Hadacol's Profile
Rekorderlig Pear Cider
Jim, I would also recommend Manior Du Pont Pear Cider. It's made "methode champagnoise" in Normandy and is stunningly refreshing. I've had it on the menu (Luke-New Orleans) for awhile and it has become a real favorite among both the "I don't wanna get bombed" crowd and the people looking for an alternative to a light, effervescent drink subbing for champagne. It's only 3.5% alcohol, and carbonated as all get out. Good stuff. The apple, on the other hand, ain't so great.
Headcheese
Luke makes some serious stuff. They grow their own pigs (and cows, etc.). Steve McHugh and his sous Kenyatta know how to make a pile of headcheese. Cheap and delish.
Need Recommendation for Boss
If he's there on a weekend, Johnny's Half Shell would be my rec. On top of great food, on Sat nights they have a killer jazz gig that is easily one of the most underrated music deals in DC. Plus, if you're into it, you'll see a lot of folks who work across the street. Cashion and Fulchino are running a star studded wonderland in that regard.
http://www.johnnyshalfshell.net/
IF they have the Texas Crabs on the menu, just order them. You can thank me later.
Mandeville/Covington Area
Etoile is fun. Service is beyond quirky, but it's a good place.
http://www.etoilebistro.com/
Need help replicating two Copeland's Recipes
Instructions on how to make anything at Copeland's-
First you take a large amount of salt and dump it into the festering, burnt grease...
Yikes-Tank explodes at Abita Beer
http://blog.nola.com/tpnorthshore/2009/01/explosion_rocks_abita_brewery_1.html
Glad no one was hurt. There should have been a disc on top of the tank to prevent this (this same disc prevents implosions, as well). Must have failed. Glad no one got hurt.
Charlottesville must try, cheap eats
Mel's Cafe. It's down across from the railroad station and I can't reccomend it highly enough. Nice folks, family owned, and really good basic food. Go give it a try. The South at it's best, imo.
Help! Need to find Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon in Philadelphia area!
If it helps, I know that you can buy it in Rehoboth, so someone is distributing it in Deleware.
Give this number a call and ask who is the distributor nearest you and then you can call them and find out who is carrying it.
+15028979113
Good luck. I highly reccomend the Rye as an additional purchase. you won't be sorry.
What is the deal with beer made from rice?
Jim, Anheuser Busch is kind of in an odd, and admirable position as it contracts with rice farmers for a specific kind of rice and guarantees purchase of entire crops as long as it meets their quality standards. I grew up in the Delta and it was common, still is for that matter, to see signs at the ends of rice fields with AB on them. Also, carrying that a bit farther, if you ever go to Stuttgart, AR, you'll notice that the rice dryers are all painted to look like Budweiser cans. They also handle much of their hop and barley purchases in the same manner. Say what you want about dull American beer and such, but AB has an adherance to quality that is kind of hard to beat or argue with.
Jacob's Sausage
If you are willing to go out to Metairie to get it, why not just drive to LaPlace and pick it up. If you go in the middle of the day, it only takes a few minutes longer than driving to the airport. It's worth the trip, as the selection of delicious smoked treats, is pretty broad beyond just andouille.
Cupcakes in the New Orleans area
I spent two days, in incredible heat (even for NOLA), at the recent Big Apple BBQ watching New Yorkers calmly line up and wait a minimum of an hour and a half for 5 hushpuppies. Now, I was cooking them, but, still, I don't think they were worth they wait. I guess they just like standing in line, no matter what's at the other end of it.
And cupcakes? Feh. I don't get it and have always been fascinated by the whole furor surrounding them. I'm not waiting in line for any. Too much other good stuff to eat in this world.
Dress Code ??? - Cochon & jacquimo's
Cochon is a relatively nice place, though hardly a fine dining atmosphere. Long pants for men, just generally casual nice.
Jack's place is altogether different. I'm not entirely sure that you wouldn't get a discount if you went nekkid. Might be worth a try. But, if you choose clothes, anything that you are comfortable in will work. During the Summer, I highly reccomend something that will keep you cool, as it's crowded and hot in there, even late at night.
Crabs inside the beltway
Johnny's Half Shell has this killer crab dish, Sabine Pass Crabs, and if you go during happy hours, you can get em cheap. It's a pretty stunning dish.
good low end liquor
You shouldn't have any trouble finding it. I looked it up on the Buffalo Trace website and used their little availability matrix. Nice tool.
http://www.buffalotrace.com/main.asp?page=retailers
NEED NORTHSHORE HELP!!!!!!
Get in the car and slog it into Covington. Pizza Man, a place that has been open for 20 something years, is easily the best on the Northshore and probably the best in South La. It is made, and always has been, mostly, by the owner. It's a tremendously good pie. Also, take cash (lots of it, Paul doesn't give the stuff away), as they only take cash and checks.
Best Steakhouse in New Orleans Area
The best steakhouse in NOLA isn't really what you think about as a steakhouse. LaBoca is the place though. Had a seriously indulgent, cover the menu (and knock back a gallon of Malbec) dinner last night. Crazy good. Superior value, really, really knowledgable staff, and just generally a great experience. Highly reccomended
John Besh's bacon...
