Jan-Feb-2016_Final-1-4-16-attempt2

ISRAEL

with 16 other people last summer, then back again in October. What is the food scene like in Israel? ALON: Restaurants are a new thing in Israel. It was falafel and shwarma stands in the sixties and seventies; restaurants didn’t really start popping up until the eighties. Even now Israel’s restaurant scene is kind of like 20 years ago in America. EMILY: You get a lot of late night street food there too. On our last trip, we all went to eat and drink at the Machane Yehuda in Jersualem one night. Machane Yehuda has been around forever. It’s a market during the day with all of these fresh produce and meats and cheese stands, they even have cooking workshops, but at night all these great bars and restaurants open up. COURNTEY: There have been terrorist attacks there, talk to me about that. EMILY: Israel is really similar to New Orleans in that even when there are crazy things going on, people still go out and enjoy themselves. So even though things were a little tense there, there were tons of people at the market. COURTNEY: That’s a good thing. Emily, I’m curious about being married to a chef, one with a lot of celebrity and accomplishment, what’s your take on food? EMILY: I would say I was an amateur foodie before I met Alon and now I have my graduate degree. I’ve honed my kitchen skills. ALON: She makes the best red beans and rice you will ever have. Better than any other red beans and rice I’ve ever had in my entire life. (Find the recipe at www.rouses.com) COURTNEY: Is that going to make it on a menu at some point? ALON: Maybe. And it’s a Monday, so she’s probably got her beans soaking right now for beans tonight. EMILY: I went back to Georgia for a year and I missed New Orleans so much so I started cooking red beans. When we got married, I decided I was going to start that New Orleans tradition in our home.We have 4-20 people over every Monday. I get the Chisesi ham shank and beans and rice and sausage and everything else at Rouses on Sunday. ALON: It’s an open invitation sort of thing. Monday’s we’re Prêt á Fête .

[ABOVE] Emily & Alon Shaya at the 2015 James Beard Awards in Chicago, IL. [LEFT] Machane Yehuda ALON: I have a hard time cooking for two people. I tend to make food for probably 12 every time and people will always be really happy when you give them food to eat so we feed our neighbors and stuff like that. COURTNEY: Emily, what’s your favorite thing to eat at Shaya? EMILY: They just added this new brisket ... ALON: Bastilla. EMILY: It’s like a brisket in a crispy phyllo wrapper and it’s crazy good. It has carrots… ALON: And raisins and almonds. COURTNEY: Let’s talk for a minute about winning the James Beard Award, Best Chef South. You were nominated three times before you won.What’s it like for the two of you to go to the ceremony? EMILY: The awards are on a Monday night — the Monday after Jazz Fest, so he’s always coming off a crazy restaurant week in New Orleans. But it’s always fun. ALON: We stick around for three days and plan a bunch of meals around the parties. EMILY: It’s great to see all the chefs and culinary people from all over, friends from food festivals, food writers from all over the country. COURTNEY: Is it intimidating at all? ALON: The first year was very intimidating because you’re at a cocktail party and

EMILY: Prêt á Fête means “ready to party.” That’s the name of my business, too. We rent antiques and unique furniture and accessories. ALON: On Mondays she sets up the room in a really gorgeous way — it’s always a big beautiful display — and we sit around with our friends and eat red beans and rice. Emily is also in charge of the music. EMILY :We have a record player now, and we have old country music like Loretta Lynn and Emmylou Harris. That’s good cooking and entertaining music for us. COURTNEY: I think people are interested in what you do in your private life with food, how you cook at home, especially since you have both become so entrenched in the New Orleans culture and lifestyle. ALON: Our relationship has kind of followed New Orleans as it’s been rebuilt. We lived in the French Quarter and then Bayou St.John. Emily introduced me to Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. She took me to an Allen Toussaint concert with the Philharmonic when we first started dating. She was really my tour guide into New Orleans culture and still is … COURTNEY: Emily, do you have a favorite thing for Alon to cook for you? EMILY: He’s never cooked me the same thing twice. Like, he’ll do fried rice but with different things in it every time.

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