Friday, March 19, 2010
Restaurants / Travel Advisory Hit the Road for the Road Food Festival
Posted by Chris Chamberlain on Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 9:36 AM
New Orleans is one of the great eating cities in America. It's also a cheap Southwest flight and a little over an hour away. That's barely enough time to use one of your Southwest drink coupons. Jane and Michael Stern are holding their annual Road Food Festival in the Big Easy next week from Friday, March 26, to Sunday March 28, and they'd love to see you there.
They will transform five blocks of Royal Street in the heart of the French Quarter into the world's greatest and funkiest food court, welcoming vendors from all over the country serving their specialties. For some local flavor, Franklin's own Henpeck Market will be dishing out their legendary pimento cheese to the appreciative masses.
Of special note to long-time NOLA lovers, Anthony and Gail Ugliesich are coming out of retirement to make their "Shrimp Uggie" and to be recognized at the opening night recption with the Roadfood Blue Plate Award, which honors the men and women who embody the best of America's regional cuisine.
Ugliesich's Restaurant was a rundown shack of a seafood joint in a pretty sketchy neighborhood of New Orleans where I used to arrive at 10:30 a.m. to ensure a spot at a plastic table for some of the best lunches I have ever enjoyed. Nicki Wood and I shared a particularly wonderful meal with our better halves years ago, which I will never forget.
If you get a wild hair, tickets are still on sale. You won't regret it.
Comments (6)
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If the Uglesiches would serve that crab-stuffed mirliton -- or the stuffed fried trout -- I might have to drop everything and go. That remains one of the epic eating experiences of my life.
Next time you're in New Orleans try the stuffed mirliton at Crabby Jack's. It's a short drive down Jefferson Hwy. I don't know if it's as good as Uglesiches, but everything else there is amazing. The restaurant is attached to a wholesale fish distributor. It's owned by the same chef that owns Jacques Imo's.
Am going the next week to visit family. Hoping to try Bayona. Thanks for the mirliton tip, Shannon!
Diana, get to Coop's at the back of the French Quarter. Scary dive, incredible food. I had a smoked duck quesadilla and a sausage and rabbit jambalaya that were indescribably good, and totaled less than $12. And go to Luc, in the CBD, but walking distance from the Quarter. Charcuterie board was stupendous.And report back to Bites.
