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I love Mirliton Fest. It’s my favorite out of all the gazillions of fests we have because it’s still a mostly local gathering in an intimate neighborhood park. I’ve volunteered for the past two years and it’s just a blast … Continue reading
Despite the fact that it’s held in June – which, according to local standards, is a month with no “R” in it and therefore not good for oysters – New Orleans Oyster Festival rocks! I enjoyed attending because it doesn’t have the crowds that popular New Orleans festivals attract.
This particular festival was born out of tragedy in 2010. The BP Oil spill alienated Louisiana’s seafood industry – and still does – due to (in my opinion) consumer ignorance.
Using the same strength that helped this area come back from Katrina, the Louisiana Seafood Board and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries along with a slew of local supporters decided in June of 2010 to show that the Oyster industry was down but not out.
As the following photographs will show, there were plenty of oysters to be enjoyed, prepared in a variety of recipes. My only regret is that the local chefs haven’t come up with a good, cold oyster dish aside from shucked oysters.
We arrived at 11 A.M. knowing that the heat was going to continue to rise. The organizers of this festival did very well in providing a number of shady spots for diners and festival goers to get away from the heartless sun. Every table in the tents had linen table cloths and free fans to keep the festival goers cool.
Our first stop was one that got my attention: Redfish Grill’s Oyster Shooter with Grey Goose. Yum!!!
Here I am trying to take a picture of my oyster shooter. It was delightful, by the way.
Here is my tiny-chef daughter celebrating her oyster shooter.
Our next stop was the most visible sites of the fest: Drago’s with their charbroiled oysters.
They were delectable
Hungry for yet more oysters, we headed over to Luke for the Oyster Poboy with smoked tomato relish.
It did not disappoint us. In fact, there was a slice of bacon in the sandwich which we knew came from hogs raised on the northshore….yum, fresh pork!
I was impressed with the professionalism of the Luke staff.
By this time the Treme Brass Band had taken the stage and got the crowd into their fantastic New Orleans music.
By now it was noon and my daughter and I decided to take shelter under the cooking demo tent to cool off.
Hubby opted to roam the area in search of interesting pictures. Here are his results:
The blue guy really isn’t as wacko as he seems in this picture. 
In this picture you can see me motioning that my beer is empty.
By now we were ready for more oyster dishes, so we headed for the Court of Two Sisters Booth for both Oyster Pie and Crawfish Louise.
I asked if they would divulge the recipe for the Crawfish Louise and they promised that they would when I visited the restaurant. Tiny Chef and I figured it out while eating it.
Our next choice of food was our mistake of the day.
The oysters had the consistency of liver, they were tasteless and the spinach/artichoke “bruschetta” was plain. Don’t waste your money.
The oyster shucking contest was next and was fun to watch, chiefly because Joe Cahn was the MC.
Shuckers lining up to shuck
This guys was my favorite, but he didn’t make it.
The Shucker Winner was from Desire. A humble man who shucked 20 oysters in 2 minutes.
Joe Cahn enjoyed his role as oyster taster.
What follows next is a series of pictures of people I found “interesting”.
A chef from Antoine’s
This picture is blurry, but I needed to show it to show men what NOT TO WEAR in public.
Later we ran into a friend that gave us access to the Acme Oyster House VIP area to watch the Bucktown Allstars. We found this group of derelicts interesting:
Eventually the NOPD ran them off
Our day didn’t go without catching a few local “celebrities”>
Chef Andrea Apuzzo and Joe Cahn
Monica Pierre, local radio host and award winning woman.
By this time it was 3 pm and we were as fried as the oysters, so we decided to head home. All three of us are sunburned in one way or another, but it was fun. We’re looking forward to next week’s Vieux To Do featuring three festivals in one.
Just got back from spending our Valentines dinner at La Provence Restaurant in Big Branch (near Mandeville), Louisiana. As usual the service was attentive without being obtrusive, the food was perfect and the experience was so very wonderful. Hubby and I opted not to bring our cameras with us to document our meal this time. Instead, I’m going to do a ‘rerun’ of our last visit there in March of ’09. I had the same meal tonite as I had in the following post. Hubby had a dish containing a fish called tripletail and it was fantastic! So what follows is our experience at LaProvence Restaurant a few years ago and it was just as wonderful as tonite:
March, 2009
Tonight hubby and I dined at our favorite restaurant to celebrate our third anniversary: La Provence in the Lacombe/Big Branch area of St. Tammany Parish.
