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…
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…
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”…
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…
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…
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Chef Michael Nelson of GW Fins worked tirelessly with his seafood, produce and meat purveyors to alter their distribution systems in order that they would be able to sell directly to consumers. The affable…
We have been through the wringer. And COVID-19 still threatens, and disturbances are swirling off the coast of Africa like a swarm of cockroaches. We deserve a break, a little R & R, a least some relief. Here are…
I was born into a household of chaos and disharmony. By the time I made my appearance, my sister was already 13 years old and my brother a month shy of 17. Our mother suffered from a collection of…
Sounds like gardening, sailing, sunbathing and long walks are not on the agenda this weekend, so I offer the following for your relaxation pleasure. “Top Chef Amateurs” gives talented home cooks the opportunity of a lifetime to test their…
I know I have plenty of company in feeling that things are just rough as all hell right now. I found some good news on Nextdoor, an app geared to neighborhoods, where I discovered my neighbor, Kat McCann, and…
Like so many in New Orleans, my income is largely tied to the hospitality industry, which is tied to tourism. Like so many New Orleanians, the foundation of my security has been rocked yet anew by another spate of…
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…
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…
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…
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).
