Eat Drink Love...Louisiana

Which of These 38 New Orleans Restaurants Should be Added to Fetish List?

2012-01-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

A new favorite New Orleans foodie source is Nola Eater. I'm usually suspicious of these round-up lists because so many business pay-to-play...and this girl blogger don't play. (and no, I don't get paid either!) But the essential 38 from Nola Eater is a solid list, so maybe it's all on the up and up. Besides the Google Map of all the restaurants is very helpful.

From their 38 EssentialNew Orleans Restaurants, I've tried several and these five are contenders for the Louisiana Food Fetish List

#11) Domenica (Chef Beshs' place - need I say more?)
#14) Jacques-Imos - (classic fantastic)
#18) Mandina's (trout almandine and garlic bread - oh my)
#33) The Delachaise (sit outside, sip wine and watch St. Charles Ave. denizens saunter by)
#35) Couchon Butcher (a few years old and already a mainstay "gotta go there")

Happy E'trois - Merry Christmas from the Louisiana Bayou, cher

2011-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Bobby Robicheaux, a true cajun lost in Boston...

This celebration called E’trois is based on seven totally arbitrary Cajun values. E’trois is celebrated over seven days to commemorate the seven arbitrary Cajun Values.

1. Fais do do - You jest pass a good tame wid all yo friends up en don da biya. (You have a big party that everyone can attend)

2. Sacalait - You go out and jest be peaceful and reflect while you try to cetch dem sacalait. (Spend the day meditating and getting over the hangover from the party. You might try to catch a fish or two.)

3. Jambalaya - Das when sit around and eat da jambalaya you rememba dat all dat stuff dat go in de pot are by dem selves, jess ok, but put dem togedda and you gets sumpten real gud! (Have love ones over for dinner and spend the night celebrating the differences in everyone there – it’s these differences that make life spicy)

4. Femme Farce – Das when everyone dress up lak de ladies and dance around to dat Cajun music. (Have a costume party to remember that it’s important to not take ones self too seriously)

5. Lagniappe – We share sometink extra wid our neighbors and we don expect nut-ting in return. (Share anything you have too much of with your community and don’t expect any retribution)

6. Demitasse – We don et nut-ting for a spell, sep, all we have is a lil cup of coffee. Later we eat whatever runs by de house dat we ken cetch. (Fast for a day – that evening eat something grown or caught locally to honor your connection to your environment)

7. Roux – A day to make roux and remember dat life is lak a roux…to get a gud sauce you need a good base. jess da rat amount of de flour, arl and heat makes a gud sauce. (Make commemorative roux to represent your base for a good life. Get in touch with your ingredients.)

Zydeco at Cafe Des Amis

2011-11-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

For those visiting South Louisiana, you can always count on a good Zydeco time almost every Saturday morning of the year at Cafe Des Amis. Just be sure and get up early because the line forms outside at 7:30 a.m. and is 10 people deep until 11 a.m. when the restaurant closes. And if you want to see Zydeco dancing, without traveling to Breaux Bridge, here's the real thing...

Gus in the black hat hits the dance floor every Saturday morning

You'll wait at the bar until a table is vacated...good place to pick up dancing partners!

The food is good and cheap -- we had scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits for $8.00 each. The $5.00 door cover is waived off your brunch bill.

It's also a great place for a girl's trip - chocolate martiniss at 10 a.m ladies, now that's a birthday!

Boudin from Lafayette Louisiana

2011-09-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

Don's Seafood: A Supermarket of Cajun Food

If you're driving down I-10 West toward Lafayette, Louisiana or points further south and need some Boudin RIGHT NOW (or to carry to a friend for later), watch for the Don's Specialty Meats sign on the right. It's a supermarket of cajun food that serves Boudin as early as 9:30 a.m. Well, at least that's when we got there - five cooks and a butcher were already behind the counter prepping for the plate lunches selling for about $7.00 each.

No dirty rice was on the menu, though.

Don at Dixie Dining wasn't impressed with the boudin on his trip, but he's got a photo on his blog of hog lard in a huge jar at Don's selling for $4.99 that you really should see!

Baton Rouge Blues Festival 2011

2011-03-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Baton Rouge Blues Festival 2011 is one of the greatest FREE music shows in Louisiana folks! This year's lineup includes:

Jimmy Vaughan (fantastic guitar, no?)
Delbert McClinton, recent Grammy Award winner
Henry Gray, 84 year old blues pianist from Louisiana

Need I say more? Sure, it's on a Jazz Fest day (May 7th from Noon - 10 p.m in Baton Rouge), but don't you get tired of the Jazz Fest craziness? At the Blues Festival you can actually hear and see the musicians, thank you very much! And it's FREE.

