It's New Orleans: Midnight Menu +1

Most college kids eat cheap or bad but that didn t stop wannabe food writer Daniel Schumacher penning a food column in his student paper. Daniel went on to become a professional food writer in New York, Birmingham Alabama, and now in New Orleans as editor of Louisiana Cookin . Daniel describes what it s like writing about food. It s a fascinating procedure that most of us have never thought about, involving the doubly hedonistic pursuit of eating followed by the pleasure of reliving the pleasurable experience so you can describe it. It s an elegant and passionate combination of all the senses and intelllect. Daniel makes being a foodie intellectual about the most romantic gig out there. By the end of this conversation you ll be dashing for your keyboard to describe lunch. Daniel also takes us into the unknown world of the magazine publishers Test Kitchen. Daniel works with a full time staff of 8 whose daily job it is to take recipes from well known contributors chefs and other foodies and translate them from a collection of creative concepts and approximate handfuls of contents into a form that retains the essence of the passion but is a repeatable and readable pathway to recreation. The effervescent Market Manager of the Crescent City Farmer s Market, Elisa Munoz, is Daniel s 1 guest. Like Daniel, Elisa came to New Orleans via the hitherto little understood food cosmos in Birmingham Alabama. Daniel and Elisa have a culinary and personal relationship that started out with beer and rhubarb and has blossomed into beer and well, more beer. Under Ray and Margo s thoughtful questioning they talk about their friendship and their relationship to New Orleans. Admittedly it doesn t have much to do with food but somehow Ray and Margo get away with this kind of fascinating and illuminating "I hope this is not too personal" conversation with their guests and everyone ends up happier. This show brings a whole new meaning to "Bon Appetit "

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What do you think of when you hear the name "Rollin Fatties" Fat or weed Maybe burritos How about a burrito that s more than a burrito It s a fattie Aiji Daste s food truck is rollin , making vegetarian fatties that will rock your Tex Mex burrito world. Fatties like The Soul Food a tortilla wrapped around greeens, candied yams, other delicacies and mac n cheese Not only are the rolled fattties one of the most unique dishes being served out of a NOLA or any food truck, Aiji is one of the most unique characters cooking in the city today. Amid a plethora of amazing culinary tales Aiji tells on this show, his time spent making burritos in Rwanda is rivaled only by his one of a kind adventures at New York culinary school. Aiji s 1 is equally fascinating. Fahima and Aiji have been dating long distance and haven t seen each other in 4 years. Hours after reuniting they came down to Midnight Menu 1 and shared some special time. By the end of the show Ray has them married and Margo has Fahima moving to New Orelans and gets her a job. This is definitely the most romantic and one of the most fascinating shows in our getting on for two year history.

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Chef Ryan Prewitt from Peche and his 1 Link Restaurant Group food forager Ashey Locklear are re writing the book on ocean and farm to table dining in New Orleans. Chef Ryan got to Peche through trial by fire and his kitchen tales of rising through the ranks are the equal of any horror stories you ve heard. Ashley has a job that takes her around the state of Louisiana and into Mississippi and Alabama, working with small farmers to bring farm freshness back to town every day.

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Eman Loubier of Dante s Kitchen and Noodle and Pie joins Ray and Margo under the stars at Grille by The Hill to talk about what how Eman got into the restaraunt biz, and what brought him from his home town of Jersey City to New Orleans. Then they welcome Eman s plus one, Demetria Christo, owner and founder of Eco Urban Landscaping. Demetria tells everyone one how eco friendly landscaping can help New Orleans with everything from flooding to saving on your water bill. Margo then tells a creepy story about putting her Dad s blood on there roses. To make things even more uncomfortable they close out the show with the book of questions.

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Near Ms Mae s and across from the 2nd District Police station on Magazine Street, a step through the door into Cafe Rivista immediately transports you into a whole other world of casual European sophistication. Even the air feels Italian. But don t think pretentious furnishings, hipster baristas or gleaming cappuccino machines, this joint is understated and real. Real pastries, real coffee, real sandwiches, real amazing. And there s a reason. Actually, two reasons Lisa Barbato is one of New Orleans most talented pastry chefs, coming from Peristyle among others and her husband Chris is one of the city s most talented chefs, coming from Commander s Palace and Cafe Adelaide. Chris and Lisa sit down with Margo and Ray at Ted s Frostop and tell their compelling story of giving everything they ve got to open Rivista.

