“Real Cajun” Book Giveaway (And Citymeals-on-Wheels Benefit Recap)
Last night was the Citymeals-on-Wheels “Global Street Food” benefit at Rock Center that we gave away tickets to last week. Midtown Lunch favorites like the Dessert Truck and the Treats Truck parked themselves alongside famous chefs from all over the country who were all serving “street food” inspired fare. With a ticket price of $450+ it’s too expensive for most of us, but all the money went to benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels and I have to say- if I had money, this is what I would spend it on. It’s easily one of the best food events of the year (although admittedly this years street food theme catered more to my personal tastes than previous years.)
It was also funny to see all these rich folks sidling up to one of the Red Hook Ballfield Vendor trucks for pupusas and fried plantains, and the Kogi BBQ table for kimchi quesadillas (most of them completely unaware of the madness that took place yesterday.) I overheard one lady ask her son what kimchi was, and listened to him confidently explain that it meant “to cook something in the proper way.” (It’s actually fermented Korean veggies, most commonly cabbage, but close enough guy.)
Of course none of this really has anything to do with finding lunch in Midtown, so for humoring me reading this useless post I’m going to give away my favorite new cookbook! (Which also has nothing to do with eating lunch in Midtown, but whatever.)
Last night I was most looking forward to the boudin from Donald Link, chef of Cochon and Herbsaint- two of my favorite New Orleans restaurants. It completely lived up to expectations, and since Donald Link was in Midtown yesterday I’m going to give away 3 copies of his new cookbook “Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking From Donald Link’s Louisiana”. It doesn’t have anything to do with Midtown Lunch’ing but I know there are a ton of closet N.O. fans on this site, so whatever. The book has got great recipes for good Louisiana home cooking, and even better food porn. Why wouldn’t you want it?
To win a copy, post your favorite New Orleans food memory (or, if you have never been, what’s the first thing you would eat if you got to visit the crescent city?) Comments will close at Noon on Friday 6/12 and the winner will be drawn randomly. Good luck!
Posted: 8:30 am, June 9th, 2009 under Event, Free Stuff, New Orleans.
46 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
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46 Comments
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Never been, but it’s top of my list of places in the US to visit. I think eating beignets on the street while listening to live jazz sounds like the perfect way to spend a day.
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The first thing would definitely be a muffuletta. No question about it.
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I’ve been wanting to get back to N.O. since my last visits… Sept. 1999 and Feb. 2000. It’s been too long! At the risk of sounding cliche, I can never get enough of the beignets and coffee and chicory at Cafe Du Monde. And the turtle soup at Commander’s Palace isn’t bad either. Maybe this winter…
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The lady and I were discussing New Orleans the other day. It’s on our “Food Tour Dream Vacations To-Do” list. First stop: Beignets at the Cafe du Monde place people talk about.
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Having grown up in the Northeast, and eaten a lot of bad food pretending to be jambalaya and gumbo, I’d love to eat anything in New Orleans. Sitting in some sort of jazz club, listening to good music and downing a plate of jambalaya with real andouille that makes my face burn.
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I’ve never been there, so the first thing I would eat is something dripping in a creamy sauce and overflowing with spice. :)
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I’ve never been.. but I’ve always wanted to try Crawfish.. they did this special on NO crawfish on the Food Network once.. and I’ve been dying to try it ever since.. (don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried crawfish before.. just not how they prepare it in NO)
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First thing I would eat in NO?
Raw oysters, followed by an oyster rockefeller soup followed by an oyster po-boy
Then I’d go visit Anastasia
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Shrimp Po’ Boy and a Hurricane
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First on my long list would be a Po Boy from Domilise Sandwich Shop & Bar:
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Shrimp Po’ Boy
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Never been to NO before.
I probably got for authentic Jambalaya first. *drools*
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I’d adopt a Katrina Orphan….see our gardener has just retired…….
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The best thing I’ve eaten in New Orleans (which, in my opinion, has the best food in the country) is the French Toast at Petunia’s. I went there the first day of my trip and ended up there every morning for breakfast because it was that good. Not a single dish at Commanders Palace or any other place I went to could eclipse it.
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I haven’t been yet, but can’t wait until I have enough vacation time to ensure I will be able to try everything I want to eat while I am there. First up would probably be either the oysters or crawfish etouffee. Then shortly after, the beignets of course.
