Old-school spots that thrive in communities are my favorite.

Take Hansen's Sno-Bliz. This icy dessert spot is in a white cinder block building, hand-drawn letting outside and has fans from all over.

Hansen’s Sno-Bliz was started by Ernest and Mary Hansen in 1939. Ernest invented the first ice shaving machine and Mary created her own flavored syrups. 

Decades later, Hansen’s still makes its own flavors every day, from Mary’s secret recipes, and creates snoballs from the original machine. The combination of fluffy ice and homemade syrups demand that each Sno-Bliz be made in layers – ice, syrup, ice, syrup, and so forth –  so that the final product is fully saturated upholding the Hansen’s motto: “There are no shortcuts to quality.” 

Hansen’s is now owned and operated by Ernest and Mary’s granddaughter, Ashley. We are proud to be named a 2014 American Classic by the James Beard Foundation.

Sno-balls in Louisiana are similar to what the rest of the country calls snow cones, but they are made with more finely shaved ice and a large variety of homemade syrups.

When searching for iconic restaurants in New Orleans, there were a few that kept coming up time and time again.

Of course, there were diners and fine dining and chocolatiers and more.

One of those was Pascal's Manale.


Pascal's Manale is known for BBQ shrimp, a messy experience you gotta have.

The 1950s brought the infamous BBQ Shrimp to Pascal’s Manales. A good friend of then owner Pascal Radosta, Vincent Sutro was a frequent visitor to New Orleans to play the horses and eat at Pascal’s. He came in one night raving about some dish he had eaten in Chicago. He explained it to Jake, Jake recreated this dish with his Louisiana spin and put it in front of Vincent to try. When asked if it was the same, Vincent said NO, it is better. Pas loved it so much, he immediately put it on the menu. The rest is history! The BBQ Shrimp is the restaurants lasting contribution to local cuisine. It is this dish that has brought worldwide notoriety to the restaurant. It is this dish that tourist and locals alike pour in night after night to eat.

Clad with a bib, I was ready to try these BBQ shrimp.

They come out whole - head and all - drenched in a thin, tangy sauce.

But, first, bread!

I came to realize New Orleans serves bread with literally every meal. But here, it was particularly great because it helped sop up all that tangy deliciousness.

So, I had the waiter teach me how to eat these. He was very gracious. But, essentially, grab ahold of a set of the legs and rip them over to one side so you can peel the whole thing off. With any luck, the whole thing comes off in one go and the head is easy to pull off.

They are tasty! I've never had shrimp like this, and it was a whole experience. The flavor of the shrimp really shines here, with the sauce only accenting it.

Capital City Empty Bowls is an event hosted by Manna Meal, which is a soup kitchen whose purpose is to fulfill a basic human need – food.

"We are also an important entry point for connecting folks to other social services. Manna Meal's guests consist of homeless, mentally challenged, senior citizens, young families, public-assistance recipients, under-employed service workers, and people with health problems and/or disabilities."

Empty Bowls is a fundraising event where the public can purchase tickets and sample some of the area's best soups, while collecting a handmade bowl to go.

They offered two sessions:

• Lunch 11am - 2pm carry-out only $15
• Dinner 4pm - 7pm dine-in or carry-out $25

After perusing the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, I made my way over to Orleans Coffee House for a quick pick-me-up.

I opted for an iced latte, which was exactly what I needed.

Rich, sweet and bold: That was perfect to start my day in New Orleans.

Pralines are New Orleans' favorite dessert, and there are a few confectioneries who claim to sell the best ones.

But Southern Candymakers seemed to come with rave reviews, so I stepped inside to get my mitts on some.

The praline itself is a French confection, named after César, duc de Choiseul, comte du Plessis-Praslin, who some believe had his cook devise an almond-studded candy to woo his various love interests. Or perhaps it was his butler who created the treat to cure Praslin’s painful indigestion, or a clumsy cook knocking almonds into a vat of caramelized sugar. Either way, the praline became a hit in France. 

In Louisiana, where pecans — not almonds — prevail, the praline evolved thanks to the "culinary genius of African-American women," writes praline scholar Chanda M. Nunez, who credits those women with creating "the New Orleans praline as we know it." Even the New Orleans praline's shape — the way it hardens into a little brown puddle with pecans randomly jutting up across its murky topography — seems to evoke the swamp, if, say, it froze over and all its spooky cypress knees were forever preserved in time.

I ordered a praline: The quintessential New Orleans confection. We really do make the best pralines, using only the freshest cream, butter, sugar and premium jumbo pecan halves. We invite comparison with any praline, anywhere!



And I also got a tortue, which is a pecan-caramel patty swirled in chocolate. This may have been my favorite.

Which do you like?


Praline


Tortue