While you may be far away from the ribald insanity of the French Quarter, you can still find outposts of New Orleans flavor fit to fuel you up before a night of debauchery.
First and foremost, it will interest Mardi Gras traditionalists to know you can indeed find a King Cake in this city. The flaky, brioche-like circular cake—decorated purple, green, and gold—usually has a little Jesus baked inside. No, literally: a little baby Jesus figurine actually inside the cake. It’s considered good luck to find Jesus in your slice of cake. Weird? Yes. Delicious? Certainly.
You can get your King Cake from Petite Provence [4834 Southeast Division, 233-1121, 1824 Northeast Alberta, 284-6564] for about $25, BUT they are made to order so allow three hours between the time you call and the time you pick ‘em up.
Need fuel before your wild, sex soaked, breast flashing, bead wearing binge? Check out a few of my favorite Louisiana-style restaurants after the jump.
My Brother’s Crawfish [8220 Southeast Harrison, 774-3786]
An Asian family that once lived on the Gulf Coast of Eastern Texas before moving to Portland runs this little joint off 82nd avenue. They learned Creole cuisine by trading recipes with gulf coast residents. We benefit from the cross-cultural cooking exchange through expertly prepared dishes like a killer crawfish etouffee and a brilliantly messy blue crab boil.
EaT: An Oyster Bar [3808 North Williams, Suite 122, 281-1222]
EaT knows oysters. If I had my druthers I’d set up shop here and do nothing but eat Oysters Rockefeller and drink Sazeracs. The ceiling is lofty, the bar is old and gorgeous, and the Oysters are pretty damn affordable. If you don’t want them off the half shell, get ‘em in a Po Boy. Tonight they will be having a little fete, so wear something fancy and be prepared to dance your ass off.
Le Bistro Montage [301 SE Morrison, 234-1324]
You know it, you love (and hate) it, you’ll probably end up there after you’ve been 86’d for being an asshat at the Whiskey Bar or the Barracuda or wherever. For those not inclined to share Mardi Gras with the more obnoxious drunken revlers, it might be a good night to hit the Montage early. Try my new/old favorite Green Eggs and Spam. Truly a heroic, if not necessarily traditionally Cajun/Creole, dish.
The Swamp Shack [off 5th and Stark]
You can’t leave carts out of the occasion! I had the chicken and sausage Jambalya here recently and it warmed me up on a very cold and terribly bleak day. They aren’t open very late so hurry down, or hit them tomorrow if you missed your NOLA food fix.
I’ve never tried them, but I’ll give a shout-out to both Tapalaya [28 NE 28th, 232-6652] and Acadia [1303 NE Fremont, 249-5001] who are sure to be celebrating tonight as well.
And for an added treat here’s that Sautein’ Cajun of ‘70’s cooking shows, Justin Wilson talking bull about a friend’s prize Bull.