We are heading to the BR Blues Foundation Slim Harpo Awards Blue Carpet event tonight to support the festival...and don't hate me now, -- Kenny Wayne Shepard will be there as a top honoree.
Here's OffBeat Magazine's list of all the Slim Harpo Award winners. You can be a Blues Festival follower on Facebook if you want...maybe they will share pics!

It's good to be in South Louisiana in the Spring.

AAF-Baton Rouge Flash Mob 2011 - Baton Rouge (Perkins Rowe) 1

2011-02-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

Warming up for Mardi Gras, cher. It's a random Friday night in south Louisiana, right before Seafood Gumbo for dinner.

Mardi Gras 2011 #mardigras2011

2011-02-01T05:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.mardigrasunmasked.com/

Enough said.

Topic covered.

Thanks Bill Bryan for this resource -- it's awesome!

Mardi Gras Music for the Biggest Free Party in the country!

2011-01-25T15:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you Clarence for this awesome list of the best Mardi Gras music. Louisiana natives and ex-pats alike can send this list out to their friends for various faux Mardi Gras parties sure to be happening across the US in the next thirty days. If you love cajun music, then you must know Clarence, and if not -- his website has the best compendium of cajun music I've found to date.

Top 40 Mardi Gras songs and Mardi Gras music

1) Mardi Gras Mambo is Mardi Gras Music by The Hawketts.
2) Mardi Gras Mambo is Mardi Gras Music by Meters.
3) Carnival Time is Mardi Gras Music by Al Johnson.
4) Go To The Mardi Gras is Mardi Gras Music by Professor Longhair.
5) Second Line Part 1 is Mardi Gras Music by Stop, Inc.
6) Second Line Part 2 is Mardi Gras Music by Stop, Inc.
7) Street Parade is Mardi Gras Music by Earl King.
8) Iko Iko is Mardi Gras Music by Dixie Cups. (My personal favorite -- Iko Iko is loosely translated to mean "I go I go..." )
9) Hey Pocky Away is Mardi Gras Music by Meters. (BTW, the Meters played at my high school senior prom. Sorry, just had to put that in writing to add to my cajun street cred.)
10) They All Ask For You is Mardi Gras Music by Meters.

For the rest of the list, you should go to Clarence's Mardi Gras music website. It's full of the honest-to-goodness real Louisiana thang.

Another fun Mardi Gras Resource: Saints King Cake!

Saints King Cake

2010-12-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over, so in south Louisiana, that means it's time for the next holiday! Mardi Gras commeth in March of 2010, but you can start enjoying it now by buying a King Cake for family, friends, co-workers, random people on the street (consider it good Karma). Randazzo's Bakery has a great King Cake reputation, but Gambino's Bakery continues to lead in credibility with their Saints King Cake. Their latest edition, the NFL Saints line up of King Cakes, is a nice addition in the bakery case. Thumbs up to one of the most respected bakeries in New Orleans. Check out the little football men in the photo! You can see and order these King Cakes here.

(I'm not an owner, nor do I get any advertising revenue. I just love sampling.)

Cajun Food | Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning | Shrimp & Corn Soup

2010-12-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

Use cajun seasonings to make Cajun Shrimp & Corn Soup. This recipe is perfect for simmering on your stove during holiday get-togethers

When it's cold and damp outside, shrimp and corn soup straight from the heart of south Louisiana just makes the gray go away. My friend Liz, who served as Louisiana Govenor Buddy Roemer's special assistant and has a kitchen is deep in a south Louisiana forest off a winding country road, wanted to share this authentic cajun recipe to readers throughout the blogosphere. This recipe includes Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning and a variety of seafoods that you can choose from, but I always choose shrimp.

1 lb. (or more) of seafood, (crab, shrimp, crawfish or a mix)
1 stick of butter
1 bunch of green onions - chopped
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cans evaporated milk
1 pint of half-n-half
1 tablespoon of seafood boil seasoning

Sauté the seafood in the butter. Add one small bag of frozen corn to the pot with the seafood and sauté in the butter.When seafood is cooked, add the rest of the ingredients and bring it to a simmer. Do not boil – it will make the milk curdle.

*This recipe is very good with fresh mushroom slices as well.