To all of your big city folks in NOLA: make plans to take a day trip on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy a laid back, delicious Sunday Brunch during the beautiful weather we’ve been having before it gets too hot. (we’ve already made reservations for April 5th) You will not be disappointed
click on the pictures for full-size versions
Springtime in St. Tammany Parish is as close to Eden as you can get. To complement the climate, imagine yourself sitting in this patio, choosing from this menu:
Please ignore the date of “March 1″ because this is the current menu used each Sunday, not just March 1st.
La Provence has a new Chef de Cuisine, a very talented young man named Erick Loos IV who is an extremely brilliant chef. Allow me to validate my opinions with pictures and words.
Just as important as the presentation and quality of the food is service. The waitstaff is attentive without being exaggeratedly annoying ala any of Emeril’s establishments. Our waitress was Kelly and she was extremely sweet and professional.
Upon seating, restaurant guests are treated to a great little starter of chicken liver mousse and warm crostini. Nice……
While we were dining on our crostini and mousse, Kelly surprised us with the offering of a pissaladiere, which is a warm tarte of onions, anchovies, olives, fresh arugula. Not sure if this is an invention of Chef Erick, but this is a beautiful dish which is also offered in the Sunday Brunch Menu
I could eat this all day…….while I was eating it, I imagined the delectably light crust with chocolate and powdered sugar or shrimp and cheese or muffaletta ingredients. An ambrosial dish.
As we enjoyed our pissaladiere, we were greeted by LaProvence Restaurant manager Dale Harvey. Another Slidell native, Dale is a great manager (front of the house man) for LaProvence. He has the personality to put everyone at ease and truely cares about his customers. We discussed our Katrina experiences (anyone who lived down here before-during-after the storm does that) and the menu along with our hope of procuring a pic with the owner to share with my daughter at Chef John Folse’s School of Culinary Arts(more like a "nah-nah, look what I did, actually". ) We found out that Chef Besh just might show up on this evening.
I want to stop here to share the fact that hubby and I are typical Southeast Louisiana natives in the fact that we plan our lives around food. As the saying goes, in Louisiana we live to eat, whereas in the rest of the country they eat to live. This trip to LaProvence had us excited for a few months after the reservations were cast. So the anticipation that we could actually meet John Besh in person was exciting to us because of his reputation as a good cook as well as the fact that he's a "Slidell boy". The Food Network stuff comes in second for us because the star factor is really not important to anyone who loves well done cuisine. I don't like using the word of “foodie” to describe ourselves because it’s such a pretentious word.
Back to our trek to Big Branch’s best restaurant (probably their only one besides a quick stop), after chatting with Dale, we had to decide upon our appetizer.
I apologize for the quality of the photos to come. We were not sure of the grade of the photographs until we got home. We WILL assure you that presentation was of the utmost importance to the LaProvence staff which they met exceedingly well
I chose the Shrimp Tajine because of the flavor (I’d had it before) and presentation. This appetizer includes a “merguez” made of shrimp which is
incredibly delectable
Hubby got the Charbroiled Oysters.
I got to taste an oyster and it was sooooooooooooooo good!!!
Delicious is not a good enough word to describe what we experienced.
Entrees were next
Decisions…decisions…..I chose the tenderloin of beef (medium rare) because I craved red meat; my honey got the scallops with risotto.
Served with bone marrow, porcini mushtrooms and “pommes dauphinois”, I can’t tell you what the best thing on this plate was. The bone marrow was mouth watering, the beef perfectly cooked; but those potatoes blew me away! (I guess that goes back to my Irish roots, my obsession with potatoes)
Billy now loves Risotto. I explained to him how this is a dish of love – because you have to tend to it like a child – until it is complete. Those scallops were buttery, sweet and cooked to perfection. The asparagus came from either the garden outside the restaurant or their farm in Folsom. I’m getting this dish on our next foray to LaProvence!
By this time we were giddy with the taste of food so well thought out.
I neglected to mention the great wine that we shared with our food.
Wonderful wine from that great year of 2005 (thanks, Katrina).
