Read Beans On Monday: City of Refuge by Tom Piazza

August 12, 2013 by

A TALE OF TWO DISPLACED FAMILIES

City of Refuge

by: Tom Piazza


After reviewing Why New Orleans Matters last week, I was so impressed I picked up Tom Piazza’s post-Katrina novel, City of Refuge, as a companion piece. This proved more apropos than expected, for Piazza’s memoir of falling in love with New Orleans and then nearly losing it via Katrina so clearly forms the framework of City of Refuge that at times I could almost catch glimpses of its skeleton imbedded in the pages.

Published two years after Why New Orleans Matters, City of Refuge follows two families from opposite sides and strata of town. The two protagonists are near opposites, yet their diverging paths cross in the book’s opening and closing pages, tying them together through shared experience. SJ has always lived in the embattled Lower Ninth Ward but was saved from a life of violence and thuggery by the discipline of the Army and love of the wife who kept him straight until passing away at a young age. Craig, on the other hand, grew up in Ann Arbor but loved New Orleans culture and moved to the city with his wife over a decade prior. He now edits the local weekly magazine Gumbo. While residing deep in entitled Uptown, he has an eclectic and empathetic worldview and makes sure his young daughter and son are exposed to various view points, taking them to watch Indians emerge Mardi Gras morning and taking them to parades in the Lower Ninth (where he initially crosses paths with SJ and his sister).

The novel opens in [Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Reviews (Read Beans On Monday)

New Orleans Living: Red Beans Bashes And Pork & Pie Pop-Ups

August 10, 2013 by

LONELY BEANS & A MONTH OF MONDAYS

DSC02890

Near Empty Bottle of Tequila:
Tonight Was a Good Night

Having spent the better part of two decades flirting with Cajun and Creole cooking, I had made giant pots red beans and rice before and even shared with friends, but I never gave the dish its due as a headliner or perceived its deep cultural significance until I moved to New Orleans. The battle for title of best red beans & rice (Joey K’s? Coop’s Place? Kermit Ruffins Treme Speakeasy?) is every bit as fierce as the gumbo wars, and in Gumbo Tales, Sarah Roahen documents the dishes power to bring friends together on Mondays, as much a vehicle for community building as physical nourishment.

Upon reading about this Monday ritual, I’d begun cooking batches in my kitchenless place Uptown with a dull knife and a tabletop hot plate, but it was a lonely endeavor. My roommate would occasionally try a small bowl, I offered some to the old black lady living next door who looked at me suspiciously and said she ‘had the diabetes’ and had to watch her diet, and I brought a container to the neighbor across the street who’d helped jumpstart my truck who never acknowledged the unsolicited gift in subsequent passings—no ‘thanks again’s or ‘those were good’—leaving me wondering if they went straight in the trash. Thus, with few people to share with I was able to make one pot last a month of Mondays.

THREE’S COMPANY, BACHELOR EDITION

Seasoning Simmering For My Very First Monday Batch

Seasoning Simmering For My Very First Monday Batch

Once I hit my stride in July I decided to give it another try, hoping to call on some of the tenuous friendships I’d established. I still had a bag of beans I’d bought upon first moving in (anything requiring cooking had survived Jake’s munchies) and enough ingredients to season a batch without ‘making groceries’ (although later that day I caved in and stop by Rouses to buy greens—scallions and parsley—for garnish) and sent up the Bat Signal. Bart, the recent college graduate from book club, was the only RSVP but as I fled [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Travel

French Quarter Living: Rhythm of the City

August 8, 2013 by

BACK WHEN MEN WERE MEN (WITH WOMEN’S HAIR)

Oh, The 80s, When Real Men Knew How To Tease Their Hair

Oh, The 80s, When Real Men Knew How To Tease Their Hair Living

I began July in a Frenchmen Street bar sipping a cold Corona (not to be mistaken with a Cocharona!) and thinking back to a cheesy Survivor song beloved in my adolescence, “Too Hot To Sleep.” As the month closed, another song from that same seldom recalled album was stuck in my head: “Rhythm of the City,” for after a rough start I was finally easing into the rhythm of French Quarter living.

A GOOD WEEK FOR GUMBO

DSC02862Things finally calmed down after my 4th of July visitor and subsequent busy week, and I gradually got back to doing everyday things like ‘making groceries’ at Rouses Uptown, stopping by Dick & Jenny’s next door first to give their cuisine a second try. I’ve become comfortable eating alone at the bar and ordering (relatively) light—an entrée only, fish with spinach. It was excellent, though this will never be my go-to spot as it seems to be for many locals.

