Louisiana Eats: Recent Episodes
Poppy Tooker
Louisiana Eats! is a radio show for people who cook and people who love to eat well—all with a Louisiana point of view and Poppy’s distinctive Louisiana voice. In each program listeners join Poppy as she meets people who produce, cook, and eat the foods we enjoy and treasure — exploring kitchens and stores, farms and waterways where favorite foods are produced and prepared. And because Louisianans love all kinds of food, Poppy won’t limit herself to shrimp creole and hot sauce!
Louisiana Eats hit a major milestone last week – 15 years on the air. That's well over 500 episodes featuring somewhere around a thousand different voices! This week, we bring you three interviews from our archives that celebrate some late, great Louisiana legends.We begin with a tribute to Chef Paul Prudhomme, his wife Kay, and their lost French Quarter restaurant, K-Paul's. We revisit an unforgettable conversation we had with Sandy Hanson and her brother-in-law, Chef Frank Brigtsen, after Paul died in 2015. Both Sandy and Frank were K-Paul veterans from the restaurant's earliest days. They share memories of their time there and the profound impact both Kay and Paul had on their lives.Then, we bring you the voices of two late New Orleans TV icons. The first is broadcast pioneer Terry Flettrich Rohe. Those who grew up in the Crescent City in the 1950s may remember Terry as "Mrs. Muffin" on a WDSU-TV daily children's program that she hosted for almost a decade. She was also the producer and host of Midday, one of the network's most popular programs.The second is seafood magnate Al Scramuzza, who passed away in May at the age of 97. Al's comical and campy TV ads dominated the airwaves for decades – and each of them he wrote, produced, and starred in. But even before his commercials made him a household name, Al was combining his acumen for business and marketing to turn a profit. All the while, he played a major role in the mudbug's rise to culinary fame.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of our show's debut!We've dug through our archives to bring you some of our favorite moments over the past decade and a half, with an emphasis on Louisiana culture and cuisine. The very first episode of Louisiana Eats broadcast on June 9, 2010. That year also marked the 125th anniversary of New Orleans' streetcar line. We look back at our very first field piece, when we took a streetcar ride with the late, great historian Michael Mizell-Nelson.Then, we revisit our conversation with Priestess Miriam Chamani, who presides over North Rampart Street's Voodoo Spiritual Temple.Next, we return to Pascal's Manale's oyster bar for a once-in-a-lifetime shucking experience with celebrity oyster shucker "Uptown T" Thomas Stewart, before wild man Joey Fonseca takes us on a virtual alligator hunt.Finally, we rediscover our 2014 field trip to Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport, where we learn all about what makes the flavor profile of craft beer in the Shreveport-Bossier area distinctive.
No matter where you live in Louisiana, it's Mardi Gras time! Carnival is when we all get to suspend our disbelief, don a mask, do or be something outrageous. This week, we explore the many ways people celebrate the season.First, we hear from Abby Roniger, author of the colorful new children's book, Carnival Time in My Mind, which depicts the joy and excitement of being a kid at Mardi Gras. The book will bring back memories for anyone lucky enough to have grown up in New Orleans and is a lovely introduction to the celebration for kids everywhere.Then, author and photographer Sally Asher takes a break from her professional endeavors to talk about the various ways she celebrates Carnival – including roller skating down St. Charles Avenue, riding high atop a parade float, and dancing in the street. More importantly, she shares her very specific dining and drinking preferences during each of the season's big events.And Louisiana cultural scholar John LaFleur joins us to talk about the Courir de Mardi Gras, a ritual that takes place in rural Creole and Cajun parishes.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Since reopening with much fanfare in 2015, New Orleans' St. Roch Market has experienced ups and downs, but the city's second oldest city market is still standing. Since 2015, St. Roch has functioned as a culinary incubator for food professional wannabes – and what a bunch of delicious incubation is happening there now!On this week's show, we speak with the market's new director, longtime vendor Kevin Pedeaux, and learn why that bustling spot on St. Claude is the place to be these days. We then go stall by stall to meet the vendors – the St. Roch stars who are cooking up some of the most diverse offerings to be found under one single roof today.Next, we hear from one of St. Roch Market's biggest success stories. Chef Charly Pierre began creating delicious Haitian dishes based on the traditional street foods that abound in his ancestral homeland. Charly's career has since skyrocketed. He's been featured on a number of national cooking competition shows, and garnered accolades from the likes of Zagat, Eater, and the James Beard Foundation. These days, Charly can be found in the kitchen of his own Basin Street restaurant, Fritai.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On Sunday, February 9th, over 100,000 people are expected to pack into New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. This will mark the 11th Super Bowl in the city, tying Miami for most in NFL history. And there's a good reason the big game keeps coming back to the Big Easy: our food and hospitality are second to none. On this week's show, we celebrate iconic Louisiana foods that those swarms of sports fans will be seeking out during their stay.We kick off with Louisiana Fish Fry. Remember the chicken sandwich wars that pitted fast-food chains against each other? Last year, the Louisiana Fried Chicken Sandwich Challenge set out to show that the best chicken sandwich in America was actually made in a home cook's kitchen. We learn about the national contest and meet champion Mindea Pituk, who won a trip to the Superdome on Super Bowl Sunday.Then, we've got a game of two halves – of bread! Burke Bischoff's paperback Po'Boy, tells the story of the classic New Orleans poor boy sandwich – its delicious and endless varieties, the real secret of the dish, and what it has to do with a 1929 streetcar strike.Next, we pass the ball to Samantha Stein and Dan Trahant of Reily Foods, the company behind Blue Plate Mayonnaise. We learn how they set out to create a new twist on two southern sauces – tartar and cocktail.Finally, we sit down with a big game player in the world of flavor. Pepper Baumer is the third-generation producer of local and national favorite, Crystal Hot Sauce. In 2023, the Baumer family celebrated a century of business here in Louisiana.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Folks are familiar with New Orleans' home-grown Creole and Cajun cuisines. But the Crescent City is also the place to taste delicious flavors from many cultures. This week, we pay tribute to a trio of chefs bringing Latin American fare to local tables.First, we talk to Ana Castro. Down in New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood, this much-lauded young chef is drawing crowds to her modern Mexican restaurant Acamaya.Also in Bywater, Chef Melissa Araujo's Alma Café offers a menu of Honduran specialtiesand, now, a second location in Mid-City.Finally, we hear from Carlos Sanchez, owner of Tournesol Café and Bakery, who spends his days in downtown Covington creating the delicious breads and pastries of his native El Salvador.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Many of us toy with the idea of committing our life stories to pen and paper. If you're a regular listener to Louisiana Eats, or simply another food obsessed Louisianan, odds are your biography may well take the form of food memoir. This week, we hear from a trio of writers who have been there and done that.First, we catch up with Sara Roahen. Her award-winning memoir, Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table, chronicles her adjustment to life in the Big Easy. But Sarah is also a teacher of memoir writing and has penned a guide for aspiring authors. She shares some tips from her book, How to Begin Writing Your Life Stories: Putting Memories on the Page.Next, author Karen Katz gives us backstage access to the wild world of food TV. She writes about her adventures as Emeril Lagasse's cooking show producer in her memoir, Getting Sauced: How I Learned Everything I Know About Food From Working in TV.Finally, we speak with stand-up comic and actor Dan Ahdoot. In his debut memoir, Undercooked: How I Let Food Become My Life Navigator and How Maybe That's a Dumb Way to Live, Dan examines his emotional relationship with food starting from childhood, and provides both an honest and comedic look at where that has gotten him.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The life of a chef is often regarded as glamorous and exciting, but in reality, it's a hard life – exemplified by long hours and frequent financial challenges. For many, it's the only life imaginable.Nathanial Zimet, the ambitious chef behind Boucherie and Bourrée in New Orleans, falls directly into that category. Drawn to the restaurant business at the age of 15, the North Carolina native soon learned it was the only career for him. On this week's show, we sit down with Nathanial to explore what led him from London's Le Cordon Bleu to his purple food truck in New Orleans, where his culinary life here began.From Hurricane Katrina to a near-fatal shooting in 2011 – the indomitable Nathaniel has risen to the top, again and again.So has Drew Ramsey, whose family has run Hubig's, makers of New Orleans’ favorite hand pies, for three generations. After a fire destroyed their factory in 2012, a return seemed improbable. But like a fried Phoenix rising from the ashes, Hubig's is back in business after a 10-year hiatus. Drew tells us his tale of tragedy to triumph.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Twelfth Night marks the birth of the late New Orleans icon, Leah Chase. The culinary legend, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 96, was the undisputed Queen of Creole Cooking and a civil rights activist who changed lives over a bowl of gumbo. On this week's show, we spend the hour honoring Leah's talent, achievements, and lasting legacy.We begin with one of our favorite Louisiana Eats moments: a special day we spent with Leah in 2012, when then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu kicked off the official start of Carnival season at Gallier Hall with king cake and a surprise for Leah on her 89th birthday.From there, we look back on Leah's early life in Madisonville, Louisiana. Leah describes growing up on a strawberry farm, and the lessons she learned that shaped the legend she would become. We continue with an oral history from NOLA Life Stories, in which Leah recounts her first experiences working in a café in the French Quarter, as told to Mark Cave of the Historic New Orleans Collection.Next, we arrive at a turning point in Leah's life — the moment she met big band leader Edgar "Dooky" Chase, Jr. Following their marriage, Leah went to work at Dooky's, her in-laws' simple sandwich shop in the Treme. As she began to serve Creole classics like gumbo and Chicken Clemenceau on fine linen, Leah elevated the dining culture for everyone. Leah tells us about her famous Gumbo z'Herbes, a dish she served at her restaurant every Holy Thursday for over 60 years.We also chronicle how Leah rebuilt Dooky Chase's after Hurricane Katrina. Eleven years after the storm, Leah experienced two other monumental life events — the first was her 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation. Months later, Leah's husband and partner Edgar "Dooky" Chase — the man who played a key role in her success — passed away at the age of 88. In this final segment, Leah reflects on their relationship and shares her thoughts on death and living a fulfilling life.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Another year has come and gone. As we look forward to a new one, Louisiana Eats is taking a moment to reflect on the year that was 2024.First, we remember educator, activist, and former First Lady of New Orleans – Sybil Haydel Morial – with an extended version of our 2016 conversation with her. She shares stories of growing up in the Jim Crow South and her husband's successful campaign to become first Black mayor of New Orleans. We also discuss the key roles Leah Chase and Dooky Chase's Restaurant played in Sybil's life.We also celebrate two restaurateurs who took on the task of feeding food insecure kids over the summer – Amanda and Isaac Toups of Toups' Meatery. We revisit our conversation with Amanda and give you an update on what their new nonprofit, Toups' Family Meal, accomplished in 2024.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
When it comes to supporting the community, chefs – New Orleans chefs in particular – are an extremely generous, giving bunch. And when it comes to helping their own in the service industry, they’ll gladly give the shirt off their back – literally! To raise funds for a local mental health services program for hospitality workers, 21 Crescent City chefs have recently peeled off a bit more than just their shirts, baring it all – or at least most of it – for charity.On this week's show, we learn about Jiggly Bits: The New Orleans Naked Chefs Calendar for 2025. The project is the brainchild of local food photographer, Kat Kimball. Kat joins us to discuss the cheeky calendar with stories of photoshoots involving fireballs, flying bagels, and strategically placed cookware.The chefs featured in Jiggly Bits are a veritable who's who of our city’s dining scene, including Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf, Charly Pierre of Fritai, Nina Compton of Compère Lapin, and many more. We speak with Chef Nina, as well as Mr. June and Mr. November (Prince Lobo and Eric Cook) about what it's like to be in front of the camera in the altogether.We then learn about the charity they stripped down for: WeHelp NOLA. Founding Director Olivia McCoy tells us about the nonprofit which provides free mental healthcare access to service industry workers.Taking tasteful nudes is one thing, but photographing food? That's an art within itself. We end our show with prolific cookbook author Kit Wohl, who welcomes us into her home studio where she writes, cooks, styles, and photographs her beautiful books.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
No one needs to explain the spiritual aspect of cooking to Louisianans. For generations, the thoughtful preparation and service of food has been our way of loving people and building community. This week, we take a look at folks all around the world who also take a spiritual and community-based approach to food.First, we hear from author Jody Eddy, who spent two years visiting monasteries, temples, and other spiritual communities everywhere from Minnesota to Morocco, discovering the rich culinary rituals of each group. She compiled her experiences in Elysian Kitchens: Recipes Inspired by the Traditions and Tastes of the World's Sacred Spaces, a fascinating cookbook full of traditional recipes and the stories of their spiritual roots.Then, we explore one of the South's favorite backyard crops that's almost a religious icon in Louisiana – the mirliton. Planted ritually and used in religious ceremonies in Mesoamerica, mirliton has been traditionally planted on Christmas Eve and harvested in August – making regular appearances on Louisiana holiday tables. Our mirlitons drowned in Hurricane Katrina and were saved from extinction thanks to the efforts of Dr. Lance Hill. We get an update from the good doctor and learn how mirliton lovers from across the globe have connected through his website, Mirliton.org, resulting in the world's largest collection of mirliton recipes.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The elves are busy in Santa's workshop at this time of year! So as we head into the big holiday gift-giving time, Louisiana Eats is talking with some homegrown Louisiana elves for delicious inspiration.First, we hear from Jady Regard, CNO (Chief Nut Officer) and second-generation proprietor of Cane River Pecan Company in New Iberia. He tells us how the past half-century has seen his family's enterprise grow from a small Acadian pecan orchard to a purveyor of fine culinary gifts starring the state's official nut.Next, we head down to New Orleans' Lower Garden District to speak with Christopher Nobles of Piety and Desire Chocolate. Since founding his bespoke business in 2017, the local chocolatier has been uncompromising in his reverence and passion for chocolate, while balancing science and art in his bean-to-bar production.And nothing goes better with chocolate and pecans than a cup of New Orleans coffee! Patrick Brennan, of the famous restaurant clan, talks about leaving the family business to strike out on his own. We learn all about Congregation Coffee, Patrick’s new roasting business and coffee shop in Algiers Point.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
What is "real" Louisiana cooking? There's Creole, there's Cajun, and what’s the difference anyway? However you define it, for many of us, it's simply what your mama used to make that made you feel loved. On this week's show, we meet three Louisiana authors whose cookbooks help tell the authentic story of our state's distinctive cuisine.First, we hear from Eric Cook, the executive chef and owner of two distinguished New Orleans restaurants: Gris-Gris and St. John. Eric talks about the evolution of our traditional local fare – many examples of which can be found in his cookbook, Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine. Eric shares his secrets to success with dishes such as crab and shrimp stew, wild duck cassoulet, and even his mama's chicken and dumplings.Next, we welcome food writer and culinary historian Marcelle Bienvenu, who has reported on Cajun and Creole cooking for half a century. She shares her expert knowledge and talks about the fifth edition of her classic cookbook, Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux?Finally, for 125 years, Vaucresson Sausage Company has produced its beloved brand in New Orleans' Seventh Ward. In her debut cookbook, Creole Made Easy, co-owner Julie Vaucresson shares recipes and stories both from her illustrious family of origin and the family she married into.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In our increasingly fast-paced world, traditional foods and foodways often have trouble competing with speed and convenience. But never fear. All over the planet there are people working to save the superior flavor, nutrition, and cultural significance of heritage foods. On this week's show, we introduce you to some of our greatest heritage food warriors.We begin with Sarah Lohman, author of Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods, who recounts her adventure researching some of the country's rarest ingredients and the often extraordinary efforts to preserve them.Next, we meet a trio of folks from an organization at the center of this movement, Slow Food USA. They discuss their book, The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States, which provides an in-depth look at some of the stories behind these disappearing flavors.Finally, we speak with classically trained chef and food anthropologist Casey Corn. She hosts Magnolia Network's Recipe Lost and Found, a show that helps families recover their long-lost recipes and the memories that go with them.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The fascinating food business is so multifaceted that it's always changing and evolving. On this week’s show, we look at how delicious new products make it from concept to dinner table and how one simple product turned ordinary folks into food celebrities.We begin with actor Harry Hamlin and his niece, veteran food-industry leader Renee Guilbault. They tell us how serving lunch to some famous TV housewives led them to host the AMC cooking show, In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin. We also learn about their innovative new enterprise, Harry's Famous Pasta Sauce.Next, Pepper Baumer of Crystal Hot Sauce and Ti Martin from Commander's Palace recount the Cinderella story of leftover pepper pulp's transformation into a hot new condiment – a smash of a mash called Crystal Pepper Pulp.Remember the chicken sandwich wars that pitted fast-food chains against each other? This year, the Louisiana Fried Chicken Sandwich Challenge set out to show that the best chicken sandwich in America was actually created in a home cook’s kitchen. We learn about the event and meet the national winner, Mindea Pituk.Finally, we chat with Samantha Stein and Dan Trahant of Reily Foods, the company behind Blue Plate Mayonnaise. We learn how they set out to create a new twist on two southern sauces – tartar and cocktail.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From the height of its popularity in the 19th century to its modern revival, absinthe has a long and storied history. A favorite pastime of artists, writers, and bohemians, the spirit known as "the green fairy" was subject to a near global ban for nearly a century due to myths about its hallucinogenic effects. Even after those bans were lifted around the turn of the millennium, its wild and mysterious reputation remains. On this week's show, we delve into the mythical world of this once illicit elixir.We begin with Evan Rail, author of The Absinthe Forger. In this true crime novel, Evan follows the trail of a shadowy grifter who uses absinthe's mythical status to his own ends. Along the way, Evan gives readers a fascinating glimpse into the international underground absinthe scene that proliferated during the drink's prohibition.Then, Marielle Songy joins us to discuss the history of an iconic New Orleans cocktail: the Absinthe Frappé. Marielle delves into the early days of the drink and its first home, the Old Absinthe House in the Crescent City.Today, you can enjoy an Absinthe Frappé anywhere in the nation thanks in no small part to New Orleans environmental chemist Ted Breaux. Ted tells us about the two decades he spent analyzing pre-ban absinthe bottles to prove to the U.S. government that there was nothing dangerous about the fabled green liquor.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
When customers walk into the quaint dining room of Tournesol Cafe & Bakery, they are immediately greeted by the aroma of fresh-baked breads and pastries. And whether they choose a raspberry croissant, chocolate éclair, or tres leches, the decision is bound to be a happy one.Carlos Sanchez is the owner, baker, and chef behind the charming Covington, Louisiana establishment – but he didn't start out to become a maker of culinary magic. Carlos was raised in Central America during an unstable time for his native El Salvador. In 1990, a raging civil war forced his emigration to the United States where he found work washing dishes in a Los Angeles restaurant.When his interest in cooking caught the owner's eye, Carlos' culinary career began. In 2003, he moved to New Orleans where he held such prestigious posts as sous chef to Dominique Rizzo at La Boulangerie, as well as head baker and sous chef of the Donald Link Group. Along the way, Carlos' work was awarded 2017 Best Baguette in New Orleans and 2018 Best Croissant in New Orleans by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Carlos fulfilled his dream of opening his own bakery in Covington. He joined us to talk about Tournesol, and the winding path that brought him there.Big thanks to our sponsor, Visit The Northshore, where you can discover world-class culinary flavors and so much more. Experience the bounty of the bayou and rich culture from award-winning chefs, soulful mom and pop restaurants, extraordinary bakers, and creative mixologists. To learn more, request the Explore the Northshore Visitor Guide for inspirational stories, custom itineraries, and event information at VisitTheNorthshore.com.
Many chefs spend their entire careers content to run a single restaurant. But others have a different vision – one that encompasses multiple locations or even various kinds of eateries. This week, we take a look at three such New Orleans restaurateurs and find out how they've gone about building their culinary empires.We begin with Chef Aaron Burgau, who opened his first restaurant, Patois, in 2007. Since then, he’s opened or acquired several dining spots – each one completely different from the last. Aaron shares the secrets to his success.Next, restaurateur Greg Tillery recalls the leap of faith that led him to buy a food truck, where he learned, through trial and error, how to run a business. He explains to us how those efforts led to his We Dat's Chicken and Shrimp, with locations in different states – and even a seasoning line.Finally, we look back at one of New Orleans’ most colorful culinary characters – the late Al Copeland, who founded the Popeyes fried chicken empire. This kitchen-rags-to-chicken-riches story is the subject of the book, Secrets of a Tastemaker. Al Copeland, Jr. joins us to discuss his father's life – from his humble beginnings and through its highs and lows.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Halloween season has arrived – that magical time when revelers across the country take to the streets disguised as ghosts, vampires, and witches. Here in Louisiana, of course, you'll find those kinds of spooky sightings all year round! On this week's Louisiana Eats, we've got all treats for you – and no tricks!Witchcraft has cast a spell on society for a long time, and with it, many literary and film references to good witches and bad witches. But it's not always so cut and dried. To begin our show, we speak with Orenda Fink, author of the memoir, The Witch's Daughter. Orenda, who's perhaps best known as half of the dream pop duo Azure Ray, tells us the story of being raised by a mother who claims to be a witch, and the madness that bound her family together.Orenda Fink will be presenting and signing her new book when she appears at Octavia Books in conversation with host Poppy Tooker on Friday, November 1 at 6pm.Next, we sit down with Cristina Quackenbush, the witchy chef behind Tatlo, a restaurant and absinthe bar in the French Quarter. From the menu to the décor, everything at Tatlo springs from Cristina's practice of benevolent witchcraft.Then, we hunt for specters in the home of Leslie Castay and Bryan Burkey, before raising a toast to our ghostly friends – with cocktails to die for! Sharon Keating and Christi Keating Sumich, authors of Hauntingly Good Spirits, take us on a historical romp through the supernatural by way of New Orleans' bar scene.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Japan may once have seemed like a world away, but the most delicious elements of Japanese food and drink culture have become increasingly embedded in our American psyche. On this week's show, we celebrate the complexity and craftsmanship of Japanese drinking culture.We begin with Christopher Pellegrini, longtime homebrewer, Honkaku Spirits founder, and author of The Shochu Handbook. Originally from Vermont, Christopher now lives in Tokyo, where he has become a Japanese spirit evangelist. He introduces us to shochu, one of Japan's most popular distilled spirits, and one of the best-kept secrets everywhere else.Next, we hear Stephen Lyman, author of the James Beard-nominated book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks. Stephen recounts the intriguing history of Takamine Koji whisky, and the remarkable 19th-century Japanese chemist whose work inspired it.Finally, in Japan, drinks are always accompanied by snacks, often in a bar and eatery called an izakaya. Restaurateur Jackie Blanchard drops by to explain how a Cajun girl raised on Bayou Lafourche ended up crossing the world to open Sukeban, an authentic izakaya, right here on Oak Street the Crescent City.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From crumbly cornbread that perfectly compliments a home-cooked meal, to warm cookies that can make you forget any problem, baked treats are key to happy eaters everywhere. This week, we celebrate the delicious half-science, half-art that is baking!First, we hear from our old friend, food writer Anne Byrn. Her latest cookbook, Baking in the American South, is a beautifully photographed tome, featuring hundreds of mouth-watering recipes along with the history behind each one of them.Next, baker Jim Lahey talks about the 15th anniversary edition of his ground-breaking cookbook My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method. Jim began a bread-making revolution decades ago with a Le Creuset pot, just a handful of ingredients, and, most importantly, no need for kneading!Finally, we chat with Renato Poliafito, owner of Brooklyn bakery and café Ciao, Gloria, and author of Dolci! American Baking with an Italian Accent. In his newest book, the two-time James Beard Award nominee set out to capture the flavors of Italy stretching from the Old World to the New.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
It's been a long, hot summer, but fall has finally arrived in Louisiana! As temperatures and humidity go down, the Bayou State comes alive with a colorful array of autumn events and festivals. On this week's show, we enjoy a taste of fall.We begin on the Northshore, where the annual Abita Fall Fest is about to kick off, bringing national acts and local artists to the quaint town of Abita Springs. We meet festival co-founder Anthony Essaied at his restaurant and bar, Abita Brew Pub, to learn about the charming town he calls home.The arrival of October also means Oktoberfest. Chef Horst Pfiffer joins us to talk about the authentic German-style fun on tap at both Middendorf's Restaurants in Manchec and Slidell.Bavarian brews aside, there's perhaps no drink that better complements the joys of fall than a crisp hard cider. At Kingfish Cider in Jefferson Parish, Colleen Keogh is crafting and serving this bubbly alcoholic drink all year-round. Colleen gives us a tour of her cidery and taproom and explains why cider makes a refreshing alternative to traditional options.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
For those in the hospitality industry, there are few honors more prestigious than winning a James Beard Award. On this week's show, we celebrate the local 2024 winners and nominees. Ti Martin tells us about the party she hosted at Commander's to recognize them. We also hear from mixologist extraordinaire, Chris Hannah and Chef Arvinder Vilkhu, along with his son, Ashwin, of Saffron Nola.For those in the hospitality industry, there are few honors more prestigious than winning a James Beard Award. This year, New Orleanians were thrilled when the Beard Foundation named the Big Easy's Dakar NOLA Best New Restaurant in America. Those familiar with Chef Serigne Mbaye's original take on his native Senegalese cuisine were not surprised. On this week's show, we celebrate the local 2024 winners and nominees.First, we talk with Ti Martin, a member of the famous Brennan family and one of the grande dames of the New Orleans restaurant industry. Along with her cousin Lally Brennan, Ti has spent more than a quarter century at the helm of legendary Commander’s Palace. A multiple James Beard-winner herself, Ti tells us about the party she hosted at her restaurant to recognize this year's local honorees.Next, we hear from mixologist extraordinaire, Chris Hannah. His Jewel of the South tavern, named the 2024 James Beard Best Bar in America, serves as both a center of cocktail innovation, and an homage to Crescent City highball history.Finally, Best Chef of the South nominee, Arvinder Vilkhu, along with his son, Ashwin, recount the story of their restaurant, Saffron Nola. Here, diners enjoy the Vilkhu family’s personal blend of Indian and Creole flavors that earned a Best New Restaurant nomination just months after opening.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In 1946, a New Orleans bar owner named Owen Brennan opened Brennan's Vieux Carre on Bourbon Street. Fresh out of high school, his sister Ella became his de facto manager there. Just before Owen's untimely death a few years later, plans were in place to move the restaurant to Royal Street, where the Brennan family dynasty truly began.Today, Brennan's Restaurant on Royal Street is grander than ever – all thanks to the loving care of Owen and Ella's nephew, Ralph Brennan. Named one of the 20 most influential restaurant people in the country by Restaurant Business Magazine, Ralph runs some of the city's finest dining destinations. There's Ralph's on the Park, Red Fish Grill, the Napoleon House and Café NOMA, just to name a few. On this week's show, we sit down with Ralph Brennan himself to discuss his life in food.Then, we speak with Braithe Tidwell, the corporate beverage director for the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group. Braithe helped the wine program at Brennan's regain its status on the Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning list. Most recently, Braithe collaborated with Piper Heidsieck to create a bespoke Brennan's champagne.Next, we learn about Brennan's annual tradition of hosting the "Slowest Second Line on Earth," complete with ten terrific turtles and a rapping judge.Finally, we step inside Brennan's kitchen for an unforgettable breakfast. For their poached eggs alone, the restaurant goes through over half a million eggs each year. Executive Chef Ryan Hacker shows us how his team perfectly poaches hundreds of eggs at a time to feed crowds of hungry morning diners.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is internationally revered for having captured the essence and eccentricity of New Orleans — and for introducing readers to its larger-than-life protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly. On this week's show, we take a culinary look between the pages of the book that was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981.We begin with Spud McConnell, well known for his portrayal of Ignatius on stage. The Gonzales-born actor has become so recognized for his embodiment of the role, that the statue of the portly protagonist, which is located on a sidewalk in front of the old D.H. Holmes building on Canal Street, was modeled after him.Then, we speak with Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, who examined food as a character in the novel, compiling recipes for her gastronomical homage to Ignatius, A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook. Cynthia spent 18 months engrossed in the novel, and like Spud, developed a personal relationship with Ignatius and his world — jelly doughnuts and all.From there, we venture through the streets of the French Quarter to a Lucky Dog hot dog cart, which served as the setting for one of the most memorable — and gluttonous — moments in the novel. Lucky Dog's owner, Jerry Strahan, is the author of Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter. He discusses his iconic business and its legendary employees.Finally, we wash it all down with Ignatius's favorite local soft drink: Dr. Nut. Having disappeared from grocery shelves decades ago, the beverage is as enigmatic as Ignatius himself. Designer Phillip Collier, the author of Making New Orleans, sheds some light on the mysterious Dr. Nut and provides us with an alcoholic version that he believes closely resembles the original recipe.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Less than an hour's drive from New Orleans' French Quarter, Baton Rouge, and Mississippi's Gulf Coast is Lake Pontchartrain's Northshore. The charming towns of Madisonville, Mandeville, and Abita Springs are filled with hospitality and delicious dining opportunities. On this week's show, we cross the Causeway to visit our Northshore neighbors.We begin at the Covington Farmers Market, which is widely considered to be one of the best markets in the state. We hear from market founder Bo Gallup and a pair of indomitable sisters – Jan Biggs and Ann McKenzie Mellon – who have kept the market rolling for decades.Then, we go just a handful of blocks over to Covington's main drag, where Torre and David Solazzo's Del Porto Ristorante and their casual gastropub, The Greyhound, are bringing big, new flavors to the city's diners.Finally, we head a bit further north to the rural town of Bush, Louisiana, where Ross McKnight and his family have cracked the code on true, American-made foie gras at Backwater Farmstead.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Although South Louisiana does not provide the easiest growing conditions, when fueled by passion and obsession, it's amazing what can be done. On this week's show, we introduce you to some real alternative thinkers who are successfully cultivating the unusual and the exotic.We begin with a trip to the SG Tiki Farm just across the state line in Pearlington, Mississippi. There, Chef Ernie Foundas grows exotic fruits and vegetables used in the dishes he serves at his restaurant in New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood, Suis Generis. With a passion for sustainability, both Ernie and his partner Adrienne Bell use every scrap of food to achieve a zero-waste model in their restaurant.Then, we head down to New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward to meet bamboo guru Mark Sanders – founder of Ninth Ward Nursery. He tells the story of turning his bamboo obsession into a business.Finally, get ready to see bamboo on your dinner plate. We chat with Kay Koppedrayer, author of Cooking With Bamboo, who shares how she came to make bamboo part of her family's diet and how you can do the same.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." That line is just as true today as it was when the Greek physician said it 2,500 years ago. We know we are what we eat and drink, yet we don’t always consume what's best for our bodies, minds, or souls. On this week's show, we gather together three experts to examine the impact our diets, our cravings, and mental health have on our lives.We begin with Linda Shiue, a doctor and chef who guides her patients to cook healthier meals by harnessing the power of spices. Linda was just starting to spread the word about spices when we first met her in 2016. She's back in our studio to discuss her latest book, Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes.Then, we speak with Harvard Medical School psychologist Dr. Ronald D. Siegel. A long-time student of mindfulness meditation, he explains the psychology of happiness, and why humans use food and drink as a pathway to achieve it.Finally, we explore mental and spiritual health with Dr. David Wallace, founder of the New Orleans sober bar, Dream House Lounge. Aside from delicious zero proof drinks and an energizing oxygen bar, Dream House is a place where Dr. David encourages what he calls, "soul care."For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
