2010 Po-Boy Preservation Festival

I looove the Po Boy Fest.  I look forward to it each year, plotting out which po boys I want and never making it to the end of the list before I'm full and need to sit down.  This year was no different, except for one crucial thing. Apparently everyone else in the world decided to love it too, because Oh Mama, was it crowded.  I don't mean, really good festival crowded.  I mean, no room to breathe, let alone walk crowded.  Stuck in one particular human bottleneck, I started thinking rash thoughts about pushing and shoving and screaming, "Get OFF of me!!" just so I could have a tiny bit of space to take a breath.  I know the organizers spent a lot of time and effort in making the flow work better this year.  I think it was more the sheer volume of people.  I wonder how many attended...

Aaaanyway.  The po boys.  Kid Cayenne and I made it to the far end at Eagle Street so we could get to the Palace Cafe booth where I had the smoked duck po boy with citrus marmalade.

Kid Cayenne got the BLT po boy with Crystal hot sauce aioli.

The real highlight of our day though, was at the Blue Frog Chocolates tent, where we bough chocolate dipped Zapps Cajun Crawtaters.  Genius.  Mmmm.

I would love to do this for gifts at Christmas, but am concerned that they may have a very short shelf life in our humidity.  Do you think the chips part would go soggy within a day or so?  I might call Blue Frog and find out.

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Mahony's Po Boys, New Orleans

It's been yeeeears since I last went to Mahony's.  So many years that everything is completely different now.  I remember a small dining room that was very much like sitting in someone's front parlor.  It is now opened up and light, airy, still cozy but with far more space.  An extensive po-boy menu graces the front wall.

I went with a friend and we split the Fried Green Tomato and Grilled Shrimp 12 inch po-boy.  While the remoulade was a little too Creole-mustardy for me, she pronounced it the "best po-poy I have ever eaten."  High praise, indeed.

The tomatoes were freshly fried in a crisp cornmeal batter.  Shrimp were perfectly grilled.  The sauce was heavily flavored with green onion, Creole mustard and more (too much flavor for me actually but my lunch companion was fine with it).  All in all, a very nice po-boy.

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Freret Street PoBoys and Donut Shop

I am rapidly becoming a big fan of Freret Street PoBoys and Donuts.  The Garlic Roast Beef Po-Poy is an excellent version, tender shredded roast beef dripping with gravy and made all the more delicious because of a hearty seasoning of garlic.  I'm sold.

The red beans and rice are creamy and flavorful, loaded with ham and sausage... really nice.

I've also had the Creole gumbo which included shrimp, crab (alittle light on the crab actually) and what seemed like at least 5 kinds of sausage or ham.  It's a slightly runnier gumbo, which is the way I prefer it.  Perfectly good gumbo.

Oh, and the bear claw donut was superb.  Prices are fair.  Portions are good.  All in all, a great little neighborhood spot.

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New Orleans Po Boy Festival

We took the streetcar down to Oak St...



...and followed the Parkway signs...



...to where the bread was stacked a mile deep...



...ordered roast beef po boys with Zapp's Crawtaters (only $2!) and Blue Moon beers...



...then followed the Second Line band...



...with it's legions of Leidenheimer Bread second liners...



...proudly brandishing our own loaves of New Orleans finest po boy bread...



...down the street...



...dancing all the way...



...trying to work off that po boy...



...til the fragrance was heavy in the air...



...and the target was in sight...



...Drago's charbroiled oysters with garlic, butter, parmesan and herbs over an open fire...



...heaven!...



...on the halfshell...



...believe it or not, this is a look of bliss...



...followed by apprehension...



...and then resignation...



...finally a walk through the cool, damp air...



...back to the streetcar and home. The end.

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