As to be expected in New Orleans, the Krewe of Red Beans’ Bean Madness Championship in 2019 was fiercely contested,  bringing red beans and rice to the spotlight of culinary competitions. And, as with any challenge, there can only be one winner. 

The Queen of Red Beans is crowned.

Emily Shaya was crowned the Queen of Red Beans — with her recipe now creating new fans at Miss River, where red beans and rice isn’t just a Monday tradition — it’s celebrated daily. The restaurant, located in the Four Seasons New Orleans Hotel, is part of Pomegranate Hospitality, which owns Saba and Safta’s Kitchen in New Orleans, as well as other restaurants in the U.S. and the Bahamas.

The restaurant’s cuisine is guided by Emily’s husband, Chef Alon Shaya, himself a winner of two James Beard Foundation Awards. But when it comes to red beans and rice at Miss River, which is Chef Alon’s culinary homage to Louisiana cuisine, it’s Emily’s red beans and rice recipe that’s the star.

Studying the art and science of perfect red beans.

So how did this native of Georgia embrace one of the city’s most beloved dishes? Emily’s deep dive into New Orleans food began when she attended Tulane University as an undergraduate and its A.B. Freeman School of Business. Afterwards, while living in Atlanta, she got homesick for New Orleans food. “I missed New Orleans so much that I wanted to bring that piece of it there,” says Emily.

She experimented with cookbook recipes and the instructions on the back of the Camellia Brand Red Kidney Bean bag, brought back ingredients from her trips to New Orleans, and used her creativity to craft her signature dish.

“I decided I really wanted to perfect red beans,” says Emily.

Once she returned to New Orleans for good, her kitchen became a hub for friends and family to gather around simmering pots of beans.

The meat stock is the thing!

The red beans recipe would evolve even more with trips to local grocery stores. “I’d see what kind of interesting meats we could get — sausage or pickled pork … we eventually found pickled turkey necks and experimented with that for a while,” she says. 

A key ingredient became a rich, gelatinous stock made from chicken wings and sometimes pork. “I think the stock is really important,” says Emily. “It makes the beans creamy because the base is not water.” That and simmering the beans all day are “kind of like my secret weapons.”

Another key step for Emily is soaking the beans. “I just think it makes life a little bit easier,” she explains. “You don’t have to watch over the beans as much if you soak them.”

Here’s where to come eat these perfect red beans:

Her red beans recipe was adapted for Miss River, “So it has all the love and care that we do at home. The team here in the kitchen does it every day.” Emily’s red beans and rice are featured in two ways at Miss River: as a side dish, Emily’s Famous Red Beans and Rice, or as an entrée, Emily’s Famous Red Beans and Rice with Buttermilk-fried Chicken.

“We really wanted to pair fried chicken with our red beans and rice,” says Emily. “We’re kind of famous for our fried chicken here. We [also] do a whole chicken that is really a spectacle.”

Why Camellia Brand beans? For Emily, the answer is simple: consistency. “When you are soaking your beans, you can see how clean the water looks. You know you will always get beautiful beans from Camellia.”

Emily, who is a co-founder and director of New Projects at Pomegranate Hospitality, is still making her red beans and rice for family and friends as often as she can.

Whether in her own kitchen or made by the staff at Miss River, each pot carries the same intention: to feed, comfort and create lasting memories.

Emily Shaya’s Famous Red Beans and Rice Recipe

Bring Emily Shaya’s red beans home — a soulful, slow-simmered taste of New Orleans tradition, straight from Miss River’s kitchen.

Courtesy of Emily Shaya | Founder and Director of New Projects, Pomegranate Hospitality (New Orleans: Saba, Saba’s Lounge, Miss River and Chandelier Bar at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, Safta’s Table; Denver: Safta, Ceci! Italian Lounge; Bahamas: Silan at Atlantis Paradise Island)

Miss River, Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, 2 Canal St.; (504) 434-5701, missrivernola.com/; on Instagram. 

If there is a restaurant known for both its adherence to tradition and innovation in the culinary and hospitality world, it’s Commander’s Palace.

Guests know when they go to the restaurant, the menu will have turtle soup au sherry, shrimp and tasso Henican, eggs Sardou and Creole bread pudding soufflé, among the offerings. But they also know that new dishes, in keeping with the restaurant’s practice of allowing its chefs — which included legends Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse — to add unique flavors to the menu.

So, when COOLinary, an event that happens throughout August featuring New Orleans restaurants, Commander’s Palace Executive Chef Meg Bickford got busy dreaming up some new dishes.

The Cochon de Lait Tostada

The result? Among them, the Cochon de Lait Tostada, a dish that has been on the restaurant’s menu in other variations, but now it had a Bickford twist.

This multi-layered iteration consists of garlic- and hot sauce-rubbed fall apart 18-hour smoked pork shoulder on a crisp tortilla with smoky boudin, creamy red bean purée, pickled corn and okra chow chow, crumbled Cotija and charred poblano aioli.

Not only does the red bean purée made from Camellia Red Kidney Beans act as the foundation of the dish — and contributes a “rich, earthy flavor,” says Bickford — it is a great sauce to dip and mix the dish’s other ingredients into. It is also a time-tested Commander’s Palace recipe.

“We braise the red beans with tons of andouille and house-made tasso,” says Bickford. “Then we puree the whole thing with pickled okra and roasted garlic. We’ll add a mound of butter into it so it’s nice, shiny and silky.”

“It’s just phenomenal … I could eat with just a spoon!”

Camellia Beans: An Essential Ingredient

Bickford, whose family is from Cut Off and New Orleans, grew up well-versed in south Louisiana cuisine, “Both my parents cooked, kind of everybody in my family cooks. It’s a rite of passage.”

“We always had Camellia Beans in the pantry. And no matter where we lived, we always used Camellia Beans.”

“It’s a very consistent product. They’re very clean, which a lot of people don’t think about. But when you’re not finding rocks or sand in your beans, it’s a big deal,” she says.

“It also goes beyond brand recognition … you want to use a local product, and that product proves itself to be superior.”

Rich and Buttery

Camellia Red Kidney Beans are also used for the red beans and rice made for the staff meal on Monday.

“Serving red beans and rice every Monday is more than just a meal — it’s a tradition rooted deep in New Orleans culture. It’s how we start the week together, just like families have done here for generations,” says Bickford. “Around that pot of beans, our team becomes a family, sharing stories, laughter and the spirit of this city we love.”

Everyone in the kitchen takes turns making the family meal — for Commander’s Palace, it’s all part of working as a team and part of its culture.

Another bean Bickford is a fan of is the Camellia Cannellini Beans for the garlic-braised white beans, served with a pork tenderloin.

Bickford favors these beans because they are “super rich and buttery, and it kind of gives this nutty flavor a little.”

She also features the cannellini bean in the heartier white bean cassoulet available at the restaurant’s Le Petit Bleu, its Parisian-style cafe next door highlighted inside and out by the restaurant’s signature color, Commander’s blue.

Rooted in New Orleans culture, the restaurant’s use of local Camellia beans — from red beans to cannellini beans — honors heritage, quality and good food not just for COOLinary, but all year long.

Commander’s Palace, 1403 Washington Ave., NOLA 70130; 504.899.8221; commanderspalace.com/ ; on Instagram.

Defying gravity, Galliano’s Pork Chop LaPlace is a study in vertical culinary construction: a base of red beans, then cornbread and ham hock dressing, topped with an andouille-stuffed Berkshire pork chop (cold smoked and grilled), upon which three onion rings are carefully placed, then finished with a “tiger sauce.”

It has probably given a few diners pause on how to start eating; nevertheless, it is one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes.

A Cajun Concept Restaurant

Located in the Warehouse District, Galliano opened in December 2016 as a “very casual Cajun concept,” says co-owner Manny Pineda. When COVID-19 hit in early 2020 and the restaurant lost a steady customer base from the nearby Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the decision was made to revamp the menu offerings.

“I am a fine dining brat,” admits Pineda, who worked his way through college at a number of fine-dining establishments in New Orleans, including Emeril’s. It was there that he met Chef Ricky Cheramie, with whom he and a business partner opened Restaurant Rebirth, a Creole-and Cajun-inspired farm-to-table restaurant. Later, he opened Galliano on the same city block.

For the new Galliano menu, Pineda and Cheramie harkened back to their fine dining backgrounds and added traditional homestyle Cajun dishes with a few twists — such as the Pork Chop LaPlace, a Cheramie creation.

But even with this menu elevation, traditional dishes such as red beans and rice are on the menu – alongside jambalaya, gumbo, blackened Gulf fish, and others.

The restaurant also focuses on local sourcing, such as Camellia Red Red Kidney Beans – for Pork Chop LaPlace, as well as the traditional red beans and rice offering.

Traditional Red Beans & Rice: How They Make It 

“We start with the trinity [onion, bell peppers, celery]. Add all the seasonings such as Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic Cajun Seasonings, paprika, and cook it all down,” says Pineda. “We add a little bit of ham hock in there, some andouille sausage, cook it some, then throw in the Camellia red beans,” which have been soaking overnight.

“Chicken stock is added, then bay leaves, and it is all cooked down to the right consistency.”

What is the “secret” ingredient? “We add a couple of smoked pork chops in, while the red beans are cooking down,” says Pineda.

Once the pork chops are done, and the chef pulls them out, the meat basically falls off the bone. It is then chopped and mixed back into the red beans to cook further. When finished, the red beans are served with Louisiana long-grain rice.

It all combines into a hearty dish, one that has its roots firmly in Galliano, the town in southeast Louisiana that Cheramie hails from.  

Galliano, 200 Julia St., gallianorestaurant.com; on Instagram; Mon.-Sat. 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

Photo: Kat Kimball

Elevating the Meat-and-Three

Like many beloved Southern restaurants, Hot Stuff may look like an unassuming building on the outside with a smoker in the parking lot — but on the inside, a culinary party is waiting to start.

Nathan Barfield, the co-owner of Hot Stuff, wanted to open a “meat-and-three” restaurant – an old school, Southern, cafeteria-style plate lunch spot centered around the tradition of one meat accompanied by three sides and bread.

It’s a style of restaurant found across the South, though mostly outside of New Orleans. But at Hot Stuff, the concept has found a new home.

The menu features meats that include fried chicken, hamburger steak au poivre, Mississippi pot roast, and smoked chicken wings with pineapple habanero white barbecue sauce. Daily specials include New Orleans’ favorite Monday dish, red beans and rice

Photo: Kat Kimball

A Monday Must: Red Beans and Rice

Barfield starts his red beans by soaking the beans overnight. When it’s time to make the beans, he adds the Trinity (bell pepper, onion and celery) to another pot, and sautés it in vegetable oil until soft. Then comes the Creole seasoning, Crystal Hot Sauce, black pepper, salt, red beans and usually a smoked meat.

“It could be a ham hock, or any of the trim when we smoke ribs — in general, some sort of smoked pork,” says Barfield, adding that sometimes it could contain just one type of pork, or a mixture of all three, giving each Monday’s offering a slightly different flavor, but still consistent in taste.

Rather than adding smoked sausage during the cooking process, he instead adds Conecuh sausage on top when serving. Diners can also request the red beans and rice with a piece of chicken or a pork chop.

Barfield, a native of Monroeville, Alabama, learned how to make red beans and rice when he moved to New Orleans. He worked at The High Hat Café, followed by a stint at Turkey and the Wolf. There, he met Hot Stuff’s co-owner Mason Hereford, and the duo came up with the idea for the restaurant.

Barfield only uses Camellia Red Kidney Beans for the dish, as well as the company’s Blackeye Peas for one of the restaurant’s vegan sides.

“It’s the standard. They’re good,” he says, about Camellia Beans. “With other beans, you have to sort through them to see if there are rocks and other things. In the years I have been cooking, I have never had a bad bag of beans. It gives me peace of mind knowing I can just open the bag to use it, and it’s good.”

Photo: Kat Kimball

An Homage to Southern and New Orleans Culture

The attention to detail can also be found in the décor of Barfield’s restaurant with its homage to Southern and New Orleans culture. A Mardi Gras Indian suit from the 9th Ward Seminole tribe, sewn and worn by one of the restaurant’s cooks, Durel Randall, is one of the first things you see upon entering the restaurant.

Photo: Kat Kimball

The back patio — its Southern shack feel adorned with old signs, including one from Bojangle’s — is Barfield’s pièce de résistance. “I like to say it’s like your redneck uncle got hit by a bus, finally got his insurance payout, and he needed to spruce up the area where he drank his beers.”

Hot Stuff, 7507 Maple St.; Mon, Wed, Thurs, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri and Sat. 11 a.m. – Midnight, Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.; hotstuffneworleans.com; @hotstuffneworleans.

New Orleans is famous for its music, festivals, and of course—its food. And no visit to the Big Easy is complete without a comforting bowl of red beans & rice. Whether you’re in town for a weekend getaway, a festival, or just craving the flavors of Louisiana, these local favorites serve up some of the best bowls in the city.

