Category: New Orleans (Page 1 of 3)

Professor X Has a Sweet Tooth

June 14, 2016 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

Some down time while shooting “Wolverine 3” in New Orleans — Professor X, i.e. Patrick Stewart (he’ll always be Picard to us, however), stops in at Cafe du Monde for a plate of beignets piled with a snowstorm of powdered sugar, along with a cafe au lait, and a selfie.

An overflowing fried shrimp po-boy from Parkway Bakery of New Orleans, currently leading the polling for best po-boy shop of Louisiana

Vote for the Best Ice Cream Parlor, Lobster Roll, Cuban Sandwich, …

April 27, 2016 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

USA Today’s 10Best has got a mess o’ polls going on right now, many focused on regional food specialties across America. In each category, a team of experts has selected 20 candidates, and it’s up to you to choose the winner. For instance, in the category of Best Po’ Boy in Louisiana, one of our favorite spots, Parkway Bakery and Tavern in New Orleans, is currently leading the vote tally, which will continue to accumulate until May 9th. Continue reading

One of our favorite non-traditional ways with boudin: at Stanley in the French Quarter of New Orleans they make a Breaux Bridge Benedict with boudin.

Hitting the Cajun Boudin Trail

January 28, 2016 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 3 Comments

Pork, rice, spice, and liver – those ingredients, in widely varying ratios, are stuffed into hog casings by Cajun butchers to create their famed boudin. Boudin touring is one of the most enjoyable experiences in Cajun country, west of New Orleans, as far as we’re concerned, in part because the vast majority of the good stuff comes from the most humble and unassuming sources (you won’t find the Louisiana landscape littered with identical McBoudreaux and Boudin King eateries). Continue reading

The shrimp platter at Dave's Carry-Out is one excellent reason Charleston, SC was selected as one of America's ten best food cities.

10 Best American Food Cities?

December 22, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

Let the debate begin! Tom Sietsema, food writer for The Washington Post, did some extensive dining across America, with the goal of determining the nation’s top ten eating cities. Some results? The top three cities are all on the Pacific coast! Houston beats Philadelphia, and both beat Chicago and New York! We’re glad to see the recognition for Charleston, SC and New Orleans, two truly fabulous and unique food cities. Gotta hand it to Mr. Sietsema, agree or disagree, it took a lot of research and a passion for eating (and big brass ones) to produce such a list. There is a ton of great info here for future travelers, and a lot of appetizing reading. See for yourself.

Ladurée's exquisite macarons make it one of America's most Instagram'd bakeries.

America’s 20 Most Popular Bakeries

December 18, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

How do you define most popular? One way would be to see what gets posted most frequently to Instagram, and that’s exactly what Refinery29 did, working with Instagram to determine America’s 20 most popular bakeries. But, we might also ask, how do you define bakery? Because the “bakery” that was anointed the most popular in America has never baked a single thing in its 153 year history! Cafe du Monde‘s New Orleans beignets take a hot oil bath before a heavy powder with confectioner’s sugar. Eh, big deal, they want to call Cafe du Monde America’s most popular bakery, it’s alright by us. Continue reading

Bon Ton serves the booziest bread pudding in town. It's one of the best, too.

Feel the Warmth at Bon Ton Cafe of New Orleans

December 4, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

“Comforting food with a Cajun touch.” Tom Fitzmorris, veteran New Orleans restaurant reviewer, recently paid a visit to Bon Ton Cafe, a yearly ritual he observes on the first cold evening of the year. He captures our feelings about one of NOLA’s old-timers perfectly. We might add that it’s under-appreciated in this town. It doesn’t get negative attention, it simply doesn’t get much attention at all. Perhaps that’s because it serves the same food, made from the same recipes, year in and year out. It’s not an approach designed to excite the foodies, but it excites us because it’s always executed well, and served with warmth and style. Read more about Mr. Fitzmorris’ visit here.

Oysters St. Claude are on Upperline's reveillon menu.