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Margo is such a big fan of Vietnamese resaurant Rolls and Bowls that not only has she eaten there twice in one day, she ordered the same dish for lunch and dinner Co owner Ricky Phan is the first guest to bring along a plus one that is, as he described it, "My plus two" his pregnant wife, Vivian. Margo made the best joke of the night, describing Vivian s condition as "a bahn mi in the oven." Recording the show in what Ray describes as, "The non existent restaurant Grille By The Hill," Vivian had to stick to water but the rest of the table enjoyed the red wine supplied by Pearl Wine Co. Turns out that Leora from Pearl Wine is Ricky and Vivian s friend she found the location of their restaurant for them. Here s the future cover of Hot Looking Restaurant People magazine.

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Liz Williams had a hand in creating the World War II Museum and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Finding herself at the same age Julia Child was when she left the straight life behind and started out following her passion for food, Liz did the same and founded the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Liz had no idea she was about to become an American pioneer the first person in the nation to found a museum dedicated to the culture of food and drink. One of the benefits of knowing the history of food is setting fools straight about things like baby Jesus in your king cake. If you haven t got time to listen to this whole show, skip forward to minute 32 and check out how Jesus came to not be in your king cake. Guests on Midnight Menu 1 bring a guest, a 1. Sometimes these folks are food people, sometimes not. Liz s 1 is an architect. Not just any architect, Jonathan Tate designed and is overseeing the development of the new Southern Food and Beverage Museum on Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. We recorded this episode of Midnight Menu 1 in the currently closed Grille by The Hill restaurant next to Monkey Hill bar on Magazine Street. Somewhere between a ghost tour and an Edward Hopper moment.

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Ray is a man of the cloth plus he s eaten at over 750 New Orleans restaurants so we don t take his word about food lightly. He s on record as saying his choice for his last meal on earth, should he know that in fact it is his last meal, would be a taco from Woody s Fish Tacos. As soon as we were able to track Woody down which was far from easy, requiring multiple visits to festivals and markets where Woody s Fish Tacos were for sale but Woody wasn t in residence we dragged him down to Ted s Frostop. Woody brought a 1, his mystery guest, as equally as enigmatic, mysterious and fascinating as himself. Michael Rogers is the 5 time New Orleans Champion oyster shucker who holds court from behind the oyster counter at Casamento s. Woody reveals the secret ingredients in his tacos that make Ray declare them the world s greatest meal and Michael sings. It don t get much more New Orleans than a singing oyster shucker, baby. And em tacos is damn good too. Oh yeah, Wooddy brought his dog.

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We often refer to the restaurant world as "the service industry" but the people who actually serve are mostly relegated to the role of functionary simply a necessary conduit between the real stars of dining the chef and the person bestowing the food with appreciation or approbation. However, there are servers in the service industry who take their role far more seriously and understand the place of context, presentation, and a whole range of psychological cues most of us are not aware of that contribute to a dining out experience. Argyle Wolf Knapp is New Orleans consummate server. Holding court at Commander s Palace Argyle is the zen master of service. His appearance somewhere between a colonial British colonel and Buddha befits the role he plays as the master of an army of servers and an ever smiling source of calm in a tumultuous and demanding business. Argyle s 1 on tonight s show is both an acolyte and an eccentric in his own right. Going by the one word moniker Tree, or sometimes Tree Tree if two names are required, Tree Mr. Tree jumped ship in New Orleans from serving on cruise ships after he fell under Argyle s service spell. Both men have, in the true New Orleans style, whole other lives. Argyle is completing a book about the history of New Orleans beer brewing, and Tree is Garden District tour guide with a unique trail for tourists.

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Back in the day pre Katrina and Ivan and a bunch of other wicked storms that killed them off one at a time the New Orleans Lakefreont was a mecca of seafood restaurants. Fitzgerald s, Sid Mar s, Brunings, and more, Lakefront dining was an integral part of growing up in New Orleans. Eventually they all ended up like this washed into Lake Pontchartrain beyond repair. And that s how it s been since Katrina. Every single restaurant wiped off the face of the earth. Until now. Now there s Brisbi s. Built from the lake and ground up by John Brisbi and spearheaded in the kitchen by Chef David de Felice who literally grew up in the kitchen of his family owned Pascal s Manale, Brisbi s is bringing back the Lakefront. Margo and Ray meet David and John on this edition of Midnight Menu 1 at Ted s Frostop.

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