New Orleans writer, photographer and food and culture maven, Pableaux Johnson is coming to town for a Louisiana food pop-up on Dec. 14 at H. Harper Station .
Known as the Red Beans Road Show , Atlanta is the latest leg of a multi-city tour Johnson calls "kind of experimental frijole theatre."
While Johnson’s photo series have documented Mardi Gras Indians and second line parades, the Road Show is a traveling variation of another venerable New Orleans tradition — eating red beans and rice on Monday night.
“Actually, the pop-up is an extension of couple of different traditions,” Johnson said in a recent phone call. “One is the New Orleans red beans tradition. The other is one is a personal tradition.
“I have my grandmother’s table at my house. It’s the table that three generations of my family grew up around, so now that table needs to be filled up at least once a week, otherwise bad things happen. I invite 10-12 people every week for a dinner party and I cook up a simple supper of red beans and rice with cornbread and whiskey for dessert.”
So far, the Red Beans Road Show has enjoyed sell-out shows in Washington DC and Nashville, with as many as 80 guests.
“We’ve kind of learned how to replicate the dinner we do in New Orleans, Johnson sad. “It’s really low-key and casual. I team up with a friend in each city and they host the dinner.”
In Atlanta, Jerry and Krista Slater of H. Harper Station will host, with apps and a seasonal punch. In addition, Lisa Donovan, the former pastry chef at Husk in Charleston and Nashville, will be making pies for the occasion.
As for the red beans and rice, Johnson will be making that with ingredients he's bringing up from Louisiana, including Andouille sausage from a small smokehouse in LaPlace and Camellia Brand red beans from New Orleans. And as a special treat, he'll be grabbing some Charles Poirier's Louisiana Cane Syrup to pour on the cornbread.
“It’s the Pappy Van Winkle of cane syrup,” Johnson said. “There’s very, very little of it. He makes it by hand. And it’s just astonishing.”
Tickets for the Red Beans Road Show are $40 per person. Seating is at tables of eight, where people can converse and hangout or mix and mingle as they wish, Johnson said.
“It’s our first time in Atlanta partnering with the Station but not likely to be the last,” Johnson said. “It’s just an excuse to get together and have a really good time. I do a little bit of a dog and pony show but wherever we do this it ends up being like a New Orleans embassy.”
Grab tickets here .
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