- 8 months ago
Join Chef Serigne Mbaye of Dakar NOLA as he explores his favorite New Orleans food spots for Where the Chefs Eat, from one of the city’s best po’boys at Guys to Gulf seafood at Porgy’s and bold Haitian flavors at Fritai Treme. Discover the culture, history, and dishes that define one of the world’s greatest food cities.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00But this poor boy is phenomenal, man.
00:02You guys should give me the recipe.
00:03Oh man, no.
00:15I'm Serene Bai.
00:16Today I'm going to take you some of my favorite spot
00:19in the city of New Orleans.
00:20This is where the chefs eat.
00:28Today we are uptown.
00:29We had one of my favorite po' boy shop in New Orleans.
00:32It's called Guys.
00:33Every time I travel outside of New Orleans,
00:35to know I'm back in New Orleans is to visit Guys.
00:37To have a shrimp po' boy or catfish po' boy
00:40that is fully dressed and is a one-man show.
00:43And I can't wait to show you guys
00:45how delicious these po' boys are.
00:47Let's do it.
00:48Chef Mo!
00:49What's up, what's up, baby?
00:50Hey, hey!
00:52How you feeling, man?
00:53Oh, I'm feeling beautiful, baby.
00:54It's a new year.
00:55I come here to get the two classics.
00:57Shrimp po' boy, you know how I like it.
00:58Large shrimp dress.
00:59The catfish as well.
01:00Large catfish dress.
01:01You know, I got to do it right, man.
01:02You ain't here or tell you to go.
01:04I got to eat here, man.
01:04Get it on the side.
01:12Camera man, flip over these shrimp next time.
01:13Come on, man.
01:18Mayo, the glue that makes a sandwich stick together
01:22and tastes great.
01:27Catfish are jumping.
01:29Black water keep rolling.
01:37Hot off the press, Mo.
01:38Hot off the press.
01:39Oh, man.
01:40Oh, man.
01:40I appreciate this.
01:41What you got?
01:42Oh, man.
01:43That's the shrimp.
01:44This is amazing, man.
01:46Everybody that's owned this corner since 1918
01:50has been a Sicilian.
01:51Really?
01:52They would come from Italy, buy the grocery store,
01:54work till they made enough money to move up north.
01:58Wow.
01:58So they would go up north, and they
02:00would marry an Italian girl and sell it
02:02to another young man coming in.
02:04So it went on like that for a bunch of different generations.
02:08New Orleans.
02:08And I have Sicilian roots.
02:10That's my grandfather.
02:11Came from Italy on a boat.
02:13For me, that's the reason why I think that New Orleans
02:15is such a great place, because it's such a melting pot.
02:17Everyone could bring their cuisine and their kashan.
02:20You know what I mean?
02:20Like, look at the story that you tell through a sandwich.
02:23You had the whole world.
02:23You ended up being...
02:25I know, right?
02:25I mean, for me, I feel like it's the most African place
02:29outside of Africa to me.
02:30Really?
02:31Yeah, the food, the music, the people,
02:33the generosity that happened here, the Southern hospitality.
02:36I just feel like it's one of the greatest cities
02:37in the world, man.
02:38But this poor boy is phenomenal, man.
02:40You guys share me the rest of me.
02:41Oh, man, no.
02:43I'm going to take you out of business, you know?
02:45I can't.
02:46Yeah.
02:47So, Senegal, where I'm from.
02:48Oftentimes, people go to a place where you find a grandma
02:51sitting out there with her table.
02:52She's making little sandwiches.
02:54And people kind of gather around that table
02:56and have this intimacy that you and I are having.
02:58And that's why I think food is the last hope
03:00bringing people together, you know what I mean?
03:01So, what you're doing here, man, for over 32 years, man.
03:04I'm honored to be here and to have you sandwiches, man.
03:07This is New Orleans, man.
03:08You know what I mean?
03:09This is New Orleans.
03:10This is the quintessential New Orleans dish, right?
03:13You know?
03:14So, yeah.
03:15I got to do it.
03:16I got to keep it the same.
03:17Try to make it the same as the first one I made.
03:19That's a lot.
03:20During two years.
03:21True.
03:22During two years.
03:23Still doing it.
03:24Feel great.
03:26Let me show you guys the massiveness of this poor boy.
03:30Look at that artwork, man.
03:31See the tomato, the fish.
03:33You make poor boys in New Orleans.
03:34You got to have a Pacific bread and he has the right poor boy bread.
03:37The catfish is nice and fried, you know?
