Got Gumbo? 2015

This was my 5th Got Gumbo? event benefitting the United Way and it’s one of my favorite annual evenings. At the Royal Sonesta, 15 restaurants provided up to 4 dishes each to compete for Best Traditional Gumbo, Best Seafood Gumbo, Best Exotic Gumbo and Best Vegetarian Gumbo as well as the People’s Choice for Best Dessert, Best Float (decorated table display) and Best Gumbo. That’s 15 restaurants, each with multiple chefs, competing in up to half a dozen categories each so you can eat yourself silly surrounded by fun table displays and charitable gumbo-lovers (United Way  receives the $25 ticket price as well as the bar).  And, of course, there’s a band – Rick Trolson’s New Orleans Po’Boys.

Got Gumbo? 2013

This was my third trip to the Got Gumbo? event benefitting the United Way and it’s fast becoming one of my favorite annual evenings. This year, 17 chefs and restaurants provided up to 4 dishes each to compete in the categories of Best Traditional Gumbo, Best Seafood Gumbo and Best Exotic Gumbo as well as the People’s Choice for Best Dessert, Best Float (decorated table display) and Best Gumbo. Do the math and you see that it’s an evening of eating yourself silly surrounded by whimsical tables and charitable gumbo-lovers (United Way  receives the $25 ticket price as well as the bar). The event is held at the Royal Sonesta. You may recall that my last trip to the Sonesta involved dropping my hoop skirt and greasing a pole to kick off the final weekend of Mardi Gras.

NOLA in a Week (Mom’s Visit)

There’s nothing like having a visitor to push you to take advantage of the city as much as possible in a week. My mom  and stepdad came to town and we went to 2 festivals, a number of concerts, a bunch of restaurants and plenty of cool shops. We even visited the set of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. If you’re planning to visit New Orleans or if you’re a New Orleanian looking for some ideas of how to entertain your guests, here are some highlights from our week.