“Makes you want to spend a week—immediately—in New Orleans.” —Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal A cocktail is more than a segue to dinner when it’s a Sazerac, an anise-laced drink of rye whiskey and bitters indigenous to New Orleans. For Wisconsin native Sara Roahen, a Sazerac is also a fine accompaniment to raw oysters, a looking glass into the cocktail culture of her own family—and one more way to gain a foothold in her beloved adopted city. Roahen’s stories of personal discovery introduce readers to New Orleans’ well-known signatures—gumbo, po-boys, red beans and rice—and its lesser-known gems: the pho of its Vietnamese immigrants, the braciolone of its Sicilians, and the ya-ka-mein of its street culture. By eating and cooking her way through a place as unique and unexpected as its infamous turducken, Roahen finds a home. And then Katrina. With humor, poignancy, and hope, she conjures up a city that reveled in its food traditions before the storm—and in many ways has been saved by them since.
“Reed recounts with humor [post Katrina] home-improvement nightmares in a story that is part ‘Money Pitt’ and part love letter to her adopted home town.” —Washington Post, Front Page Feature After fifteen years of living like a vagabond on her reporter's schedule, Julia Reed got married and bought a house in the historic Garden District of New Orleans. Four weeks after she moved in, Hurricane Katrina struck. Rich with sumptuous details and with the author's trademark humor, The House on First Street is the chronicle of a remarkable and often hilarious homecoming, as well as a thoroughly original tribute to our country's most original city. “What emerges from a heartrending, soul-stirring, rib-tickling and palate-prickling banquet of details is why Ms. Reed cannot leave New Orleans: love. It’s an undeceived devotion to a place and particularity that is admirable, and almost astonishing, in our increasingly deracinated culture.” —Wall Street Journal “Reed shares this sliver of her life with a light, conversational tone, and though somewhat tangential, she conveys the richness of pace and flavor of the Big Easy as life gets back to ‘normal’ without pretense.” —Christian Science Monitor “Reed is a breezy writer who nicely captures the despair and elation of seeing the city slowly come back to life.” —Chicago Sun-Times “With her usual keen eye for the quirky and outrageous, Reed finds much to amuse the reader in this delightful volume.” —Cokie Roberts, ABC and NPR News, author of Ladies of Liberty “With great literary panache and a throaty humor, Julia Reed captures the magical allure of the city, its food and its people . . . destined to be a classic.” —Walter Issacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Elon Musk
New Orleans Saints 101 is required reading for every Saints fan! From Gumbo the mascot and the "Dome Patrol" linebackers to the 2009 Super Bowl Championship, you'll share all the memories with the next generation. Enjoy all the traditions of your favorite team, learn the basics about playing football and share the excitement of the NFL!
Every New Orleanian knows Leah Chase's gumbo, but few realize that the Freedom Fighters gathered and strategized over bowls of that very dish. Or that Parkway's roast beef po-boy originated in a streetcar conductors' strike. In a town where Antoine's Oysters Rockefeller is still served up by the founder's great-great-grandson, discover the chefs and restaurateurs who kept their gas flames burning through the Great Depression and Hurricane Katrina. Author Alexandra Kennon weaves the classic offerings of Creole grande dames together with contemporary neighborhood staples for a guide through the Crescent City's culinary soul. From Brennan's Bananas Foster to Galatoire's Soufflé Potatoes, this collection also features a recipe from each restaurant, allowing readers to replicate iconic New Orleans cuisine at home.
From famous writers and personalities who call the city home, whether by birth or simply love, these pieces written in the wake of Hurricane Katrina serve as a timeless tribute to New Orleans. Sentimental, joyful, and witty, these essays by celebrated writers, entertainers, chefs, and fans honor the life of one of America's most beloved cities. Paul Prudhomme writes about the emotional highs New Orleans inspires, Wynton Marsalis exalts his native city as soul model for the nation, while Walter Isaacson shares his vision for preserving his hometown's pentimento magic. Stewart O'Nan recalls the fantasy haze that enshrouded his first trip to the Big Easy when he was thirty and bowed to Richard Ford to receive his first literary prize. Poppy Z. Brite thanks New Orleans for helping her discover the simple pleasure of Audubon Park's egrets, and Elizabeth Dewberry explores what it means to work Bourbon Street as a stripper. My New Orleans captures the spirit of the city that was—and that will be again.
A history as seen through my eyes while growing up and research that I have done on Mardi Gras, the beginnings, the neighborhoods and other items of interest.
This is a beautiful introduction to the multicultural art and architecture of the "Crescent City," the cognomen given to the city nestled along a tight bend of the Mississippi River. In this introductory history, the reader is familiarized with many new terms reflecting the multiethnic complexity of the local population. The combination of African, French, and Anglo-American immigrants formed a unique Creole culture that has produced its own music, cuisine, art, and architecture, displayed superbly in a vast variety of photographs.
