At all of our restaurants around the country, we’re in the midst of the same preparations you are: getting ready to host holiday parties, from special dinners a deux and round table family get-togethers to blow-outs for business friends. We’re dusting off our best dishes, making sure the decorations are just right, and laying in some fantastic wines and champagnes, starting what feels like a six week long open house. Stop by and say hello.

Cheers,
Charlie

REGIONAL NEW AMERICAN HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
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There was a time when giving seasonal food gifts meant sending a crate of fruit, frozen steaks, or wait for it—the dreaded fruit cake, as heavy as a door stop. But those days are long gone. All over the United States, food artisans—some new, some multi-generational family businesses—are turning out remarkable products, from micro-roasted coffee and handmade chocolate to savory biscuits and farmstead cheese.

New Orleans: Signature flavor artisan chocolates
Made by Executive Pastry Chef Tariq Hanna at Sucre, a stylish Magazine Street patisserie, the NOLA Chocolate Box includes evocative local flavors such as the Meuniere, brown butter and white chocolate ganache coated in dark chocolate. http://www.shopsucre.com/

La Place, Louisiana: Authentic Cajun Andouille sausage
You can’t “cook Cajun” without Jacob's World Famous Andouille sausage, a staple since 1928: over 81 years and still smoking. Made with seasoned small chunks of pork (rather than ground) and smoked over pecan wood.
http://www.cajunsausage.com

Boerne, Texas: Pickle-licious
Made from an old family recipe, Fickle Pickles are probably the best pickles in the world. In the words of the original “Pickle Lady” Billie Shaw, they start out sweet and finish spicy. http://www.ficklepickles.com