Week in Preview

At Blackened Out we are happy to promote any and all dinners, tastings, and other events that help further New Orleans as one of the premier fun-loving, food-centric cities in the country. This week, the Big Easy is bursting at the seems with myriad of opportunities to taste a bit of controversy, praise all things pork, and enjoy some of America's best roadside eats, plus a whole lot more.

Your faithful bloggers have a personal stake in two events this week - the Encore of Gabrielle in Purgatory on Thursday night and Hogs for the Cause on Saturday. We hope to meet and greet many of our readers at both of those events. But in any case, whether you are a cheese lover headed to St. James or a wineaux looking forward to Once Upon a Vine, this week we encourage everyone to get out there and taste what New Orleans has to offer. Remember that everywhere else in the world, it's just another week in March.

Tuesday

• Cafe Degas 25th Anniversary Dinner - Join Cafe Degas in celebrating their 25th Anniversary with a food and specialty cocktails pairing menu.
• Opus One Wine Dinner (SOLD OUT!) - The French Quarter Wine Festival dinners kicks off with one of Napa's elite wineries.

Wednesday

• Wine Sense - Cork & Bottle's wine tasting series continues with a tour of Southern Italy led by Italian wine specialist Antonio Molesini.
• Cakebread Cellars Dinner (SOLD OUT!) - Chef Michael Farrell creates a multi-course dinner paired with wines from one of The Pope's favorite California producers.
• St. James Cheese School - Our favorite cheese mongers are teaming up with New Orleans winemaker James Moises for a cheese tasting featuring his Oregon pinots.

Thursday

• Gabrielle in Purgatory - Encore! - A second chance to taste crowd favorites from the Sonniers' beloved Mid-City restaurant
• An Edible Evening - The Edible Schoolyard New Orleansand FirstLine Schools present the Second Annual "An Edible Evening" garden party under the stars.
• Abita Beer Dinner at Coquette - Chef Michael Stolzfus cooks up a special 5 course menu served with a different Abita beer to complement each dish.
• St James Cheese School - Another opportunity to taste the wines of James Moises and a selection of cheeses to match.

Friday

• Taste of the Town - The Louisiana Restaurant Association holds its annual culinary event at Lafreniere Park.
• Oysters, Cocktails 'n Cracklins - The New Orleans Roadfood Festival kicks off with this cocktail party at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum.

Saturday

• Hogs for the Cause - The Gulf South's premier pig cookoff explodes onto City Pork with plenty of live music and the crowning of the High on the Hog Grand Champion.
• New Orleans Roadfood Street Festival - Six blocks of Royal Street are overtaken with vendors cooking up some of America's best roadside grub, plus the world's longest oyster po-boy will be built.
• Taste at the Lake - The Lakeview Civic Association hosts this inaugural celebration of food, wine, and neighborhoos strength.

Sunday

• Once Upon a Vine - Martin Wine Cellar takes over the Pavilion of the Two Sisters for a tasting featuring over 150 wines and a grazing buffet from Martin's catering kitchen.
• New Orleans Roadfood Street Festival - The good times continue on Royal Street with a whole other day of roadside specialties and the beignet contest between the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments.

Weekend Roundup

Lots to do this weekend and hopefully the weather will cooperate. Speaking of rain, tonight's Taste of the Town has been relocated to the East Jeff parking garage because of expected showers. But don't let this serve as a deterence - last year the same thing happened and we still had a blast.

Tomorrow Rene will be out at the Fly cooking a hog for the cause. Ben Sarrat Jr. needs all the support we can give him, so come on out and donate. You might even get to meet a real live food blogger.

I hope your brackets fared better than mine last night. Have a good weekend.

Taste of the Town

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Taste of the Town is one of the top two food tasting/grazing events in the city. Because we know that you don't like it when such events are brought to your attention at the last minute (and are thus more unlikely to attend), let it be known that we are giving you fair warning to buy your tickets now. The event takes place Friday, March 27.

I know, I know. $90 seems an awful lot to spend on such an event. But trust me, you will get your money's worth. Don't believe me? Checkout the trip report from last year. Unfortunately, this year's event takes place before Easter, so you won't be able to don your favorite pair of seersucker shorts. But hopefully the earlier date will make for cooler temperatures this year. Don't forget to register for the first annual Papal Charbroiled Oyster Eating Contest. Only 9 days away....

Trip Report - Taste of the Town

"OH. MY. GOD." That is the only thing that I could text Rene on Friday night when he asked me how everything was going at Taste of the Town. Quite honestly, I did not want to waste precious time. There was just too much to eat and drink. Words cannot describe the amount of food and booze that was there for the taking. But I'll try...


I mean, you have to love The Pope. His Holiness was able to secure an additional two free tickets, so we invited our lifelong friend Blondie to join us. But while most of you are thinking, "Oh, that is so nice of them to ask their old friend to come along," we really just knew that we would need a babysitter for the night. And let's face it: she has put up with us since we were like 7, so who better to (at least try to) keep us in line.

Due to the prospect of rain, the event had to be moved to the parking garage of East Jefferson General Hospital. No big deal to me, but there were a lot of people in attendance and not much airflow. So needless to say, it was a tad humid and warm. OK, really I was sweating like a whore in church, but so was everyone else.

