Travis Kelce committed what New Orleans considers the ultimate sin.?
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end criticized our food, particularly targeting jambalaya and gumbo.
On a recent episode of their "New Heights" podcast, the picky eater told his brother, Jason Kelce, that he wasn't a fan of "rice and water" and described jambalaya "watery," adding that he didn't like "pooey" colored food.?
I think Killa Trav may have gotten gumbo and jambalaya confused, and many in Louisiana think the darker the roux, the better the pot of gumbo.
With Taylor Swift bringing her Eras Tour to New Orleans, I want to give Travis Kelce the chance to redeem himself and try the best jambalaya and gumbo the city has to offer. After all, Taylor has dined out at several restaurants here and even had a birthday cake made at Bywater Bakery.?
I asked Times-Picayune food writer Ian McNulty where he thought the power couple should go for gumbo in New Orleans.
Ian's suggestions for gumbo?
For gumbo, start at Li’l Dizzy’s Café (1500 Esplanade Ave.), a Creole classic in the Treme with a roux I crave. It’s all packed for takeout so he can get it to go if he doesn’t want all the prying eyes watching him eat his own words.
For a white tablecloth setting, go across the neighborhood to Dooky Chase’s Restaurant (2301 Orleans Ave.). Just don’t do what Barack Obama did on the campaign trail in 2008, when he added hot sauce to his gumbo before sampling it, thus bringing a chiding from the late chef Leah Chase.
Then there’s seafood gumbo, and the one at Pêche Seafood Grill (800 Magazine St.) is the one to beat, with oysters and shrimp steeped in the essence of crab and the flavor of bayou country.?
For a more country style, try the version at Gris-Gris (1800 Magazine St.), where the deep-dark roux flickers with layered spice.?
Ian's suggestions for jambalaya
It’s harder to find credible jambalaya at restaurants, and for the real deal please just come by my Endymion party at Carnival time and I’ll serve you up my version (or hit up chef Donald Link, whose recipe from his “Real Cajun” cookbook is the loose basis for mine anyway).??
But for restaurants, I’m sending you first to Clesi’s Seafood?(4323 Bienville St.) in Mid-City for the straight-up chicken and sausage jambalaya plate or, what could be training wheels for the palate, the jambalaya cheese fries, which are exactly as they sound.
In the French Quarter, the version at Mr. Ed’s Oyster Bar & Fish House (512 Bienville St.) gets a fresh pop from shrimp between the chicken and andouille.