabines.

Rocky & Carlo’s. 613 W. St. Bernard Hwy.. 279-8323. Neighborhood Cafe.

[saturn]

That sounds like a great comfort food place.

Have to admit -- I have never had mac and cheese with gravy (either red or brown).

[rosetree]

Mark, Rocky & Carlo's opened yesterday. We're headed there for lunch in about an hour!

From my hero, Tom Fitzpompous (not!)

Rocky & Carlo's Returns; St. Bernard Rejoices

What an amazing week! On Wednesday, Mandina's reopened, making everybody in Mid-City feel much more at home. Then, on Thursday, the essential restaurant of St. Bernard Parish unlocked the door. Rocky & Carlo's is back, and even though the reopening was kept a secret, the place still managed to fill completely.

Reports from callers on the radio show tell me that the layout of the restaurant hasn't changed. The bar still takes up most of the long wall on the left side of the room, with the food line in the rear. What has changed is the interior, which needed to be gutted. (Like almost everything else in Chalmette, Rocky's was washed over by a deep wall of storm surge flood water.) The old dark wood-paneled walls are now covered with wallboard, painted a light color. The bathrooms are all new (for which we give many thanks). And all the furnishings are new.

The menu, of course, is the same. Sandwiches and classic platters, with an emphasis on Italian dishes, all served in uncomfortably large portions from a self-service, cafeteria-like line. It never was great food, but it was as authentically New Orleans as could be imagined. Only in a place like this would you ever see macaroni and cheese served with a choice of "red gravy" or "brown gravy." (The jury's out as to which is better, but my father favored the brown.)

The population of St. Beranrd is still largely gone, but they're rebuilding as furiously as we knew they would. The return of Rocky & Carlo's is an event that will add another critical comfort to Chalmatians, Violations, Merauvians, and Arabines.

Rocky & Carlo’s. 613 W. St. Bernard Hwy.. 279-8323. Neighborhood Cafe.

So Jenn...how was it??? How many miles are you going to have to put in on the bike???LOL (and how come I wasn't invited) <snif, snif>

[ibjamn]

Sorry hunni, thought you might be working! :(

R&C's was PACKED!! Huge line the whole time we were there. The food is just the same. I had fried oysters & shrimps and the green beans (cooked with tomatoes , marinara & smoked sausage). David have the veal parm & mac'n'cheese, Barqs to drink. Delicious! Rocky is still in the back, frying the seafood & chicken to order.
Around us, we heard at least 3 people on cell phones saying.."you're not gonna believe where I am right now..." :)

The po boys looked great too! I saw a rb & a cheeseburger on french & onion rings I wanted to snatch off people's plates.

[rosetree]

I just called them and got no answer!!! Did you happen to see their hours????? We are planning to go tonight for dinner if they are open....yummmmm:D

[ibjamn]

Yep, they're open 11a - 7p, closed Sunday & Monday, cash only.

[rosetree]

Damn... I don't think that we can get there before 7...:mad: and they're not open tomorrow..double damn :mad: and I'm gone next week-end...the damn trifecta just happened...I want Mac and Cheeeeezzzzzeeeee....<snif>

[pokerchick66]

I think somebody needs to get off work early today. ;)

[rosetree]

Yeah, I would go right now, but Mrs. Rosetree is in Mandeville until 6 and she will kill me if I go w/o her :( ;)

[pokerchick66]

What about takeout from there? Or do you just want the R & C dining experience?

[rosetree]

I think that it is the whole package....;)

[pokerchick66]

I think that it is the whole package....;)

I feel ya; I'm the same way.

[ibjamn]

I feel ya; I'm the same way.

I remember an article in Gambit a few years ago describing the top 10 restaurants in NOLA "with entertainment". They had Santa Fe (had a classical guitarist), some belly dancing place on Decatur and number 3; the little ole ladies who work behind the counter at Rocky & Carlo's! After today I think their old staff ;) is back! :)

[grisgris]

Review please Jenn. Just as good as before? Inquiring tummies want to know.:)

[ibjamn]

Review please Jenn. Just as good as before? Inquiring tummies want to know.:)

Review is on page 13 , Mel. ;) It was really good. :)

[festivalgirl]

Starbucks gets a bad rap. Their gift of $175K to Leah Chase is not uncommon for them. They don't feel the necessity to broadcast all their community service. But I digress......

I know I said this earlier, but dinner at Dooky Chase is an experience. Missed it dearly last year but will be there with my appetite this year!!!!

[doctorgmb]

Starbucks gets a bad rap. Their gift of $175K to Leah Chase is not uncommon for them. They don't feel the necessity to broadcast all their community service. But I digress......

I know I said this earlier, but dinner at Dooky Chase is an experience. Missed it dearly last year but will be there with my appetite this year!!!!

Yeah, I'm not a big Starbucks guy either, but it's time to go and buy a cup of Java from them just because of this!!

[mariena]

Do you need a reservation for Dooky Chase or can you just show up?

[mno]

Gautreau's reopened yesterday.....

[ibjamn]

We tried to go to Mandina's today at 1:30p, but there were about 30 people in line, so we went over to Liuzza's on Bienville at Telemachus, which is thankfully reopened. Something of a miracle, since in September 2005, it looked like this:
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p136/ibjamn50/liuzzas.jpg

It was crowded, but we got a table right away. I had the Liuzza's signature open faced roast beef with sweet potato fries & hebjamn got the eggplant casserole with spaghetti, meatballs & red gravy. It was heavenly! The onion rings are still among the city's best and the frozen schooner's of Abita is the coldest in town!
Welcome back, Liuzza's!

