Mayhaw Man

Not that this is in the "South, South", but it is in Southern California. The Belly Up is located in two quonset huts (not suprisingly, since it is so close to Fort Pendleton). This is a GREAT place that keeps a very eclectic lineup going. Lots of friends from New Orleans played there while I was living in San Diego and I used to be there alot. Once saw Kandy Kane (I would put a link, but can't find one that is appropriate for family viewing-google at your own risk!) open up for Los Lobos there. In a world full of great nights this was a great one. Spanking and wrestling fetishists mixing with roots r and b fans-it made for fun evening.

Location: 2 lane rural highway Construction: Cinderblock, rectangular in shape, 1 front door, 1 side door. Bar down the door side of the rectangle. Gravel or shell (in Gulf South) parking lot. Bathrooms-1 stall in each -mens (no urinal in men's room, although there might be one in the women's room ) and womens restrooms. Interior: Incandescent lighting except for the old Schlitz pool table light, which is flourescent, but has one bulb out and at least on hole in it slightly larger than a pool cue tip). Completely mismatched tables and old bistro type wooden chairs in poor repair. Barstools are four legged and of wood construction. No foot rail on bar. Beer coolers that have the names of out of production beers or Coca Cola roll top coolers. An actual home type fridge in the back corner behind the bar. BBQ pit outside of back door of 55 gallon drum type construction (although more successful places may have a giant iron one made by a welder who hangs around in the place). At least a few handwritten signs proclaiming (among other things) "Friends don't loan money to friends. Don't ask." "I wouldn't cash a personal check for my mother. Please don't ask me to do it for you." " No credit. Don't ask." "Sunday at 3. Pool Tourney and BBQ I could go on for a long time, but there is an excellent book by photographer Birney Imes titled Juke Joint that describes this stuff better than I ever will be able to. While I highly reccomend the purchase of this volume (as it will go to further this sight and also help Steven buy yogurt for contributors) you will be able to find this book in any decent library system. Incidentally, Lucinda Williams fine tune "Too Cool to be Forgotten" is crafted entirely from the signs in this book with an added refrain. A wonderful writing device. a great song and a wonderful piece of work. I have been to a number of the places in the book (particularly the ones up in the Delta and the ones south of Vicksburg) and he captures them perfectly, in a very surreal way. Check it out.

Actually, you should use a collins glass(mugs don't float well or upright), but you are right-an excellent idea. I have done it for many customers and the funny thing is, now that I think about it, it was always in cheap beer.

Large Iced Tea then a Crawfish Sack Wanna guess what I ate next? (excellent, by the way) Mrs. Mayhaw with a plate of fried eggplant with crawfish cream sauce (spicy, but not too). She told me to knock it off with the food pictures involving her right after I took this. I ignored her of course, but was much more discreet today Me and fellow egulleteer rshorens. She and her husband came out to the Fairgrounds for Saturday (riding the newly opened streetcar to the museum and walking over-a fun ride, but they are still working out a few kinks with the service and it shows). Roz is charming (dig that snappy hat ) and she lives in Santa Cruz. We're all invited for supper! She had a big dining week in New Orleans and I look forward to hearing about it from her. Tons more food photos, but not tonight. Although I will say that the couchon de lait po boy was excellent (Varmint would recognize it immediatly, as it is basically pulled pork sandwich with course cut slaw (kinda spicy, kinda vinegary, kinda great!). The softshell crab po boy was excellent. THe BBQ oyster salad from Mr. B's was really good. Crawfish bread, creole stuffed bread, meat pies (both crawfish and beef), strawberry lemonade, mango freeze, cracklings, redfish ferdinand, and everything else I ate hit the spot(it's a damn big spot, too ). I willreport back Sunday night after the Fairgrounds.

What about pickled eggs (the one in the brine dyed pink)? Seeing a big gallon jar of those babies on the back bar means that you don't even have to go home for supper.

