Destination: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Book: Galatoire’s: Biography of a Bistro(2004) by Marda Burton and Kenneth Holditch and New Orleans Cookbooks.
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. https://bit.ly/2FdOPBE
To summarize, the article starts by talking about Kenneth Holditch, author of Galatoire’s Biography of a Bistro.From the time he moved to New Orleans, Holditch made it a habit to dine at Galatoire’s, sometimes twice a week, and most of the time served by his favorite waiter, Gilberto Eyzaguirre. In 2002, Eyzaguirre was fired because two female employees had accused him of sexual advances. A month later, Kenneth Holditch presented the board of Galatoire’s with a bound volume of 124 letters protesting Eyzaguirre’s firing, with Holditch’s letter on the top. The letter writers include judges, lawyers, professors and Pulitzer prize winning writer, Richard Ford. This is serious stuff!
The flap over the waiter uncovers a New Orleans tradition of asking for your favorite waiter and expecting over the top personalized service, but also highlighted some changes that had crept into the tradition-bound Galatoire’s. New Orleans residents were having none of it!
The book, Galatoire’s: Biography of a Bistro, explains the entire history of this restaurant that like so many classic New Orleans restaurants was a closely-held family operation. How did it get the way it was and how did it change over the years?
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 that 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 earlier when I wrote 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 .
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 Cook Book: Sesquicentennial Edition
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.
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?
YUM! you’re sure making me want to head to NOLA soon.