Poppy Tooker

French culture holds a special place in Louisiana's heart, whether it's music, language, or food! On this week's show, we travel to France virtually and bring home a taste of their lifestyle and cuisine.We begin with Makenna Held, author of "Mostly French: Recipes from a Kitchen in Provence," which is both a cookbook and a chronicle of life in the French countryside, where she runs an innovative cooking school at Julia Child's former home.Then, James Beard Award-winning author Aleksandra Crapanzano lets us in on the sumptuous secrets of Parisian home bakers found in her book, "Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes."Next, we revisit our 2015 trip to Paris, when Paris By Mouth's Jennifer Greco introduced us to a charming charcuterie in the Marais called Caractère de Cochon, a play on words that means "pigheaded."Finally, we head back to New Orleans to speak with Dominique Rizzo of Celtica Bakery. The French-born chef moved here decades ago to share his passion for the food of his native country.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

This month, as Louisiana Eats marks our 15th anniversary, we're relishing the opportunity to bring you some favorite moments from our archives. We begin with our 2011 interview with the late civil rights activist, Dr. Rudy Lombard. He talks about his role in the 1960 McCrory's lunch counter sit-in and what motivated him to write his seminal 1978 book, "Creole Feast."Then, we revisit our 2011 tribute to one of the chefs featured in that tome: Clarence "Buster" Holmes. British jazz drummer Barry Martyn and Chef Susan Spicer both share memories of their friend and mentor.Next, we hear again from the late Michael Mizell-Nelson, who spent his career studying the experience of working-class New Orleans. We bring you the second half of our streetcar ride with Michael in 2010, as he shares the history of public transportation during the era of Jim Crow.To end our show, we spotlight our 2011 conversation with local icon Mildred Covert, who taught the world how to cook Creole and Cajun while keeping kosher.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Louisiana Eats hit a major milestone last week – 15 years on the air. That's well over 500 episodes featuring somewhere around a thousand different voices! This week, we bring you three interviews from our archives that celebrate some late, great Louisiana legends.We begin with a tribute to Chef Paul Prudhomme, his wife Kay, and their lost French Quarter restaurant, K-Paul's. We revisit an unforgettable conversation we had with Sandy Hanson and her brother-in-law, Chef Frank Brigtsen, after Paul died in 2015. Both Sandy and Frank were K-Paul veterans from the restaurant's earliest days. They share memories of their time there and the profound impact both Kay and Paul had on their lives.Then, we bring you the voices of two late New Orleans TV icons. The first is broadcast pioneer Terry Flettrich Rohe. Those who grew up in the Crescent City in the 1950s may remember Terry as "Mrs. Muffin" on a WDSU-TV daily children's program that she hosted for almost a decade. She was also the producer and host of Midday, one of the network's most popular programs.The second is seafood magnate Al Scramuzza, who passed away in May at the age of 97. Al's comical and campy TV ads dominated the airwaves for decades – and each of them he wrote, produced, and starred in. But even before his commercials made him a household name, Al was combining his acumen for business and marketing to turn a profit. All the while, he played a major role in the mudbug's rise to culinary fame.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

We've dug through our archives to bring you some of our favorite moments over the past decade and a half, with an emphasis on Louisiana culture and cuisine. The very first episode of Louisiana Eats broadcast on June 9, 2010. That year also marked the 125th anniversary of New Orleans' streetcar line. We look back at our very first field piece, when we took a streetcar ride with the late, great historian Michael Mizell-Nelson.Then, we revisit our conversation with Priestess Miriam Chamani, who presides over North Rampart Street's Voodoo Spiritual Temple.Next, we return to Pascal's Manale's oyster bar for a once-in-a-lifetime shucking experience with celebrity oyster shucker "Uptown T" Thomas Stewart, before wild man Joey Fonseca takes us on a virtual alligator hunt.Finally, we rediscover our 2014 field trip to Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport, where we learn all about what makes the flavor profile of craft beer in the Shreveport-Bossier area distinctive.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

On February 5th of this year, Steve Himelfarb, a longtime fixture in New Orleans' food scene and Louisiana Eats producer, passed away at the age of 61 following a battle with cancer. On this week's show, we remember our friend and colleague by bringing you extended versions of two interviews with him over the years. We also speak with sound engineer and producer Lu Rojas, who shares stories of Steve's esteemed music career.

With a unique history reaching back centuries, Louisiana is a state that lends itself to storytelling. On this week's show, we're joined by two historians to get the true stories behind some common myths and misconceptions. And sandwiched between them, we speak with two authors of historical fiction whose books make our state's past come alive.

This week, Louisiana Eats takes you to the Williams Research Center for the Historic New Orleans Collection's 2024 Food Forum, where host Poppy Tooker moderated a panel discussion that delved into the fascinating stories of three of the city's most enduring restaurants – all family-owned and -operated for generations.On the panel was Lisa Blount, representing Antoine's, the longest continuously operating family-owned restaurant in the nation. Lisa is marketing and menu development director of the 185-year-old eatery, as well as the wife of fifth-generation proprietor, Rick Blount. She tells us about the women and men who kept the business in operation through several generations and what she is doing now to preserve their legacy.Also part of the discussion was Ralph Brennan, third-generation owner of the French Quarter institution, Brennan's, as well as four other restaurants. Ralph explains what inspired him to keep Brennan's in business when it was on the verge of closing. He also describes the circumstances that led him to take over The Napoleon House, an even older restaurant institution in the Vieux Carré. While he made some necessary updates to the building, they were designed not to be seen by a customer base who would have balked at the idea of the restaurant changing in the slightest.Rounding out the panel was Executive Chef Edgar "Dook" Chase, IV, who carries on the legacy of his grandmother Chef Leah Chase, as the fourth-generation proprietor of the over 80-year-old Dooky Chase Restaurant. He tells us about how he's keeping his family's legacy alive while giving newer generations an opportunity to move forward.For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in America, but its acclaimed cuisine is hardly stuck in the past. Today, the local food scene is bolder, more diverse, and more inventive than ever. That's what food writer Beth D'Addono discovered when researching her latest publication, "City Eats: New Orleans." Beth joins us to discuss the city's talented new guard of chefs and restaurateurs. We also dig into two restaurants featured in Beth's book: Addis Nola and GW Fins.

Home. That’s a hard word to define. Is home a place? A person? A sense of belonging? On this week's show, we speak with chefs Alon Shaya and David Slater who have both traveled great distances, literally and figuratively, to discover their own sense of home.

From "Cardoons" to "Misbeliefs," "Huckabucks" to "Second Lines" – the Big Easy has a lingo all its own, built on generations of immigrants finding their way to the port of New Orleans, the French Quarter, and finally a life in this city. For centuries, Africans, Southeast Asians, Europeans, and Caribbean Islanders have worked to make a home here, resulting in the hodgepodge of culture New Orleans is today. On this week's show, we examine two immigrant groups who loom large in the story of the Crescent City.