While it’s been quiet here on NOLA-Eats.com, there’s plenty going on in the city in culinary events and news. Here’s a run-down of a few items of interest and some of the places I’ll be:
The New Orleans House of Blues is holding a jingle contest. Upload a 30-second to one minute video of an original song about your affinity for the HOB’s restaurant menu and you could win concert tickets and more. The details are at their Facebook page, http://facebook.com/hobneworleans.
Tonight (Thursday, July 28th), La Cote Brasserie kicks off the White Linen Night festivities a bit early with complimentary appetizers and Absolut Ginger Mint Lemonade from 5:00 ’til 6:30. I hear Chef Chuck Subra’s gumbo will be making an appearance, as well. http://facebook.com/LaCoteBrasserie
The inaugural event of Nerd Nite NOLA will take place Friday, August 6th at BSI Comics. It starts at 7:30 with a half hour free beer lube session and mingling. Presentations will start at 8 and include The Science of Scratching by DJ Tony Skratchere, a lesson in the chemistry and creation of absinthe by Ted Breaux and some Steely Dan and comic book talk. It’ll be a night of general nerdery and beer drinking. The event is free but nerds must register as space is limited. http://nola.nerdnite.com
Saturday, August 7th marks the 7th annual Great American Seafood Cook-off. Emmy-winning conservationist Jeff Corwin and Chef John Folse will co-host the event that emphasizes domestic, sustainable seafood. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Whole Foods Market Louisiana stores’ Guest Services desks or at the door. All ticket sales benefit the Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation. Full details can be found at http://greatamericanseafoodcookoff.com.
Sunday, August 8th is the Southern Food and Beverage Museum’s annual fundraising gala, Eat! Drink! SoFAB! Tailgating. Area chefs will create sophisticated tailgating dishes with Southern flair, while attendees listen to the sounds of Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue. Tickets are $75 for non-members, $65 for members and children under 12 are admitted free. You can find the details, menu sampling and even purchase tickets at their website, http://southernfood.org.
While I like to pretend that I am a woman of few vices, it is well documented that my obsession with gelato verges on the “get help soon” side. When I was asked to meet with Cristiana Ginatta, the “flavor maker” for Paciugo Gelato & Caffè, I may have shed a tear.
Paciugo, founded in 2000 by Italian-born Ugo and Cristiana Ginatta, and later joined by their son Vincent Ginatta, is a franchise based in Dallas, Texas. The company is interested in bringing the brand to the New Orleans area, so I met with them while they were in town for a food vendors convention at the Sheraton Hotel.
I cannot recall ever having gelato for breakfast before then, but I can safely say that it is how everyone should start their day. After shaking hands with the founding crew, Cristiana invited me behind her case to get a good view of the flavors she made only hours earlier with her portable gelato machine.
This is probably as good of a time as any to declare how sweet and personable Cristiana is. It’s quite possible that I may do so again before the end of this post.
As I tasted, Cristiana told me how the gelati and sorbetti are made daily in small batches, and have no added preservatives or high fructose corn syrup. (Some flavors, like the Roasted Banana Cashew Heath Crunch, incorporates items that are not all-natural.) The gelato is made with whole milk, rather than cream, so that they contain fewer calories and grams of fat than most ice creams. Their sorbetti are generally fat-free, and they even offer flavors that have no added sugar or are soy-based. Frozen fun for everyone!
strawberry balsamic vinegar - pannacotta - fondente dark chocolate
Yes, pork fiends. That is gelato with bacon mixed in. Apparently, Austin loved it.
After sampling every flavor Cristiana had made that day, I found myself amazed by the quality of the ingredients and the smooth texture. I will be honest; While walking to the hotel, I wondered how good could a chain’s gelato really be. I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong. And have I mentioned how delightful Cristiana is? Just making sure you’re listening.
The Pecan Praline haunts me. Sweet, crunchy nuts.
While I do not have photos of it, I was gifted with a few bags of their Gran Miscela coffee, both ground and whole bean. I am a very picky coffee drinker, to say the least, but I’ve been enjoying the heck out of the Paciugo Miscela Vienna Roast. Ugo hand-selected the beans himself, and it shows. I have some crappy beans at home I’ve been suffering through, if only to not be wasteful, but working my Tuesday/Wednesday day job has been easier to get into in the A.M. with this roast at my desk. I am going to be quite sad when it’s gone.