As summer nears its end and thoughts turn towards back-to-school, we're having one last adventure – a tour through the rich and diverse offerings of New Orleans' Asian cuisine scene.First, we hear from Thuy Pham, founder of the NOLA Nite Market, an evening bazaar featuring a plethora of authentic Asian street foods created by small mom and pop restaurants, complete with live music and artisan wares.Next, we dive deeper into the local scene with Aom Srisuk and Frankie Weinberg, the husband-and-wife team that has made quite a splash both Uptown and Downtown with their popular Thai restaurants Pomelo and Good Catch.Finally, we hear from Maggie Zhu. In her food blog, Omnivore's Cookbook, Maggie writes about modern Chinese cooking, Asian-inspired dishes, and classic recipes designed for the Western home chef. For her first cookbook, Chinese Homestyle, Maggie narrows her focus to plant-based dishes.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In today’s society, meat often gets a bad rap. But this week, we speak with three people who find great beauty in the art of the butcher, the finger-licking taste of barbecue, and even the usefulness of wild hogs.First, Chef Matt Moore chats about his latest cookbook, Butcher on the Block, which is chock full of over 125 recipes for grilling and barbecue. The volume also offers a butchering primer for at-home cooks, as well as a personal introduction to the butchers behind the recipes.Next, Pitmaster Ryan Mitchell, son of barbecue legend Ed Mitchell, talks about the nearly forgotten craft of whole-hog barbecue and his family’s barbecue legacy. It's documented along with some award-winning recipes in the father and son's first cookbook, Ed Mitchell's Barbeque.Finally, Julie Grunewald, executive director of Hunters for the Hungry, joins us to explain how local sportsmen are using wild game to feed those in need. This year, Clean Out Your Freezer Day is August 18.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
When the 2018 Federal Farm Bill was signed into law, repealing the nation's 82-year prohibition on hemp, Louisiana's legislature rapidly opened the door for a booming new industry here in our state. In just a few years, the hemp industry has grown to represent over $33 million in state commerce annually. On this week's show, we explore this fibrous cannabis plant and meet the people who are extracting it, infusing it, and serving it up at your favorite local bar.We begin with Paige Melancon, president of Louisiana Hemp Extractors. Since 2020, his facility in Arnaudville, Louisiana has processed over 2000 pounds of industrial hemp for local farmers, turning it into oils, lotions, gummies, and drinks for wholesale and retail markets. In 2022, Paige branched into manufacturing his own products under the BakPak label. He tells us about the hemp business today and looks at its future in the current political climate.Then, we meet Eric Becker and Ken Jackson – two founders of the cannabis-infused seltzer brand, Louie Louie. With each can including five milligrams of both the cannabinoids CBD and THC, the company offers what they call a "sessionable" product designed as an alcohol alternative.And Louisianans are drinking it up – even in old-line restaurants like the Napoleon House! Braithe Tidwell, corporate beverage director for the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group stops by to tell us how THC cocktails have made their way onto their restaurant menus.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are officially underway. Athletes from more than 200 countries are gathered in Paris, looking to bring home the gold in everything from archery to water polo. On this week’s show, we raise a glass to international camaraderie by sampling spirits from across the globe.Is there a bottle of jenever in your bar at home? Unless you’re from the Netherlands – that might not be the case. Gin and jenever expert Philip Duff joins us to explain the difference between these two distinct spirits and tells us about his intoxicating career.Next, Count Eduardo Branca tells us the story of Fernet Branca. His family’s distillery, Fratelli Branca, was established in 1845 – but before it was sold as a spirit, it was used as a cure-all to treat cholera.We also take a virtual trip to Peru to meet celebrity distiller Johnny Schuler, who tells the legend of pisco and his distillery, Pisco Portón. This Peruvian brandy dates back to the conquistadors of 16th century Cuzco.Finally, Alexandre Gabriel of Maison Ferrand shares stories of career producing cognac in Grand Champagne, the cognac region of France.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In 1983, the Louisiana legislature named crawfish as the official state crustacean. In 2008, they proclaimed the Sazerac as New Orleans' official cocktail. And on June 1, 2024, Billy Nungesser, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, proclaimed Blue Plate Mayonnaise to be the official mayo of poor boy sandwiches. On this week's show, we explore some other essential poor boy ingredients.We begin with the story of the first poor boy loaf ever baked from the inventor's grandson and great-grandson, John and Jason Gendusa. The Gendusa family bakery has been inextricably tied to that famous New Orleans sandwich since 1929.Next, Sandy Whann of Leidenheimer Baking Company shares the story of his family's bakery which dates back to 1896. We also speak with his son William Whann, who is carrying on the family business.Finally, we have a taste of Chisesi Brothers and hear the delicious story of their 100-plus year-old family history from fifth generation Nicholas Chisesi and his octogenarian dad, Philip.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Between the levee and the Mississippi River is the batture – a lively slip of wilderness that a tiny community calls home. There's batture land right here in the midst of metropolitan New Orleans – but unless you're lucky enough to know a batture dweller, there's a good chance you weren't aware of one of the city’s most unconventional neighborhoods.That was certainly true of Macon Fry when he arrived in New Orleans in the 1980s. After a chance encounter with a batture resident at a local watering hole, Macon got his first glimpse of life on the river's edge and became so entranced that he built himself a life there. His obsession with the batture ultimately led him to publish his new book, "They Called Us River Rats: The Last Batture Settlement of New Orleans." Macon joins us in the studio to discuss his decades of research about lives spent there in relative obscurity.Then, we head over the levee to visit with New Orleans chef and restauranteur Dickie Brennan at his new batture abode, where he's enjoying all the benefits of life in one of the last "camps" located there. Surrounded by lush vegetation and the kind of fauna found in more rural environs, Dickie can often be found taking in the outdoors on his deck – watching ships, tugs, and paddle wheelers make the turn on the Mississippi.Finally, Tulane environmental professor Oliver Houck shares tales of the countless hours spent observing life – wild and otherwise – as he walked his beloved dog along the batture.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
What do a group of Buddhist monks, a New Orleans-based Chinese bakery, and a non-profit that educates young girls in Nepal all have in common? Why, dumplings, of course! This week, we explore three groups of people who are doing their best to make their mark on the world and the role that dumplings play in each of their stories.First, local chef Angela Wilson tells us about Empower Nepali Girls, a group dedicated to providing education to young women, whose opportunities are otherwise as landlocked as their South Asian country.Next, we hear from Aisha Chen of Wishing Town Bakery, who, along with Vivi and Kevin Zhen, is helping expand New Orleanians' palates with a creative take on traditional Chinese desserts and dim sum.Finally, we take part in an extraordinary evening, when a lucky gathering of locals eats a traditional Tibetan meal, prepared by visiting Buddhist monks. The Sacred Art Tour is an official tour group of Drepung Gomang Monastery.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Since ancient times, the Eastern Mediterranean has been one of the most significant regions in the world. Sitting at the crossroads of trade routes, the area – which, broadly defined, includes Israel, Syria, Greece, and Turkey – has long been a melting pot of cultures and culinary influences. On this week's show, we meet local restaurateurs who are showcasing the rich heritage of the region and learn about the Lebanese diaspora in Louisiana.We begin with Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis, owner of Smoke & Honey in New Orleans. The restaurant and menu draw on Vassiliki's Jewish heritage and her upbringing in Greece.Next, we speak with researcher and curator Abigayle Rhode-Pausina. The New Orleans native has taken her cultural exploration to Lebanon and beyond, but has most recently concentrated her efforts on the Lebanese families who have called Louisiana home for generations.We also hear the story of Turkish natives Ozgur and Bulent Duman and their Mandeville restaurant, Duman Artisan Kitchen. Influenced by Turkish, Italian, Israeli, and American cooking, the Dumans have cultivated an eclectic menu the likes of which have not been seen on the Northshore before.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In the culinary world, there are many different roads to success. Some are longer and more winding than others. On this week's show, we speak with chefs who have traveled far – literally and figuratively – to find career fulfillment in New Orleans.We begin with Nina Compton of Compére Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, the first Black female chef to receive the coveted James Beard "Best Chef" nod. Nina tells us about her path from the Caribbean and England to New York and Miami, and why she chooses to call New Orleans home.Then, we hear from Merritt Cosha and Tyler Stuart – two Americans who traveled across India to educate themselves on the culture and flavors of the subcontinent. The couple's passion for regional Indian cuisine is on display at their restaurant, Plume Algiers on New Orleans' Westbank.Finally, we sit down with Mason Hereford who talks about his culinary journey from working in barroom kitchens and fancy restaurants to running four acclaimed local eateries, including his flagship sandwich shop, Turkey and the Wolf.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Fine china and crystal, earthenware and artisan glassware – it doesn’t matter what you have – it can all be transformed into a personal expression of your welcoming hospitality. On this week's show, we speak with some of the nation's finest tableware experts for an education and some inspiration.First, we chat with Susan Gravely, founder of Vietri, the lifestyle company that has brightened American tables with artisan-crafted Italian dinnerware for decades. Susan discusses her life lessons in setting a stylish table and the book she penned to celebrate Vietri's 40th anniversary – Italy on a Plate.Then, John Stuart Gordon offers his thoughts on the role silver flatware played in the dining rituals of the 19th century. John has the unique honor of curating American decorative arts at the Yale University Art Gallery, creating for himself the perfect marriage of passion and career.Finally, we hear from Antiques Roadshow appraiser Nick Dawes. Nick's expertise gives him a remarkable view into the lives of people and their ancestors through the relics that they bring to the PBS show. His visit to the Historic New Orleans Collection's Antiques Forum gave us the opportunity to tap his vast knowledge of ceramics and glass.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
It's June in Louisiana, which means the start of summer – and sweltering heat! Fortunately, there's plenty of cultural experiences to enjoy while keeping cool indoors. On this week's show, we learn about three immersive exhibits to explore in the Crescent City.We begin with the newest, which celebrates the life and art of one the founding fathers of French Impressionism. Claude Monet: The Immersive Experience brings the artist's world to life in downtown New Orleans. Executive producer John Zaller talks to us about the exhibition, and how Monet incorporated food into his artworks.Then, we visit a place for tourists and locals alike: Vue Orleans. Located at the foot of Canal Street, the multi-million-dollar multimedia experience includes a trip to the 34th floor for a 360-degree view of the city. We speak with Paul Flower, Lawrence Powell, and Jim Cortina – just three among the scores of technicians, architects, artists, and entertainers who made Vue Orleans possible.Finally, we meet legendary Louisiana director Glen Pitre, who along with his wife Michelle Benoit, created an immersive film experience for the Historic New Orleans Collection's Royal Street campus. "The French Quarter by Night" fills a room with imagery and sound, showcasing over three centuries of the Vieux Carré after nightfall.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
New Orleans began her love affair with coffee three centuries ago. Any local of a certain age can remember the grown-ups of their childhood spending hours around the kitchen table drinking a strong French roast blended with chicory. This week we sit down with a cup of coffee and some folks who can tell us the story of coffee in New Orleans.First, Patrick Brennan, of the famous Brennan restaurant clan, talks about leaving the family business to strike out on his own in the artisan coffee market. Patrick tells us about Congregation Coffee, his roasting business and Algiers Point neighborhood coffee shop.Next, we hear from Suzanne Stone and David Feldman, as we take a deep dive into their book, New Orleans Coffee: A Rich History. They tell the story of coffee in the Crescent City, which came to the forefront in the late 1700s.Finally, we chat with graphic artist Sharon Dunn Dinkins Dymond, who, in the 1970s, discovered a cache of 19th- and early 20th-century product labels that tell the tale of New Orleans’ early love affair with coffee. She reproduces the beautiful, chromolithographed labels on postcards and ceramic serving ware for her company, Fabled Labels.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Summertime is upon us – a time that often means travel, vacation fun, and family reunions. But to many Louisianians, summertime means hunger – and our children are the most vulnerable. When school is in session, breakfast and lunch are provided five days a week, but without extra support in the summer, that equates to missing 40 meals a month. Luckily, here in New Orleans, some big-hearted hospitality industry folks are stepping up to help.We begin with Amanda Toups of Toups' Meatery. Amanda and her husband, Isaac, first rose to the hunger challenge during the pandemic, when they handed out more than 200 meals a week to hospitality workers and their families in need. Over an 18-month period, the Toups crew delivered over 100,000 meals into the community. This summer, the indomitable duo are back at it again – now feeding food insecure children and families.Next, we speak with New Orleans newcomer Mark Bucher of the steakhouse Medium Rare. Mark is helping feed our community through his nonprofit, Feed The Fridge, a successful program first developed during the pandemic in Washington, D.C., where Medium Rare originated.Finally, we learn about Nourish Louisiana, a state-funded food purchase program that buys food from local farmers from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and feeds communities that need it most. We speak with two of the program's partners: Natalie Jayroe of Second Harvest Food Bank and Margee Green of Sprout NOLA.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Whether it's the most elegant wedding reception or a simple family birthday party, no celebration is complete without a cake. On this week's show, we explore this delicious dessert in all its glory.First, we sit down with Charlotte McGehee, the alter ego of Debbie Does Doberge, to find out how she's given the traditional New Orleans doberge cake a 21st century makeover.Next, James Beard Award–winning author Aleksandra Crapanzano lets us in on the sumptuous secrets of Parisian home bakers found in her book, Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes.And finally, the Cake Mix Doctor is in the house. Anne Byrn's book American Cake takes readers back to the origins of baking in America. From birthday cakes to wedding cakes, Anne has the history behind each delicious layer.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's Louisiana Eats, we're traveling down south to Argentina! Late last year, host Poppy Tooker made the long trek to Buenos Aires, where she discovered a cosmopolitan city that sometimes felt like Paris and sometimes seemed like Manhattan.We begin with a tour of the city's San Telmo neighborhood with American expat and food writer Allie Lazar. She takes us for empanadas served up by Don Beto at El Gauchito and to the famous San Telmo market.Then, we meet celebrity chef Narda Lepes. If you can imagine a food activist in the style of Chez Panisse's Alice Waters, combined with the hungry wanderlust of Anthony Bourdain – there you have Narda Lepes! Indisputably one of the top female chefs in Latin America, she is well known for her cookbooks, award winning long running food and travel TV series, and flagship restaurant, Narda Comedor.And we sit down at the Bosch Palace with the United States Ambassador to Argentina Marc Stanley for his point of view on the food and life in Argentina.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The restaurant landscape in America is rapidly changing. The pandemic gave a lot of people time to rethink, retool, and redo the way the industry works. On this week's show, we speak with young chefs and restaurateurs who are changing the rules and reshaping culinary culture.We begin with Chef Mason Hereford, who has earned a reputation for his creative approach to dining, transforming everyday ingredients into sublime dishes. With the emergence of each eatery he has opened since his first successful venture, Turkey and the Wolf, Mason has also broken new ground in his approach to management and restaurant culture.Then, Chef Serigne Mbaye discusses his approach to operating his fine dining establishment, Dakar NOLA. Serigne is among a growing number of chefs here and around the country who are finding that serving a seasonal tasting menu translates to a better experience for both the restaurant's guests and staff.And when it comes to rethinking everything, Saint Germain has got it going on. After years of working in the industry, co-chefs Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith and general manager Drew Delaughter set out to run a restaurant their way. The trio offers a 10-course tasting menu to a small number of diners at a time in their renovated shotgun house.Finally, we travel across the Causeway to meet Anna Watkins and Amanda Birdsong, the dynamic duo currently causing a stir in downtown Covington at Cured on Columbia.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
This week, Louisiana Eats takes you to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where there's always an abundance of music, food, and art. We've got you covered on all fronts.We begin with longtime vendor Greg Arcenaux, whose artisan woodworking is a perennial favorite in Jazz Fest's Louisiana Marketplace. Greg gives us a crash course in what sets his work apart from the rest.Then, we take you on a mule-drawn ride with the Roman Candy man. On many an afternoon in New Orleans, you'll find Ronnie Kottemann on his 109-year-old cart on the streets of Uptown New Orleans. You can also visit Ronnie and his wagon every Jazz Fest, parked inside the fairgrounds near the Gentilly gate – the same spot he's occupied since the 1970s.We also have a visit with our own house band, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, who perform at the festival each year. Members of the ensemble share some of their Jazz Fest gig memories with us, along with the meals they enjoy off and on the stage.Finally, Steve Armbruster joins us in the studio to tell the tale of how the first Food Heritage Stage came to be and the key role his vintage Volkswagen played in those early years.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The days are growing longer, the jasmine is in bloom, and across Louisiana, we're treasuring the gift of spring before heat, humidity, and hurricane season are upon us. On this week's show, Louisiana Eats is celebrating the tasty treats of springtime!With Derby Day approaching, we're polishing up our silver cups for the perfect drink for this time of year – the Mint Julep. Legendary bartender and raconteur Chris McMillan of Revel Cafe & Bar joins us with a tribute to that sophisticated and refreshing cocktail.We then move from adult beverages to childhood sweets – specifically ice cream. But not the flavors you'll find in any grocery store. Jillian Duran of Rahm Haus tells us how she uses her fine pastry making skills to create both ice creams and ice cream cakes like nothing you’ve ever seen.And finally, spring marks the arrival of blueberry harvest season in the South. We travel to Poplarville, Mississippi, where Donald Van De Werken and Jeff Brown of JD Farms are preparing to reap some of the biggest, sweetest, best blueberries in the region.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Traditionally, the concept of sustainability referred to making enough money to keep a restaurant, or any business, up and running. In recent years, however, the term has expanded to take into account maintaining the environment that provides the raw materials businesses use. This is especially true for restaurants – businesses that would simply not exist if the supply of meat, fish, and plant-based food were not sustained. On this week's show, we hear from two chefs and a farmer who are doing their part to provide for their customers, while finding ways to live in harmony with the planet.First up is a field trip to the kitchen of GW Fins, an upscale seafood restaurant in the French Quarter, where we learn about Chef Michael Nelson's innovative work with dry-aging fish. The result is an elevated dish that is denser, more tender, and more flavorful. And customers can’t get enough.Then, we hear from Will Harris of White Oak Pastures. A pioneer in regenerative farming, Will is the author of A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food.Finally, we visit Chef Marcus Jacobs at his Mid-City seafood market, Porgy's, where he's on a mission to introduce folks to the treasure trove of lesser-known fish species found right here in the Gulf of Mexico.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In many places, the cocktail hour is an honored – even sacred – tradition. And in few places is that more true than New Orleans. On this week's show, we explore the fascinating evolution of cocktail culture in the Big Easy – its past, present and future.We begin with craft cocktail master Neal Bodenheimer. Neal, who opened Freret Street bar Cure in 2009, traces the city's long love affair with concocted libations in his James Beard-nominated book, Cure: New Orleans Drinks And How To Mix 'Em.Next, we swing over to Gravier Street to join flavorist Christa Cotton on a tour of her El Guapo factory where she creates her internationally award-winning bitters and much-loved cocktail mixers.Finally, we sit down with T. Cole Newton, one of New Orleans' premiere bartenders and bar owners. His book, Cocktail Dive Bar, not only shares recipes from his famed Mid-City hangout Twelve Mile Limit, but also imparts plenty of thoughtful wisdom Cole has garnered from over a decade in business.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we meet inventors and pioneers who have changed the way we eat. We begin with the Bayou State's spiciest new business, Louisiana Pepper Exchange. Founder and CEO Chris White shares the story of the amazing engineering feat he accomplished and how it led to the launch of his company.Then, we learn about plant breeder Dr. Calvin Lamborn, known as the Father of the Sugar Snap Pea. We speak with his son, Rod Lamborn, who is working hard to preserve his late father's legacy.Finally, we hear the fascinating story of Leon Godchaux, Louisiana's own titan of the sugar industry in the 19th century. His rags-to-riches tale comes to life in Peter Wolf's book, The Sugar King: Leon Godchaux, A New Orleans Legend, His Creole Slave and His Jewish Roots. Peter, who is Godchaux's great-great-grandson, tells us how this poor, illiterate Jewish immigrant built a business empire with his innovative spirit.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Chinese cooking has been a part of the American dining scene since the mid-1800s and remains an integral aspect of the industry today. This week, we take an in-depth look at the Chinese restaurant tradition from a variety of perspectives.For decades, the parking lot was always full at the little red building just across the parish line from New Orleans. Inside, a packed house of diners could be found happily munching on dim sum and other Cantonese dishes at Royal China Restaurant. In 2021, after forty-plus years in business, Shirley Lee and her husband Chef Tang Lee decided to retire. But now they are back with their new restaurant, Miss Shirley's on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans. That hostess with the mostest and her daughter who helps run the business, Carling Lee, visited our studio to tell us how restaurateurs-turned-retirees turned restaurateurs again.Next, we talk to Curtis Chin, who came of age in Detroit at a Chinese restaurant run by multiple generations of his family. Like many immigrant families, Curtis' parents worked long, hard hours running their business with time for little else. But they made sure that their children were exposed to the wider world and all it had to offer. Curtis reflects on the lessons he took from that childhood experience in his memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant.Finally, Chef Andrew Lu joins us. Having grown up in Lafayette, the child of immigrants from China, Andrew is truly an Asian Cajun. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the name of his popular pop-up restaurant – Get Your Mom and Dim Sum.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Since reopening with much fanfare in 2015, New Orleans' St. Roch Market has experienced ups and downs, but the city's second oldest city market is still standing. Since 2015, St. Roch has functioned as a culinary incubator for food professional wannabes – and what a bunch of delicious incubation is happening there now!On this week's show, we speak with the market's new director, longtime vendor Kevin Pedeaux, and learn why that bustling spot on St. Claude is the place to be these days. We then go stall by stall to meet the vendors – the St. Roch stars who are cooking up some of the most diverse offerings to be found under one single roof today.Next, we hear from one of St. Roch Market's biggest success stories. Chef Charly Pierre began creating delicious Haitian dishes based on the traditional street foods that abound in his ancestral homeland. Charly's career has since skyrocketed. He's been featured on a number of national cooking competition shows, and garnered accolades from the likes of Zagat, Eater, and the James Beard Foundation. These days, Charly can be found in the kitchen of his own Basin Street restaurant, Fritai.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
March 19th might be just another day in other parts of the United States, but here in New Orleans it's a day when revelers take to the streets in honor of the Feast of St. Joseph. The tradition of food altars dedicated to Jesus' foster father came to the Crescent City in the late 1800s with immigrants from Sicily, where Joseph is the patron saint. What was called Mi-Carême (or Mid-Lent by the Creoles) was a day when fasting was suspended and festivities abounded. On this week's show, we explore the holiday and join in on the celebration.Tony Marino's family were faithful followers of St. Joseph, and today, he keeps the tradition alive at his Bourbon Street home in New Orleans' French Quarter. We sit down with Tony to hear what it takes to pull off his annual street party, complete with altars and a life-sized statue of St. Joseph.Then, Arthur Brocato, third generation of Angelo Brocato's Ice Cream and Confectionary, joins us to share his family's history and explain the special role Brocato's has played in the St. Joseph's Day celebration. Founded in the French Quarter in 1905, the gelateria and pasticceria continues those traditions today on Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City.Finally, historian Laura Guccione joins us to reveal what she's discovered about the fancy dress balls that were once part of the St. Joseph tradition and to explain the mystical tie between the feast day and the Mardi Gras Indians.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we meet New Orleans chefs who have stepped into the spotlight. We begin with Anh Luu, who is well known locally for her signature "Viet-Cajun" menus that meld together the flavors of Southeast Asia and her native Louisiana. In January, the whole country got to know Anh when she was featured on the eighth season of the Emmy Award-winning Netflix series, Queer Eye. She tells us about her life and culinary career and describes how the Fab Five changed her life.We also have an extended conversation with chef and YouTube star Toya Boudy, whose first cookbook is Cooking for the Culture: Recipes and Stories from the Streets of New Orleans to the Table. Toya tells us about her struggles growing up in her beloved New Orleans and how she found success on cooking competition shows – stories she shares along with recipes in her deeply personal and unique cookbook.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
A lot of magic can be made with nothing more than flour, sugar, and, of course, butter! On this week's show, we explore the magic that some folks are achieving with just that combination.First, we hear from Juliana Fernandes and Juliana Freire, the dynamic duo behind one of New Orleans' newest eateries, Juliana's Brazilian Bakery and Café. Playfully decorated in pastel pinks and greens, the cozy Lakeview neighborhood café features a pastry case brimming with beautiful cakes and Brazilian bonbons known as brigadeiros. The kitchen also offers a breakfast and lunch menu, including the Brazilian national beans and rice dish, feijoada. The two Julianas tell us all how their little Brazilian outpost came to be.Next, we chat with the affable Ralph the Baker, a local cook who has become an international social media sensation. He explains how he has built his online presence to include millions of followers and why he's the baker who almost never bakes.Finally, we learn about the little bakery that king cake built. Only a few years after Martha Gilreath achieved fame for her Nolita king cakes, she has opened up a brick-and-mortar bakery in New Orleans – selling items like bialys, boudin danish, and something called "cros'saints." We stop by her warm, sunny space, located just a few blocks from Bayou St. John in Mid-City.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Most of the country makes New Year's resolutions that kick in right after January 1st. But in Louisiana, there tends to be a slight postponement. That's because Carnival Season, a time of indulgence, kicks off on January 6th with the astounding king cake eating and cocktail drinking that comes with it. So, our resolutions about healthy living and sobriety tend to wait until Ash Wednesday – the day after Mardi Gras. This week, we hear from experts about the merits of clean living.Since she first opened her practice, Dr. Erika Siegel has extolled the virtues of eating the right foods as the foundation of good health. Across a decade and a half, the naturopathic physician collected all of her sage advice and put it into a book, The Nourish Me Kitchen. The first half of the two-volume set offers easily digestible recommendations from stocking a healthy pantry to getting a good night's sleep. The second half features more than 300 recipes for creating healthy and delicious meals. Dr. Siegel joins us in the studio to discuss her book and share some practical advice on achieving and maintaining optimal health.Then, two of the Big Easy's native sons, Chris Copeland and Dan Forman tell us about how their NOLA Detox and Recovery Center incorporates New Orleans-style hospitality and food to help clients overcome addiction.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Historically, when people consider the roots of classic Creole food, the French are given most of the credit. But lately there has been increasing focus on the African hand that stirred those pots. New Orleans has been blessed in recent years with an influx of young African chefs and restaurateurs who have been busy shedding new light on where our food really came from. On this week's show, we honor those ancestors with the help of New Orleans’ new African culinary guard.From Addis NOLA, we hear from Dr. Biruk Alemayehu and Prince Lobo, the mother-and-son team bringing their authentic Ethiopian dining experience to historic Bayou Road. That includes injera bread and honey wine that have been served in the Horn of Africa for thousands of years.Then, West African chef Fanta Tambajang recounts the journey from her home in Gambia to her French Quarter restaurant Bennachin. You may already know and love her classic jama jama and fried plantains from the Jazz Fest where Fanta has been a sensation for decades.Finally, Queen Ndir describes the genesis of her popular Central City eatery, Ndindy African Cuisine, where the primarily Senegalese menu also features dishes from Ghana, Nigeria, and even Jamaica.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
As Fat Tuesday draws near, we've got a second helping of Mardi Gras fun for you! Most people are familiar with the images of Carnival revelry: the crowds, parades, and flowing libations. But like every other season in New Orleans, Mardi Gras is also all about the food.This week, author and photographer Sally Asher takes a break from her professional endeavors to talk about the various ways she celebrates Carnival – including roller skating down St. Charles Avenue, riding high atop a parade float, and dancing in the street. More importantly, she shares her very specific dining and drinking preferences during each of the season's big events.Then, Krewe of Red Beans founder Devin De Wulf is back in our studio. He recalls how his krewe has evolved from being a small neighborhood walking parade to becoming a nonprofit community force dedicated to feeding the city's culture bearers.Finally, Carnival historian Errol Laborde examines Mardi Gras' origins and gives us a glimpse into the private krewe parties that take place before the riders mount their floats.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
It's Carnival time in New Orleans! But the Big Easy isn't the only place people are celebrating. Just across Lake Pontchartrain sits St. Tammany Parish, a combination of bedroom communities and small towns that embrace nature and a laid-back existence. There, folks in towns such as Slidell, Mandeville, and Madisonville have developed their own unique forms of Mardi Gras merriment. On this week's show, we hear from three of those revelers.We kick things off with Charlotte Collins, who tells us the story of Mona Lisa and MoonPie, the oldest walking parade krewe in the City of Slidell. In 1984, she co-founded the krewe with a mission "to promote the arts, Olde Towne Slidell, and good humor." Their signature throws are MoonPies – the Chattanooga-made treats – which are tossed by the tens of thousands to eager parade-goers each year.Then, Tina Rhinehart talks about the Mande Milkshakers, the Northshore's first all-women marching group. Hailing from the West Tammany town of Mandeville, the adult dance team boasts more than 80 members who dress as mid-century housewives as they strut their stuff in parades on both sides of the lake.Finally, Bonnie Dennis gives us the lowdown on St. Tammany's floating procession, the Krewe of Tchefuncte. For half a century, their flotilla of fun has been making its way along the Tchefuncte River, celebrating the Carnival season, as well as the rich natural resources of St. Tammany Parish.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
What makes a food distinctly American? This week, Louisiana Eats explores that topic by serving a heaping helping of Americana – in decidedly Southern-sized portions.First, we sit down with native son, Burke Bischoff, whose paperback Po'Boy, tells the story of the classic New Orleans poor boy sandwich – its delicious and endless varieties, the real secret of the dish, and what it has to do with a 1929 streetcar strike.Next, we speak with Ty Matejowsky, author of Smothered and Covered: Waffle House and the Southern Imaginary. The anthropologist makes his argument that the ubiquitous 24-7 roadside diner serves as a microcosm of Southern culture.Finally, author Rien Fertel demystifies the role of the pitmaster in the tradition of whole hog barbecue in Tennessee and the Eastern Carolinas. Rien's exhaustive research led him to some of the smokiest and most storied barbecue shacks in America. His experience is chronicled in his book, The One True Barbecue.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In New Orleans and across our state, we're surrounded by history. Our architecture, museums, and libraries tell us stories of bygone eras. But arguably the best place to get a taste of Louisiana history is in any of our historic restaurants. On this week's show, we look at culinary landmarks that have been dining destinations for generations.We begin with a visit to Middendorf's, the classic seafood house located in Manchac – a tiny village 40 miles north of New Orleans on Lake Maurepas. Famed for its thin-cut fried catfish, Middendorf's celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. Originally owned by three generations of family, it was taken over by Horst and Karen Pfeifer in 2007 after their French Quarter fine dining restaurant was closed due to Katrina. Horst walks us through Middendorf's history, talks about his tenure as owner, and describes how he weathers storms on the Louisiana marsh.And we discover the storied past of the iconic Vieux Carré landmark the Napoleon House with Chef Chris Montero. Chris gives us a tour of the historic property, from the bar to the cupola and all points in between. In addition to being an accomplished chef, Chris is also a passionate preservationist and historian. He shares two centuries' worth of Girod and Impastato family lore and explains what he's been doing to keep the restaurant's traditions intact.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Twelfth Night marks the birth of the late New Orleans icon, Leah Chase. The culinary legend, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 96, was the undisputed Queen of Creole Cooking and a civil rights activist who changed lives over a bowl of gumbo. On this week's show, we spend the hour honoring Leah's talent, achievements, and lasting legacy.We begin with one of our favorite Louisiana Eats moments: a special day we spent with Leah in 2012, when then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu kicked off the official start of Carnival season at Gallier Hall with king cake and a surprise for Leah on her 89th birthday.From there, we look back on Leah's early life in Madisonville, Louisiana. Leah describes her earliest days growing up on a strawberry farm, and the lessons she learned that shaped the legend she would become. We continue with an oral history from NOLA Life Stories, in which Leah recounts her first experiences working in a café in the French Quarter, as told to Mark Cave of the Historic New Orleans Collection.Next, we arrive at a turning point in Leah's life — the moment she met big band leader Edgar "Dooky" Chase, Jr. Following their marriage, Leah went to work at Dooky's, her in-laws' simple sandwich shop in the Treme. As she began to serve Creole classics like gumbo and Chicken Clemenceau on fine linen, Leah elevated the dining culture for everyone. Leah tells us about her famous Gumbo z'Herbes, a dish she served at her restaurant every Holy Thursday for over 60 years.We also chronicle how Leah rebuilt Dooky Chase's after Hurricane Katrina. Eleven years after the storm, Leah experienced two other monumental life events — the first was her 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation. Months later, Leah's husband and partner Edgar "Dooky" Chase — the man who played a key role in her success — passed away at the age of 88. In this final segment, Leah reflects on their relationship and shares her thoughts on death and living a fulfilling life.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From New Orleans to Shreveport, Lafayette to Baton Rouge, Louisiana residents know one thing for sure: we have some good Louisiana eats! And we are loyal when it comes to those eats and everything that goes along with them. We want the waiter in our favorite century-plus-old restaurant to be the same person who waited on us in childhood. And we expect our classics – from the red beans in the pot to the hot sauce we douse over it liberally – to be exactly the same as we remember from our grandmother's table growing up. This week, we take a look at three Louisiana companies that each have satisfied local appetites for the last 100 years.We begin with Vince Hayward, whose family began and built one of Louisiana's most beloved brands that has lasted four generations – Camellia Brand. Vince spills the beans on how the company marked their centennial and tells us how they are looking ahead to the next century.Next, we hear from Pepper Baumer, third-generation producer of Crystal Hot Sauce – a local favorite that is still made with the same three ingredients that Pepper's grandfather began with in 1923. As a member of one of New Orleans' premier food industry families, Pepper was taught that with great success comes great responsibility.Finally, we head to Ponchatoula, Louisiana to visit Elmer Chocolate, the candy company behind Heavenly Hash – a popular Easter treat that commemorated the century mark in 2023. President and CEO Rob Nelson gives us a tour of their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Between 1880 and 1920 over four million Italians immigrated to the U.S., with the majority of Sicilians coming through the port of New Orleans. Their influence here can be found in the food and in the language where special words like niespuli and cucuzza proliferate. On this week's show, we survey those Sicilian connections to learn new things about this place we call home.We begin with Elisa Speranza, author of The Italian Prisoner. Elisa was inspired to write her debut novel after hearing stories of Italian POWs housed in New Orleans during World War II. After Italy switched sides in 1943, these former enemies became part of the American war effort and the city's makeup.Then, Liz Williams joins us with memories of her Sicilian grandmother, Nana Elisabetta, who arrived in the Crescent City at the age of 18. Her book, Nana's Creole Italian Table, is filled with recipes and family lore.Next, we hear from New Orleans food historian Laura Guccione, whose family hails from Alia, Sicily. With her background in botany, Laura has long been fascinated by a local fruit tree, often referred to as the Japanese plum, which proliferates wildly on the island of Sicily. Her linguistic look at the fruit can be found on New Orleans Historical.Finally, we sit down with Sal Impastato of the renowned Napoleon House clan. Sal tells us the story of the business that was family-owned and -operated for almost a century, before he handed over the keys to Ralph Brennan in 2015.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