Check out a few of our top picks:

Mother’s

The origin of the red beans and rice recipe at Mother’s starts with the founders, Simon and Mary “Mother” Landry, who opened the business in 1938 and fed the neighborhood’s longshoremen, warehouse workers, and others looking for hearty New Orleans dishes.

Mother’s Restaurant, 401 Poydras Street, www.mothersrestaurant.net, (504) 523-9656. Hours: 7 days, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Li’l Dizzy’s

At Li’l Dizzy’s, the red beans are served only on Mondays and usually sell out. Customers can thank head chef John Cannon (who some may know for playing the tuba in the Stooges Brass Band) for the delicious dish.

Li’l Dizzy’s, 1500 Esplanade Ave., lildizzyscafe.net; on Instagram; (504) 766-8687; Mon-Sat. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Dooky Chase

Edgar Chase IV learned how to make red beans & rice from his grandmother, Leah Chase. Known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, Leah and her culinary skills brought people from across the globe to Dooky Chase.

Dooky Chase, 2301 Orleans Ave, dookychaserestaurants.com; on Instagram; (504) 821-0600; Lunch, Tuesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m; Dinner Fridays and Saturdays Only, 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Creole Queen

Relax during a 2-hour cruise on the Mississippi River while enjoying the Creole Queen Paddlewheeler’s vegan red beans & rice. The delicious dish is available on their brunch and dinner Mississippi River cruises leaving from New Orleans Spanish Plaza.

Creole Queen, Spanish Plaza, New Orleans, tickets/reservations, 504.587.1719 or 1.800.445.4109; creolequeen.com

Katie’s

Katie’s owner Scott Craig shares that he makes his red beans and rice like he makes his greens —with a lot of meat. “I like to use smoked sausage and pickled meats, sometimes I’ll add turkey necks or other meats, anything that will bring it flavor,” he says.

Katie’s Restaurant and Bar, 3701 Iberville St., katiesinmidcity.com; on Instagram; 504.488.6582. Hours: Mon.-Thus. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Liuzza’s

Many like to enjoy Liuzza’s classic red beans & rice alongside the restaurant’s signature 18 oz. goblets of frosty cold beers — or an Abita root beer. Delish!

Liuzza’s Restaurant and Bar, 3636 Bienville St., New Orleans; liuzzas.com; Hours: Mon. 11 a.m. – 8 p.m., Tues. Closed; Weds. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thurs.-Sat.11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Heard Dat Kitchen

What is Chef Jeffrey Heard’s secret to his red beans & rice? Don’t rush the beans. “I found slow cooking them on that real low fire is what really will make them creamy.”

Heard Dat Kitchen, 2520 Felicity St., (504) 510-4248, @hearddat on Instagram, heardatkitchen.com. Hours: Mon. – Sat., 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.

Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a local looking for your next bowl, these spots are sure to satisfy your red beans & rice craving.

Where have you bean? Share your favorite NOLA spots with us on social!

It’s Monday morning at 3 Southern Girls, and customers are starting to drop in, looking for their favorite dish. It might be a stuffed bell pepper, turkey necks, a fried catfish plate, gumbo, or as it is the traditional day for it — red beans and rice, served with pickled pork, potato salad, and cornbread.

It’s the type of comfort food that reminds you of home.

And that’s just how owner Gabrielle Smith likes it. 3 Southern Girls is all about food and family, which also includes the neighborhood’s residents — and fans near and far — who have embraced the restaurant.

How 3 Southern Girls Came to Be
Located in Jefferson, 3 Southern Girls is a result of Gabrielle’s dream, hard work, and faith.

While the restaurant business is part of the family’s heritage — her grandmother owned Ebony’s and Maxine’s in Shrewsbury (in Jefferson Parish) — Gabrielle isn’t a formally trained chef and had never worked in a full-service restaurant. But she wanted to share her love of food with others, praying fervently before making the decision to open a restaurant. “God said it was going to work,” she told her father, just before she signed the lease for the restaurant’s building.

She opened on Feb. 29, 2020. The restaurant had just started to hit its stride when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and restaurants closed.

It was another test of faith. And Gabrielle persevered.

A Red Beans & Rice Recipe Inspired by Her Grandmother

Today, 3 Southern Girls is a mainstay, and while the red beans and rice is a Monday special, it’s also available every day with smoked sausage.

“Typically, I’m going to soak my beans the night before. So when I come in the morning, it’s two hours max for my cooking time,” says Gabrielle.

After she arrives, the beans are drained, and the pot is filled back up with water. It is then put on high heat for the first hour.

“That second hour, I’m going to add my dry ingredients, my bay leaf with a little chicken flavor, as well as add garlic powder, onion powder, and other seasonings.”

Traditionally, many chefs add the trinity — bell pepper, onion, celery — at the start of the cooking process. Gabrielle takes a different tack; in the last 30 minutes of cooking, she adds these ingredients raw – not cooked or sautéed.

“My grandmother taught me to finish with your fresh seasoning — not start with it,” she says.

It’s something, she notes, that is hard for people to understand. “When you start cooking with all your seasonings, everything cooks out of your pot. But if you finish with it, everything’s still there,” she explains, referencing the flavor.

Another essential ingredient she uses is Camellia Brand Red Kidneys beans and the brand’s Lima beans (butter beans) for other dishes.

“I’m going to stick to what I know works,” she says. “And I just feel like when you’re talking about beans, it’s what you are raised on. I’ve never seen any other kind of beans in our house.”

Who are the 3 Southern Girls — the ladies illustrated in the restaurant logo? The name was dreamed up in honor of Gabrielle and her two sisters, who don’t work at the restaurant, but like Gabrielle’s customers, appreciate her delicious food. Because it’s just like being home

3 Southern Girls, 4402 Jefferson Highway, (504) 381-4276; Facebook: @3SouthernGirls504; Instagram: @3SouthernGirls_; Hours: Mon-Fri. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

When it comes to red beans and rice, there are traditionalists who say that some sort of meat, preferably ham, pickled ham, or smoked sausage, has to be part of the recipe. The crew at Creole Queen Paddlewheeler would beg to differ; it serves vegan red beans and rice. “It’s super creamy and flavorful,” says Creole Queen Food and Beverage Manager Tydra Ekeh, noting it reminds her of her grandmother’s red beans at Sunday dinner. “It’s a delicious and healthy alternative to the meat options,” she adds. Made with Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans, the dish is also practical. It is the only vegan offering on the Creole Queen and is soy- and gluten-free, catering to those with food allergies.

A Nostalgic Dish on the Mighty Mississippi
Prepared off-premises by Pigéon Catering using a Creole Queen recipe, the dish is available on brunch and dinner Mississippi River cruises leaving from New Orleans Spanish Plaza. In keeping with the nostalgic feel of the paddlewheel, the red beans and rice are another link to an earlier era. According to Susan Tucker’s New Orleans Cuisine, red beans have always been “a cultural phenomenon, a tradition dating back for hundreds of years.”

Red Beans & Rice and Historical Sights
Passengers enjoy the vegan red beans and rice while sitting in one of the paddlewheeler’s dining areas during the scenic five-mile route along the river. Between the red beans and the views, one can experience a meaningful connection to New Orleans’ rich history, seeing modern cityscapes alongside historical sights, while enjoying a dish as ubiquitous a symbol of New Orleans as the fleur-de-lis.

Launched in 1983, the Creole Queen is a replica of an authentic 19th-century paddlewheeler, and Captain Brian Clesi has been at the helm since 2005. The boat has a diesel-electric engine to power the stern paddlewheel, a big difference from those that plied the river in the 19th century. These boats were first introduced in 1811 by Robert Fulton, Robert R. Livingston, and Nicholas Roosevelt.

It’s hard not to imagine Mark Twain on a paddlewheeler back in the day, savoring the red beans and rice, much like today’s families, couples, and travelers do on the Creole Queen. After all, it’s a culinary rite as common as Carnival.

Creole Queen: Spanish Plaza, New Orleans, tickets/reservations, 504.587.1719 or 1.800.445.4109; creolequeen.com;

Bienvenue Means “Welcome” in French

It’s those personal touches that make Bienvenue — which means “welcome” in French — a great addition to the roster of classic, old school, New Orleans neighborhood restaurants.

Open since 2018, Bienvenue offers a menu that’s a creative mix of American/Southern cuisine and traditional New Orleans dishes. Almond-crusted gulf shrimp and filet mignon are served right alongside po-boys and red beans & rice.

Red Beans & Rice: A Classic Slow-Cooked Recipe

What type of beans does Bienvenue use? Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans, of course.

That’s the way it has always been. The current chef, Matthew Knoff, uses a classic recipe developed when the restaurant opened.

As per Bienvenue custom, the beans are soaked in water for 24 hours, and “I season them while they soak,” says Knoff. He adds bay leaves and some other spices, which he says are a “secret.”

When the 24 hours are up, the mixture is cooked over a low flame.

Knoff then chops green peppers, red peppers, and onions, and adds them to a pan in which he has cooked smoked sausage and bacon, adding more bacon grease as needed. When completed, this mixture is added to the beans.

The Result is Creamy Red Bean Goodness

Five hours later, the result is creamy red bean goodness. Knoff says cooking the red beans slowly for a long time is the key to the right consistency. “We don’t want something with chunks of vegetables,” adds the chef.

Knoff cooks red beans twice a week, batching them for future servings. Capella guesses they get about 150 servings per batch, or 20 quarts. The red beans are served with rice and a Patton’s hot sausage patty, though Capella noted they can be served with chicken or grilled shrimp, as one customer prefers. The final touch is a slice of Gendusa’s bread on the side.

You’ll Also Find Red Beans in the Big Easy Wrap

The red beans also find their way into the restaurant’s Big Easy Wrap – a combination of red beans, rice, fried chicken tenders, smoked sausage, provolone cheese, and an in-house “tiger” sauce.

New Orleans’ Favorite Comfort Food

Knoff, who has been the chef at the restaurant for just a few months, is originally from the Northeast. He had his first taste of red beans and rice in 2009, and liked it, noting he understands the local love for the dish. Comparing it to a favorite comfort food from his neck of the woods, he adds, “It’s kind of like eating mashed potatoes and gravy to me.”

After all, red beans and rice is comfort food that’s right at home in New Orleans.

Bienvenue, 467 Hickory Ave., Harahan; (504) 305-4792; bienvenueharahan.com; Hours: Mon.-Thus. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 4:30 p.m.- 8 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat. 5 p.m.-8:30 p.m.; Sunday brunch 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

It started with a tortilla.

Then a pupusa, followed by a birria taco and ultimately a Central American restaurant with a full menu.

But first, that tortilla.

Mawi Tortillerias on January 8, 2024. Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee rhrphoto.com

Expanding Their Tortilla Empire

Will Avelar started Mawi Tortilla with his father Carlos and brother Fernando in 2017 as a wholesale tortilla bakery.

During COVID-19, Mawi Tortilla business was down due to most restaurants’ reduced operations, so the company began making and selling pupusas (inspired by Carlos, who is from El Salvador) and then birria tacos, which went viral on Instagram.

“Since then, we realized this location would probably benefit more from doing retail food than just wholesale tortillas,” says Will. The production of tortillas is now in Kenner.

The Spotted Rooster Rice

One of the restaurant’s popular dishes is Gallo Pinto, which translates roughly as “spotted rooster.”

The restaurant likes to use Camellia Brand small red beans or small black beans to make the Costa Rican-style rice and beans dish.

A New Orleans native, Will spent time in Costa Rica, where his mother’s family lives. In Costa Rica, “black beans are a big part of their rice dish,” he states in a Camellia Beans video. “Most Costa Rican homes have a pot of Gallo Pinto and rice. It’s that much of a staple item that you always have it.”

Crafting the Gallo Pinto

The dish starts by boiling the beans. “You can soak them to speed up the process, but it’s not necessary,” says Will.

“From there, you take the cooked beans and strain the liquid, but keep it. Then in another pot — or once you’ve cleaned out the same pot — you sweat the aromatics like onion, bell pepper, garlic, and cilantro in olive oil or butter,” he says.

“Add uncooked rice, toasting it a little bit, then add the bean liquid to cook the rice, and add the cooked beans, stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Taste the liquid to ensure the seasoning is good,” he says.

“Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.”

Gallo Pinto pops up as a special, sometimes as part of a Costa Rican-style breakfast served with eggs, cheese, some sort of protein, and plantains.

Red Beans Versatility

The restaurant also uses small red kidney beans to make refried beans and sopa de frijoles, a traditional bean soup, which is cooked with fried pork rinds and served with rice, boiled eggs, and avocado.

Another specialty that is more New Orleans in style, but with a Central American twist, is the restaurant’s version of red beans and rice, served on Mondays as a special.

