On this week’s show, we set out to prove that oysters can — and should — be enjoyed year-round. We’re going behind the scenes to get a better understanding of how those salty bivalves go from farm to table.
We begin with Tolar Nolley, founder of the Oyster Company of Virginia, who’s working to mitigate the loss of Chesapeake Bay’s indigenous oysters. Tolar teach us about his conservation programs and their impacts on the industry.
Read MoreThe Louisiana restaurant scene has never been hotter. On this week's show, we're touring some special eateries that should be on your radar.
We begin with best buds Aaron Sánchez and John Besh, who reveal the genesis of their collaboration Johnny Sánchez, a restaurant that combines their names and individual culinary sensibilities.
Read MoreIn this special edition of Louisiana Eats, we celebrate the 151st anniversary of Juneteenth — the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
Host Poppy Tooker and Dr. Ibrahima Seck at Allées Gwendolyn Midlo Hall — a memorial dedicated to all the slaves who lived in Louisiana. Names and quotes are engraved on 216 granites slabs mounted on 18 walls.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we take a journey in sound with two radio luminaries, Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, also known as The Kitchen Sisters.
Davia and Nikki visit our kitchen at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum to discuss their amazing trajectory on NPR as well as how they came to uncover Hidden Kitchens, their duPont-Columbia Award-winning series.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we're traveling to three continents for a fresh look at business innovation.
We begin here in the U.S. with Cheryl Bachelder, President and CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and author of Dare To Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others. Cheryl's vision of servant leadership helped to create an amazing turnaround in the company’s success.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we go back to school for no ordinary education. We take an in-depth look at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and their flourishing Culinary Arts division — the only chef's training program offered at the high school level in the nation.
It wasn't until recently that the culinary arts discipline was added to the Institute's curriculum. The program's inception was due, in no small part, to Chef Emeril Lagasse. For the behind-the-scenes story of how the program got its start, we meet Emeril at Press Street Station on NOCCA's campus.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we journey across the state to learn about the flourishing flavors of Latin American cuisine in Louisiana.
We begin with Chef Hans Limburg of Mizado Cocina, who explains the evolution of Nikkei cuisine, a fusion of ingredients and food traditions in Japan and Peru.
Read MoreIt's really true what they say: You are what you eat — and drink! On this week's show, we call in the experts to learn about the effects of our eating and drinking habits on the human mind, body and spirit.
To begin, we speak with our resident health and food policy expert, senior editor for The Atlantic, Corby Kummer. Corby's recent investigative reporting reveals that eating healthy fat while eliminating sugar and simple carbs could be a long-term solution to the never-ending debate about nutrition and weight control
Read MoreAs the diplomatic thaw between the United States and Cuba continues, new opportunities for Americans to visit Cuba are opening all kinds of doors. In an incredible stroke of luck, Louisiana Eats! host Poppy Tooker had the opportunity to join the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on their landmark visit to Cuba for the Havana Jazz Festival. On this week's show, Poppy shares an audio travelogue from her week-long trip in the Rome of the Caribbean.
Read MoreJohn Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is internationally revered for having captured the essence and eccentricity of New Orleans — and for introducing readers to its larger-than-life protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly. On this week's show, we take a culinary look between the pages of the book that, 35 years ago, was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Read MoreIt's hard to believe that it has been a whole year since we moved our Louisiana Eats! studio into the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. On this week's show, we celebrate this one-year anniversary by meeting our neighbors in the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard corridor in Central City.
Of course, our move wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for the museum's intrepid director, Liz Williams. Liz joins us to reflect back on a year of fantastic exhibits and reveal what exciting expansions are on the horizon for SoFAB.
Read MoreFrom community gardens in North Louisiana to village farms in Sub-Saharan Africa, local leaders are cultivating a passion for regional cuisine and sustainable agriculture. On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we learn about the push for community-driven food policy and meet some advocates who are inspiring people to think differently about how they eat.
Read MoreWhat turns an ordinary woman into a legend? On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we attempt to answer that question by taking an in-depth look at four inspiring women who have conquered life's challenges and become legends in their own time.
Read MoreFrom the height of its popularity in the 19th century to its modern revival, absinthe has a long and storied reputation. On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we learn all about the formerly illicit elixir, and those whose ongoing fascination with the spirit has helped transform the discourse and regulations here in the United States.
Read MoreThere's romance in the air on Louisiana Eats!
In celebration of Valentine's Day, we take a trip to the very top of Louisiana, to Holly and Derek Schreiber's Sainte Terre, which hosts some of Louisiana's most romantic weddings. Situated in the small town of Benton, Sainte Terre combines Holly and Derek's culinary prowess and New York style with the devotion of a truly family-run business.
Read MoreIt's Carnival time on Louisiana Eats! On this week's show, we learn about Carnival traditions both public and private, and celebrations both large and small. We begin with a lively discussion about New Orleans' Mardi Gras traditions with Errol Laborde, author of Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival.
Read MoreOn the cusp of Carnival, the traditional meat celebration before the Lenten fasting begins, we're hosting our very own meat celebration on Louisiana Eats!
We begin by joining Isaac Toups at Toups' Meatery for a viewing of Top Chef and a chat about the highs and lows of competing in the nationally televised cooking competition.
Read MoreOn this week's Louisiana Eats, we examine family food traditions from North Louisiana to the most southern tip of the boot!
First, Chef Nick Lama invites us into the kitchen at Avo, an intimate fine-dining restaurant near Audubon Park in Uptown New Orleans. A third-generation Sicilian and native New Orleanian, Nick most recently worked as Chef de Cuisine at Gautreau's, where he won Gambit's Emerging Chef Challenge. Nick gives us a Northern Italian pasta and truffle lesson and shares some insider pasta tips.
On this week's show, we catch up with some of the trailblazers and award winners of the Louisiana food scene and beyond.
If you have been tuning into the new season of Top Chef on Bravo TV, you might have recognized a familiar face in Louisiana-born Chef Isaac Toups of Toups Meatery. Five episodes into Top Chef's 13th season, Isaac is holding his own. We'll get the behind-the-scenes scoop from Isaac, who has been brilliantly winging it through some styles of cuisine that take him a long way from his bayou roots.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we voyage to the Land of the Midnight Sun and explore Nordic culinary traditions. To begin our journey, we visit with Chef Magnus Nilsson, the genius behind Fäviken, a world renowned restaurant in a far-flung farming region of Sweden.
Magnus has taken on the whole of Scandinavia and beyond in his newly-released Nordic Cookbook, an enormous tome that illustrates the way Nordic food traditions emerged from the cold, harsh climate of Northern Europe.
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