New Orleans- Coming Up on the Fourth Anniversary of Katrina
New Orleans is still a city very much in the process of rebuilding itself. My trip to Jazz Fest was the third time I’ve visited since the Flood. They’re coming up on the fourth anniversary this summer. There’s definitely been progress, but I also felt a real heaviness across the city this time around. The people who had quick insurance payments have rebuilt, their houses are beautiful-freshly painted, new tile floors, granite counters, new furniture, carpeting, big flat screen T.V.’s. Those without the quick insurance payments, or any insurance at all, are still in limbo – at best. The Road Home program has been dissolved, and many neighborhoods, including the one where I was born and spent my early childhood, are still fairly deserted. And everyone is anxious about the hurricane season which begins in just a couple of weeks. “It snowed in December” my cousin Linda said. “ It snowed in December the year of Katrina, too.” Monique called on one of my last days in New Orleans. I told her that this had not been a particularly comfortable trip for me. “I gathered that” she said. There’s been personal stuff, but it hasn’t been just that. There was a negative vibe across the city, and it seem to have settled in. I picked it up in those I visited with – Raoul, Uncle Roy, Marlene. I said to Monique that my first visit after Katrina had felt celebratory. It was the first post – Katrina Mardi Gras. People were beginning to return, there was a sense of homecoming, and everyone was upbeat. When I visited a year later, reality had settled in, people had hit the hard task of rebuilding, and all the problems that came with it. I could feel it everywhere. I remember saying that to Deb Cotton at the time. She responded, “Yes, I just have to take frequent trips out of the city.” “Yeah, it just goes that way here”, Monique said. “I remember it being that way in 1989, too, with the oil bust.” She laid blame on the mayor currently, though, “A mayor is supposed to reassure the city. It’s his job.” “One more year” Lloyd said. But the day after my conversation with Monique was Cinco de Mayo, and even though it has nothing to do with New Orleans, the city is working itself up to celebrate it. “Any excuse for a party” Marlene...
read moreA Perfect Menu for an Outdoor Summer Wedding
A room temperature menu of sun-kissed foods is perfect for a wedding in the heat of summer.
read moreVaucresson Sausage at Jazz Fest
On my first day at Jazz Fest, I had the privilege to follow and interview Vance Vaucresson, owner of Vaucresson Sausage. My mother's family lived on the same street as the Vaucressons when they were children. My mother and uncle are life long friends of the Vaucressons, as was my grandmother with the Vaucressons of her generation. Vance's grandfather, Robert, was a butcher in the 7th Ward (click on the link and scroll down to Day One of this blog at its former location for background on the 7th Ward), and made sausage in that capacity. One of my uncles still speaks lovingly of Mrs. Vaucresson, Julia, Robert's wife, who during the Depression would often send over bits of leftover meat for their family. Their son, Robert Jr., aka Sonny, took over the business, eventually transforming it into a sausage company, in addition to being the first Creole of color to open a café on Bourbon Street, and becoming one of the original Jazz Fest food vendors. Vance is Sonny's son, and in spite of their facility being devastated in the flood following Hurricane Katrina, continues the tradition of selling sausage po' boys at Jazz Fest. Here's a clip of my time with him. Laissez le Bon Temps Roulez ! Gisele And please visit my other blog...
read moreThe Caterer’s Garden- The End Product
Well, the L.A. Garden Show went off extremely well. I hope some of you were able to catch it. Paul’s exhibit was so successful, he sold one of his installations right on the spot. No wonder, as they were the perfect compact garden, even for those with only a small (10′ by 5′) patio or balcony space for a garden. Paul recycled wooden pallets, and as he writes it’s a “garden space that is completely moveable, even the bins allow for replanting when the plant has been exhausted of its bounty”. And there are some great ingredients to create some really wonderful meals, right outside your kitchen door. Hey- why not? Even the Obamas have planted their own kitchen garden. That’s Paul in his funky gardener’s cap. And notice the wild peacocks wandering around. They enjoyed a bit of the garden, too, unfortunately. Paul says they nibbled on the back sections overnight. He covered the front section with netting. Hopefully something you won’t have to be concerned about in your home garden. Ciao Bella,...
read moreNeed to Trim Your Event Budget? Planners Weigh in on What’s Worth Keeping and What’s Not
Yesterday I catered a Mother's Day dinner for a new client who had never hired a caterer before. She walked into the kitchen as we finished up serving dinner and had started in on the clean up. " Wow- you even do the dishes" she said, "this is great". Of course, we left her kitchen completely clean, as we had found it. She commented that she had always handled all the cooking, cleaning, setting up, etc, of her past parties herself, but that she was always so tired she couldn't really enjoy the party. "That's exactly the reason to hire a caterer," I responded. The truth is that no one person can handle all the aspects of a successful event by themselves. A good service team is crucial to the success of a party. Biz Bash Magazine, a publication catering to the event planning industry, recently surveyed event planners across the country on the subject of where to spend and where to save in today's budgets. It's no surprise to me that over and over again, professional party staff landed in the "worth keeping" category. I find it frustrating that service staff is so often one of the first areas where clients look, when trying to cut costs. It's a recurring theme of mine, that catering is more than just great food. Here are some of the comments of top event planners across the country that landed in the "worth spending on" column: "Working with a fine caterer that has exceptional service is always a must, but absolutely in this environment. You can always work to pare down a menu, perhaps serve something simple yet elegant, rather than fussy… Having a great catering staff that allows your guests to have a wonderful and carefree time is always worth the money."- Kara Minogue, President, Kara Minogue and Company, New York "It's a mistake to cut service or staff. People don't remember if the steak was outstanding at an event. They remember if it was cold, or took a half hour to get a drink."- Kristy Pozulp, Events and Communications Manager, Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, Chicago "Your staff is a reflection of your company and provides one on one contact with your clients… When times are tough, well trained service staff is one of the best assets you have."- Hillary Harris, Director of Special Events, Warner Brothers, Los Angeles "Second only to food, drinks are one of the most important elements of a great event… and having capable bartenders is extremely important to the flow of the event. Guests don't like to wait around with an empty glass." -Lauren Farruggio, Events and Meetings Coordinator, The Boston Consulting Group, New York Bon Appetit! Gisele...
read moreMore Sights and Sounds of Jazz Fest
Here's a look at a really hot ensemble I heard my second day at Jazz Fest, Ensemble Fatien featuring Seguenon Kone, Dr. Michael White and Jason Marsalis (hiding behind the saxophonist on the vibes), with Margie Perez (no relationship to yours truly) adding the vocals. Dr. Michael White is on the faculty of Xavier University in NOLA, and was the owner of a substantial collection of New Orleans history and jazz memorabilia, but lost it all in the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina. There's nothing to say… ciao,...
read moreBack 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...
read moreUpdate on the Caterer’s Garden
Well, the big day is approaching. For those of you in L.A. this weekend, I hope that you will visit the completed Caterer’s Garden at the L.A. Garden Show. I, unfortunately, will not be there, as I am in NOLA exploring the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. I will be reporting back at my Pain Perdu blog, which is newly located right here at Typepad, so please check in with me. In the meantime, here are some updated pics of Pauls’ garden project. Laissez Le Bontemps Roulez !...
read more