It starts as traditional red beans and rice, prepared using Camellia Red Kidney beans and using the “trinity” (celery, onions, bell pepper), garlic and bay leaf. But it is a meatless version, made as a “way to cater to our guests who want a meatless option,” says Avelar.

A new addition are the sides of two pupusas served with curtido [pickled cabbage] and salsa, which “are two things you must have when eating pupusas,” says Avelar.

Freshly sliced avocado is also added, which may seem unusual. But there is a reason.

“My father always adds avocado to any beans he’s eating so I thought of putting that on our red beans and rice as something that our guests would like to try because it’s unique to the way he eats his beans.”

Avelar said he created this dish with the purpose of connecting both Louisiana and El Salvador on one plate.

“It represents traditions I identify with in my cooking and upbringing,” he says.

Blending Culinary Influences

If Will Avelar’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he has been involved in four of Chef Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants, working his way up through the ranks of Emeril’s, NOLA, Delmonico, and finally, as the opening chef for Meril. In addition to running Mawi Tortillas, he recently became the corporate chef for Hufft Marchand Hospitality.

“It’s the flavors that I’m familiar with, techniques I grew up learning in my career, but also incorporating that into the traditional foods that we have in Central America,” Will says of Mawi Tortilla’s dishes. He likes to experiment — crawfish pupusas, for example — but also keeps traditional favorites on the menu, sometimes adding a bit of Louisiana flair with Camellia Beans.

Mawi Tortillas, 5050 W. Esplanade, Metairie, mawinola.com, on Instagram, (504) 644.2624, Mon. – Sat. 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Mondays at Katie’s are pretty much like any other day of the week: the tables and bar are filled with moms, dads, uncles, aunts, maw maws and paw paws. You’ll likely find lifelong friends comparing notes about Saints’ games, soccer teammates from a nearby school, and co-workers – all gathered in what feels like a New Orleans culinary clubhouse.

But there’s one notable difference on Mondays: red beans and rice is on the menu.

And keeping an eye on it all is owner Scot Craig.

A Culinary Awakening in Gentilly

Craig discovered cooking as a boy growing up in Gentilly, finding his culinary awakening in the kitchens of his Creole neighbors.

He explains his interest this way: “We’d be out playing, I’d stop in the kitchens [of friends and neighbors] and ask, ‘What are you cooking there?’”

“I’d talk to them about it. I learned a lot from the Creole ladies while growing up in that neighborhood,” he says, crediting them with his red beans and rice recipe.

“I learned how to make it right,” he notes, admitting that in the process, he also found out how to make it wrong.

“It’s about getting that creamy texture that’s so important,” Craig says. And for that, he credits soaking Camellia Red Kidney Beans.

“I’ve tried to use other [company’s] red beans, and they just don’t cook the same,” he says. “Other beans are harder, and they don’t absorb water the same.”

Plus, Craig adds, “I never saw anything but Camellia beans in a Creole lady’s house.”

Meats Bring the Flavor

Craig shares that he makes his red beans and rice like he makes his greens —with a lot of meat.

“I like to use smoked sausage and pickled meats, sometimes I’ll add turkey necks or other meats, anything that will bring it flavor,” he says. “But most importantly, smoked ham hocks and chunks of ham.”
The red beans begin soaking on Saturday, with the cooking process starting on Sunday.

Craig — or Chef Joey Trippi — starts with the traditional trinity of chopped celery, bell pepper and onion and cooks it down in butter, then adds it to the soaked red beans. Next are the bay leaf, butter, water, and the meats.

“We let it cook down,” he says, with the red beans ready on Monday for the first lunch order.
In addition to rice, patrons can have red beans with a smoked and grilled sausage link or hot sausage patty, fried chicken (available for dinner only), fried or grilled pork chops, or Andouille sausage.

A Special Creation

There is one red beans and rice creation that Craig says came together after a number of cocktails: the red beans and rice po-boy.

“It’s freaking incredible,” he says about this once-in-a-blue-moon special.

“You put a layer of mayonnaise and ketchup on the bottom with a layer of cooked red beans,” he says. “Then you add a real crispy hot sausage. I like hot sausage. And then you finish it on top with a little bit of red beans with some rice. It’s killer.”

Katie’s Restaurant and Bar, 3701 Iberville St., katiesinmidcity.com; on Instagram; 504.488.6582. Hours: Mon.-Thus. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

When an Iconic Restaurant Changes Hands

It isn’t easy to open a restaurant, so imagine what it’s like to buy an established New Orleans neighborhood eatery where the regulars expect their favorite dishes in an atmosphere that is the same as it was when they originally walked through the doors. Which may have been 50 years ago.

“It’s both very exciting and daunting,” said George DeCastro, who bought Liuzza’s on Bienville in fall 2022 with Erin Clark and two partners in Miami.

“I have the opportunity to step into an iconic New Orleans restaurant and serve food to diners who have been coming here for generations,” he said. “To carry that torch and still be a part of the fabric of New Orleans culture carries great responsibilities.” DeCastro is mainly in the kitchen/back of house, while Clark runs the front of house.

They are familiar with the city: Clark and DeCastro were part of the crew that opened Finnegan’s Easy in the French Quarter. Both relocated to New Orleans when they bought Liuzza’s business, building, and recipes.

Liuzza’s Keeps it Old School with its Red Beans and Rice

Among the original recipes was red beans and rice.

“I found out when I came to New Orleans that locals are very particular with the food products they know and love,” said DeCastro. “They are a very knowledgeable group when it comes to traditional cuisine.”

And, of course, there was no changing up the recipe when it came to using Camellia Red Kidney beans.

In keeping with the Liuzza’s red beans tradition, the beans are rinsed, not soaked. They are put in a large kettle to which assorted meats such as homemade tasso and smoked sausage are added, as well as the “trinity” (onion, green peppers and celery), Creole seasoning, garlic and other ingredients.

“We just keep on tasting it to see if it’s the cleanest consistency that we want,” DeCastro said. “It usually comes out the same every time.”

The red beans are made in a large batch, then frozen in portions which are taken out as needed.

“Once it goes into the freezer, all the flavors and everything that goes into it condenses,” DeCastro said.

He emphasized that when they heat up the red beans, they don’t microwave them, but put them in a small double boiler.

What the Future Holds: A Delicate Balance of the Old & the New

Many like to enjoy the red beans and rice alongside the restaurant’s signature 18 oz. goblets of frosty cold beers — or an Abita root beer. Other signature recipes include the Frenchuletta (Muffuletta on French bread) and shrimp and oyster beignets.

While committed to the restaurant’s traditional recipes, DeCastro said that he is also looking to “explore a lot of other Louisiana foods.” Sounds a lot like Vincent Liuzza, who founded the restaurant in 1947, and like his successors, blended Sicilian foods with Creole and Cajun flavors.

“I want to grow as a brand but walk the line that stays true to what Liuzza’s is to the local community,” said DeCastro. “Being a flag-bearer of a 70-year-old [plus] tradition is a great responsibility that so far, our guests have enjoyed.”

Liuzza’s Restaurant and Bar, 3636 Bienville St., New Orleans; liuzzas.com; Hours: Mon. 11 a.m. – 8 p.m., Tues. Closed; Weds. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thurs.-Sat.11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

The Missing Dish

Their menu featured pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked turkey, rack of ribs, cracklings, bbq (baked) beans, and other barbecue favorites.

But something was missing.

“Red beans and rice,” said Evans, co-owner and chief barbecue tech.

The dish wasn’t on the menu because Blue Oak BBQ wasn’t open on Mondays, the traditional day to serve and eat red beans and rice.

So in 2020, when Evans and Moseley decided to open on Mondays, adding red beans and rice as a special was an easy decision.

“I’ve always loved red beans. I grew up eating them,” said Evans, a native New Orleanian.

Red Beans with a Barbecue Flair

Once they made the decision, the next question was how to make their dish stand out from others.

Instead of serving their red beans and rice with a traditional link of sausage or fried chicken or pork chop, the restaurant introduced smoked meats made in-house.

“We felt it was only natural to hold true to the tradition and put a little barbecue flair on the plate by adding some brisket and ribs,” said Moseley.

There is still sausage that comes with the dish, and it’s spicy green onion – the restaurant’s version of a “Texas hot link,” said Evans.

The temptation to add one — or all — of the three smoked meats to the red beans is often irresistible.

The red beans recipe was created by Evans, and his mother was the inspiration. “Red beans were in my mom’s repertoire. She also made black bean soup with Camellia black beans. It was always Camellia beans, all the time,” he said.

Surprise Ingredients: Pulled Pork & Pickle Juice

Evans’ red beans and rice recipe starts with the trinity (celery, bell pepper, onions) cooked down in pork fat. Then chicken stock is added. “We add more sausage and cook it down, then fold in the pulled pork, which gives it a nice texture,” said Evans.

That mixture is then poured into the red beans, which have soaked overnight, and it all cooks together into a creamy blend.

There are a few surprise ingredients. Cumin, chopped green onions, and pickle juice, the latter of which “just kind of gives it a little brightness and acidity,” said Evans.

The red beans and rice combo, which is only available on Mondays, took off, said Evans.

How red beans and rice ended up on the menu may seem like an evolution; now Evans claims, “It’s probably my favorite dish on the planet!”

Blue Oak BBQ, 900 N. Carrollton Ave., blueoakbbq.com, open 7 days, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Blue Oak BBQ, 900 N. Carrollton Ave., blueoakbbq.com, on Instagram; Hours: open 7 days, 11:00 a.m.- 9:00 p.m.

When owner and chef Jeffrey Heard opened the doors to his restaurant on March 2, 2015, his wife made the red beans and rice.

“She had always cooked them for me at home,” Heard says. “So I let her cook them here.”

But when he entered the Krewe of Red Beans “Bean Madness” contest in 2017, he decided to take on the challenge himself. Working from the memory of his mother’s red beans and rice recipe, he made a batch and had his oldest brother do the taste-testing. His brother proclaimed them “marvelous.”

Heard’s red beans made it to the final eight contenders out of 64 in the competition, but in trying to make more batches, he wasn’t able to cook the beans long enough. “They didn’t have enough time to break down right,” he says, and they didn’t make it to the final four.

Despite that, Heard was hooked on making red beans and rice.

Precision: The Key to Heard’s Red Beans

The process for making everything he serves at the restaurant is precise — including the red beans and rice.

“What I do now is soak them in water overnight. Then, the next day, I cook them on a high fire for about eight hours,” he says.

“And then after that, I simmer them on a real low fire for about 12 hours. I don’t put any seasoning or anything in it. I’m just trying to get them broken down.”

Once they reach the consistency Heard likes, if he doesn’t need them right away, he separates the red beans into portions and puts them in the refrigerator or freezer. Heard then sautés onions, peppers, and pork sausage and puts that aside, divided into portions, as needed. His dry seasonings, including garlic and onion powder, are all ready in a Ziploc bag, again, divided into portions.

Most of the prep takes place on Saturdays, so when Mondays roll around, “I’ll just put it all in the pot, so with that process, it takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to finish cooking.”

His secret? Don’t rush the beans. “I found slow cooking them on that real low fire is what really will make them creamy.” His preferred bean is Camellia Red Kidney Beans. “It’s just something my mom always used. It was like it was a rule and the only kind we had in the house, actually,” he says.

From Front of House to Back of House

Heard was born and raised in New Orleans, the second oldest of six boys. He worked in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years, serving in a variety of front-of-house positions, including waiter, operations manager, and banquet captain at places such as Restaurant August and the Crowne Plaza/W Hotel/Le Méridien on Poydras Street.

Though Heard didn’t work in the kitchen during that time, he watched and learned from chefs such as Michael Gulotta, Michael Stoltzfus, Brian Landry, John Besh, Alon Shaya and Agnes Bellet. And he credits learning the importance of how to plate food so it looks appetizing to his time at Restaurant August.

While working at these establishments, he would often be asked where to find authentic New Orleans food – “I want to go where you eat,” people would say to him. No one knew better than he did, so when the opportunity came along to open his own restaurant, he took it.

A Restaurant of His Own

Heard’s family members are his main collaborators: son, Jeffrey Heard Jr. and daughters Tia’Nesha Heard-Dorset and Angel Heard.

The restaurant’s Audrey Mae’s Catering is named after his mom. Heard was catering before he opened the restaurant at the corner of Magnolia and Felicity streets, in a building with historic roots. Built by Johann Heinrich Keller of Keller Southern Soap Works, it housed the largest manufacturer of soap products in the South in the late 19th century, with products distributed to the eastern U.S., Mexico, and Central America. The front of the building still has the Keller name on it. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it accommodated a food store and the restaurant’s dining area, but neither the food store nor the inside dining area have re-opened.

Heard Dat Kitchen’s menu is available for take-out or can be eaten outside at the picnic tables, but Heard is hoping the owner will soon re-open the building. He’d like to use the larger kitchen and offer inside dining again.

