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Ruby Slipper Kicks in Great Food to Feed the First

February 28, 2017 by Charlie London

Ruby Slipper Kicks in Great Food to Feed the First

 

The officers in the First District of the New Orleans Police Department received a special treat courtesy of the Ruby Slipper. The officers had the opportunity to feast on shrimp and grits with biscuits from the Ruby Slipper. Many thanks to The Ruby Slipper for contributing year after year to the Feed the First initiative.

The Ruby Slipper Café is a family-owned & operated business and open to serve diners 363 days a year at five New Orleans locations (Marigny, Mid-City, Canal St., CBD on Magazine St. and Uptown on Magazine St.), as well as locations in Baton Rouge, Pensacola, FL and Orange Beach, AL. The Ruby Slipper Café was inspired by a powerful sense of homecoming when returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and has expanded across the Southern Gulf Region since opening in 2008. The Ruby Slipper Café brings New Orleans flair to southern breakfast standards, brunch classics, fresh lunch dishes and eye-opening cocktails.

The Ruby Slipper Cafe’s mission is to enrich the lives of our guests, employees and owners through superior quality food and beverages, excellent customer service, sales growth and cost controls. We believe that our success depends upon creating and retaining a staff capable of delivering an exceptional dining experience to every customer, every time.

The Ruby Slipper Cafe was founded in May 2008, after Hurricane Katrina devastated our Mid-City neighborhood. In the recovery from that life-changing storm, Erich and Jennifer found an opportunity to turn a blighted corner store into a vibrant gathering place where neighbors could enjoy excellent Breakfast, Lunch & Brunch fare in a casual and inviting atmosphere. The Ruby Slipper Cafe Mid-City (139 S. Cortez St) was an instant success, and by Fall 2009, The Ruby Slipper Cafe was awarded a coveted spot in Brett Anderson’s list of the Top 100 Restaurants, featured in the Times-Picayune Fall 2009 Dining Guide. One of only four breakfast spots featured, we were thankful for this great recognition.

In April 2010, The Ruby Slipper Cafe was reviewed by renowned New Orleans food critic Tom Fitzmorris and awarded Three Stars (“Worth Crossing Town For”), stating that “The menu is as creative as any this side of Brennan’s, and uses excellent fresh ingredients carrying pedigrees you’d find in a gourmet bistro (applewood-smoked bacon, stone-ground grits, and fresh local shrimp, to name three). Particularly good is the restaurant’s use of local flavors not often seen at breakfast. Like pork or duck debris, or bananas Foster.”

In December 2010, Ruby Slipper Cafe Downtown (200 Magazine Street in the CBD) opened and has become a popular destination for tourists, business people and local residents alike. In November 2012, Ruby Slipper Cafe proudly added its Marigny location at 2001 Burgundy Street. This location also is home to the business headquarters. In January 2014, Ruby Slipper Cafe added a second downtown location at 1005 Canal Street in the French Quarter. In July 2015, Ruby Slipper Cafe opened its first location outside of New Orleans, located at 509 Palafox Street in Downtown Pensacola, Florida. In June 2016, Ruby Slipper Café opened its newest location in Orange Beach, Alabama, located at 24151 Perdido Beach Boulevard.

Check out their menu at http://www.therubyslippercafe.net/menus/

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: cafe, great food in new orleans, nawlins, New Orleans, new orleans food, restaurant, ruby slipper, shrimp and grits

Pirogues on Broad

December 19, 2015 by Charlie London

by Todd Price, NOLA.com

pirogues

Bayou Road might be the most curious stretch in New Orleans. It has a record store, a reggae club, a Jamaican restaurant, an art center and a coffee shop shaped like a Pagoda. Now that Pirogues is open on the corner of Bayou Road and Broad Street, the strip also has another place to eat.

Here are five things to know about the new bar and restaurant:

The no-frills decor has a vaguely swamp theme, with netting and a cottonmouth pirogue hanging behind the bar. “I wanted to fit right in with the corner,” said owner Albert Silvera.

The kitchen stays open late with options like a bacon and cheddar panini ($6.50), pork tacos ($6) and vegetarian chili ($5.95). See menu below.

Silvera, who’s also the chef, has cooked at Doris Metropolitan and the now-closed Rambla. He used to have a tapas restaurant in Los Angeles. But at Pirogues, he tried to keep his fine dining instincts in check.

pirogues1

Pirogues has a full bar with a small selection of bottled and canned beers.
The house drink, a combination of Espolón tequila, ginger beer and orange juice is called the Cottonmouth ($7) in honor of the boat behind the bar.

Pirogues is open daily from noon to midnight. The kitchen stays open all night.

Pirogues: 2565 Bayou Rd., New Orleans, 504.948.6349

PirogueMenue

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: bar, bayou road, bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, broad, faubourg st john, New Orleans, pirogue, restaurant

Buy You Breakfast at Bayou Breakfast

November 1, 2015 by Charlie London

Derek and Idolka Villavaso opened Bayou Breakfast at 3111 Grand Route Saint John today.