[stlbarb]

We tried to go to Mandina's today at 1:30p, but there were about 30 people in line, so we went over to Liuzza's on Bienville at Telemachus, which is thankfully reopened. Something of a miracle, since in September 2005, it looked like this:
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p136/ibjamn50/liuzzas.jpg

It was crowded, but we got a table right away. I had the Liuzza's signature open faced roast beef with sweet potato fries & hebjamn got the eggplant casserole with spaghetti, meatballs & red gravy. It was heavenly! The onion rings are still among the city's best and the frozen schooner's of Abita is the coldest in town!
Welcome back, Liuzza's!

yum! i gained 3# just thinking about it. onion rings & Abita.
my friends from Slidell took me to that Liuzza's long ago and made we swear not to tell any festers - they didnt want it getting all crowded with tourists.

[pokerchick66]

We tried to go to Mandina's today at 1:30p, but there were about 30 people in line, so we went over to Liuzza's on Bienville at Telemachus, which is thankfully reopened.

It was crowded, but we got a table right away. I had the Liuzza's signature open faced roast beef with sweet potato fries & hebjamn got the eggplant casserole with spaghetti, meatballs & red gravy. It was heavenly! The onion rings are still among the city's best and the frozen schooner's of Abita is the coldest in town!
Welcome back, Liuzza's!
Those sweet potato fries sound real good, too.

[stlbarb]

Those sweet potato fries sound real good, too.

fried anything good.
sweet potatoes good.
fried sweet potatoes = good-good.

[Orleansnj]

Although not on my 'plan' at the moment - here is a good mantra.

If it's green it's trouble
If it's fried- get double.

Stolen - in its entirety from some sit-com I cannot remember.

[stlbarb]

Although not on my 'plan' at the moment - here is a good mantra.

If it's green it's trouble
If it's fried- get double.

Stolen - in its entirety from some sit-com I cannot remember.

but i like flash fried spinach. no, i love it. fried okra too. fried zuchini. fried green tomatoes. please make me stop.....

[Orleansnj]

So then you're okay - because it falls in the fried category........fryin' somethin' takes top honor.

[stlbarb]

So then you're okay - because it falls in the fried category........fryin' somethin' takes top honor.

i'm think of changing my TH name to MOREFRIEDFOODPLEASE

[pokerchick66]

Okay, if yall could just change the subject, that'd be great. I gave up fried foods for Lent.

You forgot fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried oysters, softshell crab, french fries and Krispy Kremes and beignets.

Just shoot me now.

[where yat brah]

I was thinking of Gabrielle's and hadn't heard much so I did a little looking and found this. VERY disappointing. If it's already been posted, sorry, I didn't see it.

http://www.gabriellerestaurant.com/

I need to "get mine" or "keep mine" attitude is all too prevalent Uptown. This ought to be a case study for what is wrong with NO. The neighborhood association approved it with a number of concessions from the Sonniers'. The Sonniers' were on board. A win win for all involved.

But just like Bruno's, part of the neighborhood group who were against it, did not like the majority results, and refused to go along with the agreement. If it was not for Stacey Head and Arnie Fielkow, there would never have been a chance in the first place. The District A councilperson refused to get involved even when these meetings were going on right next door to her office. Talk about leadership. She will continue to go down this road. This is exactly why she was such a colossal mistake to be elected in the first place. IMAO

[rosetree]

I was thinking of Gabrielle's and hadn't heard much so I did a little looking and found this. VERY disappointing. If it's already been posted, sorry, I didn't see it.

http://www.gabriellerestaurant.com/

I need to "get mine" or "keep mine" attitude is all too prevalent Uptown. This ought to be a case study for what is wrong with NO. The neighborhood association approved it with a number of concessions from the Sonniers'. The Sonniers' were on board. A win win for all involved.

But just like Bruno's, part of the neighborhood group who were against it, did not like the majority results, and refused to go along with the agreement. If it was not for Stacey Head and Arnie Fielkow, there would never have been a chance in the first place. The District A councilperson refused to get involved even when these meetings were going on right next door to her office. Talk about leadership. She will continue to go down this road. This is exactly why she was such a colossal mistake to be elected in the first place. IMAO

Yea, I posted it a while ago, but it's good to bring back....idiots....
I meant the neighbors, not where yat .... :^0

[nolalou]

Some new resturants have opened in Mid-City. Here are a few:

A casual Italian restaurant called "La Vita" is on Esplanade where Gabrielle used to be . I havn't tried it yet, so I can't vouch for it.

A new authenic Mexican resturant called "Taquira Guerreo Mexico" has opened next to Brocatos. This is real Mexican food, not tex mex, or Cali-mex. I tried the chicken enchaladas, very good but spicy & served with slices of fresh avocado on top! They even have Menudo Soup (tripe) which is not my cup of tea! (by the way, Brocato's reopened a few months ago).

Two new asian resturants, Donson Noodle House at 135 N. Carrollton, just off Canal. Casual, good food. Also, where Michael's Mid City Grill is a more upscale place is another Asian resturant, but off hand I can't remeber the name of it. (and I havn't tried it yet, but I understand the owners used to have the Lemon Grass Restruant that was next to Brocato's a few years back).

Little Toyko sushi & steak resturant has opened in the Mid-City center on N. Carrollton. This used to be a steakhouse called Chateaubriand (and a Shoney's before that).

Wits Inn on N. Carrollton next to the Doson Noodle House is open. It used to be just a bar, but they serve food now too. Pizza's , Burgers, Etc.

Sun Ray Grill in the American Can Company is re-opened as well. (I belive they were open during last years Jazz Fest).

Juan's Flying Burrito on S. Carrollton off Canal has also re-opened.

So, save me a seat after the fest !

[nolalou]

You can pick up the 2007 Zagat guide to New Orleans, with a good lisiting of places now open, both old and new. It's under $10!
http://www.amazon.com/Zagat-Orleans-Restaurants-Nightlife-Zagatsurvey/dp/1570068267

[bobatude]

i hate to let this one out, "orleans grapevine wine bar and bistro" fantastic. stayed at the bourbon orleans many years before i wandered in thier. remember mums the word

[ibjamn]

Santa Fe is closed up. Not sure if it is redecorating or evolving, but we passed by a couple of weeks ago and workers were going in & out and the place was wrecked....

