I've always hated flying United Airlines, but in New Orleans, not flying is the ordeal

Passengers on United Airlines' Flight 711 to Newark board the aircraft at Gate D9 of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Editor's note: This post desperately needed a new headline to replace the tortured syntax of the original, so here it is.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

KENNER, LA. -- United Airlines' Flight 711 to Newark appears cursed.

Every time we've taken it at the end of a vacation in New Orleans, we've experienced delays.

On Friday, we waited at Louis Armstrong International Airport's Gate D9 for more than 4 hours after the scheduled 3:10 p.m departure before we were allowed to board the flight.

First, we were told our departure had been rolled back to 5 p.m., then to a little after 8 p.m.

Our 737-700 aircraft and the crew also sat there all that time.

What storms?

We were told thunderstorms in northern New Jersey would prevent the plane from landing.

At Newark Liberty International Airport, the Air Brook driver who picked us up on Friday night after 11 said there had been scattered rain, but nothing he'd describe as a thunderstorm.

The phantom thunderstorms also prevented the departure of New Orleans flights to La Guardia Airport in New York and to Washington, D.C.

By arriving late at Newark airport, I also incurred a $15 night rate surcharge on our Air Brook ride home.

2017 vacation

After we attended the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans in 2017, our flight to Newark was delayed 2 hours.

The explanation: Too few air traffic controllers had reported to work.

I've always hated flying United. Now, I hate it for delays that have me not flying the airline.

On Friday, I was able to get earphones from one of the cabin attendants to watch a free movie, "Widows."

But the Economy Plus seat I paid extra for was so narrow, it was difficult to prevent my forearm from hitting the entertainment controls on the armrest, and blacking out the video or switching to another channel.

Instead of making do with a small bag of salty pretzels United Airlines serves on Flight 711, I stopped on the way to the airport for takeout from Banh Mi Boys in Metairie, La. I ordered a 10-inch Po Boy Sandwich stuffed with fried oysters and fried shrimp, dressed Vietnamese style with fresh cilantro, cucumbers, shredded carrots, sriracha sauce and other ingredients, above and below. 

Conveniently, Banh Mi Boys is part of a gas station, where I was able to fill up our rental car before returning it, instead of making a second stop. The sandwich shop is about 5 miles away from the airport.

Our first stop on the way to the airport was Manchu Food Store, a Vietnamese-owned business that lays claim to serving the best chicken wings in New Orleans, above and below. Tip: Order the regular fried wings to avoid what my wife said is excessive salt in the BBQ wings. The tasty side of fried rice contains small shrimp.

Curses! I'll have to wait almost a full year for the best music festival in New Orleans

AARON NEVILLE: On April 6, the R&B singer and musician performed for the first time during the French Quarter Festival. Neville was backed by a band on the main stage in Riverfront Park, above.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm already planning our next visit to New Orleans to attend the city's best music festival.

No. I'm not referring to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, also known as Jazz Fest, which began last Friday and ends on Sunday.

I'm talking about the four-day French Quarter Festival in April -- an annual celebration of Louisiana's rich musical heritage with New Orleans groups performing on up to 22 stages inside and outside the quarter.

All the performances during the French Quarter Festival, including films and interviews, are free. The 2018 dates are April 12-15.

At Jazz Fest, you have to pay $70 to $80 for each day of admission to the racetrack where it is held. 

Attendance is expected to top 100,000, making it difficult to move around and see bands playing on other stages.

And despite the festival's name, jazz groups are greatly outnumbered by other genres.

Update

We had great weather at the French Quarter Festival (April 6-9), but a thunderstorm on Sunday delayed the start of Jazz Fest, and several performances were rained out, including an appearance by a New Orleans soul-and-funk band called Chocolate Milk.

Last year, bad weather cancelled Stevie Wonder's performance.

Gulf seafood and Big Oil

Did air-traffic controllers party too hard?

JACKSON SQUARE STAGE: At the French Quarter Festival, an Ella and Louis Tribute Band recalled the collaboration between trumpeter Louis Armstrong and jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald.