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Mumm…. I agree with wayne, all sorts of oysters! Crawfish, Jumbalaya… the list never ends.
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I had trout meuniere at Mandina’s once. It is still the best piece of fish I’ve ever eaten. But the most fun was taking the streetcar out to the Camellia Grill and having just about anything.
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My last weekend in New Orleans, about a year ago, was about as perfect as it gets. A big party at Arnaud’s with throw back oysters Rockefeller and soft-shelled crab. Grabbing beers with our waiter afterward who had that real New Orleans, but sounds like Brooklyn, accent. A big night out that may have included a hand grenade or two. Spending the entire next day hungover, eating Popeye’s, watching “I remember the New Millenium” on VH1 as storms rolled in, never leaving the shotgun-style house in Uptown. STILL love those pig ears and the bacon/osyter sandwich at Cochon, btw.
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I meant Antoine’s, not Arnaud’s.
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Cafe du monde – hot chocolate and getting the donut powder all over your face. yum: )
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I have way too many memories for NOLA, but the shrimp Po’Boy with a frosty mug of MGD from Domilsie’s is one, as is a Snow Ball with all the toppings at either Plum Street Snowballs or Hansen’s Sno-Blitz… If you’ve ever spent much time in New Orleans you’d realize eating Jambalaya in a Jazz club is a myth, though you can get it in a tourist trap. The locals get Red Beans & Rice with Fried Chicken from big catering tins at a dive somewhere in the Bywater while Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers are playing (if they still play, haven’t been back in a while)… I guess that would be my third memory, ’cause I’ve done that, too…
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I have 4 years of food memories from living in NOLA. While Cafe du Monde is incredible in every way, it is more the cherry on top than the main event. My greatest memory is the first time I walked into Jacque-imos. I’ll never forget being led through the middle of the kitchen – dishwashers and cooks fighting for space – culinary revolution in the air. Jack, the gracious owner who treats you like a house guest, poured shots of tequila for me and the rest of my party. When dinner lasts three hours, you know it’s good. The Maple Leaf, the best music venue in the country, is conveniently located next door, which always provides the perfect opportunity to dance off the massive meal that was just consumed.
@demigodh – Petunia’s is a hidden gem! I would go there any time I had family in town because they would stay in the French Quarter. Hands down the best breakfast in the Big Easy. They have some fried eggplant breakfast that is epic – I look forward to it every time. Glad to see it gets some love on these boards. You feel like you’re sitting in the living room of some old Southern royalty and the food tastes like it’s cooked by your grandmother (unless your grandmother was a terrible cook).
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Po’boy
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Had a blast at Jazz Fest this year–standouts at the fairgrounds included the cochon de lait po-boy, crawfish monica, soft shell crab po-boy, cracklins (hells yes!), and fried eggplant with crawfish sauce (a pleasant surprise at the same booth as the renowned cochon de lait). And the fact that you can buy Miller Lite by the case and they’ll fill it with ice for you.
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My favorite food memory from NOLA is 3 weeks old, taking place after I rode atop a Mule pulled cart throughout the city, heckling patrons as I proclaimed my greatness to all who cared to listen…I had the best oyster/shrimp poboy from Corner Oyster House!
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Jumbalaya followed by Cafe du monde.
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My bachelor party weekend… hungover, with the taste of stale beer, Jaegermeister and stale stripper still in my mouth, rolling out of bed at 3pm and getting a half dozen beignets and coffee with chicory at Cafe du Monde
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My favorite memory was drinking a strawberry milkshake for breakfast (with an omelette, biscuit, and boudin, of course) at Donald Link’s amazing Cochon Butcher. No, this is not a shill, it was truly my favorite place in Nola, next to Cochon. The man can cook!
I was actually at the Citymeals event last night and told Donald Link the above statement in a dorky fan girl-type way and he sort of didn’t care. I would still really love his cookbook, though.
http://www.adinnerparty.net/2009/05/things-consumed-in-new-orleans.html
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Waking up and grabbing breakfast at the Camilla Grill. I have a milkshake blender just to try to replicate their omelets! And chocolate pecan pie for dessert!