[Corona]

Santa Fe is closed up. Not sure if it is redecorating or evolving, but we passed by a couple of weeks ago and workers were going in & out and the place was wrecked....
no way!!! I was hoping to get there during fest :(

[ibjamn]

no way!!! I was hoping to get there during fest :(

Sorry, hunni! :(

[mwgirlonherown]

i hate to let this one out, "orleans grapevine wine bar and bistro" fantastic. stayed at the bourbon orleans many years before i wandered in thier. remember mums the word

They had the greatest olive platter. It was refreshing after a hot day in the sun and paired well with wine. Unfortunately it wasn't available last fest.
I hope it's available again (hint...hint...if anyone is listening). Cheese platter was good too.

[KeyWest Bruce]

All of these mouth-watering dishes!! Yummm. I haven't been to a lot of these places, and I keep saying with each trip that I'm going to try different things. But especially after a day at the fest with all of THAT incredible food, it's not always easy to make it to restaurants in different parts of town. Liuzza's sounds like a must however! Jenn, your description sold me....but it doesn't take much for me! I usually grab something simple in the Quarter since I stay there or near there, and being one person usually, I usually don't make it to the really good places (my loss)...but I just heard that the Royal Street Grocery just closed :( It was a nice local corner grocery (on Royal and St.Ann) that also had tables to eat in or take out...and they had good specials as well. It was perfect for me....you just order at the register, they bring it to you...and you could relax, read the paper, watch the TV, and soak up some good local color. That's a drag that it's gone...I think they couldn't afford the rent.....a choice corner indeed! I also eat at the Quartermaster Deli....24 hours and always very good specials, and other good stuff. The only problem is there is only about 3 or 4 seats. This just means that I'll have to try something new....and the list is overwhelming. Also, I'm ashamed to say, I have never been to the Camellia Grill......I guess it's just hard to drag myself out of the Quarter some times.:o

[rosetree]

All of these mouth-watering dishes!! Yummm. I haven't been to a lot of these places, and I keep saying with each trip that I'm going to try different things. But especially after a day at the fest with all of THAT incredible food, it's not always easy to make it to restaurants in different parts of town. Liuzza's sounds like a must however! Jenn, your description sold me....but it doesn't take much for me! I usually grab something simple in the Quarter since I stay there or near there, and being one person usually, I usually don't make it to the really good places (my loss)...but I just heard that the Royal Street Grocery just closed :( It was a nice local corner grocery (on Royal and St.Ann) that also had tables to eat in or take out...and they had good specials as well. It was perfect for me....you just order at the register, they bring it to you...and you could relax, read the paper, watch the TV, and soak up some good local color. That's a drag that it's gone...I think they couldn't afford the rent.....a choice corner indeed! I also eat at the Quartermaster Deli....24 hours and always very good specials, and other good stuff. The only problem is there is only about 3 or 4 seats. This just means that I'll have to try something new....and the list is overwhelming. Also, I'm ashamed to say, I have never been to the Camellia Grill......I guess it's just hard to drag myself out of the Quarter some times.:o

Bruce: There's a whole world outside of da Quarter!!!!:D

[RevDon]

This week's Gambit (April 3rd) features their spring '07 Restaurant Guide. Check out www.bestofneworleans.com for more info. If anyone's in town, or to you local TH's, see you at the Iguana's WATS show tomorrow!

[Stella Blue]

Hey it's great that Web site www.nomenu.com/RestaurantsOpen.html
reports "798 Restaurants Now Open 809 Before The Hurricane! 11 Left To Open!"
Now, I have a question: One of the places listed is "Gordon Biersch Brewery. 200 Poydras. 552-2739. Brewpub. Platters.'' Anyone know anything about it, a brew pub, as in they are making their own there? I thought Crescent City Brew Pub was the only one in the area...

[Zydekitten]

Hey it's great that Web site www.nomenu.com/RestaurantsOpen.html (http://www.nomenu.com/RestaurantsOpen.html)
reports "798 Restaurants Now Open 809 Before The Hurricane! 11 Left To Open!"
Now, I have a question: One of the places listed is "Gordon Biersch Brewery. 200 Poydras. 552-2739. Brewpub. Platters.'' Anyone know anything about it, a brew pub, as in they are making their own there? I thought Crescent City Brew Pub was the only one in the area...
Gordon Biersch is a great microbrew pub that originated here in Northern California (in the town where I grew up, Palo Alto) and they have been making their own excellent beers, and serve great food . . . the pubs tend to be rather loud, but fun usually.

Here's their site for more info:

http://www.gordonbiersch.com/restaurants/index.php?pg=about

[Stella Blue]

Thank you, kitty!....:)

[Zydekitten]

You're very welcome, Stella!! There's even a place named after you in Maui:

http://www.stellablues.com/

It's a great place with yummy food - if you haven't ever been there and tried it, and get a chance to go - I highly recommend it! :D

[Orleansnj]

Stella -I this is a brew pub attached to or in the same building as the harrah's casino (or the garage). On the two occasions I've been to the casino I've noticed it as I was going down the escalator from the parking garage, into the casino....

[grisgris]

Bruce holler at me during Fest & we will do dinner some night. I'm staying on Gov Nicholls.

[dawson]

Has anyone eaten at Cochon. We have reservations there but don't know much about it

[rosetree]

Has anyone eaten at Cochon. We have reservations there but don't know much about it

I must have posted this on another thread....
Good reviews
Food was good, portions were smaller than I would have liked.
Would I go back??? Maybe, there are alot of other places I like better...but that's just my opinion..;)

[McGregor]

Hey it's great that Web site www.nomenu.com/RestaurantsOpen.html
reports "798 Restaurants Now Open 809 Before The Hurricane! 11 Left To Open!"
Now, I have a question: One of the places listed is "Gordon Biersch Brewery. 200 Poydras. 552-2739. Brewpub. Platters.'' Anyone know anything about it, a brew pub, as in they are making their own there? I thought Crescent City Brew Pub was the only one in the area...


