New Orleans Dining: Domilise’s

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DOMILISE’S PO-BOYS
5240 Annunciation St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 899-9126

I think if you want to see the real New Orleans, you have to go and eat the the blue collar type places. And there’s nothing more New Orleans and blue collar than a Po’Boy shop.

Food writer Sara Roahen in her upcoming February 2008 book Gumbo Tales talks about a specific Po’Boy that has gone extinct, the Pepper Weiner at Domilise’s. Apparently it was some type of special sausage or hot dog that was dressed in a special way, and it was beloved by many. In any case, the Schott’s Meat company in New Orleans that manufactured the Pepper Weiner has since gone out of business, and thus it now Rests in Peace.

Domilise’s, located in the Uptown section of the city near the Prytania/Upperline area off of Tchoupitoulas street, however, is still going strong, and it has been for many decades. Regarded as one of the best sandwich shops in the city, It is a true Po’Boy shop in every respect, and makes them in a very traditional fashion, using real New Orleans French bread.

Domilise’s as you can see is very much a locals hangout.

The Carte de Po’Boys.

There’s nothing more honest and satisfying than a New Orleans Po Boy. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Willie Mae’s Scotch House

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Willie Mae’s Scotch House
2401 Saint Ann St, New Orleans, LA
(504) 822-9503

Many restaurants in New Orleans can legitimately call themselves cultural landmarks. And yet, when Hurricane Katrina came, the levees broke and the city flooded, there was a very short list of foodie destinations in the affected areas where I thought it would be a monumental tragedy if they never returned to business again. Magnificent restaurants like Commander’s Palace. Neighborhood hangouts like Angelo Brocato’s. And little holes in the wall like Willie Mae’s Scotch House, which is arguably the fried chicken Mecca of the United States and has huge historical value to the civil rights movement, much like the original Paschal’s in Atlanta.

It was a huge, Herculean task to bring Willie Mae’s Scotch House back from the dead. The water line from the flooding was several feet high, and the entire restaurant had to be gutted to the studs. A huge volunteer reconstruction project started in January of 2006 funded by over $200,000 in donations solicited by the Southern Foodways Alliance eventually resulted in the re-opening of the restaurant in May of 2007 (A short SFA film directed by filmmaker Joe York, “Saving Willie Mae’s Scotch House” chronicled the project.)

Upon re-opening of the restaurant, Ms Seaton, age 90, relinquished her place as head cook to her great granddaughter, Kerry Blackmon. However, despite organizational changes, the Fried Chicken is as great as ever.

Willie Mae’s Scotch House on Saint Ann Street in New Orleans, August 29 2007, two years to the day that Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city.

It was fitting that we got to eat at Willie Mae’s on August 29. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

NJ Dining: Chengdu 1 (UPDATED)

With David Corcoran’s review of Chengdu in Last Sunday’s New York Times, I decided to bring this post to the foreground.
Jason

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Chengdu 1
89 Pompton Ave (Pilgrim Shopping Plaza)
Cedar Grove NJ, 973-239-7726

I think that by now people realize that I love really spicy food. One of my favorite spicy cuisines is true Sichuan-syle Chinese food, which is characterized by its use of red fire oil (vegetable oil that is infused with red chile pepper essence) and the face-numbing Sichuan Peppercorn, also known as hua jiao (meaning flower pepper, as it resembles a tiny flower) or fagara.

While there are many restaurants in the greater New York metropolitan area with “Szechuan” in the name, the sad reality is that there are very, very few restaurants serving actual regional Sichuan cuisine, New York City included. Recently there were a few such restaurants in Manhattan, the first being Grand Sichuan International Midtown (which closed in April of ‘07) and the second which still exists, that being the midtown and uptown branches of Wu Liang Ye. Spicy and Tasty in Flushing, Queens is one of the other few examples.

So when it came to my attention (by way of an excellent post by Melissa Rayworth on the Montclair food blog Barista) that we in fact had the genuine article right here in Northern New Jersey, I knew we had to go.

Chengdu 1 is right down the road from Montclair State University on Pompton Ave, in the Pilgrim Shopping Plaza next to Clearview Cinema

Can you take the heat? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

A Few Random Images

Seen in Metairie, Louisiana.