On November 2, 2015, Ian McNulty wrote:
If a good hearty breakfast is the cure for what ails you, the former home of a neighborhood pharmacy in Faubourg St. John may still do the trick as a new cafe with seafood omelets, chicken and waffles and sweet potato pancakes.

Bayou Breakfast opened over the weekend at 3111 Esplanade Ave., in the building that was long home to De Blanc Pharmacy. That neighborhood standby closed in 2013, and the building later had a short stint as a frozen yogurt franchise.

Proprietors Idolka and Derek Villavaso have run a number of other businesses around town, and they saw a need for more breakfast service.

“That’s one thing everyone seems to want and we don’t have enough of,” said Derek Villavaso, who is also a partner in the Frenchmen Street restaurant and music venue Vaso.

Inside Bayou Breakfast, there’s a diner counter, a collection of tables and booths and a décor mixing cartoon images of alligators and bayou scenes with stylized photos of the Villavasos’ own children. They plan to add outdoor seating as well. The menu (see link below) is an extensive roster of mostly breakfast and brunch dishes, plus a few po-boys. Creole flavors are prominent, with beignets drizzled with chocolate sauce, catfish and grits and BBQ shrimp among the options. There are conventional breakfast plates, and also vegan versions with scrambled tofu, and the kitchen serves a selection of lighter starts. For instance, the chia pudding is a coconut milk pudding studded with chia seeds for a tapioca-like texture, topped with fruit and honey.

The menu also has a few Latin American breakfast items, a nod to the heritage of Idolka Villavaso. A native of Nicaragua, she ran her homespun restaurant La Cocinita Escondida on Freret Street long before that area bloomed into a restaurant row, and before the city had many traditional Latin American restaurants. Her family now operates Sarita’s Grill from the same location.

Bayou Breakfast does not serve alcohol, though the owners said they plan to apply for a liquor license to do so in the future.

The Villavasos have a second, separate venture in the works in the Warehouse District, where they’re developing a juice bar called Joose Heaven at 841 Fulton St. The café will serve cold press juice, salads, smoothies and other light fare, and is expected to open in the next few weeks.

Bayou Breakfast

3111 Grand Route St. John, 504-252-9129

Breakfast and lunch daily

Article by Ian McNulty courtesy THE ADVOCATE.

Many thanks to Ronnie Brink for dropping off the menu for Bayou Breakfast that you can see below:

bayoubreakfast1
bayoubreakfast2
bayoubreakfast3bayoubreakfast4bayoubreakfast5

Filed Under: HISTORY Tagged With: bayou breakfast, bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, eat, esplanade, faubourg st john, grand route, New Orleans, restaurant, villavaso

How Can the Refresh Project Serve You?

January 6, 2015 by Charlie London

refreshing-chat

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13th at 6 pm in Liberty’s Kitchen at 300 North Broad in New Orleans.

Filed Under: More Great Posts! Tagged With: bienville, broad, grocery, law office, mid-city, movies, New Orleans, refresh, refresh project, restaurant, theater, whole foods

Hop on Over to Santa Fe for Easter

April 18, 2014 by Charlie London

SANTAFEDear friends,
This year is going by so fast…..

This Sunday April 20th we’ll be having a special Easter brunch accompanied by our favourite Brazilian musician/ composer Ricardo Crespo.

Jazz Fest descends upon us on April 25 this year and we’ll be celebrating 5 de Mayo on Monday May 5th with festive live Latin jazz provided by Brent Rose and friends. We will take a short 2 day break after Jazz Fest and 5 de Mayo to catch our breath and recharge our batteries at Santa Fe……

This meal, featuring home made biscuits, meat from Terranova's all wonderfully prepared is only available from Santa Fe and only on Sundays!
This meal, featuring home made biscuits, meat from Terranova’s all wonderfully prepared is only available from Santa Fe and only on Sundays!

We’ll be having a very special Mothers’ day brunch filled with surprises on Sunday May 11th

We’ll continue non-stop until our yearly beach-break in August, (August 11th-20th), back to celebrate our 5th anniversary with you on Thursday August 21st.

Looking forward to seeing you all very soon! With our warmest regards,
Santa Fe
3201 Esplanade Avenue
Mid City New Orleans 70119
http://www.santafenola.com/
For reservations 504 948 0077/ 0060

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: bayou st john, faubourg st john, New Orleans, nola, restaurant, santa fe

Krishna Flyer Spurs Controversy

April 7, 2012 by Charlie London

2012 Krishna flyer below

<---Click on the 2012 Krishna flyer for a larger view.

