Archive for the ‘Food & Drink’ Category
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Katie’s Restaurant (3701 Iberville St., 484-0580) reopened today at long last.
This backstreet restaurant has been closed since Katrina. Owner Scot Craig pledged to return early on, when its Mid-City neighborhood was still in ruins from the levee failures (see above, circa October 2005), so Katie’s has been on the watch list for reopening for the last few years as a prolonged renovation took shape.
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Reader Brian McDonald sent in this photo of the aftermath of a fire at South China, the venerable Northshore Cantonese restaurant on Highway 190 just outside of Covington.
And we just got a press release from St. Tammany Fire Protection District 12, whose assistant fire chief Stephen Krentel said he expects the building will be a total loss.
South China was a familiar fixture on the Northshore for decades. Anyone have any particular memories of eating there?
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One of the most-read stories at nytimes.com this weekend was “Hey, Waiter! Just How Much Extra Do You Really Expect?,” David Sax’s essay/screed about the practice of tipping. It’s a subject on which everyone seems to have a strong opinion — and judging from the number of comments (1,074 on tipping vs., say, 345 on the Chilean earthquake), there’s a pretty broad scattering of opinion on Mr. David Sax as well.
Consider this from the essay:
“Do you need change?”
Funny you should ask, because I just gave you a $10 bill, and my latte and raspberry scone came to $5.75. As much as I think you’re pleasing to look at, and you do magical things with frothy milk, I just don’t see your services commanding a 70-plus percent premium over the market rate for my breakfast.
Frankly, Sax sounds like a royal pain in the ass to wait on … but, no, I don’t like it either when a server asks “Do you need change?” (It rarely happens, in my experience, but it does happen sometimes.) And the example he cites is truly outrageous. But what’s with the attitude, Sax?
And then, suddenly I’m really not with Mr. Snotty Latte-and-a-Scone. At all:
Yes, I know you’re all underpaid. But guess what? So am I. When I get $500 for an article that I think is worth $1,000, you won’t see me e-mail the editor, saying, “Just so you know, service isn’t included.” Do I ask you to come into my workplace and supplement my meager income? No, I don’t.
I don’t know the law in New York, but Louisiana servers are subject to the federal tip minimum law, which means they rake in $2.13/hour and must depend on tips to cover any real income. (And they have to pay taxes on tips, whether they get the tips or not.) That’s a bit more “underpaid” than what Sax is bellyaching about. If he’d taken on the subject of tip jars where they don’t belong (say, at the gas station), I might be with him, but given his tone and his attitude, I agree with the very first commenter on the story:
Good gracious, what a bitter rant.
The reaction around the Web has been interesting, too: here are two contrasting viewpoints.
So many people in New Orleans make a good part of their salaries through tips. What do you think of tips and tip jars?
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Earlier today, Lauren LaBorde pointed Gambiteers to IHOP’s Free Pancake Day. Apparently spurred on by Lauren’s post, now Denny’s has come up with its own free pancake offer, throwing in a delicious starch to set off all those carbohydrates. Yes, it’s FREE FRIES:
Starting now and continuing through the end of March, Denny’s is offering unlimited free refills of two of America’s favorites, French fries and pancakes, at participating locations nationwide. Valid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the offer applies to any order of French fries or pancakes served with an entrée.
It’s like Denny’s took a look at IHOP and said “Free Pancake Day? How about “Free Pancakes, Plus Fries, For A-Little-More-Than-A-Month”?” As John Dillon, vice-president of marketing for the Denny’s Corporation put it, “Who doesn’t want seconds of pancakes and fries… especially when they’re free?”
Hell, at this rate, by tomorrow Piccadilly and Shoney’s are going to be offering free pancakes, fries, and soft-serve dessert product for a year.
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We’ve received several emails in anticipation of this, and the day has finally arrived: free pancakes, ya’ll.
IHOP locations around the country are giving away free short stacks — three buttermilk pancakes — in honor of National Pancake Day (a day I’m pretty sure was arbitrarily created by IHOP. I suppose as the international pancake house, they have the authority to do such things). But don’t be a freeloader: IHOP is also asking for donations to the Children’s Miracle Network, and donations from the New Orleans stores will go to the CMN program at Children’s Hospital.
And it keeps getting better. For those who enjoy their free-ish pancakes at the new Downtown location (833 Canal St.), you also get to hang out with Miss New Orleans (who may or may not have a name), who will be there with “other beauty queens.” Because when I think of beauty queens, the first thing I think of is stacks of buttery carb discs.
Here’s the other nearby IHOP locations: 12150 I-10 Service Rd., 151 Westbank Expressway, Gretna; 1719 Manhattan Blvd., Harvey; 3400 South I-10 Service Road W., Metairie; 3400 Williams Blvd., Kenner; 61101 Airport Rd., Slidell.
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By Brandon Meginley
In 23 years as a White House chef, Ronnie Seaton prepared meals for five presidents and many distinguished guests. A certified master chef from New Orleans, Seaton has been in kitchens all of his life, and he knows that no matter who the diner is, kitchen work helps many people feed their own families.
“If you’re going to work hard, you should be paid for what you do,” Seaton said.
Seaton was the keynote speaker Tuesday at a panel discussion following the release of a study by the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New Orleans (ROC-NOLA), a policy and worker advocacy group. The study is based on 530 worker surveys plus focus groups and extended interviews with workers and employers. The study concludes that the local restaurant industry is overwhelmingly comprised of low-wage jobs offering few benefits and offered recommendations to improve wages, job security and help employers create better working environments.
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More national food press today, starting with The New York Times weighing in on the perfect Super Bowl party snacks. Their suggestion: fry up a batch of your own cracklings (get it? pigskins?), and writer Kim Severson goes straight to an unimpeachable source, Donald Link of Cochon Butcher, who provides a recipe for the home cook who can’t quite bring him- or herself to pop open a bag of Fritos at kickoff.
Over at The Wall Street Journal, Pervaiz Shallwani writes about newfangled cocktails, starting with a science-fiction Sazerac prepared by Chicago’s Lord High Poobah of molecular gastronomy, chef Grant Achatz:
At most bars, the Sazerac is a simple mix of whiskey, bitters and a touch of sugar. In the hands of Chicago chef Grant Achatz, the classic cocktail turns into a deconstruction of flavors: Peychaud bitters are made into pudding dots, whiskey is transformed into gelée and the “drink” is served in an edible syrup-poached kumquat.
“It’s the size of a thimble,” Mr. Achatz says. “It’s got all the classic components of a Sazerac. But you’re chewing and it’s fun.”
Note to Mr. Achatz: don’t even try serving that at a Super Bowl party. The only thing we’ll be deconstructing around here this weekend are the Colts.
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Restaurant-based fundraisers and benefit dinners were one way people across the country found to give money to Katrina-relief causes after the levee failures here. Similar efforts are taking shape now in New Orleans to direct aid to earthquake survivors in Haiti, and two are on tab for Tuesday.
One citywide event, Called New Orleans Night Out for Haiti, is structured similarly to the annual Dine Out for Life benefit organized by the NO/AIDS Task Force. In this case, each participating restaurant will donate 10 percent of its sales from Tuesday, Feb. 2, to the charity of its choice working on earthquake relief. The public is encouraged to support the campaigning simply by dining at a participating restaurant on Tuesday.
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