An exciting debut cookbook that confirms the arrival of a new guru chef . . . A moving, deeply personal journey of survival and discovery that tells of the evolution of a cuisine and of the transformative power and magic of food and cooking. From the two-time James Beard Award-winning chef whose celebrated New Orleans restaurants have been hailed as the country's most innovative and best by Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Saveur, GQ, and Esquire. "Alon's journey is as gripping and as seductive as his cooking . . . Lovely stories, terrific food." --Yotam Ottolenghi, author of Jerusalem: A Cookbook "Breathtaking. Bravo." --Joan Nathan, author of King Solomon's Table Alon Shaya's is no ordinary cookbook. It is a memoir of a culinary sensibility that begins in Israel and wends its way from the U.S.A. (Philadelphia) to Italy (Milan and Bergamo), back to Israel (Jerusalem) and comes together in the American South, in the heart of New Orleans. It's a book that tells of how food saved the author's life and how, through a circuitous path of (cooking) twists and (life-affirming) turns the author's celebrated cuisine--food of his native Israel with a creole New Orleans kick came to be, along with his award-winning New Orleans restaurants: Shaya, Domenica, and Pizza Domenica, ranked by Esquire, Bon Appétit, and others as the best new restaurants in the United States. These are stories of place, of people, and of the food that connects them, a memoir of one man's culinary sensibility, with food as the continuum throughout his journey--guiding his personal and professional decisions, punctuating every memory, choice, every turning point in his life. Interspersed with glorious full-color photographs and illustrations that follow the course of all the flavors Shaya has tried, places he's traveled, things he's experienced, lessons he's learned--more than one hundred recipes--from Roasted Chicken with Harissa to Speckled Trout with Tahini and Pine Nuts; Crab Cakes with Preserved Lemon Aioli; Roasted Cast-Iron Ribeye; Marinated Soft Cheese with Herbs and Spices; Buttermilk Biscuits; and Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Whipped Feta.
It's 16 chapters of culture, history, essay and insight, and pure goodness. Besh tells us the story of his New Orleans by the season and by the dish. Archival, four-color, location photography along with ingredient information make the Big Easy easy to tackle in home kitchens. Cooks will salivate over the 200 recipes that honor and celebrate everything New Orleans. Bite by bite John Besh brings us New Orleans cooking like we've never tasted before. It's the perfect blend of contemporary French techniques with indigenous Southern Louisiana products and know-how. His amazing new offering is exclusively brought to fans and foodies everywhere by Andrews McMeel. From Mardi Gras, to the shrimp season, to the urban garden, to gumbo weather, boucherie (the season of the pig), and everything tasty in between, Besh gives a sampling of New Orleans that will have us all craving for more. The boy from the Bayou isn't just an acclaimed chef with an exceptional pallet. Besh is a chef with a heart. The ex-marine's passion for the Crescent City, its people, and its livelihood are main courses making him a leader of the city's culinary recovery and resilience after the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. What People Are Saying "John Besh is one of the best American chefs of his generation. His extensive knowledge of true Louisiana dishes and traditions adds tremendous credibility to his writing." --Paul Prudhomme, chef and owner of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen Magic Seasoning Blends "In his definitive tome, My New Orleans, John Besh captures the true, sweet, and honest voice of a clarinet playing the jazzy song of one of our most deliciously exclusive regional American kitchens." --Mario Batali, Iron Chef, restaurateur, author "This book is an act of soul. Maestro Besh lives the life he cooks; he doesn't just tell us how to prepare Louisiana favorites, he teaches us what these dishes mean, with an emphasis on how hospitality can enrich civilization." --Wynton Marsalis, musician "John will take you into the heartland of the South, rich with traditions, stories, and of course, its amazing cuisine!" --Daniel Boulud, chef, restaurateur, and author A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Cafe Reconcile, a New Orleans-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing at-risk youth an opportunity to learn life and interpersonal skills, and operational training for successful entry into the hospitality and restaurant industries.
The exquisite antebellum mansions of the Garden District. Giant oaks stretching across boulevards and back in time to before the Civil War. The decadence of Bourbon Street. The vibrant sounds of jazz, blues, and Cajun music coming from every doorway or right from the street. Lacy iron balconies that wrap around the historic buildings of the French Quarter. A leisurely meal under a canopy of wisteria. In vibrant watercolors and detailed sketches, artist Diana Gessler captures the unique charm that makes New Orleans alluring: Mardi Gras, the Cabildo, Jackson Square, the Court of the Two Sisters, St. Louis Cemetery, the Jazz Festival, the River Road Plantations, the Cajun country, sumptuous Creole cuisine, and Audubon’s Aquarium of the Americas. In fascinating detail—on everything from the making of Mardi Gras, Napolean’s death mask, the city’s inspired architectural and garden designs, and favorite author hangouts to famous New Orleanians and Aunt Sally’s Creole pralines—Very New Orleans celebrates the city, the Cajun country, the people, and our history
