Many years ago at a Grand Tasting at The New Orleans Wine & Food Experience I met Adrian Simpson. He was handing out samples of ice cream made by The New Orleans Ice Cream Company. The samples were Vanilla Bean and Chocolate City after the famous comment of then Mayor Nagin. Both were delicious. In the ensuing years I met Adrian time and again at NOWFE and food shows both broadliner and the LRA Food Expo. We became friends talking about his product and me making comments to fellow restaurateurs at these events. He would e-mail asking if I would promote it here. I was a bit slack about it and finally last month he offered to send me samples if I would post my comments on the blog. I of course said yes and I received 10 flavors from him with a promise of 10 more in the future. I found out just the other day that the Albertson's on Ryan carry six flavors. I have not been able to make it there to see which they carry but when I do I will let you know. Many of the flavors have a south LA or a New Orleans flair and made from local products when available.
This a super premium product and you will pay for that. However it is entirely worth it. It is dense and creamy with hardly any overrun. This when people like Blue Bell pump air into the product under the guise of making it smooth when they are actual increasing the volume for profit. I feel like I am eating air. New Orleans Ice Cream uses all natural products. The milk base is skim milk, cream and buttermilk. Buttermilk you say. I asked and Adrian said they feel it adds to the richness. My thoughts are that buttermilk is tangy and brings out the flavor and richness like salt added to pastries brings out the sweetness. The thickeners and stabilizers are product of trees and seaweed. Another thing they are judicious with the add ins not going overboard like Ben and Jerry where there are more add in than ice cream. The main focus with these products is the ice cream with some add ins to enhance the flavor. Stay tuned for flavors starting with Vanilla Bean
With each plate lunch you get a piece of cornbread and a yeast roll. My roll was very dense but had that flavor you can only get with a true yeast product. It would have perfect if allowed to rise a little more. The cornbread had an underlying sweetness which is what I grew up on. Therefore I loved it.
I got the meatloaf because you can tell a lot about an establishment. These people are just meat and no filler type. You have to be good as even a slight overworking of the meat will leave it like a brick. To tell you the truth I do not mind some filler as long as it is not overboard. I personally like the texture better. However they did a fine job here. The flavor was good. The gravy and mash were ok. The cabbage was fantastic. Every thing it should be. The greens although from a can were doctored up with vinegar and spices. Another thing not on the board is that you can get a small or regular. Below is a small. Also that you can get a vegetable plate. Sometimes I want just that. It is a case of the regular customers knowing the rules and the newbies and infrequent not knowing them.
A bit of sweet and I mean just a bite. They must use a jellyroll pan. It was about an half inch thick but good
I like this place and would frequent it more but it is out of the way and somewhat difficult for me on my crutches. They do a good job not as good as Red did at the old place.
