Jason Perlow

I thought the R. Lee Ermey-style dress down at the beginning of the show with the spitting out of everyone's food was a BIT too over the top, but as for the rest of the show, its Ramsay being Ramsay, although clearly some of his performance was at that, a performance for the cameras. There's no way he could expect that night being anything other than a total disaster, though -- the people they picked are woefully inequipped to work in a restaurant kitchen of Michelin-class caliber, let alone a Denny's. But lets face it, It wouldn't be much fun to watch and make as good artery-busting Gordon-on-fire audiovisual vignettes if they picked an entire staff of line cooks from decent NY and LA restaurants. I would have liked to have seen the folks undergo more realistic training prior to the "opening", like that guy did in the UK version of "Faking It" but then again this is American television.

NOTE: This topic is part of the Eating New Orleans series. Willie Mae's Scotch House 2401 St. Anne St. 504-822-9503 Its in a rough neighborhood, its cash only, and it doesn't take reservations. But people are lining up to eat the food coming out of 89-year old Wille Mae Seaton's home cooking. Be it wealthy Baptist ministers, politicians or the local police force -- or in a previous era, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself -- Willie Mae has been attracting people from all walks of life for decades, because her food is THAT DAMN GOOD. There's a small menu, but for the most part, what Willie Mae is cooking that day is what you are going to be eating. And that's fine, just fine. Willie Mae Seaton, in her native environment. The diminutive dining room, where you might be standing room only if you don't get there early. Butter Beans. They melt in your mouth. Red Beans with rice. They also melt in your mouth. Fried Pork Chop. Mmmmmm. Enough said. Gravy-Smothered veal cutlet. Willie Mae's fried chicken, the main event. As you can see, we didn't like it at all.

Sophie's 1912 Magazine St. 504-561-0291 Sophie's has been fully decked out as a 1950's style ice cream shop. We ordered two mini scoop samplers and their flavors are excellent -- I particularly liked their Strawberry, Chocolate and their Peanut Butter flavors.

Creole Creamery 4924 Prytania St. 504-894-8680 Creole Creamery is Uptown in the Garden District, in the same Prytania Street food pocket as Upperline and Crepe Nanou.It occupies the former McKenzie Bakery space, which laid dormant for a number of years before Jim MacPhaille purchased the building and completely restored it. Creole Creamery makes all of its ice creams in house, and has some pretty wild flavor combinations, as you can see on the chalkboard photograph. Don't overlook their sorbets, they are great as well. Here is the main dining area, just prior to the afternoon rush. 10 minutes later the entire place was packed with kids and parents. Creole Creamery is one of the few places you can still get a true Nectar Soda, which was popular in New Orleans during the 1930s-1950s. It's similar to a New York Egg Cream, except that instead of chocolate, the syrup is a Almond/Vanilla flavor and is pink in color. I happened to enjoy the simple pleasure of having this with Creole Creamery's plain vanilla ice cream, which was excellent.

Anything resembling an electric appliance or battery operated? No, don't answer that.

Yeah, I used to store my Matchbox cars that my grandfather used to get me in them. Crown Royal was his standard whiskey, with Club Soda.

Yes, Xiao Long Bao.

I didn't watch Hell's Kitchen last night (It's on the Tivo) but I can certainly say that I would not be suprised at all to see Ramsay intimidate and bully staff and patrons in the American version -- both the Nightmares and Boiling Point shows show him at his thuggish finest. I have no doubt American viewers are seeing the real deal here.

Oh cool, you went to Pandora's. We tried to visit Pandora's but we got there at around 9:15 at night, just after closing. They wouldn't make us any -- so we went to Plum Street, which is actually in Pableaux's book. Pandora's appears to have a flavor list just as impressive as Plum Street's.

Nope, that's a single oyster loaf. And they are big peices at that. Actually I was somewhat disappointed that the only distinction between a "Oyster Loaf" and a "Oyster Po Boy" at this place was the size of the portion. As I understand, at Casamento's, an "Oyster Loaf" is served on Pan Bread, not French Bread. Casamento's is also unique in that it fries its oysters in LARD. We didn't get to Casamento's, as it was closed for the season the day before we got into town. http://casamentosrestaurant.com/menu/menu.html

Some interesting feedback from the King's Hawaiian company:

Cassata cakes of course are not to be confused with molded gelato Cassata, which is similar to a spumoni. I'm not sure if its common in Italy or if its just an Italian-American thing.

Great pics, Daniel. I totally empathize about going into fried food comas after eating like that... I just went through it myself after a week in New Orleans.

Anything made with liver, especially Jewish-style chopped liver, and canned tuna fish. Just smelling it makes me want to throw up.