For foodies and food lovers, eating is more than just a daily necessity – it's an all-consuming passion. While this can be mostly a good thing, the long term effects of food obsession can have their drawbacks. Nationally prominent comedian and actor Dan Ahdoot knows these downsides all too well. In his debut memoir, Undercooked: How I Let Food Become My Life Navigator and How Maybe That's a Dumb Way to Live, Dan examines his emotional relationship with food starting from childhood, and provides both an honest and comedic look at where that has gotten him.After we speak with Dan, we sit down with Gabriel Nehrbass and Andres Rodrigues Ursua to learn how food – paella in particular – inspires people of Spanish heritage to gather together in New Orleans.Finally, when we think of fine dining, we don't often think of Mother Nature. Sitting on the tranquil Bayou Bonfouca near Old Town Slidell, Palmettos on the Bayou offers an experience that's perfect for nature lovers and food connoisseurs alike. Owner Duffy Ramirez and Chef Ross Dover tell us about this special spot where food and the sights and sounds of Louisiana wildlife entwine.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
December is upon us, and we're making merry this festive season by discovering new mixed drinks and getting the stories behind some iconic cocktails.First, we learn about Dick Bradsell, the late, great British bartender who invented several modern cocktail classics – most notably the Espresso Martini. His daughter Bea Bradsell joins us in the studio to talk about her father's legacy in hospitality.Then, we hear from authors Sue Strachan and Tim McNally. As part of the Iconic New Orleans Cocktails series from LSU Press, both Sue and Tim have written books exploring Café Brûlot and the Sazerac, respectively.And finally, are you looking to bring the party this season, but want to hold off on the booze? That's where Lauren Chitwood of Spiritless comes in. She tells us about the development of an alcohol-free line of liquor that is a dead ringer for the real thing when mixed in a glass.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The elves are busy in Santa's workshop at this time of year! So as we head into the big holiday gift-giving time, Louisiana Eats is talking with some home-grown, Louisiana elves for delicious inspiration.First, we hear from Jady Regard, CNO (Chief Nut Officer) and second-generation proprietor of Cane River Pecan Company. He tells us how the past half-century has seen his family's enterprise grow from a small Acadian pecan orchard to a purveyor of fine culinary gifts starring the state's official nut.Next, we head down to New Orleans' Lower Garden District to speak with Christopher Nobles of Piety and Desire Chocolates. Since founding his bespoke business in 2017, the local chocolatier has been uncompromising in his reverence and passion for chocolate, while balancing science and art in his bean-to-bar production.Finally, as Orleans Coffee celebrates 40 years of quenching the Crescent City's thirst, owner Bob Arceneaux recounts how this local company has expanded to a national level. Bob also fills us in on the special anniversary blend recently introduced.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In our increasingly fast-paced world, traditional foods and foodways often have trouble competing with speed and convenience. But never fear. All over the planet there are people working to save the superior flavor, nutrition, and cultural significance of heritage foods. On this week's show, we introduce you to some of our greatest heritage food warriors.We begin with Sarah Lohman, author of Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods, who recounts her adventure researching some of the country's rarest ingredients and the often extraordinary efforts to preserve them.Next, we meet a trio of folks from an organization at the center of this movement, Slow Food USA. They discuss their book, The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States, which provides an in-depth look at some of the stories behind these disappearing flavors.Finally, we speak with classically trained chef and food anthropologist Casey Corn. She hosts Magnolia Network's Recipe Lost and Found, a show that helps families recover their long-lost recipes and the memories that go with them.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Japan may once have seemed like a world away, but the most delicious elements of Japanese food and drink culture have become increasingly embedded in our American psyche. On this week's show, we celebrate the complexity and craftsmanship of Japanese drinking culture.We begin with Christopher Pellegrini, longtime homebrewer, Honkaku Spirits founder, and author of The Shochu Handbook. Originally from Vermont, Christopher now lives in Tokyo, where he has become a Japanese spirit evangelist. He introduces us to shochu, one of Japan's most popular distilled spirits, and one of the best-kept secrets everywhere else.Next, we hear Stephen Lyman, author of the James Beard-nominated book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks. Stephen recounts the intriguing history of Takamine koji whisky, and the remarkable 19th-century Japanese chemist whose work inspired it.Finally, in Japan, drinks are always accompanied by snacks, often in a bar and eatery called an izakaya. Restaurateur Jackie Blanchard drops by to explain how a Cajun girl raised on Bayou Lafourche ended up crossing the world to open Sukeban, an authentic izakaya, right here on Oak Street the Crescent City.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Who taught you how to cook? Perhaps it was a favorite family member or Julia Child on public television. Maybe you devour cookbooks on the weekend just for fun. The education of a professional chef can be just varied – be it a formal degree or on-the-job training. On this week's show, we explore culinary learning.We begin at one of Louisiana's educational treasures, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To mark this milestone, we revisit our trip to the school's Marigny neighborhood campus. There, chefs Emeril Lagasse and Dana D'Anzi Tuohy explain the origins of NOCCA's celebrated Culinary Arts program.Then, chef and cooking school director Dee Lavigne talks with us about African American chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard. By the 1940s, Richard had become the Crescent City's premier caterer, educator, and the first local TV food personality.Finally, we look outside of the state to learn how Anne Willan achieved legendary success on both sides of the pond. Founder of the prestigious La Varenne Cooking School, which operated in Paris and Burgundy, France from 1975 until 2007, Anne's also a prolific author whose award-winning cookbooks are available in 35 different languages.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $500,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together.Then, we speak with culinary historian Gerald Patout, whose lifelong obsession with cookbooks led him to uncover a nearly forgotten tome: "The Lafayette Cookbook." As Gerald explains to us, there's really nothing typically Cajun in the century-old recipe collection. Due to his efforts, the book has been reprinted, and is now available to order via UL Press or First United Methodist Church of Downtown Lafayette.Finally, historian Miki Pfeffer joins us with tales of New Orleans' own Grace King, whose life spanned the period from before the Civil War to the Great Depression. She describes how this celebrated literary figure relished the art of dining and had a lifelong fascination with food. Miki's latest book is "A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain’s Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns."For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
As we creep closer to October 31, Louisiana Eats is getting into the spooky spirit with our annual Halloween episode. This year, we've cooked up some pretty delicious and unsettling tales for you!We begin with culinary historian Sarah Lohman who travels back in time to share the earliest food traditions surrounding death. Sarah tells us stories of the funeral fare that gives a whole new meaning to being close with one's family.Next, we bring you to Slidell, where during an interview taping in August the Louisiana Eats crew experienced a haunting – right in the middle of the day – at Palmettos on the Bayou. Executive chef Ross Dover and owner Duffy Ramirez tell us about the restaurant's poltergeists, whom they lovingly refer to as "the Baseball Kids."Then, we're joined by bartenders Kelsey Ramage and Erin Hayes, whose love of Halloween led them to what is now an international pop-up bar experience called Black Lagoon. Fittingly, their story all begins right here at the Dungeon in New Orleans' French Quarter.Finally, we go after grandma's long lost potato salad recipe with the help of Mary Ann Winkowski, author of Beyond Delicious: The Ghost Whisperer's Cookbook.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The way we eat and talk about food is linked to our individual and collective identities. On this week's show, we look at the origins of some of our favorite foods and common misconceptions about them.We begin with journalist and food historian Lolis Eric Elie who discusses his journey to uncover the true origins of New Orleans' Creole food, along with the often-overlooked African contributions.Then, James Beard award-winning author Anya von Bremzen explores the fascinating journey some foods have taken before becoming recognized as a dish that represents a country. Her new book, National Dish, explores how history, culture, colonialism, race, and even politics can play a part in this complex story.Finally, we meet playwright and stage director Eva Doumbia. Her performance piece, Autophagies (Self-Eaters), which was performed in New Orleans in March, explores food history, its colonial legacies, and human cost. Eva joined us in our studio, along with interpreter Amelia Parenteau.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Less than an hour's drive from New Orleans' French Quarter, Baton Rouge, and Mississippi's Gulf Coast is Lake Pontchartrain's Northshore. The charming towns of Madisonville, Mandeville, and Abita Springs are filled with hospitality and delicious dining opportunities. On this week's show, we cross the Causeway to visit our Northshore neighbors.We begin at the Covington Farmers Market, which is widely considered to be one of the best markets in the state. We hear from market founder Bo Gallup and a pair of indomitable sisters – Jan Biggs and Ann McKenzie Mellon – who have kept the market rolling for decades.Then, we go just a handful of blocks over to Covington's main drag, where Torre and David Solazzo's Del Porto Ristorante and their casual gastropub, The Greyhound, are bringing big, new flavors to the city's diners.Finally, we head a bit further north to the rural town of Bush, Louisiana, where Ross McKnight and his family have cracked the code on true, American-made foie gras at Backwater Farmstead.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
For more than twenty years, Torre and David Solazzo have crafted an idyllic small-town life while bringing big, new flavors to Covington diners – first, at their fine-dining establishment, Del Porto Ristorante, and more recently at their gastropub, The Greyhound. David and Torre are both professionally trained chefs whose romance began in 1999, when they worked side-by-side on the line at Tra Vigne, one of Northern California's most prestigious restaurants at the time.We sat down together in our Louisiana Eats studios to hear the full story of how two of the Northshore's favorite restaurants came to be. The whole family gets in on the act – even the Solazzos' only child, 11-year-old Evelyn – who seems to love the restaurant business as much as Mom and Dad.
To write a cookbook, a good author will go to great lengths to perfect a recipe or understand a cuisine. On this week's show, we meet four food writers who are driven by a deep culinary curiosity. You may know Melissa Clark from her weekly column in the New York Times food section or from one of her 45-odd published cookbooks. We join Melissa in the studio to discuss the art of recipe-making to find out what led the prolific author to a life in food.We also speak with Vicky Bennison, the creator of the YouTube sensation, Pasta Grannies. The series takes Vicky across Italy into the kitchens of everyday women preparing the signature dish in every possible way. We learn about the British native's book of the same name, and learn what led her to chronicle Italy's aging home cooks.After years of interviewing an impressive array of American culinary talent for his podcast Flavors Unknown, Emmanuel Laroche compiled these dialogues for his new book, "Conversations Behind The Kitchen Door." The French-born Emmanuel shares with us what he discovered about our nation's food culture today.Finally, Alabama-born expat Marti Buckley takes us to Spain's Basque region, which she explores in her cookbook "Basque Country." We learn why the culture and cuisine of the Basque people enticed Marti to abandon her Southern roots for a decidedly different kind of life.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
There's a mouthful of memories in every family – especially if your family is in the food biz! On this week's show, we hear from New Orleanians whose parents and grandparents gave them a passion for food and a love for their community.We begin with writer and philanthropist Randy Fertel, whose 2011 memoir, The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak, tells the story of his larger-than-life parents. His mother, Ruth U. Fertel, founded Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, now a worldwide establishment, right here in the Crescent City.Then, we learn about New Orleans' famous muffuletta sandwich, which is said to have been invented at Central Grocery, the Italian deli established in the French Quarter in 1906. We bring you an oral history from NOLA Life Stories, in which third-generation owner Salvatore "Tommy" Tusa describes the evolution of this family business, as told to Mark Cave of the Historic New Orleans Collection.And finally, we get the story of Barrow's Catfish, which has been a cornerstone of the Hollygrove neighborhood since 1943. Deirdre Barrow Johnson and her husband, Kenneth discuss their family's legacy – one that began with a fried catfish sandwich sold from Deirdre's grandfather's barroom door.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Businesses open. Businesses close. But some businesses manage to recover from calamities of biblical proportions. On this week's show, we learn what it takes to rebuild a beloved brand after a long hiatus.First, we hear from Drew Ramsey, whose family has run Hubig's, makers of New Orleans' favorite hand pies for three generations. At least they did, until a fire destroyed their factory in 2012. But like a fried phoenix rising from the ashes, Hubig's is back in business after a 10-year absence.And 17 years after Hurricane Katrina nearly ended his family's legacy, Vance Vaucresson has returned three generations of sausage-making traditions back to the Seventh Ward. We learn about the struggles Vaucresson Sausage Company faced before and after the storm and its long road to recovery.Not only are the Vaucressons back, but they're growing! Julie Vaucresson – the Creole Sausage Queen herself – reveals the story of how their new mustard line came to join their family's revered brand.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In today’s society, meat often gets a bad rap. But this week, we speak with three people who find great beauty in the art of the butcher, the finger-licking taste of barbecue, and even the usefulness of wild hogs.First, Chef Matt Moore chats about his latest cookbook, Butcher on the Block, which is chock full of over 125 recipes for grilling and barbecue. The volume also offers a butchering primer for at-home cooks, as well as a personal introduction to the butchers behind the recipes.Next, Pitmaster Ryan Mitchell, son of barbecue legend Ed Mitchell, talks about the nearly forgotten craft of whole-hog barbecue and his family’s barbecue legacy. It's documented along with some award-winning recipes in the father and son's first cookbook, Ed Mitchell's Barbeque.Finally, Julie Grunewald, executive director of Hunters for the Hungry, joins us to explain how local sportsmen are using wild game to feed those in need.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Every Saturday morning, the Covington Farmers Market delivers a delicious dose of family fun in the heart of the city’s downtown. Farmers, chefs, musicians, and foodies come together to celebrate the bounty that is Louisiana food. Widely considered to be one of the best markets in the state, it is also one of the oldest.Founded in the mid-1990s, long before the farm-to-table craze began, the market was hardly an overnight success. It took years of hard work from countless people. On this podcast, we speak with three individuals who were instrumental in getting the Covington Farmers Market off the ground and shaping it into what it is today: Bo Gallup, Jan Biggs, and Ann McKenzie Mellon.
New Orleans chefs Susan Spicer and Frank Brigtsen are both culinary icons. They are also back-to-back recipients of the coveted Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award, presented each year by the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience: Frank was recognized in 2022; Susan received the 2023 award in January at a gala celebration at The Four Seasons Hotel.On this week's show, we sit down with both honorees – who each have culinary careers spanning over 40 years – to learn about their successes and the challenges they overcame to become the legends they are today.We begin with Chef Susan Spicer. Back in 1998, The New York Times named Susan the “Quiet Star of New Orleans.” 25 years later, she remains one of the city’s most celebrated culinary figures, showcasing her talents at the helm of such restaurants as Bayona and Rosedale. Susan reflects on a career of accomplishments.And how do you create a life's legacy? If you've ever had a bite of Chef Frank Brigtsen's authentic Creole cooking, you've tasted it. From 1978 through the early ’80s, Chef Frank earned his culinary stripes in the kitchens of Commander's Palace and K-Paul's, working under the watchful eye of Paul Prudhomme. Building on those years of apprenticeship, in 1986, he opened Brigtsen's Restaurant to local and national critical acclaim. The legendary New Orleans chef looks back at his 50-year career in hospitality.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Commander's Palace has been a New Orleans culinary landmark since it first opened in the city's Garden District in 1893. Once Ella Brennan and her family took It over in the 1970s, it became an international sensation, elevating Louisiana cuisine and launching the careers of chefs Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. On this week's show, we celebrate 130 years of Commander's Palace by dipping into our archives to bring you Commander's stories past and present.We begin with the restaurant's Executive Chef Meg Bickford, the first female in 127 years to burst through the gender barrier and command the historic kitchen. There's an awful lot of talent and power in that tiny little frame.Then, we hear from Lally Brennan and Ti Martin, the ladies who have been at the helm of Commander's for over two decades. They discuss their relationship with the institution and share their experiences growing up as members of one of New Orleans' most famous restaurant families.Finally, Dickie Brennan shares memories of the early days of Commander's Palace, and how his dad, Dick Brennan, both invented the iconic jazz brunch and dreamt up some of the restaurant's most famous dishes.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Many chefs spend their entire careers content to run a single restaurant. But others have a different vision – one that encompasses multiple locations or even various kinds of eateries. This week, we take a look at three such New Orleans restaurateurs and find out how they've gone about building their culinary empires.
We begin with Chef Aaron Burgau, who opened his first restaurant, Patois, in 2007. Since then, he’s opened or acquired four more dining spots – each one completely different than the last. Aaron shares the secrets to his success.
Next, restaurateur Greg Tillery recalls the leap of faith that led him to buy a food truck, where he learned, through trial and error, how to run a business. He explains to us how those efforts led to his We Dat's Chicken and Shrimp, with locations now in three different states – and even a seasoning line.
Finally, we look back at one of New Orleans’ most colorful culinary characters – the late Al Copeland, who founded the Popeyes fried chicken empire. This kitchen-rags-to-chicken-riches story is the subject of the book Secrets of a Tastemaker. Al Copeland, Jr. joins us to discuss his father's life – from his humble beginnings and through its highs and lows.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Barely thirty minutes northeast of New Orleans, you'll find a thriving, world class culinary scene in Slidell, Louisiana. For over 20 years now, Duffy Ramirez has paved the fine dining path at Palmettos on the Bayou. Beginning with a century-old homestead, Duffy expanded and grew his restaurant from the original 40 seats to today's capacity for up to 400 without ever losing the intimate feel of Palmettos' original cottage. When executive chef Ross Dover took the reins in Palmettos' kitchen, the operation took a serious step up. We sat down in the restaurant's dining room for two conversations: first with Chef Ross and then with Duffy to learn more about the special spot along the bayou.
Fine china and crystal, earthenware and artisan glassware – it doesn’t matter what you have – it can all be transformed into a personal expression of your welcoming hospitality. On this week's show, we speak with some of the nation's finest tableware experts for an education and some inspiration.
First, we chat with Susan Gravely, founder of Vietri, the lifestyle company that has brightened American tables with artisan-crafted Italian dinnerware for the past 40 years. Susan discusses her life lessons in setting a stylish table and the book she penned to celebrate Vietri's anniversary – Italy on a Plate.
Then, John Stuart Gordon offers his thoughts on the role silver flatware played in the dining rituals of the 19th century. John has the unique honor of curating American decorative arts at the Yale University Art Gallery, creating for himself the perfect marriage of passion and career.
Finally, we hear from Antiques Roadshow appraiser Nick Dawes. Nick's expertise gives him a remarkable view into the lives of people and their ancestors through the relics that they bring to the PBS show. His visit to the Historic New Orleans Collection's Antiques Forum gave us the opportunity to tap his vast knowledge of ceramics and glass.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Alcohol in almost any form is one of the oldest medicines known to man. On this week's show, we explore the world of high proof healing. We start with Camper English, author of Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails. Camper covers everything from mystic botanicals and their monastic apothecary origins to the unusual relationship between syphilis and root beer.
The conversation continues with Noah Rothbaum, who expounds on curatives that found their way from the medicine cabinet to the liquor cabinet.
And then of course, there was that troublesome period known as Prohibition. That's when the apothecary filled your prescription for alcohol and soda fountains became commonplace at the pharmacy. Darcy O’Neil joins us for a conversation that may have you rethinking what you knew about the soda fountain.
Finally, we visit Poppy's personal apothecary on the corner. Stephanie Haeberlin of Art Farm creates all sorts of healing and beauty products that originate in her garden on Canal Boulevard in New Orleans.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Every year, thousands of tourists touch down at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong airport expecting to partake in an unforgettable culinary experience. With no shortage of places to drink and dine, the first question visitors often ask is: "Where do locals go?" On this week's show, we explore neighborhood spots that have a strong local following in the Crescent City. We begin with Morning Call, a coffee and beignet shop with over 150 years of local history. Co-owner Bob Hennessey talks with us about the beloved café that opens early and closes late on the edge of Mid-City. Then, we visit local institution Juan's Flying Burrito. A quarter century ago, founder Warren Chapoton saw a lot of fine-dining restaurants and funky dives in New Orleans, but nothing in between. He and co-owner Jay Morris explain how their "punk rock burrito shop" got off the ground and expanded across the city.
We also make our way over to popular Bywater restaurant Pizza Delicious – a place regulars call Pizza D. Co-owner Michael Friedman talks with us about the hot spot, which he opened in 2015 with Greg Augarten.
Finally, we join Geoffrey Meeker, owner of French Truck Coffee. It took only one cup of coffee from San Francisco to inspire him to become a New Orleans coffee purveyor. Now, Geoffrey and his team are at the vanguard of what is often characterized as the "third wave" coffee movement. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The restaurant landscape in America is rapidly changing. The pandemic gave a lot of people time to rethink, retool, and redo the way the industry works. On this week's show, we speak with young chefs and restaurateurs who are changing the rules and reshaping culinary culture.
We begin with Chef Mason Hereford, who has earned a reputation for his creative approach to dining, transforming everyday ingredients into sublime dishes. With the emergence of each eatery he has opened since his first successful venture, Turkey and the Wolf, Mason has also broken new ground in his approach to management and restaurant culture.
Then, Chef Serigne Mbaye discusses his approach to operating his fine dining establishment, Dakar NOLA. Serigne is among a growing number of chefs here and around the country who are finding that serving a seasonal tasting menu translates to a better experience for both the restaurant's guests and staff.
And when it comes to rethinking everything, Saint Germain has got it going on. After years of working in the industry, co-chefs Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith and general manager Drew Delaughter set out to run a restaurant their way. The trio offers a 10-course tasting menu to a small number of diners at a time in their renovated shotgun house.
Finally, we travel across the Causeway to meet Anna Watkins and Amanda Birdsong, the dynamic duo currently causing a stir in downtown Covington at Cured on Columbia.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Each July, Tales of the Cocktail draws tipplers from across the globe to New Orleans for a week-long celebration of cocktails and mixology. On this week's show, we get into the spirit of the event with world-renowned cocktailians who have made a big splash in the cocktail world.
At the turn of the 21st century, bartenders began to discover the old ways of mixing drinks and the craft cocktail revolution was ignited. David Wondrich was at the center of that movement. David tells us about those early days and his accidental debut as a cocktail writer.
Then, Robert Simonson, called "our man in the liquor-soaked trenches," by the New York Times, discusses the role New Orleans has played in the decline and revival of craft cocktails. He also tells us about his acclaimed book, The Old-Fashioned, which is devoted exclusively to the lore and legacy of an iconic drink.
Finally, we speak with a man who's got whiskey in his blood: Bulleit Bourbon founder Tom Bulleit. He explains what propelled him to bite the bullet and pursue a full-time career in whiskey.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Peanut butter and jelly. Onions, bell peppers, and celery. The food world is filled with dynamic duos and terrific trios. On this week's show, we meet spouses, siblings, and close friends whose bonds have been deepened by their love of food, drink, and music.
We begin with the popular New Orleans pop-up Chance in Hell Snoballs where owners Kitten N' Lou craft all their flavors with local ingredients and combinations you may have never heard of before. When they're not making snoballs, the married couple are drag and cabaret performers, gracing the world's stages with their popular burlesque shows. So how did they come to start a snoball stand on their Bywater porch? Kitten N' Lou tell us the story.
Then, we meet two New Orleans brothers and their childhood next-door neighbor whose lifelong friendships have often intersected with their shared passions for music and food. Marc Ardoin, Rouses Freret Street Market Manager, sits down with us along with Chef Alfredo "Fredo" Nogueira of Vals (also on Freret Street) and Fredo's little brother, WDSU Marketing Exec, Juan Nogueira.
Finally, we have a conversation with Ray and B.J. Bordelon, whose extensive collection of absinthe antiques and accouterments is on display at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. The Brothers Bordelon give us some insight into their obsession and show us some unique pieces of memorabilia that make up the exhibit.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
New Orleans is a melting pot of cultures, music, and – of course – food. On this week's show, we explore some international flavors found in our own backyard. We begin with Merritt Coscia and Tyler Stuart of Plume Algiers. Although neither of the American-born-and-bred pair have any Indian heritage in their backgrounds, they became captivated by the culture and flavors of India when traveling across the subcontinent. The couple's passion for regional Indian cuisine is on display at their restaurant Plume Algiers on New Orleans' Westbank. Merritt and Tyler join us in the studio to talk about their restaurant and the travels that inspired it.
Passion is certainly the driver behind Abigayle Rhode-Pausina's work. The New Orleans native has taken her cultural exploration to Lebanon and beyond, but has most recently concentrated her efforts on the Lebanese and Syrian families who have called the Crescent City home for generations. We sit down with Abigayle to discuss her new exhibit at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum called "A Syrian-Lebanese American Kitchen."
Finally, Chinese food continues to be a favorite both locally and across America. In her food blog, Omnivore's Cookbook, Maggie Zhu writes about modern Chinese cooking, Asian-inspired dishes, and classic recipes designed for the Western home chef. For her first cookbook, "Chinese Homestyle," Maggie narrows her focus to plant-based dishes. She speaks with us about the book and shares some tips that are as simple as they are delicious.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we look at agriculture and innovation in our state and beyond. We begin with New Orleans' native son Richard McCarthy, founder of the Crescent City Farmers Market and former executive director of Slow Food USA. The activist recently published a book entitled, Kuni: A Japanese Vision and Practice for Urban-Rural Reconnection. Richard shares the revolutionary ideas and practices his co-author Tsuyoshi Sekihara is using to save rural areas that were abandoned in postwar Japan.
Then, we get an up close look at Louisiana's rice production with expert Steve Linscombe. Steve currently serves as director of the Rice Foundation, but for most of his career, he was instrumental in innovating Louisiana’s rice varieties and cultivation.
Finally, we learn about Nourish Louisiana, a state-funded food purchase program that buys food from local farmers from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and feeds communities that need it most. We speak with two of the program's partners: Natalie Jayroe of Second Harvest Food Bank and Margee Green of Sprout NOLA.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
New Orleanians have always loved to cook and to share what they've made with others. So it makes sense that as soon as there was television, there was a Crescent City chef on the screen spreading the good news of New Orleans food. The first was an African American cooking star named Lena Richard, who made her TV debut on WDSU-TV in 1949. Fast forward to today, and it’s tough to tune in to any cooking show and not see a familiar face. This week, three local chefs walk us through the fun and the frenzy of their television encounters.
We begin with Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf and Molly's Rise and Shine, who talks about his experience in the lauded Iron Chef competition as well as his popular appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. More recently, Mason took part in another media adventure and host Poppy Tooker went along for the ride.
Next, chef and YouTube star Toya Boudy explains the strategies she used when making her rounds on cooking competition shows. Toya talks about her life and mission, which she talks about in her first cookbook, Cooking for the Culture: Recipes and Stories from the Streets of New Orleans to the Table.
Finally, Chef Kevin Belton tells of his journey from a child growing up in New Orleans to cooking show host on PBS affiliate WYES and WWL-TV.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From beignets to poor boys, gumbo to jambalaya, and crawfish to boudin, Louisiana’s cuisine is as eclectic as it is delectable. On this week’s show, we explore our state’s rich food culture, based on centuries of Creole and Cajun traditions.
We begin with New Orleans native and Southern Food & Beverage Museum founder Liz Williams. She spent many years researching her award-winning book New Orleans: A Food Biography, which would go on to be selected for the One Book One New Orleans program during the city’s tricentennial year. Liz explores the roles history, geography, and economics played in shaping the Crescent City’s distinct culinary identity.
Then, we take a close-up look at Louisiana’s most emblematic foods with author Maggie Heyn Richardson, author of Hungry for Louisiana. Maggie tells us about red boudin and why it's in danger of disappearing from our state.
Finally, we stir our appetite for roux, rice, and gumbo with The Essential Louisiana Cookbook author Stanley Dry.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In her book, To Boldly Grow, author Tamar Haspel uses the term "first-hand food" to describe anything you get with your own two hands – meals we grow, fish, hunt, or even forage. According to the Washington Post food columnist, growing and sourcing your own food just makes it taste better. On this week's show, we get our hands dirty and meet some people who have a passion for the great outdoors.
Before Tamar shares her wisdom with us, we learn what the buzz is about at New Orleans' Audubon Zoo. While more exotic creatures may be what draw the crowds, both native and European honey bees can be found bumbling around the zoo's grounds. Curator Dominique Fleitas gives us a tour of the Pollinator Garden and shows us the hives she helps maintain in the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit.
We also tell you about the strange history of hippos in Louisiana and meet Danlyn Brennan, who has spent her life foraging wild edibles. Her passion for wild craft is clear yet complicated by a desire to keep her methods and locations hidden.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On Columbia Street in the heart of downtown Covington, you'll find Cured. on Columbia – a culinary venture that doesn’t fall neatly into a traditional category. It's part coffee house and part pub, with a changing menu that includes everything from sandwiches and soups to cheese and charcuterie boards. It's perhaps better defined by its vibe. Cured. on Columbia is a sunny, lively space that embraces guests as they are and gives them a place to kick up their heels and hang out – anytime from morning coffee to cocktails after work.
Co-owners Amanda Birdsong and Anna Watkins joined us in their back garden to talk about their community-based business – a place some locals have described as "Covington's living room."
