Trading Bizarre Food for Soul Food 01/22/2012
 Andrew Zimmern gained national attention as a TV food personality on the Travel Channel with an unrefined palate. From spiders to pig’s brains, there really wasn’t anything that Zimmern won’t try. But this celebrity has had enough of the unappetizing cuisine. He has put down the fish heads, and picked up the knife and fork for something truly delicious: American cuisine. His new web series “Appetite for Life with Andrew Zimmern” visits some the most iconic eateries, where he samples some of the country’s more renowned foods. As the James Beard Award-winning celebrity makes his way across the South, he is taking full advantage of the comfort food! Recently he spent time in GA for some barbeque and burgers, before making his way to Chattanooga for some shrimp and grits. In his travels, Zimmern wants to visit places that were affected by natural disasters and see how the communities are coping. What he has found so far is nothing short of inspirational. Areas affected by flood, tornadoes, and soon hurricanes are rebuilding and moving forward. Not mention cooking! Now it is NOLA’s time to shine! Next Thursday, January 26th, the host will join WWNO’s “Louisiana Eats!” at the Crescent City Farmer’s Market. “Eats!” host, Poppy Tooker will help the Bizarre foodie make some shrimp etouffee for who ever comes out to Mid-City for the occasion. The cooking demonstration is taking place from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 26th. This will be at the Mid-City location of the Crescent City Farmer’s Market which is in the parking lot of the American Can Apartments. Add Comment  Kate Beckinsale is no stranger to New Orleans. She has been in and out of our great city during the filming on the new hit movie “Contraband”. If there is one thing that Kate loved about NOLA, it was definitely the food. She raved in a recent interview about the creole cuisine, and of course the trademark beignets! But, while the Hollywood starlet has been indulging in this comfort food, her costume for her upcoming film started to make her less-than-comfortable. Aside from playing the wife of a good-hearted smuggler in the thriller “Contraband”, Beckinsale also is known for her role as a vampire warrior in the “Underworld” series. For the role of Selene, the dark and powerful hero of the underworld, the actress wears a skin tight leather catsuit. In the past, this wardrobe choice hasn’t given her too much heartache. But after a few month stay in New Orleans, she started to get a little nervous. The costume hides hardly anything, even that extra bowl of gumbo. She commented, "It's got the worst kind of 'Underworld' suit food, really. So it was a miracle. I guess having had a lot of training for the first one, thank goodness, it wasn't quite as extensive as that but there were still a lot of complicated fight scenes to learn and stunts I hadn't done before and just the sheer terror of getting back into that suit, which is a bit like a put your bikini on and stand in Times Square kind of feeling”. After seeing Beckinsale at the Golden Globes… we hardly think she has ANYTHING to worry about!  Anthony Bourdain with actor Wendell Pierce in New Orleans It’s a side effect of Anthony Bourdain’s moonlighting on the “Treme” writing staff, but a tasty one. For Monday's (August 29) “No Reservations,” airing at 8 p.m. on the Travel Channel, Bourdain taps his new connections in the Crescent City and beyond to introduce his viewers – who are conditioned to expect the most exotic possible culinary destinations – to Linda Green’s ya ka mein and the transcendent fried chicken at Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans before heading into Cajun country. There, Bourdain hits Poche’s in Breaux Bridge, digs into a crawfish boil, and participates in a boucherie staged in Lakeview Park in Eunice. Bourdain kicks off the boucherie, the hour’s centerpiece, by capping the hog of honor. On camera. “It’s a uniquely American mix out there,” Bourdain said. “I’ll tell you, I was really surprised by the food. I knew it was going to be good. I knew about gumbo. I knew about crawfish boils. But I was really thrilled by the smothered dishes and slow stews. Those rich, deep, dark flavors they get going out there. I had a great time.” Continue reading about Bourdain's Cajun experience as well as his writing experience on "Treme" at NOLA.com  Thursday night (June 23) on "Late Show with David Letterman," Segel revealed that he dropped some significant weight recently. The impetus: His extended time in New Orleans last summer to shoot the Duplass brothers film "Jeff Who Lives at Home." While in town, he put on some serious weight, getting as heavy as 245 pounds, he said. To prove it he brought along a particuarly embarrassing photo to show Letterman. "My lowest point (came when) I shot a movie in New Orleans. New Orleans has, like, the best food and booze anywhere," Segel said, drawing applause from the "Late Show" studio audience. "Just amazing. Well, I really took advantage of it. And unfortunately my assistant had, like, a key to my room in case I overslept. And she came in one morning to wake me up and she took a bunch of pictures of what I had become." He then proceeded to show a photo of himself, sprawling out on his hotel bed, asleep -- and with Taco Bell wrappers covering his chest. Now, you know you have a problem when you fall asleep mid-meal. But when you come to New Orleans and eat yourself comatose on Taco Bell? That right there is what you call intervention time. "Honest to God, Jason, this looks like a crime scene," Letterman says. Continue reading at NOLA.com  Food Network's Guy Fieri WHO HE IS: The exuberant celebrity chef and host/judge on the Food Network is also a cookbook author and game-show host. WHERE TO SEE HIM: Fieri's "Guy Fieri Food Tour" touches down Saturday at 8 p.m. at Harrah's New Orleans casino. For information and tickets, visit harrahsneworleans.com. You also might remember Guy from his recent visit to Katie's Restaurant in Mid-City for his "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives" show on the Food Network. Now time for a little Q&A: Q: What is a food tour exactly? A: If you love food and being around food as much as I do, then you want to immerse