“It would be a perfect spot for coffee, as the neighborhood doesn’t have a coffee shop,” says Heard, who prefers to wear a t-shirt proclaiming, “Exceed Expectations,” a phrase based on Ephesians 3:20.

The red beans and rice do live up to the promise of the t-shirt’s expression; served with a choice of fish or chicken that’s blackened or fried, it is a popular menu item. (Heard points out the blackened chicken works well with the red beans.) Two other signature menu items include the Superdome — a blackened fish dish in a lobster cream sauce with fresh corn and crispy onion rings, and Bourbon Street Love — a baked macaroni dish topped with fried chicken and a crawfish cream sauce.

Heard Dat Kitchen is both a neighborhood spot and a place people seek out – for the food, the experience, and for Jeffrey Heard himself.

Says Chef Gulotta, “I worked with Jeffrey years ago when we had to execute massive private dinners together, and he was unflappable through countless high stress situations – and his knowledge and love of great wine is also unmatched. When I tried his food at Heard Dat Kitchen, he floored me again.”

“My biggest motto is, I tell people that I’m in the memory-making business,” says Heard.

Heard Dat Kitchen, 2520 Felicity St., (504) 510-4248, @_hearddat_ on Instagram, heardatkitchen.com. Hours: Mon. – Sat., 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.

Nestled in a restored 1920s-era train depot in downtown Covington, Lola is a place where you will run into your neighbors, co-workers, family and friends — anyone who has a hankering for what co-owner Chef Keith Frentz says is “simple Southern fare.”

That’s because for the past 17 years, Keith and his wife, co-owner Nealy Frentz, have hit on a comfy alchemy of food and atmosphere that has made Lola a success.

The duo, who both went to Johnson & Wales University culinary school in different cities, met just before Hurricane Katrina when they were sous chefs at Brennan’s. Keith was born and raised in Covington; Nealy is originally from California. 

The Lola Menu

The menu — featuring an assortment of Southern-inspired dishes with a focus on seafood — is what brings customers back. Another highlight is the restaurant’s charming set-up; it conjures up the small town-feel of Covington during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it served as a transportation and commerce hub for the Northshore.

The brick-walled main dining room is part of the original depot and features a large painting of a pig by Simone Burke. (Keith says he won’t ever sell it, even though he has had offers.) Also on the walls are the daily specials – listed on a brown Kraft paper “poster.”

What’s fascinating is that the kitchen and an adjacent dining room are fashioned out of railroad cars. Of note is “The Doodlebug” – a Model 75 Gasoline Engine Driven Rail Car commissioned on Nov. 24, 1925 by the Columbus & Greenville Railway Company and built by the J.G. Brill Company. After years in service, it was retired in 1948 and went into private ownership, eventually moving to downtown Covington. Refurbished in 2017, the car’s exterior was painted the same green as that of New Orleans streetcars.

Red Beans and Rice, Made the Lola Way

Red beans and rice, which figures prominently as a Monday special, is one of Keith’s favorite things to make, though he admits gumbo is up there, too. (Both were big sellers for take-out during the COVID-19 pandemic.)

As it turns out, Keith didn’t grow up eating or even making red beans.

“I never experienced red beans until I was working at Brennan’s, and one of my old friends, cook Kenney Riley, taught me how to make them,” says Keith.

Riley instructed, “One pound of beans, one pound of butter, 10 pieces of bacon, and the trinity [onion, celery, bell pepper].” Keith remembered thinking that was a lot of butter for one pound of beans; but, after Riley added the sausage, Keith realized it was the best thing he had ever tasted. 

The red bean bug had bit, and Keith proceeded to develop the recipe he now uses at the restaurant.

Keith’s Secret Ingredients

Now, some may think that the butter would be the secret ingredient, but for Keith it is bacon fat. 

“I always cook bacon for my sandwiches, so I always have at least eight sheet pans of bacon made on Monday,” he says. “The excess bacon juice goes into the beans.”

Another must-have ingredient is Camellia Beans, which Keith says are the only ones he will use.

“I don’t soak them because they cook really fast,” says Keith. “They are going to reduce down and smash each other. Once I get them to a boil, I put them on low because unfortunately, I have burned a lot of red beans.”

Mondays at Lola

Keith’s Monday morning routine is this: “First thing I do when I arrive is put my pot of water on, then add the butter, all the dry seasonings such as paprika, salt and pepper, cayenne, dried parsley, garlic, and thyme, then red beans, and I let it boil for a while,” he says. “Next, I will add the trinity and smoked sausage. When the bacon is done, I will add the bacon fat.”

When completed, the red beans and rice is served with cornbread.

And on Tuesdays…

The red beans and rice often sells out on Mondays, but when it doesn’t, Keith will make red bean hummus or red bean succotash on Tuesdays. His red bean succotash is a variation on part of a dish that earned him the title of King of Louisiana Seafood in the 2012 Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off. The full award-winning dish was a cornmeal-dusted wild Des Allemands catfish with Camellia red bean & local crawfish succotash, braised collards, and house-made tartar sauce.

Has Keith ever used red beans in other dishes? Yep, in a red bean gumbo. “And it was good!” he exclaims.

Here’s hoping to find that dish on the Lola menu soon! But if not, red beans and rice will remain a well-seasoned favorite at Lola.

Lola, 517 N. New Hampshire St., Covington; (985) 892-4992; http://lola.kitchen/; on Instagram @lolacovington; Hours: Mon.- Fri. Lunch, Dinner Fri. and Sat.

When You Really Love Red Beans

How much does Saint John Chef Daren Porretto love red beans?

He has a tattoo of one on his finger.

For this New Orleans-born and-raised chef, the city and its food are his passions, and he shares them at the French Quarter restaurant. Through those passions, Saint John customers get a culinary awakening — a conversion, perhaps — of Southern and Louisiana food that goes beyond tradition.

The proof? The moment a waiter places the pork belly cassoulet down on a table, there is a pause: Take a photo, inhale the heavenly aroma, or just dive into the flavor? Most people do all three, as simultaneously as they can, when it comes to this brunch favorite.

A Cassoulet Made with Camellia Beans

Making the cassoulet is a two-day process that starts by soaking Camellia Great Northerns overnight. Then, it’s time to render the meat (Andouille sausage, tasso and ground pork belly), throw into chicken stock, and add vegetables including the trinity (onion, bell peppers, celery), plus garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper. 
“All the usual suspects,” Chef Porretto says, cooked to the right balance, so the mixture is buttery and smooth.

Finally, the pork belly is braised in root beer and topped with a cornbread crust.

A combination of flavors, the cassoulet creates a historical connection between its French origins and Louisiana, with beans as the common denominator.

 And Porretto wouldn’t use anything other than Camellia Beans.

“I feel like I don’t have a choice to use anything else,” says Porretto jokingly.

Camellia Beans is what his grandmother relied on when the two of them cooked together. And when Porretto worked in New York City for a year, she made sure he was well-stocked. Her care packages included at least three different types – usually white beans, red beans, and one other.

“New Orleanians stick to our roots,” he says. “It’s like if you go to the grocery store, and there’s no Camellia Beans, you go to another store to find it. It’s something ingrained in my DNA.”

It’s that DNA — along with a dedication to Southern and Louisiana food — that Porretto and restaurant owner Eric Cook are bringing together in a modern, updated cuisine that never forgets its roots.

Hoppin’ John Oyster Salad

Another example of their culinary philosophy is the Hoppin’ John oyster salad, a fresh take on the New Year’s Day Southern tradition of serving cabbage or greens (symbolizing money, or dollar bills), with blackeye peas (symbolizing prosperity, or coins), and cornbread (symbolizing gold) – all with the goal of starting the new year with good luck.

Instead of cabbage, the salad features Bibb lettuce topped with crispy fried Gulf oysters. It is then ringed by a combination of crumbled bacon, chopped red peppers, and slow-cooked, smoky blackeye peas, “which bring a great flavor and texture to it,” says Porretto. Dressed with a green remoulade — not the traditional pinkish-hued version — it is a light, flavorful combination that melds Louisiana and Low Country traditions.

Red Beans and Rice

And what about the red beans and rice? The classic dish was added back to the menu — Mondays only, as per New Orleans’ custom — with Porretto putting just as much thought into it.

 However, he is keeping that favorite more traditional, as any New Orleans native would.

Saint John, 1117 Decatur St., (504) 581-8120, saintjohnnola.com, on Instagram; 
Hours: Brunch and dinner, Weds.-Mon.

It’s in New Orleans’ neighborhood restaurants where you’ll find the heart and soul of the city’s cuisine.

Since it opened in the 1970s, Joey K’s Restaurant and Bar has been keeping Uptown well-fed, with Southern and New Orleans dishes that have been on the menu since day one.

Always on the Menu
One such traditional New Orleans dish that has always been on the menu is the red beans and rice.

“I’ve never seen an actual recipe written down,” says co-owner Tommy Spain.

The chefs are still using the same recipe, but each has their own flourishes. And while the base is the same, what you get “… really depends on who’s making it, to be honest with you,” Spain adds.

Chef Weston Banks has been here for five years with a short break in between. The other chef is Dexter Johnson, who has been cooking at Joey K’s for 17 years.

“It’s a mixture of both of them,” says Banks, referring to the restaurant recipe and his own. Banks learned his craft at home and while working at other restaurants around town.

How Joey K’s Cooks Red Beans

There are a few constants; among them, using Camellia Beans and not soaking.

“We just put them in the pot, add water, our spices, let them cook,” says Banks. “Once we let them cook, we add smoked sausage and seasoning, onion, bell pepper, and a ham base.”

The dish is available every day as a main or side dish, and while it doesn’t always sell out, it is a best seller.
Why do customers like their red beans and rice? “They are the right amount of firmness, which I think comes from not pre-soaking the beans,” says Spain. “The other thing people have a tendency to do is to over-salt them, and they get too soft. And, we don’t season so much that it hides the taste.”

The restaurant is a regular stop for the New Orleans Secrets Tours’ Magazine Street Foodie Tour. Tour co-owner Mark Aspiazu likes Magazine Street because it is walkable and has good restaurants for stopping and sampling the food.

“It’s one of my favorite places to eat,” says Aspiazu about Joey K’s.

The red beans are “cooked perfectly, scream authenticity, and are creamy and delicious,” he says. “I can get red beans and rice anywhere, but not these, which are the best in town.”

“How could I not bring guests here?”

In fact, the popularity of Joey K’s red beans was celebrated when the restaurant was one of the final four competitors in the inaugural Bean Madness tournament (created and organized by the Red Beans Parade). 64 New Orleans restaurants and chefs were pitted against one another to see who makes the city’s best red beans.

From the Beginning to Present Day
While Joey K’s was founded in the 1970s, it was originally one block away and called Tony’s. It was owned by Joey K’s mother, and passed on to him when she passed away in the late ‘70s. He then moved the restaurant to its current location and named it after his daughter Joey Kay, later shortening it to Joey K’s. In the late 1980s, Cindy and Sam Farnet bought the business, and more recently, Spain and his wife purchased a portion of it.

Spain pulls out an original menu from the late 1980s to compare it to one from 2022. There are menu items that are now long gone, but the classic Joey K’s offerings remain, including red beans and rice, white beans and pork chop, beef brisket, chicken cordon bleu, and the “All You Can Eat Catfish” Friday special. Prices, alas, have changed: red beans and rice was once $4.25, and today it is $11.95.

What hasn’t changed is what brought people here in the first place – the food.

In fact, Spain admits he eats the red beans and rice every day, maybe even twice a day!

Joey K’s Restaurant and Bar, 3001 Magazine St., (504) 891-0997; joeyksrestaurant.com; on Instagram; Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m

It’s a bustling scene inside Mother’s Restaurant. Visitors simultaneously look around, taking in this old school New Orleans eatery, while perusing the menu and trying to make a decision about what to order. Should they get the restaurant’s Famous Ferdi Special, a combination of ham and roast beef “debris” with its juices unabashedly soaking into the po-boy bread and down the sides? Perhaps Jerry’s Jambalaya, named after the late owner Jerry Amato, or the signature red beans and rice. Regulars go straight to the always-in-motion serving/deli line to get their favorite dish. Tables are overflowing with Mother’s food and those who enjoy it, a testament to the enduring popularity of this restaurant.

Much of that has to do with brothers Jerry and John Amato, who bought the restaurant in 1986. And much has to do with the staff — such as Miss Pat, who has been there for more than 30 years and has done a little bit of everything.

It’s family. It’s New Orleans. It’s about the relationships between people, as well as with food.

A Recipe is Born
It was Jerry – with culinary training from previous hospitality jobs, studies at Delgado Community College and The Culinary Institute of America – who had an innate sense of what tasted good and which flavors worked together. He was always able to take traditional New Orleans dishes and elevate them.

“Jerry really brought a culinary take on it,” says Charles Pizzo, who does public relations and social media marketing for the restaurant, about the food at Mother’s.