The flyer from the Krishnas that you can view in the link below specifically mentions that the court case affects their ability to sell food. The city council passed a law cracking down on aggressive solicitation, and the Hare Krishnas are seeking to have it overturned.

https://fsjna.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/krishna-restaurant-2012.jpg

The Krishnas are filing Civil Action Number 71-684. The Deputy City Attorneys came to the following conclusion concerning this issue:
CONCLUSION
The plaintiffs have failed to plead that they have standing in the present action and have failed to plead a cause of action. The Aggressive Solicitation Ordinance does not violate the plaintiffs First Amendment rights as it places reasonable content-neutral time, manner and place restrictions that serve a compelling governmental interest. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ Complaint ought to be dismissed. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ACTUAL COURT DOCUMENTS

https://fsjna.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/KRISHNA-COURT-CASE2.pdf

In the link please find the plaintiff’s argument (Krishnas) and the defendants response (City of NO). The Krishnas filed their complaint in response to City Ordinance 28682 which prohibits agressive solicitation. The ordinance is also included in the PDF.

https://fsjna.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/KRISHNA-COURT-CASE2.pdf

The Krishnas distributed the flyer in the link below in order to drum up support. The flyer states, “Judge Lemmon will make very important decisions which determine whether the Hare Krishnas can collect funds for their free food programs.”

https://fsjna.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/krishna-restaurant-2012.jpg

Based on the misleading information distributed in the Krishna flyer, neighbors voiced their concerns. FSJNA obtained the court documents in this link on April 9, 2012 and the issue was discussed at the April 9, 2012 FSJNA Board meeting.

1983

Residents claim the Krishnas at 2936 Esplanade Avenue have caused parking problems, committed building code violations, stripped gardens to decorate their altar and brought transients into the neighborhood with their free meal program.

On September 19, 1983, the Krishnas appeared before the Board of Zoning Adjustments asking to build a small addition to their temple. The board denied the request, in part because the addition would have extended over the Krishna’s property line.

Members of the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association appeared at the meeting with a petition signed by 46 residents, saying the Krishnas are a detriment to the neighborhood.

The Krishnas own the Esplanade temple and rent 22 apartments in 10 buildings in the vacinity, most of them on Gayoso, Desoto and Crete streets. In New Orleans, it is illegal for more than four unrelated adults to live together.

Click here for the extensive article about the Krishnas operation in the October 9, 1983 Times Picayune.

2007

Neighbors report:
Krishnas yelling to get each other’s attention at all hours of the night, play loud music, use vacuum cleaners on the cabs at 3 am and park next to fire hydrants and in driveways of others.

Krishnas 2007

2012

The flyer from the Krishnas that you can view in the link below specifically mentions that the court case affects their ability to sell food. The city council passed a law cracking down on aggressive solicitation, and the Hare Krishnas are seeking to have it overturned.
https://fsjna.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/krishna-restaurant-2012.jpg

The Krishnas add to the eclectic mix of people in Faubourg St. John but the neighbors don’t like the negative impact their actions have on the quality of life in their neighborhood.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

Filed Under: Zoning Issues Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, business, esplanade, faubourg, faubourg st john, hari, krishna, krishnas, New Orleans, non-profit, restaurant

Happy New Year

December 1, 2011 by Charlie London

Santa Fe Restaurant is preparing to host a memorable New Year’s Eve party at 3201 Esplanade Avenue on December 31st which is going to include:-
*an amazing jazz trio with Eileina Dennis, Jason Stuart and Todd Duke, *dinner specials will include Chilean seabass, New Zealand lamb, lobster, duck, scrumpcious desserts and more….
*our patio will be covered (clear) and heated for your comfort throughout this winter.

Please make your reservations as early as possible, call 504 948 0077 (the restaurant) or Lale on my cell phone 504 512 1828
***
Last but not least, we want to wish all of you the best of health, happiness and wealth in 2012.

With warm regards,
Lale E. & Carlos A. Lourenco
Santa Fe Restaurant
3201 Esplanade Avenue, NOLA 70119
Tel: 504 948 0077

Filed Under: More Great Posts! Tagged With: bayou st john, faubourg st john, fe, fsjna, new, party, restaurant, santa, year

NOCCA Fundraiser at Santa Fe

December 1, 2011 by Charlie London

On Tuesday December 20th, we are having a NOCCA fundraiser from 6pm onwards. Students of NOCCA classical music department headed by Dr. Jee Yeon Ko will be performing as well as some of the teachers and parents. We shall be donating 20% of the evening’s proceeds to NOCCA’s classical music department to help with the puchase of costly instruments needed by the students.

If you appreciate the arts, especially classical music and cello, please stop by and join us for dinner on Tuesday December 20th and help us make a difference in our community.
***
Also, we are preparing to host a memorable New Year’s Eve party at Santa Fe on December 31st which is going to include:-
*an amazing jazz trio with Eileina Dennis, Jason Stuart and Todd Duke, *dinner specials will include Chilean seabass, New Zealand lamb, lobster, duck, scrumpcious desserts and more….
*our patio will be covered (clear) and heated for your comfort throughout this winter.

Please make your reservations as early as possible, call 504 948 0077 (the restaurant) or Lale on my cell phone 504 512 1828
***

Last but not least, we want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and the best of health, happiness and wealth in 2012. Kindly be advised that we shall be closed for Christmas on Saturday December 24, Sunday December 25th and Monday December 26th.

With warm regards,
Lale E. & Carlos A. Lourenco
Santa Fe restaurant
3201 Esplanade Avenue, NOLA 70119
Tel: 504 948 0077

Filed Under: More Great Posts! Tagged With: bayou st john, esplanade, faubourg st john, fsjna, New Orleans, restaurant, santa fe

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