It really was a nice, dry red wine which complemented both of our dishes: meat and fish.
Dessert was awesome!!
Unfortuneately our dessert pix came out too blurry because we didn’t take into consideration the lighting, but I will tell you that the Torte aux Chocolate and the Strawberry Sorbet were orgasmic. Ask anyone who was there.
Thinking that the best of our evening had passed, Mr. Dale came back to our table and said that we were summoned to the kitchen. WOW
As we entered the kitchen we were applauded by the kitchen staff. What a fantastic end to a beautiful meal. Our thanks to all who participated to make this one of the most memorable meals and we applaud YOU!.
my apologies to Chef Erick for the quality of the photographs….your food ROCKS, Erick!!!
Here are links to previous posts about LaProvence and Chef Besh
This one describes our first visit to LaProvence as well as containing a video about their
Biodynamic Farm
I discuss the release of the new line of Besh products at Rouses here
If you are ever in the mood for a day trip away from New Orleans, I highly recommend the laid back, scenic road trip to Gulfport-Biloxi via Highway 90.
Destroyed by Katrina’s storm surge,. Highway 90 is back in business and looking pretty good, although it still has a long way to go in some places.
For 30 miles along the coast local artists Marlin Miller and Dayton Scoggins have made lemonade from the lemons handed to them in 2005. I am referring the sculptures created from live oaks that were destroyed by the storm’s waters.
Here are a few examples
Not all live oaks were killed in the storm. There are places that are still beautiful, such as this picture
Here is a link to a map of each of the sculptures along the coast.
In Bay St. Louis,
Dayle Lewis, a professional chain-saw artist from Richmond, Indiana gave an old oak tree wings when he carved a pair of angels into a tree near the beach in Bay St. Louis.
“It became the Guardian Angel Tree,” said Lewis.
The story goes that 100 years ago a member of the DeMontluzin family kept the tree from being cut when the road was built, said Douglas Niolet.
“I guess she saved it for us,” Niolet said, because he and two others found their way to the oak and hung onto it for more than three hours during Hurricane Katrina. The tree died after the storm and the survivors asked Lewis to carve it into the angels that watched over them.
Lewis said many people have told him how much joy and spirit the tree has brought to Bay St. Louis.
Right around the corner from the angel tree is the Mockingbird Cafe where you will find a menu that should suit anyone’s appetite.
The Mockingbird is located in a very old structure that has been restored beautifully inside and it is home to The Serious Bakery and all of their sandwiches are made with the bread from this bakery. The best bread I’ve ever eaten.
If you ate too much at “The Bird”, you can take a walk over the Bay Bridge and check out the awesome artwork along the bridge’s
walkway. Click on the link below for the slideshow.
http://wmg.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwmg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv217%2Fjudyb54%2FBSL_BRIDGE%2Faf9a8b24.pbw
Each piece of artwork on the bridge was cast in bronze that was recovered from the Bay St. Louis Bridge that was destroyed by that biatch Katrina. The roundtrip hike over the bridge is about 4 miles. Bring a camera along because the scenes from up high into the Bay can be stunning. If you’d like a closer look at the artwork on the Bridge, I have a picture of each piece at this website.
If you’re not too tired after the trek over the Bridge, Bay St. Louis offers several dozens of shops in the area of the Mockingbird. Or you can continue your route towards Gulfport – Biloxi and check out the additional tree sculptures along the coast. All in all, I consider this to be the perfect daytrip on a warm day.
Yesterday we took the babies on a swamp hike near Lake Maurepas in the Joyce Wildlife Management Area. It was a short hike, especially since you can’t go too far without needing a pirogue. Plus, we stuffed ourselves with fried catfish, shrimp, frog legs, flounder, and more at Middendorf’s just before so we wouldn’t have waddled far anyway. Our kids are too big to carry, but too small to walk terrain this treacherous on their own feet so we opted for the stroller – and pushed it into the swamp on a narrow rickety old boardwalk. And it was fun! It was midday so the mosquitoes left us alone, and the canopy was so thick we rarely had to endure direct sunlight. I mostly buzzed around with the camera while Q pushed the kids and showed them their Cajun roots (literally) (groan).
