Vendors at the 4th Annual New Orleans Seafood Festival

Fourth Annual New Orleans Seafood Festival took place this year at Lafayette Square on September 10th, 11th and 12th, 2010 across from Gallier Hall in downtown NOLA. Proceeds from this event benefited the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation. The festival was only a 10 minute ride on the streetcar line, so our New Orleans lodging venue was very convenient for our guests. Innkeepers at the Avenue Inn B&B made sure that their New Orleans Bed and Breakfast guests were aware of the “seafood party” and encouraged attendance. Innkeepers Joe and Bebe Rabhan even set the example by joining them there for the festivities.

The festival, which was free and open to the public, featured live music and cuisine from many famed, local restaurants. Visitors and locals alike feasted on oysters, shrimp, snapper, tilapia, scallops and yes, alligator, in all forms and recipes. The 20 local restaurants who participated offered at least two speciality items. Alligator sausage on a stick was our favorite as we sampled as much of the fresh catch that was available in each booth.

Besides all the wonderful seafood dishes to select from there were snoballs, gelato, kettle corn, daiquiris, draft and full bars.  Here’s a listing of what we found at the Festival:

• Acme Oyster House-     Shirmp poboys, Catfish Poboys
• Remoulade Restaurant-     Shrimp Cajun Eggrolls; Crawfish Pie
• Café Giovanni-   Voodoo Shrimp Grits, Creole Shrimp and Corn Bisque
• Pigeon Caterers – Crab and crawfish cakes on lettuce, seafood gumbo, bread pudding
• Drago’s –   Fleur de lis Shirmp, Charbroiled Oysters
• Galatoire’s-   Shrimp remoulade  Fried Shrimp BLT Poboy
• Mr. Mudbug-    Shrimp and crab penne pasta
• Serrano’s –    Grilled Fish Tacos, Ceviche, Fried Oyster wraps
• Oceana Restaurant -    Blackened Shrimp, Blackened Catfish with a fire roasted red pepper sauce
• Salt Water Grill –   Cochon de lait poboy, alligator sausage on a stick, crawfish & spinach boat
• Ninja Restaurant-   Softshell Crab Po-boy, Catfish Poboy
• TJ Gourmet -  Crawfish Sausage Kabob, Shrimp Pirogue, Crawfish Bread
• 7 on Fulton -  Seafood Gumbo, Grilled Amberjack
• Cafe at the Square-   Gulf shrimp and mushrooms in puff pastry, Shrimp Roll
• NO Hamburger & Seafood-    BBQ Shrimp Po-Boys, Thin Fried Catfish Plate
• Royal House Oyster Bar- Crab & Shrimp Remoulade Po-boy, The Zydeco Stick (skewered shrimp wrapped in bacon w/ jalapeno sausage & veggies, corn battered & deep fried
• Cafe Hope -  Shrimp Salad
• Grand Isle-  Seafood Salad, Shrimp Carrinada Mini-Poboy     Louisiana Specialty Drinks ~ Daiquiris
• Broussards-  Corn & Shrimp & Sweet Potato Bisque
• Sweets and Such-  Original NO Snoball
• Luke- Jumbo Stiffed shrimp w/ Blood Orange Hollandaise
• TA Dowd / Blue Bunny Ice cream

New Orleans Seafood Fest main stage

In addition to the seafood, there was plenty of entertainment scheduled throughout the weekend on the big stage. New Orleans bed and breakfast guests rocked out to the sounds of  Wiseguys, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr, Revivalists, Vivaz, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, Rebirth Brass Band, Amanda Shaw, The Boogiemen and Luther Kent.  There were about 40 booths of Louisiana artists and craftsmen selling original works and 10 celebrity chefs demonstrated the fine art of cooking fresh Louisiana seafood.

The festival was testimony to locals and the guests at our New Orleans bed and breakfast that eating seafood from the Gulf is perfectly safe and very tasty. When was the last time you indulged in a shrimp poboy? Plan now to come on down to the Big Easy. You can have your own seafood festival anytime. This one will be back in September of 2011.

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Have you been to the New Orleans seafood festival? Please make a comment about your experience below.

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