Comfort food in New Orleans

[pineda]

nice story from the Chicago Sun-Times about the comfort of familiar food for New Orleanians

www.southernfoodways.com

www.storycorps.net

Great idea!

[houstonmacbro]

There's this restaurant I've seen on several different food shows, but cannot remember the name of it. It's not in the FQ and certainly not fancy (looks like a true hole-in-the-wall), but I hear the food is phenomenal.

Have any idea of the restaurant I am talking about?

We're planning a trip to NoLa in November and this is one place I want to hit up.

[tmariar]

Have any idea of the restaurant I am talking about?

Maybe Mother's? It fits your description, and seems to be the non-FQ non-fancy restaurant most often mentioned on food shows.

[TJones]

Shoot, comfort food in New Orleans is Beneighs and Chickory coffee at Cafe' Du Monde. Also, a big ol' pile of Catfish and shrimp from Ralph and Cacoo's.

[houstonmacbro]

Maybe Mother's? It fits your description, and seems to be the non-FQ non-fancy restaurant most often mentioned on food shows.

No, that didn't seem like it was it. This (I'm remembering) place almost looked like a run down house on a plain ole street. Did not seem to be close to downtown.

I checked Bourdain's website, but couldn't seem to find it. I think I saw it on his show... could be wrong.

Also, it seems like they're known for their fried chicken if that rings a bell...?

[crunchtastic]

Mandina's, on Canal St., out mid-city. You can get there from the FQ on the Canal streetcar.

Even if that's not the place you're thinking of, you should go anyway. Owned by the same same Sicilian family since the turn of the (last) century.

edit: Mandina's is not known for fried chicken. Dooky Chase is -- but I don't if they've opened back up completely after K. Their place was so small.

[ssullivan]

Dooky Chase

That has to rank right up there with Crappito's for one of the worst restaurant names ever.

[houstonmacbro]

Mandina's, on Canal St., out mid-city. You can get there from the FQ on the Canal streetcar.

Even if that's not the place you're thinking of, you should go anyway. Owned by the same same Sicilian family since the turn of the (last) century.

edit: Mandina's is not known for fried chicken. Dooky Chase is -- but I don't if they've opened back up completely after K. Their place was so small.

Sounds interesting. I am jotting all these names down.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Just got back from a whirlwind trip to NOLA...I think we spent a grand total of 35 hours there this weekend.

I was able to get a few of my favorite foods there, but none from anywhere spectacular.

Nevertheless, I can't leave NOLA without at least one po-boy (that was today at lunch-time, from the Jefferson Quick Stop gas station.) Not the best po-boy, but it wasn't the worst I've had either. It didn't match Danny & Clyde's for the all-time best gas station po-boy. Unfortunately for me, they were out of oysters, and a shrimp po-boy is just a poor substitute.

I badly wanted to try Mothers...but both times I walked by there were 20 people lined up down the sidewalk, and waiting wasn't in the cards this weekend.

I also was able to get a serviceable muffaletta at Evelyn's Place in the Quarter. It's a ####-hole bar, which is exactly why I stopped in...I'm a ####-hole kind of guy.

Lunch yesterday was a little more upscale...oysters, grits and pork belly. Fancied-up pork belly, that is.

I can't recommend any restaurants, but we did enjoy our stay at the Rennaisance Arts Hotel. It was out-of-this-world for $109/night. Beautiful place, great service.

[crunchtastic]

I was there this past week, too. You can get some great hotel rates in summer. Last Sunday there was a festival at the Mint and we went from tent to tent eating stuff like fried-on-the-spot oysters and crab balls for something crazy like $5 an order. Big $5 bloody mary's with actual liquor. And none of that stupid ticket thing, either, and no entrance fee. Gotta love it.

I ate soft shell crabs for three separate meals. Yum. And one meal with pork cheeks and homemade cracklins. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Think we'll have to go back at christmas when the conventioneers clear out. This was my first trip back post-K and I wish I hadn't waited so long- I've been going there a couple of times a years for much of my adult life. Love it. I never get tired of looking at the residential architecture there. If I had vast amounts of cash, before the beach house or the boat or anything else, I'd get an small 19th century creole townhouse, in the back of the quarter where it's quiet. Very conducive to drinking gin in the summer.

Or absinthe! Picked up a bottle of Le Tourment Vert, which is available at only one or two liquor stores in town (we got it at the one on Decatur in the quarter). Very good stuff and better than Lucid according to our own tests and everyone we spoke with. It ain't cheap, we got a bit of a deal at $58, the woman at the shop said it would be going up to $75 soon. Damn Euro. Also a couple of bottles of the local Sazerac Rye, which is the rye of choice for making sazeracs (rye, absinthe, simple syrup, and bitters).

Good times.

[crunchtastic]

There's this restaurant I've seen on several different food shows, but cannot remember the name of it. It's not in the FQ and certainly not fancy (looks like a true hole-in-the-wall), but I hear the food is phenomenal.

Have any idea of the restaurant I am talking about?

We're planning a trip to NoLa in November and this is one place I want to hit up.

I just figured out (I think) the fried chicken place you're talking about: Willie Mae's. The chowhound people will know, check out that website.

[mikeybob2]

I always find something delicious at the Camellia Grill on Carrolton.. Really good comfort food and always a line outside.. (especially on Sunday morning) but really worth the wait.

[houstonmacbro]

I just figured out (I think) the fried chicken place you're talking about: Willie Mae's. The chowhound people will know, check out that website.

That sounds like it. Thanks. I will look it up!