BOTTOMS UP: During the French Quarter Festival, the most popular stands in Riverfront Park dispense Hurricanes, frozen Daiquiris, beer and other alcoholic beverages. Food stands are operated by New Orleans' best restaurants, offering Cajun, Creole and Caribbean specialties.

STORMY WEATHER: A Hurricane from Pat O'Brien's Bar was $9. Ingredients include vodka, gin, rum, grenadine, amaretto almond liqueur, triple sec and fruit juices. 

SLOW BUT SURE: Taking taxis or Uber to get around is expensive, but the budget option, New Orleans' charming streetcars, are slower. The regular fare is $1.50; seniors pay only 40 cents. Multi-day cards, available in drugstores, are the best buy.

COOL RIDE: Red streetcars are air-conditioned, but the older cars on the St. Charles Streetcar line are not.

HERO OF NEW ORLEANS: In the center of Jackson Square is a statue of Andrew Jackson, who won a decisive victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1812.

OLDEST CATHEDRAL IN U.S.: St. Louis Cathedral, seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, is just outside Jackson Square.

SANTIAGO: Inside the cathedral, a large wooden scallop shell over the pulpit is the symbol of St. James, the patron saint of Spain.

CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS: A gospel choir and band were added during masses at St. Maria Goretti, a Catholic church in New Orleans. The drummer and organist, both parishioners, are members of Chocolate Milk, a funk-and-soul band.

VIETNAMESE PO'BOY: At Dong Phuong Bakery in New Orleans East, Bahn Mi are distinctly different than New Orleans Poor Boy Sandwiches. The smaller and cheaper Bahn Mi are dressed with homemade aioli, pickled carrots and daikons, jalapenos, cilantro and cucumbers. Fish, shrimp and soy fillings are available.

BEAUTIFUL WOODWORK: Homes in the French Quarter, above and below.

GIVING THE ENVIRONMENT A BREAK: At the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, where we stayed, drivers of hybrid and all-electric cars get a $10 discount on overnight parking.

LOFTY WORKOUT: The hotel's gym is on the 32nd floor.

PROPELLED BY AIR? Hotel elevators are virtually silent. The Hyatt is next to the Superdome, below.

Details

We took the Airport Shuttle from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency on Loyola Avenue ($44 a person round trip). 


Website: Airport Shuttle New Orleans

Did NOLA air-traffic controllers party too hard, delaying my flight home to N.J.?

Hurricanes, frozen Mango Daiquiris, cold beer and other alcoholic libations flowed freely during the French Quarter Festival, an annual four-day celebration of Louisiana's rich musical heritage.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

NEW ORLEANS -- Just when I thought I had beaten despicable United Airlines at its own game, air-traffic controllers threw a wrench into my plans.

My flight to the Crescent City's annual French Quarter Festival this month was most uncomfortable -- I was crammed into an economy seat with my knees up against the seat back in front of me.

On the 3-hour flight from Newark on April 5, stingy flight attendants served me and my wife small plastic cups of complimentary tomato juice, a handful of mints and a bag of salty snacks.

Music, movie and entertainment channels -- once free -- cost extra.

The center aisle was so narrow you couldn't avoid brushing up against other passengers as you squeezed past them to get to the cramped bathroom at the rear of the plane.

Cha Wa, a Mardi Gras Indian funk band, performing on the main stage in New Orleans' Riverfront Park on April 6.

Let the good times roll

But after four days of free music accompanied by Hurricanes and other alcoholic beverages, and great Gulf seafood washed down with wine or beer, I forgot all of that misery.

And checking in online for our flight home on April 10, I made sure to buy five inches of extra-legroom for me and my wife -- a total of 10 inches for more than $100.

Before the airport shuttle picked us up, I downed a half-dozen of those incomparable Gulf oysters on the half shell at the restaurant in our hotel, and we breezed through security with TSA Precheck.

Little did I know as we waited for our boarding call:

There weren't enough air-traffic controllers to handle all of the arriving and departing flights at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, including ours.

