Food

With nearly 70 food vendors and over 200 dishes, Jazz Fest isn’t simply a music destination, it’s a foodie paradise. But that makes vendor selection and organization an arduous task.

Fortunately, just the right woman is leading the process. Michelle Nugent has been the Jazz Fest Food Director since 1999 and has a culinary résumé befitting a world-class chef. She spent 17 years working with chef Susan Spicer, first as an apprentice, then as Bayona’s sous chef, and finally as the executive chef at Spice Inc.

As Jazz Fest enters its second day, folks may be waking up this morning a bit haggard from yesterday’s festivities. For those battling the brown bottle blues, fear not: there may be help for you at the Fair Grounds.

Poppy Tooker, host of Louisiana Eats!, says first you’ll need to visit Ms. Linda’s Ya Ka Mein stand, right near the Congo Square Stage.

Life on the road might be difficult for traveling musicians and their crews, but the perks of this lifestyle are almost impossible to replicate.

Chef Anne Churchill spends her summers traveling as a cook for one of rock's most popular touring bands and has the stories to prove it. She joins us on Louisiana Eats! to talk about the mammoth responsibilities of cooking at amphitheaters across the country.

We'll also hear from Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, whose decade together on the road has honed their tastes for the weird and wild. Their firsthand accounts with late-night diners will get you hungry for donuts, Philly cheese steaks, and kangaroo burgers.

And when it's finally time to come home, few know our musicians better than Elsa Hahne. She'll share stories about getting these public figures to open up to her privately in their own kitchens.

By Ian McNulty

New Orleans, La. –
The procedure for ordering at Jazz Fest food booths is pretty straightforward: you name your dish and fork over cash. At some booths, however, it's common for festival-goers to try to make dinner reservations too.