Valentine’s Day might be our most manipulative holiday. I say it’s high time we start manipulating it back and take the day on our own terms.

King cake can be a symbol of home. Just ask anyone who grew up with the Carnival treat as a natural part of their own New Orleans culture. Or maybe, ask someone making a home here, blending different cultures along the way.

Hubig’s Pies and Dixie Beer, together again at last? No, I’m not talking about a sweet and sudsy flavor pairing. Instead, the two old New Orleans brands, Hubig’s and Dixie, have both been in the news lately, each on different parts of their own return. What unites them is an everyman appeal tied to place, particularly this one.

I love grillades and grits and biscuits and gravy. To me, the aroma of sizzling bacon mixing with brewing coffee smells like victory. 

But sometimes, what I really need is a breakfast that doesn’t make me want to slouch back to bed.

There’s a bakery boom underway across New Orleans, as more small, independent bakeries open around town. That’s a story that playing out across the country too, all in synch with the trends of artisan, handmade food. But in New Orleans, the story of the bakery revival has a twist – or maybe a braid, shot through with cinnamon and decorated in purple, green and gold.

Here’s one thing you can rely on in New Orleans: The result of a Saints game sways the mood of this town. Here’s another: On Monday, people are eating red beans and rice. This Saints season, I decided to join the two together.

I was in a Kenner restaurant that had clearly once been a Pizza Hut but now is called Little Chinatown. I was eating lamb stir-fried with leeks and chile peppers, and sipping iced tea. From my booth, the window framed a view just across the parking lot of Shishkabob House, where only the day before I’d had a lunch of hummus and shawarma.

This one goes out to all the hungry New Orleans expats out there, and especially the ones back in town for the holidays. You know who you are.

Want to know what makes New Orleans such a great food town? Look down at your plate, then look in the mirror.

In my job chasing the New Orleans restaurant scene I try to keep up with it all, so today I’m offering a quick round up of what’s been on my mind and in my notebook.