The Gordon Biersch Brewery in ATL is excellent. That's where we frequent whenever going to a show at the Fox Theater. It's a block or two down the street.

[Orleansnj]

Has anyone eaten at Cochon. We have reservations there but don't know much about it

this place is fantastic ! They are very creative and the food is consistently good......

We didn't have the problem of small portions that Rosetree pointed out - we have been a few times - most recently in January.

[rosetree]

this place is fantastic ! They are very creative and the food is consistently good......

We didn't have the problem of small portions that Rosetree pointed out - we have been a few times - most recently in January.

I went when they first opened after the storm...maybe things got better...that's a good thing!!

[Orleansnj]

Oh - yeah - definitely. We went then too - after a LONG day of trying to get things from MIL house - we were tired, cranky and hungry, and it was kind of a bummer.... but we chalked it up to them being tired and cranky too. They were, however, totally nice....

That's why we went back and things went better.....

[festbabe]

It's a really old fashioned NOLA thing, hard to find in restaurants anymore. It's like a beignet or fritter, made with rice, sugar & spices, fried & covered with powdererd sugar.

Yum!

[Mardigrasbaby35]

has anyone mentioned this one yet? It's a five star type restaurant at the 1000 (or 1100) block of charters in the quarter - went there a couple of weeks ago, it was AMAZING - and, for any duck fans, they are famous for their "duck five ways" entree' - i went with a friend who LOVES duck, he made "happy noises" the entire meal.......;)

[pokerchick66]

has anyone mentioned this one yet? It's a five star type restaurant at the 1000 (or 1100) block of charters in the quarter - went there a couple of weeks ago, it was AMAZING - and, for any duck fans, they are famous for their "duck five ways" entree' - i went with a friend who LOVES duck, he made "happy noises" the entire meal.......;)

So what was the name of the restaurant?

[rosetree]

"Dead Duck":D

[pokerchick66]

"Dead Duck":D

You're a funny guy, Jeff.

[ibjamn]

has anyone mentioned this one yet? It's a five star type restaurant at the 1000 (or 1100) block of charters in the quarter - went there a couple of weeks ago, it was AMAZING - and, for any duck fans, they are famous for their "duck five ways" entree' - i went with a friend who LOVES duck, he made "happy noises" the entire meal.......;)

Never been to Stella, but we love Stanley (same owners). We went with Threadhead Jaypee last year for brunch & it was fantastic!

[rosetree]

You're a funny guy, Jeff.

Luv ya too Har!!!!

[pokerchick66]

So what was the name of the restaurant?

Nevermind. I see the name in her title. :)

[Jada]

La Peniche was new to me last year -- we ate there several times, partly because it was so close to our digs, but also because the food was really good. Great breakfasts.

They are about 2 blocks from where I'm staying this year. Yum!

[Goose]

has anyone mentioned this one yet? It's a five star type restaurant at the 1000 (or 1100) block of charters in the quarter - went there a couple of weeks ago, it was AMAZING - and, for any duck fans, they are famous for their "duck five ways" entree' - i went with a friend who LOVES duck, he made "happy noises" the entire meal.......;)

We are going to Stella for the first time this year...i'm really looking forward to it!

[glinda]

We are going to Stella for the first time this year...i'm really looking forward to it!
My krewe is doing Stella for our welcome to town nice dinner 2nd Thursday, it was I think the 2nd or 3rd highest rated resturant in New Orleans in the new Zagat. Can't wait. Last year we did Muriel's, year before Commander's. We come together from 5 different parts of the country, and its so nice to start our JF time together with an excellent meal. It's all downhill from there, and what a ride!!!

[funkkjunkie]

Bumping for inquiring minds.

[dewey]

Blitzzz, King Roger has been open for awhile, I posted it somewhere on here...

I have awful news about one of our favorites. Fiorella's. We went a few months ago and found out they had sold it. We had a terrible experience, but anybody can have a bad day. Our friends who stayed at our house over Christmas also had a bad experience. Third try, we went this past Saturday. The chicken was uneatable, very salty and garlicky (too much) and the crust was burned in places. We sent it back and were not offered another dish and it wasn't taken off the bill. We won't be going back there.

On a happier note, our favorite restaurant before the thing, Blue Plate, which has shown no signs of life for over a year is coming back in April. We pass by every so often to see if they are working on it. We ran into the owner and he said his wife is expecting a baby in Feb & they will reopen in April.

Mandina's is set to reopen, but I don't know when.

Camellia Grill is reopened.

Where is the Blue Plate ?

[funkkjunkie]

I want to try Donna's for soul food this year.

[where yat brah]

http://blog.nola.com/living/2007/05/gabrielle_chef_abandons_quest.html

[bluesmama]

we ate @ K-paul's first friday of JF
food was really good, but i filled up on the basket of bread they brought before the meal
the basket had about 5 dirrerent kinds of rolls & biscuits & of course i had to sample them all
by the time i finished my bread & salad, i had to take most of the entree back to the room
Mary was our most excellent waitress - if you go, try to sit at one of her tables

[NYMAMA]

we ate @ K-paul's first friday of JF
food was really good, but i filled up on the basket of bread they brought before the meal
the basket had about 5 dirrerent kinds of rolls & biscuits & of course i had to sample them all
by the time i finished my bread & salad, i had to take most of the entree back to the room
Mary was our most excellent waitress - if you go, try to sit at one of her tables

We ate there also mama and the cheese jalapeno biscuts were most scrumpdillyisious,as was the rest of the meal. We will be back there next year.

[Goose]

http://blog.nola.com/living/2007/05/gabrielle_chef_abandons_quest.html

How frustrating for the Sonniers! I've been wondering what was to come of Gabrielle and if there were plans to re-open in another location. We very much enjoyed eating there a few fests ago and were looking forward to going back. Then the thing happened. Interesting to read the comments below the article. I'll be curious to see what ends up happening and where the Sonniers end up.

