Sunday, October 30, 2011

Jenny Sklar.... Published!!!

I finally made it in print! Though 99.9% of my articles have been published online, I've finally crossed the threshold to paper publishing... and the article wasn't even about food! Though I love food writing, I was beginning to eat myself into a writing rut, so this was a nice change of pace. If you'd like to read the article you can check out The Musical Old U.S. Mint online here or pick up the latest copy of OffBeat Magazine (available at most coffee shops around town).

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Last Supper

The Last Supper is just a week and a half away!!! No, I'm not talking about THAT last supper, though there will be a minor Chirstian theme to this one too (considering the star is a Reverend), I'm talking about  The Last Supper of The Man Who Ate New Orleans! Unlike the original last supper, this will NOT be a gloomy event, infact, it's a celebration! Celebrating Ray Cannata's accomplishment of his monsterous goal of eating at every restaurant in NOLA!!!! Plus, it's an event to showcase and promote the fabulous film that follows Cannata's gastronomic journey through New Orleans Cuisine, appropriately titled The Man Who Ate New Orleans.
The big event will be on October 21 at the St. Charles Hilton, with music by Rebirth Brass Band and fully catered by Besh Steakhouse (wine pairings included). The guests will be the first to see a short from the documentary, and may end up in the real deal because the dinner will be filmed and added to end of the feature! So if you want to possibly be in a movie, while sipping on wine, dancin to Rebirth and grubbin on fancy steak you DO NOT want to miss this EPIC event! Tickets are $200 per person (and partially tax deductible, woohoo!) and are available online.
I sure hope to be there, Don't You?!?!?!?!?

Monday, October 10, 2011

Cafe Reconcile V. Liberty's Kitchen

For my newest OffBeat article, Good Deed on a Dime at Liberty’s Kitchen and Cafe Reconcile, I decided to have a philanthropic twist in honor of the recent Jewish Holiday: Yom Kippur, aka the day of repentence dun dun dun.... So of course in my very own heretical fashion, I found a way to do a good deed by eating unkosher food!
Above is a gorgeous photo of a fried crawfish remoulade salad from Cafe Reconcile, restaurant pictured below.
The food is really fabulous here, but my favorite part about the restaurant is that we share the same tag line!! I knew "Feed Your Soul" was a good one.
One of my favorite reconcile dishes is their boneless fried chicken, to find out more about it check out Good Deed on a Dime at Liberty’s Kitchen and Cafe Reconcile.
cfe Reconcile sure kicks butt when it comes to good old fashioned soul food, but when it comes to salads, Liberty's Kitchen absolutely comes in first.
To find out more about this awesome salad read
Bon Appetite!
Liberty's Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Café Reconcile on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Horinoya

Horinoya: absolutely the best sushi I've had in the greater New Orleans area.
The pictures say it all.
Now that's what I call sashimi.... melt in your mouth, perfect cuts of raw fish, yummmmmm.
Great for a date night or a business lunch!  

Check it out!
Horinoya on Urbanspoon

And for your entertainment, you may want to watch this hilarious video from Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, about a real live shushi lady!!! Click here for the youtube link.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

A New Era

I have good news and bad news... Bad news is I no longer have much time to write these lovely posts, but the good news is I still have a million gorgeous pictures of scrumptious food that I just can't let go to waste. So for the time being, the Hungry Heretic is going to act as a gastronomic photo diary. I know that photos are at least 90% of why most people like food blogs so hopefully no one will be too disappointed. And to kick off this new phase of the Hungry Heretic, feast your eyes on the tantalizing pictures of Lilette, one of my favorite restaurants in the city, starting with my favorite dishWhite truffle parmigiano toast with wild mushrooms, marrow and veal glace -12- I'm literally drooling.

Raw fish plate of the day -13- (2nd best appetizer I've had)
Potato gnocchi with sage brown butter and
parmigiano cream -9.5-

Raw salad of brussel sprout, beet, onion, fennel, carrot, arugula, hazelnut and Banyuls vinaigrette -9.5-
 Bouillabaisse with lobster, scallop, cod, shrimp, clams, mussels and Alaskan king crab claw in a saffron-lobster broth with rouille crouton -38- 
Yummmmmm!!!!! Pricey but soooo good and enormous! It's big enough for two if you get apps. 
 Paneed black drum with Israeli cous cous, leeks,
tomato and ver jus mussel butter -28-
 Grilled Hawaiian fish of the day with braised escarole, 
sunchoke puree and satsuma-basil butter -31- The Basil was overwhelmingly delicious!
Quenelles of goats cheese crème fraiche with poached pears, pistachios and lavender honey -8.5-This dessert was what made me decide that Chef/Owner John Harris and I have the exact same taste in food, palette soul mates if you will. 
Lilette on Urbanspoon

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Company Burger

Out of all the articles I've written for OffBeat Magazine, In Good Company at The Company Burger has definitely received the most attention, and that is likely because these burgers are so darn good!!
Their classic Double is dripping with gooey delicious melted cheese, and topped with homemade pickles and farmers market red onion. Just look at it, it's practically begging you to take a bite of it.

