Spring 2026 Writers Picks

 

Po Boy Picks July 2026

Best where to get your bike tuned

Re-cycle. What with the price of auto fuel and tariffs on EVs, it’s time to get that two-wheeler out of mothballs, tuned and back on the street. YEP (Youth Empowerment Program) 1604 O. C. Haley is the tuner I’m most in favor of; but you can find others. Do it.

 

Best Real Soul Food

You want some REAL Soul Food? The (not high-on-the-hog) down-home style? Original Brown Derby #3 @ 3326 Tulane in the old gas station. Turkey necks, smothered chicken, pig’s feet, gumbo, smothered okra and sides of greens, Mac’NCheeze, red beans, GRAVY! they also serve a slappin’ good breakfast. Tip the ladies.

 

Best on-line language program

Praktika.com Sto Imparando L’Italiano! And you could too! AI language programs are like white on rice on your phone/computer. They promise proficiency with ease; however, you’ll have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the one that’ll work for you. Luckily, most allow you to cancel if you’re not satisfied. Ciao.

 

The Best Potato Chip

Tried all the potato chips there are? Still haven’t fallen in love with any of them? T’was ‘meh’ way with Moi also, until Broadway Joe (from ‘The Apple’) hipped me to Clover Valley Ripple Cuts; they’re dope, they’re GOAT, they’re Canadian and cheap! Get ’em at Dollar General; you’ll see.

Write It

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Write it

Or

Read it

 

“Long patience and application saturated by your hearts blood—you will either write or you will not…” Jim Tully

        I’ve read (there I go again) that there are “thousands” of books on how to become a writer; I also uncovered the premise/promise that there are also “thousands” of videos on how to become a writer (one says that you can in ‘three easy lessons’). How do you become a writer? As Jim Tully said: you will or you won’t. Who was Jim Tully? A writer’s writer. Have you read him? I’ll bet my copy of Strunk & White you haven’t.

        I’ve been writing a column in this mag for over twenty-five years; I average fifteen a year. You could do the math if you wanted to; but who does? You know what I do after an article’s been published? No? Well, I send it to my blog. Do you want to read about twenty-five years of Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, other holidays, my warped thoughts? Thanks to Where Y’at magazine my blog has a plethora of fodder construed for your perusal, edification and enlightenment, hundreds in fact.

        Actually, only two people read my column after my editors approve, refine and publish it; you and one other person. Less people read my blog; so there you have it. I am a writer. I am published.

        How do you become a writer? First, you have to WANT to be a writer; the same as if you wanted to be a puppeteer, poet, painter, piper, pirate, a pawn or a King (although we don’t put up with Kings at our house). You gotta want it. Get on your mark, get set…...you know.

        And then what? As one old saw put it: “a man on the street asked me how to get to Carnegie Hall and I told him…... ‘Practice! Practice! Practice!’”. Find and expand your skill set; read more; build your vocabulary; express yourself succinctly (there, see?). Read writers’ stuff; see how they work words, phrases, ideas, thoughts, opinions, dreams, ambitions, pursuits, loves and concerns. Then sit down with a blank page. Put your name and date in the top right corner (just joking).

        Yes, do sit with a blank page and pick a subject, a skill that Ray Bradbury uses (you’ve read him?). Okay here goes: the subject is… the Claiborne overpass that the locals call ‘The Bridge’; or, the meaning of meanings in-between the in-between; the walk that I (you) just took today; the perfect July fourth; my perfect grandfather; smelling sleep coming and/or why does SIRI know the words to Bohemian Rhapsody? I’ve written none of these; but, I could. You could.

        One of the side perks of being a writer (besides the money, fame and women) is your sanctioned right and ability to make shyte up, it’s called poetic license; another is your perfect freedom to ‘use your voice’ or any other voice. Pretty cool. And just like A.A. Milne or J.M. Barrie you can make up what you want your writer’s name to be: E.B White; C.S. Lewis; H.G. Wells; J.K. Rowling.  Or you can have a nom de plume (pen name) like George Orwell (Eric Blair); Mark Twain (Samual Clemens); Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgeson) or even, Richard Bachman (Steven King).  

