As a child I frequented the rickety Sid-Mar's in Bucktown with my family. Down the Bucktown road from the bustle of West End, the wooden building leaned on its pillars over Lake Pontchartrain. The warped wooden floors tilted to…
Succulent, sweet and enticing, figs are ripening on trees all over Louisiana. In spring and summer, the distinctive lush green leaves and orbs of rosy fruit are as pleasing to the eye as the barren, skeletal branches of the…
Commander’s Palace recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of offering 25 cent martinis at lunch. Ti Martin and her cousin Lally Brennan own and manage the fabled Garden District restaurant their family started generations ago. Ti generously shared the story…
Sometimes to stars align. I called a Lyft to collect me from a health-oriented culinary seminar the other day and my driver turned out to be, according to her very colorful, fanciful business card, “Mrs. Debbie, The Original JelL’o…
As a lifelong plant and flower enthusiast I am excited about the return of floral design workshops at Mitch’s Flower’s, a beautifully appointed horticultural oasis on a shaded block of Magazine Street. While they were once common, today shops…
Seemingly forever, brothers John and Moe Thabata have run Rainbow Grocery (4837 Magazine St., 504-875-3635), the popular Uptown corner store best known for its extensive selection of everything from very cheap beers sold as singles to fine wines and…
Both beloved and reviled, the frozen daiquiri in a Styrofoam cup from a drive-through has some solid upscale competition around town and wise restaurateurs are rolling out a plethora of options for those seeking to stay cool while imbibing…
Days after New Orleans post-Katrina flooding, a friend put Chef Scot “Scottie” Craig in touch with a group of CNN journalists seeking someone who could feed them something other than military-issued, vacuum sealed M.R.E.s. With his home and restaurant—the…
It is too hot to hang in the kitchen, so I have been on a sushi kick of late. At the suggestion of a friend my daughter, Cecilia, and I hit up Yakuza House in Metairie for a late…
This week Louisiana recognized Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, as a legal state holiday. The third Saturday in June will now be celebrated as Juneteenth Day under a bill passed without any…
Yesterday the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council (NOCDC) invited me to address an international group of NGO (a nonprofit organization that operates independently of any government, typically to address a social or political issue) managers interested in learning more…
Western St. Tammany Parish has long served as a beacon to artists working in all mediums. An abundance of natural beauty, a relaxed lifestyle allowing for the growth and exploration of creativity, and a supportive parish-wide art association (St.…
Chef Daniel Esses shared a version of this recipe with me years ago when he was the man behind the menu at Three Muses on Frenchmen Street. Today he mans the kitchen at Rimon in Tulane University’s Hillel Center,…
Last August, the culmination of a long held dream, Chef Suda Ounin and Jeerasak Boonlert opened their restaurant and bakery. Housed in a cottage the color of strawberry buttercream frosting and fronted by a lush garden, Thai DJing beckons…
In 1957 a feature in Holiday magazine described ladies dining on bowls of crawfish bisque Galatoire's. The article was already a relic by the time I read it years ago, but it stuck for its description of the women…
Sooo, as much as I really do not like being on camera that is exactly where my new gig as the NOSH columnist for New Orleans Magazine has landed me. Check it out here if you are ready to…
A friend recently needed a new driver’s license and she hit me up for a ride. "Go to the one in Westwego," we were repeatedly advised. "The lines are shorter than everywhere else." Having experienced numerous OMVs (forever the…
I was 27 when I bought my home near Magazine and Jefferson in the West Riverside neighborhood – bounded roughly by Valmont, Camp, and Tchoupitoulas streets, and Audubon Park. That was 1996 and I still love it here. I…
The realization of a shared dream, Chef Chaya Conrad opened Bywater Bakery in 2017 with her husband, Alton Osborne, a native of the Seventh Ward and a clothing designer who’s a familiar face in New Orleans’ art and music…
The Tacos Hennicano at Juan’s Flying Burrito: A Creole Taqueria (juansflyingburrito.com) literally inspired me to write a contemporary New Orleans cookbook (Fun, Funky & Fabulous, Pelican Publishing, 2015). Back in 2013 or so, my then teenage daughter and I wandered…
Get out your hammock! This is the last weekend for “Festing in Place,” Beth Arroyo Udderback’s brilliant solution for keeping the Jazz & Heritage Festival’s traditional relationship with WWOZ radio alive while large public gatherings are still banned. Tune…
McFoBen = Mc(alear) + Fo(x) + Ben(son) We have done a stupendous job of trying to screw this up and we have succeeded on many occasions but today I celebrate 15 years of marriage to Andrew Martin Fox, my fellow…
Unless huddling under and umbrella or wading about in galoshes is your jam your outdoor activities are probably getting s---canned for the weekend, so your options are a bit limited. You could build that ark you have been considering.…
Consider taking a drive to LaPlace for lunch tomorrow or brunch on Sunday. Throughout the month of April, Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse (WJS) in LaPlace is celebrating 71 years in the business of turning out what is, in my humble…
fight With Jazzfest postponed until October (when crawfish season will be in the rearview) I offer this recipe so you can make it at home for your Festing in Place (WWOZ 90.7-FM and wwoz.org, April 22-25 and April 29-May 2,…
“Trenasse” is a Cajun term for a cut-through in a marsh. It leads to something. Founded in 2013 by chef and restaurateur Jim Richard, Trenasse, located inside New Orleans’ Intercontinental Hotel, is still going places, revealing inventive surprises, delighting –…
Throughout this pandemic, Andrew and I have been dutiful mask-wearing, social distancing, hand washers. We are just now fully vaccinated. What this means for us is we will not be white knuckling our way through dinner on Sunday afternoon…
Last Thursday was a glorious, beautiful day, all sparkling skies and riotous blooming azaleas. My daughter, Cecilia, escaped from class early. We assumed foot traffic in the French Quarter would be light (mid-week, no conventions) so we set off…
So much more than a place to score exceptional baked goods, top-notch bagels, stunning cakes, or something delicious and savory for lunch, Bywater Bakery (3624 Dauphine St.) also serves as an art gallery, community center, music spot, and whatever…
On Saturday, March 13, at noon, part-time French Quarter president and popular Instagram cooking and entertaining personality, Brian Theis, will sign copies of his fantastic new book and entertaining guide "The Infinite Feast: How to Host the Ones You…
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).
