TAPrice

Nothing wrong with being smart. I'm most excited about the Korean place. I love Korean food. A second option will be much appreciated.

You're more than welcome. I don't know if the licenses are broken down by category. I'll try to find out. Good point about deep pockets and family operations. My guess would be that a chef owned restaurant is likely to try harder to survive. If you've put your heart into a restaurant and see it as, in some way, a personal expression, then you're likely to hang on and hope that things improve. If you're just putting out lunches for the masses, your probably more likely to seek a new business if that's not turing a profit.

I meant to get back to this topic sooner. Sorry about that. Let's take a look at a press release [note: pdf] from the Louisiana Restaurant Association. They cite "the number of licenses issued in the three parishes" by the Department of Health and Hospitals through August 7, 2007. These numbers should capture all establishments legally serving food. Here is the info: Orleans Parish: 2,116 pre-storm vs. 1,462 as of August 2007 = 69% reopened Jefferson Parish: 1,557 vs. 1,465 = 94% St. Bernard: 219 vs. 86 = 39% Now, compare those numbers to the most recent population numbers from the Brookings Institute [note: another pdf] (current as of July 2007): Orleans Parish: 67.6% of pre-K population Jefferson Parish: 98.3% St. Bernard: 36.5% So the percentage of reopened restaurants in each parish seems to closely track the population recovery. I agree with Fitzmorris that DHH numbers include many places that we wouldn't call restaurants (hospitals, gas stations), but I don't think that point is relevant. They included these numbers before the storm as well. The criteria for the data hasn't changed. Unless there is evidence that places that like gas stations selling hot dogs have been much slower to return than other types of food establishments, there is no reason to assume that overall percentages would change if we could weed out these kinds of places. So what does this all mean? I don't know. The types of restaurants that get covered in guide books, a category that appears relatively stable numberswise, skews towards the higher prices. Perhaps the population is wealthier now and better able to support them. Perhaps these places are more likely to hang on for non-economic reasons, so they're willing to operate in the red for longer than other places. Thoughts?

Oh I agree that the sentimental factor is a huge part of Mandina's appeal. (My initial post was not as clear as it could be.) I was just surprised that initially Tommy Mandina didn't seem aware of this and wanted to knocked down the building and start from scratch.

I guess fall in New York is the time when everyone looks forward to new restaurants. And I know this only because the New York Times prints a big article about it. They do mention openings around the country in a side article, but the information on New Orleans is scant: So what's opening around town soon? I've heard that that the little Brazilian place on Canal finally opened. Anyone been? What's the name? The owner of Tacos San Miguel has talked about a new, bigger place on Carrollton with drinks and a larger menu. There is a Latin American place under construction in the Lower Garden District across from Aidan Gill. Raw, which boasts the most embarrassing sign in New Orleans, should be opening soon between Sucre and La Divina. A Korean place is opening soon in Metairie I believe. Ginshi is the name, I think. I guess Table One will be something new soon. Patois, in the old Nardo's space, looks very promising. The Chinese buffet on St. Charles across from Igor's looks less promising. And hey, even Al Copeland looks like he's about to reopen his restaurants. Although that's not necessarily a good thing. What else is on the horizon? Edit: I forgot to mention that Donald Link has some secret plan up his sleeve. Also, Scott Boswell hopes to reopen Stanley soon on Jackson Square.

I'll have to part ways with you there. I get a certain visceral pleasure from tearing apart that last bit of bread at the bottom of a cut sandwich. It makes me feel like a man.

Yes, according to this website her father is Jewish and the family has 33 rabbis among its ancestors. In this interview she doesn't talk about keeping kosher, but she does say this: Maybe that is the answer to her refusal to eat ham.

Good point on the rock salt. I'm not 100% sure that my local supermarket even carries rock salt. I'll have to check. So you roasted the salt-covered steak in the oven? For how long and at what temperatures. Was the result that different from other techniques? And did you cook these clams in their shells? Maybe I could do that with oysters, which are easier (and cheaper) to come by down here in Louisiana.

Jayt90: Yes, that's how the salt bake should work. Alton used rock salt instead of kosher salt for the unshelled shrimp. With those huge salt crystals, no crust formed. That's what has me a little confused. What are zipper back shrimp?

At one time, Louisiana was the only state where you could legally buy turtle meat. Is this still the case?

Interesting. Are egg whites more necessary with larger items? With more vertical surfaces, is the salt is more likely to break apart and fall off than it would be with a fish? So the herbs are mixed into the salt? What kind of recipes are these? Is this a technique used more often in a specific country, or is it widespread? Any leads on those recipes?

So I've tried the trick of cooking fish in a salt dome. I spread a layer of kosher salt, put down my fish, added another layer on top, and baked the whole thing. The results were pretty good. The only problem was that I bought a fish that was too flaky and some salt clung to the fish (I recognize that as my fault). I assumed that the point of this was that the salt took on some moisture, hardened around the fish, and created a tight container that sealed in the moisture. The other night, though, I caught part of an Alton Brown special on salt. He was cooking shrimp buried in rock salt. He put the shrimp and rock salt in a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes. With no additional seasoning, he claimed that the results were fabulous. Are these two techniques the same? If so, then I don't think I understood the salt-baked fish, because surely the rock salt isn't sealing in much moisture. Is the salt just seasoning the seafood? Does the salt affect how the oven's heat cooks the fish? And while we're on the subject, are their other proteins that could be cooked this way? I mean, could I bury a boneless, skinless chicken breast in salt? (I'm joking, but you get my drift.)

