TAPrice

Kim Severson has a good take on the dinner and the controversy it's generated locally.

Me, I read everyone's reviews. Although I like Brett's criticism very much (and, full disclosure, he's a friend of mine), the importance is that the daily paper is back reviewing. I've written about restaurants for most of the other publications in town (Gambit, New Orleans Magazine and now OffBeat) and I'm well aware that the daily has a much, much louder megaphone that everyone else. I should also say, if it wasn't clear, that when I say many chefs will be happy to have the reviews back, that's because they've told me this.

I'll toss out the subjective criteria that HungryC raised. Do people feel like they have fewer choices in dining than before the storm?

I wondered about that as well. I'm not sure how the philosophy is used in teaching. I also don't know if they New Orleans school has a similar philosophy. I'll check when I visit.

In a piece on NPR, Brett Anderson announced that he'll start reviewing restaurants again next month: NPR: As Crescent City Recovers, So Do Its Restaurants I know a lot chefs will be very happy to hear this.

Pontormo: The article on New Orleans' edible schoolyard was actually published last January. There was a small pdf link hidden in the post above, but here it is again: New Orleans Magazine: Feature on the Edible Schoolyard I spoke with the program director for the New Orleans program a few weeks ago. She said that garden is looking good. I'll try to get over there soon and post a similar tour of the New Orleans garden. It will take years, obviously, for it to become as lush and mature as the Berkeley original. I should also mention that the New Orleans project has been heavily supported by the Ruth Fertel foundation (the late Ruth Fertel founded Ruth's Chris; her son, Randy Fertel, cornered Alice Waters at a cocktail paper for the Nation in New York and convinced her to get involved), Market Umbrella (which runs the local Crescent City Farmers Market), Slow Food New Orleans and the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. In this article in the Nation, Randy Fertel talks more about the two projects:

Alice Waters started the Edible Schoolyard at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the 1990s. The school is a short walk from Chez Panisse. The garden and teaching kitchen has become an integral part of the school's curriculum. Students learn about ecology and nutrition, but the garden is also integrated into lesson on other subject, like history or science. Schools across the country have adopted aspects of the Edible Schoolyard, but until last year there had never been an expansion of the original program. After Katrina in New Orleans, when the local school system collapsed from a combination of decades of bad management and damage from the flood, the Edible Schoolyard and the Chez Panisse Foundation began working closely with the Samuel J. Green Charter School to recreate the Edible Schoolyard in New Orleans. I wrote about this project for the local city magazine back in January [pdf]. Over the summer, there has been some planting and students will return to a greener campus than the one they left in the spring. Recently, I was in the bay area and had a chance to visit the Edible Schoolyard. Marsha Guerrero, director of special projects at the Chez Panisse Foundation, was kind enough to give me a tour. The students weren't back yet, unfortunately, but I hope these photos still give you a sense of the project. The Martin Luther King Middle School The one-acre garden is tucked in behind the school. Originally, the garden area was concrete. The students paint all the signs. There are chickens at the Edible Schoolyard. I'm pretty sure that they don't eat the chickens, but I'm not certain of that. Extra signs. Tools for the garden. The garden also has lots of flowers. The students sit down to eat with the teachers, and the table is always set with flower. The outdoor oven. The outdoor classroom. Students gather here to get their lesson, and then they break off into smaller groups to work in the garden. The kitchen classroom. The students gather at the center table to learn about the dish, and then divide into three groups to cook. The classroom is fully loaded with kitchen equipment (not pictured). Aprons for the kids. The philosophy of Alice Waters, posted outside the kitchen classroom.

No, Rocco already had one. He just brought it along.

Here are some comments about Rocco from chef John Besh of New Orleans (the full interview will be published next month in OffBeat Magazine, a New Orleans magazine of music, food and culture). Besh is one of the top chefs in New Orleans and about to get a lot more media exposure when he stars in an upcoming Food Network reality series. Besh also attended the CIA with Rocco and they were both named "best new chefs" by Food and Wine in 1999.

Although we didn't see it on camera, I'm assuming that the performance last week influenced the judges' decision. Tre is super talented, but he showed poor judgement. Twice, he sent out dishes that he knew were bad. In the case of the overcooked potatoes, he could have pulled them off the plate.

That would be my guess, although I don't know that it's true. I would have predicted a slew of closings last August, but that didn't really happen. Perhaps in the French Quarter things are really bad? John Besh recently told me that he was surprised how strongly tourist business rebounded in his restaurants. I agree, although I was initially taking issue with the idea that new restaurants are being hit harder. From what I can tell, new restaurants as doing as well as new restaurants can be expected to perform. Not surprisingly, two of the new places that closed were owned by first-time restaurateurs: Jackson and Longbranch. In Brett's piece, Alberta appears to be struggling. It's another place run by a novice restaurateur. Yeah, I would love to actually see those numbers. Agreed. I don't buy Fitzmorris' assertion (you think he reads this board?). Before the storm, I don't remember ever reading his complete list of restaurants. But my sense is that he's paying a lot more attention than before and scouring for restaurants to add to that list. Since his criteria are subjective, it's hard to put much faith in the final number. I do think Fitzmorris is right to say that Board of Health licenses include a lot of places that wouldn't be considered restaurants (although I haven't double checked that). I'm not sure about LRA membership. Do we have fewer overall choices? That's hard to quantify I think. Certainly some places are gone that many people miss. Then again, a lot of places that didn't reopen are probably not that missed. They were, in a phrase of Sara Roahen's that I love, just "places where people go to eat." With fewer people, it may not be a loss that we have fewer of these types of establishments. It's really hard to say what it means to have a healthy restaurant scene. There is economic health, which could be measured if you could get the numbers. Then, as you alluded to, the health could be whether we have the same dining options as before, although I don't think a head count would necessarily be the way to measure that. It seems to need a subjective judgment. The other measure might be if people are still investing in restaurant and keeping the restaurant scene alive. On that count, I would say that New Orleans restaurants are still healthy.

