BBQ in the Bywater

Nothing could be better than getting a bunch of good people together for an afternoon BBQ. Even if it's 90 degrees & super humid. And even better than a regular BBQ, is a BBQ with a bunch of local New Orleans chefs who absolutely know what they are doing! Well, this is what I was lucky enough to attend yesterday!

You may be asking yourself, what is that shelter /bunker pictured above? That's no bunker. It's a hand built slow-cooker built for slow cooking a large piece of meat.

Pictured above is a whole lamb provided and cooked by Two Run Farm. The lamb was placed on a spit at 2 pm Sunday afternoon and cooked for 6 hours! You would not believe the aroma this lamb & slow-cooker produced.

Most of the attendees of this Sunday BBQ, brought a dish to share with the group. Classic potluck. There was salsa, guacamole, cucumber salad, macaroni salad, green bean salad, and much more. The spread was one of the best I have ever seen. There was a keg of Abita and an amazing strawberry & watermelon liquor drink that was topped off fresh spritzer. Perfect for cooling us all down on this horrible July day.

And then GOD said, "let there be burgers!" Oh Yeah! These patties were just like I like 'em - thick. This made me rethink my philosophy on BBQ's. The proper BBQ should have two meats cooking:

(Attack the menu from two angles)

1)Fast meat (ie. burgers) that can be ready in a flash to prevent the group from getting hungry

2) A low and slow meat that keeps the group excited for what's still to come.

ValueNola approves of absolutely everything involved with this BBQ. Great job Two Run Farm! This Sunday get together made me want to say " Goodbye Uptown, Hello Bywater!"

New to the CBD: Ruby Red's Opens!!!

Real Quick: Ruby Red's opened their second location today the heart of the CBD. The other store is in Belle Chasse. The new store is located at 301 Baronne Street which is a corner location formerly operated by O'Henrys. Ruby Red's is basically a burger joint that does a pretty good bar business. Early reports give the burgers good reviews. The service & steak fries also received positive feedback from the first few customers. God I love steak fries! Burger + Fries = $8
Ruby Red's is definitely filling a void in the downtown market as their is only one other sit down burger spot in the CBD.

The Company Burger

How do New Orleanien's feel about Five Guys entering the market? Is Five Guys really that good? In my mind it is way too greasy and way too limited in terms of menu design. I just don’t get the five guy hype.

Is New Orleans even into chains?

I can tell you what I am most excited about...THE COMPANY BURGER opening this week at 4600 Freret. The Company Burger is going to be a nitty gritty burger joint founded by former Newman Superstar Adam Biderman. Adam will be assisted by his father in a beautiful newly renovated open-air diner style kitchen in what used to be Wagner’e Meat. Kind of ironic that “you can’t beat Wagner’s Meat” is soon to become “You can’t beat Adam’s Burger.”

What most people don’t know about Adam is that he was all state in two sports while attending Isidore Newman High School which is about four blocks away from the foot of his new restaurant. Bids was a dominant defensive linemen and also was very impressive in track and field where he broke records in the shot-put. Adam would later attend the university of Georgia where he played football before pursuing a career in food. The Biderman family is the proud owners of Hiller Jewelry – THRILL HER WITH HILLER & if Hiller doesn’t thrill her, take her to the company burger

Also interesting to note, Adam makes his own pickles and gained a good bit of notoriety in his culinary days in the ATL. Biderman was also honored recently at Hogs for a Cause for his unbelievable BBQ. I have full confidence that The Company Burger will make a swift climb to the top of the New Orleans Burger hierarchy and I cant wait to take my first bite of his burger. The Company Burger will be closed on Tuesdays every week.

Let me know where you think the best burger is…