While we don’t have a Paciugo to enjoy in New Orleans (yet), I’ve noted how business has been heating up in the realm of frozen desserts. Creole Creamery has made a name for itself with their traditional setting and creative concoctions. Sucré offers the convenience of appeasing a wide variety of sweet-seekers (and soon to be in Jefferson Parish, as well). La Divina nabs the locavores with their natural gelatos. I would be amiss to dismiss Meltdown Gourmet Popsicles and one of the newest contenders, Pinkberry. I’m omitting a ton of frozen confectioneries, but you can see where I’m going here. When I was a kid, you went to Angelo Brocato for Italian Ice or you went to one of the chains in any neighborhood. (Remember Zack’s Famous Frozen Yogurt? There’s one opening up on Magazine Street soon.) While I see that all of these business owners are ultimately in the same industry, with the proper marketing and branding strategy, there truly is room for every palate and budget. When Paciugo decides to enter the New Orleans market, I think location will make them or break them. I’m not a business major, and this isn’t a business magazine, but if you want to buy me a cup of coffee or a drink, I will tell you all about my ideas on ice cream business zoning strategy. Or, you can buy my brand new book, Leslie’s Ice Cream Business Zoning Strategies, for only $29.99. (Ok, I’m just kidding about that.)
It was such a pleasure to meet the Ginattas, and I wish them great success, whether a Paciugo opens in New Orleans or not. But I do hope it is the former, as I can really get behind a family that goes by the motto “Ante Lucrum Nomen — Reputation Before Profit”.
Tue., July 20: Unfortunately, this event has been canceled.
If your love for cooking has ever evoked daydreams of having a self-penned cookbook published, now is the time to quit dreaming and do something about it!
I often receive emails from P.R. companies and marketing departments that think I would be interested in their organization’s events and promotions. Since I’m pretty straightforward with my interests, I usually am. While I have only just begun experimenting more in my own kitchen, I know quite a few talented home chefs. When I was contacted about Cookbook Publishing 101, an educational course being held at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, I knew I had to help spread the word. Check out the details below:
Join experienced literary agent Lisa Ekus-Saffer and cookbook author Virginia Willis for their COOKBOOK PUBLISHING 101 course to be held at The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Tuesday July 20, 2010 from 6 pm to 9 pm at 1 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70130.
In COOKBOOK PUBLISHING 101, Lisa Ekus-Saffer, literary agent since the year 2000 with over 200 successful book deals and cookbook publicist for award-winning titles including The Splendid Table, The Cake Bible, The Union Square Café Cookbook, and The Country Cooking of France, and Virginia Willis, chef, food writer, and author of the critically acclaimed Bon Appétit, Y’all, Recipes and Stories of Three Generations of Southern Cooking, help aspiring authors navigate through the exciting, yet challenging world of publishing. Offered in a classroom setting, COOKBOOK PUBLISHING 101 seeks to educate and inspire those who dream of writing a cookbook and examines the publishing process from all angles and perspectives. Topics to be covered during this program include:
Helpful resources for locating and working with a literary agent
Pros and Cons of Working with an literary agent
What exactly is a proposal and how do I create one
Building marketing, platform, and brand
Recipe research, writing, and testing
Proposals and cover letters
Crafting your Unique Selling Point
Nuts and bolts — practical finances and what to expect
Agent as advocate during the publishing process
Getting to know the players in the culinary publishing world
Organizations to network through and join
Self Publishing options and possibilities
For more information or to register: please visit the Southern Food & Beverage Museum website.
Course details: COOKBOOK PUBLISHING 101 – Tuesday, July 20, 2010 from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, 1 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Limited to 25 participants. Tuition: $199. Registration and payment available online at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum website.
If there is a better ice breaker than sharing a meal, I’ve never heard of it. A couple of weeks ago, a Twitter pal asked me when the best time to go to a certain restaurant was, and I replied, “When you go with me!” From there, a lunch date was born. I met up with Joey and a couple of his lovely companions at Coquette Bistro & Wine Bar. This Uptown French bistro serves beautiful dishes in either large or small servings, which makes it easy for sharing and discovering. We all took advantage of their $20 three-course lunch. This menu changes daily, and like their dinner menu, it features fresh local ingredients.
Now, here’s the part of the post where I feel like I let you guys down. When I’m into the conversation of my company, I lose track of everything else. I didn’t take a menu, so I cannot remember what every dish’s proper name is. I contacted the restaurant to see if I could possibly get a copy, but I have not heard back from them. I will make another effort to do so, as I like to share as much info as possible with my readers. Many apologies, but I was just having too much fun.