Since 2021, June 19th – or Juneteenth as it's popularly known – has been a federal holiday commemorating the end of enslavement in the United States. On this week's show, we celebrate the day with a trio of African American chefs who discuss the inspiration they draw from their spiritual ancestors.First, we hear from Chef Serigne Mbaye of Dakar NOLA about his plans for a grand Juneteenth feast in honor of the holiday. Next, Chef Ashbell McElveen tells the fascinating story of James Hemings, the enslaved man who was the founding father of American fine dining.And finally, chef and cooking school director Dee Lavigne talks with us about African American chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard, who, by the 1940s, had become the Crescent City's premier caterer, a renowned cookbook author, and the first TV food personality.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From the front of the house to the back, across Louisiana and the entire country, there is a substance abuse problem in bars and restaurants. On this week's show, we speak with Will Arendell, a renowned substance abuse counselor, who demystifies the psychology and physiology of addiction.We then meet two New Orleanians who have overcome a host of challenges to find success in food. Sam Caruso had struggled with drugs and alcohol for years before forging a new path for himself with Laozi Ice Cream. His French-style custard is a local favorite, which he sells out of the back of Blue Dot Donuts in Mid-City.For Martha Gilreath, her pop-up bakery Nolita represented a fresh start. In 2022, Martha met Sam in the rooms of recovery. That year, Sam invited Martha to sell king cakes from his Mid-City location. Months later, she was named executive chef at The Chicory House in New Orleans’ Garden District. Martha joined us in the studio to tell us about her journey.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we’re trekking across the Causeway once again to explore the culinary scene in St. Tammany Parish. We begin at Backwater Farmstead in the rural town of Bush, Louisiana. There, Ross McKnight and his family make foie gras, a luxury food they hope to make more accessible in our state. After we tour the farm, we head over Olde Town Slidell to meet Jeremy and Alyssa Reilly of Restaurant Cote and the Maple Room. These high school sweethearts have carved out a very special place in the hearts and stomachs of the Slidell community for nearly 10 years. We then speak with Nick Asprodites, the proprietor of two dockside restaurants and bars: the original Blue Crab on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain and a second iteration at the Pointe Marina in Slidell. Finally, we meet Chef Jeff Mattia. Jeff opened his first restaurant, Pyre Provisions, in Covington just months before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Though Pyre Provisions closed its doors this year, Jeff has found continued success in his newest restaurant concept, Pyre BBQ on the Mandeville Trace.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Whether it's the most elegant wedding reception or a simple family birthday party, no celebration is complete without a cake. On this week's show, we explore this delicious dessert in all its glory.First, we sit down with Charlotte McGehee, the alter ego of Debbie Does Doberge, to find out how she's given the traditional New Orleans doberge cake a 21st century makeover.Next, James Beard Award–winning author Aleksandra Crapanzano lets us in on the sumptuous secrets of Parisian home bakers found in her book, Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes.And finally, the Cake Mix Doctor is in the house. Anne Byrn's book American Cake takes readers back to the origins of baking in America. From birthday cakes to wedding cakes, Anne has the history behind each delicious layer.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In many places, the cocktail hour is an honored – even sacred – tradition. And in few places is that more true than New Orleans. On this week's show, we explore the fascinating evolution of cocktail culture in the Big Easy – its past, present and future.We begin with craft cocktail master Neal Bodenheimer. Neal, who opened Freret Street bar Cure in 2009, traces the city's long love affair with concocted libations in his James Beard-nominated book, Cure: New Orleans Drinks And How To Mix 'Em.Next, we swing over to Gravier Street to join flavorist Christa Cotton on a tour of her El Guapo factory where she creates her internationally award-winning bitters and much-loved cocktail mixers.Finally, we sit down with T. Cole Newton, one of New Orleans' premiere bartenders and bar owners. His book, Cocktail Dive Bar, not only shares recipes from his famed Mid-City hangout Twelve Mile Limit, but also imparts plenty of thoughtful wisdom Cole has garnered from over a decade in business.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In 1941, Emily and Dooky Chase, Sr. opened Dooky Chase Restaurant, a sandwich shop on Orleans Avenue in New Orleans. Five years later, a young girl from Madisonville, Louisiana married Emily and Dooky's son, big band leader Edgar "Dooky" Chase, Jr. Under Leah's leadership, the simple shop grew into one of the first African American fine dining restaurants in the country – the place where Leah Chase established herself as the Queen of Creole Cuisine. Since her passing in 2019, Leah's legacy lies in the hands of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.Now, that crew, which Leah always referred to as "the grands," are debuting their own TV series, produced locally by WYES-TV and airing on PBS affiliates throughout the country. For this momentous occasion, we sat down with the younger generations at the restaurant during the taping of "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy." On this week's show, we hear not only those young, ambitious voices, but we've dug into our archives to bring you material that never previously aired from the late, great Leah herself.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Do you have a favorite hot spot where your family has gathered for generations? Is it still there? Sadly, when it comes to Black-owned bars and lounges, many have been disappearing from local landscapes – often without fanfare or mention. New Orleans native L. Kasimu Harris has watched with dismay as many of these vital Black establishments have closed their doors in recent years. Since 2018, he has been documenting those that remain, capturing photos and oral histories as part of his ongoing series, "Vanishing Black Bars & Lounges." He joins us to talk about the project.Then, we speak with Touré Folkes of Turning Tables. Touré is working tirelessly to bring diversity to New Orleans' bar scene by providing Black professionals with training, mentorship, and the resources they need to access real opportunity.Finally, our dear friend, Vance Vaucresson, is back with big news! After nearly two decades, Vance and his wife Julie are thrilled to be opening Vaucresson's Creole Cafe & Deli in New Orleans' Seventh Ward – where the family had a business and was a vital part of the community since the late 1800s.
On March 17th, 2023, the Dickie Brennan restaurant group purchased the 110-year-old Uptown landmark, Pascal's Manale Restaurant. This new chapter of Manale's guarantees that generations of beloved, delicious authentic traditions will continue to be honored there on Napoleon Avenue. On this week's show, we explore the generational ties that have long existed between Pascal's family – the Defelices – and the Brennan family.We also time travel through the years of the Uptown gem. This history, which has been immortalized in Poppy's 2018 book, The Pascal's Manale Cookbook, focuses on two Sicilian immigrant families, the Manales and the Radostas, forebearers of the Defelice clan. Three generations of family share their stories with us.We also visit Manale's oyster bar for a once-in-a-lifetime shucking experience with celebrity oyster shucker "Uptown T" Thomas Stewart.
Whether you’re observing Easter, Passover, or any of the springtime traditions from across the world, there's a good chance that sugar will play a part of your celebrations. On this week's show, we pay tribute to that beloved sweetener in many ways.First, we learn about Leon Godchaux, Louisiana's own titan of the sugar industry in the 19th century. His rags-to-riches story comes to life in Peter Wolf's new book, The Sugar King: Leon Godchaux, A New Orleans Legend, His Creole Slave and His Jewish Roots. Peter, who is Godchaux's great-great-grandson, tells us how this poor, illiterate Jewish immigrant built a business empire with his innovative spirit.Then, we tour the century plus old Domino Sugar Refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana – the largest and oldest facility of its type in all the Americas. Every day, the installation processes millions of pounds of raw sugar, turning it into those white crystals you find at your grocery store.Finally, we visit the Easter bunny’s best friend, Elmer's Chocolate in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. If you grew up in the Gulf South, there's a good chance your Easter basket was filled with treats from Elmer’s Chocolate – our state's very own heritage candy company. We tour the factory where Elmer’s prized Gold Bricks, Pecan Eggs, and Heavenly Hash are made. Heavenly Hash is currently celebrating its 100th year.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Want some plants to go with that coffee? On a sunny corner of Olde Town Slidell, Roots Plants and Coffee is keeping the Northshore caffeinated along with views of some tropical greenery. Located in a former antique mall, the cozy café is filled with vintage furniture, warm vibes, and those unique plants available for purchase. On a busy weekday morning, Louisiana Eats stopped by Roots Plants and Coffee to share a cup of java with owner Bryisha Lyons.
Historically, when people consider the roots of classic Creole food, the French are given most of the credit. But lately there has been increasing focus on the African hand that stirred those pots. New Orleans has been blessed in recent years with an influx of young African chefs and restaurateurs who have been busy shedding new light on where our food really came from. On this week's show, we honor those ancestors with the help of New Orleans’ new African culinary guard.From Addis NOLA, we hear from Dr. Biruk Alemayehu and Prince Lobo, the mother-and-son team bringing their authentic Ethiopian dining experience to historic Bayou Road. That includes injera bread and honey wine that have been served in the Horn of Africa for thousands of years.Then, West African chef Fanta Tambajang recounts the journey from her home in Gambia to her French Quarter restaurant Bennachin. You may already know and love her classic jama jama and fried plantains from the Jazz Fest where Fanta has been a sensation for decades.Finally, Queen Ndir describes the genesis of her popular Central City eatery, Ndindy African Cuisine, where the primarily Senegalese menu also features dishes from Ghana, Nigeria, and even Jamaica.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
What does family mean to you? For the folks on this week's show, when it comes to food, family means everything. NOCCA Culinary Arts student and Chopped Junior champion Retiba Hagazzi is a perfect example of that. The bright, ambitious teenager learned how to love people through food from her father, Khalid. They share that love with the world every time their food truck, Sittoo's Kitchen pulls up. They join us in the studio to share their story. Jarred Zeringue of Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse perpetuates generational old food love at the LaPlace landmark. When the Vacherie-born chef acquired the business in 2016, he made sure to keep the Jacob's family recipes authentic, in part because of the vital role they played in his own family’s food traditions. We talk with him about the smokehouse and his new book, Southern and Smoked: Cajun Cooking through the Seasons.Finally, we speak with keepers of the Poor Boy flame, John and his son Jason Gendusa. The Gendusa family bakery has been inextricably tied to that famous New Orleans sandwich since 1929. We’re celebrating their bakery's centennial by hearing the story of how it all began.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
March 19th might be just another day in other parts of the United States, but here in New Orleans it's a day when revelers take to the streets in honor of the Feast of St. Joseph. The tradition of food altars dedicated to Jesus' foster father came to the Crescent City in the late 1800s with immigrants from Sicily, where Joseph is the patron saint. What was called Mi-Carême (or Mid-Lent by the Creoles) was a day when fasting was suspended and festivities abounded. On this week's show, we explore the holiday and join in on the celebration.Tony Marino's family were faithful followers of St. Joseph, and today, he keeps the tradition alive at his Bourbon Street home in New Orleans' French Quarter. We sit down with Tony to hear what it takes to pull off his annual street party, complete with altars and a life-sized statue of St. Joseph.Then, Arthur Brocato, third generation of Angelo Brocato's Ice Cream and Confectionary, joins us to share his family's history and explain the special role Brocato's has played in the St. Joseph's Day celebration. Founded in the French Quarter in 1905, the gelateria and pasticceria continues those traditions today on Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City.Finally, historian Laura Guccione joins us to reveal what she's discovered about the fancy dress balls that were once part of the St. Joseph tradition and to explain the mystical tie between the feast day and the Mardi Gras Indians.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we explore the ways culture and identity can collide at the table. We begin the hour with a conversation with Andrea Wang, author of the award-winning picture book, Watercress. With illustrations by Jason Chin, Andrea's book is an autobiographical tale of a child of Chinese immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage.Then, we speak with New Orleanian Christina Quackenbush of the Filipino food pop-up Milkfish. Christina was born in the Philippines and raised in Indiana farm country before finding a career in food. She tells us about her contribution to The New Filipino Kitchen, a collection of 30 recipes and stories from chefs and home cooks of the Filipino diaspora.Finally, we hear the story of Turkish natives Ozgur and Bulent Duman and their Mandeville restaurant, Duman Artisan Kitchen. Influenced by Turkish, Italian, Israeli, and American cooking, the Dumans have cultivated an eclectic menu the likes of which have not been seen on the Northshore before.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Ask any New Orleanian what they eat on Mondays, and you'll likely get the same reply: "red beans and rice." For 100 years now, that humble bean has been practically synonymous with Camellia Brand. Lucius Hayward founded Camellia in the Crescent City in 1923, naming the company for his wife's favorite flower. Over the last century, generations of New Orleanians have showered much love and devotion on that dried kidney bean, but as you'll learn on this week’s show, it has been far from a one-sided love affair. Vince Hayward and the entire fourth generation of Camellia Beans have devoted their centennial year to showing the Big Easy how much they love those bean eaters back.Over the course of their centennial year, Camellia will be donating one million bowls of beans to Second Harvest Food Bank. To learn more about this year-long partnership, we speak with Second Harvest's President and CEO, Natalie Jayroe.Next, we dig into the Monday red beans tradition with Vince Hayward of Camellia Beans. He gives us a tour of Camellia's "Red Bean City" exhibit at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and offers us a unique perspective on his family business.We also speak with Jamie Warrick, the Research and Development Chef for L.H. Hayward & Company. Camellia Beans is just one of the food businesses that operate under the L.H. Hayward banner, but Chef Jamie explains to us how her relationship with Camellia was established long before she got the job.Finally, we hear from Chef Chris Lusk of Antoine's Restaurant, the oldest continuously operating family-owned restaurant in the nation. He explains the role red beans play in one of the finest old Creole restaurants in New Orleans.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Where are you from? While what we eat may reveal our origins, it can also reflect our life's travels from one home to another. Chef Anh Luu was born in New Orleans to parents who emigrated to the United States from Vietnam. She discovered her love of restaurants at the age of 15 when she first began working the line. When Katrina blew Anh and her family to Portland, Oregon, she became a pioneer of Viet-Cajun cuisine – an amalgamation of her Vietnamese and Louisiana heritage. She's now back in New Orleans, serving up her signature dishes at Bywater Brew Pub.Vishwesh Bhatt discovered an incredible commonality between the Indian food of his childhood in Gujarat and the Southern cuisine he came to love in Oxford, Mississippi – a topic he explores in his new book, I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we continue our exploration of all things king cake. Throughout Carnival season, local bakers are hard at work creating their own spin on the treat – one that can make or break their year. When Steve Himelfarb and his wife Becky Retz opened Cake Café, they set out to develop their own signature cake – a delicious combo of apple and goat cheese that has outlasted the bakery itself. We catch up with Steve at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) where his king cake has become an annual fundraising traditionThen, we conclude our two-part conversation with Matt Haines, author of "The Big Book of King Cake" – a definitive king cake bible. We explore the countless varieties of king cakes from across the state and the bakers behind each innovation.We also meet king cake baker extraordinaire Dominique Rizzo of Celtica Bakery. Like his popular baguettes and croissants, Dominique's authentic French galette des rois is a game changer in New Orleans.Finally, we countdown to Fat Tuesday with writer Sally Asher and illustrator Melissa Vandiver. They introduce us to The Mermaids of New Orleans, who choose one day of the year to mingle with those of us who live above water – Mardi Gras Day, of course!For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From Twelfth Night though Mardi Gras Day, king cake becomes somewhat of a local obsession here in Louisiana. And over the last few years, it seems like the Carnival treat is simply on steroids! Across the state, bakers have expanded the design from the original brioche dough ring decorated with purple, green, and gold sugar to create cakes featuring every kind of filling – both sweet and savory.No one knows more about king cake than Matt Haines, author of "The Big Book of King Cake." Matt uncovered amazing historical facts and chronicled the lives and cakes of 75 bakers while writing his coffee table tome.For Martha Gilreath, king cake is more than just a seasonal treat. It represents a fresh start. In 2021, Martha co-founded her pop-up bakery Nolita, which serves up her signature king cakes. Today, she's the chef at The Chicory House in New Orleans' Garden District. She tells us her story of overcoming huge odds to find culinary success.Finally, we meet Patrick Bordnick. Like Pavlov’s dog before them, Patrick's three canine companions have been conditioned to salivate whenever they encounter king cake. For nearly every day of the Mardi Gras season, Patrick and his pups sample a new cake and rate it. Patrick then posts their conclusions on his Instagram page, where the whole family enjoys a following.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $250,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together.Then, we speak with culinary historian Gerald Patout, whose lifelong obsession with cookbooks led him to uncover a nearly forgotten tome: "The Lafayette Cookbook." As Gerald explains to us, there's really nothing typically Cajun in the century-old recipe collection. Due to his efforts, the book has been reprinted, and is now available to order via UL Press or First United Methodist Church of Downtown Lafayette.Finally, historian Miki Pfeffer joins us with tales of New Orleans' own Grace King, whose life spanned the period from before the Civil War to the Great Depression. She describes how this celebrated literary figure relished the art of dining and had a lifelong fascination with food. Miki's latest book is "A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain’s Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns."
To write a cookbook, a good author will go to great lengths to perfect a recipe or understand a cuisine. On this week's show, we meet four food writers who are driven by a deep culinary curiosity. You may know Melissa Clark from her weekly column in the New York Times food section or from one of her 45-odd published cookbooks. We join Melissa in the studio to discuss the art of recipe-making to find out what led the prolific author to a life in food.We also speak with Vicky Bennison, the creator of the YouTube sensation, Pasta Grannies. The series takes Vicky across Italy into the kitchens of everyday women preparing the signature dish in every possible way. We learn about the British native's book of the same name, and learn what led her to chronicle Italy’s aging home cooks.After years of interviewing an impressive array of American culinary talent for his podcast Flavors Unknown, Emmanuel Laroche compiled these dialogues for his new book, "Conversations Behind The Kitchen Door." The French-born Emmanuel shares with us what he discovered about our nation's food culture today.Finally, Alabama-born expat Marti Buckley takes us to Spain's Basque region, which she explores in her cookbook "Basque Country." We learn why the culture and cuisine of the Basque people enticed Marti to abandon her Southern roots for a decidedly different kind of life.
New Orleans chefs Susan Spicer and Frank Brigtsen are both culinary icons. They are also back-to-back recipients of the coveted Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award, presented each year by the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience: Frank was recognized in 2022; Susan received the 2023 award last week at a gala celebration at The Four Seasons Hotel.On this week's show, we sit down with both honorees – who each have culinary careers spanning over 40 years – to learn about their successes and the challenges they overcame to become the legends they are today.We begin with Chef Susan Spicer. Back in 1998, The New York Times named Susan the “Quiet Star of New Orleans.” 25 years later, she remains one of the city’s most celebrated culinary figures, showcasing her talents at the helm of such restaurants as Bayona and Rosedale. Susan reflects on a career of accomplishments.And how do you create a life's legacy? If you've ever had a bite of Chef Frank Brigtsen's authentic Creole cooking, you've tasted it. From 1978 through the early ’80s, Chef Frank earned his culinary stripes in the kitchens of Commander's Palace and K-Paul's, working under the watchful eye of Paul Prudhomme. Building on those years of apprenticeship, in 1986, he opened Brigtsen's Restaurant to local and national critical acclaim. The legendary New Orleans chef looks back at his 50-year career in hospitality.
In the last few years, many people have turned to home baking as a distraction, as solace, and for fun. But nothing beats the sweet and inventive creations of a professional pastry chef. On this week's show, we get a peek into the lives and careers of those behind the rolling pin.We begin with internet cake sensation Bronwen Wyatt of Bayou St. Cake. Bronwen's cakes are not only delicious but visually arresting, with designs that draw on the baker's art school education. We learn the role social media played in her launching her small cake company in 2020. Then, we sit down with Kelly Jacques and Samantha Weiss, who are bringing freshly baked joy to New Orleans' Marigny neighborhood through their new bakery café, Ayu Bakehouse. They discuss how their education and friendship evolved over the years, leading to their shared vision being realized on Frenchmen Street.Finally, we hear about the illustrious career of Jacquy Pfeiffer, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef who helped found The French Pastry School in Chicago and whose quest to win the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (France's top pastry prize) was the subject of a documentary by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
Twelfth Night 2023 marks 100 years since the birth of the late New Orleans icon, Leah Chase. The culinary legend, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 96, was the undisputed Queen of Creole cooking and a civil rights activist who changed lives over a bowl of gumbo. On this week's show, we spend the hour honoring Leah's talent, achievements, and lasting legacy.We begin with one of our favorite Louisiana Eats moments: a special day we spent with Leah eleven years ago, when then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu kicked off the official start of the 2012 Carnival season at Gallier Hall with king cake and a surprise for Leah on her 89th birthday.From there, we look back on Leah's early life in Madisonville, Louisiana. Leah describes her earliest days growing up on a strawberry farm, and the lessons she learned that shaped the legend she would become. We continue with an oral history from NOLA Life Stories, in which Leah recounts her first experiences working in a café in the French Quarter, as told to Mark Cave of the Historic New Orleans Collection.Next, we arrive at a turning point in Leah's life — the moment she met big band leader Edgar "Dooky" Chase, Jr. Following their marriage, Leah went to work at Dooky's, her in-laws' simple sandwich shop in the Treme. As she began to serve Creole classics like gumbo and Chicken Clemenceau on fine linen, Leah elevated the dining culture for everyone. Leah tells us about her famous Gumbo z'Herbes, a dish she served at her restaurant every Holy Thursday for over 60 years.We also chronicle how Leah rebuilt Dooky Chase's after Hurricane Katrina. Eleven years after the storm, Leah experienced two other monumental life events — the first was her 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation. Months later, Leah's husband and partner Edgar "Dooky" Chase — the man who played a key role in her success — passed away at the age of 88. In this final segment, Leah reflects on their relationship and shares her thoughts on death and living a fulfilling life.
This week, we look back at some memorable highlights from 2022 and remember those we've lost. We begin with our 2011 conversation with Tennessee Williams scholar Dr. Kenneth Holditch, who died in December. A professor at the University of New Orleans, Dr. Holditch helped establish festivals honoring Williams' life here and in two other cities. Dr. Holditch shares stories of the Pulitzer-winning playwright, whom he counted among his many friends.Then, we take you back to Jackson Square, where Today Show co-stars Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager tell us what keeps bringing them back to the Crescent City. That's before we visit a place for tourists and locals alike: Vue Orleans. Located at the foot of Canal Street, the 20-million-dollar multimedia experience includes a trip to the 34th floor for a 360-degree view of the city.Finally, we return – with an update – to the backyard garden of Jack Sweeney, a New Orleanian whose okra plant grew so tall that it got the attention of the folks at Guinness World Records.
What do Antoine’s in New Orleans, Sylvia’s in Harlem, The Mandarin in San Francisco, and the once powerful chain of Howard Johnson’s restaurants all have in common? According to Yale professor Paul Freedman, they are all part of an influential group of Ten Restaurants That Changed America. On this week’s show, we sit down with Paul to discuss his book by that name, which weaves together culinary and social history – from lunch counter dining to the vanguards of haute cuisine.We then zoom in on a key part of that history with Jim Heimann, Executive Editor for publishing house TASCHEN America, whose book Menu Design in America traces the evolution of dining culture through the development of the bill of fare.Finally, we explore the role a New Orleans supermarket chain played in shaping the modern retail world. David Cappello discusses his biography of John G. Schwegmann, a complex figure whose influence extended far beyond the checkout aisle.
It is an undisputed fact that Louisiana grows some of the best restaurant talent in the nation. On this week's show, we sit down with the best and the brightest of Louisiana's legacy restaurant families. We begin with the next generation running Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans.Since the death of Leah Chase in 2019, the crew she always referred to as "the grands" have stepped up to nurture and grow the legacy Leah established with her husband, the late Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr. We speak with her grandchildren Tracie Haydel Griffin, who runs the front of the house; bar manager Eve Marie Haydel; and Edgar "Dook" Chase IV, who oversees the restaurant's kitchen. Also joining us is Dooky Chase's newest chef, Leah's great-granddaughter Zoe Chase.The whole nation is about to meet the grands (and great-grands) when their new PBS series, The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy debuts in the spring of 2023.And if you live in the Crescent City – you may know a Brennan of your own. The restaurant dynasty that began with patriarch Owen Brennan in 1943 has grown to include a fourth generation. We sit down with Ralph Brennan's kids Kathryn Brennan McLeod and her brother Patrick, Dickie Brennan's daughter Sarah and his nephew (Lauren Brennan's son) Geordie Brower, and the cousin who is guaranteed to spice things up, president of Baumer Foods, Inc., Pepper Baumer.This crew of cousins behaves much more like siblings. They are all very close in age, share much of the same interests, and are now raising a fifth generation – with Sarah, Geordie, and Pepper all adding to that growing number in the last year.
It's the time of year for celebrations, and on this week's show, we're bringing the party – but without the booze! Our zero-proof holiday begins with a visit to Dream House Lounge in New Orleans. There, Dr. David Wallace serves up drinks that use adaptogens like kava or reishi mushrooms instead of alcohol. Aside from its delicious drinks and energizing oxygen bar, Dream House is a place where David encourages what he calls "soul-care" – a place for guests to nurture good spiritual and mental health. Then, we learn about the national support group, Ben's Friends. In 2016, sober restaurateurs Steve Palmer and Mickey Bakst founded Ben's Friends after the death of Ben Murray, one of Steve's cooks. They recognized the deep need for a support group tailored to food and beverage professionals who struggle with the all-too-common problem of addiction. We sit down with Mickey and Ben's Friends leader, Hailey Hosler, to learn how hospitality workers are helping their own. Finally, we sit down with dietician Molly Kimball of Ochsner Eat Fit and journalist Melanie Warner Spencer. Regular listeners may remember Molly from her annual challenge, Alcohol Free For 40, which has led thousands to give up drinking entirely for the 40 days of Lent. Melanie was among those participants, and by 2021, was so taken with the effects of an alcohol-free life, she founded Drink Fit Club – an online community dedicated to helping people cut back on their intake. The dynamic duo discuss today's no- and low-alcohol culture and Craft, a new book that perfects the art of zero-proof cocktails.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Alcohol in almost any form is one of the oldest medicines known to man. On this week's show, we explore the world of high proof healing. We start with Camper English, author of Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails. Camper covers everything from mystic botanicals and their monastic apothecary origins to the unusual relationship between syphilis and root beer.The conversation continues with Noah Rothbaum, who expounds on curatives that found their way from the medicine cabinet to the liquor cabinet.And then of course, there was that troublesome period known as Prohibition. That's when the apothecary filled your prescription for alcohol and soda fountains became commonplace at the pharmacy. Darcy O’Neil joins us for a conversation that may have you rethinking what you knew about the soda fountain.Finally, we visit Poppy's personal apothecary on the corner. Stephanie Haeberlin of Art Farm creates all sorts of healing and beauty products that originate in her garden on Canal Boulevard in New Orleans.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Whether it's newly built or has been in your family for generations, your home is your refuge and sanctuary. It's where you nurture your family and where friends come to call. On this week's show, we have lots of friends who have come a-calling with advice on how to make your home the spot where everyone wants to be.
We begin with Beau Ciolino and Matt Armato. You may know them from their wildly popular lifestyle blog, Probably This. With a love of DIY projects, the couple has spent years transforming spaces without breaking the bank. They collected all that good advice together, along with entertainment tips, in their new book, Housewarming: A Guide to Creating a Home You Adore.
On this week's show, we gather around the table to delve into Thanksgiving stories and recipes. We begin with Chef Kevin Belton. The public television host shares childhood memories of his mother, Sarah Thomas Belton who took Thanksgiving hospitality to a whole new level.
Next, we visit with Sara Roahen, author of Gumbo Tales, who endeavored to make the late, great Paul Prudhomme's legendary turducken recipe in her home kitchen.
We also hear the origin story of Spinach Madeleine from its creator, Madeleine Wright. A recipe originally published in the Junior League of Baton Rouge's cookbook, River Road Recipes, Madeleine's dish has been a sensation across the country since 1959.
And finally, we get pie advice from Kate McDermott, also known as "the Piechiatrist." Kate has hosted workshops and written books on the craft of pie-making, including the James Beard Award-nominated title, The Art of the Pie.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we explore the lives of New Orleans tastemaking legends and meet the next generation who are following in their footsteps. We begin with Al Copeland Jr., who recently memorialized his famous Popeyes-founding father in a book entitled Secrets of a Tastemaker. Written by Chris Rose, Kit Wohl, and the Copeland family, the book shares Al's life story – from his humble beginnings and through its highs and lows.
And do you remember chef Warren Leruth? He's the chef who invented Green Goddess salad dressing and went on to change New Orleans' culinary scene forever at his award-winning Gretna restaurant. He's also famous for working with Al Copeland to create some of Popeyes most valuable secret recipes. Today, Warren's family is carrying on his legacy with a new business, Leruth's Gourmet Foods.
We end with Baumer Foods, the third-generation company that makes the iconic Crystal Hot Sauce. Al Jr. and his son "Pepper" explain how in their family business, there are no shortcuts to the top, even if your last name is Baumer.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we’re trekking across the Causeway once again to explore the culinary scene in St. Tammany Parish. We begin at Backwater Farmstead in the rural town of Bush, Louisiana. There, Ross McKnight and his family make foie gras, a luxury food they hope to make more accessible in our state. After we tour the farm, we head over Olde Town Slidell to meet Jeremy and Alyssa Reilly of Restaurant Cote and the Maple Room. These high school sweethearts have carved out a very special place in the hearts and stomachs of the Slidell community for nearly 10 years. We then speak with Nick Asprodites, the proprietor of two dockside restaurants and bars: the original Blue Crab on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain and a second iteration at the Pointe Marina in Slidell. Finally, we meet Chef Jeff Mattia. Jeff opened his first restaurant, Pyre Provisions, in Covington just months before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Though Pyre Provisions closed its doors this year, Jeff has found continued success in his newest restaurant concept, Pyre BBQ on the Mandeville Trace. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
This year, Americans are expected to spend upwards of 3.4 billion dollars to decorate their homes for Halloween. But here in New Orleans, we don’t have to decorate – we're just plain old spooky already!
On this year's Halloween edition of Louisiana Eats, we go Garden District ghost hunting with Kristen Dugas before we welcome nationally renowned psychic Cari Roy – along with ghost-busting, equipment-toting Misti Gaither – into Poppy's Canal Boulevard home. The house was built for Angelina Prima in 1956 by her famous musician son, Louis, and she apparently still likes to hang around there. Finally, we stop off at two of New Orleans' Cities of the Dead with cemetery authority, Sally Asher, owner and operator of Red Sash Tours.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The story of Abita Beer, Louisiana's first craft brewery, all began in the sleepy little town of Abita Springs. In 1986, the Blossman family ventured into the business at a downtown Abita Springs location — a 100-seat brew pub, which they completely outgrew by 1994. Today, Abita Brew Pub is owned and operated by the second generation of the Essaied family who continue to serve delicious American fare in a comfortable, casual atmosphere right on the Abita Springs Trailhead.
Every November, the world comes straight to the pub's door when they host the annual Abita Fall Fest, bringing 12 hours of nonstop music, food, and fun. We sat down with Anthony Essaied and his ace volunteer Jamie Foster to learn more about the Brew Pub's story and the Abita Fall Fest.
Make plans now to attend the 2022 Abita Fall Fest, happening November 4th and 5th in downtown Abita Springs!
“Farming,” according to poet Brett Brian, “is a profession of hope.” On this week’s show, we introduce you to sons and daughters of the soil who are living their dreams on the land. We begin in St. Tammany Parish with Monica Bourgeois and Neil Gernon, founders of the small-batch wine company, Vending Machine Wines. The New Orleans couple has been making wine in Napa Valley since 2009, operating the business from their native Louisiana. Their newest venture, WIld Bush Farm & Vineyard finds the two overhauling 13 acres of a former winery in the rural Northshore town of Bush. There, Monica and Neil hope to create a perfect location for winemaking in our state.
Then, we visit JD Farms in Poplarville, Mississippi, where Donald Van De Werken and Jeff Brown have been growing the biggest, sweetest, best blueberries in the region. Unsweetened blueberry juice is just one of a myriad of products they've created with their short but delicious annual crop.
Finally, we speak with Philip Jones, sixth generation chairman and CEO of Jones Dairy Farm in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. The ingredients that make up their signature breakfast sausage are the same today as they were when his forebearer Milo C. Jones founded the company in 1889. It may surprise you to learn that their products have been a favorite on Louisiana breakfast tables for almost a century.
Do you have a favorite hot spot where your family has gathered for generations? Is it still there? Sadly, when it comes to Black-owned bars and lounges, many have been disappearing from local landscapes – often without fanfare or mention. New Orleans native L. Kasimu Harris has watched with dismay as many of these vital Black establishments have closed their doors in recent years. Since 2018, he has been documenting those that remain, capturing photos and oral histories as part of his ongoing series, "Vanishing Black Bars & Lounges." He joins us to talk about the project.
Then, we speak with Touré Folkes of Turning Tables. Touré is working tirelessly to bring diversity to New Orleans' bar scene by providing Black professionals with training, mentorship, and the resources they need to access real opportunity.
Finally, our dear friend, Vance Vaucresson, is back with big news! After nearly two decades, Vance and his wife Julie are thrilled to be opening Vaucresson's Creole Cafe & Deli in New Orleans' Seventh Ward – where the family had a business and was a vital part of the community since the late 1800s. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Love that chicken from Popeyes! If you love Louisiana food, it’s a safe bet that you’re a Popeyes lover too. The company that has grown to over 3,000 stores stretching from one end of the globe to the other, all started right here in New Orleans. Today, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen includes locations in more than 30 countries. You’ll find that chicken in London, Sri Lanka, the Philippines – there’s over a dozen Popeyes in Jamaica for goodness sake! But none of that would be possible if it weren’t for the visionary, one of a kind powerhouse that was Al Copeland. Owned by Restaurant Brands International, and now in its 50th year, Popeyes remains one of New Orleans finest culinary ambassadors. And for the record, it’s not fast food! That chicken is still marinated overnight in those secret seasonings before being hand breaded and fried – delivering that spicy, delicious flavor with every bite. His son, Al, Jr. recently memorialized his father in a cookbook memoir entitled Secrets of a Tastemaker written by Chris Rose, Kit Wohl and the Copeland family. We sat down with Al to hear the whole story!If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate us on your preferred podcast platform. And visit poppytooker.com where we have hundreds more available for your listening pleasure.
On this week's show, we visit with three Louisiana chefs who have compiled many accolades and awards in restaurants across the South.
First, we hear from James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence, whose upbringing in New Orleans has informed his illustrious restaurant career based in Oxford, Mississippi. John describes the through-lines of his craft, which includes a strong sense of place and a healthy dose of humility.
Then, we stop by Pêche Seafood Grill in New Orleans' Warehouse District. There, Chef Ryan Prewitt has been replicating live fire techniques he learned on a trip to Uruguay. Ryan explains how this process has changed his entire perspective on cooking, and we get close to the flames as he shows us his kitchen's open hearth.
