Louisiana Eats

You can’t always get what you want. That’s been especially true during these unpredictable times. Now more than ever, there’s something comforting about the familiar – like a restaurant where you can order exactly what you want off the menu and are greeted with a smile whenever you walk through the door.

That’s the experience of anyone who walks into Liz’s Where Y’at Diner – one of the happiest places north of Lake Pontchartrain. From the palm trees to the peace signs to the tie-dyed t-shirts, everything about Liz Munson’s diner is laid back. On this week’s show, we speak with Liz, who tells us about her special kind of hospitality, served up with a killer crab meat grilled cheese sandwich.

Then, we learn about a crowd-pleasing muffuletta for sale in San Francisco, prepared each day by Peterson Harter at his pop-up Sandy's SF. Though he’s far from home, the New Orleans chef has developed a following by staying true to his culinary roots.

And you can’t make it as an entrepreneur unless you’ve got a good sense of what people want. Alfonzo Bolden, who, along with his brother Troy, is co-CEO of Cajun Nation Cajun Seasoning Company, based out of Lafayette. While there's no denying their food talents, Alfonzo and Troy's true genius lies in knowing just when to trademark a name – which for them, often precedes the product concept.

Finally, we explore food as medicine and an act of love with Merissa Nathan Gerson, author of, "Forget Prayers, Bring Cake." Merissa shares an honest, unwavering look at her life during her year of grieving, and how she learned to listen to her own needs in a time of suffering.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

The summer of 2022 is looking like a perfect time for a vacation. After enduring a lot of stay-at-home time over the last two years, there's plenty to explore in one of America's favorite playgrounds – New Orleans. On this week's show, we learn about Vue Orleans – the 20 million dollar multimedia experience that opened earlier this year at the foot of Canal Street.

Then we travel to Egypt with the help of the New Orleans Museum of Art, which has rolled out the red carpet for Queen Nefartari, the royal wife of Ramses II. Chef Chris Montero of Café NOMA and Khaled Hegazzi of Pharaoh's Cave and Sittoo's Kitchen have cooked up authentic tastes of Egypt to further enrich the museum-goers experience at NOMA this summer.

We also chat with Today Show co-stars Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, before partaking in New Orleans’ ultimate liquor experience, The Sazerac House. The multimillion dollar three-story interactive museum on the corner of Canal and Magazine Street is a liquor-laden Disney World for historians and cocktail lovers alike.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

How does a recipe become a retail offering? On this week's show, we track the path of great dishes and drinks from restaurant to retail. We begin with the Bayou State's spiciest new business, Louisiana Pepper Exchange. Founder and CEO Chris White tells the story of how a particular engineering feat of his led him to launch the new company.

Then, we visit with research and development chef Ross Robertson, who is often tasked with turning a restaurant's signature drink or dish into a retail commodity. That's a dream that Warren Chapoton, founder of Juan's Flying Burrito, is currently pursuing. Warren and co-owner Jay Morris tell us the story of the New Orleans-based Creole-Mexican institution, and why they will soon be introducing their very own spice line.

Finally, Christa Cotton of El Guapo Bitters shares how her company is manufacturing bitters and syrups so that every home bar is capable of mixing professional-style cocktails.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

It’s Week Two of the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and after a two-year hiatus, that’s something to celebrate! On this week's show, Louisiana Eats is back at the track with more stories of the food, fun, and feasting that's been going on there for half a century.

We begin with Louis Broussard, master electrician at Jazz Fest, who has been hanging around the grounds since childhood when his father worked there as a horse groomer. He shares incredible tales of his father’s Fairgrounds farm and the meals his mother made from it – from squab to stewed duck.

Then, Steve Armbruster joins us in the studio to tell the tale of how the first Food Heritage Stage came to be and how the backseat of his Volkswagen played an important role in those early years.

We also hear from Michelle Nugent, Jazz Fest’s food director. She explains what it takes to manage the Food Heritage Stage, along with all of the food vendors located around the festival.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

It's been a long time since May 5, 2019 – when the high temperature that beautiful sunny Sunday barely hit 72 degrees at the New Orleans Fairgrounds and Jazz Fest 2019 called it a wrap. The following year, the festival went silent, one of the earliest high-profile events forced to cancel due to the unfolding global pandemic. Plans for a 2021 edition of the fest were also scrapped. With the festival gates finally open again this spring, Louisiana Eats is celebrating this happy return with some Jazz and Heritage Festival favorites.

Festival vendors of all stripes are now back serving guests for the first time in three years. It’s a relief for those who rely on Jazz Fest income annually – vendors like sculptor and jewelry designer Thomas Mann, who has been exhibiting his work there since 1977. Thomas joins us to give a firsthand perspective on how important Jazz Fest is to his bottom line.

And if you’ve ever admired the artisan woodworking of Greg Arceneaux – a perennial favorite in Jazz Fest’s Louisiana Marketplace, get ready for a crash course in what sets his work apart from the rest.