An example is the red beans and rice.

The origin of the red beans and rice recipe at Mother’s starts with the founders, Simon and Mary “Mother” Landry, who opened the business in 1938 on Poydras Street. It was there where they fed the neighborhood’s longshoremen, warehouse workers, and others looking for po-boys and hearty New Orleans dishes.

Years later, Chef Odie Mae Peters refined the red beans and rice recipe.

“She tweaked the recipe a little bit,” says Pizzo. “She added more ham because Mother’s cooks its own ham.”

When Jerry arrived on the scene, he saw all the leftover ham fat as the result of trimming, and realized it could be used in the red beans, among other dishes.

“It is a secret ingredient to a lot of Mother’s old-time dishes,” shares Pizzo.

Chef Roland Swazy agrees: “Though it’s no longer fashionable, it’s fat that makes the red beans taste good. And Mother’s happens to have a lot of ham trimmings available.”

After the ham fat is rendered, then the vegetables — onions, green onions, bell peppers and garlic — for the red beans are cooked in it.

Mother’s ham is cooked at the restaurant. “We only use Chisesi Brothers ham,” says Alex Salas, daytime manager, who has been at the restaurant for 16 years.

In addition to cooking the vegetables in the rendered ham fat, the ham bones, which are cut in half, are boiled with the red beans.

Pizzo notes that the ham is not salted. The flavor is enhanced by Mother’s secret sauce, a glaze that covers the ham when it is cooked. Ham chunks are also used in the red beans recipe, as is smoked sausage from Creole Country that is made to Mother’s specifications.

Mother’s uses Camellia Red Kidney Beans. The beans are not soaked, but instead, they’re put through a few rinses to help release the starches. (The restaurant also has specialized equipment so it can cook the beans low and slow at a controlled rate.)

The beans are then boiled in half chicken stock and half beef stock, a.k.a. “debris gravy.” The stocks are made in-house.

The Legacy Continues
Chef Swazy has been put in charge of carrying on the restaurant’s culinary traditions. Swazy started as a dishwasher in 1987 and worked his way up to become head chef, learning what made Mother’s so special along the way.

“Chef Jerry Amato, who mentored me, was big on the need for consistency. Regulars come to Mother’s Restaurant year after year, and they want and expect everything to taste the same,” says Swazy. “While some restaurants try to be cutting edge, Mother’s aims to be traditional. We’ve seen adult children bring their elderly parents in to eat,” he added. “These are folks who worked in what were once office buildings along Poydras Street, such as the Lykes Building or One Shell Square. They tear up and get emotional, telling us ‘Your food tastes exactly like I remembered it.’”

And that’s why Mother’s Restaurant remains beloved.

Mother’s Restaurant, 401 Poydras Street, mothersrestaurant.net, (504) 523-9656. Hours: 7 days 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Arkesha Baquet is a busy woman. It’s just a half-hour before opening at Li’l Dizzy’s in Tremé, and menus must be reviewed, supply deliveries confirmed, and she needs to peek in the kitchen to check on the Creole-Soul food favorites this beloved eatery is famous for.

If a restaurant can embody a city’s culinary history, traditions, and heart — as well as its past, present and future — then Li’l Dizzy’s is it.

Arkesha, and her husband Wayne Baquet Jr., are second-generation owners of the restaurant founded by Wayne’s father, Wayne Baquet Sr., in 2004.

The Baquets and Their Long-Standing Culinary Legacy
The family has a long, rich culinary legacy in New Orleans. Before Li’l Dizzy’s, there was Zachary’s on Oak Street, and before that, Eddie’s in the Seventh Ward, run by Wayne Sr.’s father, Eddie Baquet Sr. Eddie learned the business working for his aunt and uncle, Ada Baquet Gross and Paul Gross, at their restaurant, Paul Gross Chicken Coop. The Chicken Coop opened in the mid-1940s and was among the first Black-owned restaurants in the city.

Li’l Dizzy’s is the last of the Baquet family restaurants that’s still in operation today, and Arkesha and Wayne Jr. took it over in February 2021, after Wayne Sr. retired during the pandemic. (Those who are curious will appreciate this tidbit: the café was named after Wayne Sr.’s grandson Zachary, who played the trumpet at St. Augustine High School and was nicknamed Li’l Dizzy after famous trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie.) Says Arkesha, “It’s a family business where a lot of people like to come with their families.”

Some Things Have Changed, While Others Have Stayed the Same
With Arkesha and Wayne Jr. at the helm, only a few things have changed: the restaurant just serves lunch, the buffet has been removed, and service is now tableside and take-out. Food is served in take-out containers for the ease of both customers and staff.

What hasn’t changed are the recipes. Those have been part of the Baquet family lore for generations. Wayne Sr.’s wife, Janet Jourdain Baquet, created the recipes. A few are by his mother, Myrtle Romano Baquet.

The red and white bean dishes, credited to Janet, are legendary, and the recipes can be found in “The Baquet Family Cookbook”.

The two recipes are the same, except for the beans used, but as Arkesha learned early on, the white beans better be Camellia’s Great Northern beans – and not lima beans.

“People will have a fit,” says Arkesha. “Because, I’m telling you, when we first opened up (post-pandemic), and we started selling white beans, the question almost every customer asked was, ‘What kind of white beans are these?’ They did not want those lima beans.”

Arkesha was asked this question so many times, that she even called Wayne Sr. about it.

“He said, ‘If you give them something else, they’re not going to be happy,’” says Arkesha.

Soaking the Beans and Secret Ingredients
Some additional things that haven’t changed are the way the red and white bean dishes are made — using Camellia Beans — and soaking the beans overnight.

“My mother said that it’s sacrilegious not to soak your beans,” Arkesha says. “I don’t know how you would get away with them being good. That’s what would scare me; are they going to be hard?”

One ingredient that gives the bean dishes a special kick is the notable hot sausage the Baquets make in-house. The hot sausage can also be served alongside the beans, or customers can choose options like smoked sausage or fried chicken.

The red beans are served only on Mondays and usually sell out, while the white beans are served only on Tuesdays, and are just as popular.

Customers can thank head chef John Cannon (who some may know for playing the tuba in the Stooges Brass Band) and lead cook Lawrence Miller: Cannon makes the red beans, and Miller makes the white beans.

Li’l Dizzy’s Third Generation
Li’l Dizzy’s third generation includes Arkesha and Wayne Jr.’s children, Jene and Jace, who can be found helping out on Saturdays. Wayne Jr., who is the president of a wholesale company, is there, as well.

“We’re all here on Saturdays,” says Arkesha.

And they’re dedicated to keeping the Baquet culinary legacy alive.

Li’l Dizzy’s, 1500 Esplanade Ave., lildizzyscafe.net; on Instagram; (504) 766-8687; Mon-Sat. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Opening During the Pandemic

Opening a restaurant is always a risk, and Allison and Glenn Charles took on an even greater one when opening Nice Guys in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the duo – natives of New Orleans – had a dream, a plan, and were determined to move forward.

They haven’t looked back.

The restaurant took off, so much so that the Charleses are in the process of expanding Nice Guys into a former Japanese restaurant that was next door and renovating a Canal Street space as a second location.

The Secrets to Their Success

What could be the restaurant’s secrets to success? The Charleses’ savvy business sense: they took a long-empty building on Earhart Boulevard and renovated it into a place that is welcoming and casually chic.

The not-so-secret-secrets are Chef Fred Andrews and the menu, featuring classic yet innovative dishes that New Orleanians know and love. The restaurant’s tagline is “New Orleans food with a twist!”

A great example would be the red beans and rice.

Andrews boils smoked turkey legs in a seafood boil, such as crab, before adding them to Camellia Red Kidney Beans — which he doesn’t soak — during the cooking process.

He then adds the “trinity” — onion, celery, bell pepper — plus garlic, red pepper, salt, pepper, and pickled ham, and a “whole list of secret ingredients,” he says.

Andrews cooks the red beans and rice the day before serving, so the flavors are enhanced overnight.

The restaurant serves red beans and rice on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and “we always sell out each day,” says Glenn Charles. “People love it, and I think it’s because of the smoked turkey meat that we use.” (And whatever the secret ingredients are!)

An Original Take on Traditional Dishes

What else do the restaurant’s customers love? The menu’s original takes on traditional dishes. Shrimp and grits is now SLG (shrimp, lobster, and grits) and French fries are Earhart Attack Fries – a combination of marinated chicken, hot sausage, smoked sausage, bacon, jalapeños, and seasoned fries topped with crawfish cheese sauce and a fried egg. And then there are chargrilled oyster options, including the Oysters Rockefeller version.

Even snowballs get a special twist with little bottles of alcohol flipped into the icy mixture, while daiquiris get their own enhancements of fruit and more.

Allison Charles points out that the Wednesday special of the seafood hot box features a combination of seafood rice with potatoes, sausage, and corn boiled in crab boil, and is finished with Nice Guys’ garlic butter and the seafood of your choice (though some people like to add turkey legs).

Nice Guys Finish First

It’s no wonder that online reviews for the restaurant are raves and often include kudos to the wait staff.

About their success, Allison Charles says, “We were blessed, really blessed.”

It’s no longer a secret that Nice Guys do finish first.

Nice Guys Nola, 7910 Earhart Blvd. NOLA 70125, (504) 302-2404, https://www.niceguysnola.com/

Keeping New Orleanians Well Fed Since WW II
Leni’s Cafe is like going home, a place where you will find comfort food just like what your mom or grandmother — and let’s not forget dad and grandfather — made.

From a grilled cheese to a cheeseburger, omelet to egg sandwich, and red beans to white beans, this Baronne Street diner’s plate breakfasts and lunches have been keeping New Orleanians well fed since at least World War II.

Since 1978, the Warehouse District restaurant has been owned by Pete Patselikos.

He is, however, not Leni. That would be a previous owner (circa early 1960s), Leni Kampitsis; Leni is short for Eleni, a Greek name, and Greece is the country from which Patselikos hails.

“After the purchase, I continued what she had created,” says Patselikos, talking about the menu, which at its heart is American Greek diner food with New Orleans dishes.

That includes red and white beans.

The Secrets to Leni’s Red Beans
Patselikos claims there is no real secret to his red beans — “cook the red beans, put in the right seasoning” — but as you talk to him more, a few key elements pop out.

“We don’t soak the red beans,” he says, adding that people often soak them because of the quality. That’s not an issue at Leni’s because the restaurant uses Camellia Beans.

“Start by putting the beans in cold water, let them boil,” says Patselikos, “then put in the seasonings including pepper and celery, as well as sausage and ham.”

And don’t forget to add tomato paste to give it some color, Patselikos advises, sharing that butter is also added.

Only on Mondays
This process starts sometime between 5:30 – 6 am, and the red beans are done by 9:30 am, when they are creamy.

“We make them only on Mondays,” says Patselikos.

“Very traditional,” Patselikos’ wife Despina Patselikos says, referring to the New Orleans’ custom of making red beans and rice on Mondays. The origins of the Monday tradition can be traced back about 100 years to when women would simmer the beans on a stove during the day while they did the wash.

Customers can get the red beans and rice as is or with “Whatever you want that’s on the menu … it’s usually with smoked sausage. Some order a pork chop. A lot of people like to have it with fried shrimp,” says Patselikos.

#WhiteBeanWednesday
Then there is Leni’s white beans and rice, only served on Wednesdays. Instead of using Great Northern Beans, the restaurant uses Camellia’s Large Limas.

Why?

“That’s what they were making 45 years ago,” says Patselikos, who says he is continuing the legacy of the previous owners, such as Leni.

Classic & Time-Tested
And for a long time, Greeks have owned the restaurant. Before the current owners, there were Pete G. Michailakis and Gus Michailakis during the late 1960s and 1970s (they were either the same person or related to each other), and prior to that, Leni Kampitsis. A newspaper article from 1941 shows Margaret Wellbat — who may or may not have been Greek — owned the restaurant and that she was fleeced out of $15 by a Robert E. Byrd pretending to be in the army.

During the 1920s, the space was home to Monarch Sheet Metal Works and around World War I, it housed Murray Welding and Metal Works.

Now in 2022, there is no denying that when a customer walks into Leni’s Cafe, they will be served time-tested classic New Orleans dishes — such as red beans or white beans and rice — Leni’s style.

Leni’s Café, 741 Baronne St., 504.523.0069; Hours, Mon.-Fri. 6 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

NOTE: As of 10/2024, Mahoney’s is under new ownership and doesn’t serve red or white bean dishes and the French Quarter location ​is now closed​.

Mahony’s Po-Boys & Seafood’s Casey Levy had just received an urgent text from his staff at the French Quarter location. It wasn’t about the air-conditioning acting up or a delivery that hadn’t shown up yet. Nope – his staff wanted to know how soon he was going to bring the white beans over. White beans and rice — they are periodically on the menu as a special — are a favorite for staff and customers at Mahony’s.

