Antoine’s in the French Quarter of New Orleans claims to be the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States, opening in 1840. It’s true old-school fine dining, with crisp white tablecloths, impeccable service, and a menu of items so rich you need a shot of Pepto Bismol for a digestif….
Herbsaint’s Hit And Miss
It was windy and a little chilly on the Friday night my friends I arrived in New Orleans, but it felt like the Caribbean compared to being back in Washington, DC, with record-low temperatures and a broken heating unit at home. For dinner that night, we strolled from our rented…
Eating Well In The Big Easy
Just returned from a glorious long three-day weekend in New Orleans, where I was able to revisit some old favorite restaurants, try some new ones, and even managed to fit in some activities that didn’t require food and drink. My friends and I made the most of the culinary and…
Interview 51: My Dinner With Jaws
Actor Richard Kiel is perhaps best known as the villain Jaws from two James Bond movies in the 1970s. And now he can be known as the 51st person to be interviewed for Dining With Strangers. It’s like winning an Oscar! All right, it’s nothing like winning an Oscar. Nevertheless,…
Interview 50: My Visit To Storyville
The second of my two recent(ish) interviews in New Orleans is online! Late in August — yes, I realize that my turnaround time on these articles is awfully slow — I had lunch with Josh and Natalie Harvey, owners of the custom design t-shirt company Storyville based in the Crescent…
Interview 49: The Food Critic
An update! An honest-to-goodness new interview! Today’s article is my dinner with New Orleans restaurant critic Tom Fitzmorris, the host of a long-running radio show dedicated solely to talking about food, in a city famed for its great restaurants. He also operates The New Orleans Menu website that’s overflowing with…
Interview 48: A Matter Of Life O’Death
Last weekend I was in New York and had an enjoyable lunch with David Rogers-Berry, the drummer for the band O’Death. Over plates of Mexican food in Brooklyn, he told me about how he got into music from an early age and his goals for the band. There’s much more…
Interview 47: The Mistress Of Melody
Earlier this month I was back in England to visit my family. On the way back to the States, I managed to sneak in a dinner with singer and songwriter Lorraine Bowen. Lorraine is a charming, funny and outgoing woman who writes quirky songs about offbeat subjects, including what goes…
Interview 46: Breakfast With Katelan
Woohoo, a new interview is finally online! The last interview I posted was in July, so let’s just say I’ve been slow-walking my efforts with this website. After all, it’s not my day job and taking people out to dinner can get expensive. But enough of that, on with the…
Interview 45: Working Hard For The Money
In 2010, I had brunch with Malachi Marx, a straight man who did gay porn to pay the bills. He was pretty sour on most of his experiences in the industry. Fast-forward to July 2012 and I found myself sitting across a restaurant table from Antonio Biaggi, an out gay…