In Praise of the Po'Boy

I had the luxury of a day off on Wednesday, and spent the day lounging around the house and catching up on emails, phone calls and other correspondence that had suffered my neglect during my last bout of work insanity (I'm thankful to report that I've pared life down to one job, the Roosevelt, so I can finally begin to enjoy the experience of life in New Orleans). Brandon had the day off as well, and we decided to head out and make groceries. Before hitting Rouse's we stopped off for a quick repast at one of the city's best joints for Po'Boys, the Parkway.

Brandon had taken me to the Parkway on my visit to New Orleans at Easter, and I could not believe the roast beef Po'Boy we shared. It was one of the messiest sandwiches I've ever eaten, and one of the best. The Po'Boy contained delectable chunks of roast beef, smothered in gravy, and the sandwich came dressed with the usual adornments; mayo, lettuce, tomato and pickles. The sandwich literally comes apart as you consume it, and there's as much filling on the wrapper as there is in the Po'Boy.

The Po'Boy is a quintessential New Orleans creation; in fact the Po-Boy Preservation Society has a web site that gives the background on the inventors of the sandwich. There's even a Po'Boy Festival (of course), which Brandon swears is one of the best festivals in the city.

On Wednesday I decided to stick with the tried and true roast beef Po'Boy, while Brandon enjoyed the daily special, a Cuban. The sandwich looked delicious, and Peaches declared that the Cuban rivaled any concotion he had sampled in Tampa. My roast beef was delightful as well, and once I again I practically emptied a napkin holder plowing through the sandwich.

My dear friend Veeta has been making noise about coming to the Crescent City for the holidays and wants to tour the city in search of the perfect muffaletta; I think we're going to concentrate on Po'Boys instead.