Now, when you attend one of these functions with The Pope, you have to play by his rules for at least the first hour or until a member of the group drinks enough so that playing by said rules is no longer feasible. One of the Pope's cardinal rules of grazing is start at one end or the other and work your way around - none of this jumping from side to side, people. There is a proper method to his madness. Unfortunately, I was too busy holding my drink in one hand and eating with the other, so notes from the event are, shall we say, nonexistent. But the between the 3 of us we came up with a rather complete recollection of the night's delicacies.

1. Ruth's Chris - Ravioli filled with what I think was minced duck meat and mushrooms. I would have preferred the filet sandwiches that they serve at some of the other large events.
2. Arnaud's, Galatoire's, La Petite Grocery - Shrimp remoulade. Yes, all of them. Don't get me wrong, I love shrimp remoulade, but come on. Blondie spoke with one of the higher ups from the back of the house at Galatoire's and asked why they did not serve crabmeat maison. His simple answers: "It is out of season right now, and we could not afford to serve that anyway." Can't say that I blame him.
3. Muriel's - Voted the best dish of the night by my triumvirate. Goat cheese crepes topped with crawfish cream sauce. Absolutely incredible.
4. Wolfe's in the Warehouse - Voted winner for best presentation. Duck breast over asian slaw on top of a crostini. Inside sources tell me that the duck breast had been brined and pastrami cured, then smoked, and then either deep fried or seared. Very tasty.
5. Zea - Crispy Asian oysters - deep fried oysters topped with a sweet and spicy sauce.
6. Acme - Huge (and I mean huge) raw oysters on the half shell. Oysters this time of year are not as salty, and hence not as tasty, but that fact made these oysters easier to eat. The Pope knocked out a dozen (on 2 separate stops) in about 4 minutes.
7. Drago's - We spent a lot of time camped out in front of their booth in the corner just waiting for new batches of charbroiled oysters to come out. Once again, these bivalves were gigantic, liberally covered in garlic butter and Parmesan cheese, and served with a piece of french bread for sopping up the delicious sauce.
8. Besh Steakhouse - BBQ Shrimp. These shrimp had to be U-12 (that would be an average of 12 shrimp per pound), but they were overcooked - an unavoidable problem of preparing and serving upwards of 1500 people in such a short period of time. The sauce was as good as it always is though.
9. Vincent's - Extremely rich veal and cheese cannelloni. One was more than enough, so I of course had two.
10. Chops Bistro - Grilled skewers of beef, cherry tomatoes, and oysters. The inclusion of the oyster kind of through me off, but the beef was tender and succulent.
11. Sucre - Tri-layer of banana custard, vanilla custard, and a lemon gelee of some sort. Refreshing and delicious.
12. Lagniappe Luncheonette - Bite-sized peanut butter pies. It was a chocolate cookie topped with peanut butter whipped with condensed milk and powdered sugar and then a dollop of whipped cream. Best dessert of the night.

The following stations I decided to skip for the reasons in "quotes."

1. Court of Two Sisters - Seafood Louise - "I need another mojito."
2. Mr. B's - Gumbo - "Too freaking hot."
3. NOLA - Ribs - "How am I supposed to eat this thing while still holding onto my Gentleman Jack & 7?"
4. Brennan's - Bananas Foster - "I want to try that new plum vodka that we saw."
5. Antoine's - Baked Alaska - "Did you know that they are serving Jagerbombs?"

OK, I realize that I skipped a lot of the booths, but it was sensory overload in that place. I remember that there was a BBQ Tasso Sandwich (Corky's, possibly) that was better in concept than it actually tasted. Besides that, Blondie and I watched The Pope talk shop with other restaurant big wigs such as Tom Wolfe, Melvin Rodrigue, and LRA CEO Jim Funk. Other highlights include numerous cougar sightings and The Pope complaining to one of his liquor reps for not bringing the 150 year old Grand Marnier that he oh so loves.

Overall, the night was undoubtedly a success. I was glad to see the Commodore Couple in attendance. We all did what we came to do, which was to eat and drink till we could eat and drink no more. Well...actually...The Pope and I must have had some room left in our tanks because we met up with a group of friends and ended up making it to both The Goldmine and The Red Eye later on in the night. But that is another story for another time.

Taste of the Town - Friday April 4th

Taste of the Town may be the best eating event in the city. Yes, I have been to a Grand Tasting during the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, and if you disregard the obvious advantage of serving 1000 vintages at the Grand Tasting, I am telling you that the food is probably a little bit better at Taste of the Town.

Sidenote: Another excellent dining and drinking event is the Louisiana Restaurant Association's Expo in early August. Unfortunately for most of you, this event is only open to restaurateurs and food vendors. Fortunately for me, The Pope has graciously included his dear old friend when deciding whom to give his limited number of tickets to. I have been for the last 7 or 8 years, and each time I consume probably 3 pounds of smoked salmon and 2 dozen raw oysters while washing it down with whatever booze that Glazer or Republic is doling out. One infamous year, The Pope decided that we "needed" to go eat at Restaurant August after the event. This dinner resulted in 3 consecutive orders of the foie gras trio (after each time we finished the delectable appetizer, The Pope or I would exclaim to the waiter, "Uh, yeah, we are going to need another one of those") followed by The Pope's sister having to be picked up by her fiance before the entrees arrived because she was too inebriated to make it through the rest of the meal. But that is another story for another time...

Anyway, back to Taste of the Town. Just by scanning which restaurants are serving food (Arnaud's, Galatoire's, and Wolfe's in the Warehouse to name a few), you will soon realize that the $75 ticket pre-paid ticket price for the event is well worth it. The weather should be beautiful on that early April evening, and if past years are any indication, the food and drink will be phenomenal as well.