[bywterbro]

How frustrating for the Sonniers! I've been wondering what was to come of Gabrielle and if there were plans to re-open in another location. We very much enjoyed eating there a few fests ago and were looking forward to going back. Then the thing happened. Interesting to read the comments below the article. I'll be curious to see what ends up happening and where the Sonniers end up.
YYR....
the comments below the article show how passionate people are about
their food...

[ibjamn]

we ate @ K-paul's first friday of JF
food was really good, but i filled up on the basket of bread they brought before the meal
the basket had about 5 dirrerent kinds of rolls & biscuits & of course i had to sample them all
by the time i finished my bread & salad, i had to take most of the entree back to the room
Mary was our most excellent waitress - if you go, try to sit at one of her tables

YYR, mama, Hebjamn would go there just for the bread basket! He tells people about it all the time. :)

[bluesmama]

We ate there also mama and the cheese jalapeno biscuts were most scrumpdillyisious,as was the rest of the meal. We will be back there next year.

YYR, mama, Hebjamn would go there just for the bread basket! He tells people about it all the time. :)

you could make a meal from the wonderful breads & a salad
our waitress suggested the green onion dressing & told us it was delicious to dip the bread in (she was right!)

[mrSteve]

We ate there also mama and the cheese jalapeno biscuts were most scrumpdillyisious,as was the rest of the meal. We will be back there next year.

We ate there also and loved it, the gumbo was outstanding and the blackend stuffed pork chop and potatos were about as good as food gets!

[ohio]

http://blog.nola.com/living/2007/05/gabrielle_chef_abandons_quest.html
I had a bad feeling about this. It's really Uptown's loss...

[ohio]

How frustrating for the Sonniers! I've been wondering what was to come of Gabrielle and if there were plans to re-open in another location. We very much enjoyed eating there a few fests ago and were looking forward to going back. Then the thing happened. Interesting to read the comments below the article. I'll be curious to see what ends up happening and where the Sonniers end up.yyr! hopefully not further than a cab ride away.

[ohio]

we ate @ K-paul's first friday of JF
food was really good, but i filled up on the basket of bread they brought before the meal
the basket had about 5 dirrerent kinds of rolls & biscuits & of course i had to sample them all
by the time i finished my bread & salad, i had to take most of the entree back to the room
Mary was our most excellent waitress - if you go, try to sit at one of her tablesBeen years- time to go back there! Is Paul still accesible to talk too while he cooks?

[ohio]

We had two awesome meals during fest- Nola's and Restaurant August. We did the tasting menu at both, including the wine courses. While Nola's was very good, it was not as goos as Emeril's in the WHD. August was the better meal, and a bit cheaper too, but both dinners were very expensive. John Besh came to talk to us; Emeril did not, he wasn't there though. I had a most wonderful taste sensation at August: little pasta dumplings filled with pork belly and they were swimming in a strong tea broth that was poured hot at tableside. Indescribably yummy! Also amazing was the amuse bushe: seafood sauvignon served in an egg shell (eaten with a spoon)! The best thing served to us at Nola's was the largest scallop I have ever seen. It was oh so tender and and covered in a delicate garlic butter sauce with fresh snipped chives.

[bluesmama]

Been years- time to go back there! Is Paul still accesible to talk too while he cooks?

don't know about that, ohio.
we had a table upstairs, didn't have reservations, just happened to walk by & ask if we could get a table after being turned away from another place, because we didn't have res.
our good fortune!

[Mardigrasbaby35]

YYR....
the comments below the article show how passionate people are about
their food...

I lived around the block from where they were going to open the new Gabrielles and was SOOOO excited when i heard they were opening - then the Sapirs started their campaign which in my view was over the top and i think that there was some other stuff going on politically that the Sonniers got caught in the middle of.....however, the campaign against the Sonniers was dirty and mean spirited - i had one person knock on my door and wanted me to sign the petition against the restaurant and put up a sign in my yard, i told them "No" - the next day i came home and a sign was in my yard ANYWAY - then, even when the writing was on the wall over the last couple of weeks NEW signs started sprouting up against Gabrielles - the new signs weren't necessary and simply rubbed salt in the wounds - at the time the new signs against Gabrielles went up (these new signs targeted "spot zoning") there was already a "For Sale" sign up on the building - the whole thing made me embarrassed and almost ashamed to live in the neighborhood - i did email Sonnier's attorney and offered my assistance but unfortunatley there was really nothing that could be done......its a HUGE LOSS and i wish the family well.....

[bywterbro]

I lived around the block from where they were going to open the new Gabrielles and was SOOOO excited when i heard they were opening - then the Sapirs started their campaign which in my view was over the top and i think that there was some other stuff going on politically that the Sonniers got caught in the middle of.....however, the campaign against the Sonniers was dirty and mean spirited - i had one person knock on my door and wanted me to sign the petition against the restaurant and put up a sign in my yard, i told them "No" - the next day i came home and a sign was in my yard ANYWAY - then, even when the writing was on the wall over the last couple of weeks NEW signs started sprouting up against Gabrielles - the new signs weren't necessary and simply rubbed salt in the wounds - at the time the new signs against Gabrielles went up (these new signs targeted "spot zoning") there was already a "For Sale" sign up on the building - the whole thing made me embarrassed and almost ashamed to live in the neighborhood - i did email Sonnier's attorney and offered my assistance but unfortunatley there was really nothing that could be done......its a HUGE LOSS and i wish the family well.....

yea, i know...it really hurts when a talented, and succesful business owner
is treated this way, instead of finding a way to encourage him....its
a very hard process to get a business going, and with zoning and licensing
in new orleans like an octupus, it can be very disheartening...the city
should be reaching out to someone like that...even if they cant approve
that location....and yest its partially their own fault, when they knew that
it was not zoned for a restaurant....but work with them...try and find them
another location.....or do their best to speed up the zoning review...
it took Brunos years and years to finally open their new place on
maple st....

