Food & Drink: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

NOWFE's celebrity cake competition

Will Coviello — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:29:00 -0500

The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience's wine tasting events start tonight with the Royal Street Stroll and Vinola premium wine tasting and continue with Grand Tastings Friday and Saturday at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. More on NOWFE highlights here.…

Slideshow: New Orleans' craft cocktail bartenders

Kevin Allman — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:00 -0500

Ian McNulty's cover story this week, "Movers and Shakers," was all about New Orleans' craft cocktail bartenders, but of course we didn't have enough room to run all the great photos taken by Cheryl Gerber.

Here's a roundup of images from "The Pop Shop" pop-up bar event at Faubourg Wines April 16, and "On the Rocks Jukebox" at One Eyed Jacks April 23.…

A fresh, and refreshing, approach at Basin Seafood

Ian McNulty — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:01:00 -0500

Edgar Caro made his name in New Orleans at his restaurant Baru Bistro & Tapas, where he serves dishes from his native Colombia. The food at his most recent venture, Basin Seafood & Spirits (3222 Magazine St., 504-473-8865), has a lot more to do with his adopted Louisiana home, and also with his partner in the new restaurant.…

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The Green Project's Free Week starts today

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:53:00 -0500

The Green Project is giving away light fixtures, cabinets, cabinet doors and a huge selection of other locally reclaimed building materials starting today in its fifth annual Free Week. In addition to free building materials, the store is also giving away free refreshments from local eateries and holding a contest in which one winner will get a year's worth of The Green Project's merchandise.…
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Coal-fired pizzeria Amici headed to Magazine Street

Ian McNulty — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:45:00 -0500

A New Orleans company better known for daiquiris and pizza slices in the French Quarter plans to open a much different concept on Magazine Street.

Renovations are now underway for a pizzeria called Amici, which will serve pizzas prepared in a coal-fired oven. The restaurant is expected to open around mid-June at 3218 Magazine St., which had been the home of Byblos before that Middle Eastern restaurant moved a block up the street last year.…
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How local can you go?

Ian McNulty — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:23:00 -0500

Access to locally-produced foods is improving quickly around New Orleans. How quickly?…
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Y@ Speak: Peace signs

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:55:00 -0500

.@dalailama thank you for coming to #nola He like his holiness likes his new @pelicans and @saints hats! #WhoDat twitter.com/ritaleblanc/st…
— rita rita (@ritaleblanc) May 17, 2013

In a much-needed antidote to the Mother's Day second-line shootings, the 14th Dalai Lama visits New Orleans to share messages of peace and compassion and to put on hats.…
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New lunch and brunch options stack up

Ian McNulty — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:43:00 -0500

A number of restaurants have recently expanded their service, adding new options of note around town.

In the French Quarter, Kingfish added lunch this week.…
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Latin fusion restaurant headed to prominent Metairie Road site

Ian McNulty — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:59:00 -0500

A new cross-cultural Latin restaurant concept from the founders of the Zea Rotisserie & Grill and Semolina restaurant chains is taking shape at a prominent address along Metairie Road just off Interstate 10. Construction is now underway for Cocina Mizado, which will occupy the same site that was for many years a Semolina location.…
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Taqueria’s tiki bar debuts tonight

Ian McNulty — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:42:00 -0500

Known for its fast-casual Mexican format and self-serve salsa bar, Felipe’s Taqueria has been upping its game lately at the bar, which serves Mexican-inspired craft cocktails and even "flights" of mezcal, the earthier, smokier relative to tequila.

Next up for taqueria outfit is a much bigger and ambitious undertaking.…
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Y@ Speak: Happy birthday, New Orleans

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:55:00 -0500

New Orleans and @sissynobby share the same birthday. Coincidence?…
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Your guide to American Craft Beer Week in New Orleans

Kevin Allman — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:08:00 -0500

American Craft Beer Week kicks off Monday, and we've got all you need to know (and drink) right here ...

• We're starting off things early with a craft beer pub crawl tomorrow, May 11.…
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Arnaud’s to host “Speakeasy Dinner”

Ian McNulty — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:52:00 -0500

There’s a certain intrigue in the long history and the labyrinthine warren of dining rooms, service bars and corridors at Arnaud’s Restaurant.

