Where Y'Eat

When we talk about diversity in New Orleans restaurants, it usually means minority representation, or to put it plainly, with black-owned restaurants.

New Orleans food legends never die. Now, the legend of Al Copeland is helping people live.

How do you make a historic, nine-story building disappear? In the case of the Pythian Building in downtown New Orleans, the trick was to encase the grand structure in bland paneling for half a century and keep it empty all the years after Hurricane Katrina.

The tomato sandwich is simple, it's cheap and, because it's at its best in the summer, it has special powers, at least here in New Orleans.

Dad cooked breakfast a lot when I was growing up. Pancakes were the order of the day, but no matter what he was making the meal usually included a little baloney, and I don’t mean the sandwich meat.

It’s one thing to say that a place has culture. It’s another to witness how the people of that place share a culture, how they use it, how it brings them together.

When does summer start? Consult the almanac and you’ll see it’s still weeks away. But in New Orleans, the seasons aren’t necessarily tied to solstice and equinox. To me, they’re marked by a changing mix of cravings, needs, excuses...and yes, we're talking about food.

In New Orleans, a wine lover may bow before Bordeaux and marvel at malbec. But then comes summer, our summer, and all bets are off, especially for heavier red wines. It’s time for wines that can cut through it all, wines that are refreshing and quenching.

Crawfish give us so much. Good flavor, an excuse to gather, a chance to bask in the seasonal food glories of south Louisiana. Well, I’m adding one more blessing to the pile – a crawfish boil creates a temporary sanctuary from the cell phone.

If you love New Orleans food thank a New Orleans mother. If you’re really lucky that will be your own mother, or maybe, like me, your mother-in-law. But it doesn’t even matter if you’re related.