Du Jour: Roadfood Festival kicks off

America’s byways are full of inspired, under-the-radar bites, and the Fourth Annual New Orleans Roadfood Festival pays them homage. Held March 24-25, 2012 in the French Market, the festival showcases plenty of Louisiana roadfood along with sweet and savory tastes from the country’s far corners. Last year’s booths included Arizona tamales, boudin ball grilled cheese sandwiches, dry rub ribs and mint juleps. The festival kicks off on March 23 with a special event at the Royal Sonesta Hotel that features celebrated names in food including Roadfood.com’s Jane and Michael Stern, The Splendid Table’s Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Poppy Tooker, enduring New Orleans food preservationist and host of Louisiana Eats! “We are excited that this year’s kickoff party will feature so much incredible talent,” said event coordinator Dottie Belletto. The event takes place from 6:30 to 9pm in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom and features live music, Roadfood’s annual Blue Plate Award and a real-time taping of WWNO’s Louisiana Eats! in which Tooker will chat with the Sterns, Kasper and notable chefs including New Orleans’ Frank Brigtsen. Louisiana Eats! is broadcast every Saturday at 3 pm on WRKF in Baton Rouge.

The kick-off event includes book signings of How to Eat Weekends by The Splendid Table’s host, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, and producer Sally Swift, as well as the newest edition of Roadfood by Roadfood.com founders Jane and Michael Stern. Louisiana Eats! host Poppy Tooker will sign her book, Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook. The New Orleans Roadfood Festival’s non-profit beneficiary, Café Reconcile, will also have representatives on hand to promote their cookbook, Café Reconcile: Feed Your Soul. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit NewOrleansRoadfoodFestival.com.