Quality and consistency on the menu
For both the red bean and white bean dishes at Mahony’s, that meant using Camellia Beans.
“The quality and consistency achieved from about a century of maintaining those standards – how could we not want to use a local brand that lives that?” said Levy.

For every white bean there is a season
The white bean specials — Mahony’s uses Camellia Bean’s Great Northern variety — only happen about six months a year, divided somewhat by seasons. During the fall and winter months, that version is “looser, more old school style,” and is served with griddled shrimp with house seasoning that adds sweetness to it. The creamier version usually comes out during Hogs for the Cause, a culinary benefit in late March, and like the festival, is pork-centric.

Red beans: always on the menu
The red beans, which are always on the menu, are also made creamy. For that dish Levy “went to the drawing board … back to basics of what I learned early on in my family’s restaurants …. red beans old school, let the ingredients talk to themselves and figure out how they will handshake together.”

But instead of soaking the beans overnight using cold water, Levy said “we use hot water and add the smoked ham hock right away, with soaking only needed for five hours.”

After that, the smoked ham hock is removed, the beans are rinsed off quickly, then put back into the pot. “The absorbing of the smoky water into the beans gives them a different ‘bite’ when eating the beans. Lets you have that porky goodness without all the heavy oils needed,” said Levy.

Always cook the garlic in bacon fat
“Add your normal trinity, then garlic rendered in bacon fat,” said Levy, “a bay leaf and a little salt and pepper. We don’t add much seasoning at all.” They let the mixture simmer for a bit with the bay leaves and spices, then add in thin-sliced andouille sausage. “This will cook into the beans and give them that ‘lil extra flex,” says Levy.

Near the end of the cooking, when the red beans are creamy, a dab of Tabasco sauce is mixed in, before it is served with popcorn rice, smoked sausage and jalapeno butter cornbread. Some customers opt to have fried chicken with it.

Keeping it old school
“Like with many restaurants in Louisiana, the varying ways that they cook their beans lends to a great sampling of old school and newer flavors that can exist in the ‘kitchen sink’ cooking of the red and white beans world,” says Levy. “I like to think that ours has a taste and ‘feel’ that lets people remember a simpler way of cooking them and create that simmering of memory that made them fall in love with red beans in the first place.”

Mahony’s Po-Boys & Seafood, 3454 Magazine St., (504) 899-3374; 901 Iberville St., (504) 717-2422, mahonyspoboys.com

Where everyone knows your name
Café 615, Home of the Da Wabbit restaurant, with its iconic, vintage Bugs Bunny themed neon sign, began as a drive-in restaurant in 1948. Today it continues to be the place Westbankers (and others in the know) go for great New Orleans food. On a typical Monday, which is red beans and rice day, of course, it’s packed with diners. The waitresses are in nonstop motion and seem to know everyone by their first name. This familial feeling – not to mention the restaurant’s famed red beans – brings the neighborhood here, and that’s how owners Donna and Eric Savoie like it.

A restaurant history in neon
The Savoies bought this Gretna landmark in 2004 and renamed it Café 615, Home of Da Wabbit, keeping a link to its previous owner, “Da Wabbit” Licciardi, who won the building in a card game in 1946. Before Licciardi owned it, the business was a drive-up diner and bar called Kerner’s, which was also known as a place to gamble. Today, this old-school New Orleans tradition and the food keep bringing people back. “That’s how our business has grown – by just word of mouth or just locals,” says Dawn.

A red beans recipe for 300…and counting
When Eric recounts their red beans and rice recipe, he thinks in bulk – he says they serve about 300 portions on Mondays for lunch and dinner. He constructs his dish in steps: “We start with 50 pounds of dry beans. Add around 10 to 12 large bay leaves, then add two cups of liquid smoke and eight large smoked ham hocks. We boil it until the beans are soft, then add four cups of chopped garlic and 35 pounds of smoked sausage cut in quarters. We cook that until the garlic is soft, then add two pounds of non-salted butter. Then let it cook for two to three hours.”

Two pounds of butter – yes indeed!
The butter, he says, makes the mixture creamy. Eric then adds three or four stalks of celery chopped, 15 bell peppers, and 25 large onions, all chopped, which are all cooked down. “You don’t cook it until you can’t see the seasoning, because you still want to see the seasoning. We just cook it until it’s translucent, so it’s soft, but visible, and then we add salt.” The dish is completed with a side of a pork chop or smoked sausage.

Red beans, white beans… but always Camellia Beans
The only beans Eric will use, which also include the Thursday special of white beans and rice, are Camellia Beans. “It’s a family tradition,” said Eric, to use the beans. And it’s one that can’t be messed with. It’s staple and most people that come in are getting the red beans,” Dawn notes. “It’s a New Orleans thing.”

Pork chop or smothered rabbit on the side
For the white beans and rice – which can be ordered with pork chop or smothered rabbit (not the “wascally” kind) – Eric uses a different cooking technique: “We boil navy beans in plain water until they are soft, then we add regular onions, green onions, pickled meat, salt and pepper to taste. We check it until the pickled meat is tender and the beans are soft and creamy. Way easier than the red beans!”

Café 615, Home of Da Wabbit, 615 Kepler St., Gretna, 504-365-1225, cafe615.com

Edgar Chase IV has fond memories of red beans and rice, starting from when he was a small child. “In New Orleans, it is your Monday night meal. It’s also Carnival — going out to enjoy the parades and have some red beans and rice,” explains Chase.

He learned how to make the dish from his grandmother, Leah Chase, also known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, whose culinary skills brought people from across the globe to Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans – and made them fans for life. Leah Chase started in the family business after she married Dooky Chase, Jr. in 1946, and her culinary prowess was never short on admirers. The list includes Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush and musicians Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, to name just a few. In fact, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC celebrates her life and legacy with an exhibit featuring artifacts like her cooking pot, restaurant menu, and one of her iconic bright pink chef’s jackets. And there was even a Disney movie that drew inspiration from her true story: The Princess and the Frog.

Let that bean work!

Edgar Chase IV took over when Chef Leah passed away in 2019, and he’s honored to carry on her legacy. “Growing up, everyone [in the family] worked in the restaurant,” said Chase, who started out washing dishes and busing tables at around 14 years old. Chase added, “I always wanted to hang in the back of the kitchen.” He’d watch his grandmother, then go home and re-create a dish from the restaurant, then bring it in for her to taste. “Her palate was so amazing, she picked up any misstep,” Chase said. “She would say ‘You need more of this … cook longer…’ and whatever she said, it came out better.” Among those dishes was red beans and rice. “We start with the smoked ham shank and smoked sausage, add salt, pepper and thyme and really just cook slowly to let that bean work,” he said, “then we finish with black pepper and vegetable oil to cream them up.”

The beans are going to speak for themselves.

“When you are cooking with Camellia Red Beans,” said Chase, “you are starting with quality. And you don’t have to do too much to red beans and rice to make it shine.” Chase is among those in the kitchen making the dish, including his cousin Cleo Robinson and Mister Bynah — better known as “Mister B” — who are making sure the red beans and rice are ready when the restaurant opens. Robinson is also the cook for the restaurant’s famed fried chicken, which is served with red beans and rice. Other dishes that lure in diners are the shrimp Clemenceau, stewed chicken, crawfish étouffée, Creole gumbo and Leah Chase’s famous gumbo z’herbes, a dish traditionally served for the Catholic observance of Holy Thursday. 

More than the sum of its food.

Leah and Dooky made sure that the restaurant was always more than just a place to eat; it was also a safe community gathering spot during segregation, and as such it played an integral role in the Civil Rights movement. In honor of this history, it was recently placed on the state’s Civil Rights Trail. Dooky Chase’s Restaurant continues to stay its course in the community as a culinary icon, a gathering place,  a way of life – and a celebration of New Orleans.

Written by Sue Strachan

To understand how important the Fiorella family has been to the food culture of New Orleans, just ask the folks who line up early at Fiorella’s Cafe in Gentilly, waiting for the doors to open. They wait for that hot and crunchy, award-winning fried chicken that is perfectly seasoned down to the bone. Some are there for the wide variety of po-boys on the menu. And many are there early on Mondays for first dibs on the hearty, smoky Monday red beans and rice before they sell out.

Family Recipes from a French Quarter Restaurant

Owners Kelly and Calcie Fiorella are carrying on a family tradition, with family recipes, based on the original Fiorella’s Restaurant on Decatur Street in the New Orleans French Quarter, which was operated by their dad, CJ Fiorella, until he closed it 1999. As that restaurant’s origin story goes, CJ was a New Orleans grocer of Sicilian descent who just wanted a good cup of coffee. Every day CJ would make his way to the French Market to buy fresh produce. After taking care of business, he would stop in the Market Place Restaurant and purchase a coffee. One day in 1984, the restaurant’s owner, Anthony Bianca, who knew CJ and his family and their love of cooking, approached him and offered to sell him the restaurant. It took a bit of pushing from a friend, but CJ finally accepted, and Fiorella’s was born.
CJ renamed it Fiorella’s Cafe and brought a large amount of the family’s own recipes to the restaurant. Not completely satisfied with the menu, he began to walk around the French Quarter and look at the different menus to see what others were doing. Since this was a family style neighborhood spot, he wanted to make sure he offered red beans and rice on Mondays, served butter beans another day, and stayed true to a typical New Orleans menu – but with a Fiorella spin.
“When my brother and I decided to reopen the family restaurant here in Gentilly, I said to him, I’m the one doing all of the cooking,” said Kelly Fiorella. He was not only excited to be back in the kitchen but also to bring back the original family recipes, including the famous fried chicken (they go through about 80 to 100 pounds of it per day).

How do you red bean, Fiorella’s?

Fiorellas Cafe in Gentilly on June 14, 2021.

One plate you will only find on Monday is red beans and rice – a recipe that was handed down from Kelly’s grandmother. “It was a tradition, and it was always with Camellia beans,” he said. “There were always little bags of Camellia beans in the pantry,” he said. “She also had stacks of Camellia white beans, red beans, navy and black-eyed peas. I can remember always seeing that little Camellia logo.”
On a typical Monday, Fiorella’s goes through about 10 to 12 pounds of Camellia red beans, according to Kelly. It’s all made fresh Monday morning and usually sells out by mid-afternoon. And when it’s gone for the day, it’s gone. Fiorella’s red beans recipe is a hearty one. You will find the hint of bacon with the onions, bell peppers, and garlic. They add ham, pork shoulder, and andouille sausage. The key to a good pot of beans, Kelly says, is to cook them low and slow.

Fiorella’s Weekday Specials – A Schedule to Live By

Kelly also uses Camellia’s large lima beans for the Thursday special of butter beans and rice. “I love the butter beans,” he said. “They’ve got so much flavor to them.” Other weekday specials include meatloaf on Tuesdays, Italian sausage and shells on Wednesday, and shrimp Creole on Fridays. The menu also includes favorite family classics like meatballs and spaghetti, veal parmesan, hamburger steak, fried seafood, a variety of po-boys, and of course, the fried chicken. In both 2016 and 2017, Kelly and Calcie earned the “best fried chicken” award at the National Fried Chicken Festival.

“It’s all family recipes,” said Kelly. “The red beans is a family recipe handed down.”

Fiorellas Cafe in Gentilly on June 14, 2021.

Kelly’s love of cooking was sparked early on, when visiting his grandmother. “Every time you walked into that woman’s house, it smelled like she was cooking a pot of red gravy or something,” he said. “That’s my grandmother’s meatballs that we use with the spaghetti. She taught us her recipes.”
The history of those who came before him is important to Kelly. Black and white photographs of relatives decorate the walls and serve as reminders of the legacy he wants to continue and build upon. The building itself has historical importance, too. The Fiorellas have had a longtime friendship with the Bologna family that formerly operated Teddy’s Grill at this location. To pay homage to that friendship and what the restaurant meant to the Gentilly neighborhood, two black plastic bull heads from Teddy’s Grill watch over the dining room. “We always just wanted to stay true to what is tradition in New Orleans,” Kelly added.

Written by Eric Olsson

Unfortunately, due to losses from Hurricane Ida in 2021, Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine is now officially closed after serving soul food to generations of New Orleanians.

Since Celestine Dunbar was a child, Camellia beans have been a part of her life in one way or another. “I can see my mother right now using one of those little packs of Camellia beans,” said Dunbar. “I can’t remember her ever not using them. They were just a part of our family.”

Cooking for her family is how Dunbar gained the confidence to open Dunbar’s Creole Cooking on Freret Street in 1986. “There were seven children, and it was their job to get up in the morning and make breakfast for the family. Then, they would turn around and start making lunch. I helped out and cooked a lot.” 

