NOLA Eats is the ramblings, rants and raves of Leslie J. Almeida, New Orleans native and all-around Persnickety Snickerson. Here lies her opinions and commentary on the New Orleans-area food and dining scene. Leslie hosts the monthly NOLA Eats dinners and events, melding food with socializing, two of her favorite things.
Past events have been held at:
- La Côte Brasserie
- MiLa
- Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-In-Law Lounge
- Elizabeth’s
- Yuki Izakaya
- Mikimoto
- Bennachin
- Nardo’s Trattoria
- Cafe East
- Lola’s
- Lebanon’s Cafe
- Bayona
- Nirvana
- Cochon
- Byblos
- Dooky Chase
- Lüke
- Hookah Cafe
- La Peniche
- Mango House
- Basil Leaf
- Cafe Degas
In addition to gatherings at restaurants, we also have an annual crawfish boil, potluck and king cake tasting party. If it’s edible, we’ll probably throw a party and eat it.
If you represent a restaurant, bar or other eatery and would like to send press releases or discuss hosting a NOLA Eats event, please send an email to Leslie@nola-eats.com. I may also be interested in partnering and cross-promoting projects. I’m all about team work.
About Leslie J. Almeida, NOLA Eats Founder
I grew up in the restaurant and service industry and started busing tables at a family-owned steak house when I was just thirteen. Over the years, I dabbled in waiting tables, catering, front-of-the-house supervision and finally settled into private party planning and event sales for an Uptown restaurant owned by a famous chef. Having tired of the corporate life, I ventured into a different industry and now <insert this with something vague for the time being>. Believe it or not, all of my service industry roles have prepared me for this day, as I am constantly striving to make our guests’ experiences as special as I would want my own to be.
But I digress.
Through those years, I enjoyed learning everything I could about the tastes, textures and beauty of food and beverage. I have no formal education from a culinary institution, just a sharp eye for detail and a keen sense of taste. I’m not an excellent cook, but I can tell you exactly what would be needed to improve a dish. I am an amateur oenophile, at best, but can sniff a great bottle out from a barrel of stinkers. I am not a food critic, a journalist or a professional writer. I simply enjoy sharing my experiences in dining with those who care to listen. That’s why NOLA-Eats.com is more of a discussion forum with an emphasis on socializing, rather than a collection of culinary critiques.
Is that enough sharing? No? Alright, then.
I am the mother of two entertaining kids and am married to my totally metal soul mate. I get to tell a hundred tourists a week how to eat and party like a local and I love it. I was born and raised here, yet I am not a Yat. I do not have a Maw Maw or Paw Paw and I don’t know a single person that says “zink” or “earl” or “the Quarters”. My favorite dishes unique to/perfected in New Orleans are seafood gumbo, trout almondine/meuniere, barbecue shrimp, bananas Foster and crawfish, naturally.
I am a cinema geek and a lover of grisly horror films. I try to keep up with today’s progressive music offerings, but I often rely on my cooler friends for assistance. I adore fashion and cannot own enough accessories, most made by friends more talented than me. I have begun devoting more time to reading, something I neglected for far too long. I’ve got a few tattoos, have had more hair color changes than Nic Cage has hairs, period, and enjoy off-colored jokes and sarcasm at their finest. Obviously. I cherish my friends and revel in meeting new ones. Send me an e-mail, leave me a comment and let’s meet for coffee.
P.S.
Nic, if you read this, it’s all good. Just remember…my hair is a bird.