DSC02857DSC02856The following days were spent writing and wandering the Quarter, eating out less and focusing on lunch when I did. One afternoon I stopped by [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Restaurant Reviews, Travel

Read Beans On Monday: Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza

August 5, 2013 by

A TALE OF TWO CRESCENT CITIES

Why New Orleans Matters

by Tom Piazza

“New Orleans, in fact, is filled with people who came for Jazz Fest and never left. Or who went home and quit their job and came back. I think Jazz Fest teaches them what to love about the city, and how to love it. It is a kind of distillation of the mythology.”


When I read this paragraph—a concise and near-literal summary of this blog’s genesis—I almost laughed aloud. It’s no wonder I related so strongly to Why New Orleans Matters, Tom Piazza’s post-Katrina love letter, emotional exorcism, and national call to action. Much like I conceptualized My Year of Mardi Gras after a post-breakup spiritual renewal at the church of Jazz Fest, similar circumstances initially drew Piazza to the city: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Reviews (Read Beans On Monday)

Read Beans On Monday: The Accidental City & The World That Made New Orleans

July 30, 2013 by

HEAVY HISTORY

The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans

by Lawrence N. Powell

&

The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

by Ned Sublette

New Orleans sells its history as much as its food and music, so when I decided to make this move I knew I wanted to learn more about that rich and layered story. Defiantly enduring near the mouth of one of the world’s greatest meandering rivers, New Orleans‘s story is a long and winding . . . and twisted and contradictory . . . as the river itself. The two books reviewed today provide comprehensive, in-depth portraits of this complicated city’s first few centuries (neither makes it into the 20th) and this is both their strength and weakness.

You will find these books innocently beckoning from the shelves of local bookstores enticing casual tourists to part with their money, but beware: While well-written and skillful texts, these are slow and challenging reads. Both would be better suited for upper classman history courses than curling up in a coffee shop, though they certainly appropriate for the latter if you are an avid amateur history buff. I am lumping them together because they tell the same story in the same painstaking detail from slightly different perspectives. Sublette is the more lyrical and engaging of the two writers, though neither has the brilliance for turning history into captivating adventure like [Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Reviews (Read Beans On Monday)

New Orleans Living: A Dark Passenger, Jedi Master, & Home For Wayward Boys

July 29, 2013 by

MY MOST BELOVED HATED RESTAURANT IN NEW ORLEANS

Jacques ImosThe problem with the 75 cent pork sliders and meat pies at the American Sector Restaurant is that when the adjoining National World War II Museum keeps you mesmerized through lunch until it closes at 5:00, ‘you’ll ruin your dinner’ as mother warned. And we had big dinner plans.

DSC02849I fell in love with New Orleans via Jazz Fest, but Jacques Imo’s may be the first local restaurant that stole my heart (though it could be Mother’s—memories are fuzzy). I remember the first time my oldest brother and I visited circa 1999. We were blown away by its upscale eclecticism and adventurous cuisine. We returned a couple of times, but my life changed directions and it’s been well over a decade since I’ve been back. I’ve become somewhat of a New Orleans foodie in the interim and, in the process, have discovered that Jacques Imo’s is perhaps the most divisive restaurant in the city. I mentioned a couple of posts ago how it is hip to deride any New Orleans restaurant that doesn’t fit your taste as a tourist trap, but nowhere does this battle rage so fierce as within the funky Jacques Imo’s bedecked with color folk art such as bright blue goes or “Be Nice Or Leave” plaques. It’s ridiculously off the beaten path, though, for a tourist trap, hiding on Oak Street on the complete opposite side of Uptown from the French Quarter so near the river bend that you could almost hit the Mississippi with one of their garlic cornbread muffins.

But you wouldn’t want to [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Restaurant Reviews

New Orleans Attractions: The National World War II Museum

July 23, 2013 by

NEW ORLEANS #1 TOURIST ATTRACTION: THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM

WWII Me at Ticket CounterAs a history buff that has read a good deal about World War II including several books by local legend Stephen Ambrose (you’ve probably heard of Band of Brothers), I have been anticipating a trip to The National World War II Museum since moving to New Orleans. July 4th weekend had me feeling patriotic so the following Monday a friend and I wandered over to the Central Business District (or ‘American Sector’ as it was known when Canal was a sharp diving line between Creoles and Americans) to visit what was recently recognized as the top New Orleans Tourist Attraction.

WWII Aimee TankTrip Advisor ranks The National World War II Museum as the #1 New Orleans Tourist Attraction and the #7 museum in the U.S. I’d have a tough time taking exception. The compound stretches over several building between Magazine and St. Charles just before the overpass at Calliope and plans are underway for it to continue to grow. Be sure to allow yourself a day if not two. I could easily spend a week in there and considering the American Sector Restaurant is run by legendary chef John Besh and boasts ‘The Best Happy Hour In New Orleans’ I would be well and affordably fed. I would also be well entertained—The Stage Door Canteen is a dinner theater that features thematic performances and every Sunday the museum hosts swing dances with free lesson.