[tanith27]

For me, the best shrimp po'boy comes from the Gumbo Shop adjacent to the St Louis Cathedral. Not fried, but sauteed shrimp with peppers and spices shoved into a hollowed out roll of french bread. Its amazing. And cheap too.

Also, can't beat Deanies for their giant plate of fried seafood thats about a foot tall. I could hear my arteries hardening each time I went. Funny how I've lost so much weight since moving away from there.

[infinite_jim]

only comfort i need is a sazerac from meme's in marigny

[crunchtastic]

only comfort i need is a sazerac from meme's in marigny

speaking of.....Specs dowtown carries Sazerac brand rye. I just got a bottle yesterday! Mmm..... rye bourbon.....

[ssullivan]

For me, the best shrimp po'boy comes from the Gumbo Shop adjacent to the St Louis Cathedral. Not fried, but sauteed shrimp with peppers and spices shoved into a hollowed out roll of french bread. Its amazing. And cheap too.

I second that vote. Gumbo Shop's shrimp po'boy is amazing. And the gumbo's quite good too.

[Absinthe_1900]

Or absinthe! Picked up a bottle of Le Tourment Vert, which is available at only one or two liquor stores in town (we got it at the one on Decatur in the quarter). Very good stuff and better than Lucid according to our own tests and everyone we spoke with. It ain't cheap, we got a bit of a deal at $58, the woman at the shop said it would be going up to $75 soon. Damn Euro. Also a couple of bottles of the local Sazerac Rye, which is the rye of choice for making sazeracs (rye, absinthe, simple syrup, and bitters).

Good times.

Le Tourment Vert is awful stuff that bears no resemblance to what a good absinthe should taste like.

Using that swill in a Sazerac is heresy. Herbsaint would be a better choice for a Sazerac.

Vieux Pontarlier absinthe, Vieux Carre absinthe, Leopold brothers absinthe, or Pacifique due to be released soon are much better choices.

Le Tourment Vert would make a better drain opener.

[TJones]

Le Tourment Vert would make a better drain opener.

HA! I am ALL IN on the Le TOurment then ! Nothing like some good ol' ROTGUT !!! And, glow in blacklight ROTGUT at that.

[Absinthe_1900]

More like blue Rotgut rather than glow in the dark rotgut.

It's almost sacrilegious that The Old Absinthe House has that swill under the same roof as the two historic fountains, and old bar.

From my collection, a little something from the old days of New Orleans:

[TJones]

More like blue Rotgut rather than glow in the dark rotgut.

It's almost sacrilegious that The Old Absinthe House has that swill under the same roof as the two historic fountains, and old bar.

From my collection, a little something from the old days of New Orleans:

Never said "glow in the dark", I said glow in blacklight.

[TJones]

Macbro, here is one of the best places to eat in New Orleans.

http://www.charliessteakhousenola.com/index.html

[Absinthe_1900]

That LTV swill won't glow under either one, it just lays in the glass, reeking of cheap alcohol and Aqua Velva.

[TJones]

That LTV swill won't glow under either one, it just lays in the glass, reeking of cheap alcohol and Aqua Velva.

Oy Vey !

[liammclaren]

I actually just got back from NO a few hours ago. Every time I go I always stop in at the Old Coffee Pot for some pain perdu.

[crunchtastic]

I actually just got back from NO a few hours ago. Every time I go I always stop in at the Old Coffee Pot for some pain perdu.

Yum. That's my usual breakfast place in the FQ. Going in mid March!

Right on about the Vert stuff being awful! Actually, so far all the absinthe we've tried is rotgut when taken traditionally. Absinthe is a special corner of the cocktail snobbery world that I am perfectly happy to leave be, lol. Eh, I'm a bourbon and rye person anyway.

[kylejack]

I think absinthe has always been thought to taste horrible, which is why it was customary to drink it with sugar. The upside was the hallucinogenic properties, and the absinthe that has been legalized for U.S. consumption has a very low thujone content (which is where the hallucinations come from). As such, there is really no point in drinking it, unless you order the good stuff from Hungary.

[Absinthe_1900]

The only psychoactive component in absinthe is the alcohol.

There is no "good stuff" from Eastern Europe, and the thujone myth has been debunked by modern studies, the crap from Eastern Europe is cheap vodka mixed with steam extracted essences, and artificial color, sold to suckers thinking they will trip when they drink it.

Vintage absinthe never contained high levels of thujone, the majority of it stays in the still during distillation.

Absinthe as a drink when properly distilled and colored is delicious, it was never a horribly bitter drink, if it was, why would millions of people in France drink it during it's heyday? The sugar ritual came about in part as a way to attract women to drinking absinthe, and general tastes for a sweetened drink back in the day.

I've had absinthe ranging from 100 year old Pernod Fils, and artisanal made absinthe distilled from vintage recipes, you won't trip, see the green fairy, or cut off your ear, it's just a very pleasant drink with a complicated history.

If one likes aniseed based liquor you'll probably like absinthe, if not then you probably won't.

Right on about the Vert stuff being awful! Actually, so far all the absinthe we've tried is rotgut when taken traditionally. Absinthe is a special corner of the cocktail snobbery world that I am perfectly happy to leave be, lol. Eh, I'm a bourbon and rye person anyway.

Try a Sazerac, it's great drink: http://www.neworleansabsinthehistory.com/2...ink-of-new.html

[TJones]

Just switch to John Daniel's No.7 Whiskey and you'll never have to worry about drinking prissy, might be hallucinogenic, neon green drinks ever again.

[BryanS]

Just switch to John Daniel's No.7 Whiskey and you'll never have to worry about drinking prissy, might be hallucinogenic, neon green drinks ever again.

Are you saying these are gurly men drinks? I think you are...