yourself in it. We pair music, humor, culinary tips and cooking styles with it and bring in some wild-flair bartending from a crazy dude from Australia -- it's one gigantic food party. Q: You visited New Orleans before the Super Bowl. What was that like for you? A: We love New Orleans. Matter of fact, I was just doing a shoot in L.A., "Guy's Big Bite, " and we did a whole segment on po-boys. I told everyone they had to come to New Orleans. Q: What is it you love about Louisiana? A: The really good people, great food and a lot of character. When you're down there everyone treats you so good. Continue reading on NOLA.com By Jane Bokun, The Shreveport Times Sometimes the burgeoning movie industry in Shreveport can mean dollars — dining dollars to be exact. "The movie sets order from us," said Don O'Bryne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos in Bossier City. "Catering to the movie people has increased our profits and it's definitely been helpful to our economy." Now that Nu/Image Millennium Studios is officially open in Shreveport, dining here should be a continuous star-studded event, said Pam Glorioso, project coordinator for Bossier City. Even before construction began on the new 53,000-square-foot Nu/Image Millennium Studios project in December 2009, movies were filming in Shreveport, putting the city among the top film venues in the country. "The movie industry is spending direct dollars for the films they're making and they have to live, eat, dine and shop somewhere while they are here," Glorioso said. "They also like the fact that while they're dining here they're not inundated with paparazzi." During the past years, movies such as "Mad Money" (Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah), "The Guardian" (Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner), "Factory Girl" (Sienna Miller and Guy Pierce) and more have added dollars to the local economy. Erica Papillion, director of communications for the Louisiana Restaurant Association, said in Baton Rouge when crews were filming "Breaking Dawn," another film in the "Twilight" series, each time the actors ate anywhere that place was mobbed. "We don't have official records, but it's safe to say that anytime movie or television crews are shooting, it's a boon for the Louisiana restaurant economy," Papillion said. "In New Orleans, local crews will order hundreds of po-boys for their sets." Movie stars have been caught in national magazines such as US Weekly and People Magazine dining in Shreveport restaurants such as Wine Country, Cush's Grocery and Market, Columbia Café, Tokyo, Superior Grill and Superior Steakhouse. During the making of Nu/Image Millennium's "Playing the Field," now filming in Shreveport, cupcakes are ordered from Cush's Grocery and Market as a Friday surprise for cast members. "I like when they eat here, but mainly it's because the customers enjoy it," said Chris Cush, owner of Cush's Grocery and Market in Shreveport. "They're hoping to see Gerard Butler or Jessica Biel eating here. "The stars think it's a lot like Joan's on Third restaurant in Los Angeles," Cush said. "They like the atmosphere and the food is really good." Tony Wang, owner of Shreveport's Tokyo Japanese Restaurant and Bar, had a brush with the stars when actors Jessica Biel and Gerard Butler from "Playing the Field" and an entourage ate meals such as the chicken and fried rice at his restaurant. It was a double-edged sword Wang said because he doesn't want to bother the movie stars, but it's been good for business. "People have been eating here more hoping to see them again," Wang said. Whole Foods Market is going from feeding your stomach to feeding your head this week, as it brings its traveling Do Something Reel film festival to New Orleans. The festival -- which screens two new documentaries every Monday over the next three weeks at the Theatres at Canal Place -- focuses on eco films, particularly those involving food issues, environmental issues and health concerns. Tickets are $12 and are available at the Canal Place website. Local restaurant featured on cable TV show 03/21/2011
 Guy Fieri in Katie's kitchen Mid-city restaurant, Katie's, will be featured on tonight's episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. The host of the show, Guy Fieri, will be focusing on a seafood sandwich so large they call it The Barge. Look for Katie's tonight at 8pm central time on the Food Network. (Ps - Katie's food is amazing! Look for it in Mid-City!)     Stella on Chartres Street On Friday night actor Nicholas Cage was escorted by police back to his hotel. The incident took place at the famous French Quarter restaurant, Stella, located on Chartres Street. Sources say the actor was getting a little rowdy when a window was broken in the restaurant. Cage then had police escort him back to his hotel. No charges were filed on the actor. New Orleans critic in Treme 03/01/2011
 Food critic Alan Richman Acclaimed food critic and writer Alan Richman spent the months after Hurricane Katrina slamming not only the city of New Orleans, but also the people, culture, and most importantly, the FOOD. New Orleans is a city that falls in love with itself and pulls people in to fall in love with it, but not for Alan Richman. His false claims of New Orleans are too many to list, but likes to think of it as "a city of crooks". Now, almost five years after he wrote that terrible article in GQ magazine, Richman agrees to play himself in Treme Season 2. Anthony Bourdain, the famous chef, author, Travel Channel jet-setter, and Bravo judge has done lots of the writing for Treme. Irony of it all is that Richman is Bourdain's arch-enemy and Richman will be reading lines that Bourdain wrote specifically for him! I would say that is dangerous, but Bourdain knows the difference between this New Orleans drama and real life, he just wants to make good TV. It's quite impressive that Richman actually stepped up to the plate of a character that wasn't written for someone like Alan Richman, but for Alan Richman. HBO's New Orleans drama, Treme, premieres its second season on April 24, 2011. | AuthorJohn Robert Powers - New Orleans' premier Performing Arts Academy ~ Acting. Modeling. Singing. Dancing...Life!  ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll 
|