2-hour delay

At 2:19 p.m., I received the first of three texts from United Airlines, informing me our 3:35 p.m. flight to Newark "is delayed due to air traffic control," and wouldn't be departing until 3:57 p.m.

Then, the delay grew -- the next text said our flight would depart at 5:01 p.m., and the third text put our departure at 5:45 p.m. -- a more than 2-hour delay.

The big question, of course, is whether those three air-traffic controllers who didn't report for duty on April 10 overdid it the day before on the last day of the French Quarter Festival?

As we waited for our delayed flight that day, I texted a friend who is the drummer for a New Orleans band, and wondered whether those air-traffic controllers called in sick after four days of boozing at the festival.

"It sure sounds possible," he replied. 

Worst airline in world

Flying United has been an ordeal for many years, and its customer service is an insult to paying passengers.

But now that United forcefully removed and injured a ticketed passenger to make room for airline employees on a flight out of Chicago, other customers might be tempted to compare their experiences to his:

"At least they didn't throw me off the airplane."


Seafood lovers flock to New Orleans

President Trump, Stop lying to the America people

Big Oil be damned! Seafood lovers crowd New Orleans for Gulf oysters, shrimp, fish

A whole Red Snapper -- grilled over hickory wood and smothered with vegetables and shrimp -- can feed two at the Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Nothing equals a Gulf Oyster. On Monday afternoon, I enjoyed a half-dozen at the bar in Borgne, a restaurant serving coastal Louisiana cuisine, at my hotel, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

NEW ORLEANS -- They say that oil and water don't mix.

That's especially true in the Gulf of Mexico touching southeastern Louisiana, where oil and gas producers have tried their best to destroy one of the nation's richest fishing grounds.

In the past 70-plus years, industry helped wipe out more than 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands, imperiling the fisheries, according to a 2015 film, "By the River of Babylon: An Elegy for South Louisiana." 

The powerful documentary was screened last Saturday during the French Quarter Festival, a 4-day celebration of Louisiana's rich musical heritage with performances on up to two dozen outdoor and indoor stages -- all free.

The documentary didn't stop me and my wife from enjoying breakfast omelets stuffed with vegetables, shrimp and crawfish tails, and other wonderful seafood meals.

The Gulf, which touches five states, supplies an astonishing variety of oysters, shrimp and wild-caught fish to New Orleans restaurants and markets.

Oysters, shrimp, crawfish

We had our best meal on the eve of the festival at Ralph Brennan's Red Fish Grill, a casual seafood restaurant in the French Quarter.

We were drawn to the restaurant's hickory wood-fired wild fish and jumbo shrimp, which are served with vegetables and a choice of specialty sauces, and topped with crawfish tails, fried oysters or Gulf shrimp for a supplement.

The menu offers both familiar and unfamiliar fish, including Black Drum, Speckled Trout, Cobia, Redfish, Mangrove Snapper and Pompano.

My wife chose a whole Gulf Red Snapper with sauteed Gulf shrimp and a Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette, a large fish that could have fed both of us ($35.50).

I ordered a Black Drum fillet topped with fried oysters and served with a Satsuma Ponzu Sauce ($36.50).

Turkey necks, too

At Borgne, in the Hyatt Regency hotel, I had my first (and best) Gulf Oysters of the trip (6 for $9), and my wife was delighted to find falling-off-the-bone Turkey Necks prepared in a crab boil ($8).

We liked the oysters and turkey necks so much we ordered them again last Monday afternoon just before we were picked up by the airport shuttle for the flight home to New Jersey.

At our Borgne dinner, we also split a Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese ($12), and a whole Flounder with Shrimp and Crab Stuffing ($32).

Borgne (pronounced BORN) is named for the lake where Chefs John Besh and Brian Landry grew up fishing.

We also ate in the Hyatt Regency's 8 Block Kitchen & Bar, Namese Vietnamese Cafe, the Half Shell, Parkway Bakery and Tavern, Betsy's Pancake House, Li'l Dizzy's Cafe; and at the French Quarter Festival, where food and drink stands were operated by top New Orleans bars and restaurants (see photos below).  