I don't know how many of you get up to Oxford, MS, but, as football season is upon us, some of you might. John Currence of City Grocery has opened a new place called Big Bad Breakfast that is featuring meat that he smokes himself in a new smokehouse. His bacon is as good as it gets. Big Bad Bacon is the bomb. Highly reccomended. He is selling it retail, but only in small amounts and only when he has enough leftover to do make sure that he's got plenty for breakfast. As someone who is a friend and fan of Alan Benton, I don't feel too bad saying that John's is just as good.
K Pauls or Irene's?
While Irene's is certainly nothing to sneer at, as I like it alot, you have a hole in your New Orleans Culinary Map if you haven't experienced K-Paul's. It's a standard bearer that carries it off virtually every single time. The food is remarkably good and, happily, since the storm many locals who had stopped going, for years, because of the fact that it was usually chock full of tourists seeking blackened redfish and also the fact that they used community seating, which can be kind of fun, but not always what you are in the mood for, but are now marching back on a regular basis. Have fun, take your time, don't order any doubles (get as many things as you can) and you will truly have a great meal.
Need fine dining help
At the moment, MILA is my top choice in the city for an interesting, upscale meal. Period.
But, August, Bayona, Herbsaint, Brigsten's, Upperline, and G.W. Fins (and LaProvence on the Northshore) would, and always are, in the running, as well.
And, in the less formal category, Cochon is somewhere I go back to again and again. Order all of the small plates-at once-and then, if you aren't full, delve into the entrees. It's a great way to figure out the place.
Is there a GREAT Bloody Mary Mix ???
It's funny, but when I ran across this topic I was actually drinking straight bloody mary mix.
This stuff is really delicious. It's not available nationwide yet, but they are working on it. I believe that you can find it at most Whole Foods and in a number of chains around the country-and if you live in the Northwest, I guess that you can get it pretty much anywhere(I am a long way from there, so I don't really know). I particularly like the spicy, but they're all good. I ended up with a whole assortment of their stuff that a friend gave me to try and it's all good to great, but that Bloody Mary Mix is the best I've ever had. Highly reccomended.
http://www.garliclady.com/
best beer on tap
Well, local is always good. Where do you live? Or, at least, what part of the country?
By-gone cocktail fads
In New Orleans, at the Napoleon House (and lots of other places, of course, but NH is kinda the home of the thing) the Pimm's Cup never died. It lives happily in a tall glass on hot afternoons.
http://www.napoleonhouse.com/pimmscup.html
To Bayona, or not to Bayona: that is the question
Don't even hesitate. Go eat and enjoy. Susan runs a great place and the service, in the last few months that I have eaten there (4 times) has been good to great and the food, without question, has been some of the best in town.
Some of her detractors, particularly on other boards, have, what seems to me, more than the food and service on their minds when they start complaining about Bayona. Their criticisms often seem more personal than one might expect. Never have quite figured this out, but, then again, I never cared. She's a talented chef, a good businesswoman, and extremely nice. What's not to like?
Cocktails with egg in them....
The Ramos Gin Fizz is pretty swell, if you take your time and make it right.
The link below is Chris McMillan, New Orleans bar icon, making a perfect one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj417erX2W8
Best Oyster Poboy?
Parkway Bakery
Crabby Jack's
Casamento's (won't be back open until Summer is over)
My house, right after I've gone by Leidenheimer's and picked up bread off the line
Remembering Early Microbreweries
Abita served the first glass in Mandeville, LA on 4th July, 86.
Riley-Lyon were rich guys with a good idea and a bad bidness plan. They didn't last long. At that point, we were dealing with the Addison Brewing Co. in Texas, as well, and they had a worse plan than the Arkansans. They bought a race car before they sold a beer. They didn't last long either.
Nice car, though.
St Charles Streetcar Bar Hopping?
Now you don't have to worry about any kind of ugly exercise
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/uptown_streetcars_go_the_dista.html
Remembering Early Microbreweries
Abita should be added to the 86 list.
Man, I had forgotten about Riley-Lyon. Those guys were serious pieces of work.
Eleven Madison Park 2008
About the duck-
You are right...and you are wrong.
You are right that it is delicious and that it is a truly stunning dish.
You are wrong that it's not the same duck that you say, well, kinda, but not really wrong. The deal is that the duck that they bring to the table will comprise part of the plate-those perfectly cooked slices are so good that I don't care if they came from a duck in Central Park...I just know that they are good. The confit, on the other hand, was made from a duck that someone had the previous night and who, as it goes on and on, donated his carcass to the making of the confit, just as you so kindly donated your own to some, soon to be, happy diner the following evening. It's a great system.
I love the place.
If you are into cocktails, and who isn't, next time you are there tell them to make a sazerac with some of that, relatively hard to find, Pappy Van Winkle's Rye Whiskey and some Lucid Absinthe to coat the glass. I am from NOLA, and have had my share of Sazeracs, but that was easily the single best cocktail I have ever moaned over.
St Charles Streetcar Bar Hopping?
Also, you might want to include Dante Kitchen and Iris. Both have well made cocktails, particularly Iris, goes out of it's way to have some stuff that you might not see elsewhere. Lots of infusions and such.
