New Orleans Archives - Hungry Travelers

New Orleans

Bourbon House knows the season’s spirits

Posted on December 22, 2023December 20, 2023 by Pat

I didn't make it to Dickie Brennan's Bourbon House (144 Bourbon St., New Orleans, La.; 504-522-0111; bourbonhouse.com) for a Reveillon dinner. But there was always lunch. I didn't want to leave New Orleans without enjoying a plate of shrimp and grits. One of New Orleans top seafood restaurants seemed like just the right place. With plump shrimp, spicy sausage, and creamy grits, the dish (at right) hit all the right flavor notes. I'd always assumed that the restaurant took its name from its location on the French Quarter's fabled Bourbon Street. But it turns out that proprietor Dickie Brennan, scion of a celebrated family of New Orleans restaurateurs, is a Bourbon connoisseur. The bar stocks about 250 American whiskeys. It's said to be the most...Read More

Delving into Revillon’s historic connections

Posted on December 20, 2023December 20, 2023 by Pat

New Orleans' Reveillon dinners are a link to the city's past. Tradition holds that during the mid-19th century, well-to-do families would feast on an elaborate meal after Mass on Christmas Eve and again on New Year's Eve. The practice had all but disappeared until the city's restaurants revived it with special Reveillon menus. The four-course meals range from $40 to $150, putting them in reach of many pocketbooks. I like a taste of history with my meal, so one afternoon, I visited the Gallier House museum (1132 Royal St., New Orleans, La.; 504-274-0748; hgghh.org) to see how a French Quarter family would have lived more than 150 years ago. The townhome with elaborate wrought iron balcony was designed by noted architect James Gallier, Jr. and...Read More

New Orleans feasts make merry at Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2023December 20, 2023 by Pat

Decorating a tree and baking cookies are fine Christmas traditions. But New Orleans has an especially festive — and tasty — tradition that I wish other communities would adopt. In this city where people's love of good food is exceeded only by their love of a good party, about 50 restaurants offer the chance for both. Starting after Thanksgiving and running through December, they create fixed-price four-course menus that are too good to resist. That was certainly the case for me and my friend Patti as we enjoyed a holiday reunion earlier this month. Click here for the full Reveillon list. Families, friends, and work colleagues fill many of the tables, but visitors are warmly welcomed. If you want to really fit in, wear something...Read More

At Mardi Gras, gumbo is as much a lifestyle as a soup

Posted on February 26, 2022February 22, 2022 by Pat and David

Some 80 communities in Louisiana celebrate Mardi Gras but New Orleans has claimed the holiday of unbridled excess as its own. The locals have made the French Catholic cycle of temptation and atonement into something of an art form. If you're not sorry the next morning, cher, then you didn't have fun the night before. Not for nothing does St. Louis Cathedral (below) dominate the skyline of the French Quarter. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is founded on the idea that you need to pack enough warm memories into the week before Ash Wednesday to last the entire 40 days of Lent. If, like us, you can't be in town for the parades and general shenanigans, be sure to visit Mardi Gras World (1380 Port...Read More

Small-town culinary greatness: Patty Queen’s Cottage

Posted on February 11, 2018February 24, 2018 by Pat and David

One of the pleasures of touring rural France, Italy, or Spain is discovering amazing country restaurants far from population centers. The U.S. has some places like that, too. But few of them can match the Cottage Restaurant & Cafe (427 Farmington Ave, Plainville, Conn.; 860-793-8888, cottagerestaurantandcafe.com) for staying power and consistently terrific food. Located at a nondescript crossroads in Plainville, Connecticut, a little southwest of Hartford, the Cottage should be celebrated as a Nutmeg State treasure. Full disclosure: We met Patty Queen at a 1996 book party celebrating the publication of Julie Stillman's Great Women Chefs (https://goo.gl/Rxutaq). Queen was among the youngest chefs featured. Ever since, we've been driving more than 100 miles to eat at the Cottage three or four times a year. We're...Read More