Finally, Chef Donald Link joins us in the studio. At one point during his cooking career, Donald's co-workers nicknamed him "Hot Shot." Was it deserved? That depends on who you ask. Donald shares his side of the story with us in a revealing interview that takes you from the rock and roll kitchens of San Francisco to his award-winning restaurants in New Orleans. (Listen to the full, uncensored version of our conversation with Donald Link here on our website.)
Fois gras – that’s French for fat liver. This celebrated luxury food is found mostly in high end restaurants where even a small amount is quite costly. Traditionally, fois gras production has centered in the Aquitaine region of France where for hundreds of years ducks and geese have been carefully fattened in order to produce the large, ivory colored lobes. Force feeding is usually mentioned in conjunction with fois gras production, but the truth is wild birds in nature annually gorge themselves before migration. Domestically, that process is humanely mimicked by caretakers who gently handfeed their birds a high calorie meal that aids in the fattening, a process known as gavage. There has been limited fois gras production attempted in the U.S. but today, Ross McKnight is creating some of the most beautiful fois gras seen this side of the Atlantic Ocean at his farmstead, Backwater Fois Gras in Bush, Louisiana. I got to know Ross visiting with him weekly at the Crescent City Farmers Market. What a thrill it was to finally visit his farm to learn all about
the process. Gathered around the family dinner table were Backwater’s fois gras muse, Mailys Dias who ignited his interest with a taste of fois gras from her home country of France, Ross’s wife, Dorothy and his parents Julie and Dan McKnight, who all play a major role in the farmstead operation. Big thanks to our sponsor, the St Tammany Parish Tourist Commission. Stay, play, and get away on the Louisiana Northshore! Discover the bounty of the bayou and rich culture from award-winning chefs, soulful mom and pop restaurants, extraordinary bakers, and creative mixologists. Request the FREE Explore the Northshore Visitor Guide today for inspirational stories, custom itineraries, and event information at LouisianaNorthshore.com/Guide This podcast was produced by Blake Longlanais for Poppy Tooker Broadcasting.
Where are you from? While what we eat may reveal our origins, it can also reflect our life's travels from one home to another. Chef Anh Luu was born in New Orleans to parents who emigrated to the United States from Vietnam. She discovered her love of restaurants at the age of 15 when she first began working the line. When Katrina blew Anh and her family to Portland, Oregon, she became a pioneer of Viet-Cajun cuisine – an amalgamation of her Vietnamese and Louisiana heritage. She's now back in New Orleans, serving up her signature dishes at Bywater Brew Pub.
Vishwish Bhatt discovered an incredible commonality between the Indian food of his childhood in Gujarat and the Southern cuisine he came to love in Oxford, Mississippi – a topic he explores in his new book, I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef. Finally, we sit down with Chef Jacqueline Blanchard to learn how a Cajun girl raised on Bayou Lafourche ended up crossing the world to open Sukeban, a bar and restaurant modeled after traditional Japanese izakayas, right here in the Crescent City.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Where are you from? While what we eat may reveal our origins, it can also reflect our life's travels from one home to another. Chef Anh Luu was born in New Orleans to parents who emigrated to the United States from Vietnam. She discovered her love of restaurants at the age of 15 when she first began working the line. When Katrina blew Anh and her family to Portland, Oregon, she became a pioneer of Viet-Cajun cuisine – an amalgamation of her Vietnamese and Louisiana heritage. She's now back in New Orleans, serving up her signature dishes at Bywater Brew Pub.
Vishwish Bhatt discovered an incredible commonality between the Indian food of his childhood in Gujarat and the Southern cuisine he came to love in Oxford, Mississippi – a topic he explores in his new book, I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef. Finally, we sit down with Chef Jacqueline Blanchard to learn how a Cajun girl raised on Bayou Lafourche ended up crossing the world to open Sukeban, a bar and restaurant modeled after traditional Japanese izakayas, right here in the Crescent City.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
What does family mean to you? For the folks on this week's show, when it comes to food, family means everything. NOCCA Culinary Arts student and Chopped Junior champion Retiba Hagazzi is a perfect example of that. The bright, ambitious teenager learned how to love people through food from her father, Khalid. They share that love with the world every time their food truck, Sittoo's Kitchen pulls up. They join us in the studio to share their story.
Jarred Zeringue of Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse perpetuates generational old food love at the LaPlace landmark. When the Vacherie-born chef acquired the business in 2016, he made sure to keep the Jacob's family recipes authentic, in part because of the vital role they played in his own family’s food traditions. We talk with him about the smokehouse and his new book, Southern and Smoked: Cajun Cooking through the Seasons.
Finally, we speak with keepers of the Poor Boy flame, John and his son Jason Gendusa. The Gendusa family bakery has been inextricably tied to that famous New Orleans sandwich since 1929. We’re celebrating their bakery's centennial by hearing the story of how it all began.
On this week’s show, we speak with three James Beard Award-winners to explore the history and culture of African American cooking and learn how African flavors are inspiring new dishes today.
We begin with soul food scholar Adrian Miller, who describes his book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, as love-letter to African-American cooks. Since it was first published in 2013, the book has gone on to receive numerous accolades and was awarded a James Beard for reference and scholarship. Within its pages, Adrian presents a refreshing look at one of America’s oldest and most mythologized cuisines. From mac and cheese to red drink, he uncovers the history of soul food and what it means for African American culture and identity.
How do you create a life's legacy? If you've ever had a bite of Chef Frank Brigtsen's authentic Creole cooking, you've tasted it. From 1978 through the early ’80s, Chef Frank earned his culinary stripes in the kitchens of Commander's Palace and K-Paul's, working under the watchful eye of Paul Prudhomme. Building on those years of apprenticeship, in 1986, he opened Brigtsen's Restaurant to local and national critical acclaim. The legendary New Orleans chef joins us to look back at his 50-year career in hospitality.
If you were ever fortunate enough to imbibe in a drink crafted by legendary British bartender Dick Bradsell, you certainly had a sip of his legacy. He created several cocktails that are now considered to be modern classics, most notably the Espresso Martini. His daughter, Bea Bradsell, is busy carrying on in her late father's footsteps and shares his story with us.
Over at Turkey and the Wolf, you'll find legacy in the making as that brash, bold, and fearless Mason Hereford is hard at work turning fine dining on its ear. The best part is, no one is more surprised by success than Mason! He's back on the show again to tell us about his journey from working in barroom kitchens and fancy restaurants to running two acclaimed New Orleans eateries.
In the last few years, many people have turned to home baking as a distraction, as solace, and for fun. But nothing beats the sweet and inventive creations of a professional pastry chef. On this week's show, we get a peek into the lives and careers of those behind the rolling pin.
We begin with internet cake sensation Bronwen Wyatt of Bayou St. Cake. Bronwen's cakes are not only delicious but visually arresting, with designs that draw on the baker's art school education. We learn the role social media played in her launching her small cake company in 2020.
On this week's show, we explore backyards, balconies, and rooftops where folks are cultivating their own food. We begin with Big Okra. That’s the name that gardener Jack Sweeney has given to his over 15-foot okra plant towering over his New Orleans backyard. We visit Jack and the Okra Stalk on site – but what made it grow so tall? Was it the seeds that spawned this Guinness World Records-worthy plant? We hear from the man who gave him those seeds: Jack's dad Neil, a Baton Rouge attorney who keeps his own garden behind his office.
Then, we speak with Tamar Haspel, author of To Boldly Grow. The new book chronicles Tamar and her husband's adventures as they adopt a more active approach to their diet – raising livestock, growing vegetables, and even hunting their own meat. Recounting tales of their successes and failures, Tamar fills the pages with practical tips and hard-won wisdom for those looking to cultivate their own food.
Finally, we explore one of the South's favorite backyard crops – the mirliton – a local favorite that was on the verge of extinction at the start of the 21st century but is now making a comeback thanks largely to the efforts of Dr. Lance Hill. We hear from the good doctor before exploring the pronunciation of the iconic squash with David Hubbell.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
According to Matthew Raiford, when it comes to American haute cuisine, one need look no further than the South. On this week's show, we explore the possibilities of Southern cuisine with celebrated authors and chefs – beginning with Matthew Raiford. The self-described CheFarmer is spreading the good word of his Gullah Geechee heritage through a new book, Bress 'n' Nyam.
Then, culinary superstar Sean Brock joins us to discuss his award-winning tome, "South." In the book, Sean breaks down the essential elements of Southern cuisine, from corn bread to shrimp and grits, highlighting regional differences in certain dishes.
We also speak with author Ronni Lundy, who helps us break through some of the myths surrounding the isolated Appalachian region. Ronni discusses the intrinsic link between Southern Appalachians and their victuals.
Finally, we sit down with Edward Lee. Raised in Brooklyn to Korean parents, the celebrity chef found his soul in Kentucky. In his book, "Buttermilk Graffiti," Edward shares stories of his personal journey to discover America’s new melting pot cuisine in the south.
Peanut butter and jelly. Onions, bell peppers, and celery. The food world is filled with dynamic duos and terrific trios. On this week's show, we meet spouses, siblings, and close friends whose bonds have been deeped by their love of food, drink, and music.
We begin with the popular New Orleans pop-up Chance in Hell Snoballs where owners Kitten N' Lou craft all their flavors with local ingredients and combinations you may have never heard of before. When they're not making snoballs, the married couple are drag and cabaret performers, gracing the world's stages with their popular burlesque shows. So how did they come to start a snoball stand on their Bywater porch? Kitten N' Lou tell us the story.
Then, we meet two New Orleans brothers and their childhood next-door neighbor whose lifelong friendships have often intersected with their shared passions for music and food. Marc Ardoin, Rouses Freret Street Market Manager, sits down with us along with Chef Alfredo "Fredo" Nogueira of Vals (also on Freret Street) and Fredo's little brother, WDSU Marketing Exec, Juan Nogueira.
Finally, we have a conversation with Ray and B.J. Bordelon, whose extensive collection of absinthe antiques and accouterments is on display at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. The Brothers Bordelon give us some insight into their obsession and show us some unique pieces of memorabilia that make up the exhibit.
Between 1880 and 1920 over four million Italians immigrated to the U.S., with the majority of Sicilians coming through the port of New Orleans. Their influence here can be found in the food and in the language where special words like niespuli and cucuzza proliferate. On this week's show, we survey those Sicilian connections to learn new things about this place we call home.
We begin with Elisa Speranza, author of "The Italian Prisoner." Elisa was inspired to write her debut novel after hearing stories of Italian POWs housed in New Orleans during World War II. After Italy switched sides in 1943, these former enemies became part of the American war effort and the city's make up.
Then, Liz Williams joins us with memories of her Sicilian grandmother, Nana Elisabetta, who arrived in the Crescent City at the age of 18. Her new book, "Nana’s Creole Italian Table," is filled with recipes and family lore.
Then, we hear from New Orleans food historian Laura Guccione, whose family hails from Alia, Sicily. With her background in botany, Laura has long been fascinated by a local fruit tree, often referred to as the Japanese plum, which proliferates wildly on the island of Sicily. Her linguistic look at the fruit can be found on New Orleans Historical.
Finally, we sit down with Sal Impastato of the renowned Napoleon House clan. Sal tells us the story of the business that was family-owned and -operated for almost a century, before he handed over the keys to Ralph Brennan in 2015.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
St. Tammany Parish is filled with family owned and family focused businesses, which exactly describes Restaurant Cote and the Maple Room in Olde Towne Slidell. Chef Jeremy Reilly and his wife Allysa opened their family business almost ten years ago and while growing the restaurant, grew their own family as well, adding two children to the Reilly family mix. Chef Jeremy’s food has deep roots in traditional French cuisine with distinctively Louisiana accents. The Maple Room and Restaurant Cote are favorite gathering places for parade watching or any special activity centered in Olde Towne Slidell. From August 1st through September 15th Restaurant Cote offers a special Tammany Taste of Summer menu featuring a three-course dinner for Two, priced at just $39.99 with delicious choices like Shrimp with a Cognac Cream Reduction, Louisiana Frog Legs Bordelaise, Blackened Drum with a Southern Pecan Beurre Blanc and everyone’s favorite Bananas Foster Bread Pudding for dessert.Over fifty St. Tammany businesses are participating this year delivering delicious deals on dining, hotel stays, exciting attractions and more. With your Tammany Taste of Summer pass, every time you check in at a participating establishment you get closer to winning. The first 150 people to redeem at 5 or more businesses wins a coaster set from local artist, Christina Pappion - and there’s a grand prize for the top summer pass participant. One lucky winner will choose from a boat tour on the Tchfuncte River or dinner for four at a participating Tammany Taste of Summer restaurant. To learn more and sign up for your own pass visit www.tammanytaste.com.
In today's fast-paced world, where virtually every recipe can be conjured up by doing a quick search online, do cookbooks really matter? After hearing this week's show, we think you'll join us in a resounding yes. Cookbooks teach us techniques and introduce us to new ingredients and cultures. They expand our palates and remind us of old-fashioned ways of doing things – ways that can evoke memories of our long-lost loved ones. On this week's show, we meet Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf and Molly's Rise and Shine. This relative newcomer has caused quite a stir here in New Orleans, serving formerly mundane items like a fried bologna sandwich, and transforming them into works of art. That's just one of the reasons Bon Appétit named Turkey and the Wolf America’s best new restaurant in 2017. Mason has become a fixture in national culinary headlines, but his most recent story had nothing to do with his kitchen. He tells us the story of how the first print run of his debut cookbook ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Then, we hear from fifth-generation chicken keeper, Lisa Steele, whose blog "Fresh Eggs Daily" inspired her new book of the same name. Lisa shares her story as well as some egg-centric tips and tricks. Finally, we speak with David B. Hazelwood, who, along with David G. Smith, authored Cooking Southern: Recipes and Their History. At 586 pages thick, the new tome compiles over 1,800 historic recipes going back generations.
Tales of the Cocktail is back! After a two-year hiatus, one which was held virtually, what is arguably the biggest alcohol event in the world will take place again this year during the last week of July. In honor of the 20th anniversary of one of the wettest events to ever hit New Orleans, on this week's show, we explore all things alcohol and non-alcohol.
In recent years, Tales has become increasingly conscious of the need for balance in a life behind the bar – the inspiration for their Beyond the Bar initiative, which has introduced physical and mental self-care sessions at the event, along with a focus on low- or no-alcohol products. That's where Lauren Chitwood of Spiritless comes in. She tells us about the development of her alcohol-free line of liquor that is a dead ringer for the real thing when mixed in a cocktail glass.
When it comes to sharing our authentic food culture, there is no family as influential over time as the Brennans of New Orleans. Almost 80 years ago, Owen Brennan got the party started at the Old Absinthe House. Since that time, the family has grown and prospered, giving us all a wonderful time along the way.
On this week's show, we sit down for the first time with the fourth generation of one of America's premier food families. We hear from Ralph Brennan's kids Kathryn Brennan McLeod and her brother Patrick, Dickie Brennan's daughter Sarah and his nephew (Lauren Brennan's son) Geordie Brower, and the cousin who is guaranteed to spice things up, president of Baumer Foods, Inc., Pepper Baumer.
This crew of cousins behaves much more like siblings. They are all very close in age, share much of the same interests, and are now raising a fifth generation – with Sarah, Geordie, and Pepper all adding to that growing number in just the last few months.
We also meet father-son chef duo Gus Martin and Gustar Martin. Gus and Dickie Brennan worked at Commander's Palace when they were both in high school. Gus' mom, Gustar's grandmother, was the first female floor captain there. The Brennans treat their employees like family, which explains a bit about Gus and Gustar's career with them.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Louisiana Eats podcast series, Tammany Taste Quick Bites. I’m Poppy Tooker. Nick Asprodites didn’t originally intend to open one restaurant much less two. When he spotted an empty Lakeshore Drive lot for sale, his first thought was to build a fuel dock there, but once he ran the numbers he realized he’d need the support of a food and beverage operation to make it viable. When the Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar opened in 2013, Nick revived the tradition of lakefront seafood dining to the West End. In 2021, the now well-seasoned restaurateur and his family expanded to Lake Pontchartrain’s Northshore when they opened a second waterfront Blue Crab at the Pointe Marina in Slidell.
In August 1971, a food revolution was quietly launched in California with the opening of a small Berkeley bistro called Chez Panisse. At a time when pre-packaged fast food was all the rage in the U.S., Chez Panisse created dishes using locally sourced meats and farm-to-table produce. The fabled restaurant became an incubator for the Slow Food movement and sparked a change in attitudes toward food across America.
At the helm, was founder and food revolutionary Alice Waters. And in the kitchen, were a succession of talented chefs who would go on to gain success in their own endeavors.
On this week's show, we celebrate 50 years of Chez Panisse by digging into our archives to bring you the voices of some of its famous alumni. We begin with Jeremiah Tower, who teamed up with Waters to put Chez Panisse on the map.
We then voyage into the vegetable kingdom with Deborah Madison, and explore Jewish cooking with Joyce Goldstein who both spent formative years in the Chez Panisse kitchen.
Finally, we revisit our conversation with Cal Peternell, who spent 22 years of his life with the Chez Panisse family.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
The life of a chef is often regarded as glamorous and exciting, but in reality, it’s a hard life – exemplified by long hours and frequent financial challenges. For many, it’s the only life imaginable. Nathanial Zimet, the ambitious chef behind Boucherie and Bourrée in New Orleans, falls directly into that category. Drawn to the restaurant business at the age of 15, the North Carolina native soon learned it was the only career for him. On this week's show, we sit down with Nathanial to explore what led him from London's Le Cordon Bleu to his purple food truck in New Orleans, where his culinary life here began.
Whether it's newly built or has been in your family for generations, your home is your refuge and sanctuary. It's where you nurture your family and where friends come to call. On this week's show, we have lots of friends who have come a-calling with advice on how to make your home the spot where everyone wants to be.
We begin with Beau Ciolino and Matt Armato. You may know them from their wildly popular lifestyle blog, Probably This. With a love of DIY projects, the couple has spent years transforming spaces without breaking the bank. They collected all that good advice together, along with entertainment tips, in their new book, Housewarming: A Guide to Creating a Home You Adore.
“Farming,” according to poet Brett Brian, “is a profession of hope.” On this week’s show, we introduce you to sons and daughters of the soil who are living their dreams on the land. We begin in St. Tammany Parish with Monica Bourgeois and Neil Gernon, founders of the small-batch wine company, Vending Machine Wines. The New Orleans couple has been making wine in Napa Valley since 2009, operating the business from their native Louisiana. Their newest venture, WIld Bush Farm & Vineyard finds the two overhauling 13 acres of a former winery in the rural Northshore town of Bush. There, Monica and Neil hope to create a perfect location for winemaking in our state.
Then, we visit JD Farms in Poplarville, Mississippi, where Donald Van De Werken and Jeff Brown have been growing the biggest, sweetest, best blueberries in the region. Unsweetened blueberry juice is just one of a myriad of products they've created with their short but delicious annual crop.
Finally, we speak with Philip Jones, sixth generation chairman and CEO of Jones Dairy Farm in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. The ingredients that make up their signature breakfast sausage are the same today as they were when his forebearer Milo C. Jones founded the company in 1889. It may surprise you to learn that their products have been a favorite on Louisiana breakfast tables for almost a century.
On this week's show, we’re joined by seasoned spice experts who want to shake up the way you think about spices. We begin with Linda Shiue, a doctor and chef who guides her patients to cook healthier meals by harnessing the power of spices. Linda was just starting to spread the word about spices when we first met her in 2016. Now she's back in our studio on the heels of publishing her new book, Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes.
Then, we speak with Lior Lev Sercarz, a chef, spice blender, and owner of La Boîte in New York City. Lior discusses his career's trajectory from sergeant of the Israeli army to spice master, and explains why he believes both home cooks and professional chefs will benefit from delving into spices.
Finally, Natasha MacAller, also known as “The Dancing Chef,” describes her journey from professional ballerina to celebrated chef, a path that led to her 2016 book, Spice Health Heroes.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
There’s a lot more to a successful wine business than just growing grapes! Monica Bourgeois and Neal Gernon are experts on that topic. The two wine lovers met while working in the New Orleans hospitality industry.They gained retail experience managing bottle shops before transitioning to wholesale wine distribution, making great California vineyard friends along the way.Together, Monica and Neal identified a void in the wine business. They began to imagine a way to combine special blends, artistic and fun packaging and what they call “great juice at reasonable prices” - which is how Vending Machine Wines was born over a decade ago.When these two locals learned that Louisiana’s only premiere winery, Pontchartrain Vineyards was for sale, their ambition grew. Wandering along St. Tammany Parish roads, we spotted the Wild Bush sign and stopped in for a visit. It was such fun we continued the conversation later in our Louisiana Eats studio resulting in this Tammany Taste Quick Bite! While on the Northshore, stop in for a visit at the Wild Bush Tasting Room just off Hwy 1082 in Bush, Louisiana. The tasting room is open Thursday thru Sunday noon till 4 pm. And don’t miss Jazz in the Vines happening annually in both spring and fall.
To learn more about special offerings and events at the vineyard, visit their website wildbushfarmandvineyard.com.
Big thanks to our sponsor, the St Tammany Parish Tourist Commission.Stay, play, and get away on the Louisiana Northshore! Discover the bounty of the bayou and rich culture from award-winning chefs, soulful mom and pop restaurants, extraordinary bakers, and creative mixologists. Request the FREE Explore the Northshore Visitor Guide today for inspirational stories, custom itineraries, and event information at LouisianaNorthshore.com/Guide
This podcast was produced by Blake Longlanais for Poppy Tooker Broadcasting.
New Orleans is well known for its legacy restaurant families. And now, just across the Mississippi River in Gretna, the Mandina clan is poised to claim its own place in our culinary pantheon. On this week's show, we meet three generations of family who have made Tony Mandina’s a Westbank culinary institution.
We begin with the restaurant’s namesake founder and his wife Grace Blanchard Mandina. Having no prior experience in the business, the couple ran the restaurant with help from members of their extended family. Grace shares stories of some pitfalls and laughs in those early days, when the ragtag team found themselves having to make it up as they went along.
The Mandinas’ Sicilian roots make their story a particularly rich and delicious one. We learn about the family's history, which can be traced back to Salaparuta, a town in southwest Sicily. Tony recounts the first time he met his aunts in the Old Country in 1960. Ever since then, the family has maintained a connection to their family across the Atlantic, even forging new relationships with distant cousins, resulting in an import/export business.
Tony and Grace's three daughters began working in their parents' restaurant as children. In 2020, middle daughter Kolette Mandina-Ditta took over the reins of Tony Mandina's, along with her daughter Lindsey Marcel. Both of them join us in the studio to discuss growing up in the restaurant, and Kolette describes what motivated her to write "Tony Mandina’s Kitchen," a new book featuring a collection of family history and recipes.
You can’t always get what you want. That’s been especially true during these unpredictable times. Now more than ever, there’s something comforting about the familiar – like a restaurant where you can order exactly what you want off the menu and are greeted with a smile whenever you walk through the door.
That’s the experience of anyone who walks into Liz’s Where Y’at Diner – one of the happiest places north of Lake Pontchartrain. From the palm trees to the peace signs to the tie-dyed t-shirts, everything about Liz Munson’s diner is laid back. On this week’s show, we speak with Liz, who tells us about her special kind of hospitality, served up with a killer crab meat grilled cheese sandwich.
The summer of 2022 is looking like a perfect time for a vacation. After enduring a lot of stay-at-home time over the last two years, there's plenty to explore in one of America's favorite playgrounds – New Orleans. On this week's show, we learn about Vue Orleans – the 20 million dollar multimedia experience that opened earlier this year at the foot of Canal Street.
Then we travel to Egypt with the help of the New Orleans Museum of Art, which has rolled out the red carpet for Queen Nefartari, the royal wife of Ramses II. Chef Chris Montero of Café NOMA and Khaled Hegazzi of Pharaoh's Cave and Sittoo's Kitchen have cooked up authentic tastes of Egypt to further enrich the museum-goers experience at NOMA this summer.
We also chat with Today Show co-stars Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, before partaking in New Orleans’ ultimate liquor experience, The Sazerac House. The multimillion dollar three-story interactive museum on the corner of Canal and Magazine Street is a liquor-laden Disney World for historians and cocktail lovers alike.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
How does a recipe become a retail offering? On this week's show, we track the path of great dishes and drinks from restaurant to retail. We begin with the Bayou State's spiciest new business, Louisiana Pepper Exchange. Founder and CEO Chris White tells the story of how a particular engineering feat of his led him to launch the new company. Then, we visit with research and development chef Ross Robertson, who is often tasked with turning a restaurant's signature drink or dish into a retail commodity. That's a dream that Warren Chapoton, founder of Juan's Flying Burrito, is currently pursuing. Warren and co-owner Jay Morris tell us the story of the New Orleans-based Creole-Mexican institution, and why they will soon be introducing their very own spice line. Finally, Christa Cotton of El Guapo Bitters shares how her company is manufacturing bitters and syrups so that every home bar is capable of mixing professional-style cocktails.
It’s Week Two of the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and after a two-year hiatus, that’s something to celebrate! On this week's show, Louisiana Eats is back at the track with more stories of the food, fun, and feasting that's been going on there for half a century.
We begin with Louis Broussard, master electrician at Jazz Fest, who has been hanging around the grounds since childhood when his father worked there as a horse groomer. He shares incredible tales of his father’s Fairgrounds farm and the meals his mother made from it – from squab to stewed duck.
Then, Steve Armbruster joins us in the studio to tell the tale of how the first Food Heritage Stage came to be and how the backseat of his Volkswagen played an important role in those early years.
We also hear from Michelle Nugent, Jazz Fest’s food director. She explains what it takes to manage the Food Heritage Stage, along with all of the food vendors located around the festival.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
It's been a long time since May 5, 2019 – when the high temperature that beautiful sunny Sunday barely hit 72 degrees at the New Orleans Fairgrounds and Jazz Fest 2019 called it a wrap. The following year, the festival went silent, one of the earliest high-profile events forced to cancel due to the unfolding global pandemic. Plans for a 2021 edition of the fest were also scrapped. With the festival gates finally open again this spring, Louisiana Eats is celebrating this happy return with some Jazz and Heritage Festival favorites.
Festival vendors of all stripes are now back serving guests for the first time in three years. It’s a relief for those who rely on Jazz Fest income annually – vendors like sculptor and jewelry designer Thomas Mann, who has been exhibiting his work there since 1977. Thomas joins us to give a firsthand perspective on how important Jazz Fest is to his bottom line.
And if you’ve ever admired the artisan woodworking of Greg Arceneaux – a perennial favorite in Jazz Fest’s Louisiana Marketplace, get ready for a crash course in what sets his work apart from the rest.
We also have a visit with our own house band, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes. The band shares some of their Jazz Fest gig memories with us, along with the meals they enjoy off and on the stage.
Finally, we close out our festival day with Terrance Osborne. You may have spotted Terrance's artwork at previous Jazz and Heritage Festivals, or perhaps you've seen his official, highly sought-after Jazz Fest posters, like this year's official poster featuring Jon Batiste.
Between the levee and the Mississippi River is the batture – a lively slip of wilderness that a tiny community calls home. There's batture land right here in the midst of metropolitan New Orleans – but unless you're lucky enough to know a batture dweller, there's a good chance you weren't aware of one of the city’s most unconventional neighborhoods. That was certainly true of Macon Fry when he arrived in New Orleans in the 1980s. After a chance encounter with a batture resident at a local watering hole, Macon got his first glimpse of life on the river's edge and became so entranced that he built himself a life there. His obsession with the batture ultimately led him to publish his new book, "They Called Us River Rats: The Last Batture Settlement of New Orleans." Macon joins us in the studio to discuss his decades of research about lives spent there in relative obscurity. Then, we head over the levee to visit with New Orleans chef and restauranteur Dickie Brennan at his new batture abode, where he's enjoying all the benefits of life in one of the last "camps" located there. Surrounded by lush vegetation and the kind of fauna found in more rural environs, Dickie can often be found taking in the outdoors on his deck – watching ships, tugs, and paddle wheelers make the turn on the Mississippi. Finally, Tulane environmental professor Oliver Houck shares tales of the countless hours spent observing life – wild and otherwise – as he walked his beloved dog along the batture
Since 1960 the Rouses family has specialized in making customers feel right at home when shopping in their stores - which now number 64 groceries stretching across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. One of the ways Rouses ensures that feeling of home is through their employees. There are few better examples of that than Marc Ardoin, manager of the Rouses Market on Freret Street. Marc has been with the company for eleven years, but his tenure on Freret Street has been very significant to due to a seemingly cosmic convergence that has brought him together with childhood best friends, right there at Rouses Market on Freret Street in Uptown New Orleans. To learn the full story, we sat down with Marc and his longtime friends and neighbors, the Nogueira brothers, Fredo and Juan.To learn more about the Rouses family tradition and find a store near you, visit www.rouses.com.
What do Antoine’s in New Orleans, Sylvia’s in Harlem, The Mandarin in San Francisco, and the once powerful chain of Howard Johnson’s restaurants all have in common? According to Yale professor Paul Freedman, they are all part of an influential group of Ten Restaurants That Changed America. On this week’s show, we sit down with Paul to discuss his book by that name, which weaves together culinary and social history – from lunch counter dining to the vanguards of haute cuisine.
We then zoom in on a key part of that history with Jim Heimann, Executive Editor for publishing house TASCHEN America, whose book Menu Design in America traces the evolution of dining culture through the development of the bill of fare.
Finally, we explore the role a New Orleans supermarket chain played in shaping the modern retail world. David Cappello discusses his biography of John G. Schwegmann, a complex figure whose influence extended far beyond the checkout aisle. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, please visit us at Poppytooker.com
Just across the causeway in the sleepy little town of Covington lies a landmark hotel, The Southern Hotel. Originally built in 1905 the mission-style hotel has lived many lives over the years. Opened in 1907 the hotel boasted hot water electric lights AND carpeting. In 1912 it was bought by a physician and used for a while as a sanitarium/resort treating people with respiratory illnesses. Shuttered in 1960 it sat vacant for more than 2 decades until re-opening in 1983 functioning as government offices for St. Tammany Parish after Hurricane Katrina it was again shuttered until it was purchased by local preservationist Lisa Condrey Ward and her husband Joseph. In 2014 107 years after the date of its original opening, the Southern Hotel reopens to the public.
Spring is in bloom in the Bayou State, which means festivals, outdoor gatherings and, of course, Easter! If you grew up in the Gulf South, there's a good chance your Easter basket was filled with treats from Elmer Chocolate – our state's very own heritage candy company. On this week’s show, we hop over to Ponchatoula to tour the factory where Elmer’s prized Gold Bricks, Heavenly Hash, and Pecan Eggs are made.
Then, we participate in "The Slowest Second Line on Earth" at Brennan's in the French Quarter, where we meet ten terrific turtles and a rapping judge.
Finally, we brave the rain for a rollicking cocktail tour, conducted by Richard Read, Elizabeth Pearce, and Allison Alsup – authors of The French Quarter Drinking Companion.
The beignet. That simple square of fried dough is undeniably one of the Crescent City’s most famous foods. Few visitors leave town without a ceremonial dusting of powdered sugar that occurs with every beignet bite. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the ubiquitous donut has been sold from French Market stands accompanied by steaming hot cups of café au lait. Twenty-first century chefs and restaurateurs have taken that simple fried dough to new heights, filling them with ingredients both savory and sweet and featuring them on menus far from home.
We kick off this week’s show with Bob Hennessey, co-owner of Morning Call. After a two-year hiatus, the iconic shop is back in Mid-City – serving up beignets and café au lait just like it did 150 years ago.
Next we meet Jaclyn Robinson, of the Mo’Bay Beignet Company. She credits the successful launch of her Alabama business to divine inspiration.
Then, we stop by a warehouse in New Orleans East, where Gulf Coast Blenders works to provide most of the Crescent City's famed beignet locations with a dry mix specially formulated for each customer’s needs – resulting in a light, fluffy beignet that is the standard in this city.
Finally, we make our way to The Vintage, a café that has built its entire concept around beignets in both Baton Rouge and the Big Easy.
On this week's show, we explore backyards, balconies, and rooftops where folks are cultivating their own food. We begin with Big Okra. That’s the name that gardener Jack Sweeney has given to his over 15-foot okra plant towering over his New Orleans backyard. We visit Jack and the Okra Stalk on site – but what made it grow so tall? Was it the seeds that spawned this Guinness World Records-worthy plant? We hear from the man who gave him those seeds: Jack's dad Neil, a Baton Rouge attorney who keeps his own garden behind his office.