        Published writings span a vast array of genres and styles and you can slip your spoon into any of that soup you hunger for. There’s fiction, of course; but, there’s also journalism, opinions/commentary, poetry, non-fiction and of course, my favorite…fantasy. There’s a genre for any mental type; maybe not for travel or cookbook writers though.

        Journalists are basically researchers and snitches. They like to find things out and report them to the public; news and information is their game and you’ll see them in media where they live and breed. The public hangs on their every word because we all love gossip, truth be told.

        Opinions are like digestive tracts, virtually everyone’s got one and they function each day, one way or another. Ask me anything and if I don’t have all the facts, at least I can give you an opinion; anything, go ahead and ask. Usually, Journalists and Opinionates breed together and give birth to people with podcasts.

        Poets are a different breed altogether. They are folks that have internalized and dwelled on their feelings to such an extent that an eruption like many mini-volcano lava spews out in the form of words on paper. Either that or they are snots that want to make fun of everything, as in: “There once was a man from Nantucket…” (which can be, in essence, a rhyming sequence that can border on the obscene).

        Non-fictionalists are those nerds that gotta stick their noses into everybody’s business and report on who, what, where and how things got done, are being done or will be done based on the evidence of what evidence they can base things on: how a blind monk in France invented Champagne; how we didn’t win the war and how, we didn’t (pun intended) and/or how Gaga got her groove going. In media, these folks do biopics and documentaries.

        And my favorite geek: the fantasy writer. Dreamer, imager, word illusionist, conjurer and the wordsmiths that will relate things that you just know can’t be true but you believe them anyway. Warning: it’s easy to become addicted. Reading is cool and it always will be; however, it’s the writers that have the most fun.

        “Write. Finish things. Go for walks. Read a lot & outside your comfort zone. Stay interested. Daydream. Write.” Neil Gaiman

 

       

       

John Figs

 Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Love 

Or

Lunacy

 “Fun is the best way of having a good time!” The Barking Duck Society: New Orleans 1972

A new guy started working with us; we’ll call him J. J came from Texas last year for Jazz Fest, went back and saved money so that he could move here. Like so many of us, J drank the water and, as we all know, once you drink the water here, you’re never gonna be satisfied living anywhere else. J says it was ‘the vibe’ here that made him think that this is where he belongs. I say it was the water. 

I took an immediate liking to J; he’s friendly, funny, smart and easy to get along with; so, I exercised my right as a Who Dat national to hip him into what he needs to know as a new New Orleanian. The first thing I asked him was whether he read…. books; you know, so many young folks don’t. When he answered in the affirmative, I began my tutelage; this over the course of our initial weeks working together.

First, the book Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza “a passionate and critical look at the city’s unique culture. Spirit and deep-seated problems written in the wake of Hurricane Katrina”.

Along with that, a most revered copy (my very own, in fact) of Sara Roahen’s Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table; the most comprehensive book I’ve found to learn about our local foods.  

Then, Frenchmen, Desire and Good Children: And Other Streets of New Orleans by John Churchill Chase, for when he’s curious about our street names.

Finding out that J. is vegan put a pause for retro-internal-spection in my sussing him out about our food culture; it’s okay if he don’t ‘dig the pig’, but what about crawfish, ersters, swimps, roast beef po-boys, fish frys ed-cetera? Potato salad, turkey necks, andouille sausages and turducken? Whatcha gonna do with a boy like that, especially when we work in a restaurant that prepares and sells dead animals to be consumed by hungry people?  Good Time Eatin’ In Cajun Country by Donna Simon. Fills the bill; completely vegan and very Cajun.

I also gave him a list of places around town that are friendly to those friendly enough to animals not to eat them, there are many. I told him about the New Orleans Community Resource Guide, available at libraries and on line (40 pages of free and affordable services that we have here). 

Next, his interest in our local spices and seasoning flavors had me donate a bottle of Creole Crack; that beloved spice blend from Kitchen Witch, which of course, now, he swears by. Although, I did follow up with the Creole/Cajun bible of cooking: Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, which not only contain all basic Creole/Cajun recipes but his spice blends (22 in all) there to peruse, examine and duplicate (a vegan can adapt recipes to suit their tastes); he also found favor in my favorite knife (KIWI brand) that I get for REAL affordable prices down the road from Dong Phuong Bakery (a place for Vegan bahn mi) on Chef Menteur Hwy in the little grocery stores that service the locals.