[AtPontchartrain]

I lived around the block from where they were going to open the new Gabrielles and was SOOOO excited when i heard they were opening - then the Sapirs started their campaign which in my view was over the top and i think that there was some other stuff going on politically that the Sonniers got caught in the middle of.....however, the campaign against the Sonniers was dirty and mean spirited - i had one person knock on my door and wanted me to sign the petition against the restaurant and put up a sign in my yard, i told them "No" - the next day i came home and a sign was in my yard ANYWAY - then, even when the writing was on the wall over the last couple of weeks NEW signs started sprouting up against Gabrielles - the new signs weren't necessary and simply rubbed salt in the wounds - at the time the new signs against Gabrielles went up (these new signs targeted "spot zoning") there was already a "For Sale" sign up on the building - the whole thing made me embarrassed and almost ashamed to live in the neighborhood - i did email Sonnier's attorney and offered my assistance but unfortunatley there was really nothing that could be done......its a HUGE LOSS and i wish the family well.....

What did the neighbors think of the Toth parade forming in that area? I always wondered if they thought of it as an imposition, or the one chance to get a parade that close to them and the park. And of course, the route through the aging and disabled homes was so touching. My own hope is that they'll get it back there, but no telling how that goes!

[Mardigrasbaby35]

Neighborhood LOVES Thoth - and happy to report, Thoth returned to its normal route this year, through the neighborhood.

[ohio]

don't know about that, ohio.
we had a table upstairs, didn't have reservations, just happened to walk by & ask if we could get a table after being turned away from another place, because we didn't have res.
our good fortune!
Used to be (maybe still is), there was a glassless window to the kitchen, back of the first floor by the restrooms. Paul would be sitting there cooking and chatting with whomever walked by.

[Goose]

From today's Offbeat weekly beat:

NEW CHEF AT THE WINDSOR COURT

As we've documented, Greg Sonnier saw some of the worst the city has to offer when he tried unsuccessfully to open Gabrielle on Henry Clay Avenue, but on June 21, Windsor Court general manager Ashish Verma announced that Sonnier is the new executive chef of the New Orleans Grill. Sonnier was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef-South in 2005, and he'll start in his new position Monday.

[NOLA]

From today's Offbeat weekly beat:

NEW CHEF AT THE WINDSOR COURT

As we've documented, Greg Sonnier saw some of the worst the city has to offer when he tried unsuccessfully to open Gabrielle on Henry Clay Avenue, but on June 21, Windsor Court general manager Ashish Verma announced that Sonnier is the new executive chef of the New Orleans Grill. Sonnier was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef-South in 2005, and he'll start in his new position Monday.

Seems like a good fit - the New Orleans Grill at The Windsor Court has suffered through a parade of so-so chefs since K. and Greg needed to get back in the kitchen and put the Gabrielle mess behind him. I'm embarrassed at the way the city and some of its inhabitants treated him and wish him the best of luck and much success at The New Orleans Grill.

[ibjamn]

I'm glad this thread popped back up. Before the thing, we ate at Blue Plate cafe on Prytania at least once a week, it was Hebjamn's absolute favorite NOLA restaurant. When we came back home after the thing, we would pass by at least once a month & it was still boarded up till Jan 2007 when we saw a guy working outside. He was the owner and said his wife was having a baby in Feb, but they would reopen by Fest, but they didn't.
A week or so ago they REOPENED!!!! :) David & I took off work in the middle of the day to go eat there. Same great food, same menu as before. The only prob is they are only open M-F, 10a-3p for lunch :( They can't get workers. Hopefully they'll open on the weekends soon.

[Mardigrasbaby35]

I'm glad this thread popped back up. Before the thing, we ate at Blue Plate cafe on Prytania at least once a week, it was Hebjamn's absolute favorite NOLA restaurant. When we came back home after the thing, we would pass by at least once a month & it was still boarded up till Jan 2007 when we saw a guy working outside. He was the owner and said his wife was having a baby in Feb, but they would reopen by Fest, but they didn't.
A week or so ago they REOPENED!!!! :) David & I took off work in the middle of the day to go eat there. Same great food, same menu as before. The only prob is they are only open M-F, 10a-3p for lunch :( They can't get workers. Hopefully they'll open on the weekends soon.

Nothing is open for lunch these days!!!! it drives me crazy - pls. post any open lunch places that you know of, i'll add to my list - so far, cafe degas, mr. b's, baccos, sunray, and certain places only on fridays....any other listings (the CBD area would be greatly appreciated!!!

[bywterbro]

altho these arent in the cbd i thought id chip in...
louisiana pizza kitchen....french market and carrolton st. locations..
dots diner...love their creole biscuit

[NOLA]

Nothing is open for lunch these days!!!! it drives me crazy - pls. post any open lunch places that you know of, i'll add to my list - so far, cafe degas, mr. b's, baccos, sunray, and certain places only on fridays....any other listings (the CBD area would be greatly appreciated!!!

Herbsaint, Palace Cafe, Allegro, Cochon, Ugly Dog, Cafe Adelaide (I think)...

[ibjamn]

Nothing is open for lunch these days!!!! it drives me crazy - pls. post any open lunch places that you know of, i'll add to my list - so far, cafe degas, mr. b's, baccos, sunray, and certain places only on fridays....any other listings (the CBD area would be greatly appreciated!!!

Is Blue Plate too far for ya? Its on the beginning of Prytania, near the corner of Calliope, by Lee Circle. They are ONLY open for lunch....

[NOLA]

Is Blue Plate too far for ya? Its on the beginning of Prytania, near the corner of Calliope, by Lee Circle. They are ONLY open for lunch....

I've never been, but am giving it some serious consideration for today!

[bywterbro]

Mulates......julia st. by the convention center

[ibjamn]

I've never been, but am giving it some serious consideration for today!

David's favorite is the crawfish HolliBob and I like the salmon or the steak salad, but the have a HUGE menu, great burger, po boys and the specials are usually great too.