Wood-grilled Black Drum fillet with fried Gulf Oysters at the Red Fish Grill, below.

At the Red Fish Grill and other New Orleans restaurants, bread is served in a paper bag.

An appetizer of Turkey Necks at Borgne, with dressings for my raw Gulf Oysters.

The kitchen at Borgne split our Whole Flounder lengthwise and served the creamy Shrimp and Crab Stuffing outside.

Borgne's Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Spiced Walnut Granola and Dandelion Vinaigrette.

Dining-room columns covered with oyster shells are part of the seafood motif in the dining room of Borgne.

A gallon jar of Tabasco Sauce and a board offering oysters from Louisiana and Alabama near the entrance to Borgne.

Also in the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, 8 Block Kitchen & Bar offers a groaning-board breakfast buffet for $17.95 or $22.95 with a made-to-order omelet and other hot food. My plate included an egg-white omelet with shrimp and crawfish tails, breakfast potatoes, smoked and cured salmon, pickled okra and olives.

Before the omelet, I started breakfast with a bowl of granola, premium berries and non-fat Greek Yogurt, Green Juice (celery, kale, apple and lime) and Peach-Infused Water. That big breakfast allowed me to skip lunch, of course.

Charcuterie and sumptuous cheeses at the Hyatt Regency's breakfast buffet.

At Namese Vietnamese Cafe, our friend ordered Garlic Shrimp topped with extra-cost Crab Rice, covered in both a delicious sauce and picked crab meat ($18).

I chose lighter fare, including a small plate of Five-Spice Tofu ($8), above, and a Papaya Salad with Shrimp ($10), below, asking the kitchen to hold the pork belly.

My wife ordered ground pork-and-vegetable Egg Rolls with Lettuce Wrap ($7), and a bowl of Pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, with thin-sliced brisket she cooked in the anise-scented broth ($12).

At the Half Shell Oyster Bar & Grill in New Orleans, I ordered Blackened Redfish with potato salad and asparagus ($24.94), but sadly, the fish was overcooked.

My wife fared better by ordering a small Caesar Salad with Grilled Shrimp ($12.94).

She also liked the Crab Cakes made in the restaurant ($9.95).

I enjoyed another half-dozen Gulf Oysters at the Half Shell ($6.99). Note: The next day, the restaurant moved to a bigger space and is expected to reopen in two to three weeks. 

On Saturday night, we went to the 105-year-old Parkway Bakery & Tavern for Poor Boys, including this Large Catfish Sandwich (about 12 inches long), with added Creole Mustard and sliced jalapeno peppers from a condiment bar ($10.90), washed down with a bottle of Abita Amber, a local beer. I had my heart set on an Oyster Poor Boy, but they are only served on Mondays and Wednesdays.

On Monday morning, we visited another institution, Betsy's Pancake House, for our last breakfast in New Orleans. I ordered 2 Eggs and Fried Catfish ($9.50), above.

My wife ordered her usual, Banana Nut Pancakes ($6.75), above, and our friend ordered the Breakfast Special, 2 Eggs, Grits and Bacon ($5.50). Other Monday specials included Smoked Alligator on a Bun, below.

Betsy's is popular with police officers, firefighters, lawyers, judges and city officials.

Gulf Tuna Loins and Gulf Swordfish Loins and Steaks at Rouses Supermarket on Baronne Street in New Orleans, above and below.

During the French Quarter Festival, Rouses set up a stand near the stage at the Old U.S. Mint and boiled hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds of Louisiana Crawfish. A takeout container with crawfish and all the fixings was $10.

We made sure to have Sunday brunch at Li'l Dizzy's Cafe on Esplanade Street in New Orleans, where I ordered a house special and true comfort food, Shrimp Grillade ($9.99), also known as Shrimp and Grits.

Our friend ordered the Sunday Brunch Buffet ($17.99), and loaded one plate with a Turkey Wing, Grits and Cornbread Stuffing.

The buffet included Gumbo with meat and seafood.

Li'l Dizzy's Cafe usually is packed on Sundays, and only a loyal customer like our friend can land a table there.