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Oh man, I went down to New Orleans about year ago. Friends took me to Franky and Johnnie’s. Got baskets of crawfish. Ate it all and sucked the heads. I’m even allergic to shellfish. That was stupid and delicious.
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Mamacita, I’ll be over to see you after Anastasia
She never finishes the job anyway
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I have not been yet but I am headed down there at the end of the month, and I am looking forward to some po’ boys, étouffée and a beignet or 4! I think po’ boys will be the first stop, it is okay to eat them for breakfast, right?
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fried oyster po’ boy
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I always loved the Oyster Loaf at Casamentos. An entire loaf of bread baked only to hold some wonderful fried oysters. Plus all the waitresses are under 5 feet tall and older than the Live Oaks.
Another favorite was a fried catfish restaurant Uptown, near the border with Metarie that had great friend catfish and the craziest decor. They had a fountain in the driveway/courtyard filled with mermaid statues and water died fluorescent green. Then inside the entire space was ringed with lava lamps. I can’t remember the name for the life of me, though.
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i’d go straight for some deep fried boudin balls… dipped in a remoulade sauce.. mmmmMMmMMmmmm
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Going to New Orleans for the first time this Friday. First stop on the list, Friday lunch at Galatoire’s
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never been before, but man oh man would i die for an authentic jambalaya! nice and spicy with andouille and okra and shrimp :) it’s so hard to find good okra (or even any okra) in new york.
but the only memory i have of new orleans is from a video i watched, when some of my college friends went for mardi gras. the most promiment thing that comes to mind are boobs – lots and lots of boobs.
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Brunch at the Captain’s Place in the Garden District. Brunch at Brennan’s is the next best thing. I used to visit almost every year – I grew up in the south and FINALLY found a decent NO restaurant in NY (Mara’s).
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so happy to see so much nola love on the site! i have way too many favorite new orleans food memories, but i’ll go with my old standby- bread pudding souffle and coffee in the garden room at commander’s. it may be popular among the tourist folks, but when you’re a local, it makes a difference. the pre-katrina service at commander’s was something you couldn’t find anywhere else.
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“The pre-katrina service at commander’s was something you couldn’t find anywhere else.”
Commander’s current wait staff is heavily composed of pre-Katrina individuals. The service industry is as important to NOLA as the financial industry is to NYC. Therefore, it is quite common and in no way thought of negatively to be a “lifer” in the service industry. The unique feel of a wait staff that is more like family is simply another one of the treasures that makes dining in NOLA so special.
Also – for bread pudding I implore everyone to taste the Chocolate Bread Pudding at Red Fish Grill on Bourbon St., a Brennan establishment. You have to order the Bread Pudding with your entree because it takes over a half hour to bake and prepare. When it comes out, OH MY GOD.
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i couldn’t agree with you more, steve, on the point that the service industry is a highly-regarded career path in new orleans and that lifers were the norm at institutions like commander’s, galatoires, etc. but, it’s no secret that a lot of these lifers were displaced by the storm for one reason or another, and the service industry has suffered in replacing the ones that left.
the service at commander’s has consistently improved with each of my post-katrina visits, but they are still working towards achieving the seamless pre-katrina level. and please don’t get me wrong, i believe that the community needs to support all of these restaurants while they “rebuild”; i was simply making the point that the flawless service i was accustomed to at commander’s was one of my favorite new orleans food memories. -
lol @ vjchin at the lot and lots of boobs. And there’s okra in jambalaya? There’s okra in gumbo. I’d need to have authentic gumbo and etouffee too if I get to visit the Big Easy.
I think like jambalaya because it’s similar to paella, another fav. rice dish.
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the eating options were endless in new orleans and definitely didn’t spend enough time there so i’ll have to go back. loved cochon and herbsaint both, but one of the other highlights was fried chicken at willie mae’s.
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eating a dozen freshly shucked oysters at the bar at Acme Oyster House knowing that they were done right in front of you.
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Fav memory – starting in on a bucket of crayfish with a beer in hand. Peeling each shell away carefully at first, not wanting to waste a morsel. Halfway through, eating only what I could get with a single swipe at the shell. Three-quarters through – game over. The bucket beat me. Then watching a drunk conventioneer flag down a police car thinking it was a taxi. A perfect day in all and the start of a love affair with NO.
i fondly remember hitting up mother’s with my mom right after getting to nawlins.