The French Quarter grande dame has been stoking that vibe lately with a series of periodic “Speakeasy Dinners,” which evoke the dark days of Prohibition when, according to restaurant lore, Arnaud’s served bootleg liquor to guests in the know.…
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New Orleans late-night food spots

Megan Braden-Perry — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:50:56 -0500

New Orleans late-night food quests are often plagued with problems: Your friends want breakfast but you want a burger. It's Mardi Gras and you're not trying to deal with tourists in the French Quarter.…
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ReFresh Project breaks ground on Broad Street

Alex Woodward — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:25:00 -0500

Developers and public officials broke ground on the 60,000 square-foot ReFresh Project, anchored by a Whole Foods Market, on Broad and Bienville streets in Mid-City. The development, spearheaded by L+M Development Partners and Broad Community Connections, takes over the former Schweggman's site, which has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures in 2005.…
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Party in the Garden at Hollygrove

Ian McNulty — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:53:00 -0500

It’s normal to see chefs making the rounds at local farmers markets, but on the evening of May 20 there should be a bumper crop of them on hand at Hollygrove Market & Farm for its annual Party in the Garden.

The event is an important fundraiser for Hollygrove, a nonprofit that functions as an urban farm, a market for other small-scale farmers and food producers and an education center.…
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Mid-City yoga studio plans a new vegetarian restaurant

Ian McNulty — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:10:00 -0500

The food booths at the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo festival, scheduled May 17-19 along Bayou St. John, always provide a good sampling of restaurants from around the neighborhood. Sometimes, they also preview interesting new restaurants on the way.…
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Stacy Head responds to Landrieu's food truck veto

Alex Woodward — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:10:00 -0500

On May 1, Mayor Mitch Landrieu vetoed New Orleans City Council's passing of council vice president Stacy Head's food truck ordinance, a pilot plan package at that would've updated the city's decades-old mobile vendor laws. Head responded with a compromise plan — to at least open 75 mobile vendor permits in the interim while drafting a Landrieu-approved plan.…
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Come drink beer with Gambit this Saturday

Kevin Allman — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:11:00 -0500

We're on the eve of American Craft Beer Week (see Nora McGunningle's story in this week's paper, and the full calendar of events), and Gambit is kicking off the celebration of all things brew with "FestivALES," a Warehouse District tasting party and pub crawl that takes place Saturday afternoon. $24 gets you 20 (!)…
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Bringing home the Beard

Ian McNulty — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:08:00 -0500

Commander’s Palace chef Tory McPhail won the Best Chef: South category at the James Beard Foundation Awards, which were held last night at New York’s Lincoln Center.

McPhail was part of a contingent of New Orleans chefs who traveled for the ceremony, which dishes out what are generally considered the most prestigious awards in the American culinary world.…
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Stacy Head introduces a "short-term relief" measure for food trucks

Alex Woodward — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:56:00 -0500

New Orleans City Council did not take action on Mayor Mitch Landrieu's veto of the re-drafted food truck ordinance, originally passed in council last month. City Council will address the issue at its May 16 meeting, where it could overturn the veto.…
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Mayor Mitch Landrieu vetoes food truck ordinance

Alex Woodward — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:10:56 -0500

Following last month's passage of a long-brewing ordinance redrafting the city's decades-old mobile vending laws, Mayor Mitch Landrieu has vetoed it, citing fears that it violates the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. "It would be unwise to sign this ordinance into law in its current form when it appears certain that it will be invalidated by the court," Landrieu wrote in his formal letter to clerk of council Peggy Lewis.…
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Veggie Fest returns May 11-12

Ian McNulty — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:34:00 -0500

The expanding variety of food in New Orleans these days isn’t just about different ethnic cuisines and unconventional dining venues. The choices for vegetarians or vegans are also more prolific than ever, a major change for a city where seafood was once widely, and earnestly, proffered as the “meatless” selection at restaurants.…
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Street food hits the road for new event series

Ian McNulty — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:50:00 -0500

New generation food trucks typically serve just a few specialized dishes, though lately they’ve have been enlisted to serve a number of other purposes too.

During its most recent racing season, for instance, the Fair Grounds Race Course continually used food trucks to market nights at the horse track to a younger generation, while earlier in April civic boosters in Jefferson Parish organized a food truck rally to promote a new image for the Fat City district, drawing a huge crowd in the process.…
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P’s and Q’s helps fill the pie hole

Ian McNulty — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:47:00 -0500

The name of the new boutique bakery P’s and Q’s stands for pies and quiches, though your nose could probably decode the specialties here without that bit of intel. Walk into this tiny storefront near Whole Foods Market’s Uptown location and the aroma of buttery dough starts to tell the tale.…
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