Do you have a favorite hot spot where your family has gathered for generations? Is it still there? Sadly, when it comes to Black-owned bars and lounges, many have been disappearing from local landscapes – often without fanfare or mention. New Orleans native L. Kasimu Harris has watched with dismay as many of these vital Black establishments have closed their doors in recent years. Since 2018, he has been documenting those that remain, capturing photos and oral histories as part of his ongoing series, "Vanishing Black Bars & Lounges." He joins us to talk about the project.

Pascal's Manale: Past & Future

On March 17th, 2023, the Dickie Brennan restaurant group purchased the 110-year-old Uptown landmark, Pascal's Manale Restaurant. This new chapter of Manale's guarantees that generations of beloved, delicious authentic traditions will continue to be honored there on Napoleon Avenue. On this week's show, we explore the generational ties that have long existed between Pascal's family – the Defelices – and the Brennan family.

Louisiana Sugar Kings

Whether you’re observing Easter, Passover, or any of the springtime traditions from across the world, there's a good chance that sugar will play a part of your celebrations. On this week's show, we pay tribute to that beloved sweetener in many ways.

St. Tammany Taste Quick Bites: Roots Plants & Coffee

Want some plants to go with that coffee? On a sunny corner of Olde Town Slidell, Roots Plants and Coffee is keeping the Northshore caffeinated along with views of some tropical greenery. Located in a former antique mall, the cozy café is filled with vintage furniture, warm vibes, and those unique plants available for purchase. On a busy weekday morning, Louisiana Eats stopped by Roots Plants and Coffee to share a cup of java with owner Bryisha Lyons.

Dining, Drink, FoodPoppy TookerApril 3, 2023Louisiana Eats, Poppy Tooker, Roots Plants and Coffee, Bryisha Lyons, NorthshoreComment

The Creole African Connection

Historically, when people consider the roots of classic Creole food, the French are given most of the credit. But lately there has been increasing focus on the African hand that stirred those pots. New Orleans has been blessed in recent years with an influx of young African chefs and restaurateurs who have been busy shedding new light on where our food really came from. On this week's show, we honor those ancestors with the help of New Orleans’ new African culinary guard.

Family Style Food Love

What does family mean to you? For the folks on this week's show, when it comes to food, family means everything. NOCCA Culinary Arts student and Chopped Junior champion Retiba Hagazzi is a perfect example of that. The bright, ambitious teenager learned how to love people through food from her father, Khalid. They share that love with the world every time their food truck, Sittoo's Kitchen pulls up. They join us in the studio to share their story.

Altars, Beans & Cuccidati

March 19th might be just another day in other parts of the United States, but here in New Orleans it's a day when revelers take to the streets in honor of the Feast of St. Joseph. The tradition of food altars dedicated to Jesus' foster father came to the Crescent City in the late 1800s with immigrants from Sicily, where Joseph is the patron saint. What was called Mi-Carême (or Mid-Lent by the Creoles) was a day when fasting was suspended and festivities abounded. On this week's show, we explore the holiday and join in on the celebration.

Finding Cultural Identity At The Table

On this week's show, we explore the ways culture and identity can collide at the table. We begin the hour with a conversation with Andrea Wang, author of the award-winning picture book, Watercress. With illustrations by Jason Chin, Andrea's book is an autobiographical tale of a child of Chinese immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage.

Where Are You From?

Where are you from? While what we eat may reveal our origins, it can also reflect our life's travels from one home to another. Chef Anh Luu was born in New Orleans to parents who emigrated to the United States from Vietnam. She discovered her love of restaurants at the age of 15 when she first began working the line. When Katrina blew Anh and her family to Portland, Oregon, she became a pioneer of Viet-Cajun cuisine – an amalgamation of her Vietnamese and Louisiana heritage. She's now back in New Orleans, serving up her signature dishes at Bywater Brew Pub.

...And More King Cake

On this week's show, we continue our exploration of all things king cake. Throughout Carnival season, local bakers are hard at work creating their own spin on the treat – one that can make or break their year. When Steve Himelfarb and his wife Becky Retz opened Cake Café, they set out to develop their own signature cake – a delicious combo of apple and goat cheese that has outlasted the bakery itself. We catch up with Steve at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) where his king cake has become an annual fundraising tradition.

