King Cakes from Sugar & Crumb (Photo courtesy Sugar & Crumb)
1. King Cake
$40/$65 at Sugar & Crumb
Pastry chef Autumn Heckman once shaped hundreds of fluffy brioche wreaths — spiked with cinnamon and dusted with colorful sugars — at the Omni Royal Orleans in Louisiana. She brings that expertise to her Bon Air cottage bakery, Sugar & Crumb, offering traditional king cakes along with cream cheese-, Chantilly cream- and berry-filled varieties. Her signature NoLA Experience King Cake comes topped with mini pralines and pieces of chocolate Doberge cake.
2. Fig Sazerac
$12 at The Roosevelt
The two-step, double-glass Sazerac cocktail originated in antebellum New Orleans. Bartenders would rinse one glass with absinthe while filling the other with brandy, locally made apothecary bitters from Antoine Amédée Peychaud and sugar, then stir with ice before straining it into the fennel-scented vessel. The Roosevelt’s rendition features herbaceous fig-leaf rye, demerara sugar and Peychaud’s bitters, giving this potent classic a distinctly Virginia twist.
3. Blackened Crawfish Tacos
$16 at Kreggers Tap and Table
From fried gator bites and po’boys to Zydeco Shrimp, Kreggers has New Orleans-style bar food on lock. Thankfully, tacos have invaded our lineup of Southern handhelds. This Ashland bar’s blackened crawfish tacos come bejeweled with creamy cotija cheese, cherry pepper aioli and a crunchy jicama slaw that cools the piquant mudbugs, sauteed and generously seasoned with bold blackening spices.
4. Shrimp and Grits
$31 at Helen’s
The world might end if Helen’s took its shrimp and grits off the menu. The dish begins by roasting the “holy trinity” of bell peppers, onions and celery, the base for most sauces from New Orleans. Heat releases aromatics and deepens the flavor, essential for a rich gravy. Then comes the bowl: smoked Gouda grits crowned with rosy shrimp and blanketed in pure goodness.
5. Pancakes
$11.49 at River City Diner
A stack of savory or dessert-style pancakes is Fat Tuesday’s promise that Lent is near. River City Diner delivers tangy buttermilk hotcakes and over-the-top towers of toppings, including standards such as blueberry and cinnamon-apple as well as decadent Chunky Monkey — a riot of flapjacks overfilled with bananas, roasted pecans and melted chocolate chips. They’re available all day with whipped cream and steamy coffee.