In the beginning, Dunbar’s offered deli sandwiches in keeping with the deli business she’d taken over at that location, but eventually she began to cook hot meals at her house and bring them in to sell. Many of the recipes were ones that her parents and grandmother taught her to make. Each day she would bring in a different special. Monday was red beans and rice. Tuesday was cabbage and barbecue chicken. Wednesday was meatballs and spaghetti. Many of these specials are still served to this day, and all of them are the same family recipes.

Celestine Dunbar never stopped cooking

For almost 20 years, Dunbar’s Creole Cooking was a fixture on Freret Street, but that all ended in 2005 after she lost the restaurant to the floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina and the fight with insurance companies that followed. To keep the Dunbar’s name out there, she went back to her roots of cooking in her own home kitchen and selling the food elsewhere. Her first stop was the food court at the Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. After five years of serving students Uptown, she went on to deliver hot pre-plated meals to the workers on lunch at the Chalmette refinery.

This allowed Dunbar time to save up and purchase a new location, and she found that location in 2017 at 7834 Earhart Boulevard in New Orleans. Though the name of the restaurant changed to Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine, everything else stayed the same when they moved into the bigger location. Longtime friend and chef, Frank Jones, rejoined her as head of the kitchen. “He knows all of the recipes,” Dunbar said about Jones, who has been with her for over 30 years. “Frank does it all.”

“All they want is Camellia beans” 

As lunchtime hits, locals come out for the red beans and rice. “We sell them every day,” Dunbar said. “They’ll buy the red beans and rice before they’ll buy anything else.” She admits that over 60% of sales are for the red beans with fried chicken. On most days they go through about 12 pounds of Camellia red beans and up to 25 pounds a day during Carnival season leading up to Mardi Gras.

The recipe for the beans has been the same since the beginning. “We start with the trinity (white onions, green bell pepper, and celery) along with a lot of water,” Dunbar stated. “Then, you boil the trinity with garlic, green onions, granulated garlic, and a little parsley until the vegetables have become soft. You add your meat and seasoning (a special blend of black pepper and cayenne pepper) when the beans are about 90% done. This gives it it’s flavor.”

There are two tricks she offers for making the beans nice and creamy. The first trick is to add vegetable oil in the beginning. Dunbar says that by doing this, it will not only prevent the beans from boiling over and ruining the seasonings but will also help make the beans creamy. The other trick, or secret she learned from her mother all those years before, is to use Camellia brand red beans. “Camellia brand beans are just the best red beans there is. They are pink, fresh, and you just always get a beautiful red bean.”

Giving back to the community

Like many restaurants throughout New Orleans, Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine worked with the Chef’s Brigade NOLA, a united coalition of restaurants and chefs working together to offer food to those in need during the COVID pandemic, including front line responders, and healthcare workers. Dunbar said that they use Camellia brand lima beans and serve them with baked chicken seasoned with the “Louisiana Trinity” over a bed of white rice. The Chef’s Brigade produced up to 60,000 meals a day, utilizing independent restaurants throughout Orleans Parish to feed at-risk residents and neighbors throughout New Orleans.

Dunbar is happy that the restaurant can do its part in giving back to the community. She understands that the people of New Orleans have been an integral part in the continued success of her restaurant and rallied behind her to keep Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine going. Though there have been many ups and downs and stressful days, she always looks forward to what is to come – and there are exciting new plans. And through it all, she says that one thing will be certain, “people will come from all over the world and ask for those Camellia red beans and rice with fried chicken.”

Unfortunately, due to losses from Hurricane Ida in 2021, Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine is now officially closed after serving soul food to generations of New Orleanians.

Written by Eric Olsson

If the walls could talk.

Pimm’s Cups, intrigue, first dates, proposals of varying sorts, assignations, Creole flavors and a place to rest after a long day in the French Quarter — Napoleon House hasn’t changed much since 1914 when this famed bar and restaurant was opened by the Impastato family.

But if the walls could talk, Napoleon House would start telling tales from an earlier time when the building was owned by Nicolas Girod. Nicolas was a businessman, mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815, and a dreamer and schemer. Soon after inheriting the building in 1814, he began to alter it, creating the three-story building that we see today. Legend says the work was done in preparation for the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose supporters — rumored to include local pirates Jean Lafitte and Dominique You — were planning to help him escape from exile in Saint Helena and come to New Orleans.

Napoleon died before this alleged escape plan came to fruition, but his portraits still preside over the Napoleon House on the faded plaster walls, and the stern bust of his countenance surveys the dreamily illuminated bar and restaurant where cocktails and classic New Orleans cuisine rule the day and night.

Red Beans on Monday

In 2015, executive Chef Chris Montero of the Ralph Brennan restaurant group took the helm at Napoleon House, where he is also the general manager. Montero, who’s from an 8th-generation New Orleans family and well-versed in classic Creole cuisine, kept many of the original Impastato family recipes, merely tweaking them with artisan-made ingredients. At the top of that list of was Monday red beans and rice.

Montero grew up sampling different red beans and rice styles: his grandmother preferred ham hock, pickled pork, and a spicy smoked sausage; his mother rendered pork and sausage. For his own version of red beans, Montero harkens back to his grandmother’s classic Creole cooking. “I make it with chicken stock,“ he said.

Sausage that tastes good and does good.

One of the two sausages Montero uses in Napoleon House red beans is a Creole smoked sausage that has a local — and philanthropic — origin. As part of “Silence of da Hams,” a team that competes in Hogs for the Cause (a barbecue competition held in New Orleans that’s an annual benefit for pediatric brain cancer), Montero helped develop the sausage. It’s also available in grocery stores, and a portion of its sales goes to Hogs.

Camellia in the (Napoleon) House

Montero also uses Camellia Brand beans. As he put it, “To me this is the only brand people buy.” Montero leaves the important job of preparing the dish at Napoleon House to Josh Bierria, the restaurant’s production chef. A “behind-the-scenes” person, Bierria is an essential part of the team, said Montero. “Josh’s Camellia red beans and rice have become a big item on Goldbelly.com” said Montero, adding, “Two weeks ago we shipped 200 cases of red beans and rice in a day, all over the U.S.” Would Napoleon have liked red beans and rice? Montero contemplates for a moment and answers, “Why, not?!”

Written by Sue Strachan

Forty-five years ago, Leo Christakis decided to purchase Mena’s Palace in the French Quarter as a way to move back to Greece. When he learned that the restaurant was for sale, he told his brother, Leo, “Let’s buy it, make some money to save up, and move back to Greece.” His brother agreed. But as the years went on and the business continued to thrive, Christakis and his family began to build relationships and friendships with those who lived around the restaurant. “In my culture,” he said, “you go to a friend’s house, and they ask you what do you want to eat? What do you want to drink? Then, we sit around and talk, and drink, and eat. That is how we do it here, that is how we take care of our customers.”

“He refuses to buy any other brand than Camellia.”

“It’s all he’s ever cooked with,” said Leo’s daughter and restaurant co-owner Ellie Christakis, referring to her dad. “One time, an order came in for lima beans. Our supplier had sent a different brand and we had used them because we had to make some lima beans. He tasted it. ‘No. These aren’t Camellia,’ he said. ‘Don’t order anything but Camellia.’ And we definitely learned our lesson. The color was different. The taste was different. It’s amazing what a difference Camellia makes.”

Start with the trinity.

At Mena’s they start their red beans with the trinity (onions, bell peppers and celery). They sauté it down and add smoked sausage as the seasoning meat. Once the red beans are added, they cook them for a long time to get to that creamy texture and serve them with fried chicken or smoked sausage on the side. Ellie Christakis explained that the family uses Camellia products at home, too. She makes the Greek soup ‘Fakes’ with Camellia lentils. The soup (pronounced ‘Fah-kehs’) is traditionally made with lentils, water, red onions, garlic, bay leaves and a tomato puree (if you want it reddened) and served with an added drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lots of vinegar. “There’s another one called a ‘Fasolada’ and it uses a Great Northern Bean. And we only use Camellia,” Ellie Christakis said of the soup that many consider to be one of the national dishes of Greece.

Here for the community.

One thing that has been certain about Mena’s Palace and the Christakis family is that they have always put the needs of the neighborhood first. Whether it was coming back from Hurricane Katrina or riding out the pandemic, their top priorities have always been to treat everyone like family, keep prices low, serve big portions of high-quality food, and remain consistent. “We appreciate our customers and the relationships and friendships we have with them,” Ellie Christakis said. “New Orleans is such a nice city, especially in the French Quarter. There are so many good people. A lot of warmth and love.”

New Orleans is home.

“I wanted to move back to Greece, but never did,” said Leo Christakis reflecting on his decision to stay in New Orleans and continue operating Mena’s Palace with his family. “You get to understand the people, and I loved that. I wanted to see the customers happy and the rest took care of itself. I am 77. I’m still working, and I still like it.”

Written by Eric Olsson

As you walk up to, the aroma of fried chicken fills the air. People from all over the world line up and wait, sometimes hours, to enter Willie Mae’s Scotch House, a small two-room restaurant in the historic Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. They’re attracted by not only the aroma of perfectly fried chicken, but also by the accolades from the Food Network, the Travel Channel and the James Beard Foundation, which declared it an “American Classic Restaurant” for carrying on the traditions of great regional cuisine.

At one time, Willie Mae’s was just a corner spot that was only known within the neighborhood. It started out as a bar in 1957, then after moving to its current location, a beauty salon was added in the front because Willie Mae Seaton always wanted to be a beautician. She began to cook in the small kitchen behind the bar to feed the customers and soon after, they were telling her that she needed to open her own restaurant. In the early 1970s, the beauty shop was closed to make room for those who were coming in to eat the smothered veal, pork chops and that crispy, spicy fried chicken.

As word got around, the dining room, which seems more someone’s house than an actual restaurant, began to fill up. In May of 2005, the award from the James Beard Foundation put the old scotch house on the radar of every food critic, journalist, and tourist from around the country, and the lines stretched longer. But just months later, the restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed it.

After almost three years of rebuilding, with the help of countless volunteers and family members, Willie Mae’s Scotch House reopened to great acclaim. Willie Mae stepped aside and her great-granddaughter, Kerry Seaton-Stewart, carries on the tradition of the famed family-owned restaurant. The national praise of their fried chicken took off.

“Then of course there’s the trinity – celery, bell peppers and onions.”

Kerry Seaton-Stewart grew up in the kitchen with her great-grandmother and grandmother. “She had me in the kitchen with her my whole life,” Seaton-Stewart said, who began working at Willie Mae’s as a teenager. “She would require that I cooked all of these cultural meals. All the traditional meals. At school, they would fix red beans for lunches and I would just play with it because they were not my grandmother’s beans. I was always comparing and measuring the standard of red beans.”

But Seaton-Stewart knew that adapting to changing times was important to keep the restaurant moving forward. She noticed that those who lived outside of the southern region were not accustomed to eating lots of pork and fatty meats like they used in the pot of red beans or butter beans. “I felt the vegan wave coming on and I just wanted to be ahead of it and be inclusive,” she said. “That way, if people came in and they weren’t all pork eaters they can still eat it. I’ve been making them vegan for 14 years now.”

By switching the red beans and butter beans, which are large lima beans, to vegan, she felt that the actual flavor of the two dishes were lifted. One of the enhancements she found while doing taste tests with family and friends, was to include extra bay leaves. “Bay leaves are a must,” she said. “Then of course the trinity – celery, bell peppers and onions – and then some garlic.”  But the not-so-secret ingredient is in the red beans themselves.

“We use Camellia because it’s just a better grade of beans.”

Seaton-Stewart said that you can tell that the quality of Camellia beans is better than any other brands simply by the way they are farmed and cultivated.” You don’t have all the rocks in there and broken beans,” she said. “Camellia is high quality and they just cream better so you know when you cook them it’s going to make a good bean sauce. No other beans are going to be creamy like that.”

Expanding the tradition

Willie Mae’s Scotch House has been as popular as ever. After 60 years at the corners of St. Ann and Tonti in the Treme neighborhood, Seaton-Stewart expanded into the Central Business District food hall, Pythian Market, in 2019, with a condensed version of the restaurant. The new location still features the same iconic fried chicken and red beans and rice and will help meet the supply and demand to the loyal longtime following of locals and tourists to keep the legacy going.

“Red Beans tells the story of the culture of New Orleans,” Seaton-Stewart said. “It means home to me. It makes me think of my family because we have so many good times and great memories eating a pot of red beans.”

Written by Eric Olsson

In the middle of the ever-changing Bywater neighborhood in New Orleans, there is an unassuming yellow store front at the corners of Dauphine and Piety streets. Take one step inside the small grocery store and it’s like you are stepping back in time to the early 1970s.

The building that houses Frady’s One Stop has been around for more than a hundred years. Before Joseph Frady bought the going-out-of-business Flick’s Meat Market in 1972, it was an open-air fruit stand. Frady bought the meat market with two goals in mind: to turn it into a corner grocery store and to serve the best cold drinks and sandwiches. 