WWII Museum SurrenderAdmission is [Read more…]

Filed Under: New Orleans Attractions, Travel Tagged With: , , ,

Read Beans On Monday: Interview With Gumbo Tales Author Sarah Roahen

July 22, 2013 by

Sarah Roahen at Hansen'sLast Monday I reviewed one of my favorite New Orleans books, Gumbo Tales. Last week author Sara Roahen was gracious enough to meet me at her beloved Hansen’s Sno-Bliz shop so I could pick her brain while we indulged our frozen cravings. (She had Rootbeer. I had Cream of Nectar and Cream of Ice Cream!)

One of the things I love about Gumbo Tales is that, although it’s about New Orleans food, you also talk a lot about its history and culture. When you started writing, what goals did you have in mind?

I wrote restaurant reviews for Gambit [Weekly] for about four years. That was really my first writing job. I was a line cook between college and then. It was a great way for me to get to know the city and learn how to eat here, but I was more interested in the historical and cultural stuff—the really quirky things about New Orleans that were so new to me and the unique relationship people have with food here. I was trying to figure out how to write more about that but wasn’t finding a way to in Gambit. That wasn’t Gambit’s fault. It was my fault for not being able to do two things at once. I’m actually a really slow writer and horrible at multi-tasking. It’s no way to make a living, but that’s just how my brain works.

So I decided to make it into a book and had an agent who was working with me who pushed me in that direction. A lot changed in the course of writing but the structure took form in my head while I was still writing for Gambit. I knew there were these things that I wanted to write about in a more in-depth, first person, ‘how cool is this’ kind of way. I had all these legal pads full of ideas like how weird a crawfish boil is.  Having a ‘Gumbo’ chapter, having a ‘Sno-ball’ chapter, that sort of filing system was in my head from early on.

Also, near the end of writing restaurant reviews for four years and living here for close to five, I started feeling

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Reviews (Read Beans On Monday), Greatest Hits, Interviews

French Quarter Living: Holiday Hanging & Restaurant Reviews

July 19, 2013 by

MANDINA’S: OLD STYLE CREOLE ITALIAN FOR AN OLD SOUL

mandinasSince my visiting friend was proud of her Italian and Creole heritage, I headed immediately from the airport to Mandina’s, an 80-year-old Creole Italian institution on Canal in Mid-City. There is a huge Sicilian population in New Orleans (see St. Joseph’s Day) so Creole cooking has a heavy Italian influence along with its French (colonization) and African (exploitation) roots. Thus, it’s common to see red sauces—or ‘red gravy’—on the menu with fried seafood po-boys and gumbo, and the Muffuletta sandwich now ubiquitous locally was created by the Italian Central Market Grocery back when the French Market was an active and thriving Italian food and produce stand rather than the t-shirt and trinket bazaar of today.

Mandina'sI first tried Mandina’s right after Mardi Gras when I was sick and staying in the CBD. At the time I could barely breathe and couldn’t taste anything but the fried oyster po-boy I ordered there was the only thing I mildly enjoyed. Since their food tasted good when nothing did I couldn’t wait to try it in good health.

Mandina’s is an old open house with white table clothes on square tables and pictures on the wall—classic old style New Orleans. Our waitress had a thick ‘Yat’ accent (Brooklyn meets [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, History & Trivia, Restaurant Reviews, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews

Read Beans On Monday: Gumbo Tales by Sara Roahen

July 15, 2013 by

UNMASKING NEW ORLEANS ONE MEAL AT A TIME

Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place At The New Orleans Table

by: Sara Roahen

THE REVIEW

I love this book. Period. If you have ever been or plan on going to New Orleans, buy it. Read it. Follow its recommendations. (Except for the duck fetus!) The end.

P.S.


I suppose I should elaborate, though I think the above suffices, for Gumbo Tales is the best non-fiction book I’ve read about New Orleans thus far. (Confederacy of Dunces is my fiction jewel.) Sara Roahen is a former food critic for Gambit Weekly who weaves her expertise into a history of New Orleans cuisine and culture, revealing how they shaped not only her life but that of the city as a whole. Along the way she effortlessly paints a holistic picture that should leave more earnest histories ‘slowly simmering greens’ with envy.

By relating her experiences both eating and cooking various dishes or styles (each  gets its own chapter) Roahen illustrates how she fell so deeply in love with this city while simultaneously providing a history lesson and guide to the city’s rich and bizarre traditions. She’s well-versed in both written and oral history, yet Roahen is also an obsessive [Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Reviews (Read Beans On Monday)
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