Carnival Means King Cake

From Twelfth Night though Mardi Gras Day, king cake becomes somewhat of a local obsession here in Louisiana. And over the last few years, it seems like the Carnival treat is simply on steroids! Across the state, bakers have expanded the design from the original brioche dough ring decorated with purple, green, and gold sugar to create cakes featuring every kind of filling – both sweet and savory. No one knows more about king cake than Matt Haines, author of "The Big Book of King Cake." Matt uncovered amazing historical facts and chronicled the lives and cakes of 75 bakers while writing his coffee table tome.

Recipes Lost And Found

A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $250,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together.

Cookbooks, Dining, Drink, FoodPoppy TookerFebruary 4, 2023Comment

The Culinarily Curious

To write a cookbook, a good author will go to great lengths to perfect a recipe or understand a cuisine. On this week's show, we meet four food writers who are driven by a deep culinary curiosity. You may know Melissa Clark from her weekly column in the New York Times food section or from one of her 45-odd published cookbooks. Melissa joins us, as does Vicky Bennison, the creator of the YouTube sensation, Pasta Grannies.

Ella Brennan Award Winners

New Orleans chefs Susan Spicer and Frank Brigtsen are both culinary icons. They are also back-to-back recipients of the coveted Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award, presented each year by the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience. On this week's show, we sit down with both honorees – who each have culinary careers spanning over 40 years – to learn about their successes and the challenges they overcame to become the legends they are today.

Leah Chase: A Centennial Celebration

Twelfth Night 2023 marks 100 years since the birth of the late New Orleans icon, Leah Chase. The culinary legend, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 96, was the undisputed Queen of Creole cooking and a civil rights activist who changed lives over a bowl of gumbo. On this week's show, we spend the hour honoring Leah's talent, achievements, and lasting legacy.

Louisiana Eats! 2022 Year In Review

This week, we look back at some memorable highlights from 2022 and remember those we've lost. We begin with our 2011 conversation with Tennessee Williams scholar Dr. Kenneth Holditch, who died in December. Then, we take you back to Jackson Square, where Today Show co-stars Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager tell us what keeps bringing them back to the Crescent City. That's before we visit a place for tourists and locals alike: Vue Orleans. Finally, we return – with an update – to the backyard garden of Jack Sweeney, a New Orleanian whose okra plant grew so tall that it got the attention of the folks at Guinness World Records.

Historical Eats

What do Antoine’s in New Orleans, Sylvia’s in Harlem, The Mandarin in San Francisco, and the once powerful chain of Howard Johnson’s restaurants all have in common? According to Yale professor Paul Freedman, they are all part of an influential group of Ten Restaurants That Changed America. On this week’s show, we sit down with Paul to discuss his book by that name, which weaves together culinary and social history – from lunch counter dining to the vanguards of haute cuisine.

The Chase And Brennan Family Legacies

It is an undisputed fact that Louisiana grows some of the best restaurant talent in the nation. On this week's show, we sit down with the best and the brightest of Louisiana's legacy restaurant families. We begin with the next generation running Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans. Since the death of Leah Chase in 2019, the crew she always referred to as "the grands" have stepped up to nurture and grow the legacy Leah established with her husband, the late Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr.

A Very Merry Zero-Proof Holiday

It's the time of year for celebrations, and on this week's show, we're bringing the party – but without the booze! Our zero-proof holiday begins with a visit to Dream House Lounge in New Orleans. There, Dr. David Wallace serves up drinks that use adaptogens like kava or reishi mushrooms instead of alcohol. Aside from its delicious drinks and energizing oxygen bar, Dream House is a place where David encourages what he calls "soul-care" – a place for guests to nurture good spiritual and mental health.

The Apothecary Around The Corner

Alcohol in almost any form is one of the oldest medicines known to man. On this week's show, we explore the world of high proof healing. We start with Camper English, author of Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails. Camper covers everything from mystic botanicals and their monastic apothecary origins to the unusual relationship between syphilis and root beer.

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