This week, a letter detailing a luxurious lunch and a tender story about chicken. We have the pleasure of sharing a piece originally published in our Guest Gulletier, Rebecca Orchant’s new book, Simmering: A Kitchen Memoir. In Simmering, Rebecca revisits the places and people that influenced her love of food and the role food plays in her love — for others and for herself.

New Orleans: I Missed You Both So Much at Lunch
April 18, 2019 — 4:29 pm
by Rebecca Orchant1
Dearest Darlings,
Our waiter’s nametag said “Evangelista.” I wanted to ask whether it was a first, last or nickname, but the silver streaks in his long, slicked-back hair and his clear, modern-framed glasses atop his 6’5” tuxedoed frame kept me quiet and polite.
I ordered a 2005 Bourgogne Aligoté — a wine I have never had but have tasted in my brain. A buttery, minerally, Sancerre cousin made of old world techniques by loving nerds’ hands, I knew it was what I wanted to drink with lunch before I tasted it. Evangelista brought glasses and an ice bucket ten minutes later and said, “they’re digging for your selection.” It was hard not to feel like M.F.K. Fisher, waiting for an ancient bottle of Marc to drink with her trout almondine.
Galatoire’s is one of the only places I’ve ever loved whose default table setting includes a fish fork. We started with oysters Rockefeller —allegedly containing over 20 ingredients between the aromatics, the binder, the absinthe, and the thick, fat gulf oyster that serves as its bedrock. Today, they charred them extra hard, so the usually verdant green tops were pitch black, and the just-barely-cooked oyster underneath was steaming hot, bursting with brine, and mingled with the butter and herbs perched atop it uncommonly well.
Then there were the soufflé potatoes — fried three times, in three oil baths, at three different temperatures, until a simple plank of potato puffs up into a hollow boat, meant to ferry as much béarnaise sauce into your mouth at once as possible.
The Aligoté cut through all the richness it was meant to and cleared space for the indulgences to come. We’d each come with preconceived ideas of what our birthday lunch entrees would be — Shrimp Creole for Sean and Crabmeat Sardou for me. But then Evangelista did exactly what the fuck a tuxedoed waiter is meant to do and blew up our plans.
“I do just want you to know that there are crawfish tails and soft-shelled crabs today, prepared as you prefer them, of course.”
Sean jumped immediately at crawfish étouffée with white rice (a traditionalist to the end), and I negotiated with Evangelista until a sautéed soft-shelled crab appeared, bathed in brown butter with a single lemon wedge and a side of creamed spinach. The compulsory Tabasco sauce on the table was the period at the end of that particular sentence.
While the bacchanalia at our table unfolded, two “old-timers” sat down at the table next to us. They shook hands with every single waiter. “Hello, Doc. Hello, Brian,” they each exalted. Doc and Brian received a plate of garlic bread instead of the usual French loaf, two gin and tonics with a plate of lemons, olives and pickled onions (“salad,” Evangelista explained — swoon), and a combo plate of shrimp remoulade and crab Maison — all without asking for them.
I have decided that whatever sins Doc and Brian have committed to get to this point (and judging by their lavender bowties and slate gray pinstripe suits, they are chilling and many), they’ve done something right in their lives to get treated this way in this green and gold hall of earthly delights.
I missed you both so much at lunch.
Yours,
Rebecca
Name Drops: Galatoire’s Restaurant
An Unexpected Craving
by Greg
Have you ever been down bad for some fast food? Last week I was blindsided by a hunger for Popeyes. I hadn’t tasted their famous crispy chicken since 2017 when Girls was airing, and I would watch each week with my friends Sam and Jerry at their Bed-Stuy apartment. Before indulging in whatever mess Lena Dunham and Co. were getting into, I'd occasionally saunter into the Popeyes off the Myrtle J stop and grab a three-piece tender combo with fries and a buttermilk biscuit. It’s what Hannah would do.
Presently, the closest Popeyes is forty minutes away. The day I trek to Albany just for a drive-through dinner is the day I know I’ve lost the plot.
So I did the next best thing - hauled ass to Price Chopper and procured the ingredients for Cajun chicken strips. I handed them off to chef (my wonderful partner Doug) along with an air-fryer tender recipe from the questionably named...skinnytaste.com. Doug did some experimenting when it came to integrating the Cajun seasoning (the recipe didn’t account for this). Fries were swapped for mashed potatoes, and asparagus was called in as a dubious substitute for the biscuit. For attempting a dupe on the fly, the results were shockingly good. It wasn’t the deep-fried, golden brown meal I was yearning for, but the extra kick of spice and Doug lovingly accommodating my dinnertime desires was more than enough to satisfy my craving.
Jerry, Sam, and I watched every episode of Girls together, except for the finale. One schedule conflict led to another, and as the weeks went by, our last viewing party never came to be. We agreed we wouldn’t say goodbye to Marnie, Jessa, Shoshanna, and Hannah without each other. Sam and Jerry eventually moved out of their place; Sam to a different apartment and Jerry to a different city. I relocated too. Seven years later, I still don’t know how it all ends. My hankering for Popeyes had made me crave something less attainable than quick-service chicken. I ached for our reunion. To fulfill a silly promise we made in our twenties. For our own delayed conclusion of a years-long ritual and a particular era of friendship.
Name Drops: Popeyes, Skinnytaste.com
A special thank you to this week’s illustrator, Changyu Zou2! See more of her work here.
If you’d like to be a Guest Gulletier or illustrator, drop us a note at putitinthegullet@gmail.com
Rebecca Orchant is the co-owner of Pop+Dutch, a sandwich shop and market in Provincetown, MA, where she has lived with her husband Sean since 2014. Formerly a food editor at The Huffington Post, Orchant also performs burlesque, serves on the board of The Provincetown Commons, and contributes to The Provincetown Independent.
She was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM, and earned a BFA in Dramatic Writing from The University of New Mexico. She was a national finalist for the John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play from The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Changyu Zou is an award-winning illustrator based in Savannah, Georgia. Most of her inspiration comes from words, as they can bring her endless thoughts and imagination. She likes to use collage, gouache, and Photoshop to create illustrations. Her works are always colorful and lively, which are often used in advertisements, and magazines.
She has won several international awards like ijungle Illustration Awards Editorial Gold Medal 2022; Society of Illustrators 65 Jury Selection; American Illustration 41 and 42 Chosen Winner, Communication Art Award of Excellence 2022; IDA Design Awards Multimedia-Animation Silver Medal 2022 etc.
Her clients include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, PLANSPONSOR, Politico, Christianity Today, Tordotcom Publishing, VinePair, Spectrum News, Girlfriend, Sojourners, and more.