LUNCH
"You really should have boiled crawfish, because that's just a
staple of the whole culture down there. Go to the
Bucktown area.
There are a lot of shrimpers out there, and, man, if you want some
boiled seafood, this is it. It's messy. It's bright. It has sort of
a family feel to it. You can get boiled crawfish, boiled shrimp,
boiled crabs, all that stuff. Eating crawfish takes a little
practice, but here's how: Break off the tail and sort of crack that
little armor that he has over his tail. Peel that off, squeeze the
tail and pull out the meat. The real lovers will suck the fat out
of the head, which may turn some people off, but once you try it,
it's really good. Yeah, I suck the heads. It just tastes good. It's
also a habit thing. It's sort of a rhythm you get into."
TREAT
"The Williams-Plum Street Snowball Stand is just a little teeny,
teeny place. Everybody else calls them snow cones, but we grew up
calling them snowballs. You know those little cardboard containers
you get Chinese
food in? They put the snowballs in that. You can
get them in all kinds of flavors. I'm giving away a lot of stuff I
shouldn't be giving away, because people will realize that I'm the
white trash that I've been trying to avoid saying I am. But my
favorite is chocolate with condensed milk. It's just terrible to
eat, but man, is it good. I get the biggest one they have, and it
is huge."
ART
"I'm a big George Rodrigue fan. You know, the artist who paints the
Blue Dog? George is a Cajun painter who actually is quite a
draftsman. You can see clearly in his earlier work how he is a
talented technician as well. He spends 100 percent of his time
painting this dog. There's a huge story behind it, about how she's
trying to find her way back to him. In every single painting, the
Blue Dog is trying to find her way back to George. No matter what
the circumstances are, or what celebrities are in the painting, or
what background it is, the Blue Dog is always there. He's a good
example of a
Louisiana artist who has become famous all over the
world. He has his Rodrigue Gallery right there in New Orleans."