Ian McNulty

Who does, anyway? There is family love. There are also creative differences and the tensions of running a business together. There’s a shared vision too.

The father-and-son dynamic that brought us a groundbreaking addition to the New Orleans dining scene with @saffronnola has led to another one-of-a-kind restaurant – @thekingswaynola , the new Asian tasting menu restaurant Ashwin created in large measure in homage to his dad.

For Father’s Day, I dug in with Arvinder and Ashwin over mango chutney old fashioneds about what they’re building, where it all came from – the rigor and respect that grounds their working relationship.

“Sometimes fathers don’t say it very boldly, but the reason we still work together is, internally, I feel that way every day,” Arvinder, the dad, told me. “It’s tough love, but the love is always there.”

Link in my bio has their story.

Photo under the headline here by the great @cgranger from the story , and a bunch of snaps by me for a glimpse of The Kingsway, which should be high on your list to try (see my earlier story for the full read on the new restaurant [link in bio, just scroll down a bunch]).

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafood #nolafoodie #nolalife #nolalove #uptownnola #fathersday #chef #cheflife #magazinestreet #nolarestaurant #louisiana Less

Dinner and a show?

Dinner was an early reservation at @sylvainneworleans , and the show was a go-cup stroll after to the riverfront as the sun setting behind us painted the moving water and sailing clods and passing vessels in changing color.

“The show” was feee, the payoff of the evening wax renewed appreciation for a restaurant that has always blended a timeless feel with modern style, and also for the evocative poses of our city, perhaps especially so in slower summer.

Start with the four tempers cocktail with rum and snap pea and the Vietnamese @songcaidistillery gin and citrus pho-lomo.

Fried tomatoes cut thin as chips with shrimp remoulade

Green cabbage salad with herbs and peanuts and boiling jalapeño spice

Check the burnished crackling crust in the sea bass with leeks, asparagus and crab

Of course the pappardelle bolognese , on the menu here 15 years now, incredible considering how Sylvain always feels so fresh in a timeless New Orleans setting.

And Sylvain sodas for the go-cup stroll

Link in my bio has the full read

#wherenolaeats #frenchquarter #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nola #nolalife #nolaliving #nolalife #louisiana #neworleans Less

I’m very familiar with this view of the bar, but now the longtime Franklin is the new @evviva.nola , and brings back a some talent in the kitchen that’s familiar too.

It’s pretty much Italian, but not strictly so.

Dropped in and started digging in with :
🔥porgy brandade (on the happy hour menu, 5-7 pm)
🔥peaches with crab, chile and fresh mint
🔥a chorus line of shrimp, simple, tasting of the grill, perfectly cooked with their fresh bounce intact
🔥burly rustic pasta of chicken liver and ham in the rigatoni
🔥a new-to-me @marginswine blend of chenin and vermentino to pair with the range

Of you like an amaro, try it shaken with ice to end, it gets all frothy and silken like an espresso martini. Game changer!

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafood #nolafoodie #nolalife #amaro Less

It’s a beef for the Hogs, and it’s delicious.

Plus, you have to love a dive bar that sells handmade chocolate chip cookies bake sale style alongside the cocktails in tall foam cups.

The World Famous Corporation Bar & Grill is deeply involved with @houseofhogsbbq , and like many cook off teams this one raises funds year round for @hogsforthecause .

A Chicago connection led to this Au-Jus June special all month, with beef brought in from Bari Beef in Chicago.

To dip or to dunk? Is cheese a good addition or heretical? I tired two at once a few different ways to find out.

Is the bread up for all this? The local @leidenheimerbakingco pistolettes have that covered.

The Corp has late night vibes (at any hour), but know that the grill is slinging 11-4 pm these days.

Link in my bio has the story on this and more on a dive bar with a big heart

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #nolafood #nolalife #downtownnola #sandwich #italianbeef #hogsforthecause #divebar Less

Two words at @1000figs gets you this — “falafel feast.” Well, three words, “falafel feast please.”

