Ian McNulty

On the lake by the levee, between the streets named Flounder and Drum, visiting the old school @deaniesonhayne .

Roast pork and rice, crabmeat stuffed redfish from the lengthy daily specials.

No relation to the better-known Deanie’s of Bucktown fame, but instead a New Orleans East institution for local flavor.

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At long last, this master of Creole cuisine @frankbrigtsen has a cookbook, but it’s much more than that.

“Color of Flavor”is a distillation of a life in New Orleans food and the relationships woven through it.

How the book came to be is also a tribute to the chef’s life and career.

It was essentially willed into being by others, driven by the respect and admiration the chef has built in his community.

Ricky Thomas of @bluerunnerfoods knew it needed to happen, and his company built the team to produce it.

The result is a book of equal parts rigor and affection.

Precise recipes replicate the Brigtsen way in the kitchen (first you make a roux? not for his gumbo).

But it’s as much narrative as instructional as Frank shares the tradition, history and the people behind the food and his own journey in cuisine.

“Color of Flavor” can be read as a manual for home cooks and a memoir of a life in food.

It’s also a guide for New Orleans chefs yet to come.

Get a copy at the restaurant 723 Dante St. (most evenings as dinner gets going Frank is at his “office,” the table down the hall, signing them), order through @bluerunnerfoods to ship and meet the chef as @nocca.nola hosts a launch party Saturday, Aug. 8, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (600 Homer Plessy Way).

Link in my bio has the full read on the man, the book and how it came to be.

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Italian crudo, dressed up like nigiri, a wonderful find on the specials list at @giannarestaurant starts a dead sexy dinner at the bar.

And shaken amaro, my summer salvation these days (or nights), to end.

The crudo was buttery hamachi over eggplant and caponata in lieu of rice, umami-rich and very Mediterranean.

In between, Jimmy Nardello peppers (a type of pepper I’m seeing more and more this summer) blistered and oiled off the grill, pork loin with a bit of lardo and (the most New Orleans thing on the menu) pasta bordelaise with a zippy garlic and oil sauce.

Amaro in lieu of dessert brought a sharp, crisp Alpine style that was chilled and shaken.

It pours all mellow-smooth under a frothy head, and it turned a dram of amaro into what felt like the ultimate after-dinner cocktail for a hot summer night.

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Follow the happy dancing panda with the tray of soup dumplings to Shang Kitchen (2917 Magazine St.), newly opened and bringing a very different kind of Chinese restaurant to town.

The Shanghai-born chef told me it’s his ‘dream restaurant,’ and he’s done it up with pretty design elements, a dumpling-making station in the dining room and a range of Chinese regional dishes.

The menu makes room for some Chinese American dishes too, but they are almost hidden among the true Chinese specialties, a welcome inversion of what’s been the norm.

Here’s a look and a few dishes:

Boiled beef, which sounds bland but is the precise opposite with building heat and Szechuan spice

Soup dumplings, color coded for their fillings (jet black is truffle pork)

Zhajiang noodles, with pork and fermented bean sauce, ready to mix up around the fresh cucumber and cilantro (and great cold from the fridge later that day)

Cool cucumbers with a flavorful marinade

Link in my bio has the full read

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And to top it off….on the way out of @emerils I run into a @eatchichis delivery for the kitchen.

When three chefs of multiple Michelin Star restaurants cook together at Emeril’s in New Orleans (see previous post), @feetz93 got the call to bring some Chi Chi’s from Freret Street for post shift.

Strong.

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Thursday means it’s time for the chicken fried steak po-boy at @parentons_poboys , a restaurant about the size of a one-car garage from the days when cars were smaller.

Parenton’s has a special place in my heart for the personality that operators Brenda and Dennis have baked into the clubhouse-like confines, and for the specials.

Chicken fried steak arrives with long, thin sheets of steak stretching across the length of the bread, with crisp, well-seasoned edges jutting out past the crust.

I’m also a fan of the everyday oyster po-boy, with lightly-coated bivalves popped out of the oil at the perfect time, still bursting with juice.

Dress mine with butter and pickles only, please.

All around New Orleans and especially the burbs, quiet backstreet restaurants that keep local tradition alive have evolved their own house specialties that are every bit as unique and delicious as anything cooked up just to grab your attention on social media.

They’ve just been part of what they do for many years.

Link in my bio has the story with a romp through a bunch of these old joints.

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All around New Orleans and especially the burbs, quiet backstreet restaurants that keep local tradition alive have evolved their own house specialties that are every bit as unique and delicious as anything cooked up just to grab your attention on social media.

They’ve just been part of what they do for many years.

Link in my bio has the story with a romp through a bunch of these old joints.

Here’s one you should know about off the bat: the roasted duck po-boy at @crabby_jacks_nola .

It’s like a hunting camp feast packed into French bread, with the meat treated like roast beef debris, coming apart in strands and chunks in a light brown au jus.

Order it “festival style,” and they dress it with coleslaw for a creamy crunch, like the restaurant does at @poboyfest

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #neworleansfood #poboy #jeffersonparish Less

So, how did the Pappy Van Winkle pair with the hummus?

The same question could’ve applied to the Eagle Rare 17-Year or the William Larue Weller lined up next to that dram of Pappy Van Winkle for an extra, upper top shelf flight.

I was at @byblosrestaurants , specifically the location in Elmwood.

It’s a Middle Eastern restaurant in a shopping center with a view of a T.J. Maxx across the parking lot.

Beside the kebabs and shawarma, co-owner Tarek Tay has turned his personal bourbon obsession into a playground for whiskey lovers.

With about 200 different labels and growing, the list runs from affordable to astronomical, with many rare and allocated bottles.

“I’ve declared myself the king of bourbon at a Middle Eastern restaurant,” the restaurateur said with a laugh.

Pass me some hot pita and another dram, then hit the link in my bio for the full read on this unlikely find and the happy hour deals that have made this family friendly restaurant into a bar for Elmwood as well

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This one from @bar1865nola needs special recognition as a drinking snack perfected:

Skewers of smoked oysters, pinned to juicy Castelvetrano olives and pickled pearl onions, covered in an almond garlic chili crisp.

Like a deluxe version of a Gilda, the Basque tapas bar standard (see also @dolfys_nola for a traditional take), it’s a progression of briny, salty flavor and a match made in heaven with a martini.

Make that the Mediterranean — braced with sherry and a bit of mastika, the piney liqueur, while dots of olive oil shimmer on the surface, all subtly herbal and refreshing.

Link in my bio has the full read on Bar 1865

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More to come on this but … given how fast the specials change at @porgysnola , I wouldn’t want to miss these betel leaf-wrapped royal red shrimp, nor the crab and peach salad and that fat softie po-boy with banh mi dressing is no slouch either.

Seriously satisfying summer lunch.

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