Category Archives: French Quarter

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The Ebb And Flow Of Louisiana Seafood | Louisiana Eats

French Quarter block by block favorite Poppy Tooker did a great show on seafood recently; Gerard Maras (a giant among chefs in our city) shares his boiling technique, Tenney Flynn who is still the best seafood chef in the Quarter, talked about fish handling, and finally Poppy and her guests discussed the ecological issues facing the harvesting community. Seafood is something Poppy knows a great deal about-she is a fisherwoman herself and one of the best champions of fishing families in Louisiana and across North America.

Can you remember to mark “listen to Louisiana Eats” to your Saturday calendar? I’d recommend it.

The Ebb And Flow Of Louisiana Seafood | WWNO.

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Armed citizens form group to keep eye on French Quarter

Well, eyes on the street are one thing, but gun-toting citizens without any training or anyone to answer to are another thing. Let’s hope this is done with sensitivity and tact but I am not reading anything that tells me that is likely…
How about offering to fix streetlights or offering FQ shift workers scooter or pedicab rides to their cars?

Armed citizens form group to keep eye on French Quarter | New Orleans – WDSU Home.

Update
(ahem):

Would-be-French-Quarter-law-enforcer-is-wanted-on-stalking-allegation

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Weekly farmers market coming to French Market

First thing to share: I was the Deputy Director of the city’s original open-air market organization for some time, including back when we opened the Wednesday market at the French Market in 2002 or 2003 ( I never remember which)…
Here is what I wrote on FB about this news:
well.the old footprint of CCFM is restored completely, 9 years after the federal levee breaks took it apart. I certainly wish the new leadership well with this endeavor, and like the FM Director Richard McCall we had back in the day when I worked for CCFM, they have an enthusiastic director at FM to assist. There is no doubt that opening a true farmers market in the old shed market can be very tricky (as we learned in 2002? or 2003? when we opened it originally), but more places for regional producers is a valiant effort to put forth. The work required to find and keep the flow of people coming will be substantial, but finally it will be up to folks downtown and regional producers to commit in order for it to thrive.

Weekly farmers market coming to French Market | News | The New Orleans Advocate.

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Meauxbar is back baby…

Chef Kristen Essig shows off her new menu at Meauxbar

Chef Kristen Essig shows off her new menu at Meauxbar

For New Orleanians, having a great bistro experience is pretty important. Sure, we appreciate fine dining formality and oyster bar parties too, but the idea of casual yet lovely dining with an updated menu from a great chef who is inspired by whatever inspires them that month, was meant for us, it really was.
The emergence of this in the city can surely be traced to the opening of Mr. B’s in 1979(?) or so at the corner of Iberville and Royal and that chef, Gerard Maras and Ella Brennan, owner. Gerard is one of the city’s finest chefs who is now working from his farm in Franklinton doing special events and teaching. Many trace their own great work in the city to their time with Gerard including my pal, celebrated chef Corbin Evans of Lulu’s, Lulu’s in the Garden, Savvy Gourmet and now Oxford Canteen in Mississippi who gave me an interview once about how Gerard was a true mentor to him and many others (like John Harris of Lilette, Brian Landry of Borgne, Alex Harrell of Sylvain, Aaron Burgau of Patois, Anton Schulte of Bistro Daisy, David and Torre Solazzo of Ristorante del Porto and Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing of MiLa as mentioned in a recent T-P article that traces farm to table dining to his Gerard’s Downtown after Mr. B’s.)

I mention these names, because even though Kristen arrived in New Orleans a bit later than the Mr.B’s days, she carries the same zeal and talent and would have been right there with Gerard if only she was old enough! And she can certainly be counted as a serious comer alongside those of her peers listed, all who follow the same principled and ambitious path that Gerard taught…
And because I believe that the reopening of the Meauxbar will be as important to the rebirth of the lively life on North Rampart with Essig at its helm. I wrote about her on another blog that I have and as mentioned there, I have great admiration for her style, her attention to detail and her commitment to local producers. Add to that, she is a French Quarter resident and so like her colleague (over at Stanley’s) Scott Boswell, wants to have a first-class kitchen to honor her own hood. In short, it’s just gonna be good and fun AND be a place for regular people to eat well… So count me in any time you are heading over there…
Story about Meauxbar

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How Tacky T-shirts Became Contraband in New Orleans – Reason.com

I like some of this tacky stuff and also like the welcoming attitude for our millions of tourists of having many kinds of shops.I do think some of the shopkeepers could try a little harder to find a new niche, rather than crowding more of the same on doorways and on racks with nuclear-level lit interiors and blasting Cajun music across the Quarter. HOWEVER, I agree with a friend of mine interviewed recently in this blog who think incentives and marketing assistance to find new niches may work better than a crackdown, especially one that seems uneven in its focus on certain retailers.
This article makes some very good points here although I might suggest that the author’s comment about “there is little reason to believe they will be replaced by wine cellars or art galleries” is a light slap and one that has no basis in reality, as art galleries do exist in the Quarter, as well as some of our city’s finest antique stores. The culture of our city includes those things and just as some of our loveliest restaurants and best bookstores are found in our city center, those others can and will be found here too.

While a small store owner like Azemas would have to carefully calculate the number of New Orleans Saints shirts he could display in his storefront window when the Saints kick-off their first home game this September, large nearby retailers such as Walgreen’s or H&M can stock rack after rack of New Orleans themed gear without any fear of crossing the 35 percent threshold.

Certainly, no one wants to live in a city overrun with tacky tourists shops, but as the residential population of the French Quarter shrinks, souvenirs are a retailer’s safest bet. Even if opponents of t-shirt shops succeed in getting a few shut down on Bourbon street, there is little reason to believe they will be replaced by wine cellars or art galleries.

Some charge that the attack on t-shirt shops is really an attempt to sanitize the French Quarter and push poor and middle-class people out. Many of the stores are owned by Asian immigrants, and they cater to lower- and middle-class tourists. As an example of zoning enforcement being applied unequally, business owners point to new shop Fleurty Girl. The locally-owned, upscale t-shirt boutique opened a French Quarter location after the 2011 ordinance went into effect—without any major objection from the VCPORA.

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