I conversed with him about bicycle thieves, automobile towing, stinging caterpillars, termite swarms and our eight months of summer (very important for new folks moving here). I schooled him on the pronunciation of Tchoupitoulas and told him that he needs to be able to spell it out loud (and quickly) if he was ever to fit in. There’s a lot of stuff I feel that I need to impart; like where to find free city swimming pools, exercise facilities, music and dance lessons etc. (NORD). There is sh*t new people need to be schooled on.

And, if he’s ever in a bar and someone asks “are you a turtle?” the proper answer is an enthusiastic “you bet your sweet ass I am!” because if you don’t answer correctly, you have to buy a drink for the questioner (it’s a tradition here and across the country going back to WWII that I don’t understand and haven’t seen practiced in years, but… you never know). 

WWOZ membership, Allen Tousaint, Doctor John, the Meters, Mardi Gras Indians, Dirty Linen night, Voter registration, library cards, museum memberships and Super Sunday; Second lines and red beans on Monday. Irma Thomas. Things that we learned by osmosis that someone should write a guide for: the ‘Who Dat New Dat’ (anyone out there?). Alligators in Bayou St. John; hurricane prep; timid possums and pesky Palmetto Bugs.  Great places for adult beverages, pool tables, dart boards and yes, hatchet throwing. Coffee shops, bakeries. Ya Ka Mein. Those Monk Parrots and the plethora of other birds found flitting citywide. Making friends with crows is very important. The streetcar; book stores. King cakes and Carnival Season, music clubs and festivals of every kind. All up for conversation.

J is gonna have to find his own way around and, no doubt will come up with many ways to fit in and be strange but not a stranger. He’ll, no doubt discover things in the Marigny, Bywater, uptown, Magazine Street, Oak Street, The French Quarter and the many out of the way places that we all have come to love and enjoy.

New Orleans is home to me and I am aware of all the quirks, fantastic fallacies and foibles that make our city one of a kind. The northernmost Caribbean city and not really part of the rest of the country; even though we’re sometimes punished for being weirder than dirt and proud of it, J will find that New Orleans is not only a city that you live in, but a city that will live in you. 

P.S. next book for J… Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole, Where y’at J?

Chili Cheese Fries

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Guilty

Or

Guile

“…Pork chops and bacon, that won’t awaken… my appetite inside; I want the frim fram sauce with the Ausen fay with Chafafa on the side.” Redd Evans

Speaking of guilty food pleasures: Chili Cheese Fries are a gift from the gods and I’ll go to the mat on this one. The exact origins are a mystery often attributed to Dairy Queen locations manipulations somewhere in the mid 40’s and 50’s of last century; the dish exemplifies the comfort food ‘friend’ category that we all know and love. A meal so completely satisfying that we want to eat it all by ourselves; company excluded. Nutritionally speaking, I seriously doubt if it’s healthy (at all).

Canadians swear by a dish called Poutine, which is fries and gravy with white cheddar cheese curds, also from the 50’s; it’s something that I would put on Po Boy bread. Aside: there is a fries and gravy po boy to be had around town, supposedly it’s the real original po boy sandwich; I don’t know.

Buffalo chicken, Bacon Ranch and Tex-Mex Nacho are all in the running to top your fries, as is a ‘Mediterranean’ topping: feta, Kalamata olive chopped tomato, Tzatziki or Tahini that makes my sympathetic imaginary stomach churn (I deign picture it and cannot abide). There’s a thing in (New) Jersey called ‘Disco Fries’ which is like a Poutine only switching from curd to mozzarella (could work). Some people even change the gravy to red sauce which I find is an insult to the entire pasta family (penne for your thoughts?).

I define a ‘guilty food pleasure’ as something you engage in singularly or with one other person that you care about (like old fashioned sex), and not necessarily something you do in groups (crawfish boils excepted).