Falafel, crunchy-fresh salad, dips, and garlicky sauces, and that beautiful golden puffy bread. Still a screaming deal at $51.

It is such a fantastic way to eat, which I visited over the weekend with a sidewalk table in the nice weather.

We’ll serve this next-door at @swirlnola , which is where we got the @marytaylorwine rose.

Fun fact: 1000 Figs but it start as the Fat Falafel food truck, often found right outside of Swirl.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafood #nolafoodie #nolalife #midcitynola Less

Boudin links from Link (Donald) at @cochonbutchernola , an expressway to the flavor of Cajun Country in downtown #nola.

These remind me strongly of what the chef’s family makes over at @themowatastore outside of Eunice — great rice texture and meat/spice/liver balance — though here with a nice Italian white instead of ice chest beer.

Grilled salmon belly to balance things out.

#wherenolaeats #nolaeats #igersneworleans #nola #nolafoodie #nolafood #boudin #louisiana Less

When @saffronnola opened it brought something new to the New Orleans dining scene with its worldly, upscale vision of Indian cuisine.

As a second restaurant from its chef, @ashwinvilkhu , slowly took shape just across the street, many regulars surmised it would be a more casual counterpart for Indian flavors.

But @thekingswaynola goes in a much different direction, one that no other restaurant possibly could.

The new restaurant is a contemporary, upscale Asian restaurant with a prix fixe format, and its own take on the tasting menu approach.

Across a four-course menu, some dishes are distinctly Chinese, others are Vietnamese, and some are family creations. It’s more like the food of Singapore, a crossroads of Asian cuisines, than a fusion of them.

The through line is the chef’s own family - a story of hospitality and cuisine over two continents and two generations.

“All of this comes from my memories,” Ashwin told me. “It’s an homage to memory.”

Link in my bio has the story and many more photos by @cgranger , a couple here by me for a glimpse.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nola #uptownnola #nolafoodie #nolafood #nolalife #magazinestreet #neworleans Less

Get yourself a group together (two can be a group, I guess, four would be better) and share these platters of East African dishes at Waliimo, a lunchtime downtown pop-up with a mission.

You have a few weeks to try it, and could even effort a lunch today to kick off the weekend (they have a bar).

You also get an inside view of @nochi_grams , a culinary school designed to be different.
Waliimo is the latest edition of an ongoing program at NOCHI.

A ready-made restaurant space is part of this culinary school’s campus. Each class of students has a chance to make it their own, working together to conceive, produce and then run their own restaurant.

I saw this one from the first student pitch sessions to the first lunch this week.

Pictured:
🔥“Waliimo style” appetizer platter, with shrimp/beet kitfo, fata (stewed tomato dip) and lentil hummus
🔥Lamb tibbs
🔥Lots of injera bread, researched and prepared by the students, with an assist from @addisnola
🔥Fantastic desserts, the caramelized himbasha with pistachio, the chay (chai-like) panna cotto with sorbet

Link in my bio has more on the pop-up and NOCHI

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafood #nolalife #downtownnola #louisiana #nolafood #nolafoodie #nolafoodies #culinaryschool #chef #cookingschool Less

What’s Tuesday like at a Mexican restaurant without a taco Tuesday special?

At @elpavorealnola it’s just low-key family-style vibes with distinctive Mexican food that has me coming back any day of the week.

This was last Tuesday at the restaurant, and plenty of people were having the regular menu tacos. We went a different direction with the seafood cocktail, coconut shrimp that gives me a subtle Mexican-Indian flex, black bean soup (pretty and still just five dollars), and the crab meat and avocado quesadillas with a crispy outer shell of cheese.

Look for blackboard specials like these mushroom molotes (first photo), crisp masa empanada shapes with a creamy filling.

And I really like the tequila and beet cocktail.

Popcorn to start, of course.

It’s one idea from this week’s column on restaurants you should check out aronnd town, both new and not-so-new.

Link in my bio has the full read

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #uptownnola #nolafoodie #nolafood #nolalife #tacotuesdays #tacotuesday #nola Less