Last night, friends and I went to this little dive bar in the cutest little neighborhood. You would never know that the city is tearing down all the charming places to build concrete jungles - like what's happening to Hollywood, FL. We went there specifically to eat from the pop up of Tom's Louisiana Kitchen New Orleans inspired food.
I got there early and sat at the bar and met all the locals. Went into the kitchen to say hello to Thomas Tannozzini, the chef - in person. He and his helper, Heather were busy getting the kitchen squared away. There was a HUGE container of crawfish, another large container of homemade olive tapenade.. and another container of roasted garlic in olive oil..
I met Paige, the barmaid and she was very friendly. In fact, everyone in there was very friendly.. a bunch of locals sitting and chilling after work.
One of my friends got the jambalaya and red beans and rice, another one got the swamp stew and something else..
Another gal & I ordered the grilled oysters, a pound of crawfish and mussels..
Have mercy of us.. we became silent as we began our food feast. The gal that had the jambalaya said it was the best she had ever eaten.. she also said she had never had red beans and rice that had so much flavor, and she has traveled all over the world eating all regions of the planet. She kept remarking about the seasoning. She said she could taste every spice..
friend and I got the dozen grilled oysters. I could taste wine and garlic and I don't know what else but I sucked every bit of juice out of each shell..
OMG, the mussels.. unlike any I have ever had. They were no more than 2" long, tender, tasty.. he put beer and fresh spinach and bacon and bleu cheese in the broth over the mussels. I picked up the bowl and drank every single drop of that broth... truly amazing. bleu cheese bits with mussels.. who would have thought.
The crawfish were large and there was even meat in the claws... i could taste old bay seasoning in the crawfish broth.
It was truly an orgasmic experience. The last time I ate food this good from New Orleans was when I was in... New Orleans. He outdid himself.
The bar has got a neighborhood vibe. Friendly, clean, pool table, little lights on the ceiling, couple of TV's at the bar.. dark and cool...
Even the bathroom was clean.
Thomas does pop up food orgies at Anchors Aweigh.. and his menu must list 15 things, po boys, oysters, mussels, muffuletta's, jambalaya,voodoo rondeaux, swamp stew, funky blonde mussels, gumbo yaya, crawfish and crab etouffee, creole bread pudding, shrimp po boy, oyster poboy, New Orleans garlic shrimp.. I mean, we have New Orleans food right here in South Florida, thanks to Thomas.
He doesn't do this everyday. You have to check his FB page "Tom's Louisiana Kitchen" for when he's planning to cook there again for a pop up cooking treat.
And if you love New Orleans food, you can't miss this opportunity. I am so grateful that I learned about this. All my friends were surprised, impressed and grateful that they got to experience this.
Everything was perfectly seasoned..
Call Anchors Aweigh to find out when Chef Tom will be cooking, or follow his FB page for next pop up dinners.. YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID. read more