Well, it's hard to explain. I grew up in N.O. but have been away for 30 yrs. Everytime we are in NO visiting family we all head down to CdM. I am noticing how they are changing. When I was little and we would go every Sat night and probably up until 2000, the beignets never changed. They are supposed to be a light dough with a hollow inside, and yes, smothered in powdered sugar. Well, you can't get powdered sugar wrong, but I think with the abudance of beignets they have to cook at one time, they don't let the dough rise and now they are just a heavy, chewy dough smothered in powdered sugar. When they are hot off the grill - YUM, YUM, but an hour later - hard and you can't enjoy them. We would buys dozens and take back home with us and 2 or 3 days later then were as good as when you just bought them. I had never seen so many people waiting to get a table there - they need to shut down, add on/remodel and also address the ""cleanliness"" issue. I remember when I was little and we woiuld to through the kitchen to get to the bathroom and even then I thought, YUK, but once you eat the beignet\r
you forget the YUK. Outsiders wouldn ever understand that the best food in NO is from the ""hole-in-the-wall"" restaurants. I'm not dead and we've eaten at these places all our lives. Just go an enjoy,. I do wish the beignets would go back to being as good as long ago..
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