03:39But it's not too overly fried where it's like dry.
03:42It still has some moistness into it.
03:43The mayo and the tomatoes add some, you know, nicidity into the sandwich.
03:47It's classic, but it's everything is just right.
03:49It can't get better than this, man.
03:50Only in New Orleans is used to somebody make a sandwich.
03:5332 years and still have a joy making every single poor boy.
03:56Take a pride in it.
03:57And that's why this place is just special, right?
04:04All right, y'all.
04:05Today we're at Mid-City, North Keratin area.
04:07One of my other favorite restaurants.
04:09I really respect what these chefs are doing here.
04:11And Porgy's is part seafood market and part restaurant.
04:14And they also work with amazing seafood prevails from the Gulf.
04:18All right, y'all. Let's go check this out.
04:20How you doing?
04:21I'm so happy to be here.
04:22Well, as you know, we always have oysters, shrimp, and then our fin fish.
04:25And you guys are highlighting beautiful seafood from the Gulf.
04:28The seafood queens.
04:29Yeah.
04:30And you got some fish back there, huh?
04:31You got some fish on the cutting board.
04:33Yes.
04:34This is your big yellow junk.
04:35Whoa.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Look at that.
04:38They're adorable.
04:39And these are the greatest fish butchers in town, the city of New Orleans, man.
04:43When we opened, the idea was to be a community center for Gulf seafood.
04:48So you can get anything in the case cooked up for you.
04:51So you can try the different species at like a much lower risk than taking it home.
04:56I'm born and raised Louisiana.
04:58So it's like we get to be the stewards of the Gulf, like our backyard.
05:03This is a way of life for a lot of people.
05:05We like to focus on supporting our local fishing economy, our growers, all these types of people.
05:11So my company is Bayou Rosa Oysters.
05:13We're based down on Lafourche Parish.
05:14We have a small farm.
05:15It's about seven acres.
05:17Harvest in the morning and deliver that day.
05:19So they get them as fresh as could be.
05:21Bayou Rosa started with my grandfather, being Native American.
05:24The fish raises our lifeline.
05:25And then the BP oil spill hit and that took them out.
05:28I happen to be a nurse in California where I saw how oysters are grown in cages.
05:33And so I told my grandpa about it and just like, yeah, let's do it.
05:36Let's adapt.
05:37So we can keep that way of life going.
05:39Well, I can't wait to taste it then.
05:40Yeah.
05:41Happy to serve you some.
05:42Oh my God.
05:43Look at these oysters.
05:44Let's dig in, man.
05:46That's delicious.
05:47With the mignonette, it really added a nice acidity to it.
05:50Very refreshing.
05:51It has a nice bite to it as well.
05:52I love them.
05:53I could eat three dozen of these.
05:58I'm going after it.
06:00There's a reason why I'm a chef.
06:01Bravo to you, man.
06:12I'm ready to eat.
06:13Let's do it.
06:14All right, Serene.
06:15We have our all-coast tostada, which is Thai-style ceviche with our boil aioli, a little nam
06:22jim.
06:23That looks phenomenal.
06:24So our lady monger crudo.
06:26As you know, we always choose a fish that's speaking to us.
06:29Just do a very simple application with a local fruit, some herbs, our spinal soy that we
06:34make in-house.
06:35And this is our yellow jack.
06:37She looks beautiful.
06:38Good.
06:39Good.
06:40And then I hope you're hungry.
06:41Oh, yes.
06:42Oh, yeah.
06:43Classic crispy fish wings.
06:44Oh, nah.
06:45Bring it.
06:46So these right here are going to be our black drum fish wings.
06:48Toss in a little bit of our knuckle sauce.
06:51Crispy, delicious, sweet, sour, all that good stuff.
06:54These wings are so delicious.
06:57So tendered.
06:58Very nice and crispy.
06:59Juicy.
07:00They're actually fish collared.
07:02Oftentimes, people really don't use the collard.
07:05They kind of throw it away.
07:06I love the fact that they're using it and really making it delicious.
07:09So this is the crudo.
07:11Citrus on top, a nice little oil, some herbs.
07:14Very delicate.
07:17Very buttery, too, as you're like eating through it.
07:20Oh, man.
07:21This ceviche looks good.
07:22Let me get both hands, because I know I'm about to make a mess.
07:27Oh, my God.
07:28I don't know what they're doing here, but it's magical.
07:30Oh, look at that.
07:31Look at that.
07:32Ayoli with the peppers.
