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Chili Chick becomes Gumbo Girl while visiting New Orleans
By Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady
Everyone has their favorite food. Mine is chocolate. But
every so often, I go on a binge of other foods and flavors.
Next weekend, I am a judge at a Chili Festival in Grand
Prairie, Texas. I am preparing my palate for the hot stuff ahead.
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/March05/1333ChiliCookoff.htm
But this past week I was in New Orleans and indulged in
Gumbo, a staple of the Creole diet and a menu item on every New Orleans
restaurant worth its seafood and sausage.
Of course, every self respecting Cajun chef has a secret
gumbo recipe and Chef Chuck Subra is no exception. I tried his gumbo at La Côte
Brasserie my first night of a week of eating at all the best restaurants in New
Orleans, and he certainly set the bar.
Maybe it was love at first bite. Or at least first swallow.
Chuck's gumbo is a Duck and Andouille Gumbo, priced at $5.
And I am not the only one that loves it. His secret recipe recently won a top
medal at the 1st Annual Wendell Gautier Gumbo Cook-Off.
In 2004, Subra participated in the 5th Annual Gumbo
Cook-Off for the United Way of Greater New Orleans where he was awarded the
Jamie Shannon Award, an honor bestowed on a restaurant or chef whose philosophy
and deeds exemplify the charitable giving of the late Commander’s Palace Chef
Jamie Shannon.
I am a nice Jewish girl. When I was growing up, my family
judged a cook by their chicken noodle or matzo ball soup. I don’t think I ever
even tasted gumbo until I was more or less an adult.
Executive Chef/Proprietor Chuck Subra at La Côte Brasserie
was raised in New Iberia, Louisiana with a passion for Cajun cuisine, a love of
his grandmother’s cooking and an appreciation of the abundant seafood available
in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.
Subra obtained a diploma in Culinary Arts in New Orleans and continued honing
his skills at some of the city’s top restaurants, including Versailles, Charley
G’s and René Bistrot. Later, under the tutelage of French Master Chef René
Bajeux, he further developed his culinary skills at the esteemed Windsor Court
Grill Room, which was once the only Mobil Five Star and American Automobile
Association Five Diamond restaurant in the city.
Subra later followed Bajeux to René Bistrot in 2001 where he was promoted to
Executive Sous Chef. Subra studied Bajeux’s “Terroir” or “cooking of the earth”
philosophy, utilizing food from the regions of which they originate, and
techniques which bring forth the flavor of the original ingredients. This new
philosophy, combined with his love of Cajun cuisine and passion for home
cooking, proved the perfect match for La Côte Brasserie’s contemporary Louisiana
cuisine.
Chef Chuck Subra resides in New Orleans with his wife Leslie.
For More Information
La Côte Brasserie
700 Tchoupitoulas Street
New Orleans, LA 70130 (Arts District)
Reservations 504.613.2350
Fax 504.613.2364
www.lacotebrasserie.com
Helpful Websites
www.neworleanscvb.com
www.neworleansonline.com
Where to Stay
Renaissance Arts Hotel
700 Tchoupitoulas Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 USA
Phone: 1-504-613-2330
Fax: 1-504-613-2331
Toll-free: 1-800-431-8634
Chateau Sonesta Hotel New Orleans
800 Iberville Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
P: 504-586-0800
800-SONESTA
http://www.sonesta.com/neworleans_chateau/
What I Wish I Had Known Before I Went to New Orleans
There are two kinds of people who go to New Orleans, those
who want to party and those who don’t. If you don’t plan to stay up all night,
be sure to express that preference when you check in and request a quiet room,
perhaps on a courtyard. Or consider staying outside the quarter if you value a
good night’s sleep.
I stayed at a to-be-nameless hotel (not in either of the
two hotels recommended above) in the quarter and called down to the front desk
because of all the noise. They were prepared. They sent up earplugs. That was
not enough. Two sleeping pills and six hours later, I learned there was a long
list of people who wanted to change rooms. I waited (and slept) all day in my
room waiting for another room, wanting to be sure not to loose my place on that
special list. The helpful front desk person told me that more people than usual
had called down to complain the night before.
Best Place To Get Online For Free
201 St. Charles in the food court Monday to Friday 9am to
4pm
Great Guidebooks
Feet On The Street
Rambles Around New Orleans
By Roy Blount, Jr.
Crown Journeys
www.randomhouse.com
Insight Guides New Orleans
From Discovery Channel
www.insightguides.com
Access New Orleans
HarperResource/Access Press
www.harpercollins.com
New Orleans
Eyewitness Travel Guides
Over 700 pictures
DK PUBLISHING
WWW.dk.com
2005 New Orleans Restaurants
With bonus Nightlife section
ZagatSurvey
www.zagat.com
Stories In Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism
and Iconography
Written and photographed by Douglas Keister
Dead men may tell no tales, but their tombstones do—and now there is a book that
will help anyone become an expert on just what it is they are trying to tell us.
Graveyard tours and funerary architecture are HUGE in New Orleans so you may
want to study up.
Gibbs Smith, Pubisher
www.gibbs-smith.com
Helpful Map
MAPQUEST NEW ORLEANS City Map . This large scale detailed
street map folds up to 2”x3”
I’ll DRINK TO THAT
The Museum of the American Cocktail is dedicated to providing education in
mixology and preserving the rich history of the American Cocktail. The exhibit
is on display at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum at 514 Chartres Street, now
through September 2005- over two hundred years of cocktail memorabilia from the
outstanding collections of the founders.
BEST WALKING TOUR
The Scandals Tour
Great Tour
Since July of 2004, City Segway Tours has been gliding through the city of New
Orleans offering a new way for tourists and residents to visit the popular
historical sites of this fabulous city. The 3-4 hour tour begins at the golden
Joan of Arc statue in front of the office, then heads to Governor Nicholls
Street Wharf before moving along the riverfront through Woldenberg Park to the
Aquarium of the Americas and Harrah's Casino. Riders then take the ferry across
the river to Algiers Point, glide down the Jazz Walk of Fame to visit Mardi Gras
World and through the streets of Algiers. The tour crosses the river again,
heads down the Riverwalk to end back at the Joan of Arc statue.
If you are not familiar with the Segway HT, it is the first
self-balancing, electric-powered transporter designed to enhance the
productivity of people by increasing the distance they travel and the amount
they can carry. The Segway HT uses a breakthrough technology called dynamic
stabilization, enabling it to work seamlessly with the body's movements. It
operates in any pedestrian environment and is perfect for City Segway Tour
purposes.
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