We conclude our 2021 transaction series with an essay and recipe from celebrated novelist and writer Tom Piazza. In his essay, “Curbside Comfort,” Tom discusses how restaurants utilized curbside pickup to meet dining challenges brought on by mandated social distancing, and how this helped in boosting our spirits. Curbside pickup remains in place, even as… Read More about Curbside Comfort
We’ve heard often during the past year and a half about how the pandemic has particularly hit, and hit hard, the hospitality industry. Food service workers struggled, not just for their livelihoods but for keeping open the restaurants at which they worked. What happens when the restaurant that may not survive is part of your… Read More about From Eddie’s to Lil Dizzy’s: A Family Legacy in Restaurants
One result of the pandemic was working from home. Some of us seamlessly transitioned, while others struggled with sharing space, 24 hours a day, with partners, children, roommates. Dining room tables, corners of a hallway, spare bedrooms, and even porches became offices. Additionally, those of us who had been in our home spaces for a… Read More about The Hymn of Him
To most of us, the yam is a common vegetable, ubiquitous as some glistening deep orange dish at our holiday tables. However, this tuber, whose meat comes in a variety of colors ranging from white to violet, is actually a revered and ancient source of sustenance that has great cultural importance, as our most recent… Read More about From Yoruba to New Orleans: The Divine Yam
Many of us have been cooking at home much more than we ever did before March 2020. Prior to this time, we could easily find an excuse to just go to a restaurant—because we wanted a special dish, because it was Thursday night, because guests were in town, or because it was Sunday brunch. With… Read More about A Humble Student of New Orleans Cooking