This place did and still does call itself an "Italian ice cream parlor." Thanks for all the great info. So maybe the early 80s is when gelato arrived in the U.S.? Who would have thought that culturally it should be lumped in with Miami Vice and Flock of Seagulls?

Does anyone know when gelato started to be widely produced and sold commercially, both in Italy and the United States. I was reading an oral history of a local, century-old gelateria and learned that they introduced scooped gelati only in 1979. Before that, they had sliced ice cream. Did commercial equipment just start to arrive in the U.S. around then?

Perhaps three seasons of judging it too long. Maybe it's time for Tom and Padma to move on.

I wonder who else got the ax? Cat Cora? (Who is she anyway?) Does this mean that they're picking two replacements?

That episode just felt like excuse to get rid of Howie. We all knew that he couldn't last. Finally he's gone--now let's move on to the real competition.

Brett Anderson has written a five-part series on Mandina's struggle to come back. The Mid-City restaurant reopened last February. Here is a little taste of part one: This many words about building repair might overwhelm people outside New Orleans, but around here we'll happily read a 22-part series on the rebuilding of a single home (seriously, the paper is still writing such a series and I'm still happily reading it). Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. The final installment runs tomorrow. One thing that struck me is that the 35 year-old Cindy Mandina really sees the restaurant as a cultural touchstone. Her father, it seems, doesn't have the same emotional attachment to the location. Initially, he wants to tear down the building and mocks local preservationists: I think this is interesting for two reasons. First, I really think too many food journalists are quick to mythologize restaurants and overlook the extent that a restaurant is a business. It needs to make money and the restaurants that have survived long enough to become institutions are probably run by folks with an unsentimental economic sense. Second, it seems like Cindy's emotional attachment is what helped Mandina's survive as an institution. It's hard to imagine that many people would be so excited to walk into Mandina's if it were an entirely new structure. On the other hand, that kind of emotional attachment often kills family businesses. I was talking to the owner of a long-running food establishment recently. She noted that many family businesses fail in the third generation, because that generation has a lot of nostalgic and emotional ideas about the business that often conflict with the nostalgic and emotional ideas of the other heirs.

This was a few months before Katrina and it never reopened after the storm. No way to know the long-term effect.

Isn't Mario, after-all, more Spanish than Italian? Assuming I've got his bio right, he's an Italian-American who grew up partially in Madrid. I'm sure that anyone who spent his high school years in Madrid can't help but have a deep love for Spain. I'm still bummed that the one time I got to chat with Mario I didn't know that he majored in Renaissance and Baroque Spanish literature while an undergrad. I've got a Ph.D. in the same subject. It would have given us more to chat about.

When I was as critic for the alt-weekly in New Orleans, I wrote a review of a slightly upscale sandwich shop. It was a very mixed review. A few months later, a friend stopped in there for some take-out and mentioned that he knew me. The owner had made changes based on what I wrote and insisted that my friend deliver a sandwich to me so that I could taste the difference. Honestly, I was surprised. Only a small example, but you asked for a specific instance.

Let me throw out another data point (I've got some theories and ideas, but for the moment let me just toss this out there). Just before the storm, Pableaux Johnson published Eating New Orleans. If you don't have it, get it. It has great stories and descriptions of New Orleans restaurants and serves as a snapshot of where things stood before the storm. He lists 116 restaurants. Of those, 11 or 12 are still closed (I'm not sure if The Pearl is open). That means 90.5% of the restaurants are still open. Here are the closed places: Dooky Chase (should open any week now) Resaurant Mandich Uglesich's (closed for reasons unrelated to Katrina) Gabrielle Ruth's Chris Cobalt Lulu's in the Garden René Bistro Sid-Mar's of Bucktown St. Roch The Pearl (or maybe not, I'm not sure) Barrow's Shady Inn If he were writing the book today, are there 12 restaurants to reasonably replace these loses? Places that opened since the storm? (Keeping in mind that he limits himself to New Orleans) How about these: Cochon Iris Lüke Grand Isle Sucré La Divina Gelateria (he includes a section on desserts with Sophie's and Creole Creamery) The Grill Room (he doesn't include it as fine dining, but with Greg Sonnier there I bet he would) Savvy Gourmet La Boca Delachaise Vizard's Li'l Dizzy's Minnie Catfish That's 13. So what does that mean? I guess I agree with Fitzmorris, more or less. He says the number of "restaurants" is slightly higher than before the storm. I would say the number of restaurants that people talk about, that get press and attention, is stable. Does that mean that restaurants or the restaurant scene are healthy? Not necessarily. I've still mulling over the "health" question, but I thought that I would throw those numbers out.

I agree completely, besides - what is there to object to? The woman started the program and her philosophy is entirely reasonable - eat real food, share it with your friends and family... ← Jensen: It's interesting that you should bring up the Montessori schools. I believe that Waters trained at a Montessori school, so that approach may just reflect her training. Melkor: I'm with you. Personally, I tend to not like grand statements like that. But I know from reading and talking to people here in New Orleans about the Edible School Yard that it works on many levels. Also, I ate at Chez Panisse and had one of the most satisfying meals of my life. Whatever she does, it works. I will always bow to people who actually get things done, and Waters has done that in spades.

I've told in a few weeks. Then again, I've been told last Easter, and then Jazz Fest. Honestly, I don't know.

Anything made by Whole Foods, but particularly the bread and the to-go items. I mean, I know it's still a supermarket, but often the items look really good. Do they taste good? Not so much. Part of me says that I'm foolish to expect flavor from such convenience food. Then I remember all the little shops in Paris selling more or less similar take out items. And in Paris, it's good.