year end: reality is a long game…. (2023)

Recently, La Tour d’Argent, a standard bearer of la grande cuisine since the 1500s – where kings and emperors have feasted, where the fork made its French debut – posted a horrifying video on Instagram of a soufflé being murdered at the table. It was scalped by the server, then disemboweled by the spoonful onto […]

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year end: reality is a long game…. (2023)

Recently, La Tour d’Argent, a standard bearer of la grande cuisine since the 1500s – where kings and emperors have feasted, where the fork made its French debut – posted a horrifying video on Instagram of a soufflé being murdered at the table. It was scalped by the server, then disemboweled by the spoonful onto […]

Continue

review: untethered…

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Pocantico Hills, New York On one side, you have those who would look at it and say, “It’s just a salad.” On the other side, you’ll find those who would argue, “It may be just a salad, but that’s not the point.” I have to admit, I expected more than […]

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review: untethered…

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Pocantico Hills, New York On one side, you have those who would look at it and say, “It’s just a salad.” On the other side, you’ll find those who would argue, “It may be just a salad, but that’s not the point.” I have to admit, I expected more than […]

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review: three sisters and a chef…

Brigtsen’s, New Orleans, Louisiana … walk into a bar. Kidding. Sandra, Rhonda, and Marna. Those are three names you should have in your pocket when you arrive at Brigtsen’s.* These three women opened the restaurant in 1986 with Marna’s husband, Frank Brigtsen. It was Marna’s night off on my recent visit to the restaurant.  But […]

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review: three sisters and a chef…

Brigtsen’s, New Orleans, Louisiana … walk into a bar. Kidding. Sandra, Rhonda, and Marna. Those are three names you should have in your pocket when you arrive at Brigtsen’s.* These three women opened the restaurant in 1986 with Marna’s husband, Frank Brigtsen. It was Marna’s night off on my recent visit to the restaurant.  But […]

Continue

review: six blocks to elysian fields…

Lobster, Egg, and Caviar Stella!, New Orleans, Louisiana Coincidence is a curious thing.  Sometimes, it can be a b*tch. Just before dessert, the sommelier arrived with a bottle of Champagne, a gift from the chef, Scott Boswell. To explain how this happened, let me rewind to the beginning of our meal at his restaurant, Stella! […]

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review: six blocks to elysian fields…

Lobster, Egg, and Caviar Stella!, New Orleans, Louisiana Coincidence is a curious thing.  Sometimes, it can be a b*tch. Just before dessert, the sommelier arrived with a bottle of Champagne, a gift from the chef, Scott Boswell. To explain how this happened, let me rewind to the beginning of our meal at his restaurant, Stella! […]

Continue

review: galatwahs…

Oysters Rockefeller Galatoire’s, New Orleans, Louisiana As with the “The Quartah,” “oystahs,” and “Chartah Street,” the locals drop the “r” and call it “Galatwahs.” Founded in 1905 by French immigrant Jean Galatoire, over the last century, this unassuming restaurant on Bourbon Street has become New Orleans’s most beloved institution. This is where the city celebrates. […]

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review: galatwahs…

Oysters Rockefeller Galatoire’s, New Orleans, Louisiana As with the “The Quartah,” “oystahs,” and “Chartah Street,” the locals drop the “r” and call it “Galatwahs.” Founded in 1905 by French immigrant Jean Galatoire, over the last century, this unassuming restaurant on Bourbon Street has become New Orleans’s most beloved institution. This is where the city celebrates. […]

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review: extra schmaltzy…

Wild Shrimp & Grits Commander’s Palace New Orleans, Louisiana “He’ll play it extra schmaltzy,” said the leader of the jazz trio, nudging the trumpet player. Indeed, he did.  He played my song real nice like, smooth and sassy. There’s nothing like eating brunch in the Garden Room at Commander’s Palace with your friends while being […]

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review: extra schmaltzy…

Wild Shrimp & Grits Commander’s Palace New Orleans, Louisiana “He’ll play it extra schmaltzy,” said the leader of the jazz trio, nudging the trumpet player. Indeed, he did.  He played my song real nice like, smooth and sassy. There’s nothing like eating brunch in the Garden Room at Commander’s Palace with your friends while being […]

Continue

review: call ahead, the wait might kill you…

Mahoney’s New Orleans, Louisiana At Mahoney’s, you stake your own table and wait. And, wait. And wait. And wait. They take their time making po’boys here.  Having just experienced the machine-like efficiency of the Parkway Bakery & Tavern, our half-hour wait at Mahoney’s seemed like an unreasonably long time.  We thought they forgot our order. […]

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review: call ahead, the wait might kill you…

Mahoney’s New Orleans, Louisiana At Mahoney’s, you stake your own table and wait. And, wait. And wait. And wait. They take their time making po’boys here.  Having just experienced the machine-like efficiency of the Parkway Bakery & Tavern, our half-hour wait at Mahoney’s seemed like an unreasonably long time.  We thought they forgot our order. […]

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review: po’boy crawl…

Parkway Bakery & Tavern New Orleans, Louisiana Good, fried chicken you can get in many places. The same is probably true for po’boys. But, whereas fried chicken claims its home all over the South (and in a few, isolated pockets around the country, including Stroud’s, which is in my backyard), an authentic po’boy, like a […]

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review: po’boy crawl…

Parkway Bakery & Tavern New Orleans, Louisiana Good, fried chicken you can get in many places. The same is probably true for po’boys. But, whereas fried chicken claims its home all over the South (and in a few, isolated pockets around the country, including Stroud’s, which is in my backyard), an authentic po’boy, like a […]

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review: pig out…

Cochon Butcher New Orleans, Louisiana Apparently, a trip to New Orleans is an obligatory race to see how many calories one can intake, how high one can boost their cholesterol, in the course of their stay.  The only prize is the satisfaction of one’s own gluttony. My trip happened to be four days short, and […]

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review: pig out…

Cochon Butcher New Orleans, Louisiana Apparently, a trip to New Orleans is an obligatory race to see how many calories one can intake, how high one can boost their cholesterol, in the course of their stay.  The only prize is the satisfaction of one’s own gluttony. My trip happened to be four days short, and […]

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review: mr. kowalski…

Stanley New Orleans, Louisiana Chef Scott Boswell owns two restaurants in New Orleans. Named after the two lead characters in Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley and Stella! (yes, the exclamation point cleverly included) sit a few blocks apart from each other on Chartres (pronounces “charters”) Street in the French Quarter. […]

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review: mr. kowalski…

Stanley New Orleans, Louisiana Chef Scott Boswell owns two restaurants in New Orleans. Named after the two lead characters in Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley and Stella! (yes, the exclamation point cleverly included) sit a few blocks apart from each other on Chartres (pronounces “charters”) Street in the French Quarter. […]

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travel: laissez les bons temps rouler…

New Orleans, Louisiana The Saints beat the Cardinals. Bourbon Street was as colourful as I remembered it. We were spared a full day of forecasted rain. The po’boys were delicious. I finally got out for a few nice, long runs. And there was enough pork fat and coffee (and for some, alcohol) to keep even […]

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travel: laissez les bons temps rouler…

New Orleans, Louisiana The Saints beat the Cardinals. Bourbon Street was as colourful as I remembered it. We were spared a full day of forecasted rain. The po’boys were delicious. I finally got out for a few nice, long runs. And there was enough pork fat and coffee (and for some, alcohol) to keep even […]

Continue