Ingredients are available from http://www.cajungrocer.com/ as well as http://www.amazon.com/

If you love Cajun Stews like Shrimp & Corn Soup, you probably love Gumbo too.
More posts for you:

Gumbo Secrets from a Savoie
Reputable Places to Buy Louisiana products over Internet
Seafood Gumbo Recipe good anytime
Jay Ducote's Excellent Gumbo Review on BiteandBooze.com

Fried and Other Christmas Pecans For Sale in Louisiana

2010-12-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

Every time I question this blog, someone tells me about an amazing Cajun food available only from a local Louisiana grower, and I sigh - and settle in for another post.

Holly Clegg, a famous Louisiana chef in her own right, was praising this unique Cajun Christmas gift on a recent Facebook post. Holly-pecans are "Hebert Cajun Fried Pecans" that Sue Hebert's husband fries and sells for $12.00 per half pound and $20 per pound. You can order them through her email at shebert004@cox.net. I'm sure she'll handle shipping too. Holly raves about them...let's see..."they are beyond SO GOOD" is the quote.

Louisiana pecans are always a good gift, regardless. I'm in love with Cane River Pecans, which has a great on-line Christmas ordering website. The pecans can be purchased and shipped in tins, and I ordered the tin with the Clementine Hunter art lids.

(Ms. Hunter was an African-American folk artist who rose to the heights of fame for her fantastic primitive art painted while she lived on Melrose Plantation in the heart of Louisiana pecan country on Cane River. She is also one of the most well-respected primitive artists in the country, whose work now shows in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. )

More posts you might like:

Top Internet vendors for Cajun food gifts
Other Christmas Cajun food ideas

It's November, so Get Your Gumbo Ready

2010-11-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

It's getting a little cooler in South Louisiana, I can hear the rain hitting the roof and lulling the cats and dogs to sleep. If you were caught off guard by the cooler weather and don't have gumbo stock in the freezer (ahem...I never do), then you can make do with a canned gumbo that isn't all that bad. Progresso reduced sodium Chicken Gumbo (heart healthy) was at the top of my list of good and quick eats because I happened to have a couple of cans in the pantry. BUT, you've got to "fix it up, cher!"

I added chicken meat pulled from a grocery store rotisserie chicken, and a few dollops of cut up fresh celery and green bell peppers. I also added in many drops of Louisiana hot sauce and poured the soup over fresh steamed rice. Not bad for a $2.00 meal on a cold evening in South Louisiana.

In future though, I will be stocked up with cajun gumbo in the freezer from either John Folse or Cajun Grocers. (I'm not paid by anyone to say this!). Their gumbos aren't expensive ($11 for 2 pounds), taste like homemade, and they ship anywhere in the world. I'll probably stick with chicken and andouille gumbo because the andouille sausage just makes the gumbo great.
Bon appetit, cher!

-------------------

If you are getting ready for Christmas shopping and love Gumbo, you'll love these posts too:

Cajun Food Gifts
More Louisiana Food Gifts for the Holidays
Gumbo Secrets from Bayou Boy

Shrimp & Grits at Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge

2010-10-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

Shrimp & Fried Grits with Bloody Mary & Coffee, Cafe Des Amis
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

This is what we were doing on 10/10/10 at 10:10 a.m!
The grits are packed in meatloaf pans and left to form small rectangles. After a few hours, the grits blocks are then fried and the shrimp and tasso-based sauce poured on top.

The Bloody Mary (half-full) and coffee rounded out the moan-worthy brunch dish.

If you go on Saturday about 8 a.m. you will also enjoy the weekly Zydeco music showcase and a floor packed with local sand tourists dancing their Saturday brunch calories away.    Join in, we don't judge.  C'est si bon, ma cher.

#Louisiana Food Love Shout Outs from Louisiana Natives at #Coso

2010-09-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

The CoastalSocial media conference in Baton Rouge brought a throng of networkers to the SoLa region, and they love to blog, tweet, linkin and talk about how to connect.

One of the trending tweet topics at the conference? Food = Love, a simple but powerful social equation from @biteandbooze.com -- better known as Jay Ducote, the current runner up in the Tony Chachere tailgating cook-off contest.

Louisiana food love shout outs from Foodies at the conference came from Eric Cantrell (X-Design in Baton Rouge) and his brother Karl Cantrell (Portico E-Learning Solutions) who added two new food favorites to the South Louisiana Food Love Orgy conversation:

BarBQue Shrimp at Pascal's Manale (New Orleans), where the dish originated

(You can join a spirited argument here with locals at Cajun Foodie and chime in re: saute versus over broiled if you like. Best thing about the post? The orginal BarBQue shrimp recipe is listed. But making it at home -- can it ever be as good as trying it out at the restaurant?)

