Slurping wetly and noisily at the nourishment that is New Orleans
Despite founding several successful restaurants, winning local and national awards, and making television appearances, Chef Susan Spicer remains down-to-earth, sincerely genial and passionate about making great food. Right up there with Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse, Susan Spicer has earned her position as one of New Orleans most notable chefs. […]
“I’d rather take coffee than compliments just now.” -Louisa May Alcott From its provocative aroma while brewing to the moment when that first, flavorful sip hits your tongue, coffee … particularly good coffee … is equal to none. For many, it’s a morning ritual, a sacred ceremony wrapped up in […]
Like other service-oriented businesses, the restaurant industry has been slammed pretty hard due to the pandemic and resulting shut-downs. Though we inch ever closer to Phase 3, new breakouts and bad actors have business-owners struggling daily with the decision to offer dine-in, only takeout and delivery, or closing their doors […]
With the city’s recent entry into Phase 2, French Quarter newcomer Palm & Pine reopened their doors to limited dine-in service just this past week. Although the Rampart Street restaurant has been offering takeout and delivery since the COVID-19 shutdowns began, many friends, fans and newcomers are masked and ready […]
Since the early 1900s, the meat packing industry has been fraught with problems. Plants’ exploitation of workers and highly unsanitary and unsafe practices – brought to light in The Jungle, a novel portraying the harsh conditions and exploitation of immigrants by Upton Sinclair — led to legislation to ensure improved […]
Long before the rise of social media (or even the internet), people have been making baked goods in their own kitchens for sale to the public. Though laws vary from state-to-state, Louisiana’s Cottage Food Act (enacted in 2013 and amended in 2014) allows residents to sell specific, low-risk goods like […]
If there’s one thing summer stirs, it’s the childhood memories of cool, sweet treats. Though any kid from Los Angeles to Manhattan can enjoy creamy ice cream and fruity popsicles, only New Orleans kids (both young and old) are blessed with sno-balls. A super simple confection at its core – […]
As the years pass, it’s fascinating to watch how commerce and development will ebb and flow, hopping from neighborhood to neighborhood. One renovation, one dream can often be a spark that sets the whole area on fire, people kindling their aspirations from another’s blaze. It was especially noticeable shortly after […]
What does one say about the Sazerac cocktail that hasn’t already been said? This historic tipple is reputed to be the first American “cocktail,” created right here in New Orleans in the 1830s by famed apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud, the creator of Peychaud’s Bitters, a crucial ingredient in any Sazerac […]
Though there’s many a snob who would scoff at a dish piled high with more food that any average person could eat in one sitting, there are also those who seek to “supersize.” Perhaps those individuals have a hearty appetite; those frustrating, blessed with high-metabolism folk who can eat dizzying […]
What with all of the hoopla of Mardi Gras going on, it’s easy to miss one of the most significant celebrations of February, Great American Pie Month! Naturally this is said with a heavy inflection of snark, but to take it that extra mile, what is even more paramount than […]
For over two decades, locals and visitors alike returned again and again to the small, cypress wood arched door on St. Phillip Street seeking Italian cuisine heavily perfumed with garlic and rosemary, and a warm, intimate atmosphere that felt like coming home. In 2015, Irene’s Cuisine‘s fate was sealed when […]
Though you’d like to believe that the plate lunch, sometimes called a “meat and three,” is a down-home, Southern or Mid-Western invention, it’s origin is actually Hawaiian. Even more fascinating, the Hawaiian plate lunch grew from the island-state’s Pan-Asian influence, most particularly the centuries-old Japanese “bento.” Defined as convenient or […]