The Creole Creamery

The Blot is back from NOLA! I haven’t spotlighted an ice cream parlor in well over a year, so I thought I’d introduce everyone to The Creole Creamery in New Orleans, Louisiana. Aly and I first learned about The Creole Creamery by watching the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hosted by Guy Fieri. It’s really amazing what great restaurants and delicious food you can find out about by watching food and travel shows.

The Creole Creamery truly is a unique ice cream experience. All of their ice cream is made in-house and their goal is to make an assortment of diverse and unusual flavors to stimulate your palate. Of course you can also find the standard flavors like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookies and cream, and mint chocolate chip, but Aly and I were excited to try some of The Creole Creamery’s signature creations like Red Velvet Cake, Cookie Monster, Doberge Cake, Mexican Hot Chocolate and one of my personal favorites Butterscotch English Toffee. They also had a sick flavor made in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Chocolate Guinness Cake which is vanilla ice cream swirled with chocolate Guinness cake. It’s a must get for true beer aficionados.


I don’t know if I can truly explain in words just how great The Creole Creamery’s ice cream was, but it was so delicious Aly and I had to go back twice during our three day stay in New Orleans. And, it’s not even in the French Quarter so we had to make the extra effort to drive there. I think the consistency of the ice cream is what sets it apart from other ice cream parlors, especially those large nationwide chains, but the huge variety of quirky flavors and delicious waffle cones doesn't hurt either! The best part, for those of you who can’t make up their minds, is they offer a four or five scoop sampler so first timers (and long time fans) of The Creole Creamery can try never before seen flavors along with their traditional favorites.

As for the trip itself, ever had one of those vacations where you needed a second vacation to recover from your first? That’s how I’ve been feeling after returning from New Orleans late Monday night. All day yesterday I was walking around in a daze wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed. Of course Aly hasn’t had this problem since she’s off all week for spring break. Anyway, let’s just say NOLA was fun and leave it at that.

The Creole Creamery is located on 4924 Prytania Street; New Orleans, LA 70115 and their phone number is (504) 894-8680.

Lost Wednesdays - Duff Goldman and Charm City Cakes Invade The Island

Jorge Garcia (Lost’s Hurly) revealed on his blog Dispatches from the Island that Duff Goldman and the Charm City Cakes crew were in Hawaii recently to make an amazing cake in honor of Lost’s 100th episode. (link) The cake, seen below, will be featured in an upcoming episode of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network.


The Blot has been a huge fan of Ace of Cakes for years, and needless to say I can’t wait for this episode to air in May! It looks like Charm City Cakes' team of cake designers went all out on this one because the details on this Lost themed cake are amazing! To see more photos of the Charm City Cakes designed Lost cake celebrating the show’s 100th episode click here.


Lost airs every Wednesday night on ABC at 9/8c, while Ace of Cakes airs every Thursday night on the Food Network at 10/9c.

Travel Channel’s Man v. Food

The Blot doesn’t know when the Travel Channel became the new (and decisively better) Food Network, but they’re doing a great job of it! Joining Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern comes their newest food oriented travel show Man v. Food hosted by television newcomer Adam Richman.


In this new series, Richman sets out to travel the country in search of the best places to do some serious indulging. Adam begins his quest to find the best traditional food the nation can serve up and after hunting down the can't-miss flavors that make up each region's unique culinary history, he takes on the city's toughest food challenge. Man v. Food’s first season takes us to cities both big and small, with stops in cities such as Amarillo, TX, Memphis, TN, Columbus, OH, New Orleans, New York City and LA.


The show debuted last December, but I had never heard of it until this past week when I caught a few repeats including an episode that featured Richman traveling to a city that I hold dear, Austin, TX. The show is really entertaining, but definitely not for the faint at heart. Adam partakes in some seriously hardcore food challenges including the Atomic hot wings challenge at Pittsburgh, PA’s Quaker Steak & Lube, the disgusting ultimate burger challenge at Boston, MA’s Eagles Deli and the Carnivore Pizza Challenge at Atlanta, GA’s Big Pie in the Sky.

Man v. Food airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on the Travel Channel.

Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations Returns To The Travel Channel

For all of you TV buffs aching for something new to watch while the final episodes of your favorite shows are burned off over the next two weeks and the realization sets in that none of your old favorites will be returning to prime time any time soon because of the ongoing writer’s strike, it’s time to rejoice…because Uncle Tony is back!


That’s right, Anthony Bourdain returns to the Travel Channel for all new episodes of No Reservations, Mondays at 10/9 Central. As many of you know Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations was ranked 6th in The Blot’s Top 10 Cable Television Shows of 2007 and there is good reason for it. This show is amazing. Tony lives the life I’d want to live, traveling around the globe to exotic locations eating some of the craziest food I’ve ever seen. But it’s not all cow brains and sheep intestines, Bourdain also takes viewers into some of the finest restaurants to show us what goes in to creating such wonderful and eccentric dishes. Sampling some of the best and most innovative food out there, Bourdain’s unique point of view and storytelling turns what could be an average television show about food into so much more.

He doesn’t just try out the food of the countries he visits, he explores the connection people have with their food and how these dishes represent the culture they come from. The show is very entertaining and I definitely recommend watching or dvr’ing it this Monday! This week’s episode was about Singapore, which if you missed was really entertaining and exposed me to animals and dishes I had honestly never heard of before. In next week’s episode (on January 14th) Tony “finds himself in Berlin, a city that is both good and evil, eastern and western, repulsive and appealing. (link) If you’re interested, you can find the official television listing for current episodes and all repeats of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations here.


Strangely enough, you can also now watch Mr. Bourdain’s first foray into television, A Cook’s Tour, back on its original network, the Food Network. After ending his show on the Food Network years ago and moving to the Travel Channel to start his current show, the Food Network had decided to dust off the cobwebs and start re-airing this instant classic. A Cook’s Tour can be found once again on the Food Network every Tuesday at 10:30/9:30 Central. I’ve only seen a handful of episodes from this incarnation of Bourdain’s food and travel show, but they have been equally as entertaining as No Reservations and are must see TV for any foodie or Bourdainian.

The A.V. Club also posted a new interview with Chef Bourdain today. As one never afraid to speak his mind and always gives his honest opinion on all issues, including his disdain for most of the Food Network’s talking heads, it’s a pretty entertaining read. You can check it out here.

You can also follow Anthony Bourdain’s exploits at his blog over on the Travel Channel’s website.