Shopping for signature tastes of New Orleans

Posted on December 29, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat

The New Orleans School of Cooking (524 St. Louis Street, 504-525-2665, www.nosoc.com) is located in an early 19th century molasses warehouse in the French Quarter. Every day of the week, its hands-on and demonstration classes introduce folks to the fine points of such Louisiana classics as jambalaya, shrimp remoulade, pralines, and bread pudding. Its Louisiana General Store, located in the same building, is also the most convenient place to peruse a carefully curated selection of food products essential to Creole and Cajun cooking. The shelves are packed with the products preferred by—and in some cases developed by—the school's instructors. I stopped in one afternoon and soon found myself engaged in conversation with staff member Cierra Briscoe (above). She is equally fascinated with food and fashion...Read More

Mixing it up with authentic New Orleans gumbo

Posted on December 27, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat

A hearty bowl of gumbo is a powerful argument for open borders. It took four different cultures to create Louisiana's leading contribution to American cuisine. French settlers contributed the cooking technique, while the Spanish brought bell peppers, onions, and celery—the so-called “trinity” of seasonings. Africans added okra for flavor and as a thickening agent. For variation, some cooks thicken their dish with the filé powder favored by the local Choctaw tribe. Local choice Made with sausage and either shellfish or poultry, gumbo is a forgiving dish that allows each cook to put a personal stamp on it. I sampled many versions when I was in New Orleans and was never disappointed. But I ate my favorite at the Gumbo Shop (630 St. Peter Street, 504-525-1486,...Read More

New Orleans starts morning on the sweet side

Posted on December 25, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat

Beignets are the official state donut of Louisiana and perhaps the most famous of foods in New Orleans. (A later post will discuss gumbo, the other signature New Orleans dish.) But back to beignets. The squares of yeasted pastry dough are vat-fried and then treated to a thick dusting of confectioners' sugar. They are said to have originated in France and made their way to New Orleans with the Acadians who fled the Canadian maritime provinces when Britain took over in the mid-18th century. I'm not sure that the French would appreciate having their light-as-air pastries dubbed as donuts. You can try beignets any time of day or night at Café du Monde (800 Decatur Street, 504-525-4544, www.cafedumonde.com). This city institution, established in 1862, is...Read More

Chef Slade Rushing puts zing back in Brennan’s

Posted on December 23, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat

If you favor a light breakfast, you will have to adjust your thinking in New Orleans. Every meal, it seems, is an excuse for excess. French Quarter stalwart Brennan's (417 Royal Street, 504-525-9711, www.brennansneworleans.com) epitomizes the local penchant of beginning the day with a celebratory breakfast. The meal might start with a glass of sparkling wine mixed with pear and cinnamon purée and proceed through a couple of courses—and then dessert. After all, Brennan's is credited with introducing Bananas Foster. In 1946, family patriarch Owen Brennan opened the restaurant that launched a dining dynasty. Brennan's has been housed in an instantly recognizable bright pink building since the 1950s. It had fallen on hard times before Ralph Brennan and partner Terry White purchased it in 2013....Read More

Commander’s Palace lives up to the legend

Posted on December 21, 2016June 9, 2020 by Pat

Enjoying a leisurely four-course Reveillon dinner (see previous post) is probably the best way to revel in the holiday spirit in New Orleans. But a fine meal is by no means limited to dinner—or to the historic French Quarter. For office parties and ladies who lunch, many restaurants also offer midday holiday menus. Among them is Commander's Palace (1403 Washington Ave., 504-899-8221, commanderspalace.com). This dining institution is housed in a bright blue building in the Garden District, where American interlopers shunned by French Creole society built their own grand mansions in the 19th century. The St. Charles streetcar carries passengers from the edge of the French Quarter to the Garden District in trolleys decked with garlands. Emile Commander opened Commander's Palace in the 1880s. It...Read More