Then, we speak with Tamar Haspel, author of To Boldly Grow. The new book chronicles Tamar and her husband's adventures as they adopt a more active approach to their diet – raising livestock, growing vegetables, and even hunting their own meat. Recounting tales of their successes and failures, Tamar fills the pages with practical tips and hard-won wisdom for those looking to cultivate their own food.
Finally, we explore one of the South's favorite backyard crops – the mirliton – a local favorite that was on the verge of extinction at the start of the 21st century but is now making a comeback thanks largely to the efforts of Dr. Lance Hill. We hear from the good doctor before exploring the pronunciation of the iconic squash with David Hubbell.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
In today's fast-paced world, where virtually every recipe can be conjured up by doing a quick search online, do cookbooks really matter? After hearing this week's show, we think you'll join us in a resounding yes. Cookbooks teach us techniques and introduce us to new ingredients and cultures. They expand our palates and remind us of old-fashioned ways of doing things – ways that can evoke memories of our long lost loved ones.
On this week's show, we meet Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf and Molly's Rise and Shine. This relative newcomer has caused quite a stir here in New Orleans, serving formerly mundane items like a fried bologna sandwich, and transforming them into works of art. That's just one of the reasons Bon Appétit named Turkey and the Wolf America’s best new restaurant in 2017.
Down here in Louisiana we love any excuse for a party. Our very Catholic culture dictates that Ash Wednesday is supposed to usher in 40 days of fasting and abstaining, but thanks to a few saints whose feast days fall during that Lenten period, our party just continues.
First comes St. Patrick’s Day, when everyone's Irish for the day. Then, just two days later, on St. Joseph’s Day, it's the Italians' time to party. Tulane History Professor Laura Kelley joins us to talk about the Irish in New Orleans. And historian Laura Gucionne reveals secrets of 19th century St. Joseph Day celebrations that will shock you! The story even involves Rex, King of Carnival.
This year, before those Catholic feast days, there’s the Jewish feast of Purim – sometimes called Jewish Mardi Gras. We learn all about Purim with the help of Benay Bernstein, who provides us with an introduction to a holiday unlike any other on the Jewish calendar.
The old adage is that a woman's place is in the kitchen. Despite that well-worn saying, it wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that women began finding their place in the restaurant kitchen. For this week's show, we gather together a powerful group of females who are breaking barriers and setting new standards for excellence in their fields. We begin with Nina Compton of Compére Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, the first Black female chef to receive the coveted James Beard "Best Chef" nod. She explains what it took to get there and why the Saint Lucia native chooses to call New Orleans home. Then, we talk with hometown girl Meg Bickford, the first female to ever rise to the executive chef's position at Commander's Palace. There's an awful lot of talent and power in that tiny little frame. Finally, we meet new restaurateur, Betty Sun of Lotus, who celebrates powerful women from the menu to the décor of her tiny little sushi spot in New Orleans' Lakeview neighborhood.
John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is internationally revered for having captured the essence and eccentricity of New Orleans — and for introducing readers to its larger-than-life protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly. On this week's show, we take a culinary look between the pages of the book that was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981. We begin with Spud McConnell, well known for his portrayal of Ignatius on stage. The Gonzales-born actor has become so recognized for his embodiment of the role, that the statue of the portly protagonist, which is located on a sidewalk in front of the old D.H. Holmes building on Canal Street, was modeled after him. Then, we speak with Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, who examined food as a character in the novel, compiling recipes for her gastronomical homage to Ignatius, A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook. Cynthia spent 18 months engrossed in the novel, and like Spud, developed a personal relationship with Ignatius and his world — jelly doughnuts and all. Finally, we wash it all down with Ignatius's favorite local soft drink: Dr. Nut. Having disappeared from grocery shelves decades ago, the beverage is as enigmatic as Ignatius himself. Designer Phillip Collier, the author of Making New Orleans, sheds some light on the mysterious Dr. Nut and provides us with an alcoholic version that he believes closely resembles the original recipe. From there, we venture through the streets of the French Quarter to a Lucky Dog hot dog cart, which served as the setting for one of the most memorable — and gluttonous — moments in the novel. Lucky Dog's owner, Jerry Strahan, is the author of Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter. He discusses his iconic business and its legendary employees.
Mardi Gras 2022 may just be the year of the king cake – at least on Louisiana Eats it is! A few weeks back, we devoted an entire episode to the topic. This week, we're back for seconds!
We begin with Patrick Bordnick. Like Pavlov’s dog before them, Patrick's three canine companions have been conditioned to salivate whenever they encounter king cake. Nearly every day from Twelfth Night to Mardi Gras, Patrick and his pups sample a new one and rate it. Patrick then posts their conclusions on his Instagram page, where the whole family enjoys a following.
Then, we hear more from Matt Haines, author of "The Big Book of King Cake." We explore the countless varieties of king cakes from across the state, and the bakers behind each innovation.
Finally, we meet king cake baker extraordinaire Dominique Rizzo of Celtica Bakery. Like his popular baguettes and croissants, Dominique's authentic French galette des rois is a game changer in New Orleans.
Racism in many forms has played an outsized and unfortunate role in Louisiana history. But throughout that history there have been strong, brave leaders who have worked to right the wrongs of the past. On this week's show we introduce you to pioneers past and present who have made a difference.
We begin with the newest crusader, Touré Folkes of Turning Tables. Touré is working tirelessly to bring diversity to New Orleans' bar scene by providing Black professionals with training, mentorship, and the resources they need to access real opportunity.
Then we hear from food writer Todd Price about the dearth of Black chefs in New Orleans today, something that has changed radically since Rudy Lombard's seminal 1978 book that pulled back the curtain on the Black restaurant cooks largely responsible for Creole cuisine as we know it today.
Finally, we sit down with Vance Vaucresson whose father Sonny fought racism and won in the 1960s with his Bourbon Street Vaucresson Creole Café. Today, Vance is preparing to open a new iteration of the family business in New Orleans' Seventh Ward where it all started three generations ago.
There’s a lot brewing in Louisiana today. On this week’s show, meet the innovators, the brewers, and the mixologists who are making that magic happen. We begin with the newest – Wetlands Sake. That favorite drink of Japan is now being made right here in our state using Louisiana rice. Founders Nan Wallis and Lindsey Beard give us a tour of the first sake brewery in the Bayou State.
Then we meet PJ Coffee’s founder, Phyllis Jordan, who brewed up a revolution when she first began serving cold brewed iced coffee in New Orleans in the 1980s.
We also hear from David Blossman, president of the Abita Brewing Company, the first craft brewery in our state.
Finally, we speak with Steve Hindy, co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery and author of The Craft Beer Revolution, where he explores the history of craft beers and what it means to be a craft brewer.
Down here in Louisiana, we're currently enjoying one of the longest king cake seasons possible. On this week’s show, we explore our favorite Carnival treat with Matt Haines, author of the "The Big Book of King Cake." Matt uncovered amazing historical facts and chronicled the lives and cakes of 75 bakers while writing his new coffee table tome.
For Martha Gilreath, king cake is more than just a seasonal treat. It represents a fresh start. These days, you’ll find Martha online at her pop-up bakery Nolita, serving up her signature king cakes, but she had to overcome huge odds to get there. Martha tells us about her journey.
We also remember our friend Will Samuels, the entrepreneur behind the King Cake Hub – a concept that has helped New Orleanians discover king cakes from far and wide. Will was taken by cancer in September of last year at the age of 52. Jennifer Samuels is currently continuing the family business following her husband's death.
Southeast Louisiana is home to an unusually wide range of family owned and operated restaurants, shops, and companies. Some have just started, while a surprising number of them are generations old. On this week's show, we look at three different flavors of family businesses in the greater New Orleans area.
First, we have a taste of Chisesi Brothers spicy Cajun meats and hear the delicious story of their 100-plus year-old family history from 5th generation Nicholas Chisesi and his octogenarian dad, Philip.
Then, we visit father-son duo Carlos and Will Avelar at their new family business, Mawi Tortilleria in Metairie. Will was a rising star in the culinary world when he and his father decided to join forces to provide fresh, authentic corn tortillas to the community.
And finally, we speak with Bryan Batt and Katy Danos, authors of Pontchartrain Beach: A Family Affair. Founded by Bryan’s grandfather Harry Batt in 1928, the amusement park was a summer destination for 55 years.
The life of a chef is often regarded as glamorous and exciting, but in reality it’s a hard life – exemplified by long hours and frequent financial challenges. For many, it’s the only life imaginable.
Nathanial Zimet, the ambitious chef behind Boucherie and Bourrée in New Orleans, falls directly into that category. Drawn to the restaurant business at the age of 15, the North Carolina native soon learned it was the only career for him. On this week's show, we sit down with Nathanial to explore what led him from London's Le Cordon Bleu to his purple food truck in New Orleans, where his culinary life here began.
From Hurricane Katrina to a near fatal shooting in 2011 – the indomitable Nathaniel has risen to the top, again and again.
So has Troy Ball, a charming Southern belle, whose hobby as a moonshiner became a means of helping her family survive. Troy’s memoir, Pure Heart, tells a very personal story of how a bankrupt mother with two profoundly disabled sons found happiness and financial success while becoming the first legal female moonshiner in Southern history.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week’s show, we’re traveling through Acadiana to explore traditional and contemporary Cajun foodways. We begin with George Graham, who shares his obsession through stories of cooking in the region through his nationally recognized blog and book, Acadiana Table: Cajun and Creole Home Cooking from the heart of Louisiana. Then, Then, we revisit our 2017 trip up River Road to LaPlace to see just what Chef Jarred Zeringue’s got smoking at Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse, a beloved institution on the Cajun Coast. We tour the generations-old business famous for its Andouille Sausage, and learn about their newly added offerings – from fresh eggs to smoked hogshead cheese and dry roux! And when it come to touring from coast to coast, musician Leroy Thomas, also know as “The Jewel of the Bayou” makes sure his band, the Zydeco RoadRunners, and his audience, are well fed with home-cooked meals. We speak to Leroy backstage at a recent Thursday night at New Orleans’ rock ‘N” Bowl. Finally, we wind through the back roads of Cajun country with Alex Cook, an expert on out-of-the-way, unusual places to experience the very best of Louisiana cuisine. He shares some of his favorites featured in his book, Seat Yourself: The Best of south Louisiana’s Local Diner, Lunch Houses, and Roadside Stops. Allons à L’Acadie, chéres!
This edition of Louisiana Eats takes a look back at the year that was 2021 – its challenges and its losses. Many restaurants and bars have closed their doors in the last two years, but when JoAnn Clevenger announced that New Orleans' beloved Upperline Restaurant would not reopen after initially closing due to the pandemic in March 2020, the entire city reeled with the news. We revisit our conversation with JoAnn from 2016.
The future of the English Tea Room & Eatery in Covington seemed in doubt when news broke of owner Tim Lantrip's accident. Hit by a truck while crossing Boston Street in October, for a while it was uncertain if he would recover. Fortunately, his wife Jan, who has also been his business partner for the last 20 years, reports he's making progress every day in his recovery while she and the devoted employees keep the fires burning at the English Tea Room. We revisit a lovely tea we enjoyed with the Lantrips in spring 2021 to remind us all what an important piece of the Northshore their tea room is.
And then, we remember Daphne Derven who passed away in October of 2021. A New Orleans resident since 2009, Daphne made her mark on the city's urban farming and agriculture scene before becoming the Curator of Education at the Historic New Orleans Collection where she was instrumental in developing the new children’s education wing at their Royal Street facility.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
It's the time of year for gathering together family and friends to celebrate all that has been and all that will be. An important element to all those spirited celebrations are the spirits themselves. On this week's show, we look at cocktail culture and mixed drinks perfect for any type of get together.
We begin with T. Cole Newton, one of New Orleans' premiere bartenders and bar owners. His book, Cocktail Dive Bar, not only shares recipes from his famed Mid-City hangout Twelve Mile Limit, but also imparts plenty of thoughtful wisdom Cole has garnered from over a decade in business.
Then, we learn the story of one of the Crescent City's most charming after-dinner traditions. First-time author Sue Strachan shares her knowledge of Café Brûlot, also the name of her book.
And how many bottles does it take to make a bar? Lesley Jacobs Solmonson and David Solmonson, authors of The 12 Bottle Bar, provide advice on holiday entertaining and wise ways to imbibe.
Food just tastes better when you know the farmer who grew it, the beekeeper who spun the honey from the hive, or the cottage producer of some delicious new fermentation purchased from your farmers market. On this week's show, we meet them all.
We begin at JD Farms in Poplarville, Mississippi, where Donald Van De Werken and Jeff Brown have been growing the biggest, sweetest, best blueberries in the region.
Then we’ll visit with Matthew Raiford, self-described CheFarmer who is spreading the good word of his Gullah Geechee heritage through a new book, Bress 'n' Nyam.
Finally, we travel to Northern California to visit the apiary of beekeeping guru Spencer Marshall of Marshall's Farms, before meeting New Orleanians Adam Orzechowski and Emily Shoemaker of Farm to Funk Ferments.
There's no denying the last two years have been a major challenge for everyone. Between the pandemic and the surge of natural disasters across the nation, we've seen it all. On this week's show, we learn how people are coping from coast to coast.
We begin in New Orleans with Chef Eric Cook, who battled to keep his first restaurant Gris-Gris open in 2020 while somehow finding the inspiration to open his second, Saint John this year. Eric shares the story of his viral open letter to the city published at a make-or-break moment for Gris-Gris, which articulated the impossible situation he and other restaurateurs found themselves in dealing with the pandemic in the summer of 2020.
Then, Gibson Thomas, publisher and editor of Edible Marin & Wine Country Magazine, shares the latest on how vintners are adapting to an ongoing series of wildfires burning across California.
Finally, we meet Peterson Harter, a Crescent City native and entrepreneur, who has become an advocate for mental health in the Bay Area while operating his popular sandwich pop up, Sandy's SF.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Though he’s been on the local restaurant scene since 2010, Chef Jeff Mattia didn’t move to Louisiana until well into his culinary career. At that point, the Marine vet had already worked with some serious luminaries like celebrity chefs Tom Collichio and Todd English. While his career was centered in New Orleans for the first four years, Jeff and his family felt decidedly more at home across the lake in St. Tammany Parish. There, he found the slower pace of life shared much in common with his Hartford, Connecticut birthplace. When the opportunity to open his own Northshore eatery finally presented itself, Jeff was all in, opening Pyre Provisions in Covington in 2020. Based on his pandemic take out success with his barbeque menu, Jeff expanded in 2021 opening Pyre BBQ on the Mandeville Trace. To learn more about Jeff’s restaurants, visit www.pyrerestaurant.com and www.pyrebbq.com.
On this week's show, we take a journey into the Ice Cream Underground to uncover the magicians taking America's favorite dessert to new heights right here in Louisiana. We begin with Sam Caruso, who has overcome a host of challenges to find a sweet opportunity with Laozi Ice Cream.
New Orleans is well known for its legacy restaurant families. And now, just across the Mississippi River in Gretna, the Mandina clan is poised to claim its own place in our culinary pantheon. On this week's show, we meet three generations of family who have made Tony Mandina’s a Westbank culinary institution.
We begin with the restaurant’s namesake founder and his wife Grace Blanchard Mandina. Having no prior experience in the business, the couple ran the restaurant with help from members of their extended family. Grace shares stories of some pitfalls and laughs in those early days, when the ragtag team found themselves having to make it up as they went along.
The Mandinas’ Sicilian roots make their story a particularly rich and delicious one. We learn about the family's history, which can be traced back to Salaparuta, a town in southwest Sicily. Tony recounts the first time he met his aunts in the Old Country in 1960. Ever since then, the family has maintained a connection to their family across the Atlantic, even forging new relationships with distant cousins, resulting in an import/export business.
Tony and Grace's three daughters began working in their parents' restaurant as children. In 2020, middle daughter Kolette Mandina-Ditta took over the reins of Tony Mandina's, along with her daughter Lindsey Marcel. Both of them join us in the studio to discuss growing up in the restaurant, and Kolette describes what motivated her to write "Tony Mandina’s Kitchen," a new book featuring a collection of family history and recipes.
How does a recipe become a retail offering? On this week's show, we track the path of great dishes and drinks from restaurant to retail. We begin with the Bayou State's spiciest new business, Louisiana Pepper Exchange. Founder and CEO Chris White tells the story of how a particular engineering feat of his led him to launch the new company.
Then, we visit with research and development chef Ross Robertson, who is often tasked with turning a restaurant's signature drink or dish into a retail commodity. That's a dream that Warren Chapoton, founder of Juan's Flying Burrito, is currently pursuing. Warren and co-owner Jay Morris tell us the story of the New Orleans-based Creole-Mexican institution, and why they will soon be introducing their very own spice line.
Finally, Christa Cotton of El Guapo Bitters shares how her company is manufacturing bitters and syrups so that every home bar is capable of mixing professional-style cocktails.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Located less than an hour from the New Orleans' French Quarter, Baton Rouge, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, St. Tammany Parish has long been a favorite vacation spot. The allure of piney woods, fresh air, charming historic towns, and delicious food has beckoned visitors for over a century. On this week's show, we take you along with us as we cross Lake Pontchartrain to meet some chefs and restaurateurs on Louisiana's Northshore.
We begin at Tchefuncte's in Madisonville with Chef Michael Gottlieb, who’s introducing a whole new level of fine dining on the restaurant's namesake river. Downstairs from Tchefuncte's, Michael also operates The Anchor, which provides more casual dockside food and drink.
Next, we meet the inimitable Liz Munson of Liz’s Where Y’at Diner, a place that offers a very special kind of family-style hospitality along with a killer crab meat grilled cheese sandwich.
We also experience some authentic German-style fun at Horst Pfeifer’s Middendorf’s before catching up with Billy and Sarah Rieger to learn the story of the couple and their dream restaurant, Rieger’s On The Trace, which unfortunately couldn’t survive the pandemic.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Halloween is upon us and there's something spooky in the air! On this week's show, we have some very special treats (and no tricks – we promise!). We begin with Sally Asher, owner and operator of Red Sash Tours. On Halloweens past, Sally has taken us on special tours of St. Louis Cemetery No. 3. This year, we tour two different New Orleans graveyards in search of our dearly departed restaurateurs, barflies, and forgotten food luminaries.
On this week's show, we meet some folks who have moved on to new adventures in their lives. We begin with Chef Steve Himelfarb and his wife Becky Retz. In the summer of 2020, they closed their beloved bakery, the Cake Café, after 13 years of business. But this isn't the first major life change for them. Long before there was a Cake Café, Steve worked solely as a music engineer and producer – doing Grammy-nominated work with artists like Buckwheat Zydeco and Beausoleil. We hear about his career in music and food and learn about the new Cake Café Cookbook.
In 2011, Jessica Harris wrote “High on the Hog,” a book that traces the origins of African American food. Ten years later, it has become the basis of the hit Netflix docuseries of the same name. On this show, Dr. Harris sheds light on the resilience and inventiveness of Black cooks who shaped American cuisine.
If you’ve ever had an encounter with a celebrity, you know you can dine out on that story for a long time. On this week's show, we hear from notable writers and chefs in their own right, whose brushes with fame come with a host of tales.
Across the Bayou State, people are taking their destiny into their own hands and pursuing entrepreneurial dreams of owning their own business. On this week’s show, we encounter a Louisiana-style cornucopia of self-starters who forged their own path to find success in the sphere of food.
We begin with Alfonzo Bolden, who, along with his brother Troy, is co-CEO of Cajun Nation Cajun Seasoning Company, based out of Lafayette. While there's no denying their food talents, Alfonzo and Troy's true genius lies in knowing just when to trademark a name – which for them, often precedes the product concept.
Whether it's loss due to recent hurricanes or the overwhelming, devastating loss suffered the world over during the pandemic, grief has been an unwelcome guest in many people's lives these days. On this week's show, we take a look at grief, its effects, and the gifts that sometimes accompany it.
We begin with Merissa Nathan Gerson, a new New Orleanians whose time here has been gravely marked by the unexpected death of her father. In her new book, "Forget Prayers, Bring Cake" Merissa shares an honest, unwavering look at her life during her year of grieving.
Between the levee and the Mississippi River is the batture – a lively slip of wilderness that a tiny community calls home. There's batture land right here in the midst of metropolitan New Orleans – but unless you're lucky enough to know a batture dweller, there's a good chance you weren't aware of one of the city’s most unconventional neighborhoods.
That was certainly true of Macon Fry when he arrived in New Orleans in the 1980s. After a chance encounter with a batture resident at a local watering hole, Macon got his first glimpse of life on the river's edge and became so entranced that he built himself a life there. His obsession with the batture ultimately led him to publish his new book, "They Called Us River Rats: The Last Batture Settlement of New Orleans." Macon joins us in the studio to discuss his decades of research about lives spent there in relative obscurity.
Then, we head over the levee to visit with New Orleans chef and restauranteur Dickie Brennan at his new batture abode, where he's enjoying all the benefits of life in one of the last "camps" located there. Surrounded by lush vegetation and the kind of fauna found in more rural environs, Dickie can often be found taking in the outdoors on his deck – watching ships, tugs, and paddle wheelers make the turn on the Mississippi.
Finally, Tulane environmental professor Oliver Houck shares tales of the countless hours spent observing life – wild and otherwise – as he walked his beloved dog along the batture.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week’s show, we explore the intersections between hunting, gathering, fishing, and our changing environment. We begin at the Best of Bycatch event – a lighthearted competition hosted by the Southern Food & Beverage Museum back in 2017 – where a highly invasive fish is on the menu: the Asian Carp. Coastal scientist Alisha Renfro talks about how these newest invaders are wreaking havoc on our state's aquatic ecosystems, and Chef Philippe Parola of the Silverfin Group shares his Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em solution.
The origins of food and spirits are usually not well known and can sometimes be hard to track down. After all, how do you figure out where something that’s been around for centuries originated? On this week’s show we’ll speak with several culinary historians about the history of some fabulous foods, and some spirits too.
We begin with author and historical gastronomist Sarah Lohman. Her book, 8 Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine recognizes the relationship between the eight flavors she considers the foundation of American cuisine. She shares a tale of how a slave named Edward Albius changed the world by learning to pollinate vanilla, a plant native to Mexico, outside of its native environment.
Back in the early days of television, the Public Broadcasting System blazed the trail in the genre of food TV with the one and only Julia Child, whose series, The French Chef, changed the way Americans cook and eat.
On this week’s show, we sit down with PBS's newest sensation, Chef Kevin Belton, whose fourth series, Kevin Belton's Cooking Louisiana, is being aired in homes across the nation. Kevin shares what he learned while shooting his latest venture, which features food from across our delectable state.
There’s no getting around it – August is HOT down here in Louisiana, so we thought a virtual vacation in Scandinavia just might provide a little chill. We begin with chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson. His Scandinavian connection is that although Ethiopian born – he was raised by adoptive parents in Sweden, giving him an unusual world view. The James Beard Award-winner and Top Chef master is also author of the bestselling memoir, Yes, Chef.
We sit down for an extended visit with Marcus, as he shares the story of his remarkable journey from his childhood in Ethiopia and Sweden to international renown.
Then, we speak with Swedish Chef Magnus Nilsson, who showcases the diversity of Scandinavian cuisine in his enormous tome, The Nordic Cookbook
After a few glorious months where it looked as if the worst of the pandemic was behind us, a new surge of Covid-19 is now bearing down on Louisiana with a vengeance. A new enemy variant called Delta is coming after us - and this time, it’s after our children. With cases projected to peak sometime between September and November, elected officials and business leaders are weighing new measures to stem the outbreak. On this episode of Louisiana Eats we look back to how life was in the spring of 2020 and then fast forward to the current Covid situation in Louisiana.
From cakes to croissants to pralines – Louisiana has an affection for confection. This week, we satiate our sweet tooth with the help of some delightful dessert makers.
After a year’s delay, the Summer Olympic Games are officially underway. Over 11,000 athletes from 205 countries are gathered in Tokyo, looking to bring home the gold in everything from archery to water polo. On this week's show, we raise a glass to intercontinental camaraderie by tasting five exotic spirits produced across the globe.
On this week’s podcast, we meet Gulf Coast Blenders customer, Jaclyn Robinson. To say divinity played a part in the birth of Mo’ Bay beignet company is an understatement. Mo’Bay’s founder, Jaclyn Robinson’s faith led her to open a beignet café that she’d never considered an option before. Her own five children were big fans of her beignets, which she served with her own homemade syrups instead of traditional powdered sugar. But a sign from God gave her the inspiration bring her beignets to the world. With two Alabama locations and a diehard following, I couldn’t wait to hear the full story from Alabama’s number one beignet ambassador about how Gulf Coast Blenders contributed to her success.
From cuccidati to olive salad to St. Joseph Day altars, Sicilan foodways and traditions have had an immense influence on our state's cuisine and culture. On this week’s show, we talk with Louisiana natives who share a deep love and respect for their Sicilian heritage.
We begin with Grace and Tony Mandina, whose family-run restaurant on the West Bank, Tony Mandina’s, has been welcoming guests in true Old World style for nearly 40 years. Those Mandinas are one in a million – good, hardworking folks for whom la familia always comes first.
Then, we hear from New Orleans food historian Laura Guccione, whose family hails from Alia, Sicily. With her background in botany, Laura has long been fascinated by a local fruit tree, often referred to as the Japanese plum, which proliferates wildly on the island of Sicily. Her linguistic look at the fruit can be found on New Orleans Historical.
Finally, we sit down with Sal Impastato of the renowned Napoleon House clan. Sal tells us the story of the business that was family-owned and -operated for almost a century, before he handed over the keys to Ralph Brennan in 2015.
According to ancient Chinese legend, the discovery of tea was made in 2737 BC by Emperor Shen Nung while he was sitting under a tree as his servant boiled water. When some leaves of the tree fell into the water and the emperor consumed the accidental infusion, the course of hot beverages changed forever.
The emperor was seated under a Camellia sinensis – the same plant where most teas are still derived from today. And believe it or not, Southern Mississippi appears to be an ideal environment for Camellia sinensis cultivation. On this week's show, we take you straight to the tea farm to meet adventurous farmers Donald Van De Werken and Jeff Brown of Pearl River Tea Company.
Then, we travel to The English Tea Room in Covington, Louisiana where Jan and Tim Lantrip entertain us at a high tea while expounding on the many varieties of tea and how they can improve your health.
Finally, we visit Tru, New Orleans's very own Teach Witch, in her mystical tea wagon for a gypsy caravan-style tea experience.
How many varieties of bitters are stocked in your bar? Once upon a time, there were only two choices – our beloved, local Peychaud bitters and Angostura – originally crafted in Angostura, Venezuela. Today, there are literally hundreds of varieties – a dizzying selection to say the least.
On this week’s podcast we speak with the proprietor of a local beignet bistro, Bernard Stolberg. His charming little Garden District shop on Magazine Street between harmony and 8th has become quite popular with the locals and tourists alike for its fabulous beignets, and full bar. Usually there is an assortment of businesspeople, college students, and dog lovers soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying those tasty treats. On a rainy afternoon, we sat down with Bernard on the back patio -- that is until the rain ran us inside, to talk about those fabulous beignets and how our sponsor, Gulf Coast Blenders, has aided in his success.
On this week's show, we take a journey into the Ice Cream Underground to uncover the magicians taking America's favorite dessert to new heights right here in Louisiana. We begin with Sam Caruso, who has overcome a host of challenges to find a sweet opportunity with Laozi Ice Cream.
The old adage is that a woman's place is in the kitchen. Despite that well-worn saying, it wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that women began finding their place in the restaurant kitchen. For this week's show, we gather together a powerful group of females who are breaking barriers and setting new standards for excellence in their fields.
We begin with Nina Compton of Compére Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, the first Black female chef to receive the coveted James Beard "Best Chef" nod. She explains what it took to get there and why the Saint Lucia native chooses to call New Orleans home.
Then, we talk with hometown girl Meg Bickford, the first female to ever rise to the executive chef's position at Commander's Palace. There's an awful lot of talent and power in that tiny little frame.
Finally, we meet new restaurateur, Betty Sun of Lotus Bistro, who celebrates powerful women from the menu to the décor of her tiny little sushi spot in New Orleans' Lakeview neighborhood.
Just across Lake Pontchartrain, in the quaint little downtown of Covington there’s a charming yellow cottage filled with English tradition and taste. That’s the English Tea Room, established in 2002 by Jan and Tim Lantrip. Guests of the establishment experience one of the finest High Teas to be found anywhere on this side of the pond! When we sat down with Jan and Tim, we knew we were in for a spot of tea – but had no idea of the wealth of knowledge about to be served up with it!
On Thursday, Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday to commemorate the effective end of slavery in the United States, just days before the June 19 anniversary. This week, to mark the occasion, we revisit our 2016 trip to the Whitney Plantation, the only plantation museum in Louisiana that focuses entirely on the lives of enslaved people.
The Whitney Plantation is one of three surviving Civil War-era sugar plantations located in St. John the Baptist Parish along the Mississippi River. There, we join Director of Research at Whitney Dr. Ibrahima Seck, who gives us a personal tour of the property.
We make our first stop at a restored nineteenth century Baptist church, where we learn about slavery as viewed through the eyes of children. Not far from the church, Dr. Seck brings us to a large monument engraved with names and information about the enslaved individuals who lived at Whitney. We also step into one of the site's 22 cabins and tour the oldest detached kitchen in Louisiana, making our final stop at the big house where the Haydel family lived.
Following our visit to the plantation, we speak with Sybil Haydel Morial—educator, activist and former First Lady of New Orleans—who learned later in life of her family’s connection to the Whitney Plantation. Sybil chronicled her breadth of experience during the civil rights era and the years that followed in her memoir, Witness to Change.
One of the most popular forms of literature today is the memoir. These days, folks with barely three decades under their belt are writing their memoirs, but on this week's show, we hear from four wise women who relate a lifetime of memories along with valuable lessons learned in theirs.
We begin with Southern baker and activist Lisa Donovan, whose book, Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger is a raw, honest, and brave telling of a life that will leave you hungry for more. In her memoir, Lisa explores how reclaiming her narrative is not merely an act of ego – but one of solidarity, universality, and inspiration.
Then, we speak with award-winning writer Ann Hood. Her writings explore the human condition, frequently drawing upon her own life experiences, including her journey with grief following a terrible family tragedy. While none of her previously published eight books fall into the food genre, her most recent, Kitchen Yarns, explores her life through what she was eating (and cooking) during the most salient times.
Next, we hear about Elissa Altman’s unique upbringing. In her second memoir Treyf: My Life as an Unorthodox Outlaw, the award-winning author and food blogger explores how tradition, religion, and the forbidden impacted her childhood growing up in Queens, New York.
We end with Mary Giuliani, author of Tiny Hot Dogs. As an awkward kid growing up on Long Island in the 1980s, Mary's dream was to one day become a famous actor – preferably, a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Today, she plays a different kind of role: as caterer to the stars. Famous for her finger food recipes, she regularly works with A-list celebrities in the worlds of fashion, art, and movies. In her book, Mary weaves together a collection of memories from her life while offering a glimpse into the career of a celebrity caterer.
Over the last several years, the dining category of breakfast and brunch have simply exploded across the nation. On this week's show, we’re looking at the popular weekend ritual in New Orleans and beyond.
We begin with Jennifer Weishaupt, founder and CEO of the Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group. The Ruby Slipper Café has prospered and multiplied in a way that Jennifer and her husband Eric could never have anticipated when they opened their very first Mid City location in 2008. She tells us about her ever-expanding breakfast and brunch empire, now serving hungry diners in locations across five states.
Then, we’re off to Tujague's for an authentic taste of the country’s latest sensation – drag brunch. We go backstage to introduce you to some of the rollicking New Orleans drag queens who are delivering a little pizzazz to go with your eggs Benedict. Debbie with a D, Princess Stephanie, Mistie Bonét, Laveau Contraire, and Cucci Licci give us a glimpse into their lives both in and out of the spotlight.
Finally, we join Chris Jay of Stuffed and Busted on a trip to Marilynn’s Place, a popular casual dining restaurant in Shreveport that specializes in Sunday brunch. The eatery is now celebrating 10 years in business.
The beignet. That simple square of fried dough is undeniably one of the Crescent City’s most famous foods. Few visitors leave town without a ceremonial dusting of powdered sugar that occurs with every beignet bite. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the ubiquitous donut has been sold from French Market stands accompanied by steaming hot cups of café au lait. Twenty-first century chefs and restaurateurs have taken that simple fried dough to new heights, filling them with ingredients both savory and sweet and featuring them on menus far from home.
