11 August 2023
Plus, a popular king cake pop-up will become a bakery, omakase flourishes in a Metairie restaurant room, and more news to know
Rejoice — a new flavor of Hubig’s Pies is dropping, and the timing couldn’t be better. Peach Hubig’s pies will debut in stores on Monday, August 14, appropriately timed for late summer peach season. The company announced the news via email on Thursday, August 10, amid rumors that coconut would be the next flavor stocked on shelves. That means apple, lemon, chocolate, and as of next week, peach Hubig’s pies are all on sale at local grocery stores, markets, and gas stations and available to order online.
Popular king cake pop-up to open bakery
Mae’s Bakeshop, a three-year-old pop-up and online store from pastry chef Jeremy Fogg, is becoming a retail bakery. Fogg is shooting for an October debut, the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reports, taking over the Baronne Street space currently home to Beth Biundo Sweets. That bakery is closing on August 19. Fogg, who was the pastry chef at Emeril’s for six years, started his pop-up during the pandemic and gained a following for pies, cinnamon rolls, and cakes, particularly his pull-apart king cake monkey bread during Carnival season.
Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA
Mae’s Bakeshop’s king cake monkey bread in 2021.
Hidden omakase in Metairie
In a town with limited omakase options, even the addition of an omakase “room” is a big deal. Seiji’s Omakase is “a restaurant within a restaurant,” reports the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, at Japanese restaurant Little Tokyo in Metairie. It’s run by chef Seiji Nakano, formerly head sushi chef at Shogun, and his omakase room operates out of the space that used to be Little Tokyo’s karaoke room. Seiji’s serves a $70, four-course omakase and an eight-course omakase for $120 for dinner, and is a la carte for lunch.
Hotel Monteleone offers non-guest rooftop pool access
There’s a new way to access to one of New Orleans’s most coveted pools for the remainder of summer, and you don’t even have to stay there. For the rest of August and the entire month of September, visiting Criollo at the Hotel Monteleone for lunch Monday through Friday and ordering the three-course artichoke lunch (not bad at $35) will get you into the pool for the day, access normally reserved just for guests.
Chick-fil-A is coming to Gretna
Following the opening of Chick-fil-As in Algiers, the CBD, and Mid-City, the fried chicken chain with a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ causes is planning to open in Gretna, reports the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, at the intersection of Stumpf Boulevard and the West Bank Expressway. A site plan for the fast food restaurant was approved Wednesday night by the New Orleans City Council, according to the newspaper.