There were pretty spiderwebs all over the place…
And an amazing clearing with a beautiful view of the cypress trees, where I decided to kick back and rest for a bit…
I took over for Q pushing the stroller for a while because I’m always complaining I’m never in the photos. That’s because I’m always taking them and therefore Q appears to be a single father…
There were cute little hidey holes all over, containing who knows what hellish little marsh beast…
And general swampy pretties (must. not. fall. in. nasty. water. with. babies.)…
After leaving the Joyce WMA we drove through this spooky little swamp village that was apparently nameless, but was located near the town of Head of Island. There were small rustic homes on the bayou with lots of people sitting on porches while children swung on ropes into the water. I wanted to live there. For a few minutes anyway.
Afterward we went around the lake (Maurepas, that is) and drove through the town of French Settlement where we picked up some Cajun boiled peanuts and hot boudin. I swear it was totally subconscious that I put nuts and sausage between Q’s legs for this photo.
If you want to view all the photos from that day, check out the Flickr set.
Photo by Maitri – mmmmmm……gumbo!
From Defend New Orleans:
America’s premier chefs and restaurants unite to create Dine Out for the Gulf Coast, benefiting the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.
From June 10-12, 2010, participating restaurants throughout the United States will set aside a portion of profits to help those directly affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and to support the long-term restoration of the treasured coast.
Participating restaurants will customize their own Dine Out for the Gulf Coast benefit program. Some restaurants will contribute a percentage of total sales for the day and others will donate the sales from specific menu items, while others will offer specialty cocktails with a dollar-value from sales donated to the fund.
Many restaurants will highlight Gulf seafood offerings as a way to support the Gulf Coast fishing industry (commercial and charter fisherman), just declared a national fisheries disaster by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
The short-term goal of The Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund, administered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, is to make emergency grants to nonprofit organizations helping the victims of the oil spill. The long-term goal of the fund is to address the long-term economic, environmental, cultural effects of the disaster, and strengthen coastal communities against future environmental catastrophes by investing in solutions. No administrative fees will be charged to the fund: all funds will be re-granted to the communities in need.
Click here for a list of participating restaurants. States participating (so far) include California, Washington D.C., Louisiana, Virginia, New York, Illinois, Tennessee, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnestoa, Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida.
We thank you!
http://dineoutforthegulfcoast.org/
You know when your mamma told ya “the older you get, the faster the time flies”? It’s true. Oh, it’s sooooooo true. Mardi Gras has come and gone and now, and from the comments I see on the social sites, everyone is either sick or tired which tells me is everyone partied their butts off and I daresay they would all swear it was worth it.
I was sick for the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday so I missed watching grown adults fighting for plastic beads at the parades (Yeah, that’s bitterness talking.) but I did make it on Fat Tuesday. I went to my BFF”s place in Bywater where we went to a couple of house parties then met up with other friends and walked with the Krewe of St. Anne to the quarter. Part of the fun was that everyone wanted to take my friend’s picture because of his very unique costume (See it here.) and he got lots of hugs, high fives and yells of “Jew Dat!” We stopped at Cafe Rose Nicaud along the way for some hot coffee and muffins to warm up. (Stronger beverages came later.) What a cute little place it is! I highly recommend their carrot-ginger muffins and have had a severe craving for more ever since so it’s on the agenda for my next visit out that way.
I saw The Bourbon Street Awards for the first time – well, in between hordes of people, that is – most with some kind of wild head gear on which is reeeeeeely bad for short people behind them. All the costumes were fantastic but I think K&B man was my favorite – you can kinda, sorta see him here.
There were so many, many wonderful costumes to be seen making Mardi Gras a shutterbug’s paradise. Here are a few shots I took of some of the beautiful, colorful and creative costumes I saw on women Tuesday. We did ourselves proud, girls.
This little woman rocks!
It’s Carnival time and King Cake is probably the third most popular topic in New Orleans behind The Superbowl and the parade schedule. Everyone has a favorite King Cake, be it traditional or filled, baby or babyless (blasphemy!), with little icing or deeply slathered. Well, ya know, the best is from Gambino’s, Haydels’, Antoines’, Frances’, Rouses, the old McKenzie’s (now available at Tastee Donuts locations locally) and, of course, Randazzo’s…..to name a few.