My lunch mates enjoyed a few glasses of wine from the varied yet tidy list, but I was a good girl (for once) and abstained. Coquette creates their own specialty liqueurs and infused spirits, such as a blood orange vodka and a fig brandy. If you are curious about Coquette’s bar menu, give them a visit on Wednesdays when wines are $5 a glass and Thursdays are host to $5 specialty cocktails. These are offered all day, so if their $20 three-course lunch menu is a little on the solid side for you, go ahead and customize your own $20 four-course liquid lunch.
Coquette2800 Magazine StreetNew Orleans, LA 70115(504) 265-0421
Last year, Team NOLA Eats raised $905 for the NO/AIDS Task Force for their annual fundraiser walk. Today, Daniele writes about another annual event we like to promote, Dining Out For Life. Check out her list of vegetarian-friendly establishments that will be participating. –Leslie
When I am not prowling the New Orleans dining scene for delicious vegetarian food, I am working at my day job at one of the city’s HIV clinics. So I’m especially happy to write about today’s topic because it involves two of my passions: eating and helping people.
On Thursday, July 15th restaurants through out the New Orleans area will be participating in the Dining Out for Life fund raiser. Getting involved is easy: Just enjoy a meal at a participating restaurant on July 15th and 25% of the proceeds will be donated to the NO/AIDS Task Force. NO/AIDS provides a wide range of support services for people living with and affected by HIV in the New Orleans area.
Did you know that New Orleans has the third highest AIDS case-rate out of all the major metropolitan areas in the country? There are a lot of people in our city who need our support!
How many times have you made an unplanned stop at City Park and thought to yourself, “Man, I wish I would have brought my bike”? My friend Erica from Joy Ride Bike Rentals is partnering with City Park to offer bicycle rentals on the weekends, making your impromptu park visit even more enjoyable. There’s going to be a fun and free Blessing of the Fleets this Saturday, and I wanted to tell you all about it, especially since there will be free snowballs (this is NOLA Eats, after all). I’ll be there, too, so be sure to say hi if you’ll be joining in on the fun. Read on for the details!
Joy Ride fleet at New Orleans City Park
New Orleans City Park is well known for its beautiful grounds, the New Orleans Museum of Art, Storyland, the Amusement Park, Botanical Gardens, and the list goes on. In 2009, the park completed another project– Big Lake. With this came another great service of renting pedal-boats and rowboats to park patrons. In the wake of its popularity, City Park is expanding its rental family to include bicycles and a gondola.
On Saturday, July 10, 2010 City Park will hold a Blessing of the Fleet. The ceremony begins at 11:00 am with an official blessing from Deacon Robert Normand. Following will be a celebration with FREE bike and boat rides until 1:00 pm. This event is FREE and open to the public.
Joy Ride Bike Rentals, a locally owned company, is joining forces with City Park to bring guests the option of bicycling throughout the park. Also added to the line-up is NOLA Gondola, offering relaxing and romantic gondola rides. Bicycles will be rented during the existing boating hours of operation: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm. Gondola rides will be offered from 1:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Wednesday through Sunday (subject to heat, wind or severe weather). Visitors to the area surrounding Big Lake can also find Plum Street Snoballs shaving ice every Saturday and Sunday.
“We wanted to be able to offer our guests a variety of options when visiting City Park,” stated Lisa Laraway, City Park Director of Recreational Services, “The grounds are so beautiful and seeing it from Big Lake is quite an experience. The waterways connect, so you can actually pass under most of the bridges throughout the park. We are also excited about the bike rentals. Many don’t realize that we have designated bike paths throughout- it is another great way to see what the park has to offer.”
RATES
Pedal and Rowboats: $10 per boat per half hour
Public Gondola rides: $5 per person, per 15 minutes (up to six passengers)
Private Gondola: Starts at $45 for two, for half hour ($10 each additional passenger)
Call Roberto at (504)450-4400 for more information
Bicycles: Hourly = Adult $8, Child $6, Children’s Trailer $8
Day = Adult $30, Child $25, Children’s Trailer $30
The New Orleans Buffalo Exchange is collecting canned food and other non-perishables through the month of July to be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans & Acadiana. Donations will go to Gulf Coast families who have been directly affected by the recent oil spill. Donate three nonperishable food items and receive a $5 off coupon for your next $20+ purchase at Buffalo Exchange.
You can also donate your 5-cent bag cost to one of two charities working directly with wetlands conservation, the American Bird Conservancy and the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund. Join us in helping our neighbors and preserving our coast!
