Back in L.A.- a Few Sights and Sounds of Jazz Fest 2009
Back in L.A. after a long day of flying. Up at 5 A.M. with a 55 minute drive to the airport in Kenner. The plane from New Orleans was almost on time, but the connecting flight in Houston was delayed. Yikes- 2 hours in the airport in Houston and no free WiFi , unlike the enlightened New Orleans and Phoenix airports. In spite of being wiped, I had an early morning appointment today, and had to make a trip to Costco, but didn’t want to end the day without at least sharing a few sights and sounds. Pics are of Deb Cotton and her mom, Carolee, and the Crab BLT and Fries at Luke’s I wrote about in the last post. And the video is Randy Brecker and Friends on stage, and longtime friend, Monique and new friend, David off. More to...
read moreMonday Morning after Jazz Fest.
The Quarter is still crawling with Fest attendees. There’s a longer line than I’ve ever seen at En Vie. I had breakfast and then gave Misty (who I had met last week at En Vie) a call. One of the great things about hanging out in coffee shops in NOLA, is that you always pick up a new friend- something I can’t imagine happening in L.A. She came down and joined me for breakfast and a long visit. I finally called Ms. Leah Chase, and set up a time to meet for the next day. Then I planned to meet Deb Cotton and her mother, Carolee, for po’boy lunch at Johnny’s in the Quarter. But when Deb saw the line out the door there, she called to say there’s a change of plans (like I said- the Quarter is still crawling with Fest attendees),so once again we headed uptown for lunch. This time it was John Besh’s Luke’s in the St. Charles Hilton. I felt like I was waking into an authentic French Brasserie, complete with servers in white cotton jackets and long black ties. In further homage to the pig, there was a healthy sampling of pork products on appetizer list- rilletes, pate de campagne, hog’s head cheese (again), pied de cochon and boudin noir.There was a raw bar, and French country specialties like Choucroute Alsacienne and Cassoulet on the menu, along with local specialties like gumbo, and an offbeat selection of Matzoh Ball soup. Deb says it’s the best Matzoh Ball soup she’s ever tasted- in New Orleans- go figure. After a week of eating in New Orleans, I just can’t handle a Cassoulet or Choucroute, as tempting as they sound. We started with a beet salad with blue cheese and roasted pistachios. The pistachios were a great touch, but the salad could definitely have used more dressing. I went for a Crab BLT. Deb ordered a Croque Madame, and Carolee a Cochon de Lait po’ boy. The Cochon de Lait sandwich is a New Orleans specialty of pork roast slow cooked in milk. It reminds me of the pork roast sandwiches we used to order from the Dominican deli at one of the New York catering kitchens where I worked. Carolee especially loved the cherry mustard sauce that accompanied it, and she and Deb both asked for another side of it. My Crab BLT was all right. I really would have preferred some lump crab meat rather than the fried soft shelled Buster crab on the sandwich which made the whole thing a bit too rich to my taste. But hey- that’s New Orleans- too much is never enough, right? The local artisan bacon was tasty, but again though, a tad too salty for me. And of course, I loved that I got to wash it all down with a couple of glasses of Costieres de Nimes Rosé. Deb spent a lot of time catching me up on the financial and extramarital misdeeds and foibles of Hizz'honner, Ray Nagin, currently under investigation. Oy! Why do they keep doing this to themselves down here? Anyway, I head back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning. I promise I'll post a pic of my sandwich and the French fries which were served in a paper cone tomorrow, along with sights...
read moreA Vietnamese Po’ Boy at Cochon Butcher
I spent yesterday at Jazz Fest where I had a wonderful morning of visiting and interviewing with Vance Vaucresson and various other food vendors (more about that later). BTW, I needed a break today, but I expect to return to Jazz Fest tomorrow. I had plans to meet my friend Deborah Cotton and her mother for lunch Wednesday. She e-mailed at the last minute with a change of venue. “This place is even better” she wrote- “Cochon Butcher”. Great- I’d heard a lot about Cochon , the James Beard Award winning restaurant. So I set out to walk the few blocks up Tchoupitoulas Street to the restaurant. Deb called while I was walking to say she’d be a few minutes late, so I settled at the bar to wait for them. I’m impressed already, I thought, as I watched the barmaid pour a chilled glass of Rosé, a Côtes de Provence. I scanned the wall of reviews- the top one from Garden and Gun– there’s something so sad, yet unfortunately, so apropos to New Orleans about that. I sat for 20 or so minutes sipping my Arnold Palmer, wondering what had happened to Deb. “I thought you might be here”, I heard someone call out to me. “We’re at the Butcher.” “Hey, Deb. How are you, girl? We walked around the corner to Cochon Butcher, a little charcuterie tucked behind Cochon. “I was a little surprised to hear you recommend this place, since you don’t eat pork” I said to her. “Yeah- they’ve got me.” Deb and her Mom had already ordered. Deb, a Tuna Melt on Olive Bread ( one of the very few non-pork items on the menu), and her mother a sandwich with Pulled Pork in Barbecue Sauce. “Hmmm- I’m getting the Bahn Mi.” Bahn Mi is Vietnam’s version of a po’ boy with thinly sliced pork, pate and head cheese dressed with pickled jalapenos, shredded carrots and herbs on French bread. “Yeah- I thought about ordering it, but I changed my mind when I saw that,” Deb said, referring to the head cheese. I told Vance that I used to turn up my nose with a big YUCK! when, as a child, I watched my father relish head cheese. In fact, my father would often stop by to order some head cheese from Vance’s father butcher shop when he was in town. For the uninitiated, that’s hog’s head cheese, and here’s the Wikipedia definition: “meat pieces from the head of a calf or pig (definitely a pig in this case), in aspic, with onion, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf, salt and or vinegar. It may also include meat from the feet, tongue and heart. It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature as a luncheon meat.” But hey, I jumped in before giving it too much thought, and I sure did enjoy that sandwich. The sandwiches are served with house made potato chips, and Deb had ordered some of the creamy house- made French onion dip chock full of caramelized onions, which I dug into and heartily enjoyed more than my fair share of, all washed down with an Alsatian white wine (no Rosé on this wine list). Deb had to go back to work, but suggested that her Mom and I take in...
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