New Orleanians at the SFA

[TAPrice]

Before it dissapears into the Times' archives, here is a permalink to R.W. Apple's story about New Orleans and the SFA conference:

Pralines, Seasoned with Tears (NYT 11/2/05)

[Jason Perlow]

Great to see JoAnn Clevenger taking center stage at the event. She's one very passionate lady.

Chef Kenny Smith is also a seriously talented chef as well -- I'm glad to hear the SFA got to taste some of Upperline's best stuff.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I found much of the article that mirrors what we have posted here in the Louisiana forum (and other places). That said, the things R.W. Apple adds like this:

for every bit of cheerful news, there were worried questions, especially about the small, often black-owned places in hard-hit parts of town. At 82, would Leah Chase somehow find the energy to rehabilitate her iconic restaurant, Dooky Chase? And what about Willie Mae Seaton, 89, and her splendiferous paprika-spiked fried chicken? Her son, Charles, who helps her at the Scotch House, is in his 70's; can they come back?  "Those sorts of places have been disappearing for quite a while," said Lolis Eric Elie, a columnist for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, in a discussion on Saturday. "I fear the hurricanes will only quicken the process. Young black people have other career options. Who will replace the older people when they're gone?"

really were saddening ...

[Mayhaw Man]

After this highly emotional and highly charged discussion, some of us were so wound up from sitting on our hands that we retired to the steps of the building we were working in to discuss it further. I can't name who was there-it wasn't official and is not reportable, but Apple continued leading the discussion-which was all folks from here-and much of the tone of this piece came from that discussion. He's a pretty interesting guy to talk to. Continually at these things, because they are so small and filled with so many luminaries, the opportunity arises to meet and talk in depth to people that you might not otherwise have a chance to meet.

That discussion out on the steps was, hands down, the longest and most interesting, honest discussion that I have been involved in since the storm. We care deeply about this place and about the Gulf Coast. We all share a level of abject blind love for this place and true, visceral frustration about what's happening to our culture.

This is not really the place for a discussion beyond restaurants, and I won't go further, but what was clear to all of us is that food and the arts are part of the culture that are being, to a large degree, ignored by the powers that are putting together all of these commissions (there are so many I can't even tell you how many there are). Without our food culture, and our art culture, this place will cease to exist as it is or was. Surely there is room for improvement in many areas, but these are two that were just fine and took a long time to evolve. I hope that they can be put back right, to whatever degree that is possible. Many of us are working in whatever way we can, and using all of the tools and the platforms available to us, to make it happen. It's not going to fail for lack of trying or caring-that's the one true fact in all of this. Other than that, it's all pretty much up in the air.

[PopsicleToze]

Many of us are working in whatever way we can, and using all of the tools and the platforms available to us, to make it happen. It's not going to fail for lack of trying or caring-that's the one true fact in all of this. Other than that, it's all pretty much up in the air.

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Thank you for working toward those goals. As far as "it's all pretty much up in the air" that's what is so hard to deal with. To keep it food related, no matter how much the chef/owner wants to reopen, restaurants work on a slim margin anyway. It's hard when the clientele aren't there. Personally, I thought I would starve before eating at a Shoney's or Applebee's, but the truth be known, not many people are very hungry. And at the end of the day, after dealing with everything one has had to deal with at work, the last thing on a person's mind is going out to dinner.

[Gifted Gourmet]

And at the end of the day, after dealing with everything one has had to deal with at work, the last thing on a person's mind is going out to dinner.

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but keeping that in mind, tourism is one of the top reasons for New Orleans success moneywise ... and that is why restaurants are quite significant ... which is why Mayhaw Man's comments are so vital:

what was clear to all of us is that food and the arts are part of the culture that are being, to a large degree, ignored by the powers that are putting together all of these commissions (there are so many I can't even tell you how many there are). Without our food culture, and our art culture, this place will cease to exist as it is or was.

[HungryC]

A business trip forced me to miss this year's SFA symposium--wish I could have been there this year of all years. But I want to temper some of the negativity with a little positive energy. Yes, large swaths of NOLA were devastated, but we have to stop thinking of southeast LA food culture as ending at the Orleans/Jefferson Parish lines. The culture is in the people, not just in the place. You can get a top-knotch poboy in no less than fifteen spots (by my count) between NOLA & Houma/Thibodaux, and I can think of at least two places in the same geographic area with fried chicken as good as Ms. Willie Mae Seaton's. So the skills & knowledge are out there, as is the public who appreciates such cooking. Yes, the two components aren't necessarily in the city proper at the moment, but let's wait a year or two before we stage the jazz funeral for New Orleans cooking.

And John Besh's assertion that the non-vietnamese small fishermen will not return to business is incredibly unfair to those cajuns, croatians, and yats who will persevere. I had LA oysters last weekend--they were great--as well as crabs. I'll wait until next May's inshore shrimp season to see how many small shrimpers do or do not return.

Meanwhile, eat & cook & teach someone how to make a gumbo, properly fry a chicken, or cook a pot of red beans. THAT's the only way to perpetuate culture; eating out is just half the battle.