Where did you end up taking the kids?

I've been meaning to write something about Brett Anderson's recent article in the TP on the state of restaurants. He quotes Alberta Pate, owner of the upscale Alberta, which opened after the storm: I would actually argue that a fair number of them have not close. Rather, a small number closed, and that number is actually no different than the general rate of attrition for new restaurants (which do not, no matter the myth, fail at a rate of 90%). Honestly, I'm surprised how few closures we've had since the storm. I don't understand it, and I'm constantly asking restaurateurs how it's possible. Sure, locals eat out a lot, but I just can't believe that they're eating out enough to make up for lost revenue from tourists and conventioneers. Here are places that show up in 2007 Zagat Guide but weren't in the 2005 (not a perfect survey, but it leaves out some places opened since January of 2007 and gives us a range of new restaurants): Alberta Anatole Azul (closed) Brother's Sushi Calas Bistro Chateau du Lac Civello's (closed) Cochon Eat Fiesta Bistro Fire (closed) Ignatius Eatery Iris Jackson (closed) Jazz Tacos La Boca Li'l Dizzy's Cafe Longbranch (closed) Mike's on Lee Circle (closed) Minnie's Catfish Corner One Restaurant Riche 7 on Fulton Shula's Stanley's (in limbo) Table One Vizard's Wolfe in the Warehouse (I left out Savvy Gourmet, because it's a combination store/restaurant with multiple revenue streams. I also didn't include Gulfstream, which is just a different concept by the same company that ran another chain in the spot pre-Katrina.) That 28 restaurants opening around the storm. Since then, 6 have closed (I'm not counting Stanley, since it will reopen soon on Jackson Square). That's a 21% failure rate. According to this article, over a three-year period new restaurants failed at rate of 59%: So overall, the new New Orleans restaurants are far healthier than the average new restaurant. Ok, that's my theory and my evidence. What I still can't figure out is why it's true. Any suggestions?

I pretty sure this is the week that two teams have to create and run a restaurant.

In my quest to learn about cocktails, I've been working through one liquor a month. At first, I mixed with rum. Those were some good times. Then, I tried some rye drinks. I think I've finally perfect the Sazerac, which is the cocktail I'm most familiar with from bars and restaurants. Now, I'm moving on to gin. Could someone offer some advice on trying a gin or two? Is there a range of taste of that I should be looking for? Are there two or three basic varieties for most cocktails?

That sounds like a great place. We always evacuate to Shreveport, so it's good to have recommendations for up north. I got to say, though, the line above really bugged me. John T. thinks and writes enough about race that he should know better than to equate running a place with owning a place. Symbolically owning a place doesn't have the same economic benefits as actually owning a place.

Yeah, really they do. Half the people I know are wild about the new taco trucks. Not to get defensive here, but it's Jefferson Parish, the neighboring, suburban parish, that banned taco trucks, not New Orleans. Personally, when it comes to taco trucks, I say the shadier the better. I don't like eating in my car, so a little shade is really welcome. Of wait, were we talking about something else. I'm just glad I don't have one of those ten-foot poles. It's allowed me to taste all kinds of surprising and wonderful things in my life.

Yeah, the taste is mild. The texture is a little chewy. It can be too chewy if poorly cooked.

Yep, it's open.

Steven, this is the internet. You're not suggesting that I actually do some reporting!?! Ok, I'll give them a call tomorrow. This came up in a story I was doing. It's not a crucial fact for the piece, but none of my sources could remember the exact year and I got curious about it.

Right. I forgot that the awards are for the year before.

Yes, that's what threw me as well. I imagined James Beard himself passing out plaques to deserving writers in the living room of his New York home. I suspect Carrot Top's explanation is more likely. This reminds me of a chat I had with a local chef with a wicked sense of humor and a killer New Orleans accent. The guy is super-talented, but he's well aware that he'll never win a James Beard award. He said he'd love to win one, though, just so he could stand at the podium and say, "This means so much to me, because I've always admired James Bear so much. Is James here tonight? I'd like to thank him personally." And all the New York food elite would be whispering, "Oh my God, he doesn't know that James is dead." Anyway, looking through the website, the awards starting going to chefs and such in 1991. Would that be the first awards ceremony, you think?

Has anyone managed to find the study cited in the op-ed? I can't seem to find it.

Does someone know when the James Beard awards started? I thought it was 1989. On the James Beard foundation website, though, they have awards going back as far as the 1960s. It looks like the earlier awards were for cookbooks only. The foundation wasn't started until 1986, so I'm unclear on who was giving the awards. Just James himself?

Did his visit to La Divina not make the cut? How could he not know that Mulate's was a tourist trap? Even the guidebooks warn you of that. Edit: In case this is cryptic, Alton visited La Divina Gelateria. I happen to run into him during the taping and the store has a photo posted of the visit.