Crabby Jack's 428 Jefferson Hwy 504-833-CRAB Crabby Jack's is the creation of Jacques Leonardi, the owner of Jacques-Imo's. Its a lunch-only seafood place that's in Jefferson, a neighborhood that is mostly commercial businesses. Its a locals joint, serving the freshest possible seafood and truly amazing Po Boys. The Shrimp Po Boy, which is utterly overflowing with shrimp. Locals crowd Crabby Jacks during lunch hour. A Plate of fried oysters and Jambalaya. These were perhaps some of the best fried oysters we had during the entire week -- big and juicy. Rabbit Po Boy. Tastes just like chicken. Duck Po Boy. The "Un-Fergi". Ham and Roast Beef with debris gravy. Probably one of the most outstanding sandwiches I have ever had. Notice that Crabby Jacks uses a somewhat different type of bread than the typical Po Boy, and he uses premium green leaf lettuce instead of the usual iceberg. Good tomatoes too. Excellent Cole Slaw.

Buried underneath all that grits.

Parkway Bakery & Tavern 538 Hagan Ave. 504-482-3047 Parkway is located on the site of an old Po Boy shop (circa 1920's) owned by the Timothy family. Originally the site baked its own bread, but water damage in the 1970's stopped that practice and it bought its bread from other vendors. In 1995 the shop closed. Proprietor Jay Nix purchased the property and renovated it in 2004, filling it with all kinds of Po-boy and New Orleans food ephemera. The Po boys served here are true classics. The counter where your Po Boys are ordered. The restaurant is decorated with all sorts of classic New Orleans food and drink ephemera. Barq's root beer, in the bottle. An entire Coca-Cola fridge is dedicated to storing them. Roast Beef Po Boys, the restaurant's specialty. Hot Sausage Po Boy Shrimp Po boy Hubig Pies. Made with seasonal louisiana produce, the crust on these fried pies are amazing, because they are made with beef tallow. They are also not preserved like other fried pies on the market, like Hostess, so they have a limited shelf life of about a week. Hubig Pie Closeup. Closeup of the ingredients list.

NOTE: This topic is part of the Eating New Orleans series. Ye Olde College Inn 3016 South Carrollton Ave 504 866 3683 Hankering for Po Boys on Sunday, we headed straight for Ye Olde College Inn for its Zydeco brunch. Live entertainment on Sunday. The Oyster Loaf is big enough to feed two people, its utterly LOADED with fried oysters. If you are there just on your lonesome, order the "Oyster on French". It's the same thing, but half the size. Ye Olde College Inn makes great onion rings. Grillades and Grits are a traditional New Orleans breakfast item.

There's an interesting mini-essay on Sno Balls on Gumbopages.com: http://www.gumbopages.com/food/dessert/sno-balls.html

Hansen's Sno-Bliz. No other Sno Ball stand attracts such a loyal and dedicated following. It's my understanding that when the store is in full swing during the summer months, the line goes down the block. Rachel and I had the privlege of being at Hansens on its opening day of the season. Honorable Judge Gerry Hansen, the son of Ernest Hansen, the inventor of the patented Sno Bliz machine, which makes shaved ice like no other machine in any other Sno Ball store, was there to serve us Sno Balls himself. The Hansen's Sno-Bliz storefront, open for business, first day of the season, at around 5:30PM, with nobody lined up in front of the store -- an EXTREMELY rare occurance. The Honorable Judge Gerry Hansen and Friends. Hon. Judge Gerry Hansen demonstrating the unique physical qualities of Sno-Bliz Snow. One of the two unique Sno-Bliz machines, which were invented and patented in the early 1930's. The design was never licensed out. The Sno-Bliz flavor list. Sno-Bliz flavors are formulated by the Hansen family, and are a closely guarded secret. A Sno-Bliz cup being filled. Hansen's produces a new Sno-Bliz cup every year to commemorate its many years of continuous operations. The 2005 cup has not yet been produced, due to the severity of Mr. Ernest's and Mrs. Mary's current health situation. Hansen's opened very late this year -- typically, the store opens in March. Nector Cream and Cream of Chocolate combo, one of Hon. Judge Gerry's favorites. I have to say that this was the best Sno Ball I had all week -- the Hansens special flavors really do make a difference. Happy Customers

Next to Hansens, Williams Plum Street SnowBalls is probably the greatest Sno Ball vendor in the entire city -- its list of flavors dwarfs many of its competitors, and it has the added bonus of making its own condensed milk, which has a markedly different flavor than the Eagle brand which is used by many of the shops. I'm not sure if it is commonplace practice, but unlike Hansen's and Tee-Evas, Williams Plum Street serves its larger size Sno Balls in Chinese Food containers, which have the nasty tendancy to leak sticky drippy melting Sno Ball liquid. "Make sure you suck the liquid out of the bottom and you'll be OK" is a frequent mantra of the teenage Sno Ball jockeys at the store. (Partial!) Flavor List and gallery of syrups A professional pouring job Mango with condensed milk