This is a good thread. It needs a new chance in life. I have a couple of different size pairs of tongs that came from Target. They have a cool locking device at the top that is engaged/disengaged be squeezing them together and either holding them upside down or rightside up (depending on whether you are locking or unlocking). $2.50 a pair. Plenty strong and dependable. Knock off brand of Good Grips veg. peeler from Wal Mart. $3 bucks. Razor sharp and have held up wonderfully. Wooden spoons and other implements made of wood purchased in a supermarket in Mexico. Even cheaper than from a street stand. I bought a bag full, which should last just about a lifetime. 2/3 of the stuff is in a box in the attic waiting for a chance to be used when the other stuff wears out. Le Creuset purchased at various garage sales. It is usually being sold by unsuspecting/unaware relatives selling all of Grandma's stuff after she went 10 toes up. The satisfaction of buying these pieces at $5 or less can be immense.

Especially if you can write beautifully, have serious skills with a camera, know how to cook the food native to where you live and if your space is pleasing to the eye and to the mind. And you are from France. Lucy, I have enjoyed this blog immensely. Thanks.

The gates open in 12 hours. The eating and dancing starts in about 12 1/2. The pain comes later. The credit card bills come in a month.

Who have you tapped to embarass themselves after this effort?

Not especially sheltered but I've learned who to avoid I recall reading a book about Wall Street frivolities in which this particular species was described as "Big Swinging Dicks". And... there was a constant competition to see who was the Biggest Dick (not who had one - just who was one by virtue of their arrogance and self-possessed grandiosity). You have just clarified for me why I intuitively avoided certain places when I lived in the NYC area. Liar's Poker? That was an interesting read. Young guy frm New Orleans who bumped into a job while having dinner at the same banquet table as some big shot's wife.

It will take a very confident soul to follow Lucy. She has done an amazing job. Of course, she's in France. As she has reminded us over and over again.

The "pope's nose" off of a well baked chicken. Somehow that part never ends up anywhere but in my mouth.

I discussed the heat in this submission for The Daily Gullet. As davebr said, a pool is key. In my piece I described it like this and it seems easier to quote it than to re write: From The Turkey Drop: It's damn hot here in the summer, but it is still a great time to visit, as the prices are low and the restaurants are really glad to see you and will let you know it with great service and value. Hotel rooms are cheap as well.

Back when I was doing the beer tasting circuit for restaurant staffs in New Orleand I used to be invited frequently to eat with the staff before service (these tastings usually took place in late afternoon before service, so I was there at meal time) and the one's that I remember as being particularly memorable were at Emeril's. ALways some king of "pot food" like creole, jambalaya, gumbo, courtbullion, red beans and rice with sausage, and the like, but really tasty and served in "all you can eat amounts". It was also great as it gave me time to spend with the staff when the supervisors weren't around, so I could curry a rediculous amount of favor with various beer swag (t-shirts, beer, etc.). There are alot of things that I don't miss about the beer biz, but the tastings are not one of them.

Nah, it was only a half (very cool presentation, wish I had a picture), but it was a bunch of lapin for one guy, even me. Those peas were delicious with the spinach mixed in. I will have to give that a try. They sauced it with a rabbit reduction of rabbit stock and red wine. Quite tasty.

For those of you that are heading to Atlanta The World of Coca Cola is a great visiting stop. The displays are cool (the "flying coke dispenser" is worth the trip in itself. It kind of launches carbonated water and syrup out of a fountain several feet in the air and it lands in a cup for your enjoyment). They also have a display of fountain dispensers set up that have every flavor that Coke makes around the world. They make some pretty interesting stuff, many of the flavors are very country specific. I highly reccomend the visit.

I was thinking of you last night when I had dinner. There was a rabbit special on the menu at The Dakota and it was really good. Rabbit marinated briefly in soy and ginger and served on top of a cool mix of wilted spinach, black eyed peas, and thinly sliced yellow and red bell peppers. It was delicious and the portion was rediculously large. That must have been one big bunny!

