Special Report

Friday-Sunday, April 13-15 Eater's Guide to the 2007 French Quarter Festival I'm not exaggerating: This year's French Quarter Festival promises the best food in the history of the event. I've looked over the list and found that not only are all of the best restaurants back again, but that a startling number of new food vendors will be there. Antoine's? Yes. I love the stndards the Festival sets for its vendors. They have to be restaurants, and chain restaurants are actively discouraged. French Quarter restaurants get special consideration, for obvious reasons. Everything is allegedly appetizer size, although I find that three items about fills me up for the day. The prices are so low as to constitute a major bargain. The best plan is to share things, and to pace yourself. The food starts being served at eleven in the morning all three days. It goes on until seven in the evening at the Mint and Jackson Square, but continues until nine along the riverfront (seven Sunday). Beverages of all kinds are served in all the food areas. The food booths only accept cash and Festival tickets. However, there are booths where you can use your credit card to buy the tickets. Here's a list, provided by the French Quarter Festival, of all the food being served at the three major areas where the food and music are concentrated. I have annotated it with my recommendations, based on what I've found in past years, or the vendor's track record, if they're new to the festival. * Recommended. Try it if the dish appeals to you. ** Outstanding. Try it even if it doesn't appeal to you. *** Essential. Not to be missed. Maps, schedules for the music, and much more information is at the French Quarter Festival website. See you there!--Tom. Old U.S. Mint Decatur at Esplanade Amy's Vietnamese Café *Grilled Salmon in Special Asian Sauce $6 *Grilled Chicken with Lemon Grass $5 Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce 2 for $5 Crawfish Egg Roll $2   Eat New Orleans *Roast Beef Debris Po-Boy $5 Shrimp and Garlic Cheese Grits $5 *Black Beans and Roast Pork $4 **Buttermilk Pie  $3    Tomatillo's *Beef Tamales con Salsa Roja $3, 2 for $5 Chicken or Beef Tacos 2 for $5 *Flan $5 Pearl Restaurant *Yellow Rice and Chicken Legs in Hot Sauce  $5 Stuffed Bell Peppers $6 Combo Plate (One Pepper, One Leg and Rice)  $7 German Chocolate Cake  $4 Red Velvet Cake  $4 Uptown Cajun **Chicken and Five Sausage Gumbo $4 Cajun Pork Jambalaya $4 *Boudin   $3   Woldenberg Park Along the Riverfront, St. Peter to Iberville Streets Kohlmeyer Lawn Copper Monkey Turkey Legs $5 Corn on the Cob $3 Corky's BBQ **BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich $5 Grilled Hamburger $5 Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich $5 Ernst Café *Alligator Sauce Picante $5 Puff Pastry Oyster Patty $5 Strawberry Crepe $3   Two for $5 Juan's Flying Burrito **Shrimp Juaha Roll  $4 (half roll) $7 (whole) Cheese Quesadilla $3 Add Chicken $4 Add Gulf Shrimp $5 *Nachos with Homemade Queso $4 Ralph and Kacoo's *Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya $4 *Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce $4 Slice Pizzeria **Caprese Bruschetta $4 Shrimp Portofino $5 What A Cookie! $2 Star Steak and Lobster Blackened Catfish Sandwich $5 Berger Great Lawn Audubon Nature Institute **Crawfish Bread $5 Barreca's Restaurant **Crawfish Etouffee $5 **Chicken Andouille Jambalaya $5 **Crawfish Remoulade Salad $5 ***Alligator Sausage Po-Boy with Creole Sauce $5 Bennachin **Jamaican Chicken with Rice andVeggies $6 **Caribbean Fish with Rice and Veggies $6 Beef Pattie  $3 *Sweet Potato Pie  $3 Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Lt. Dan's Skewer with 3 Shrimp and 2 Andouille Sausage $4 Shrimp Cakes (two)  $4 Combo (one skewer and one shrimp cake)  $6 The Clock Bar at the Chateau Sonesta Hotel *Cajun Pulled Pork Wrap with Salsa and Cole Slaw $5 Oreo Cookie Bread Pudding  $4 Gumbo Shop *Red Beans and Rice $4 *Chicken Andouille Gumbo $4 Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Chips $4 Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Small $3.50/ Large $5 Hard Rock Café Hamburger with Chips $5 Pulled Pork Sandwich with Chips $5 Ninja Restaurant *Chicken Teriyaki on a Stick $4 *Chicken Teriyaki on Rice $4 *Shrimp Yakisoba  $4 Combination (Yakisoba and Chicken Teriyaki) $6 Praline Connection ***Grilled Chicken Livers with Sweet Hot Pepper Jelly Sauce $5 Mustard Greens and Rice   $5 **Combo Meal (Greens with Livers or Wings)  $6 Cheesecake with Praline Sauce   $4 **Pralines    $2 Serranos Salsa Company Chicken Taco $5 Fish Taco $5 Beef Taco $5 Ted's Frostop/Mrs. Wheat's Pies ***Cajun Meat Pies $4 each or two for $7 **Crawfish Pies $4 each or two for $7 Palm Lawn (Hibernia Pavilion) Flour Power **Bananas Foster Cake  $3  **Strawberry Creole Cream Cheese Bavarian $4 **Praline Crème Brulee  $4 **Chocolate Chicory Mousse Cake $4 Frank's Restaurant **Muffuletta  $5 Italian Meatball Sandwich $6 *Italian Cannoli  $4.50 GW Fins   **Shrimp Etouffee $5 Rib Room at the Omni Royal Orleans **Shaved Prime Rib on Pistolette $5 Rotolo's Pizzeria Cheese Pizza Slice $3 Pepperoni Pizza Slice $4 Mushroom Pizza Slice $4 Sortez Café Crawfish and Andouille Pasta Salad $5 *BBQ Shrimp Po-Boy  $6 **Chorizo con Papas  $5 **Tres Leches  $3 Jackson Square The Alibi *Barbeque Shrimp Po-Boy $6 *Barbeque Shrimp Pasta $6 The Alpine Restaurant Blackened Catfish Sandwich $5 Antoine’s **Oysters Bonne Femme  $5 ***Crawfish Bisque      $5 Begue's at the Royal Sonesta Hotel ***Seafood Pasta with Lobster Brandy Sauce $5 **Macerated Strawberry Shortcake $4 Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Small $3 / Large $5 The Bombay Club *Beef Brisket Sandwich $5 Cajun Chicken Strudel $5 Bywater Bar-B-Que *Oyster and Artichoke Florentine $4 **Oyster Rockefeller Bisque $5 Cajun Chicken and Tasso Over Rice $5 *BBQ Ribs  $5 Crepes a la Cart **Strawberry Crepe $5 *Nutella Crepe $5 *Strawberry and Nutella Crepe $5 Desire Oyster Bar **Cajun Jambalaya  $5 ***Bread Pudding with Cajun Whiskey Sauce $3 Jacques-Imo's Cafe ***Slow Roasted Duck Po-Boy $5 ***Cochon de Lait Po-Boy $5 *Roast Beef Po-Boy $5 **Boudin with Creole Mustard Sauce $5 Muriel's Jackson Square ***Louisiana Crawfish and Goat Cheese Crepes $4 *Shrimp and Eggplant Stuffing  $4 The Red Maple *Crab Cake with Cool Remoulade $5 Ristorante Carmelo and Pizza *Cheese Pizza  $3 *Pepperoni Pizza  $3.50 **Crabmeat Ravioli Aurora $5 *Italian Sausage and Peppers Sandwich $5 **Calzone  $5 Saltwater Grill and Oyster Bar *Blackened Soft Shell Crab Po-Boy $5 Shrimp and Crabmeat Gumbo  $4 **Grilled Jumbo Shrimp and Andouille Skewer with Pepper Jelly Glaze $5 Sweet Potato Pie  $2 Ted's Frostop/Mrs. Wheat's Pies ***Cajun Meat Pies $4 each or two for $7                                      **Crawfish Pies $4 each or two for $7 Trey Yuen Cuisine of China **Crawfish with Lobster Sauce $6 **Crawfish Fried Rice $5 Egg Rolls (2 per order) $4 Combo (One of each) $8 Tujague's *Shrimp and Crabmeat Stuffed Merliton with Creole Sauce $5 **Brisket of Beef with Horseradish Sauce  $4 Vaucresson Sausage Company ***Creole Hot Sausage Po-Boy $5 *Creole Crawfish Sausage Po-Boy $5 Special Report I hope you have a great New Orleans meal today! Tastefully yours, Tom Fitzmorris © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. For information on your subscription, to change your address, to cancel, or to order subscriptions for friends, write 5star@nomenu.com.