The Honey Bourbon drink at Juban's Restaurant in Louisiana. Eric and Karl raved about it, Eric Ducote (Jay's brother) took a picture of it and wrote about it the Honey Bourbon at Juban's Restaurant.
Karl outlined his recipe for doing it at home:

Microwave the honey until it barely bubbles
Pour it into a highball glass
Coat the glass with the Bourbon (Maker's Mark and Knob Creek were two mentioned)
Fill the glass with Crushed Ice (capital letters used for emphasis -- very important!)
Pour bourbon over ice

Wow!

What Louisiana Food Loves You Back?

2010-09-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Cher, Louisianians are in love with food. Ask a native for the best place for (etouffee, gumbo, shrimp, boudin, mint juleps, bloody marys, sweet potato fries, oyster poboys, meat pies, etc.) and he or she will give you a list of at least three or so places where you must go to find a sample. Today hopefully, if not sooner.

But the list of best places you've just gotta' go is cause for great dispute....
Central Grocery or Frank's for best muffuletta in the French Quarter? Oops --be careful how loud you ask the question -- a fight could break out. River Road or Community Coffee? Be careful what you choose! Jobs have been lost over less.

And where you can order it is especially important -- oysters at Acme Oyster House in New Orleans are different than oysters on the half-shell at Mansur's in Baton Rouge.

What's the Louisiana food that loves you back? Click on comment link below and tell us:

what is it?
why do you love it?
And please, please add where we can find it

Some of the commenters have added their Food Fetishes:

Pastalaya (Christian Brothers Seafood in Gonzales)
Boiled Shrimp, Drusilla Seafood (Baton Rouge)
Middendorf’s Fried Catfish, I-55, Pass Manchac
Zea’s Restaurant, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Roasted Grits
Hawks Catfish in Rayne, Louisiana
Any Savoie product (gumbo, sausage, etc.)
Check the comments link for more!

Louisiana Chefs Compete and Louisiana Foodies Win!

2010-08-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Dondi McNulty of the Little Village Italian restaurant in Baton Rouge is one of the wonderful chefs competing in the Fete Baton Rouge Chef's Competition this Friday, August 27th, 2010 from 6pm-10pm at the Belle of Baton Rouge Atrium formerly known as the Sheraton Atrium.

The Fête Rouge Chefs Competition includes local chefs preparing their best dishes for the chance at winning a Gold Medal. It's a great chance to see and talk to the rock-star chefs of South Louisiana, while sampling their unique Louisiana food creations. Chef John Folse, Holly Clegg and chef Ron Rick Tramanto will be on hand to judge.

This evening features live entertainment, silent auction, purchase a raffle ticket to own an instant 150 bottle wine cellar, and over 150 wines to taste from around the globe as well as tasting all the delicacies prepared by local chefs participating in the Chefs Competition.

It's only $50 a person and everything is included. The Baton Rouge Epicurean Society is the host organization and they do wine and dine very well so I'm not going to miss it!
(The Advocate reports that tickets for Fete Baton Rouge can be snagged for $50 if purchased in advance. Other sites are quoting $75 and $85...Official info available at http://ww.bresbr.com or be calling 225-773-4889)

#ArtMelt is Hip Summer Fun in Baton Rouge

2010-07-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Art Melt Preview Party goers Jan Kasofky and Ed Flynn (right) enjoy the dulcet tones of Ingrid Lucia and the Flying Neutrinos at the July 14th soiree inside Louisiana's State History Museum. A beautiful summer night for art browsing, dancing and people watching. Proceeds from the event go to Forum35 projects in the Baton Rouge area.

Errol Savoie, Rest In Peace, Cher

2010-06-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

My companion throughout this Louisiana food adventure has been Errol Savoie, of Houma, Louisiana (pictured left). The maker of the homemade seafood Gumbo, the driver to the far-flung tiny restaurants with fantastic food, the commenter on many a post.

Mr. Savoie died on June 17th, 2010 from complications of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. He loved the food in Louisiana and was my most amazing guide to rediscovering the beauty of the state I was born in as well.

Death is still such a mystery as is the answer to whether or not this blog can continue without him. I truly don't know if I have the heart. Or if I will find a way to tell the world about our joyful Louisiana food experiences -- because that's what he would want me to do. Only time and healing will tell. In the meantime, I want to bid a loving farewell to Errol. He meant more to me than any man I've ever known. Sweet dreams, cher. Laissez les bon temps roulez en heaven. I hope to have a bowl of God's gumbo with you when I see you next.

