The Gumbo Pot's Red Beans and Rice

In Louisiana, red beans and rice are traditionally served on Mondays. Monday was wash day, and once all of the ingredients were thrown in, you could ignore the beans all day while you tended to the laundry. I am obsessed with red beans and rice. The only version I've eaten that beat my own recipe was made by Mike Anderson's in New Orleans.

But I have to admit that The Gumbo Pot in the Farmers Market serves up some damn good red beans. They are chock full of ham hocks, without the slight funk or gaminess. Of course, The Gumbo Pot is situated down the lane from a meat market with the biggest, meatiest ham hocks I've ever seen. The beans have that special kind of creaminess that can only come from loads of pork fat. They are not overly spiced, but depending on the day, they sometimes they pack a wallop. They are served properly over Uncle Ben's converted rice - the true rice of New Orleans.

Cajun and Creole food are controversial, and I'm sure everyone is ready to stand up for their favorite spot, extolling the wonders of The Creole Chef or Uncle Darrow's. I will admit that there might be better gumbos out there, and there might be better jambalayas out there. But as a frequent traveler to New Orleans, I can attest that The Gumbo Pot serves a damn authentic red beans and rice. Well, maybe not so authentic - because I don't know of any restaurant in New Orleans that is this generous with the ham hocks. Order the side salad with candied pecans and homemade pickles in a buttermilk dressing, split a po'boy with your friend and prepare to be transported down to the Crescent City.

The Gumbo Pot (323) 933-0358
6333 West Third Street # 312 Los Angeles 90036

Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax: The Vendors

The Farmer's market at 3rd and Fairfax is Los Angeles' oldest outdoor market, open since 1934. Most people know it as a tourist attraction, or nowadays as part of the Grove megaplex. But Farmers market vendors pride themselves on the freshness of their products. Most of the prepared foods for sale are made right on the spot, often behind big plate glass windows so you can watch the candy being made and the ice cream churning.

As I mentioned in the last blog, I have a favorite route that I travel through the Farmer's market. It starts at Gate 4, on the North side, which takes you straight into the food court. If it is early in the morning, you might start with french toast from Charlies. On a Saturday morning, the line for this place can take forever. But usually I hit the Farmer's Market in the afternoon, in which case, go for the Gumbo Pot.

There are five "lanes" that run from East to West along the market. I like to walk up the second row, where you can find Marconda's meat market. They have meats that are particular to New Orleans cooking, and an incredibly smart assed counter man. We have had this exchange more than once:

"Tasso please"
"What?"
"Tasso."
"What did you call me???"

On my last visit, he discovered we both had the same credit card and used that to play an elaborate practical joke on me. If you are going to continue shopping, they will hold your purchase in the refrigerator for you. Oh, and they shape their sausage into little piggies. What more could you want?

Just next to the meat counter is the nicest produce in the market. But I usually save them for last, since fruit can get heavy, and I feel strange pushing around those green wooden shopping carts. Continue heading East between the two glass display counters of the Ultimate Nut and Candy. The candy counter on the right has very good sugar free candies, especially the English toffee. On your left is a counter for nuts and dried and candied fruit, which gets very busy during the holidays.

After passing a few trinket shops, you will see LittleJohn's Toffee House on the right, where you can watch them making candy in the window. They sell homemade marshmallows, which also come dipped in caramel or coconut.

At the end of the old Farmer's market you dead-end at the other food court. Tusquella's Fish and Oyster Bar, Bennett's Ice Cream and Patsy D'Amore's Pizza are all supposed to be very good, although I am usually full by this point. But sometimes I have just enough room for Bob's Coffee and Donuts, known for its cinnamon rolls and jelly donuts.

Then I head south. Huntingtons meat market, on the left, is not my favorite. But they do have freakishly huge and meaty ham hocks. You will never want to buy the ones at the grocery store ever again (Do you have pig's feet? Where do you buy your shoes?).

Next to Huntingtons is Monsieur Marcel Imports, which has a French deli with a nice selection of charcuterie, cheeses and wines, etc. Across the lane is their little French bistro, but I have not made it there on an empty stomach yet. Maybe my new year's resolution next year will be to enter the Farmer's market at a different entrance.

At this point, turn and head West. On the left is Tusquella's seafood. I have yet to buy their seafood, but they have New Orleans products there, so I always stock up on Creole mustard and fish fry.

On the right is Light My Fire, which stocks every kind of hot sauce and dried chili powder imaginable.

At the end of this lane, you dead-end at DuPars. Now is the time to wrestle with your conscience over whether or not to buy a pie. Then cross back just behind The Gumbo pot, which will bring you past Thee's Continental Bakery in case you need any baked goods. Just to the right of The bakery is The French Crepe Company, where my friends often choose to line up while I am off getting my catfish fix.