Celebrate a Creole Christmas with a Reveillon Dinner in New Orleans

November 25, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 1 Comment

If you grew up a Creole in 19th-century New Orleans, you likely enjoyed one of the biggest feasts of the year following Christmas Eve midnight mass. All the stops were pulled out for these multi-course meals, called reveillons, which traditionally featured the finest the family could afford. Such celebrations virtually died out by the middle of the 20th century as kitchen staffs for private homes became a thing of the past for all but a very few. Over the last couple of decades, however, a reveillon revival has taken place in New Orleans, centered in restaurants for the month of December. Continue reading

Oysters St. Claude, with an intriguing dark sauce, should not be missed.

Upperline, New Orleans LA

May 1, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

REVIEW

The famous Creole restaurants of New Orleans – Galatoire’s, Brennan’s, Commander’s Palace, Antoine’s, Arnaud’s – are long-operating, historic institutions. Some of them, like Galatoire’s, are among the finest restaurants in the country, while some of the others are less so, but what they have in common is a traditional approach to Creole cooking. Upperline also serves Creole food and we think it is as necessary to a visitor’s survey of Creole cuisine as the best of the old-line restaurants, but it’s only been around since the 1980s and it takes a more modern approach to Creole cooking. Continue reading

Napoleon breaks with tradition and serves their muffulettas warm and toasted.

Napoleon House, New Orleans LA

April 9, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Here’s an idea for your next New Orleans trip: stop in at an historic pub with a French connection and enjoy a British cocktail along with a sandwich invented a few blocks away, have some Creole food on the side, and finish up with an Italian dessert. This can only be the Napoleon House, at the corner of Chartres and St. Louis in the Vieux Carré. Continue reading

Seafood gumbo at Galatoire's, evidence of New Orleans' lunch superiority

Piece of Galatoire’s Sold

April 1, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

In an interesting new twist to a story we don’t fully understand, a 10% interest in Galatoire’s of New Orleans was sold by 75% (now 65%) owner Jean Georges to Bollinger Shipyards founder Donald “Boysie” Bollinger and Red River Bank Chairman John Simpson. Both of those men were, but are no longer, part of Bourbon Investments, a group that had attempted to purchase Galatoire’s in 2009 and lost out to Mr. Georges. Bourbon Investments is now suing Galatoire’s over the sale.

Jim Lahey of NYC's Sullivan Street Bakery is a finalist for the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Baker award.

James Beard Award Finalists Announced

March 24, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

The finalists for the annual James Beard Awards were announced this morning. Some of our personal favorites among the nominees include: Continue reading

One of the keys to a good Hot Brown is real roast turkey, not deli slices.

Top 20 Food Cities in the U.S.A.

March 15, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

The list is presented by Travel + Leisure, and chosen by their readers, as the best “food snob” cities but it doesn’t appear that any sort of pretentiousness is part of the equation. These seem more to be the 20 cities for people whose primary travel activity is eating, and that includes us. The list begins at #20 with Seattle. Louisville, at #16, gets recognition for the Hot Brown sandwich invented at The Brown Hotel. #15 New Orleans (#15! Wow!) topped the survey for fine dining, like Brennan’s, and sandwiches, such as the great ones served at Parkway Bakery. NYC is #10 and Cleveland (!) is seventh. Best food city in the U.S.? Houston!

That's a Cream of Nectar and pineapple Sno-Bliz at Hansen's of New Orleans. You can usually expect to wait in a line to get yours.

New Orleans Restaurants Worth Waiting in Line For

March 13, 2015 / Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle / 0 Comments

For which of New Orleans’ many great restaurants would you wait in line? The New Orleans Times Picayune asked its readers that question, and ten places passed the 50% threshold. Most waitable? 70% of respondents said they’d be willing to wait for a table at Galatoire’s, which is pretty much the only way you’ll eat there unless you want to reserve an upstairs table. Jacques-Imo’s came in second at 68%, and Hansen’s Sno-Bliz, where the wait is expected but relatively brief, came in third, as 67% said they’d get in line for a syrup-soaked Sno-Bliz.