Another Sonny Landreth Pic from Blues Festival in Baton Rouge

2010-05-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ran into Johnny Palazzotto of the Baton Rouge Blues Foundation last weekend and he asked if I'd made it to the Baton Rouge Blues Festival last month. Not only did I make it in time to hear Sonny Landreth play, I stole this photo from a friend, Teresa Donich, who scored front-lawn seats for the performance as well. Thom Harris of Harris Design, Teresa's husband, gives her full credit for the photo.

#BRBlues Festival with Sonny Landreth

2010-04-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sonny Landreth at Baton Rouge Blues Festival April 24th

2010-04-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

If your 4/24-4/25/2010 weekend is just chock-a-block full of plans and you can't imagine squeezing another second of music, sun, LSU's 150th celebration, Jazz Fest in New Orleans, International Festival in Lafayette, food, art, etc., into it...well, you simply must think harder. You will hate yourself if you don't at least take an hour to visit downtown Baton Rouge for the culmination of a week of blues celebration in the River City at the Baton Rouge Blues Festival. I've missed the Festival just a couple of times in the last few years, but I'll be in downtown B.R. from 3:10-4:25 p.m. on Saturday, dang it, because I want to hear Sonny Landreth play his slide guitar at least one more time before I die.

Sonny is just one of many highlighted artists during the grand day of Baton Rouge Blues. Certainly Chris Thomas King and Tony Joe White are worth a shout out as well. But if you like jaw-dropping guitar picking that is as good as (if not better than) Eric Clapton -- and you like it in the sunshine, for free, on a Louisiana Sunday afternoon in April -- well, then, you need to scratch something else off the the agenda and write Sonny Landreth in red ink on your April 24th afternoon calendar block...

(hashtag it #BRBlues)

My first introduction to Landreth's talents was during a Louisiana Public Broadcasting videotaping of Sonny's performance at the Lafayette Grant Street
Dance Hall, during Festival International (the

sophisticates alternative to NOLA's Jazz Festival). I had never heard of this non-descript man and wasn't sure what all the fuss was about.
An hour later, I realized exactly why LPB was so interested in getting Sonny's performance memorialized on tape -- he has the Devil's gift for slide guitar playing. I don't know what he sold to get it, but I'm not so sure it was really a sin.

Consider this a "bashing on the head" reminder to spend at least an hour on Saturday April 24th in downtown Baton Rouge. You may be on I-10 driving east from the Festival International in Lafayette to Jazz Fest in N.O. -- but you must exit North Blvd around 3 p.m.ish in Big BR, park where you can in the downtown area, and walk down North Blvd away from the highway, toward the River. Sonny starts at 3:10 -- what a fantastic weekend of music!

Best #Crawfish Now in BR

2010-04-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

State Legislator Steve Carter whispered to me today that he loves Sammy's on Highland Road for crawfish, but sometimes it's too crowded! So he's trying out Louisiana Boilers on Perkins the next time the table wait at Sammy's stretches out onto Highland Road.

Other posts crawfish lovers love

Crawfish Price List Updates
Sammy's Seafood Restaurant Review

New Orleans Easter Parades 2010

2010-04-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

If you are going to Easter Sunday brunch in New Orleans this year, be sure and save time for a little Easter parade watching. You won't just see the usual big bonnets and bunnies, you might also get a glimpse of a famous stripper and maybe even catch a moon-pie or two for dessert. Parades start at 12:15 and go on through the afternoon in various locations throughout town.

Photos and highlights from last year's parade are here...Enjoy!

Crawfish Price List

2010-04-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

What could be better than this for bug loving louisiana foodies! Props to 225 Dine and Ben Marcel for providing the crawfish price buddy engine. Whether you are ordering in from North Dakota or from south of Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge, it's always good to know what the mud bug price per pound could be that day. Enjoy!

Beer, Sun, Music, and a 1000 of your closest friends

2010-03-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

A shorter beer line is promised at the 2010 Zapp's International Beer Festival at the Rural Life Museum in Baton Rouge Saturday, March 20th in Baton Rouge. A limit has been placed on the number of attendees, which will greatly improve the event. (see picture of crowds from last year's beer festival? Beer lines should be much shorter in 2010).

No matter -- it's become an icon 'party in the sun' event in Louisiana. Quite an accomplishment considering the competition. And it benefits the Rural Life Museum, which is worth every penny of the $30 entry fee. You get to wander through a working plantation, complete with 1800s post office, while sipping beer and listening to music with 1000 of your closest friends. And don't forget those hot Zapp's chipps, free and plentiful for all the little and big kids in the crowd.

More details here
http://www.eatdrinklovelouisiana.com/2009/03/cold-beer-and-rural-life-is-great-in.html