Proud New Orleans native Trombone Shorty exclusively gave Us Weekly a taste of what makes Louisiana cuisine unique — and revealed where to find some of his favorite dishes.
While the 39-year-old musician (real name Troy Andrews) said he believes the “best” New Orleans and Louisiana cuisine is “actually in the kitchens of the houses,” there are a few spots he likes to frequent.
“I like to go to Dooky Chase, which is in my neighborhood in the Sixth Ward of New Orleans. And some of the cooks and people there, I actually know them and been to some of their houses to eat. So I know they bringing that same touch to the kitchen wherever they’re cooking,” Andrews told Us. “There’s also a place in the Tremé neighborhood where I’m from called L’il Dizzy’s. And then there’s Willie Mae’s Scotch House and Emeril’s. And I like Parkway.”
The Grammy winner said what makes each of those restaurants so special is that dining at them feels like “eating from someone’s house.”
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“You can feel the soul. You can feel the spirit of that. It’s not like a franchise or anything. You can tell that it was cooked, made with love, and I just love that type of atmosphere,” Andrews continued. “And the people that’s cooking and listening to the R&B music in the kitchen, sweating and just working really hard, the same way that we grew up watching our grandmothers and mothers make the food.”
The legendary bandleader is partnering with Louisiana Fish Fry, a seasoning brand that has long highlighted the culture of the state’s iconic cuisine. Andrews told Us the collaboration was a “perfect match.”
“When you think about Louisiana, the food and the music is always spoken in the same sentence. So it’s like sister and brother when we talk about the culture of Louisiana and New Orleans and all that we have to offer,” Andrews told Us. “I thought that it would be a great collaboration for the both of us that’s representing a unique place.”
As a part of the partnership, Andrews created a project called “Sound of the Bayou” for Louisiana Fish Fry’s first digital content series. He will also curate a Spotify playlist synced with signature Louisiana Fish Fry recipes. Andrews said it wasn’t challenging at all for him to figure out which artists to add to the playlist.
“When we in Lafayette, Louisiana, you hear a lot of zydeco and Cajun music just on a normal basis, and also, just being from New Orleans, you’ll hear a lot of brass bands and the Hot Boys or No Limit, whatever it may be,” Andrews explained. “I just wanted to be able to create a playlist with some of the great Louisiana artists on there [so that] we can turn any kitchen anywhere in the world into a Louisiana festivity.”
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As someone who grew up in a place that has such a storied history, Andrews is still able to laugh when he meets people who don’t know much about the city’s biggest traditions.
“Someone was asking, where can they get a ticket to the Mardi Gras? That was funny, they didn’t have an idea. That’s by far the funniest thing I ever heard,” Andrews told Us. “They come down here, think they’ll get a little bit of what they hear in pop culture. And then you have to venture off from Bourbon Street and the things that you may have seen on TV and find the real cultural things like the Black Masking and [Mardi Gras] Indians and the neighborhoods doing Mardi Gras that you won’t find on the pop-culture list.”