[Corona]

WHat's a crawfish HolliBob? Sounds interesting...

[ibjamn]

WHat's a crawfish HolliBob? Sounds interesting...

Holli & Bob are the two owners. :) It's crawfish & cream sauce over fettucine.

[glinda]

sounds like holli & bob have a cousin named Monica. Tasty krewe.

[NOLA]

I've never been, but am giving it some serious consideration for today!

Well, I did indeed go to the Blue Plate for lunch. I'm not quite sure how that place managed to escape my attention all these years - I guess i just don't drive down that stretch of Prytania that often. But I'll be driving that way more in the future. Great lunch menu, good friendly staff, highly recommended. I almost went for the HolliBob, but opted for "The Beast" instead - roast beef, onions and mushrooms topped with a couple slices of Brie, tomatoes, lettuce etc. on an onion roll. Wow. Lots of great stuff to try on that menu...thanks for the tip, Jenn!

[tabasco]

sounds like holli & bob have a cousin named Monica. Tasty krewe. And a distant relative named Mara... Had some Crawfish Mara at this years Crawfish Fest in NJ and I liked it better than Monica's
http://www.marashomemade.com/

[ibjamn]

Well, I did indeed go to the Blue Plate for lunch. I'm not quite sure how that place managed to escape my attention all these years - I guess i just don't drive down that stretch of Prytania that often. But I'll be driving that way more in the future. Great lunch menu, good friendly staff, highly recommended. I almost went for the HolliBob, but opted for "The Beast" instead - roast beef, onions and mushrooms topped with a couple slices of Brie, tomatoes, lettuce etc. on an onion roll. Wow. Lots of great stuff to try on that menu...thanks for the tip, Jenn!

I'm so glad you liked it, we love that place!! It was actually only open about a year & 1/2 before the thing, so it was under a lot of folks radar. Right before the thing, they had opened a 2nd room, which is now still closed! Can't wait till they open for the weekend.

[funkkjunkie]

Bon Ton Cafe.

[Goose]

Bon Ton Cafe.

We went there for the first time this year and loved it! Had a bloody mary and the crab au gratin...yummy!

[Corona]

Holli & Bob are the two owners. :) It's crawfish & cream sauce over fettucine.
oooh yum!!

The crab au gratin sounds yummy at the Bon Ton Cafe too! Man, I need some New Orleans cookin'!

[funkkjunkie]

The bon ton's crab au gratin is the best I've had.

[McGregor]

My favorite breakfast is Saturdays at Elizabeth's; grillades & grits, praline bacon & calas. yum yum.

what's a cala? also what is seafood stuffed militon?

And the Elizabeth's brunch menu looks great!!! oh my! My girlfriend just sent that to me.

[Belle]

oooh yum!!

The crab au gratin sounds yummy at the Bon Ton Cafe too! Man, I need some New Orleans cookin'!

You are just days away sweetie! Enjoy

[ibjamn]

what's a cala? also what is seafood stuffed militon?

And the Elizabeth's brunch menu looks great!!! oh my! My girlfriend just sent that to me.

calas is kind of like a rice beignet, dusted with powdered sugar; an old time creole thing, not that easy to find. A mirliton is a green veggie, like a squash, also called an alligator pear. It gets stuffed with a seafood dressing, usually, but it's more of a winter/holidays dish.

[jolie]

what's a cala? also what is seafood stuffed militon?

And the Elizabeth's brunch menu looks great!!! oh my! My girlfriend just sent that to me.

In some cases Mirliton = Mel a tawn;)

[McGregor]

I'll be dreaming about ibjamn's rec tonight
grillades & grits, praline bacon & calas
Drool!

[jolie]

Here's an article from Today's NY Times.

I highly recommend Kabby's Sunday Champagne/Jazz Brunch Buffet (at the Riverside Hilton---foot of Canal St). It's not Commander's but.... the ambiance is wonderful, overlooks the Mississippi River, Jazz Band, Champagne Included, bloody marys... and the buffet provides a bit of anything you could think of from freshly shucked oysters & boiled shrimp, fish prepared serveral ways, eggs benedict, duck, alligator, stuffed mirliton, a meat carving station, omelet station, dessert station... I could go on and on......


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DF1F38F937A2575BC0A96E9482 60&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=all

[McGregor]

I'm not exactly sure what heaven is but I do know that dining at Bayona, Irene's, KPaul's and Adolfo's on consecutive nights is glorious.

My stomach/wasteline disagrees.

Irene's of the four I thought was the best (Adolfo's for the money is unreal) but we had great meals at all, zero complaints. Irene's is really amazing, great food, great service, the hour-long wait was worth every penny!!!! I do not think I'll ever go back to New Orleans and miss out on a chance to visit Irene's.

[linza22]

I'm not exactly sure what heaven is but I do know that dining at Bayona, Irene's, KPaul's and Adolfo's on consecutive nights is glorious.

My stomach/wasteline disagrees.

Irene's of the four I thought was the best (Adolfo's for the money is unreal) but we had great meals at all, zero complaints. Irene's is really amazing, great food, great service, the hour-long wait was worth every penny!!!! I do not think I'll ever go back to New Orleans and miss out on a chance to visit Irene's.

we used to finish off jazzfest with irenes on sunday night. i hate that it's not open on sunday anymore....

[ozzie]

Just got this marketing message from tripadvisor...

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[ibjamn]

Another round of applause for Elizabeth's in the Bywater! We went there for breakfast this morning and it was fantastic.

I had the fried chicken liver appie. Anybody who knows me knows I order livers EVERYWHERE! These were fried perfectly with the best homemade pepper jelly; better than Praline Connection & La Peniche.

David went for the strawberry & cream cheese stuffed french toast, but ended up getting the eggs Florentine; Creamed spinach topped with Poached Eggs, Hollandaise, and Fried Oysters, Served over Hash Browned Potatoes. It was delicious.

