[title type="h3"]Louisiana Seafood Festival, All Weekend, City Park.[/title]
We have a big eating festival this weekend, the first really major one in awhile. (Everything seems to stop cold in late August and early September.) The Louisiana Seafood Festival is known as much for its wanderings over the years as for the food there. The first two of its seven years, it took place on the Fulton Street pedestrian mall. It outgrew that and moved to the Old U.S. Mint. From there it drifted into Lafayette Square, where even a tremendous rainstorm failed to slow things down.
Two years ago the Seafood Festival found what it says is a permanent home in City Park. Specifically, it's that field adjacent to Christian Brothers' School. The event was very well attended, even though the parking for it required a bit of a walk. But walking through the park is not the end of the world.
You will recognize the format. Twenty-five restaurants--most of them well known, and including many white-tablecloth places--sell tasting plates of their dishes for modest prices. Entrance to the festival itself, with its continuous live music and cooking demos, is free. It opens midday today (Friday, September 4), and runs all day Saturday and Sunday.
Here's the whole list of all the food, with my recommendations noted with a » mark.
Acme Oyster House
Fried shrimp poor boy, fried oyster poor boy
The Blue Crab
Mini crab cakes, »shrimp pasta alfredo, blue crab dip
Boomtown Casino
Louisiana BBQ shrimp wrap, blackened alligator tacos, seafood ceviche bowl
Bourbon House
»New Orleans BBQ shrimp stuffed poor boy, »truffled seafood salad
Cafe Giovanni
»Shrimp remoulade roll, »Creole white beans & shrimp, shrimp pesto »Caprese salad
Cafe Reconcile
»Watermelon lemonade, »bananas Foster bread pudding
The Chicory
»Crawfish tapas, shrimp & portobello panini, chicken parmesan panini
Drago’s Seafood Restaurant
»Charbroiled oysters
Ernst Cafe
Crawfish nachos, »shrimp & bacon beignets, chicken tenders
Food Drunk
Louisiana crab & crawfish mac & cheese
Galatoire’s Restaurant
»Fried shrimp “BLT” poor boy, »shrimp remoulade, sweet potato pecan pie
Goodfellas Seafood and Poor boys
»Crawfish étouffée fries, who-dat shrimp, crawfish eggrolls
Jacques-Imo’s
Shrimp & alligator cheesecake, »citrus crab & artichoke salad, slow »roasted duck poor boy
Katie’s
»"The Legend" poor boy
LaDelyo’s Creole Catering
Fried catfish & fries, fried crawfish étouffée balls, cool & creamy shrimp pasta salad
Luke
»Shrimp & cheese grits, »blue crab & corn fritters
Miss Linda, The Ya-Ka-Mein Lady
Beef ya-ka-mein, shrimp & beef ya-ka-mein, »shrimp & crabmeat dressing over fried eggplant, »shrimp & crawfish curry pasta
Mr. Mudbug Catering
Sake-2-me nachos, »Cajun curry crawfish pies, red bean & rice
Red Fish Grill
»BBQ oyster poor boy, »oyster muffuletta
Royal House Oyster Bar
»Redfish beignets, shrimp & grits, »oyster macque choux
Saltwater Grill
Crawfish & spinach boat, grilled alligator sausage, crawfish pies
Seither’s Seafood
»Kung fu tuna, ice cream nachos, shrimp boil
Superior Seafood
Fried green tomato poor boy, »chicken & alligator sausage jambalaya
TJ Gourmet
»Crawfish bread, alligator sausage kabob with zydeco sauce, mango sorbet with rum sauce
Woody’s Fish Tacos
»Blackened fish tacos, »sautéed shrimp quesadilla, alligator sausage burrito
Live music will be playing throughout the three days of the festival, including more than a few familiar names.
The festivity is sponsored by the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board, a quasi-state entity whose finest hour lately is raising the image of Louisiana seafood around the country to the lofty peak it deserves. Proceeds from food and beverage sales go to the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation, which supports a number of local educational programs. The Festival at five Friday afternoon 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; it goes on until whenever all three days.
Louisiana Seafood Festival City Park Festival Grounds, Wisner @ Friedrichs
NOMenu invites restaurants or organizations with upcoming special events to tell us, so we might add the news to this free department. Send to news@nomenu.com.
[divider type=""]