Throw some bacon on top of that and you will literally reach palate nirvana. 

Their onion rings can convert even the most hard core dieter into a fried food lover. After taking one bite of these sweet crunchy red onions I decided to never have a white onion-onion ring again. Whoever thought of using red onions is a straight up genius. 

And in case you're more of a breakfast food lover you can always get a single with a fried egg and bacon on top (only $3 extra for both)!

And these are just the simple options, just wait till I try their lamb burger! If you don't believe my rave reviews you better go try it for yourself!!! Read more about it here: In Good Company at The Company Burger. Enjoy!!!
The Company Burger on Urbanspoon

Monday, September 12, 2011

NOLA Princess Parties

I recently started a new business and am launching my site today! Drum roll please..... I now am not only a food writer/waitress/non-profit slave, I'm also a party entertainer! Not just any kind of entertainer, a Princess Party Entertainer! This business venture is not exactly traditional, but it has been a pipe dream of mine since my 7th Birthday Party, when I had my very own Aladdin and Jasmine impersonators (a.k.a. my babysitter and her boyfriend).  So I am finally pursuing my dream career from childhood (yes, I am that desperate for extra cash and a job I can have fun with). I know many of my friends will laugh when they read this, but I need to spread the message on the web so I can get more customers!!!!

www.nolaprincessparties.com
 is tailored to girl's Birthday Parties, but I do all sorts of parties. Just name the occasion and I'll likely have a costume for it!

So tell your friends, sisters, brothers, parents, children, teachers, neighbors... There's a new Party Entertainer in town!

Check out www.nolaprincessparties.com to find out more about packages, booking, themes, and costumes!

Spread the word!!!!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Eating Miss Piggy: Cochon Butcher

To celebrate the new muppets film coming out I think everyone needs to go to Cochon Butcher and indulge in some of the best cured pig you will ever encounter. Just listen to the description on their website and drool over these mouthwatering photos: "Inspired by old world meat markets, Chef Donald Link + Chef Stephen Stryjewski’s Cochon Butcher in the Warehouse District specializes in house made artisan meats + sausages made on premise." Old world meat markets? Hell YES! They must do some Voodoo magic on their pigs because this meat is so heavenly it'll have you dreaming about it melting in your mouth for months to come.
The sandwich featured above is just about the most feminine pork prep I've ever tasted; succulent pork belly, fresh mint, and cuecumber give Miss Piggy some good competition for the daintiest pig around. It's litterally mind alteringly good.
If you're more of a Porky Pig kinda guy then you must try the Cuban with cochan de lait. It's just the kind of meal that warms your heart and soul. If comfort food and sandwiches had a baby it would be this cuban. It's like a hug from the inside. Try it. You'll thank me.
Cochon Butcher on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

East Buffet

Are you tired of eating at home? Can you only afford an appetizer at most restaurants? Don't worry, me too! That's why I've been on a serious hunt for affordable dinning in this city. In my most recent OffBeat Magazine tell-all A Buffet Revival at East Buffet I wrote about my rediscovery of all-you-can-eat buffets.

I was always a bit on the snobby side of the pan-asian buffet scene, but my tight budget led me down to Severn in Metairie and right to East Buffet. I was stunned to find some really tasty food displayed  under the glaring heat lamps.
  East Buffet carries all sorts of different delicacies and cuisines including Chinese, Japanese, Korean Hibachi, American, and tons of boiled Seafood.

Their salad bar had a wide array of different ethnic salads including Japanese seaweed salad, Vietnamese pickled carrot and Daikon and Korean Kimchi.

East Buffet had all the usual Chinese-American dishes including lo-mein, fried rice, and as many different styles of chicken as you can think of. 
They also had Tempura fried vegetables, green beans and many other hearty green vegetables (covered in super unhealthy sauces of course).

I was a little hesitant to try the sushi... something about all-you-can-eat and raw fish just doesn't seem to mesh well in my mind, but I decided to try it anyway and it was actually pretty good, not great, but good. And they have an entirely deep fried spicy crawfish roll that I think should definitely be at the next Louisiana State Fair!

Watch out Texas! This might be more unhealthy than deep fried butter!

 The best roll I had was the tiny seaweed salad and cucumber roll shown above... it actually was better than the seaweed salad itself.
Aside from sushi and Chinese, East Buffet is well worth your money for the seafood alone. Crawfish, shrimp crab, clams, octopus, everything!
 
The octopus salad was great with some soy sauce!
They even had pork buns!

And fried food galore!
Definitely not a healthy place to eat, but very tasty.
And their dessert is not much healthier: Chinese Doughnuts and Froyo! Yummmm!
 
 So don't let being on a budget be a buzz kill. Find out more about prices, hours and location (and what I thought of the food) in A Buffet Revival at East Buffet.
East Buffet on Urbanspoon