We kick off this week’s show with Bob Hennessey, co-owner of Morning Call. After a two-year hiatus, the iconic shop is back in Mid-City – serving up beignets and café au lait just like it did 150 years ago.
Next we meet Jaclyn Robinson, of the Mo’Bay Beignet Company. She credits the successful launch of her Alabama business to divine inspiration.
Then, we stop by a warehouse in New Orleans East, where Gulf Coast Blenders works to provide most of the Crescent City's famed beignet locations with a dry mix specially formulated for each customer’s needs – resulting in a light, fluffy beignet that is the standard in this city.
Finally, we make our way to The Vintage, a café that has built its entire concept around beignets in both Baton Rouge and the Big Easy.
It's graduation time in Louisiana and the horizons are wide for this year's culinary students. The New Orleans Career Center is celebrating the first graduating class of their Hospitality, Restaurant, and Tourism Academy – and Louisiana Eats is joining in.
We begin with Chef Alon Shaya, whose foundation plays an integral part in the new trade school. Alon knows firsthand how a single teacher can change the direction of a student's life and he's committed to giving the same opportunities to today's youth that he benefited from as a troubled teen.
Building a cookbook is a lot of work. From recipe testing to photography sessions to finalized editing – the process can be grueling. On this week's show, we hear how it gets done from beginning to end and meet some authors who fell in love with cookbooks at an early age.
Brazilian-born New Orleanian Ana Riehlmann was four years old when her grandmother, Voinha, helped whet her appetite for the written word – using recipes. In her self-published food memoir, I Learned to Read with Recipe Books, Ana takes readers around the world with her as she shares memories and recipes from a life in food.
Then, we learn how to write cookbooks with Kit Wohl. The incredibly prolific author has written fifteen cookbooks so far with another coming this fall. When it comes to her titles, Kit does it all: she cooks the food, writes the text, and handles the food styling, photography, and layout design.
We join Kit in her studio to witness one of her cookbooks being made, before speaking with David Spielman to learn how the New Orleans photographer captured some of the stunning portraits featured in Louisiana Eats!: The People, The Food, & Their Stories.
Finally, we speak with Brian Theis, whose debut cookbook, Infinite Feast, is both a guide to hosting loved ones and a colorful nod to cookbooks from the Atomic Era. Bursting with recipes, colorful photographs, and entertainment tips, the hardback also includes interviews with celebrity chefs and restaurateurs like Phillip Lopez and JoAnn Clevenger.
Cajun Nation is a Louisiana made seasoning blend that is catching fire in the world of flavor. Created by brothers, Alfonzo and Troy Bolden who grew up on a working plantation in the 1970’s, their voyage from sharecropper’s cabin to owning and operating a successful seasoning business makes for quite an amazing tale. The distinctive red cans of Cajun Nation seasoning deliver an authentic taste of bayou cuisine. As Troy says, “You bring the rice, and we’ll bring the spice!” The Red Can will soon be available at Rouses Markets everywhere.
If you've ever had a New Orleans poor boy then you know it's all about the bread. Real New Orleans French bread is something you can't get just anywhere, or at least that's what we thought. On this week's show, we get down to the dough of it and see what's happening with bread in the Big Easy. We begin with Graison Gill. For years, Bellegarde Bakery has been milling and baking fresh bread for over 120 local restaurants and markets. We visit his Apple Street bakery, where Graison explains how he came to love New Orleans and baking. Next up is John Gendusa Bakery, the originators of the famous poor boy bread. We hear the story of the first poor boy loaf ever baked from the inventor’s grandson, John Gendusa. Then, we catch up with the fourth generation, John’s son Jason, who is at the helm of the family bakery today. Finally, we sink our teeth into a piece of New Orleans cultcha by way of Leidenheimer Baking Company. Sandy and William Whann tell us about their famous bread and bakery, now celebrating 125 years in business.
It's full on festival time in the state that knows how to fest better than most – except once again, due to pandemic restrictions, there are no fests right now. Though with vaccines widely available, and the recent easing of Covid-19 rules, a future with safe public gatherings suddenly doesn’t seem so implausible. Inspired by WWOZ and local restaurants whipping up everything from cheesy crawfish bread to high-proof strawberry lemonade, on this week's show, we look back at some of our favorite festival experiences as we gaze hopefully into the future. We begin by meeting dozens of talented chefs at the Blackpot Festival & Cookoff, held annually in Lafayette. This gathering of musicians and cooks draws in more and more attendees each year with its come-one, come-all hospitality and generosity of spirit. Then, we participate in "The Slowest Second Line on Earth" at Brennan's in the French Quarter, where we meet ten terrific turtles and a rapping judge. Next, we join students, parents, teachers, and neighbors gathered for Edible Schoolyard's Sweet Potato Fest. We visit the garden at Arthur Ashe Charter School in Gentilly to help harvest crops and celebrate all things sweet potato.
Finally, we travel to Greenville, Mississippi for the annual Delta Hot Tamale Festival.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Children's picture books often contain stories that grown ups can benefit from too. That's certainly true of Andrea Wang's new picture book, Watercress, an autobiographical tale of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage. With illustrations by Jason Chin, Watercress takes taste memories to new highs and lows as Andrea recalls a moment in her childhood when her family foraged for the perennial plant on the roadsides of her rural Ohio home.
Andrea and Jason join Louisiana Eats for a conversation about the heart-rending book before we speak with New Orleanian Christina Quackenbush of the Filipino food pop up Milkfish. Christina was born in the Philippines and raised in Indiana farm country before finding a career in food. She tells us about her contribution to The New Filipino Kitchen, a collection of 30 recipes and stories from chefs and home cooks of the Filipino diaspora.
Next, we speak with cooking teacher and author, Hsiao-Ching Chou. Her book, Chinese Soul Food, offers recipes for beloved Chinese restaurant dishes – like pork spare ribs and chili wontons – which she demystifies using ingredients you're likely to already have in your pantry.
Finally, we join Chef Michael Gulotta in the kitchen of his New Orleans Market District restaurant Maypop. Michael explains how he's bending the rules and blurring the lines on where Southeast Asia ends and South Louisiana begins.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
From beignets to poor boys, gumbo to jambalaya, and crawfish to boudin, Louisiana’s cuisine is as eclectic as it is delectable. On this week’s show, we explore our state’s rich food culture, based on centuries of Creole and Cajun traditions.
We begin with New Orleans native and Southern Food & Beverage Museum founder Liz Williams. She spent many years researching her award-winning book New Orleans: A Food Biography, which would go on to be selected for the One Book One New Orleans program during the city’s tricentennial year. Liz explores the roles history, geography, and economics played in shaping the Crescent City’s distinct culinary identity.
Then, we take a close up look at Louisiana’s most emblematic foods with author Maggie Heyn Richardson, author of Hungry for Louisiana. Maggie tells us about red boudin and why it's in danger of disappearing from our state.
Finally, we stir our appetite for roux, rice, and gumbo with The Essential Louisiana Cookbook author Stanley Dry.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
One of the hidden gems of St. Tammany Parish is the Tammany Trace. Originally a well travelled corridor for the Illinois Central Railroad, today the Trace travels 31 miles through five Northshore communities – accessible only by bike or on foot. The official trailhead is located on Koop Drive where Sarah and Billy Rieger are waiting to welcome you. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon ice cream cones and more – it’s the perfect way to begin or end your Tammany Trace adventure.
It may amaze to learn that the Rieger’s culinary adventures all began on a food truck in Canada!
On this week's show, we meet some folks who have moved on to new adventures in their lives. We begin with Chef Steve Himelfarb and his wife Becky Retz. In the summer of 2020, they closed their beloved bakery, the Cake Café, after 13 years of business. But this isn't the first major life change for them. Long before there was a Cake Café, Steve worked solely as a music engineer and producer – doing Grammy-nominated work with artists like Buckwheat Zydeco and Beausoleil. We hear about his career in music and food and learn about the new Cake Café Cookbook.
Next, we catch up with Chef Corbin Evan, formerly of Lulu's in Exchange Alley and Lulu’s in the Garden in New Orleans. Today, he owns and operates Oxford Canteen, a highly-acclaimed restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi.
Finally, guitarist Pete Murano of Trombone Shorty’s longtime band Orleans Avenue joins us to explain what he has been up to since the pandemic took him and the band off of the road. Suffice it to say that Pete has become one of Instagram's newest cooking stars!
On this week's show, we meet farmers, distillers, and plant breeders who are pioneers in their fields – and celebrate peas on earth. We begin with Ben Branson, founder of Seedlip – a distillery that produces non-alcoholic spirits using peas grown on his 300-year-old family farm in Northern England.
Then, we learn about plant breeder Dr. Calvin Lamborn, known as the Father of the Sugar Snap Pea. We speak with his son, Rod Lamborn, who is working hard to preserve his late father’s legacy.
We also meet distiller Jeff Quint, whose family tree can be traced back nine generations to the Mosel River Valley in Germany. He now uses his vast stores of corn to produce award-winning bourbons in Swisher, Iowa.
Finally, we hear about a very happy marriage between dairy farming and distilling. Paul Archie explains how he and his farmer friend Jason Barber were inspired to experiment with cow's milk to make a totally unexpected beverage – a whey-based vodka. They call it Black Cow Pure Milk Vodka.
How many varieties of bitters are stocked in your bar? Once upon a time, there were only two choices – our beloved, local Peychaud bitters and Angostura – originally crafted in Angostura, Venezuela. Today, there are literally hundreds of varieties – a dizzying selection to say the least.
One of the biggest players in the bitters field is New Orleans’ own El Guapo. We take a tour of their Tchoupitoulas Street facility and learn how El Guapo’s president Christa Cotton did a pandemic pivot that grew her business over 800 percent last spring.
Next, we take a deep dive into a Sazarac cocktail – the official drink of New Orleans whose flavor relies heavily on Peychaud’s bitters – with Tim McNally, whose new book focuses on that single topic.
Then, we visit the Crescent City's ultimate liquor experience, The Sazerac House. The multimillion-dollar, three story interactive museum that opened last fall on the corner of Canal and Magazine Street is a liquor laden Disney World for historians and cocktail lovers alike. We take a guided tour, and get a peek at the first distillery ever located smack in the middle of downtown New Orleans.
On this week’s show, we meet some individuals who are working to tackle the widespread problem of food and water waste.
Laid off during the pandemic, hospitality workers Adam Orzechowski and Emily Shoemaker combined a zero-waste commitment with a fermenting obsession that resulted in a new business they aptly named Farm to Funk. Adam and Emily are now bubbling up internationally-based concoctions using refuse from local farms that customers are snapping up at pop-up markets across the area.
Then, we speak with Baton Rouge-based food industry veteran Susanne Duplantis. Her blog, Makeover My Leftover, offers tips on how to transform yesterday’s scraps into today’s delicious meal.
Next, Lindsay-Jean Hard tells us about her book, Cooking with Scraps, which provides a reference guide for zero-waste cooking.
Finally, we dive into the tempestuous depths of global water issues. EPA water scientist Eliot Sherman discusses water conservation and its impacts on the food and beverage industry.
One of New Orleans' greatest treasures are the legacy businesses that have kept locals wined and dined for generations. On this week's show, we learn about two institutions that share both an area code and the devotion of family required to keep a legacy going.
We begin with Deirdre Barrow Johnson and her husband Kenneth Johnson Jr. of Barrow’s Catfish. Deirdre is the third generation of the family that opened Barrow’s Shady Inn, one of the longest-running Black-owned restaurants in the city. We hear the story of their family's legacy – one that began with a fried catfish sandwich sold from Deirdre's grandfather’s barroom door.
Then, we explore what it takes to move a landmark, when Tujague’s Restaurant opens their doors to us at their new location, just five blocks down Decatur Street from where Tujague’s called home since 1914. How do you move a historic landmark while retaining 165 years of charm and tradition? Owner Mark Latter shows us what he's been doing to make the change as seamless as possible, while taking the opportunity to revitalize the family business for a new generation of diners.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Located just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, the area widely known as Louisiana's Northshore is a mere 40 minute drive from the French Quarter. As close as the Northshore is geographically, in every other way it is a world apart. Made up of multiple small towns, each with its own identity, St. Tammany Parish is a wonder to wander – which is exactly what we’re doing on this week’s show.
If you’ve ever had an encounter with a celebrity, you know you can dine out on that story for a long time. On this week's show, we hear from notable writers and chefs in their own right, whose brushes with fame come with a host of tales.
We begin with Sean Wilsey, whose star-studded childhood was hardly a bed of roses. He’s the author of More Curious, a book of essays that examines American identity, often through the lens of food and drink.
This year marks the centennial of the late southern bon vivant Eugene Walter. Although he has been dead for over two decades, the magical life of "Mobile's Renaissance Man" continues to inspire. We vicariously meet Eugene with the help of Donald Goodman and Thomas Head, co-editors of The Happy Table of Eugene Walter.
And finally, we get a taste of what 21st century craft service is like from Anne Churchill. She has served as tour chef for a variety of acts, including the Dave Matthews Band, Melissa Etheridge, and Zack Brown. Anne discusses what life is like for a rock and roll touring chef.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Here in Louisiana, we have more than our fair share of delectable heritage foods. Many of them are harvested from the wild. On this week's show,we go Down on the Batturewith Tulane University environmental professor Oliver Houck. He explains the ecology of this small sliver of land, the bounty of foodstuffs found there, and the opportunities it provides for fringe living.
Then we’ll hear from Bill Heavey, editor-at-large of Field & Stream. He explains the bizarre lengths he took to eat only wild foraged food for an entire year.
Finally, we sit down with wild man Joey Fonseca to discuss alligator hunting. His excitement for alligator hunting is contagious.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
It’s Mardi Gras season in Louisiana in a year like none other. The coronavirus pandemic brought an abrupt halt to annual balls and parades, and "donning a mask" has taken on a whole new meaning. But that hasn’t stopped revelers from finding safe and innovative ways to celebrate.
On this week’s show, we learn about a new tradition perfect for Carnival in quarantine – house floats. Devin De Wulf tells us about the Krewe of Red Beans’ latest initiative, which hires laid-off Carnival artists to transform homes and businesses into works of art.
One of those businesses is Commander's Palace. Co-Proprietor Ti Martin shares how they’re spreading Mardi Gras cheer both inside and outside as they celebrate the late, great Pete Fountain and his Half-Fast Walking Club.
Next, we speak with author and songwriter Johnette Downing, who’s also known as “the pied piper of Louisiana music traditions.” Johnette shares her latest album, Swamp Romp, which, among other things, seeks to answer the eternal question, Who put the baby in the king cake?
Finally, writer Sally Asher and illustrator Melissa Vandiver introduce us to The Mermaids of New Orleans, who choose one day of the year to mingle with those of us who live above water – Mardi Gras Day, of course! Coronavirus won’t keep them from coming ashore!
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
Just as with everything in this ongoing pandemic, this year’s Covid Carnival is a far cry from anything we've seen in the past. But there is one constant that remains unchanged and that’s our beloved king cake. No balls, no parades but don’t worry – there is more king cake than ever to go around.
On this week’s show, we celebrate that sweet treat like never before. We begin with a tiny Northshore treasure, Morgan Street Bakery, where baker Christine Schmitz crafts a traditional French-style confection redolent with almond paste that's almost a lost art.
One year ago this week, the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in the United States. In the 12 months since, Covid-19 has devastated communities and economies across the country, and fundamentally altered our lives. Progress is being made on the vaccine front, and there’s a glimmering light at the end of the tunnel. But without a doubt, this has been a difficult year for our collective mental health.
Morgan Street Bakery
In the tiny town of Madisonville, located on Louisiana’s Northshore, there is a little bakery turning out some of the most perfect French pastries found anywhere on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Christine Schmitz is the owner and baker at Morgan Street Bakery and if you’ve never tasted her king cake – you’ve never lived. It’s well worth a drive across the Causeway, but be forewarned – once you’re there, you just may end up taking home a lot more deliciousness than originally bargained for!
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There’s no getting around it. If you want to be a successful chef or bartender, you have to have a consuming passion for food, drink, and hospitality. Especially in New Orleans. But what distinguishes our city from many other dining destinations is the fact that we’re one of the oldest cities in America – with three centuries of history and tales too delicious to believe. On this week’s show, we meet three foodies whose appetite for history is as keen as their love for cooking and cocktails.
John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is internationally revered for having captured the essence and eccentricity of New Orleans — and for introducing readers to its larger-than-life protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly. On this week's show, we take a culinary look between the pages of the book that, 37 years ago, was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.We begin with Spud McConnell, well known for his portrayal of Ignatius on stage. The Gonzales-born actor has become so recognized for his embodiment of the role, that the statue of the portly protagonist, which is located on a sidewalk in front of the old D.H. Holmes building on Canal Street, was modeled after him. Then, we speak with Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, who examines food as a character in the novel, compiling recipes for her gastronomical homage to Ignatius, A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook. Cynthia spent 18 months engrossed in the novel, and much like Spud, developed a personal relationship with Ignatius and his world, jelly doughnuts and all.Finally, we wash it all down with Ignatius's favorite local soft drink: Dr. Nut! Having disappeared from grocery shelves decades ago, Dr. Nut is as enigmatic as Ignatius himself. Designer Phillip Collier, author of Making New Orleans, sheds some light on the mysterious Dr. Nut and provides us with an alcoholic version that he believes closely resembles the original recipe.From there, we venture through the streets of the French Quarter to a Lucky Dog hot dog cart, which served as the setting for one of the most memorable — and gluttonous — moments in the novel. Lucky Dog's owner, Jerry Strahan, is the author of Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter, and he discusses his iconic business and its legendary employees.
Fortuna’s wheel is spinning upward on this week's Louisiana Eats!
On this week’s show, we look at New Orleans history through the lens of the city’s material culture.
We begin with Jim Bruseth and Toni Turner, who reveal a surprising turn of events that preceded the official founding of New Orleans. Evidently, if the French explorer La Salle hadn’t blundered in his attempt to form a colony here, the city would have celebrated its 300th birthday in 1988 instead of 2018.
Stick a fork in it! 2020 is done – well done in fact! While this has been a year filled with unparalleled trials and tribulations, there has been much to inspire, uplift, and downright laugh about! On this week's show, we hear from New Orleans activist Devin De Wulf, who inspired his Krewe of Red Beans to make a significant difference in the lives of healthcare workers who put their lives on the line this year for us all.
2020 has been a tumultuous year filled with loss – and the toll on our hospitality industry continues with many restaurants having to shutter their doors after decades in business. One of New Orleans' most significant losses came in July when K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen closed permanently. Chef Paul Prudhomme and his wife Kay opened the restaurant in 1979, making it into one of the most popular eating places in the city and among the most influential in the United States.
Louisiana has a new Seafood King!
The Northshore’s very own, Chef Robert Vasquez of Pepe’s Sonoran Cuisine in Covington handily won the 2020 crown with his red snapper,
crawfish sofrito. On this St. Tammany Taste Quick Bite, we zoom in with Chef Robert to learn all about this year’s competition and just how the Southwestern native came to win this special Louisiana Seafood honor.
One of the most popular forms of literature today is the memoir. These days, folks with barely three decades under their belt are writing their memoirs, but on this week's show, we hear from four wise women who relate a lifetime of memories along with valuable lessons learned in theirs.
We begin with Southern baker and activist Lisa Donovan, whose book, Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger is a raw, honest, and brave telling of a life that will leave you hungry for more. In her memoir, Lisa explores how reclaiming her narrative is not merely an act of ego – but one of solidarity, universality, and inspiration.
It’s the holiday season, which means that spirits are high – high proof that is! On this week’s show, we’re throwing a holiday party with some cocktail professionals!
Everybody needs a little love sometime and there’s a place on the Northshore where that love is served with every bite. Liz’s Where Y’at Diner in Mandeville, Louisiana may just be one of the happiest places on earth. From the palm trees to the peace signs to the tie dyed T-shirts, everything about
The holidays may look different this year, but one thing is certain: a little wine is sure to make them just a little brighter. On this week’s show, we dig deep into the proverbial wine cellar for some gems that will inform, advise, and get you ready to pop those corks.
On this Louisiana Eats Quick Bite, we learn about L.H. Hayward’s 2019 acquisition of Dagostino Pasta, a Louisiana company with Sicilian roots. Since 1926, Dagostino Pasta has handcrafted its pasta using old world methods that include air-drying over wooden rods. The semolina used is made entirely from American durum wheat.
On this week’s show, we analyze the air fryer – a popular cooking gizmo that uses hot air to cook everything from French fries to chickpeas to cinnamon rolls. This countertop contraption promises to replicate all the crispy results of deep frying, but without the fat, and has become a home cook's must-have – depending on who you talk to.
If you're a Louisiana native with a distinctly Italian last name, you've got lots of company here. Since the late nineteenth century, more families of Sicilian descent have called Louisiana home than anywhere else in the world except Sicily. This is a topic that has fascinated Loyola history professor, Justin Nystrom – enough to compel him to record their history and influence here in his 2018 book, Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture.
Do you already have an air fryer on your kitchen counter or are you hoping to receive one as a gift this holiday season? On this edition of Quick Bites we’re diving deep into the hottest of all kitchen appliances and what comes out of them – the air fryer.
To eat meat or not to eat meat? That is the question. On this week’s show, we examine sustainable farming and butchery practices and the ethical constraints of consuming meat in the 21st century. We begin with James Beard award-winning food writer Corby Kummer, who weighs in on the topic of meat and morality.
Here at Louisiana Eats, we love a good ghost story. And in the ten years we’ve been on the air, we’ve heard some really spooky ones! This week, we bring you some of our favorites from the past decade. We begin with Chef Greg Picolo, whom we spoke with for our very first Halloween show back in 2010 and then again in 2019. It seems like no matter where Greg goes, paranormal activity keeps following him!
None of us have been able to travel much this year, so to satisfy some wanderlust, we're traveling back in time this week on a magical trip Louisiana Eats took to France in the summer of 2015.
We begin the journey in the Loire River Valley at Château du Clos Lucé, with a personal tour of the final residence of Leonardo da Vinci from Count Bernard Saint Bris, whose family has owned the country manor for generations. Then, we join his sister Marie Saint Bris as she prepares le dîner bleu in the dining room of her family's Château Beauchêne.
Located just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, the area widely known as Louisiana's Northshore is a mere 40 minute drive from the French Quarter. As close as the Northshore is geographically, in every other way it is a world apart. Made up of multiple small towns, each with its own identity, St. Tammany Parish is a wonder to wander – which is exactly what we’re doing on this week’s show.
When there’s a hint of fall in the air, it’s time to head to Middendorf’s to celebrate an Oktoberfest only Horst Pfeifer could possibly throw, complete with authentic German music, food and fun. Since opening a second Middendorf’s in Slidell, the Oktoberfest celebration has expanded to include both locations. This year’s Oktoberfest takes place from October 7th to November 13th. The celebration happens in the Manchac swamp at the original Middendorfs on Wednesdays and Thursdays, then the party moves to the new Middendorf’s in Slidell on Fridays.
Whether you’re doing scholarly research or just want to indulge in an afternoon of history, here in the Crescent City, there’s no better place for that than the Historic New Orleans Collection. When forced to close their galleries earlier this year, the nonprofit jumped into action making extensive changes and additions to their online offerings to help us all stay entertained and informed – even while quarantined.
Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on businesses of all stripes, none more than the hospitality industry. In that struggling sector, there is one category seemingly without hope – the New Orleans neighborhood bar. These watering holes, where for generations people have gathered to celebrate and mourn, are on the brink of extinction. Since the initial shutdown in March, most Orleans Parish bars were only allowed to operate for a brief and very confusing time between June 13th and midnight on July 12th.
If you've ever had a New Orleans Po-Boy then you know it's all about the bread... Real New Orleans French bread is something you can't just get anywhere, or at least that's what we thought. We decided it was time to get down to the dough of it and see what is happening with bread in New Orleans
On this week’s episode, we take a deep dive into the cuisine and culture of Asia, with an emphasis on China. We begin with Karen Christensen, founder of Berkshire Publishing who has pursued her interest in Asia through the amazing books she’s compiled. Karen shares her thoughts and experiences on all things culinary from East Asia to Afghanistan.
Over the past 30 years, Chef Kim Kringlie’s restaurant, the Dakota, has become a mainstay of Northshore fine dining. Along the way, he’s been recognized as culinary artist of the year by the St. Tammany Arts Commission and named one of New Orleans’ top 25 chefs by the American Culinary Federation. You may be surprised to learn that Chef Kim hails from Grand Forks,
North Dakota where, as a 15 year old, he discovered his love for the business at a steakhouse there,
called The Bronze Boot.
But in Louisiana, the self described “mashed potatoes and gravy flatlander” works magic with our bountiful local seafood. If you have any doubts, you’ve never tasted his sublime crabmeat and brie soup!
Louisiana Eats sat down with Chef Kim to hear the story of his amazing life journey.
On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina and the resulting levee failures changed everything for many Louisiana residents. This week, we hear stories about the hurricane's aftermath from individuals within the city's food industry.
Food is an inspirational muse for artists of all disciplines. On this week's show, we explore the many intersections of food and art from the visual to the written word. We begin with muralist Zac Maras who recently turned the exterior of Toups Meatery on North Carrollton in New Orleans into a riotous celebration of Louisiana foods. The story behind the mural is the subject of a new documentary by filmmakers Jonathan Evans and Marian Gay. Video of the mural being made can be seen on the Louisiana Eats youtube channel here: Mural
There’s no getting around it – August is HOT down here in Louisiana, so we thought a virtual vacation in Scandinavia just might provide a little chill. We begin with chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson. His Scandinavian connection is that although Ethiopian born – he was raised by adoptive parents in Sweden, giving him an unusual world view. The James Beard Award-winner and Top Chef master is also author of the bestselling memoir, Yes, Chef.
Just south of highway 190 in Mandeville and only about 45 minutes from downtown New Orleans on Girod St lies Duman Artisan Kitchen a husband and wife collaboration that is producing some extraordinary fare in a beautiful setting. Influenced by Turkish, Italian, Israeli and American cooking Ozgur and Bulent Duman have cultivated an eclectic menu the likes of which have not been seen on the northshore before. The Louisiana Eats team recently took a ride across the causeway to St. Tammany Parish to talk with Ozgur about how they came to Mandeville and why they started making pizza.
Chickens and their eggs play essential roles in our global cuisine. A part of human life since before recorded history, the chicken has also left its mark on our civilization as a cultural icon. On this week’s show, we explore the world of our fine, feathered, fowl-est friends—and learn why their eggs are everything they're cracked up to be.
On this week's show, we’ve got your full pandemic market report. We begin with Darlene Wolnik, training and technical assistance director for the national Farmers Market Coalition. She gives us an overview of how farmers markets across the country are coping with the changing landscape of Covid-19.
Until 2020, to every bartender, bar owner, distiller and cocktailian, the third week of July meant Tales of the Cocktail — the annual, international gathering that has dominated the beverage industry scene for the past 16 years. This year's Tales, planned as a virtual, online event, has been postponed until late September. But don’t worry. This week’s Louisiana Eats is guaranteed to satisfy your Tales itch.
On this week's show, we meet fathers and sons who are working together to make business work across generations. We begin with Baumer Foods, the third-generation company that makes Crystal Hot Sauce. Al Jr. and his son "Pepper" explain how in their family business, there are no shortcuts to the top.
On this week's show, we're celebrating the 4th of July holiday by savoring the remarkable diversity that shapes America's food culture.
We begin with Gabrielle Langholtz, author of "America: The Cookbook." Gabrielle’s encyclopedic tome explores our nation’s identity through the immigrant stories and recipes that created American food as we know it.
As in cities worldwide, the streets of New Orleans have come alive this spring with protests, marches, and rallies for racial justice. The Crescent City has long been a hotbed for activism and played an important role in civil rights era organizing that helped put an end to Jim Crow. This week, we take a look at the legacy of the segregated South through stories about the intersections of food, race, and labor over the past century.
What does it take to make a name for yourself in the restaurant business? You need nerves of steel, the heart of a hero, and maybe you have to be a little bit crazy. This week we’re visiting with chefs and restauranteurs who are legends in the business.
Donald Link Uncensored At one point during his cooking career, Donald Link s co workers nicknamed him "Hot Shot." Was it deserved That depends on who you ask. Donald shares his side of the story with us in a revealing interview that takes you from the rock and roll kitchens of San Francisco to his award winning restaurants in New Orleans, in this latest Louisiana Eats Quick Bite. Donald Link Uncensored is a Donald Link the public rarely has had a chance to hear.
This week, Louisiana Eats celebrates Juneteenth—the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
In this time of coronavirus it might be hard to believe that any restauranteur could be expanding their business instead of contracting it. But that is precisely what Chef Pat Gallagher is doing.
On this week's show, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of our show's debut!
We've dug through our archives for some of our favorite moments over the past decade, with an emphasis on Louisiana culture and cuisine. The first episode of Louisiana Eats broadcast on June 9, 2010. That year also marked the 125th anniversary of New Orleans’ streetcar line. We look back at our very first field piece, when we took a streetcar ride with the late, great historian Michael Mizell-Nelson.
On this week's show, Louisiana Eats looks at the place where the law intersects with food and drink. The topic's not as dry as you might expect—especially when it comes to liquor and law!
We begin with attorney Philip Greene. By day, he serves as Trademark and Internet Counsel for the U.S. Marine Corps, based in the Pentagon. Philip's probably better known, however, as a cocktail enthusiast and historian. He’s a founding member of the Museum of the American Cocktail and has written several books on the the high-proof drink. We discuss intellectual property with Philip, and the different forms that businesses have used to protect their brands.
The humble little honey bee is one of the most important players in our ecosystem. In one of our favorite episodes from last year, we circle the globe in pursuit of a honey of a tale. We begin right here in our own backyard at the Audubon Zoo. While more exotic creatures may be what draw the crowds, both native and European honey bees can be found bumbling around the zoo's grounds. Curator Dominique Fleitas gives us a tour of the Pollinator Garden and shows us the hives she helps maintain in the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit.
Since Ralph Brennan and Terry White reopened the venerable Brennan's Restaurant in 2014, they've initiated some new traditions, like champagne sabering in the patio and an annual turtle parade. On this week's show, we speak with general manager Christian Pendleton, who, since the coronavirus shutdown, has been demonstrating the art of sabrage in a series of funny videos posted online. One in particular, which featured him dressed up as the Easter Bunny, became a worldwide sensation
With the state under lockdown due to Covid-19, Louisiana residents spending more time in their home kitchens than ever before. On this week's show, food columnist and Cooking Up a Storm co-author Judy Walker joins us with ideas and advice on how to make delicious meals during this pandemic, even if you're using a limited pantry.
This week, Louisiana Eats revisits more cheerful times, with a lighthearted episode from our archives—our April Fool’s Day show from 2017. It’s irreverent. It’s playful. It’s a month late—and it’s one of our favorites. One of the stories is a joke, but the rest are so wild, you may not be able to separate the fact from the fiction!
On this week's show, we learn how the restaurant sector is coping with COVID-19 around the state and beyond. We begin with the story of business partners Emery Whalen and Chef Brian Landry. After the coronavirus shuttered their company, QED Hospitality, the duo were able to change gears to keep employees on the payroll and meet a growing need in healthcare.
Since the coronavirus shutdown, Louisiana Eats has been presenting voices from the hospitality community. This week, we hear from New Orleans restaurant owners and chefs who were interviewed as part of a documentary by filmmakers Jonathan Evans and Marian Gay.
This week, Louisiana Eats continues its examination of the food industry as it deals with the affects of the coronavirus shutdown. Now that the initial shock is starting to wear off, people are asking: how do we do business when doing business as usual is out of the question? How can we adapt to this constantly changing landscape?
One of the most charming things about Louisiana
are the people you find along the way.
On this special podcast, you’ll meet a true treasure of
the Northshore, Miss Emma Giron, of
Emma’s Famous Pralines in Slidell, Louisiana.
Miss Emma is a true food hero, who has devoted much
of her life to our most emblematic candy creations, the
praline.
Located in an unassuming strip mall on
Old Spanish Trail, Emma’s Famous Pralines is a compact but cozy space filled with the rich aroma of butter and sugar. Family photos and old newspaper clippings adorn the walls and on the shelves there you’ll find individually wrapped pralines for sale, along with homemade goods, both sweet and savory.
