Latest Writing

What's Cooking

All posts

Tom's Recommendations

Featured Restaurants

All restaurants
Creole Italian

Lakeview

I vividly remember a dinner I had there a few years ago. Mr. Tony came to the table with the hug he's famous for. Dale, the dining room manager, came out too. "You want some tripe? We have some pasta puttanesca tonight. No, wait--pasta Milanese. Too bad you didn't come in last week, because we had the last of the home-grown cucuzzas." On and on. This is Tony Angello's. And then comes the food. Pasta in a shape I'd never seen before (like little horns), with chunks of beef and a spicy sauce of tomatoes and cream. Oysters Bienville, always good here. The artichoke soup. Last time I ate this was in early 1977, while working up a review. It tasted tonight exactly as it did then.

Seafood

French Quarter

Among the memories carried around by lifetime Orleanians, the circumstances surrounding the eating of one's first raw oyster loom vividly. For a long time, the population could be divided into those who had their first oyster at Felix's, and those who did so across the street at the Acme. What with all the oysters bars in town now, this effect has transmogrified into a predictor of the oyster-eater's age. If your first was from either Felix's or the Acme, you are probably over fifty.

Food Almanac — June 19

National Dry Martini Day

First Father's Day. Fat Cat. Sugar Pie. Cherry Garcia. Snail Bay. Dry Martinis. Kung Pao. Angel. Cheerios. Mint.

Read Today's Almanac
New Orleans food neon sign

On the Air

The Food Show

Join Tom Fitzmorris weekdays from 2–4 PM on 990 AM WGSO — 32 years of recipes, restaurant news, and New Orleans food culture.

Learn More

Follow Along

@nomenu

Photos, restaurant visits, market finds, and the food life of New Orleans — on Instagram.

Follow on Instagram
Commander's Palace Restaurant

Membership

45 Years of New Orleans Food Authority

Become a Five Star member and unlock the full Food Almanac, vintage print magazines (1977–1995), premium articles, and your exclusive Ciao Number.

Become a Member