After Frady’s One Stop opened and word spread around the neighborhood about the food, locals began to ask for more than just sandwiches. To accommodate the customers, Frady had a small kitchen installed behind the counter with deep fryers and a stove and began to serve hot lunches and daily specials. Year after year, the list of po-boy sandwiches and daily specials could be found scrawled across the black chalkboards that decorate the interior.

A red beans tradition.

“Right away my father started to serve red beans and rice on Mondays because they were coming in and asking for it,” said Kirk Frady, who now runs the food store. “My dad was born and raised in New Orleans and grew up like that with my grandmother. Monday was wash day, and red beans and rice. People came into Frady’s and expected that.”

You’ll not only find packages of Camellia Beans being offered for sale on the grocery store shelf, but it’s also a Monday ‘lunch special’ that is served to-go with either smoked sausage or chicken, a vegetable (such as mustard or collard greens) and a dessert (bread pudding or a cobbler) for a price that has had loyal locals and in-the-know tourists coming back for decades.

“I don’t know where the recipe came from.”

“We usually cook four to five pounds of Camellia Red Beans every Monday,” Kirk Frady said. “I don’t know where the recipe came from. My dad hired a cook, an older lady, and she lived next door. She would soak the beans overnight, then she would come in and cook them. And it’s still the recipe we’re using today.”

To make the beans extra creamy, Kirk Frady says to use lots of butter along with mashing the beans in the end. To get that extra depth of flavor, besides onions, bell pepper, and garlic, he recommends using lots of celery. “We’re big on celery,” he said.

“We’ve always used Camellia. They have always been here and are established in New Orleans.”

Frady’s One Stop has established itself as a mainstay in an old neighborhood that is rapidly evolving around it. Away from the colorful residential streets that are lined with rows and rows of double shotgun houses and Creole cottages, the industrial spaces are being reclaimed and transformed as artists and musicians move in. Bed and breakfasts are sprouting up to meet the demand of tourists visiting this quirky, laid-back part of New Orleans.

“It’s a working-class neighborhood. We get a lot of carpenters and electricians, who are working on these old houses, come in to eat with us because it is an easy meal,” Kirk Frady said, “but with the Bywater being such a destination now, we’re selling a lot more groceries, like beans and hot sauces in little gift baskets because they want to take them back to where they are staying or send them back home. Even though they did not grow up with wash day and soaking beans, they know the drill and they want to take Camellia red beans and a Barq’s with them.”

“No Wifi at Frady’s. Sit and talk.”

At its core, Frady’s One Stop is still an old-world type of neighborhood grocery store, but deep down it’s one of the best spots to grab a bite to eat in New Orleans. While a small portion of the menu changes daily, the list of the sixteen po-boys offered along with the selection of breakfast that is served all day remains a fixture, just like the sign that reads “No Wifi at Frady’s. Sit and Talk.” So take your red beans and rice to go, sit outside on one of the colorfully painted benches, enjoy the charming neighborhood and know that no matter how much the area changes around you, the folks at Frady’s know what it means to be New Orleanians.

Written by Eric Olsson

Another Southern Tradition

When it comes enjoying a big steaming bowl of creamy red beans and rice, there are those who subscribe to the “more is more” philosophy. For example, in addition to the smoked sausage or ham hock or pickled pork that adds meaty flavor to red beans, many enjoy the additional meaty southern tradition of fried chicken alongside their beans. There’s just something about the creaminess of the beans combined with the crunchiness of the fried chicken that makes it a winning taste sensation.

A Favorite Combination at Restaurants and More

In fact, fried chicken is probably the most common treat paired with red beans and rice at favorite eateries, with the ubiquitous combo found at chains like Popeyes, as well as at mom and pop restaurants in New Orleans like Café Reconcile, Dunbar’s, and Willie Mae’s Scotch House. Interestingly, though it’s not on the public-facing menu, fried chicken and red beans & rice is one of the most popular secret suppers served to staff at upscale Galatoire’s. And according to Chef Anthony Scanio of Delmonico, “Of course, red beans and rice are a staple at New Orleans get-togethers; surely, fried chicken…is more than likely to be part of the pot luck.” Even Lolis Eric Elie, a New Orleans master storyteller, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and cookbook author, declares, “I love red beans and fried chicken as a combination.”

Finally, when asked “What’s the secret to your red beans?”, one loyal fan put it this way:

“Pickled meat, garlic, bay leaf, onions, and let them simmer on top of the stove! Serve over rice with a little hot sauce, fried chicken, and fresh French bread!”
Daphine J.

Abita Springs is a quaint village deep in the piney woods of the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 45 minutes from New Orleans. Once a spa town where New Orleanians came to escape the summer heat and swim in the many local springs, it retains not only its 19th-century architectural charm but also its old-timey general store, right in the town’s CBB (central business block). With an emphasis on local tradition, Artigue’s Abita Market is a family business that serves the little community’s loyal residents, many of whom live in historic Victorian cottages close enough to walk to the store. Customers also include cyclists passing by on the nearby Tammany Trace bike path and day-trippers from New Orleans who come to check out the town’s attractions, including the quirky UCM Museum and the local Abita Beer microbrewery. 

A Small Town with Big Flavor

In addition to the grocery essentials required in any small Louisiana town, like Cajun spices, T-Rey’s local andouille sausage, spicy boiled peanuts and plenty of red beans, lima beans and blackeye peas, Artigue’s also offers a fresh daily specials menu, brought to life by chef Trey Herty. The menu features a rotation of classic Louisiana hot plates and po-boys plus local family recipes like Mom’s Red Beans and Rice with Pickled Meat, T-Rey’s Smoked Boudin, Louisiana Catfish Meuniere and Artigue’s famous Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo. And not to be missed are the side dishes, from tasty Boudin Balls with Pepper Jelly Dipping Sauce to Stewed Green Baby Limas, Baked Yams and Collard Greens.

Artigue’s Red Bean Secrets Revealed

The menu at Artigue’s evolves along with the seasonal produce that’s locally available, while also staying true to New Orleans traditions such as Red Beans and Rice on Mondays. Sometimes the menu is more Cajun and other times it’s more Creole, but at Artigue’s it’s always Louisiana. So how does Artigue’s do red beans? Chef Trey essentially follows his mom’s recipe and adds in a few “chef hacks” along the way. (His mom, Reba, makes the best red beans he’s ever had.) For seasoning meat he uses products he developed – T-Rey’s Specialty Meats Smoked Sausage and Pickled Meat – which customers can also buy in the store. Chef Trey always browns the sausage in a separate pan and deglazes the pan with vegetables to impart a rich umami flavor to his red beans, and he keeps the spice lineup simple and classic: salt, black pepper and cayenne, with garlic added at several different stages of the cooking process and a couple of dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce when serving. Can’t get much more Louisiana than that!

After all, when you’re reeling in Neptune’s endless bounty hand over fist in your sleep and feasting on jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé gumbo from fais do-do to grave, perfecting the art of melting cheese on bread can get lost in the tricentennial shuffle.

However, times and tastes have changed (along with property values), and this town’s po’ pizza rap is changing faster than the Plaquemines Parish coastline. Mid City Pizza (4400 Banks St. and 6307 S. Miro in Uptown) is among a new breed of purveyors working hard to alter long-held perceptions, partly by employing a “when in Rome …” philosophy that splendidly weds New York-style pizza with South Louisiana flavors. Besides offering a tantalizing array of pies with all the traditional fixings, the pizzeria has turned the heads of local “hey-brahs” with a unique special that honors the Crescent City’s most-cherished Monday meal: red beans and rice pizza!

Served exclusively as a Monday special, the bean pizza has struck a chord both here and nationally. New Orleans ABC affiliate WGNO-TV recently produced a short video feature on the dish, while the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) honored it as “The Best Vegan Pizza in the Nation,” besting a list of rivals operating in Olympian pizza strongholds such as Chicago and Long Island, N.Y.

“The PETA award was such a surprise and an honor,” said pizza chef and co-manager Daniel “D-Ray” Ray, who also is a vegetarian, a musician, and a force behind the DIY record-label collective Community Records. “To this day, I have no idea how exactly they heard about it. They just emailed us one day and let us know! I know I had some friends posting about it on the Internet in vegan blogs and such. I’m super happy to be providing a healthy, filling meal option for compassionate people.”

“A Staple of a Healthy Diet”

Recipes — and red beans — have been coursing through the Slidell native’s blood for as long as he can remember, with the melt-in-your-mouth manna of Grandma’s Thanksgiving noodles, Mom’s baked fresh-caught fish, and Dad’s award-winning chili seared into his vestigial taste buds.

“I started making red beans and rice from scratch every Monday when I was a sophomore at Loyola University in 2007,” D-Ray recalled. “For years, it had been a weekly tradition: I would make a big batch and eat on them throughout the week because I didn’t have time to make dinner every day. Being a vegetarian, red beans and rice are one of the only complementary complete protein sources. Beans and rice have been a staple of a healthy diet for centuries! Anyway, this clockwork motion — mixed with my creativity in the kitchen and love for both red beans and rice and pizza — eventually led me to simply put the two together.”

The Dish on How D-Ray Does It

So how does D-Ray concoct this doughy deconstruction of what is perhaps New Orleans’ most exemplary dish? “The first step comes the night before I want to cook: Soak the dried red beans in water (or some sort of hoppy beer) for at least 24 hours. I start the cooking process by sautéing diced Vidalia onions, green bell peppers, and celery until the onions are translucent and the bell peppers and celery are soft. Next, I add minced garlic and crushed red pepper and continue to sauté for just a little while longer. It’s easy to go past ‘browned’ to ‘burnt’ and you don’t wanna do that. Then I add the soaked, rinsed red beans to the veggies and the coldest water the faucet will give me. The cold water ‘shocks’ the flavor into the beans. Add a few bay leaves, bring the water to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.

“Once it has thickened up a bit, I add parsley, thyme, and salt to taste and continue to simmer on low,” he continued. “I cut the heat and add some basil once I have the desired consistency. At some point, I’ll put some Zatarain’s rice in a rice cooker. Once both are done, I mix them together and put them in the fridge. The red beans and rice become red bean pizza as soon as I scoop them onto the dough.”

Red Beans With Built-In French Bread

Customers’ reactions run the gamut, with the most common being “It’s … interesting” as well as “It’s so filling!” The dish is perhaps most popular with the health-conscious holdouts who lurk among us. “Vegans and vegetarians can’t get enough of it,” D-Ray confirmed. “They think it’s the best thing since nutritional yeast.”

D-Ray suggests that partakers fine-tune their expectations before chowing down. “People go into it like they’re eating pizza when it’s actually much more filling than that,” he observed. “Some people are skeptical because they are thinking ‘pizza’ when they should be thinking ‘red beans with the French bread built in.’”

When it comes to confecting his own red beans, D-Ray — like most New Orleanians — pulls from a time-tested playbook of personal preferences and family traditions. “The most important ingredient,” he believes, “is thyme. For me, it’s what makes them shine.” As for condiments, D-Ray pledges a singular allegiance: “Everyone knows Crystal is the only hot sauce for red beans and rice!”

Secret Ingredient: “Support Local Companies”

Mid City Pizza’s experiments with local specialties don’t stop with red beans. “The shrimp remoulade pizza was invented by my good, good friend, co-manager, and pizza sensei, Sean Barros,” D-Ray said. “It was created as a special around Lent, but had such a great reaction we decided to keep it around.” The restaurant also has offered a jambalaya calzone in the past.

Carnivores and connoisseurs of locally sourced products can find plenty of options at Mid City Pizza, starting with the beans. “I use Camellia red beans because I like to support local companies, no matter how big or small,” D-Ray declared. “Camellia also has a reputation of high-quality USDA standards and the beans are non-GMO.”

Sausage From Over Bayou St. John

Those seeking meat on their pizzas can choose from toppings such as pepperoni, meatballs, marinated chicken, bacon, or ham, but Mid City Pizza also has a special Sicilian weapon: Italian and hot sausage made in-house at Terranova’s, the practically legendary 90-year-old family-run grocery at 3308 Esplanade Ave. near the New Orleans Fair Grounds.

“We have been working with Terranova’s since the beginning, even before it was Mid City Pizza,” D-Ray said. “The Terranova’s family are some of the kindest people you could ever meet.”

And for some of the most delectable pizza you could ever eat west of Naples and south of the Mason-Dixon line, visit Mid City Pizza in the burgeoning Banks Street bar and restaurant corridor, in the space formerly occupied by Crescent City Pie and Sausage Company — and now at a 2nd location Uptown across from Tulane Stadium, in the space that used to house Naked Pizza. Take a well-deserved break from your Monday laundry and Dutch oven to sample their made-to-order special, the red beans and rice pizza. Or, if you’re feeling more like Morgus and Chopsley, throw ethical concerns to the wind and sink your incisors into a flesh-laden Mid City Meat Monster. You’ll taste the difference!