Exiting through gate 3 takes you between two produce stands. The Fruit Company on the left has a fantastic fruit salad, which seems pricey, but is worth it. Across the aisle, Farm Fresh Produce has fresh fruits in season; I especially love the bing cherries and figs. Sorry I don't have pictures of the gorgeous produce. Some guy had started a random conversation with me on this visit and was goading me into photographing the watermelon, which made me kind of nervous. In fact, lots of guys strike up random conversations with me at the Farmer's market, so it's probably a good place to troll if you are single.

Tips: There is a secret upstairs dining area on the north side if you can't find a table...They are busiest on weekends and Thursday nights when they have live music, and it can be hard to find parking...The Grove's parking lot does not accept validation from the Farmer's Market shops, so pick up a latte or stop by Crate and Barrel for validation if you park in the structure.

Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax: DuPars

DuPar's has been a Farmer's Market institution since 1938. The Naylor family, as in Tiny Naylor's, reopened this location in December after what appear to be minor renovations, primarily the removal of the counter and the addition of an outdoor dining patio. Holding down the Southwest corner of the Farmer's Market, DuPars can be accessed through a secret back alleyway from the food court.

DuPars is one of those places that has made being trapped in a time warp cool. The pies are the same, the menu is the almost the same, and the waitresses are still wearing the same trippy old-fashioned uniforms.



DuPar's is known for their pancakes, but the real draw here is the pie. I have never had a real meal at this location. I have eaten at the Studio City location and wasn't that impressed. It was all your basic grub, nothing wrong with it, but nothing spectacular. The pies ARE spectacular. Like most places that you frequent often, I have a "route" that I travel through the Farmer's Market. It always starts with a catfish sandwich at the Gumbo Pot, and on special occasions, it ends at the outdoor to-go pie counter at DuPar's. Pies glisten like jewels under the glass, and the splurge is often irresistible. Luckily they sell some cute little mini-pies so you don't have to go whole-hog if you are guilty and indecisive. DuPars is willing to meet you half-way.

The other day I picked up a mini cherry cheesecake. The center is creamy and light; it is not a dense cheesecake. But it's not a bunch of whipped fluff either. It is just right. Even though they are smaller in diameter, the little pies are the standard height, so it cut up nicely into four normal-sized slices. Although there was some bickering as to the evenness of those slices.

Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax: The Gumbo Pot

I was worried when they opened the monstrosity known as "The Grove" that my beloved Farmer's Market would be contaminated by it and die a slow, whimpering death. The closure of Dupar's for "renovation" did nothing to allay my fears. But now, well into the "Grove years" the Farmer's Market still shines as a beacon of good food in the face of the franchised blanding of America.

There are certain cravings I get that just cannot be satified by anything else. The Gumbo Pot's blackened catfish po'boy is one of the foods that often calls out to me with its siren song. So what if "blackening" is not a classic New Orleans dish, but is a technique invented by Paul Prudholme in the 80s! So what if it was EVERYWHERE in the 80s, like pesto in the 90s, and lemongrass recently. Blackened catfish ROCKS. And the Gumbo Pot is one of the few places in Los Angeles that actually has food that tastes anything at all like New Orleans. There is something about the bread - they say it's in the water, like New York pizza dough. I hear rumors of a place where you can buy that bread in South Central, but I haven't hunted it down yet.

The Gumbo Pot puts their own special twist on the catfish po'boy (I refuse to say they "kick it up a notch" no matter how appropos it is here), by sneaking in paper-thin slices of fresh lemon. Just writing this makes me want to eat one now. In fact, if you had one in your hand right now I would knock you down to get it without a second thought.

Their house salad is an ingenius balancing act of flavor...sweet candied pecans, vinegary homemade pickles, tart green apples, and a creamy buttermilk dressing over romaine. It is fucking amazing! You have to ask for the salad with apples. If you accidentally order the plain house salad, you cannot beg borrow or steal a green apple from them to save your life. I just about lost my mind once when the manager refused to let me buy green apple slices. But you know, that is how they do it in New Orleans. What you see is what you get. No substitutions. We are so spoiled in Los Angeles, with our orders like, "Ummm, geee, I can't decide between the chicken and the fish...is that line caught or farmed? Is the chicken grilled? Is it free-range? Organic? Yeah, can you do the chicken without the skin, on a bun instead of bread, oh, and can you put some pesto mayo on it? Oh, that would be great, thanks! Oh, and and can I get fresh fruit on the side instead of fries? You're a doll!" They don't put up with that crap in New Orleans. Your exchange would go something like this:

"Ummm, geee, I can't decide between the..."

"Y'all let me know when ya'll decide what ya want" (walks off)

So, that's kind of the gruff, take-no-shit attitude you can sometimes get at the Gumbo Pot (Actually, one of the guys is a sweetheart, and only one is super-gruff). But their food is so good it is worth it. They can treat me any way they want to, as long as they don't cut me off.

Really, most of their food kicks ass. The gumbos are smoky and intense, and their fried catfish is also a thing of beauty, as is the shrimp po'boy. As much as it pains me to admit it, their red beans and rice are even better than mine. And I pride myself on my red beans and rice. In fact, I am the queen of red beans and rice. But I just handed my pinball crown to him...to him (How do you think he does it? I don't know!).