Things you do, like having coffee and a nosh, can be done by two or just you and your newspaper; same with popcorn and cola on a bench, raw oysters by the dozens, Lucky Dogs and/or Hansen’s; and, is not what I would consider the  hedonistic pleasure that you get when you allow yourself to ingest something by yourself that others might disparage; like eating a whole rotisserie chicken sitting by the lake (solo), throwing the bones to the crab population and rinsing your greasy hands and face in Pontchartrain water.

Polishing off a can of Vienna Sausages leaning against my car in the parking lot of Dollar General is definitely a singular experience; and, it would take a brave and special soul to join me in pickled herring, canned sardines, raw onions and crackers or the occasional boiled turkey neck/pig’s foot. A person witnessing this dementia could only observe and marvel at my very primordial homeostasis level of culinary debasement. More genteel fare like gelato or ice cream can go either way; same with festival or County Fair fare (cotton candy), and/or adult beverages. If you assume by now that I don’t do well in crowds or mixed company…Bravo! As a kid I loved to play in cardboard boxes in which appliances had been delivered; I’d watch ants; daydream; collect rocks. Muse. I was my own imaginary best friend.

Sure, a gang can enjoy doing the Electric Slide; eight people can square dance; four folks can have a card game; three’s a crowd; two’s company but you have to admit, dancing around the kitchen in your drawers, by yourself, to KC and the Sunshine Band’s ‘Boogie Shoes’ is damn liturgical! (IYKYK); one is certainly not a lonely number.

Here is where I advocate you taking yourself some time to do things for yourself by yourself; maybe some of the things that you would normally (?)do with another likeminded person, like a movie, museum or shoot hoops/kick a soccer ball… by yourself.

Lunch at Bayona by myself was a pleasure. Naps are good. Take a drive if you can afford it. Learn an instrument or a language. A long and leisurely walk, what the Italians call passagiata. Shop. Conduct your own wine tasting, visit a book shop in sun glasses or take a Waffle House ‘All-Star (breakfast) Special’ outing (24hours). Write in a journal, compose correspondence, send post cards, smoke something for an illegal smile or ‘try to find Jesus on your own’ (thanks Mr. Prine). Call your congressman and complain on their answering machine.

We tend to travel and associate tribally, forming little villages where we all strive for the common good, even if it’s just a wedding, wake, birthday, barbecue or surprise party; my favorite being a combination of all five (think about it). However, this can come at the cost of our individuality: our singularity; that spark of peculiarity that draws other people to us and what draws us to other people. If we go off by ourselves, we have a tendency to substitute outside stimulation for our tribe and that way, we’re never alone.

Can you be alone without getting lonely? Alone with your thoughts, dreams, fears and fantasies.  Do it as an experiment to see if you can stand yourself for any length of time; if you really are your own best friend, it should be easy peasy. Spend a few hours or a day of non-interaction, no computers allowed; observe and feel your inner child come to the surface. It will be like Calvin and Hobbes if you take along your favorite stuffed tiger.

Here’s a start: go to the Nellie Deli (by yourself), grab a cold drink and order a freshly melted Styrofoamed, microwaved, newly deep-fried monster portion of chili cheese fries; sit by the widow or wander over to Cabrini Park a few blocks over. Get in touch with yourself; burp loudly.

 “Laugh when you can. Swear when you must.” Justin Hatchett

 

 

 

 

Soup

 

Po Boy Views’

By

Phil LaMancusa

Cup

or

Bowl

“And if you aint had a bath aint nobody who cares; ‘cause they’ve seen it all before, from the bums to the whores, and if you shout halleluiah they’ll give you some more.” Johnny Cash: Praise the Lord and Pass the Soup

        I‘m not sure that I know anybody who wouldn’t be comforted by a good bowl of soup; hot soup on a cold day; cold soup on a hot day; any good soup on a bad day. In fact, the first man to open a ‘eat-stop’ in France specialized in soup (Paris 1765 M. Boulanger); he claimed that his soup was a restorative and places like his came to be called re-staur-ants.

        Cruising super markets for prepared soups can be a real rabbit hole and you can get lost with choices that you didn’t know existed. My advice? Don’t buy convenience soups because they’re slop and mass produced in packaging that is dubious at best (check out the sodium levels).

