French Quarter Fest: Great Food and Music This Weekend

On Saturday, I got out and enjoyed the sunny weather with trip downtown to French Quarter Fest. Got to see some live music, the highlights being the trombone forward Bonerama (I think it necessary to explain the name) and a random street performer near the French Market. The other highlight was the food! Some of the best restaurants in New Orleans came out to serve a vast array of street food perfect for a festival. So today, I’m going to take a detour from the weather and do a top five list of the food I ate at French Quarter Fest.

The Gumbo Weather Top 5: French Quarter Fest Edition

5. Paella from Paella NOLA

Paella NOLA and their huge pans of paella.

I didn’t have a bad bite of food all day but I had to start somewhere for number 5 on the list. This paella was well executed with perfectly cooked shrimp balanced with the peppers and tomato. Rice was lovely and cooked to just about perfection, which is impressive with the scale they were cooking on. This jambalaya from the old world was worth stopping by Jackson Square for.

If you want some Paella for your next event in the New Orleans area, check them out at: https://www.paellanola.com/

4. Jerked Pork by 14 Parishes

Salt and fat meets spicy with the Jerked Pork from 14 Parishes.

A stop by 14 Parishes was on my “must do” list yesterday and it did not disappoint! This Jamaica meets southern BBQ brought the best of both words. The pork was tender and pulled apart with little effort, and the pieces selected had just the right mix of fat and protein to be luxurious. Then the jerk seasoning brought it home with a nice hit of fire! It wasn’t just hot but hot with the backing of garlic, cinnamon, herbs to bring something interesting with each bite. Every culture has some form of BBQ, and Jamaican cuisine brings a strong offering to the table.

https://www.14parishes.com/ –

Two locations:

8227 Oak Street and 234 Loyola Avenue in the Pythian Market

3. Brussel Voorhesse from Theaudric’s Real Clever Cuisine

If not for 14 Parishes, the Jerk Chicken would have been on the list.

The jerk chicken was very good, and the rice that came with it was killer but it was the brussel sprouts and potatoes that won my heart here in the Jax’s Brewery parking lot. There was nothing fancy or complicated about the preparation, just magnificently cooked brussel sprouts. The potatoes were fried up crispy and gave a bit of sweetness and texture to offset the slightly bitter sprouts. Simple, yet a perfect way to get something green during an afternoon of rich food. It doesn’t hurt I’m a sucker for good brussel sprouts.

Check them out at: https://flavorithms.com/

2. Bacon Jalapeno Duck Poppers from The Court of the Two Sisters

From the heart of the French Quarter comes a combo of all my favorite things.

The property the Court of the Two Sisters occupies on Royal Street has been there since the 1700s and today is known for good food and a courtyard that is quintessentially New Orleans. They were out at French Quarter Fest, serving up these perfectly luxurious bites. Sweet and savory bacon with heat and earthiness from the jalapeño stood up with the best eating of all the birds, duck! Sure, it is hard to mess up such a wonderful combination of foods but the care taken in cooking was obvious. The bacon wasn’t too crispy but cooked enough not to be chewy. The jalapeño did not overwhelm with heat but was a necessary balance to the richness of bacon and duck.

The Court of the Two Sisters is located at 613 Royal Street, smack in the middle of the French Quarter.

Check out their website for reservations the next time you’re in town at: https://www.courtoftwosisters.com/

1. Sweet Awaze Wings from Addis NOLA

The collard green and beef sambusas (pastries) were great, but the chicken y’all…

This chicken was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

A humble drumstick, still on the bone and dripping with juices serves as the vehicle for a sauce that changed my life. It starts out sweet, but a complicated sweet with flavors I can’t quite put my finger on. Then it transitions to the spicy, with a bright refreshing heat that is just on the right side of being too hot. The sweet and spicy are simply sublime together and make a greater sum of each of their contributions to create something that blew me away!

Each bite gives a little relief from the heat due to the sweetness but finishes with the sort of all mouth warmth that leaves you wanting another bite. Just ridiculously good.

Addis is located at 422 South Broad Street. Go there. Twice.

Website: https://www.addisnola.com/

First French Quarter Fest since 2019, As Good As Ever

It was a warm but otherwise perfect Saturday to jump on the streetcar, go downtown, and catch some tunes and fill the belly up. A nice easterly/southeasterly breeze kept the heat manageable along with some passing clouds. Though would have been a mistake to leave the sunscreen at home with that high April sun angle. Nothing like getting out and enjoying New Orleans in springtime, and hoping all the walking offsets the gluttony.

I’ll be back to weather tomorrow, previewing the weather for next weekend. It’s the first weekend of Jazz Fest after all. Later in the week I’ll be talking drought in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Then on Wednesday, I’m going to go top-down looking at the set up on April 27th, 2011 to remember the outbreak of a generation in the south.