NOLA-bound? Don’t miss these top F&B recommendations

As I mentioned in my editor’s note for the February issue of Catersource magazine, I have visited New Orleans probably more than any other city in the U.S. over the past number of years. The “big, beautiful mess” that is New Orleans is embedded in my DNA now, and for business or for pleasure, I always yearn to revisit.

Pull me aside in March at our show, and I will talk your ear off about what you should do in your spare time, where to eat, what museums you must visit, and where you can get a solid cocktail.

I have been asked to offer a sort-of “Top Five” for all of you lovely readers. This is what comes to my mind today regarding food and beverage. It kills me not to talk about the museums and galleries (maybe next week)!

ONE! Do you have a place in your favorite city that, every time you arrive you beeline over straight away? I feel that way about Cochon Butcher. It’s a Donald Link fast casual next door to his celebrated white linen Cochon. An easy walk from the Convention Center, you can eat in or take out easily, have a wildly delicious cocktail if you choose, and purchase house cured meats and sausages packaged at the butcher counter on your way out. I’ve eaten at many of the Donald Link properties in NOLA, but this is my favorite. And so you say it right: It’s on Chop-a-too-lis street (Tchoupitoulas).

Eschewing the usual pastrami spices and focusing instead on the flavor of the meat, Cochon Butcher’s duck pastrami sliders with Gruyère and béchamel sauce are addictive, near decadent in their simple execution. Photo Kathleen Stoehr

The gin-based Whoops-a-Daisy is a refreshing and balancing counterpart to the richness of the pastrami sliders…or the cubano…or the renowned muffeletta. Photo Kathleen Stoehr

TWO! Salon Restaurant by Sucre. It was July 2015 in the French Quarter, sticky with people, noise, and humidity. But nestled above the Sucré sweet boutique in a lovely little space on Conti was a quiet, cool space with food most beautifully presented and exceptionally tasty. A haven from the crazy. As for Sucre, you will need to walk past the beautiful confections display on your way to dinner, and past it on your way out. Do not neglect to leave with something (if you do, however, Sucré products are now available at the airport). Two notes: One, our tradeshow Founders Stage on Tuesday will feature Sucré’s chef/owner, Tariq Hanna, demystifying chocolate (oh, please let there be samples!); two, the restaurant is closed Monday through Wednesday, so be sure to make your reservation early in your stay.

An amuse bouche from Salon by Sucre in the French Quarter is a vegetable gazpacho with roasted corn salsa and olive oil breadcrumbs. Photo Kathleen Stoehr

THREE! There are bars in the Crescent City, oh my goodness, there are bars! But this one tugs at my heart because where else can you sit at a Carousel Bar—that moves? And! Listen to a pitch perfect jazz combo? And! Know that literary greats have also bent an elbow there (Hemingway, Faulkner, Welty…me). Nowhere other than the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone. (FYI: that’s Lee-own, not lee-own-knee.) Sit down, have a Vieux Carre, and if you are lucky, Marvin Allen will be behind the stick.

Sit down, take a ride, have a Vieux Carre.

Photo Kathleen Stoehr

FOUR! I first visited The Gumbo Shop on St. Peter Street in February 2010, finding it only because it was pouring cats and dogs in the city and my husband and I ran for shelter. We fell in love with the beautiful old building and even more so with the food. I came home and immediately made Jambalaya my new holiday tradition. I suggested The Gumbo Shop cookbook be sold in our bookstore at the show. If it’s there—get it!

Located just down the street from Jackson Square on St. Peter, if you visit The Gumbo Shop, bring your appetite.

FIVE! You really have no excuse. This is an over 200 year-old bar on the corner of Bourbon & Bienville and its hours are more than generous: it’s open 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. (until 5:00 a.m. on the weekends). Jean Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House is probably most famous for its absinthe frappe, a mixture of absinthe (the green monster!) and sugar water. Absinthe fountains line the copper covered bar, antique chandeliers drip from the ceilings, and calling cards cover the walls. With its motto, “Everyone you have known or ever will know eventually ends up at The Old Absinthe House”—know this…you know me—and my business card resides on its walls.

Catersource was here. Photo Kathleen Stoehr

Word of note: you will not feel guilty about eating and drinking your way across the city if you involve yourself in Sweat Social either during our Networking Breaks on Sunday and Monday or signing up for a class on your own. Networking breaks are 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday and 1:45 to 2:15 on Monday on the third floor, rooms 335-336. Check your app for possible room updates closer to the show.