Not indelicate at all. It is a very imprtant question. There are brand new portapotties by the gazillions, not one's that have been on some construction sight for a year. It is part of the contract. There are also very comfortable facilities with air conditioning inside the Grandstands of the Fairgrounds for those who need to be a bit more comfortable while communing with nature (these facilities come complete with attendants who will be happy to assist you with your every need-I am a qualified expert on this subject, as I have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal ).

Fortune Magazine says we have the cheapest mansions in the country. There are plenty to choose from. On the other hand, for the regular folks my friend K.Keller said it best: "New Orleans is a city with a low standard of living and a very high quality of life." I've always thought that that summed up the situation nicely.

Morally the owner, in my book, is correct. The guys were callously taking advantage of the situation. Technically, I suppose, the suited "gentlemen" were within their rights at an "all you can eat" buffet. Even though the idea is that it was all you can eat, not all you can put on your plate and throw away. Many of these places have signs asking you not to put more on your plate and warning that if you get too carried away that you will be cut off (or someting like that).

I used to judge home brew contest all the time. During a regional roundup in New Orleans (brewers from various groups in the gulf South) and one of the lads (John D. for those of you that know him) and some of his buddies made one of these things. Think about it. Something with animal fat in it that is going to sit around at room temp for a few days (okay-55F, but still pretty warm) and then be cooled and people are going to drink it. Not me buddy. I used to tell people to bring em on. I would drink weird beer and strong beer all day long, but nothing with animal fat. Sorry. Not a good plan. Sure beer is acidic, but why take the chance? YUCK.

Thanks all for your kind comments. Cynthia-a couple of the services-hotwire, etc. were showing rooms in the sub $100 range downtown, although they are going fast. On top of the Jazz Fest there are two huge conventions in town this weekend. Mags, As far as the weather goes this is as good as it gets (except at the end of October, when it is the same as now). Low humidity, decent breeze coming out of the North, and not much rain (actually we are kind of in a drought, not that it matters much as we are at the bottom of one of the largest watersheds on earth and we also average about 65" a year (Mobile, 90 miles from here, is the wettest city in the US and we are not so far from their yearly total). Once again thanks. It's fun writing about stuff you care about (as opposed to school boards, pokice chiefs, business associations, and other dull stuff). Brooks

There's always another way, Pan. Of course, I don't think that any work has been done with beer here as it is a carbonated beverage and there would be any number of issues involved with that. It has been used successfully in the Oyster industry, although I think that the flavor profile is completely changed.

Samuel Adams has ALWAYS been a macro brew. With the exception of a very well appointed small brewery/showpiece in Boston, the beer has always been contract brewed at large breweries. Jim Koch (founder-Boston Beer) now owns Hudepohl-Schoenling in Cincinatti (where incidentally he had been making beer for years). He also contracts out to a number of other breweries. I have attached an article from The Celebrator here that has a pretty good interview (albeit old) that explains some of this. As far as breweries and their size definitions go, the Association of Brewers defines Regional Breweries as breweries over 50,000 bbls. I suppose a macro starts at a million barrels, but it is kind of hard to figure it out from their web site. This is a pretty good link breaking out the business One of my standard jokes doing tours at Abita was that if I made all of my beer at the same pace that AB made theirs that I could come in to work at midnight and be done for the year at 12:15 a.m. It was true. There is a huge difference between the regionals and a behemoth like AB in terms of percentage of beer brewed and sold. edited to say that I read Cornellrob's post as saying Sam Adams, not Sam Smith's (too many sams in the beer world). I believe that Sam Smith's would probably fall into regional specialty brewery by the AOB definitions, but I can't find their barrelage at the moment.

John Edge discussed this during the Tennessee Williams Festival. He pointed out that this was exactly the kind of thing that he would like to see more of and that the SFA was willing to lay out the dough to see it happen if they could find people like Mr. McKinney to do the work. I wish we had had a barbeque club when I was in college. Although in North Arkansas it probably would have had to have been a pie club. MMMMMM. Pie.