I went for the Grillades & Grits, but got the Smoked Salmon & Brie grilled cheese; Smoked Salmon with Brie on rye Bread topped with fried egg, Served with Grits or Hash browns. I got fresh fruit instead of grits or potatoes and I was VERY happy with this breakfast, it was amazing!!


http://www.elizabeths-restaurant.com/

[papafrog]

Another round of applause for Elizabeth's in the Bywater! We went there for breakfast this morning and it was fantastic.

I had the fried chicken liver appie. Anybody who knows me knows I order livers EVERYWHERE! These were fried perfectly with the best homemade pepper jelly; better than Praline Connection & La Peniche.

David went for the strawberry & cream cheese stuffed french toast, but ended up getting the eggs Florentine; Creamed spinach topped with Poached Eggs, Hollandaise, and Fried Oysters, Served over Hash Browned Potatoes. It was delicious.

I went for the Grillades & Grits, but got the Smoked Salmon & Brie grilled cheese; Smoked Salmon with Brie on rye Bread topped with fried egg, Served with Grits or Hash browns. I got fresh fruit instead of grits or potatoes and I was VERY happy with this breakfast, it was amazing!!


http://www.elizabeths-restaurant.com/

yea u rite Jenn....love that place 2....
national guard used to eat in there alot also...
they make great stuffed mirliton 2...
always had a good meal....
they also have an upstairs bar with pool table if my memory is still workin..
i got hungry just reading your post...

[rosetree]

mmmm,....fried chicken livers......now I'm hungry!
Gonna put it on my list...don't know why I've neva been there...:confused: :D

[swag]

Another round of applause for Elizabeth's in the Bywater! We went there for breakfast this morning and it was fantastic.

I had the fried chicken liver appie.

I'm not usually a liver guy, but any place that serves appetizers at breakfast is AOK in my book!

[Blitzzzzz]

Seems to me it's about time to update the Restaurant Thread. I went looking for last year's but I couldn't find it. Can anyone help?
Also, I'm sure there is new news about the old favorites and new arrivals that some of you have been lucky enought to sample since last fest.
Any more news on King Roger's??
Let's hear it, I'm getting hungry.:cool:

Bumpin' for a new year and a new Fest. Actual feedback from real customers should be a good companion to the Food maps recently posted by Orleansnj.:cool:

[Orleansnj]

Bumpin' for a new year and a new Fest. Actual feedback from real customers should be a good companion to the Food maps recently posted by Orleansnj.:cool:

Blitzzzz thanks for this..... I may have to incorporate this into a threadhead review section....hmmm......

[ibjamn]

Starting right up where we left off, we've eaten at Elizabeth's in the Bywater many times this past year, the last time was last weekend. It is still delicious, still has my fave (grilades & grits) & Hebjamn's fave (stuffed strawberry cream cheese french toast). The fried chicken livers and praline bacon never disappoint and it's still one of the few places you can get calas.
Last weekend I had another fave; egg florentine. Poached eggs & hollandaise over creamed spinach on a bed of hash browns with 1/2 dozen perfectly fried oysters on top - yummmmmmy!!

Our place for ridiculously good fried chicken is Willie Mae's Scotch House.

[Blitzzzzz]

Starting right up where we left off, we've eaten at Elizabeth's in the Bywater many times this past year, the last time was last weekend. It is still delicious,......
Last weekend I had another fave; egg florentine. Poached eggs & hollandaise over creamed spinach on a bed of hash browns with 1/2 dozen perfectly fried oysters on top - yummmmmmy!!
IB, I knew you wouldn't disappoint! I was reading along, nodding my head until I got to the fried oysters when I moaned out loud! Good gracious! Yummy, I'll bet!


Our place for ridiculously good fried chicken is Willie Mae's Scotch House.
I never got around to checking this out, last year. How's the restoration look, and how's the neighborhood these days?:cool:

[ohio]

Poached eggs & hollandaise over creamed spinach on a bed of hash browns with 1/2 dozen perfectly fried oysters on top - yummmmmmy!!

Oh My!

[dank_bass]

Oh My!

Coffee Pot (I think im thinkin of the right restaurant) on St Peters has a similar dish Eggs Sardou , which has Crab meat instead of Fried Oysters

[ibjamn]

Coffee Pot (I think im thinkin of the right restaurant) on St Peters has a similar dish Eggs Sardou , which has Crab meat instead of Fried Oysters

The Coffee Pot also is the OTHER restaurant that has calas!!! :)

[ibjamn]

IB, I knew you wouldn't disappoint! I was reading along, nodding my head until I got to the fried oysters when I moaned out loud! Good gracious! Yummy, I'll bet!


I never got around to checking this out, last year. How's the restoration look, and how's the neighborhood these days?:cool:

The neighborhood is actually pretty good, as the Lafitte projects, across the street are closed & not inhabited. The restaurant rehab is fine, lots cleaner than before but not fancy! :)

[NYMAMA]

Starting right up where we left off, we've eaten at Elizabeth's in the Bywater many times this past year, the last time was last weekend. It is still delicious, still has my fave (grilades & grits) & Hebjamn's fave (stuffed strawberry cream cheese french toast). The fried chicken livers and praline bacon never disappoint and it's still one of the few places you can get calas.
Last weekend I had another fave; egg florentine. Poached eggs & hollandaise over creamed spinach on a bed of hash browns with 1/2 dozen perfectly fried oysters on top - yummmmmmy!!

Our place for ridiculously good fried chicken is Willie Mae's Scotch House.


I will most deffnitely go there this year for breakfast.

[ibjamn]

Call me, we'll go together!! :)

[bluedog]

The Coffee Pot also is the OTHER restaurant that has calas!!! :)

Pokerchick recommended so we went there last year for breakfast twice and it was wonderful!

Thank you for bumping this thread!!!! My mouth will not stop salivating!

***stuffed strawberry cream cheese french toast***

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s11/j_strahan/homer_simpson_drool.jpg