If this podcast has made you hungry for
pralines you can find her at her shop at
705 Spanish Trail in Slidell and she does ship!
She’s on Facebook and you may give her a ring
at 985-641-9151.
Big thanks to our sponsor, the
St Tammany Parish Tourist Commission.
Located just 40 minutes from New Orleans' French Quarter,
the Northshore’s Tammany Taste features the chefs and farmers,
brewers and bakers of St. Tammany Parish’s culinary scene!
Visit LouisianaNorthshore.com to discover more.
Louisiana's Northshore, where New Orleans has come to play
and get away for more than a century.
Don’t miss a delicious Tammany Taste
Quick Bite by subscribing to our podcast at
poppytooker.com where you’ll also find lots more
recipes and delicious food ideas too.
Louisiana Eats original theme music by Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes. Thanks to senior producer
Joe Shriner who produced this podcast.
This Louisiana Eats Quick Bite was
produced by Poppy Tooker Broadcasting.
We begin with Mark Schettler, manager of Bar Tonique and vocal advocate for New Orleans' service workers. When all bars were ordered closed at midnight on Monday, March 16th, Mark switched into activist mode. We hear how hospitality industry workers are dealing with the crisis following the shuttering of businesses and learn how you can help.
On this week’s episode, we take a deep dive into the cuisine and culture of Asia, with an emphasis on China. We begin with Karen Christensen, founder of Berkshire Publishing who has pursued her interest in Asia through the amazing books she’s compiled. Karen shares her thoughts and experiences on all things culinary from East Asia to Afghanistan.
Another Carnival season is behind us, and for many, it's a time for fasting and abstinence. In 2016, registered dietitian Molly Kimball wrote an article challenging New Orleanians to give up all alcohol from Ash Wednesday until Easter as a way to reboot and learn how alcohol affects our bodies. In the years since, the #AlcoholFreeFor40 Challenge has grown, with Ochsner Eat Fit programs across the state hosting this community initiative. Molly visits our studio to talk about how the challenge has evolved and the impact it has had on the lives of some participants.
It's Mardi Gras time in Louisiana, so on this week’s show, we're bringing Carnival to you.
We begin with author and songwriter Johnette Downing, who’s also known as “the pied piper of Louisiana music traditions.” Johnette shares her latest album, Swamp Romp, which, among other things, seeks to answer the eternal question, Who put the baby in the king cake?
It’s king cake season, and on this week’s Louisiana Eats, we look at how this Carnival indulgence has become the phenomenon it is today. We begin in at longtime family-run king cake purveyor, Randazzo’s Camellia City Bakery in Slidell.
This week, we shine a spotlight the humble yet mighty bean. We begin with its role as cultural icon–celebrated each Lundi Gras at the Red Beans Parade. When Devin De Wulf founded the Krewe of Red Beans over a decade ago, he had no idea he was creating a Lundi Gras tradition that would develop a cult following. The annual parade has gotten so popular that three bean parades will be marching this year. Devin joins us to discuss the krewe’s expansion from a Lundi Gras marching parade to a year-round institution.
Since 1965, the Randazzo family name has been closely tied to New Orleans’ king cake tradition. It all began back in 1952 when the Randazzo family owned and operated a bar and restaurant in St. Bernard Parish known as the Camellia Club. In 1965, the Randazzo brothers, Manuel Sr., Lawrence and Tony turned what had been the Camellia Club’s dance hall into the Hi-Lan Bakery, home of the original Randazzo king cake. In 1971 the Hi-Lan Bakery moved to Chalmette, where Manny, Sr. eventually taught his son in law, Lou Zornes all the family secrets, including that the more you handle the dough the more tender and flavorful it gets!
When Manny retired in 1996, closing the bakery in Chalmette, his daughter, Tricia and son-in-law protégé, Lou decided to open their own bakery in Slidell where they continue the family tradition today.
Order your Randazzo’s Camellia City King Cake today by visiting www.kingcakes.com or by calling 800-684-CAKE.
On this week's show, we gather together some of the best of the cookbook world for some vicarious travel.
We begin with culinary superstar Sean Brock. In his bestselling cookbook, “South,” the award-winning chef breaks down the essential elements of Southern cuisine, from corn bread to shrimp and grits, highlighting regional differences in certain dishes. Sean sits down with us to discuss his book and explain what he’s doing to explore the possibilities of Southern food.
Chickens and their eggs play essential roles in our global cuisine. A part of human life since before recorded history, the chicken has also left its mark on our civilization as a cultural icon. On this week’s show, we explore the world of our fine, feathered, fowl-est friends—and learn why their eggs are everything they're cracked up to be.
On this week’s show, we learn the ins and outs of building a culinary empire from restaurant vanguards in Louisiana and beyond.
On this week’s show, we look at family businesses that have been finding success through five generations. We begin with Swiss Confectionery, a New Orleans bakeshop that’s been in operation for almost a century. Their custom-made delicacies are fixtures at New Orleans weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations.
On this week’s show, we visit the Historic New Orleans Collection’s new expansion at 520 Royal Street, the first to house the city’s only continuing exhibit about our most famous neighborhood, the French Quarter.
John Lawrence, Director of Museum Programs at the HNOC shows us the renovated Seignouret-Brulatour House and galleries, which paint a portrait of the Vieux Carré, framed by topics like transportation, communications, and commerce.
We begin by remembering our favorite New Orleans cookbook nook, Kitchen Witch, which sadly closed earlier this year after 20 years in business. Like so many independent bookstores, this local gem was squeezed from multiple directions, including online retail and technology.
It’s the holiday season, which means that spirits are high – high proof that is! On this week’s show, we’re throwing a holiday party with some cocktail professionals!
Is there a bottle of jenever in your bar at home? Unless you’re from the Netherlands – that might not be the case. Gin and jenever expert Philip Duff joins us to explain the difference between these two distinct spirits and tells us about his intoxicating career.
On this week's show, we look back on bygone New Orleans businesses that "ain't dere no more," but continue to hold a place in the city’s collective heart. We begin with Bryan Batt and Katy Danos, authors of Pontchartrain Beach: A Family Affair. Founded by Bryan’s grandfather Harry Batt in 1928, the amusement park was a summer destination for 55 years.
On this week's show, we meet food television stars from the newest to the medium's most seasoned.
We begin by checking in with one of our favorite home grown celebs—Chef Isaac Toups. After several years in front of the camera, he and his wife Amanda have seen food TV as both a boon for their business and an exploitative behemoth. We join them to discuss how they have been taming that beast, and get the scoop on Amanda's first foray into television.
The great food writer M.F.K. Fisher once said that writing about food is writing about love. On this week's show, we explore culinary memoirs that reveal how our heart strings are connected to our taste buds.
We begin with award-winning writer Ann Hood. Her writings explore the human condition, frequently drawing upon her own life experiences, including her journey with grief following a terrible family tragedy. While none of her previously published eight books fall into the food genre, her most recent, Kitchen Yarns, explores her life through what she was eating (and cooking) during the most salient times.
On this week's show, we remember New Orleans culinary dynamo Carl Schaubhut, whose life was cut tragically short on September 9, 2019 at the age of 37 following a five-year battle with cancer. We begin by revisiting our 2017 conversation with Carl, where he tells us about his electrifying career that included opening two critically acclaimed restaurants DTB in New Orleans and Bacobar in Covington.
The origins of food and spirits are usually not well known and can sometimes be hard to track down. After all, how do you figure out where something that’s been around for centuries originated? On this week’s show we’ll speak with several culinary historians about the history of some fabulous foods, and some spirits too.
Is a career in food the right choice for you? On this week’s show, we’re exploring culinary careers from all angles. We begin by looking at two educational food programs in New Orleans. First, we’ll meet members of the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute’s first graduating class along with their instructor, Chef Alison Vines-Rushing. NOCHI offers a fast track into professional kitchens, awarding a professional degree in just 100 days.
Since 2015, Louisiana Eats has called the Southern Food and Beverage Museum home. Now in its eleventh year, SoFAB showcases culinary highlights of 15 Southern states and Washington D.C. It's more than just a museum, though. It’s also an active part of New Orleans' food and beverage world, with a state-of-the-art kitchen where cooking classes are regularly held and budding entrepreneurs try their hand at launching new food businesses.
There's a little something spooky in the air because it’s that time of year again! On this year’s special Halloween edition of Louisiana Eats, we’re getting up close and personal with some ghostly friends and the places they haunt. We begin with a visit with our resident medium, Debbie Duvall who recently put host Poppy Tooker in touch with Tujague’s famous cross-dressing ghost, Julian Eltinge—but not after giving her the fright of her life!
On this week’s show, we explore the intersections between hunting, gathering, fishing, and our changing environment. We begin at the Best of Bycatch dinner at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, where a highly invasive fish is on the menu: the Asian Carp.
Cuba and New Orleans are tied together in many ways, from our Creole flavors to our laid back attitude – but maybe most of all, in our music. Later in this episode we’ll meet veteran travel agent Alina Fernández. She's a Cuba native and president of Cuba Travel New Orleans, a company that specializes in organizing legal trips to Cuba. She helps explain the new travel restrictions and tells us about the trip she's organized for the Havana Jazz Festival in January 2020 (cubaneworleans.com) Back in December of 2015, Louisiana Eats host Poppy Tooker had the opportunity to join the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on their landmark visit to Cuba for the Havana Jazz Festival. Over the course of a week there, Poppy took excursions into the countryside to learn about tobacco production and the art of cigar making, dined in delicious paladares, and toured markets and organic farms.
The humble little honey bee is one of the most important players in our ecosystem. On this week’s show, we circle the globe in pursuit of a honey of a tale. We begin right here in our own backyard at the Audubon Zoo. While more exotic creatures may be what draw the crowds, both native and European honey bees can be found bumbling around the zoo's grounds. Curator Dominique Fleitas gives us a tour of the Pollinator Garden and shows us the hives she helps maintain in the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit.
David Blossman is a man ahead of his time. Long before it was legal for him to drink, David was experimenting with home brewing, making small batches of beer as a hobby. At 17 years old, he invested his teenage savings into what would become the Abita Brewing Company. Over 30 years later, he's now the president.
John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is internationally revered for having captured the essence and eccentricity of New Orleans — and for introducing readers to its larger-than-life protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly. On this week's show, we take a culinary look between the pages of the book that, 37 years ago, was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. We begin with Spud McConnell, well known for his portrayal of Ignatius on stage.
On this week’s show, we speak with three James Beard Award-winners to explore the history and culture of African American cooking and learn how African flavors are inspiring new dishes today.
We begin with soul food scholar Adrian Miller, who describes his book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, as love-letter to African-American cooks. Since it was first published in 2013, the book has gone on to receive numerous accolades and was awarded a James Beard for reference and scholarship. Within its pages, Adrian presents a refreshing look at one of America’s oldest and most mythologized cuisines. From mac and cheese to red drink, he uncovers the history of soul food and what it means for African American culture and identity.
Whether your dietary concerns are based on weight loss, muscle gain, or heart health, there's so much information and professional advice out there that it's hard to know who to believe or what to eat. On this week's show, we hear from the experts on everything from the current diet du jour, keto, to omega-3 supplements.
Internal medicine physician Mignonne Mary of the Remedy Room explains why she has been teaching keto since she first began her practice, and why she believes combining the diet with intermittent fasting may help reduce inflammation in the body.
Reality food TV may be a boon for networks, but what happens to local chefs and restaurants after the cameras stop rolling? On this week's Louisiana Eats, we talk to people who have participated in food TV in its various forms, with varying results.
We begin with Helen Freund, restaurant critic and dining editor at Gambit. Earlier this year, she wrote a front-page article about the positive and negative effects food TV hosts like Gordon Ramsey and Guy Fieri have had on local restaurants. Helen fills us in on what she uncovered.
Then, we hear from Ragnar Karlsson, whose restaurant, the Trolley Stop Cafe, was featured in the season premiere of "Gordon Ramsey's 24 Hours to Hell and Back." Ragnar's plan was to give his family restaurant a much needed boost, but was it worth it? He explains how excruciating the experience could be and explains how unreal reality TV can be.
Finally, Chef Isaac Toups joins us. From his rise to fame on Top Chef to his new series for the Food Network, food TV has been very good to Isaac. Louisiana Eats had the great fortune of chronicling his experiences before, during, and a year after his Top Chef debut. Isaac tells us all about his celebrity transition.
For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we meet some people who are working hard to make your weekend brunch an unforgettable experience. We begin with Jennifer Weishaupt, founder and CEO of the Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group. The Ruby Slipper Café has prospered and multiplied in a way that Jennifer and her husband Eric could never have anticipated when they opened their very first Mid City location in 2008. She tells us about her ever-expanding breakfast and brunch empire, now serving hungry diners in locations across four states.
On this week's show, we visit the Historic New Orleans Collection’s new expansion at 520 Royal Street, the first to house the city’s only continuing exhibit about our most famous neighborhood, the French Quarter.
On this week's show, we're traveling through Acadiana to explore traditional and contemporary Cajun foodways. We begin with George Graham, who shares his obsession through stories of cooking in the region through his nationally recognized blog and book, Acadiana Table: Cajun and Creole Home Cooking from the Heart of Louisiana.
On this week's show, we look back on bygone New Orleans businesses that "ain't dere no more," but continue to hold a place in the city’s collective heart. We begin with Bryan Batt and Katy Danos, authors of Pontchartrain Beach: A Family Affair. Founded by Bryan’s grandfather Harry Batt in 1928, the amusement park was a summer destination for 55 years.
Change is constant, but that doesn’t make it easy. On this week's show, we meet some individuals who have transformed their lives or business.
The Avenue Pub had been a family business for nearly 20 years before Polly Watts claimed it for herself. It was the kind of place where patrons bought cheap beer and knocked back shots of Jagermeister, but Polly knew there wasn't a future down that road, at least not for her. When she reshaped the menu, she ultimately reshaped the bar into one of the Southeast's best destinations for craft beer.
On this week's show, we look at family businesses that have been finding success through five generations. We begin with Swiss Confectionery, a New Orleans bakeshop that’s been in operation for almost a century. Their custom-made delicacies are fixtures at New Orleans weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations.
Every July, thousands of visitors from all over the world beat a path to steamy New Orleans for the annual Tales of the Cocktail. As Tales kicks off its 17th year, we look at how the organization evolved recently under new leadership and has a whole new mission.
Americans waste 373 million pounds of food each day. That s a pound per person. On this week s show, we re talking trash in a productive way, of course We meet a few individuals who are working to tackle the widespread problem of food and water waste. We begin with Baton Rouge based food industry veteran Susanne Duplantis. Her blog, Makeover My Leftover, offers tips on how to transform yesterday s scraps into today s delicious meal. Next, Lindsay Jean Hard tells us about her her book, Cooking with Scraps, which provides a reference guide for zero waste cooking. Then, Michael Hurwitz of GrowNYC joins us to discuss how highly motivated citizens have been working to make composting a regular part of New York life. Finally, we dive into the tempestuous depths of global water issues. EPA water scientist Eliot Sherman discusses water conservation and its impacts on the food and beverage industry. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.
On this week's show, we look at cookbooks as a cultural artifact and biographical portrait. We begin at Kitchen Witch, a store in New Orleans specializing in rare and used cookbooks. With their shop scheduled to close soon, owners Debbie Lindsey and Philipe LaMancusa look back on two decades of business—and some of their biggest sellers.
Coffee, tea, kombucha? What’s brewing in your neck of the woods? On this week’s Louisiana Eats, we’re examining the brewing process from all sides.
First, we’ll meet Austin Sherman and Alexis Korman, founders of Big Easy Bucha – a kombucha brewing business that has set the Gulf South on fire with innovative local flavors. What’s brewing at Big Easy Bucha is a lot more than fermented tea! They’re brewing a healthy, social justice revolution.
This week, we mark the passing of New Orleans icon, and our dear friend, Leah Chase, who died Saturday, June 1 at the age of 96. We spend the hour honoring Leah's talent and achievements and the legacy she leaves behind.
We begin with one of our favorite Louisiana Eats moments: a special day we spent with Leah in 2012, when then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office kicked off Carnival season at Gallier Hall with king cake and a lovely surprise for Leah.
On this week’s Louisiana Eats we’re taking a vacation with some of our favorite people from the food and drinks world.
Although the kitchen has always been the woman’s domain at home, it’s been a long struggle for the ladies who cook to rise to the top of their ranks professionally. On this week’s episode, we’re talking with the ladies who have overcome multiple obstacles to reach the top.
Louisiana Eats ventures from land to sea to learn where our food comes from and meet the people responsible for bringing the bounty to our table.
We begin in Grand Isle, Louisiana, where we meet the Guerreros family of Grand Isle Sea Farms. Owner Marcos Guerrero and his son Boris welcome us aboard their compact bay boat for a morning out on the water to learn the process of oyster farming Louisiana-style.
The origins of food and spirits are usually not well known and can sometimes be hard to track down. After all, how do you figure out where something that’s been around for centuries originated? On this week’s show we’ll speak with several culinary historians about the history of some fabulous foods, and some spirits too.
We begin with author and historical gastronomist Sarah Lohman. Her book 8 Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine recognizes the relationship between 8 flavors that she considers the foundation of American cuisine. She shares a tale of how a slave named Edward Albius changed the world by learning to pollinate Vanilla, a plant native to Mexico, outside of its native environment.
2019 marks a huge milestone for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival … 50 years! Yet, there is another benchmark being met this year. The Food Heritage Stage, which was conceived 20 years after the first Jazzfest, is turning 30. This week on Louisiana Eats, we’ll explore the Food Heritage Stage through the lens of chefs that have presented over the years, along with the people that helped pull it all together.
Louisiana Eats! is all about the biz, the Food business that is. On this week’s show we talk with hospitality entrepreneurs about how they got their businesses off the ground.
Something’s brewing on Louisiana Eats! On this week’s show we’re taking a look at our local craft beer industry.
We begin with Bayou Teche brewery owner Karlos Knott. Considering they are celebrating their 10th year in operation, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit with Karlos to see what’s been brewing in Arnaudville and get a glimpse of what the future holds.
Spring festival season is upon us, so on this week’s Louisiana Eats we’re going to get you ready to be the host—or hostess—with the mostess!
No one knows how to entertain quite like like Julia Reed. In her book, But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria! she offers a number of stories from a lifetime of rollicking culinary escapades. Julia lets us in on some tips for hosting a cocktail party for the ages.
Reality food TV may be a boon for networks, but what happens to local chefs and restaurants after the cameras stop rolling? On this week's Louisiana Eats, we talk to people who have participated in food TV in its various forms, with varying results.
On this week's show, we'll explore the immense influence that Italian foodways had on the development of New Orleans cuisine. We'll time travel through the years of the family-operated Uptown gem, Pascal's Manale. This history, which is now immortalized in Poppy's new book, The Pascal's Manale Cookbook, focuses on two Sicilian immigrant families, the Manales and the Radostas, forebearers of today's Defelice clan, who continue the Manale tradition today. Three generations of family share their stories with us.
On this week's show, we take a close look at superstar chefs to learn what it takes to reach the top.
We begin with Chef Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace. Through determination and dedication to his craft, Tory has secured his place in the Commander’s Palace family, as well as the restaurant’s chef legacy. Tory discusses his career and relationship with the late Chef Jamie Shannon .
It’s Carnival time on Louisiana Eats! On this week’s show, we take to the streets with a distinctive krewe of food lovers.
We begin with author and songwriter Johnette Downing, who’s also known as “the pied piper of Louisiana music traditions.” Johnette shares her latest album, Swamp Romp, which, among other things, seeks to answer the eternal question, Who put the baby in the king cake?
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and we’re in the mood for love on this week’s episode! In this hour, we meet two culinary couples who are making a mark on the New Orleans restaurant scene.
On this week’s show, we look at New Orleans history through the lens of the city’s material culture.
We begin at the Historic New Orleans Collection, which has played host to an annual gathering of antiques experts, collectors, and aficionados for over a decade. We speak to Philippe Halbert, who presented original research at the Antiques Forum centered on the material culture of the French Atlantic world.
On Mardi Gras Day, it’s never surprising to find magical, mythical creatures mingling with street revelers. In her new book, The Mermaids of New Orleans, author Sally Asher brings the effervescent underwater life of Mississippi River sea nymphs to life. One day a year, all mermaids may walk on earth and in New Orleans, that day is Mardi Gras Day.
In this podcast, we sit down with Sally and Melissa Vandiver, the book’s illustrator to learn the story of their inspirations and collaboration that resulted in one of the most charming children’s books every written about New Orleans.
On this week’s show, we take a look at immigration and its impact on the American food landscape.
We begin with Rick Bayless, whose award-winning Frontera restaurants are bolstered by workers who come from immigrant backgrounds. Rick explains how many of his staff members were brought to the country as children and are now facing an uncertain future.
Americans waste 373 million pounds of food each day. That’s a pound per person. On this week’s show, we’re talking trash — in a productive way, of course! We meet a few individuals who are working to tackle the widespread problem of food and water waste.
Children in Louisiana grow up with so many local traditions that schools could practically add an extra class to cover all of them! Luckily, songwriter Johnette Downing is around to set these traditional stories to music. Johnette’s award-winning books and songs have earned her many nicknames, from “the pied piper of Louisiana music traditions” to “the musical ambassador to children.”
Join us this week as we celebrate the 96th birthday of a New Orleans icon, our dear friend, Leah Chase. We'll spend the hour honoring Leah's talent and achievements as the undisputed Queen of Creole Cooking.
On this week’s show, we look back on the lives of some extraordinary people we lost in 2018. We begin by revisiting our 2011 conversation with the late, great Anthony Bourdain. We had the opportunity to speak with Anthony after he was hired as a scriptwriter for the HBO series, Treme. Seven years later, we were absolutely devastated when we heard of Anthony’s suicide and remembered that long ago conversation.
On this week's show, we meet the great Dario Cecchini, a world renowned Italian butcher. Dickie Brennan invited the Cecchini family to New Orleans earlier this year to return the exceptional hospitality Dario had extended to Dickie’s son, Richard Brennan III, who served as Dario’s apprentice in Italy.
Dario and his wife, Kim, join us in the studio to talk about their life and work in Panzano, a little village in Italy's Chianti region. Then, we hear from Richard Brennan III about his extraordinary apprenticeship.
When it comes to historic restaurants, there’s no place like home – if you’re lucky enough to call New Orleans home! On this week's show, we time travel through the storied past of iconic French Quarter landmark, the Napoleon House. Chef Chris Montero gives us a tour of the historic property, from the bar to the cupola and all points in between. As it turns out, in addition to being an accomplished chef, Chris is also a passionate preservationist and historian. He shares two centuries worth of Girod and Impastato family lore and talks about the future of the establishment.
On this week's show, we explore the intersections between hunting, gathering, fishing, and our changing environment. We begin at the Best of Bycatch dinner at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, where a highly invasive fish is on the menu: the Asian Carp.
A growing trend in the craft cocktail movement has bartenders mixing drinks with little to no alcohol, shifting their focus to flavor. On this week's show, we'll explore the new wave of non-alcoholic craft drinks, starting with cocktail vanguards Don Lee and Bobby Murphy, who experiment with non-alcoholic ingredients at the New York City establishment Existing Conditions.
There’s nothing like a cup of good, hot coffee. On this week's show, we look at the art of the coffee bean in our state and beyond.
We begin with a local favorite—PJ’s Coffee—which Phyllis Jordan founded 40 years ago. Phyllis reflects on the early years, when she became the first commercial iced coffee purveyor in New Orleans.
On this week’s show, we indulge our sweet tooth with the help of some influential dessert makers.
We visit the Swiss Confectionery, a family-run bakeshop that’s been in business in New Orleans for almost a century. Their custom-made delicacies are fixtures at New Orleans weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations.
Chef Isaac Toups has long been a favorite guest on Louisiana Eats! In past episodes we’ve talked hunting rabbits and even had a front row seat on Isaac’s rendition of the Cajun Night Before Christmas!
Ora King is a sustainably raised salmon from New Zealand with a delicious history. On this week’s show, we travel to three cities to meet three chefs—all finalists in an international competition to create the most inventive Ora King salmon dish.
This week, we learn the health benefits of paying closer attention to what we consume and our emotional well-being.
We begin with Dr. Ronald D. Siegel, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. A long-time student of mindfulness meditation, he explains the psychology of happiness, and why humans use food and drink as a pathway to achieve it.
It’s that haunting time of year again, when pumpkins glow and black cats screech, and you can be guaranteed we’re ghost hunting on this week’s show!
Ora King is a sustainably raised salmon from New Zealand, whose story is almost as delicious as the fish itself. Back in early 1900, two avid fishermen somehow managed to bring live King salmon home to New Zealand from a fishing trip to California. The salmon thrived there and the rest is Ora King history.
On this week's show, we'll explore the immense influence that Italian foodways had on the development of New Orleans cuisine. We'll time travel through the years of the family-operated Uptown gem, Pascal's Manale. This history, which is now immortalized in Poppy's new book, The Pascal's Manale Cookbook, focuses on two Sicilian immigrant families, the Manales and the Radostas, forebearers of today's Defelice clan, who continue the Manale tradition today. Three generations of family share their stories with us.
Ora King is a sustainably raised salmon from New Zealand, whose story is almost as delicious as the fish itself. Back in early 1900, two avid fishermen somehow managed to bring live King salmon home to New Zealand from a fishing trip to California.
The salmon thrived there and the rest is Ora King history.
To tell a truly engaging story, you have to dig deep beneath the surface. When it comes to radio storytelling, Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, also known as the Kitchen Sisters, are masters. Through projects like Lost and Found Sound and Hidden World of Girls, the independent producers tell stories for NPR and online "from the flip side of history."
On this week's show, we take a journey in sound with these two radio luminaries, discuss their amazing trajectory on NPR, and learn how they came to uncover Hidden Kitchens, their duPont-Columbia and James Beard Award-winning radio series.
Ora King is a sustainably raised salmon from New Zealand, whose story is almost as delicious as the fish itself. Back in early 1900, two avid fishermen somehow managed to bring live King salmon home to New Zealand from a fishing trip to California.
On this week’s show, we’re sharing untold stories of lives spent in service.
We begin with a tour of the Kemper-Williams Residence at the Historic New Orleans Collection with decorative arts curator Lydia Blackmore, who conducted exhaustive research on the individuals who worked for the Williams family.
In this Louisiana Eats Quick Bite episode, we travel to Denver, Colorado for Slow Food Nations with our friends from Camellia Brand beans. With the theme, “Food For Change,” Slow Food USA gathered together many of the world’s greatest thinkers and influencers to further their goal of good, clean food for all. For three days in July 2018, Denver’s Larimer Square was the hotspot for tasting and talking – from the Taste Marketplace to panel discussions and cooking demonstrations, we’re taking you there!
On this week’s show, we take an in-depth look the evolution of restaurant dining in the America and speak with the co-owner of one the nation's top restaurants.
We begin by exploring two centuries of historical and cultural changes with acclaimed Yale historian Paul Freedman. His book Ten Restaurants That Changed America weaves together culinary and social history, from the innovators of roadside dining to the vanguards of haute cuisine.
On this week’s episode, we sit down with Loyola University history professor Justin Nystrom to explore the influence that Sicilian Americans have had on New Orleans foodways. Surprisingly, that influence didn’tbegin with the heavy influx of Sicilians who populated the city in great numbers during the late 1880’s. Those rural Sicilians made their mark on the French Market and created the sandwich we know as the muffalatta. Actually, the first wave of Italian immigrants were urban dwellers who arrived on our shores in the 1830’s and became wealthy importers and restaurateurs. Who knew that Commander’s Palace was actually founded by the son of an immigrant from Ustica whose father had Americanized his surname from Camarda to Commander? Or that those same Ustican immigrants were important members of the Southern Yacht Club – taking their leisure racing sloops on Lake Pontchartrain? Not exactly the image you might have in your mind of our Sicilian immigrants.
On this week’s show, we’re celebrating all things pescatarian across Louisiana. To begin, we travel from Port Sulphur to Barataria Bay for a taste of authentic Louisiana seafood with the Landry family of Don’s Seafood. The Landrys host us at their fishing camp and share stories that have been passed down through the generations.
The Historic New Orleans Collection, is a great jewel in the crown of the Crescent City. Founded in 1966 by General L. Kemper and his wife, Leila Williams, the collection today includes a museum and research center encompassing ten historic French Quarter buildings. At the heart of the HNOC is the Kemper-Williams residence, a house museum, which allows visitors to experience life as the General and Leila lived it there for decades.
On this week’s show, we follow three chefs on their journeys from cooks to culinary entrepreneurs.
We begin with New Orleans chef Alon Shaya, who recently launched a new company, Pomegranate Hospitality. Alon describes his path, starting from unassuming culinary origins in Philadelphia, to his tenure at Domenica, and finally, to the evolving theory of Diasporic foodways that underlies his two new modern Israeli restaurants, Saba and Safta.
The suicide of Anthony Bourdain in June sent shock waves through the world, but especially the industry he loved. Since then, the conversation about mental health in the hospitality community has come into sharp focus. On this week's show, we speak with individuals close to the issue who gathered in New Orleans in July as part of Tales of the Cocktail's new Beyond The Bar initiative. Intended to help the hospitality industry take care of its own, Beyond the Bar offered compelling seminars on wellness and recovery.
Behind every great restaurant is a great chef. But that chef would be nothing without the scores of people in the front and the back of the house who turn a meal into a memorable experience. On this week's show, we get to know two unsung heroes of hospitality in New Orleans.
On this week's show, we're bringing listeners along to Slow Food Nations 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The event celebrates slow and sustainable food systems through summits, workshops, and a street festival.
The festival’s theme for this year was Food for Change, and Slow Food USA’s Executive Director Richard McCarthy was more than ready to share his thoughts with us, particularly about food’s potential to be an antidote to our society’s polarizations.
On this week’s show, we take a look at immigration and its impact on the American food landscape.
We begin with Rick Bayless, whose award-winning Frontera restaurants are bolstered by workers who come from immigrant backgrounds. Rick explains how many of his staff members were brought to the country as children and are now facing an uncertain future.
On this week's show, we're traveling through Acadiana to explore traditional and contemporary Cajun foodways. We begin with George Graham, who shares his obsession through stories of cooking in the region through his nationally recognized blog and book, Acadiana Table: Cajun and Creole Home Cooking from the Heart of Louisiana.
This week’s show is, in a word, sensational. Join us as we delve into the many ways that our other four senses experience food.
We begin in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum. Their food photography exhibit, A Feast for the Eyes, runs the gamut from still lifes to the avant-garde. And it’s on view at LASM through September 16.
It's July in New Orleans, which means two things: scorching temperatures and the hottest event in the spirits world — Tales of the Cocktail! On this week's show, we look at the annual summertime conference that brings the international cocktail scene to the Crescent City.
We begin at the Audubon Zoo, where zookeepers forge a nurturing connection with each animal they care for -- especially at meal time. Curators Liz Wilson and Dominique Fleitas invite us along as they make their daily rounds at the Zoo.
Every four years, World Cup fans join together in the spirit of international competition. On this week's show, we raise a glass to intercontinental camaraderie by tasting five exotic spirits produced across the globe.
On this week's show, we're celebrating the 4th of July holiday by savoring the remarkable diversity that shapes America's food culture.
On this week's show, we discuss sustainable food policy with culinary revolutionaries from around the world.
While growing up, Michel Nischan spent a lot of time on his grandfather’s farm. So the thought of eating fresh food was second nature to him. Now he's focused on changing food policy on a federal level.
n this week's show, we’re celebrating the 8th anniversary of our show's debut!
We're digging through the archives for some of our favorite moments from the past 8 years, starting from the very beginning. The first episode of Louisiana Eats broadcast on June 9, 2010. That year also marked the 125th anniversary of New Orleans’ streetcar line. We look back at our very first field piece, when we took a streetcar ride with the late, great historian Michael Mizell-Nelson.
There’s nothing like a cup of good, hot coffee. On this week's show, we look at the art of the coffee bean in our state and beyond.
We begin with a local favorite—PJ’s Coffee—which Phyllis Jordan founded 40 years ago. Phyllis reflects on the early years, when she became the first commercial iced coffee purveyor in New Orleans.
On this week's show, we continue our tricentennial tribute to New Orleans with a look at brand new research in the field of archeology. We speak to Jim Bruseth and Toni Turner, who reveal a surprising turn of events that preceded the city's official founding. Evidently, if the French explorer La Salle hadn't blundered in his attempt to form a colony here, we would have been celebrating our 300th birthday 30 years ago.