JetBlue Leg Two: Louisiana

LEG TWO:  LOUISIANA–The rivers and bayous of Louisiana are so beautiful that it’s just silly.  My nephew took me on a bass boat tour of the Tickfaw River and the Diversion Canal in French Settlement, Louisiana (the only town in the U.S. with a disease named after it…but it’s a great place and there’s a lot more to it than that).  As soon as we approached the boat launch, I could tell that I was in for a treat.  The camouflage-painted house on the river and the flock of resting egrets were my first clues.

The cypress trees, Spanish moss, warm river water teeming with biology, the humidity and the wildlife all combine to let you know that you are definitely in another world.  Look at these photos.  Only in Louisiana will a great blue heron flash you, a paddle wheeler get stuck in someone’s back yard, and a post–whose hair is a fright—looks poised for baptism.

There is great beauty in the perceived imperfections of Louisiana.  NYC has a subway as a way to equalize the population…everyone uses the subway; in Louisiana, those of all types know the language of hurricanes, generators and evacuation.  I think the fact that Mother Nature gives Louisiana a humbling experience roughly every three years makes the people here a little more compassionate, unspoiled and interesting.  At least, that’s how I see it.

The food here is so tasty that it’s just silly.  Not only do the natives cook some mean seafood, the local brands are not be ignored—Community Coffee, Zapp’s Potato Chips, Steen’s Cane Syrup, and Popeye’s Fried Chicken, to name a few.   And, the recipe posted on the blog for Leg Two is, of course, gumbo.

This is a photo of my friends, Steve and Becky.  It was taken in Steve’s restaurant that sits in a beautiful, colorful and charming neighborhood just above the French Quarter in the historic Faubourg Marigny.  The restaurant is called The Cake Café…it should be called The Never-Give-Up Café.

Steve was The Cake Man of New Orleans, selling his great signature cakes by the slice door-to-door…Red Velvet, Cayenne Chocolate, etc.  The Cake Man chipped away at building a following, then opened the first Cake Café in the French Quarter in 2005.  Katrina washed it away, and the Cake Man ended up taking refuge in NYC.  Determined to build his dream business in New Orleans, Steve returned catering for film production companies and building his recipe repertoire.

The people of the Marigny were waiting for Steve.  When he opened The Cake Café on the corner of Spain and Chartres, the locals were very happy…with a  Grilled Crabmeat, Bacon and Brie Sandwich on the menu, why wouldn’t they be?  It has remained a beloved piece of New Orleans with food so good that it’s just silly.