Accept no substitutes with your ‘Po Boys.

The Nectar Soda. A New Orleans original.

Rollin’ on the river.

Creole Tomatoes. These give Jerseys a serious run for their money.

Camelia Beans — what you make your Red Beans and Rice with.

New Orleans Dining: Cochon

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Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA
(504) 588-2123

Web Site: http://www.cochonrestaurant.com/

One of the restaurants in New Orleans I most wanted to dine at was COCHON, a new, Post-Katrina casual fine dining restaurant that was opened by Donald Link, of Herbsaint fame and 2007 James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef, South (click for previous OTB podcast) who I interviewed during my previous New Orleans trip back in April of 2006. At the time, the finishing touches of COCHON had just been done, and the restaurant was preparing to open only days after I returned home. Now, over a year later, COCHON has become one of New Orleans’ top restaurants, and was nominated as “Best New Restaurant” in the 2007 James Beard Awards.

Best described as “Modern Cajun” COCHON incorporates many elements of traditional Cajun cuisine combined with twists from Europe and Asia. Although the food and the restaurant would easily find itself in New York’s hip SoHo and Greenwich Village or among the top fine dining establishments in Midtown Manhattan, it is most definitely a New Orleans restaurant and one of the city’s finest examples at that.

Exterior, Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans

Entrance View

Dining Room

Table Closeup

Is COCHON Hillbilly or Haute? I think it’s a bit of both. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Drago’s (Hilton)

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Drago’s at Hilton New Orleans Riverside
2 Poydras Street, New Orleans LA

Every time I visit New Orleans, Drago’s restaurant in nearby Metairie is always on the top of my to-go list. Their charbroiled oysters are my absolute favorite and you can make a meal of them just by themselves. We had tried to eat there on our first night back, but had discovered the restaurant was closed on Sunday.

Later on in the week we discovered that Drago’s owner Tommy Cvitanovich had opened a brand new location in the downtown Hilton hotel, near the Riverwalk shopping center. As we were across the street at Grand Isle checking out their happy hour, I absolutely had to try the new place and see if it lived up to the original.

The new Drago’s location at the downtown Hilton Riverside.

If it looks like Drago’s, if it smells like Drago’s, It is Drago’s. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

New Orleans Dining: Grand Isle

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Grand Isle
575 Convention Center Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 520-8530

Web Site: http://www.grandislerestaurant.com

Despite the huge amount of destruction and displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina, restaurant life is still quite alive in New Orleans. In addition to a number of notable re-openings and renovations of popular and long standing restaurants, there have been a number of notable new restaurant openings as well. One of those is Grand Isle, in the Central Business District located right across from the Riverwalk shopping center and the Hilton hotel, and situated close to the Morial Convention Center.

We had been told about Grand Isle by local food writer Todd Price, who is always looking for good deals when eating out. During the hours between 4PM and 7PM, Grand Isle does a happy hour where you can get a big ‘ol plate of boiled seafood for $3.99. As it was shrimp season, they were offering 1lb plates of boiled Gulf Shrimp with corn and potatoes. That’s all it took to get us in the door.

Grand Isle restaurant on Convention Center Boulevard.

Main Dining Room

Dining Room View

Bar Dining Area

Oyster Bar

Rachel was still a bit under the weather and was in a soupy mood. We got some of their Turtle Soup, which is similar to a Gumbo but has turtle meat in it. It was turtlelicious.

Big ‘ol 1lb plate of Louisiana gulf shrimp, heads on, boiled in Zatarains, with corn on the cob and new potatoes. You can’t beat this deal for $3.99. At these prices, I was inclined to order a few more plates, but I wanted to check out the new Drago’s across the street and we had another dinner appointment that evening.

Shrimp closeup.

New Orleans Dining: Middendorf’s

Middendorf’s
Route 51, Manchac LA
(985)386-6666

On the way back from LaPlace and our visit to Wayne Jacob’s, we were still a little hungry, so we decided to head down Route 51 towards Middendorf’s, a restaurant located in Manchac, a “Fish Camp”. Manchac isn’t as much a town but a stop on the highway where you can buy seafood, alligator meat, grab some soda pop and beer, and eat at Middendorf’s. It’s about as isolated an area in the middle of nowhere as you can get. It’s so out of the way that Middendorf’s and Manchac doesn’t even have a GPS entry in our Garmin.