07:34It's extremely creamy, and it got some nice herbs, some shallots.
07:38It's super bright.
07:39It's extremely delicious, and plus the crunchiness.
07:41With all of the ceviche, even how wet it is, I can still feel the crunch.
07:46So it has a nice texture.
07:47Just hear the crunch.
07:49If you're ever in New Orleans, you have to make sure you come to Porgy's,
07:53and you specifically ask for this dish.
07:55Man, I feel so lucky to be doing this.
08:04Now we're at the heart of Treme, visiting one of my favorite restaurants,
08:07called Free Thai by Chef Charlie.
08:09And he's cooking delicious Haitian cuisine.
08:12Let's go check it out.
08:13Serene, my brother.
08:15What's up, baby?
08:16Man, I got something special for you, bro.
08:18A wide array of really amazing dishes.
08:21Tell me about this, New York.
08:22Man, this is like, first of all, you better eat while I'm talking,
08:24because you ain't about to sit there and watch it.
08:26This is my latest dish that people are already going crazy for.
08:29It's a jumou gnocchi, so it's a Haitian squash gnocchi.
08:32We do that with an oxtail gravy and Parmesan.
08:35Jumou is a squash that's really synonymous with Haitian culture.
08:39The soup jumou itself is a Haitian national soup that we celebrate on
08:42Haitian Independence Day, which is January 1st.
08:44So traditionally, you use a kabocha or a kalabaza squash,
08:48and you turn that into a soup.
08:50Well, we turned our squash into a gnocchi.
08:52So we had a little flour, a little egg, whipped it up,
08:54have a nice little chew to it.
08:56But then we added those oxtail gravy with the Haitian spices onto it.
09:00It's so fulfilling.
09:01Yeah, it is.
09:02It's really.
09:03Very comforting.
09:04We're going to the salad, because I've been eating all day today.
09:06Yeah, yeah.
09:07Get your greens in.
09:08Get my greens in.
09:09So tell me about the salad right now.
09:10Man, the salad is amazing.
09:11So we have a smoked fish Caesar.
09:12So this is my take on a Caesar.
09:14We use aranso, which is Haitian smoked herring.
09:16You make a Caesar dressing out of that and egg yolks.
09:18Okay.
09:19We add romaine, kale, red onions, and candied plantains with parmesan on top.
09:24It's such a simple dish, but the flavors are huge, you know?
09:27You can really taste the smokiness, right?
09:29I taste the smokiness.
09:30I like how refreshing it is, you know what I mean?
09:32Yeah, yeah.
09:33And that parmesan adds a really nice fat.
09:36Yeah.
09:37And I always tell my cooks too, like, it has to be a cloud of parmesan.
09:40So you get a little bit of that fat, a little bit of sweetness,
09:42a little bit of smokiness in every bite.
09:44Plantains adds a really nice sweetness to it.
09:46Yeah, a little crunch, a little sweetness.
09:47Yeah, yeah.
09:48That's awesome.
09:49Well, let's see in this.
09:50This is the OG, triple OG.
09:51Oh, man.
09:52Yeah, this is like something my mother would make right here.
09:54Local Gulf shrimp done in little Creole sauce, Haitian herbs,
09:57traditional plantains, and that real hot peak leaves.
10:00I think that's so important and really cool is that in New Orleans,
10:02you can kind of see, especially in the cuisine here,
10:05you can see where the roots are of the dishes, right?
10:07Just like you go in Haiti, you'll see the West African roots in the dishes.
10:11So if you study West African food, study Caribbean food, study New Orleans food, you can actually trace that lineage.
10:17You can really see how things like black eyed peas in West Africa and how they made it into Hispaniola or Haiti.
10:23Right.
10:24And then how they transferred into here, things like red beans and gumbo, the list goes on and on and on.
10:28And really what it shows in the roots is that we're all cousins, we're all related and somehow in distant memories, you know?
10:33I'm so inspired, man.
10:34When I first moved to New Orleans, you know, about 10 years ago and seeing you doing pop-up, cooking your food,
10:39and you were very proud of it, and it truly inspired me.
10:41And now, for a circle moment, both of you and I have a restaurant and telling our own story, man.
10:45For sure.
10:46I'm honored to be here.
10:47Honored, man.
10:48Thank you, man.
10:49Honored.
10:55It's been a great day.
10:56We had amazing po' boy from Guy's to Porgy's Amazing Seafood, and then we end the night at Free Tide.
11:03Thank you guys for being with us.
11:05Looking forward to seeing y'all in New Orleans.
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