Chances are that not every New Orleanian has actually tasted King Cake from every bakery in the city which means there is cinnamon-laced deliciousness yet to be discovered. But guess what? You can taste cakes from all over the city on one night in one place, thanks to NOLA Eats.com.
So if you’re in the quarter (or even if you’re not) be sure to stop by and take advantage of having so many of New Orleans’ fine King Cakes just waiting to pass between your lips with a healthy swig of whatever your preferred libation may be.
What: NOLA EATS’ Second Annual King Cake Party
When: Saturday, February 6, 7:00-9:00 PM
Where: Craig Tracy – Painted Alive Gallery, 827 Royal Street
Also be sure to visit YatCuisine for the results and story behind a Randazzo King Cake blind taste test Tweet-up held at BSI Comics. Sticky, yummy fun!
Ok, New Orleanians, after a several week absence, Sunday Postscripts is back….. here are a few links from the NOLA blogosphere I want to pass along in case you missed them.
Food
Weigh in on your favorite gumbo in the city at NOLA Eats and find out the favorites of other locals. Who makes your favorite gumbo?
Yesterday I went to The Mirliton Fest (which was a blast!) where I had the great pleasure of eating mirliton shrimp and grits cooked up by Chef Anne of Karma Kitchen. I just want to give her a little shout-out here because, lawdy, was that one fantastic, salivating dish!
Architecture
Architecture Research, a wonderful local architecture blog, talks about the November issue of The Atlantic which features an article about the new post-K domestic architecture in New Orleans.
In the same vein, catch up on what’s happening with Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation ~ thanks to Good NOLA for the shout out.
Healthcare
Valentine Pierce and her mom have been dealing with disturbing and all too common issues navigating Medicare and Medicaid coverage for the elderly. Read her post Hell and Damnation: Medicare and Medicaid. Oh, we don’t need healthcare reform? Mmmkay.
SAINTS!
Are you a Saints fan? (Is the Pope…..yeah, you know the rest!) Check out Chicks in the Huddle,a sports blog from a woman’s perspective, for their evaluation and prediction of today’s Saints – Panthers game.
GEAUX SAINTS!
Dat’s all!
UPDATE: Yay for Chicks in the Huddle ~ they predicted Saints to win 31 – 20, Final score: Saints 30 – Panthers 20! WOMAN POWER!!
~The Mirliton Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary!~
2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the Bywater Neighborhood Association’s Mirliton Festival. Join us on Saturday, November 7 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. at Markey Park (corner of Piety and Royal streets). Admission is $5 for the general public and $3 for BNA members. Kids 5 years of age and under are free.
This year’s event promises to be the best yet. The diverse and talented musical lineup includes The Valparaiso Men’s Chorus featuring Alex McMurray, DJ Jubilee, Happy Talk Band, R. Scully Rough 7, Guitar Lightning Lee, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Panorama Jazz Band, King Louie One Man Band and Ratty Scurvics.
The festival will also showcase food from some of the neighborhood’s best eateries. Returning this year are The Country Club, Jack Dempsey’s, The Joint, Markey’s Bar, Sally’s Country Gourmet Foods and Karma Kitchen as well as Bacchanal with a great selection of wines. Newcomers include Satsuma Cafe, Café Roux and Frady’s. For those with a sweet tooth, look for gelato from Sucré and gourmet popsicles from Meltdown. As in years past, Abita and Coca-Cola products will also be available.
The festival will also feature an eclectic mix of artists, a children’s activity area, and some great new merchandise including t-shirts, bumper stickers, and temporary Mirliton tattoos. Dr. Bob has designed this year’s limited edition 20th anniversary Mirliton Festival shirt, so be sure to pick one up. See you there!
For more information, visit our website at www.bywater.org.
There’s a new foodie website in town called NoLA Eats recently launched by NoLA native Leslie J. Almeida. I discovered it today via Miss Malaprop, a great local website dedicated to Indie design and eco-friendly living.
Apparently Leslie has been hosting monthly NOLA Eats dinners and events in local restaurants for several years. On her About Page you’ll find quite an impressive listing of past dinners in New Orleans and other mouth-watering information.
A dinner is scheduled for this Saturday at La Côte Brasserie. Yum! My Twitter friends and I who lunch frequently at local eateries may have to plan making a gumbo of the two groups one day soon.
Good luck with your new site, Leslie!
