In early October my sister and I had dinner at The Bower, The Latter Restaurant Group’s new-ish (opened days before the start of you-know-what) chic, contemporary restaurant on Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District. We shared a collection of…
Few sweets really grab me unless they involve mascarpone and fruit, like any version of the Chantilly cake or the Princess cake from Bywater Bakery. That said, one week into Carnival season I have been safe from king cake…
While most of us were sleeping, with the stroke of midnight last night Carnival Season was upon us, and king cakes and king-cake-flavored things have rolled out in great abundance. What follows is a simple smattering of the hundreds…
I used to say my annual January health kick was motivated purely by vanity and immaturity – and it still is to a great degree – but these days I also just feel poisoned by January 2, and look forward…
My sister and I recently had dinner at The Bower, a new-ish chic, contemporary restaurant on Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District. We shared a collection of memorable dishes from the well-crafted menu, and we were doing OK until…
Swirling COVID-19 or not, we never leave our neighborhood on New Year’s Eve. Instead, we have a nice dinner involving decadent things not usually on the menu, raise glasses with some neighbors, then head home well before midnight to…
With temperatures often reaching the 80s and COVID-19 concerns swirling firmly anew, some of us have approached the holidays with lackluster enthusiasm or at least mild trepidation. In addition to the aforementioned excuses, in my house there is Crazy…
Last week USA Today ran a story and a companion video on our city’s beloved Bywater Bakery. The realization of a shared dream, Chef Chaya Conrad opened the bakery in 2017 with her husband Alton Osborne, a native of…
Waste no time, get thee to Saint John, Chef Eric Cook’s new hotspot on lower Decatur Street in the French Quarter. Saint John follows Cook’s celebrated Gris Gris in the Lower Garden District, opened in 2018. I visited on…
When she was a teenager and couldn’t possibly have cared less, I used to pester Cecilia, to observe closely and learn to cook at least a handful of dishes native to Louisiana, lest she end up like some of…
INSTAGRAM LIVE @NEWORLEANSMAG - DEC. 21 AT 5 P.M. David Guas wrote in “DamGoodSweet” (with Raquel Pelzel, The Taunton Press) that he makes some version of bread pudding for his family every holiday season. I spice up this…
Plating We eat first with our eyes. Brilliant colors and compelling textures draw us in. We invited Chef Loma Xayalinh of Lomakase to work his plating magic. Every opulent bite of the chef’s nigiri sushi tastes as outstanding as it…
New Orleans is a food town. We love to incorporate food and cooking into almost all of our celebrations, get-togethers, family reunions, festivals and so much more. This year, the city and our beloved dining institutions, neighborhood bars and gathering…
When my daughter, Cecilia, was still living at home (she is now almost 25 and working as a biomedical engineer for the Feds in Birmingham) our little family had a tradition of inviting everyone to our house on Thanksgiving…
The 15th anniversary of the death of Andy Benson, Jr. recently passed, and I am staring into another holiday season without him. My father loved holiday traditions, and he was the glue that held our family together. Shamefully, those…
It is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend. In connection with the Three Rivers Arts Festival that takes over downtown Covington on Saturday and Sunday (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.), wildly popular North Columbia Street artist Marianne Angeli Rodriguez…
A couple of years ago my friends with Camellia Brand beans asked me to develop a recipe for a Creole-style chili with pork instead of the traditional beef that is familiar in Texas-style chilis or the more newfangled “white”…
Cook With Us! Join Jyl in the kitchen Nov. 16 for a cook-along with tips, tricks and more. Instagram Live @NewOrleansMagazine In early March 2020 when I checked in to Commander’s Palace for brunch only to discover the…
While undeniably mainstream, gifts of libations are usually quite welcome. Knowing the etiquette of giving liquor as a gift will help you choose something commensurate with the status of the recipient. Is this for a pal or your boss?…
And here we are. In this most stressful of years, holiday season is upon us. Whatever your family’s holiday traditions may be, perhaps this is the year to really treat yourself, take it easy and hire a private chef from…
As is the case with most things Japanese, traditional Japanese sushi is subtle: The flavors are reliant on rice and the quality of fish. It is simple, straightforward, and balanced with rare experiments. Though some local sushi chefs are…
For easy bites to serve with cocktails when holiday well-wishers turn up unexpectedly, keep bags of The Ultimate Rosemary Butter Cookie, a sweet-savory bite, and The Ultimate Cheese Straw with the perfect tang of sharp Cheddar, available at Langenstein’s.…
My husband, Andrew, is prone to (usually) fleeting romances with kitchen gadgets. As both of us dislike kitchen counter clutter and we have limited storage in our circa-1900 Uptown cottage, only the worthiest gadgets and appliances are kept around…
We were giddy over an excuse to dress in something other than yoga pants and shorts, so my sister Beth and I donned dresses for an evening in the Lower Garden District at The Bower. We live within blocks…
Another reason to love my neighborhood: This Saturday Laurel Street Music will present two free concerts. Herlin Riley & Erica Falls perform from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., followed by Trumpet Mafia from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Both concerts will…
Through Oct. 15, our nation is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced our nation and our society. In the New Orleans area, we owe a particular debt of gratitude to the…
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you do not. This time we were in the target range when the rude lady with the old-fashioned name came calling, leaving behind shorn roofs, crippled foliage and moldy refrigerators that could take months to…
To celebrate New Orleans’ grand brunch tradition, SoFAB (1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 504-569-0405, SouthernFood.org) will take the month of October to celebrate “Birthplace of Brunch Month” with four pop-up brunches: Drag Brunch (featuring Poppy Tooker and Chef Jason Goodenough,…
Years ago, my friend Jennie Merrill shared a version of this easy, Keto-friendly make-ahead crowd pleaser would be an excellent choice if you dare to entertain for Halloween. It makes for flavorful use of use of the abundant butternut squash…
I am a big fan of Nicole Eiden and Marielle Dupre, the ladies behind Windowsill Pies. The business partners met while working in a restaurant before Hurricane Katrina. The storm/flood sent Dupre, a Mandeville native and Tulane grad, running…
Perhaps the only child in Louisiana history to be born to a mother with absolutely no culinary skills at all, Jyl Benson began cooking in self-defense at the age of six. She is 13 years younger than her closest sibling so her parents were tired and paid little attention as she use the household kitchen as per personal laboratory, sometimes with disastrous outcomes. Her skills have improved greatly over the years and kitchen fires are a thing of the past.
She began her editorial career in 1990 with The Times Picayune and served as a regional reporter covering the southeastern United States for both The New York Times and Time magazine. She wrote "Galatoire's Cookbook: Recipes & Family History from the Time-Honored New Orleans Restaurant" (Random House 2005), as well as several cultural, historical and architectural guides to New Orleans. She served as editor-in-chief of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine from 2009 to 2011 and founded Louisiana Kitchen & Culture magazine in 2012. Sheis a dining columnist for St. Charles Avenue, Acadiana Profile and Louisiana Life magazines, a frequent contributor to New Orleans Magazine, and the author of "Fun Funky, Fabulous: New Orleans Casual Restaurant Recipes" (2015, Pelican Publishing) and "Louisiana's Tables" (2017, Savory House Press).
