French Quarter

The passing in 2015 of Chef Paul Prudhomme brought new attention to his seminal restaurant. A lot of people who hadn't dined there in awhile showed up to give their respects. They found, in contrast, the same jolly party that has always marked the scene at K-Paul's. The restaurant returns the favors. A few years ago they added a very casual lunch service, reminiscent of the way K-Paul's was in its early days. Chef Paul set up a unique Cajun-style deli, making outrageously good poor boy sandwiches and other casual eats, at everyday prices. The one I look forward to having again is the shepherd's pie, which launches that old school-cafeteria special into the flavor stratosphere. The Cajun deli lunches are back on Thursdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

CBD

Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd

One of the most important goals a restaurant must have is a good source of first-class raw materials. Even in the realm of seafood--which you'd think should be very abundant in our part of the world, but isn't--the person who buys food for a restaurant kitchen must either 1) pay top dollar; b) know somebody well-connected to the commercial fishermen; or iii) spend a lot of time on the phone tracking the every-changing seafood markets. Joe Impastato and his brother Sal do all three of those things. At Impastato's, for example, I often find soft-shell crabs when nobody else has them. Live soft-shells, at that. Can't fake that.