        Now, I cannot give you all the details of addresses and hours of operations, phone numbers etc.; so, take this as a quick ‘soup crawl’ around New Orleans and my mind.

        Norma’s has a Caldo de Res that is absolutely incredible; El Sabor 5 estrellas N2 has a Posole that will knock your socks off; the Harissa coconut soup at 1,000 Figs is a gotta have. Café Degas has been making their onion soup in the same pot for thirty years and it’s reputed the best in the city. Lentil soup at Fatma’s and/or Mona’s traditionally requested. Tofu pho at Eat Well; Egg Drop soup at Golden Wall, Yaka Mein at the Orange House or from Ms. Linda Green.

Soups are also memory stimulants: the Turtle Soup at Commander’s when Paul Pruhomme was Chef; The Wonton Soup at that little joint on 23^rd Street; Cioppino at Little Joe’s in San Francisco as well as the Congee from Sam Wo’s.

Soba noodle soup at Mifune; Boston Clam Chowder at John’s Lobster House at Rockaway Beach in N.Y. and from my childhood a soup that I will forever recall: Zuppa Povera… beef bones, canned tomatoes, soup veggies, shell macaroni and parmesan cheese; comfort on the cheap.

Now, you query, what about Gumbo? The waitress (they were called ‘waitresses’ back then) at the Gumbo Shop (Debbie) explained that gumbos were like snowflakes; they were all different depending on who made them and where they were made. I find the best ones at corner stores with quick lunch take out; here’s why: at big time restaurants and eating places, especially tourist places, they’ll make a mighty fine gumbo in a twenty-gallon pot; you’ll be a customer there once, or maybe even twice a year? Once a month if they’re lucky. At neighborhood corner markets they want you back once or twice a week, if not more; so, their gumbo is geared toward the everyman’s taste and budget and is constantly being made in smaller batches more often.

The gumbo that I have at the Brown Derby (sausage, shrimp, chicken, crab) I cannot say is the best I’ve ever had, but I’ve had none better if that makes any sense (spoiler alert: if you find a chicken neck or gizzard in your gumbo, you’ve landed in the right place). Liuzza’s by the Track puts fresh cooked shrimp on top of theirs (made by that man called Roadrunner) and you can get potato salad with it… which is brilliant.  The Quail, Pheasant and Andouille gumbo at the Jazz Fest is beyond comprehension; the dark roux at the now closed Avery’s was simply black gold and on and on. Is gumbo a soup? I’d like to think it is. Fight me.

Avgolemono; have you had it with some taramosalata and egg bread? A nice bowl of chicken soup with Kneidlach followed by some (hand cut) livers and challah; Tom Yum Goong that brings a sweat; Ukrainian (or any other) Borsht will zone you out and some Brazilian Moqueca with pao de Queijo or Canja from Cape Verde will wake your mouth up, brotha!

To explore new soups head to Nigeria for Banga; Ogbone; Efo Riro; Afang; Egusi or Edikaikong typically served with Fufu; ask around, there are a few West African places that would be glad that you would want something real from their home region. However, yes, however; you don’t have to go out to have a grand bisque; chowder; consommé; potage; gumbo or pot au feu; as Bill Haley said (or sung) “get out in that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans…” You can (dare I say it?) make your own.

Ask your Mama (or Maw Maw); peruse a book; check with Chef Google or just use the magnificent imagination that you have: simple… a visit to a market to pick out what looks good to you, a knife and a cutting board, a pot and some water and maybe a glass of wine with some music and there you go. When in doubt, punch into your computer “Recipe: and then name your ingredients and that darn thing will tell you how and what to do with what you got. Get it? Got it? Good.

Cool weather? Make a warm soup. Hot weather (what here?). Make a cold soup: Gazpacho, Vichyssoise, cucumber yogurt; heck, make a fruit soup like Rote Grutze (look it up) or Chlodnik.

Soup is a magic amalgamation over 20,000 years in the making; you are the alchemist, wizard, sorceress, conductor and orchestrator of that enchantment--- right there in your kitchen. With this power and responsibility, you are given the authority to bonk somebody on the nose with your ladle who would dare challenge that. Don’t forget to wash your hands.