Put down that “blueberry” muffin and enjoy Daniele’s post about getting your hands dirty and discovering where real food comes from. –Leslie
A couple of weekends ago, I went blueberry picking with friends at Sunhillow Berry Farm in Pearl River, LA. I got a gallon (a gallon!) of berries for $10 and have been eating them daily ever since. Mostly I have been mixing them into my morning oatmeal and sprinkling them on salads. I froze the majority of my blueberries to use later in smoothies and cooking/baking projects.
But I’m not writing today to share blueberry recipes. Instead, I want to encourage you to get out into the country and pick your own food. I really think it is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. First off, it’s something fun to do with your friends or family. For those of us who live in the city, visiting a berry farm is a good excuse to go to the country and get a change of scenery for the afternoon. Most importantly, picking your own fruit can be a meaningful learning experience.
Concern for where and how one’s food is cultivated is an increasingly mainstream issue. In recent years, books and films have turned a critical eye on the food industry. There is a growing interest in supporting local food producers. Visiting the farm where your food is actually grown is one of the best ways to learn about where your food comes from.
Getting out in the field and picking fruit straight off the bush gives you a deep appreciation of what it really takes to harvest that food: It’s hot. It’s physical. There are gross bugs. But along with all of that discomfort comes the satisfaction of tasting a juicy, sun-warmed berry that you picked yourself while you’re still standing in the field where you picked it.
Blueberry picking season ends July 15th at Sunhillow Berry Farm, so you’ll have to get out there soon if you want to pick some. If labor in the hot summer sun isn’t your thing, you can wait until fall to visit. Some of the area’s berry farms will also have pumpkins to pick in October.
Sunhillow Berry Farm does not have a website. The following information was found at PickYourOwn.org/LA.htm:
Sunhillow Berry Farm – blueberries, mayhaw, muscadines
33510 Magee-Mahner Road, Pearl River, LA 70452. Phone: 985-809-8082. Fax: 985-809-0604. Email: billmagee@bellsouth.net. Directions: From the intersection of Hwy. 435 and Hwy. 41, go east on Hwy. 41 1/4 mile take a left on Jim Parker Road; then take every fork to the right until you reach the gate of the farm. Open: Daylight til Dark 7 days a week Click here for a map. Seasons: Mayhaw: Mid April to Early May; Blueberries: Memorial Day until July 15; Muscadines Mid August to Mid September Payment: Cash, Check.
As many of you have already heard, NOLA Eats was featured on CNN‘s new Eatocracy website as Friday’s Blogger Spotlight. I was selected to represent the South in their Local Food Blogger Directory, which was exciting on its own, but to see my mug on the front page of a CNN website is just crazy to me. Since I was featured on Friday, it’s been up all weekend, so if you want to catch me on the front page, check it out before Monday’s feature!
This Fourth of July weekend, I wanted to pass on a promotion that just kicked-off to raise funds for the USO and American troops. Former U.S. Marine and local chef John Besh has partnered with Bacardi, and we have the opportunity to help, all while discovering new recipes for the grill and bar.
Louisiana-raised Chef John Besh has been recognized nationally for his culinary achievements in shows such as Iron Chef and Top Chef Masters. Currently, he is on a mission to support two causes that are close to his heart, the USO and New Orleans, through his passion for cooking. Featured in the “60 Second Cocktail” guide are Besh’s tasty and easy to prepare recipes such as the Grilled Flank Steak with Louisiana Peach and Grey Goose Citron Glaze. Please join John Besh and Bacardi, USA in their efforts to support a great cause.
Bacardi, USA has committed to donate $75,000 to the USO at the onset of summer, with consumers (21+) able to increase the total donation amount to a maximum of $100,000 through their participation in the program via the “60 Second Cocktails” Facebook fan page. Each time a new fan of the program joins the fan page, Bacardi will increase its donation to the USO by $1. The fan page will host an online copy of the program recipe book, additional recipe information and interactive mixology videos.
It takes 60 seconds to make a cocktail, 10 minutes to pair it with a gourmet meal and ONLY 1 second to gain access to it all! Become a fan of the “60 Second Cocktail” page at Facebook.com/60SecondCocktail.
Combine new media & social networking with food & libations and you get NOLA Eats, a New Orleans-based social dining group and blog. Founder, Event Coordinator and habitual socializer Leslie J. Almeida writes about her favorites in New Orleans restaurants and nightlife while promoting a "live local" lifestyle.
You can follow more of Leslie's NOLA adventures by connecting with her on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
