Monthly Archives: March 2011

Through the Looking Glass: Green Goddess

Posted on March 30, 2011 | 5 Comments

He Said:

Where the hell do you even start? Louis Carroll? Timothy Leary? For those of you who didn’t bother to experiment with LSD in your youth, no worries: Green Goddess is the culinary equivalent.

Aleister Crowley, a British occultist, linked ‘Green Goddess’ to absinthe in 1918 in a memoir of its consumption in New Orleans. This guy was weird. Really, really, seriously weird. He was at one time a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn but, apparently feeling this was too mainstream, moved on to found the Thelamite religion. Whatever that is.

How appropriate then, that the most unusual restaurant in New Orleans would choose such a name, conjuring both the legendary psychoactive effect of wormwood, the bitter artemisia absinthium from which the notorious spirit is distilled, and the esoteric ramblings of Crowley, for those for whom absinthe alone is not sufficiently intense.

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Posted in Dinner, Food, He Said, Restaurant, Reviews, Uncategorized

Tagged Green Goddess, Vegetarian

Jockamo Fee Na Nay: Super Sunday

Posted on March 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

My flag boy and your flag boy were sittin’ by the fire/

My flag boy told your flag boy I’m gonna set your flag on fire – James Crawford

She Said:

When you die, what will you regret?

Every day presents a unique opportunity to learn and experience things unlike those of the days before. Last Sunday was akin looking through a keyhole into the world unknown, that of the Mardi Gras Indians. For the past few years, He Said and I have been meaning to see the them, but never got around to it.

This year, our opportunistic glimpse of three Indians Mardi Gras Day on Frenchmen and Rampart merely served as an appetizer, priming us for more. Super Sunday, as the annual event is termed, found us Uptown at the corner of LaSalle and Washington. We were familiar with Iko, Iko of course, whether by Dr. John, the Dixie Cups, or any of a number of other artists, but not that the original song was actually Jockamo, and that it was a reference to the taunts of rival tribes. The Indians weren’t part of our personal experience growing up in New Orleans, and it was thrilling to dive into a parallel culture more than 150 years old thriving in our own home city. The weather was perfect, and the street party in and around A.L. Davis park was bustling with music, the smells of food, and the hum of people.

And the Indians of course: Check out some of the fabulous costumes below and make sure this event is a don’t miss for you next year.

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Posted in Better Weekends, Festivals, Mardi Gras, She said

Tagged Mardi Gras Indians, Super Sunday

French Quarter Fest Food: Our Essental Guide

Posted on March 25, 2011 | 1 Comment

He and She Said:

They call it the world’s largest jazz brunch, and they might be right.

Be sure you bring an appetite with you to French Quarter Fest, because you’ll certainly need it. There’s truly something for everyone here, but the sheer volume of choices can be overwhelming. The last thing you want is for paralysis by analysis to interfere with your grazing. We can help.

Check out our tabbed page French Quarter Fest Food Better or just click the link right here for our guide through the maze, Mardi Gras Indian Style.

For each area, we’ll give you the Big Chief, the best of the best, and everything else worth noting, including a Flag Boy, Spy Boy, Medicine Man, and Wild Man.

Curious?

Check it out, and happy eating!

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Posted in Better Weekends, Festivals, He and she said

Tagged French Quarter Fest

The Rites of Spring: Top 10 Spring Things in New Orleans

Posted on March 23, 2011 | 2 Comments

She Said:

Fresh honeysuckle is permeating my senses each step I take through the beautiful, serene backside of the French Quarter. I honestly don’t remember it smelling this heavenly in years past, but the past few days as I wander around the elusive streets of the Quarter I am awestruck by the bright yellow scent of spring. This may well be my absolute favorite time of year because the entire city of New Orleans is booming with great happenings and the weather is perfectly fabulous! There are, in my humble opinion, some can’t miss events/experiences occurring this and every spring. Check them out and try to incorporate some into your travel plans if you are visiting or your weekend plans if you are a local. You don’t want to miss these, I promise!

1. French Quarter Festival- Our guide is in-the-works, but in the meantime, get this event on your calendar. It is the best free festival we have to offer and it goes on throughout the entire French Quarter. My opinion is that this shows New Orleans at its finest promoting both fantastic music and local food. Want more information on how to do this fest like a champ? See our recommendations.

2. NOWFE- Each year throughout Memorial Day week/weekend, New Orleans Wine and Food Experience draws foodies and oenophiles alike with four days of varying activities. Highlights include the Vintner dinners and the Royal Street Stroll which are on Wednesday and Thursday, May 25 and 26, respectively. Note: NOWFE is not to be confused with the much less inspiring French Quarter Wine Festival which as you may recall we addressed a couple of months ago.