We had tried to get out to Middendorf’s on previous trips, only to have not had the time or some confluence of events prevented us from getting there. We had heard of their deep fried, corn meal breaded thin and crispy catfish fillets, but it was only the stuff of legend to us. Imagine our horror that when we actually arrived, it was on the wrong day.

Hey, we finally made it! Oh crap. It’s closed!

See how sad that fish looks? That about equated to our general mood that afternoon.

Denied.

In this part of Louisiana, Route 51 is an elevated highway that goes through the swamps of Cajun country.

This is one of the seafood shacks next door to Middendorf’s. Mmmm. Coon Meat. I bet that goes good in a Gumbo.

Fortunately, one of our local friends, Cathy Campanella, founder of Mr. Lake’s Non-Pompous Food Forum, was able to send us some photos of the inside and food to show you. Here is a view of the Dining Room.

Cathy Campanella (Lower Right) and Friends.

Fried Shrimp and Oysters with Hush Puppies and French Fries. Notice the oysters are fried in the traditional cornmeal breading method that is unique to the South.

Fried Catfish Fillets. By all accounts they are the best in the entire area.

Fried Middendorf Soft Shell Crabs and Catfish Fillets (Photo by Fuzzy Gerdes)

Six Years After 9/11: The Legacy of Windows on the World

This was originally posted one year ago, but I thought it was appropriate to revive it given my recent podcast with Michael Lomonaco (click for related OTB post) at Porter House.

Windows on The World Remembrance Site: http://www.windowsontheworld.us

It seems to many of us that September 11, 2001 will always bring us to tears and anger. For so many who worked at the famous Windows on the World, 9/11 was an ending … but for their families and friends, some fragments remained behind. A very few of these appear here:

Bearing Witness To History: Windows On The World Part 1

Bearing Witness To History: Windows On The World Part 2

But what of the remaining survivors? The rebirth came in the form of a new restaurant called Colors …

When the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed five years ago, the Windows on the World restaurant on the 106th floor lost over 70 of its staff. Now the survivors have opened Colors, and would rather you enjoyed your meal than offered your condolences.

On the wall of Colors, a new and decidedly more modest restaurant a few blocks away from what is now known as Ground Zero, a simple black plaque serves as a permanent memorial to the Windows staff who were on duty the morning of 11 September 2001.

Steaks, Not Sympathy (The Independent, September 10 2006)

Michael Lomonaco was Executive Chef, Jean Emy Pierre was Sous Chef and Kevin Zraly was Sommelier and Wine Director at Windows on The World on that fateful day. USAToday.com has an article about what these culinary professionals have done since September 11, 2001.

World Changes For Windows Veterans (USA Today, September 7 2006)

New Orleans Dining: Morning Call

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Morning Call Coffee Stand
3325 Severn Ave, Metairie, LA
(504) 885-4068

Web Site: http://www.morningcallcoffeestand.com/

In New Orleans, coffee is not just something people drink to get them through the morning hours — it’s a an important tradition, a social networking mechanism, and deeply entrenched in the city’s culture. Many people know of Cafe Du Monde (click for related OTB post) the famous French Quarter outdoor Cafe Au Lait and Beignets tent heavily frequented by tourists, but less is known of Morning Call, which serves the same fare but is more of a locals scene. Originally, Morning Call was located in the French Market in New Orleans, where it stood for over 100 years until 1974 when it moved to the “Fat City” section of nearby Metairie.

Morning Call, on Severn Avenue in Metairie, Louisiana.

Morning Call is old-fashioned, but don’t worry, they have Wi-Fi if you really need it.

Beignets ready for dusting.

Our Beignets and Cafe Au Lait is served.

At Morning Call, your Beignets are served to you plain so you can dust them with as little or as much powdered sugar as you like. This doesn’t prevent you from getting any less messy, but it does give you a little more control over the situation.

A Frozen Cafe Au Lait, which kept me going during the hour or so ride out to LaPlace.