We also have a visit with our own house band, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes. The band shares some of their Jazz Fest gig memories with us, along with the meals they enjoy off and on the stage.

Finally, we close out our festival day with Terrance Osborne. You may have spotted Terrance's artwork at previous Jazz and Heritage Festivals, or perhaps you've seen his official, highly sought-after Jazz Fest posters, like this year's official poster featuring Jon Batiste.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Between the levee and the Mississippi River is the batture – a lively slip of wilderness that a tiny community calls home. There's batture land right here in the midst of metropolitan New Orleans – but unless you're lucky enough to know a batture dweller, there's a good chance you weren't aware of one of the city’s most unconventional neighborhoods. That was certainly true of Macon Fry when he arrived in New Orleans in the 1980s. After a chance encounter with a batture resident at a local watering hole, Macon got his first glimpse of life on the river's edge and became so entranced that he built himself a life there. His obsession with the batture ultimately led him to publish his new book, "They Called Us River Rats: The Last Batture Settlement of New Orleans." Macon joins us in the studio to discuss his decades of research about lives spent there in relative obscurity.

Then, we head over the levee to visit with New Orleans chef and restauranteur Dickie Brennan at his new batture abode, where he's enjoying all the benefits of life in one of the last "camps" located there. Surrounded by lush vegetation and the kind of fauna found in more rural environs, Dickie can often be found taking in the outdoors on his deck – watching ships, tugs, and paddle wheelers make the turn on the Mississippi.

Finally, Tulane environmental professor Oliver Houck shares tales of the countless hours spent observing life – wild and otherwise – as he walked his beloved dog along the batture

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Since 1960 the Rouses family has specialized in making customers feel right at home when shopping in their stores - which now number 64 groceries stretching across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. One of the ways Rouses ensures that feeling of home is through their employees. There are few better examples of that than Marc Ardoin, manager of the Rouses Market on Freret Street. Marc has been with the company for eleven years, but his tenure on Freret Street has been very significant to due to a seemingly cosmic convergence that has brought him together with childhood best friends, right there at Rouses Market on Freret Street in Uptown New Orleans. To learn the full story, we sat down with Marc and his longtime friends and neighbors, the Nogueira brothers, Fredo and Juan.To learn more about the Rouses family tradition and find a store near you, visit www.rouses.com.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

What do Antoine’s in New Orleans, Sylvia’s in Harlem, The Mandarin in San Francisco, and the once powerful chain of Howard Johnson’s restaurants all have in common? According to Yale professor Paul Freedman, they are all part of an influential group of Ten Restaurants That Changed America. On this week’s show, we sit down with Paul to discuss his book by that name, which weaves together culinary and social history – from lunch counter dining to the vanguards of haute cuisine.

We then zoom in on a key part of that history with Jim Heimann, Executive Editor for publishing house TASCHEN America, whose book Menu Design in America traces the evolution of dining culture through the development of the bill of fare.

Finally, we explore the role a New Orleans supermarket chain played in shaping the modern retail world. David Cappello discusses his biography of John G. Schwegmann, a complex figure whose influence extended far beyond the checkout aisle.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, please visit us at Poppytooker.com

Just across the causeway in the sleepy little town of Covington lies a landmark hotel, The Southern Hotel. Originally built in 1905 the mission-style hotel has lived many lives over the years. Opened in 1907 the hotel boasted hot water electric lights AND carpeting. In 1912 it was bought by a physician and used for a while as a sanitarium/resort treating people with respiratory illnesses.

Shuttered in 1960 it sat vacant for more than 2 decades until re-opening in 1983 functioning as government offices for St. Tammany Parish after Hurricane Katrina it was again shuttered until it was purchased by local preservationist Lisa Condrey Ward and her husband Joseph. In 2014 107 years after the date of its original opening, the Southern Hotel reopens to the public.

Originally the Southern’s restaurant was entitled Ox lot 9 a reference to the grid-like system set up by the original developer of Covington John Wharton Collins. On the grid, streets and alleys would end in an interior area of the city called “Ox-Lots” for their ability to hold cattle. The new restaurant would be called “Gloriette”. Executive Chef Steven Marsella spent some time with host Poppy Tooker to introduce us to the Gloriette.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Spring is in bloom in the Bayou State, which means festivals, outdoor gatherings and, of course, Easter! If you grew up in the Gulf South, there's a good chance your Easter basket was filled with treats from Elmer Chocolate – our state's very own heritage candy company. On this week’s show, we hop over to Ponchatoula to tour the factory where Elmer’s prized Gold Bricks, Heavenly Hash, and Pecan Eggs are made.

Then, we participate in "The Slowest Second Line on Earth" at Brennan's in the French Quarter, where we meet ten terrific turtles and a rapping judge.

Finally, we brave the rain for a rollicking cocktail tour, conducted by Richard Read, Elizabeth Pearce, and Allison Alsup – authors of The French Quarter Drinking Companion.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.