Earlier this week, I had planned to visit Brenda’s French Soul Food for a bowl of grillades and grits, having recently emailed a friend about a memorable version of this dish that I once tasted at Cafe Degas in New Orleans. That email awakened a latent craving, and naturally, I thought of Brenda’s as the [...]

In general, I’ve always felt that scallops and sweet corn complemented each other quite nicely, which ultimately inspired me to prepare the dish pictured above. To be honest, however, the specific notion of diver scallops with sweet corn maque choux struck me as a true revelation the other day, and I wondered why I hadn’t [...]

I’m slightly skeptical of “chipotle” anything these days. To me, this pepper was arguably THE ingredient of the 1990s, as smoked red jalapeños began to officially hit the American mainstream. Not only did a burrito chain emerge from Colorado emblazoned with this very name, but television chefs such as Bobby Flay seemed to be infusing [...]

My remoulade epiphany occurred when I was living in New Orleans, studying Creole cooking and doing my best to eat five square meals per day. My journey as a cook had brought me to K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter, where I ate more deep fried oysters and shrimp than most people will ever [...]

Mandina’s is probably my favorite restaurant in New Orleans, at least when I’m in the mood for a shrimp poboy and a bowl of turtle soup. I found this photo online at wikimedia.org, and I really like how the neon pops against the dark background. Following its demise after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the restaurant [...]

Big Jay was the person who first introduced me to Gene’s Po-Boys, and since I didn’t own a car when I lived in New Orleans, he was always my passport to their legendary cheeseburgers. There was a considerable stretch when — at least two or three times per week — we would drive over to [...]

Having lived and cooked in New Orleans, authentic Cajun cuisine is one of the things I’ve really missed since returning to California. A few places around here do a couple of things correctly, but there is an awful lot of bastardization going on as well. Sometimes, it’s easier just to tap the source, especially if [...]

Dive bars are always interesting in the daytime, with their many blemishes on proud display in the bright, open sunlight. Without a throng of regulars to otherwise engage the senses, torn upholstery and grungy walls become the center of attention. Of course, the funk of stale beer never seems quite right in the daytime either, [...]