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| McHardy's Chicken & Fixin', New Orleans, LA |
Frau Schmitt and I went to the Prime Example on the corner of North Broad Avenue and St. Bernard Avenue a few nights ago. Amii Stewart wasn't the headliner, she wasn't even in the room, but the band did play a rousing version of Knock on Wood. The whole room was dancing, your humble narrator included. That was something to see, I'll tell you.
You know what they say in New Orleans? They say: "Dance like nobody is watching." I take that motto to heart.
I bet that when the 10-piece funk band that always plays at the Krazy Korner on Bourbon Street plays Knock on Wood the whole bar is hopping.
We had a guest recently who had done his homework and learned through geographical triangulation that we are, indeed, located equidistant between the the apices of the little discussed, though well-known among cognescenti, New Orleans Fried Chicken Triangle (same link as before---I'm giving you a second chance). Many people have lost there way within The Fried Chicken Triangle's borders. Many more have found tasty paradise.
I was going to report our guest's findings after he had visited the three fried chicken restaurants within a five minute walk of our house. He didn't have time to go the third, though, so this report will be incomplete from his perspective. I'll supplement his findings with what information I'm able to provide, which is the usual modus operandi around hereabouts. He inspired Frau Schmitt and your humble narrator to go on bivouac six blocks behind our house. We regularly do this anyway, but this time we had a reason to do it.
Why, in five days and four nights, couldn't one person go to three fried chicken restaurants? Because he spent one of those days taking a plantation tour.
Our anonymous guest in question (he knows who he is and he's probably reading this installment right now), the tertiary subject of today's installment, has taken plenty of plantation tours. He has been to New Orleans numerous times over the years. His least favorite tours are the ones that present life on a Mississippi River plantation like a Culture Club video:
If VEVO doesn't allow you to see it here, you'll have to click the embedded YouTube link to watch this video there. It's worth a gander. Think Oak Alley when you watch that clip. Karma chameleon, indeed.
Our guest wanted to see Whitney Plantation. Who can blame him?
Dooky Chase's isn't going anywhere soon, Dooky Chase's will be open the next time he visits our fair city. This is a chap who has been to New Orleans many times over many years. You'd think he would know the city like we do, but he has tended to stay in the French Quarter most of the time. No harm in that, but there's a whole other city out here waiting to be discovered. We went to Dooky Chase's for lunch ourselves, to try the fried chicken.
This post is getting to be more convoluted than usual. Are you following along with me this far? Even I'm getting lost in the wheels within wheels. Let's cut to the chase and get this fried chicken business out of the way, shall we?
The first day, our guest had fried chicken at McHardy's and he told us it was the best he's had in a long, long, and even one more long time, and, lunch had only cost him $5.00! That's what he said, "That was the best fried chicken I've had in a long, long, long time."
The next day, he went to Willie Mae's Scotch House. Ms. Willie Mae Seaton died last Friday, which has nothing to do with the quality of the chicken, but I thought I would mention that this New Orleans icon is no longer with us. May she rest in peace.
Our guest's verdict comparing Willie Mae's chicken to McHardy's? McHardy's---no contest.
We went to Dooky Chase's this afternoon to pick up the slack left over from our new pal going to Whitney Plantation. Our verdict? McHardy's is better and not just because McHardy's is less expensive.
Before he left for the airport, I spoke with our guest, who, for reasons I'm not going to go into here, is going to remain anonymous for the duration of this article and probably forevermore. As a professional innkeeper, I am always discreet about people's privacy. Let's call him Chauncy.
I was talking to Chauncy and we both agreed that the reason McHardy's gets short shrift in the reputation department is because there's no sit-down dining. It's a take out joint (hence the lower prices). According to the Food Network, Willie Mae's has the best fried chicken in all of America. According to a recent poll of New Orleanians, Dooky Chase has the best fried chicken in New Orleans. According to the Creole grapevine in our neighborhood, it's always McHardy's that gets the top vote.
At the hazard of sounding like somebody on Fox News when I say this, the mainstream media never asks the people who live in our neighborhood where to find the best fried chicken. If they did, then I'd have to wait in line at McHardy's. They don't, so I don't have to wait in line and for that I am grateful even though I'm sure Mr. McHardy, who is a prince of a fellow, wouldn't complain about the extra business. Maybe somebody from the Food Network is reading this blog. Shhhh.
Don't get me wrong. I like both Dooky Chase's and Willie Mae's. It's just that if I want the best fried chicken in town, I go to McHardy's and then I walk to the park and eat it there, which is a very pleasant experience, let me tell you. If you are staying with us, I recommend enjoying your chicken in a park but you can always get take out and eat it in our back gardens, which are lovely.
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| The picnic table in our garden |
And that brings us to the muddling conclusion of today's entry in the annals of New Orleans innkeeping. Let's cut to a shot of this:
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| Macaroons!! |
Knock on wood,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.
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