Galatoire's waiter
Destination: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Book: Galatoire’s: Biography of a Bistro(2004) by Marda Burton and Kenneth Holditch
New Orleans’ visitors intent on finding a good meal, have only one problem. How do you choose among all those excellent restaurants? And book lovers and cooks face a similar problem if they want to learn about Cajun or Creole food, because it seems that for every famous NOLA restaurant, authors have penned at least three books.
If you are a traveler who looks for the restaurant that embodies the culture of your destination, and want to eat where the knowledgeable locals eat, you’ll head for Galatoire’s in New Orleans. Restaurants are taken seriously in this city, as is eating and cooking. In no other city that I know of, can a raucous scandal erupt over the firing of a waiter. It happened in New Orleans. (Note: this is a rather long article, but intriguing and amusing.)
I plead guilty to writing a biased review. I am happy to say that Kenneth Holditch, co-author of Galatoire’s: Biography of a Bistro, (and author of a blistering letter upon the firing of the waiter) is a friend of mine, and I have dined with him at Galatoire’s. I mentioned his guided tour of New Orleans in an earlier post about Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. Holditch and freelance writer Marda Burton, both long-time residents of New Orleans, and patrons of Galatoire’s wrote a delicious book with all the history and the gossip included. Theirs is not a cookbook, although they do include a few recipes, but it gives a great taste of New Orleans, and I highly recommend it.
For cookbooks, you can turn to two other books about the Creole cooking of Galatoire’s: Galatoire’s Cookbook: Recipes and Family History from the Time Honored New Orleans Restaurant (2005) by Melvin Rodrique and Jyl Benson or Leon Galatoire’s Cookbook (1994) by Leon Galatoire. The Louisiana cookbook that I use in my own kitchen was published by the Times Picayune newspaper. The Picayune’s Creole Cookbook, Sesquitennial Edition (1984) celebrated the papers 150th anniversary. You may be able to find a copy, but they are now rare.
Do you have favorite foodie books for New Orleans–please share in the comment section. If you’re a regular here, you will notice that the sharing buttons below look different. Actually you now have more choices of ways to share A Traveler’s Library.
Don’t miss our other articles about New Orleans:
New Orleans as Seen by Faulkner
Tags: Creole, Galatoire's, Ken Holditch, Marda Burton, New Orleans, New Orleans restaurnat, NOLA, recipes
YUM! you’re sure making me want to head to NOLA soon.
I laughed aloud at the Times-Picayune piece on the firing of Gilberto Eyzaguirre. Classic New Orleans! Thanks so much for posting the link.
Not long after Gilberto was sacked, a local theater mounted a play called “The Galatoire’s Letters,” based on the outraged letters of protest sent to Galatoire’s management. I’ve heard that ticket sales were brisk, and that the play enjoyed a successful run.
So you lunched with Dr. Holditch. Was it sazeracs all around?
If you liked the original Times Picayune cookbook, check out the second one. They printed Cooking up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, after Katrina when everyone lost thier first copy.
Twitter: pen4hire
says:
Saw a copy of Cooking up a Storm when I was in NOLA, but don’t have a copy yet. The second one is sooooo complete, I can’t imagine what could be added.