Chase To Go
If you ever polished off a bowl of Creole gumbo at Dooky Chase Restaurant (2301 Orleans Ave., 821-0535; www.dookychaserestaurant.com) and thought you could put away an entire gallon of the stuff, the newly reopened restaurant has a deal with your name on it. Dooky Chase reopened in mid-September serving take-out lunches only Tuesday through Friday. Among the items on its temporarily pared down menu is gumbo by the pint for $8.75 and gumbo by the gallon for $60, presumably intended to feed a family or the office gang. Leah Chase , the chef and proprietress of the restaurant her family opened in 1941, is offering other casual lunches to go, including fried chicken, red beans, po-boys and fried seafood. She expects to resume normal service in her freshly restored restaurant early this month.
You Want a Cupcake With That?
Steve Himelfarb made a name for himself hawking plastic-wrapped slices of his homemade cakes around town, often going door to door. He eventually opened his own café in a tiny spot in the French Quarter, which closed down because of Katrina. But in September, he reopened his New Orleans Cake Café & Bakery (2440 Chartres St., 943-0010; www.nolacakes.com) in the former Marigny location of La Spiga Bakery. In addition to a rotating roster of cakes available whole or by the slice — with varieties like red velvet, carrot and German chocolate — Himelfarb serves breakfast and lunch menus featuring his homemade breads. Cupcakes are available with lunch for $1 extra. — McNulty