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Posted in Better Weekends, Festivals, Lists, She said

Tagged Festivals, Spring, top 10

Happy as a pig in, well, you know: Hogs for the Cause

Posted on March 21, 2011 | 2 Comments

He Said:

If you can elbow your way into the must-do list of NOLA spring festival events, you know you’re doing something. Although only in its third year, no one can accuse Hogs for the Cause of anything less than porcine levels of ambition.

lots more where this came from

We’re all about the branding here at the He Said/She Said NOLA media empire, so I’ll take a moment to remind you of our tag line: Food. Music. Love: New Orleans Better. I think we’ll have to give Hogs a resounding Les Miles style clap for a Ken Jennings-esque clean sweep of the category. To wit:

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Posted in Better Weekends, Festivals, He Said, Music

Tagged Amanda Shaw, Anders Osborne, Hog For the Cause, Honey Island Swamp Band, Missisippi Rail Company, Pork, Soul Rebels, The Radiators

French Quarter Fest Logistics: Our Essential Guide

Posted on March 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

He and She Said:

Is the French Quarter Fest too crowded? Where do I find a bathroom? What about parking?

We’ve got all the answers for you from a resident’s perspective. Click here or look for the French Quarter Fest Better tab on our home page. Detailed reviews of food and music will arrive in the coming days, but what you’ve got today is a complete FAQ, including:

Why you should go

How to manage parking

What to bring (and what not to)

An illustrated guide to managing the Woldenberg Stages, complete with maps and arrows and stuff.

A veritable cornucopia of tips and insights gleaned from years of diligent ~~partying~~ research!

Check it out and leave a comment if you’ve got a question we didn’t cover.

This is our favorite Festival of the year and it is not to be missed. We’ll help you figure out how to make the most of it!

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Posted in Better Weekends, Festivals, He and she said, Lists

Tagged Festival Guides, French Quarter Fest, Logistics

Egg on your facebook: Oak Street versus Brad Pitt

Posted on March 17, 2011 | 5 Comments

He Said:

Have you heard the one about the guy who cyber-bullied himself?

The web is lousy with stories about the powerful ability of social media to throw gasoline on the fire of what might once have been private disagreements. Hell hath no fury like a woman (or man) scorned who happens to have 2500 Twitter followers. An incautious falling out with a motivated uber-social butterfly can produce a viral shunning beyond an Amish kid’s worst nightmare. But how much sympathy can you really have for someone who seems to be trying hard to light themselves on fire?

Very little, I suppose, which brings me to Monday’s facebook post from the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival. I’ve added the link above because you might think I’m making this up. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t read it myself.

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Posted in He Said, Rants

Tagged Brad Pitt, Oak Street, Po-Boy Festival

Taking It All Off: Saint Baldrick’s Oak Street Block Party

Posted on March 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

He and She Said:

One in five children diagnosed with cancer does not survive.

This is why we do this

Help do something about it.

We dance at funerals in NOLA, and we throw a party at the proverbial drop of a hat. Some might call laughter in the face of tragedy unseemly or inappropriate; we disagree. Celebrating life is what we do here, and poking a sharp stick in the eye of the devil is our way of letting him know he doesn’t have that much power after all. This attitude had a lot to do, we think, with getting us through that little thunderstorm we had five years ago, and we believe we should keep it up.

With that in mind we’re inviting all of you, everyone you know, your facebook ‘friends,’ the snarky girl at the office you just pretend to like, and even your weird neighbor (in Bywater that’s the guy with no ink) to our favorite way to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day: The Saint Baldrick’s Oak Street Block Party this Saturday, March 19th.

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Posted in Better Weekends, Festivals, He and she said

Tagged Oak Street, Saint Baldrick's

Mardi Gras Detox: Chicot State Park

Posted on March 14, 2011 | 3 Comments

She Said:

Thank God for Lent! If you are anything like He Said and I, you’ve been on full-throttle Mardi Gras-ing (yes, I made this word up) and are feeling perhaps a little over-indulged as of late. It is entirely possible at this juncture that the husband and I have been referred as potential upcoming guests on an episode of Intervention. That said, this weekend proved the perfect opportunity for a quick jaunt to experience some of the other treasures right here in our own backyard. Thursday we packed up the car and headed to Chicot State Park, which is an annual tradition for my family where we all converge and cook, eat, plan the next meal, cook again, etc.
I grew up camping, likely because it was a cost efficient vacation for a family of six. Throw the kids in a car with an ancient army tent and call it vacation. At some point we even went high-end and got a sheer canopy to shield us from bugs as we used an equally old Coleman grill to cook our meals. However, Dad’s days of sleeping on the ground are long gone and for about 20 years now we have graduated to new age camping. Actually our version is an embarrassment to campers everywhere. As you will see below these accommodations aren’t exactly roughing it.