According to Walter Bundy, executive chef at
Lemaire at The Jefferson Hotel, Richmond,
Va., po’ boys are said to have originated when
two brothers who used to drive streetcars
opened a restaurant in New Orleans. They
would feed unemployed streetcar drivers
during a 1920s strike with free sandwiches
of French bread, meat scraps and gravy. Over
time, restaurant workers would see someone
coming for a free sandwich, and say, “Here
comes another po’ boy.”
Today, po’ boys come in all shapes and
sizes. Lemaire’s upscale version is a
cornmeal-crusted Chesapeake Bay oyster
with tartar sauce. “We wanted to serve
fried oysters with an unusual twist,” says
Bundy. “And the sandwich is fun. It’s a way
to offer a comfort-style food to our guests
and not seem so pretentious. And, with the
economic climate today, it’s an inexpensive
dish both to the customer and to us.”
A popular Colombian street food at Seviche
is arepas—small corncakes topped with
beans and pork or skirt steak.
The sandwich is made on local artisan bread,
which has a rough, dark crust and is rich and
sourdough-like inside. “We use tomatoes
from our local farmers or from our urban
garden at the hotel,” Bundy says. “The tartar
sauce is a special recipe we make in-house.”
“I think the street food trend will continue,”
he adds. “Chefs are able to have fun with
it by using seasonal, fresh ingredients and
giving the traditional fare an innovative twist.”
Kathryn Kjarsgaard is a freelance food
writer based in Forest Park, Ill.