NOTE: This topic is part of the Eating New Orleans series. Hansen's Sno-Bliz 4801 Tchoupitoulas St. 504-891-9788 Tee-Eva's 4430 Magazine Street 504-899-8350 William's Plum Street Snowballs 1300 Burdette Street 504-866-7996 This week, Rachel and I got our required education in the New Orleans-style Sno Ball. Not Snow Cones, not Granita, but SNO BALLS. There are probably several dozen such shops (maybe a hundred?) in the greater New Orleans area, but only a few have "legendary" status or are in the Sno Ball big leagues. The three here we have listed are in the pantheon of great Sno Ball shops. If we've missed a couple, blame Pableaux Johnson -- we simply visited the ones in his book. Tee-Eva's probably deserves to be called more than just a Sno Ball shop, because she makes hella good made to order small-batch pralines, and she cooks creole food as well (which unfortunately, we didn't have time to try). Rachel particularly liked her lemonade flavors, having an affinity for their tartness instead of the sickly sweetness of some of the other prominent Sno Ball flavors. Tee-Eva's also has the distinction of serving Sno Balls year round, whereas many of the other shops in New Orleans are seasonal. Tee-eva's Storefront The legendary Tee-eva The flavor list

NOTE: This topic is part of the Eating New Orleans series. Angelo Brocato Ice Cream 214 N. Carrolton Ave. New Orleans, LA 504-486-0078 http://www.angelobrocatoicecream.com Angelo Brocato looks like it would be completely at home in Manhattan's Little Italy or on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section of the Bronx. But it's not -- its on one of the busiest streets in New Orleans' Midcity district. The ice cream parlor opened in 1905 in the French Quarter, where Croissant D'Or Patisserie resides now. It moved to its current location in the 1970's. The Gelato is outstanding. We went on two occassions -- at 10:25 at night, 5 minutes before closing on a Saturday, the place was packed and people were still on line. During the day, during lunchtime, the place is a lot less crowded. We didn't have a chance to try any of their pastries. Again, too little time, too many places to eat at.

NOTE: This topic is part of the Eating New Orleans series. Moderator Note: Sid-Mar's was completely destroyed in September, 2005 by the flooding of the levee after Hurricane Katrina. Sid-Mar's of Bucktown 1824 Orpheum Ave. Metairie, LA 404-831-9541 http://www.sidmarsofbucktown.com Sid-Mar's has all the makings of a great seafood restaurant -- Phenomenal location with a equally phenomenal view, huge indoor and outdoor seating, with presumably access to great Louisiana seafood, cooked simply and expertly. Its sad that this place fails on the details. I so wanted this place to be good. Waits to get into this restaurant can top an hour if its particularly busy -- such as on the night we went, where we waited for about 45 minutes until we were seated. Patrons are encouraged to go on the back deck, have a few drinks, and look upon Lake Pontchartrain: As you can see the view is spectacular. The atmosphere on the inside of the restaurant is very casual. Crab fingers -- stringy, tough. Overcooked. Not good. The hush puppies were the best part of the entire meal. Rachel liked her crab and corn soup, but thought it was a bit too spicy. I didn't particularly care for it. Crawfish were small, overcooked, and the heads were devoid of any juice or moisture. The family at the next table, a group of locals, who had been to the restaurant on a number of occasions, and who also ordered the crawfish, concluded that these were either overcooked or re-heated, like in a microwave. This was their fried seafood platter, which was pronounced "Just ok, not as good as Deanies." My suggestion is that since Sid-Mars is so close to Deanies (its like only a few blocks away) that you grab a few drinks here, sit out on the deck and look at Lake Pontchartrain, and then head over to Deanies to eat afterwards -- Deanies does VASTLY better seafood than this joint, by a mile.

NOTE: This topic is part of the Eating New Orleans series. Drago's Seafood and Oyster Bar 3232 N Arnoult Rd. (at 17th) Metairie, LA 504-888-9254 http://www.dragosrestaurant.com/index2.htm I will state emphatically that under no circumstances, do you leave New Orleans without first having some char broiled oysters at Drago's. They are by far the single best cooked Oyster preparation that I have ever had in my life. Drago's takes big, juicy, freshly shucked Louisiana oysters, throws them on huge fiery charcoal grill, and after cooking them for a bit in their own juices, they ladle a pecorino romano/butter/parsley/garlic sauce on top of them, which becomes sort of like a crust after it cooks. The oysters are juicy, charcoal smoky, garlicky, cheesy, herbal, all at the same time, and the "sauce" that they render on the plate which you sop up with Louisiana french bread is simply mind blowingly good. Sure, Drago's is a full service seafood restaurant, and it has an incredible bar scene. The place is hopping with locals, packing the bar and every avaliable table. But we came for the Oysters. I really wish we had stayed and ordered a few more plates of these and made a meal out of them, as opposed to going to our next destination, Sid Mars, which ended up being very disappointing. There were times during the week I really wanted to go back to Drago's, but there were too many restaurants and oh so little time. Next time, definitely.