Photos From Jim 'N' Nick's Visit to New Orleans

Grid View

• Chef Drew Robinson from Jim 'N' Nick's.
• Jim 'N' Nick's staff serving Commander's staff.
• Jim 'N' Nick's staff serving Commander's staff.
• Jim 'N' Nick's staff serving Commander's staff.
• Commander's staff enjoying the meal.
• Jim 'N' Nick's sandwich.
• Chef Chris Barbato's boudin.
• Pig.
• Pig.
• People who were probably drunk at the time.

Aside from the greater-than-usual amounts of puke in the French Quarter, the competing shouts of "Row Todd" and "Geaux Tigers" and the general attempt to turn the city into two competing frat parties, this past weekend of BCS festivities featured a lot of Southern hospitality-meets-Southern hospitality. Or at least, that's what the press materials said when they announced Alabama-based BBQ chain Jim 'N' Nick's visit to town.

The Jim 'N' Nick's crew came down to be part of the atmosphere, of course, but they also took some time on Sunday to prepare and serve the family meal for the staff at Commander's Palace and then to throw down tailgate style against boudin and jambalaya by Chris Barbato, the new chef at Café Adelaide. What's the relationship between Jim 'N' Nick's and the Brennan family, whose members own both Commander's and Adelaide? Your guess is as good as ours.

In a game between SEC rivals and Gulf Coast states, when just about anyone with an RV and enough money for a tailgate spot was cooking up world-class barbecue or jambalaya, this much-more-formal tailgate really held its own. Plus, there were cocktails: a "Les is More" cocktail by The Swizzle Stick Bar and a "Hounds Tooth" by the soon-to-open Alabama bar, Little Donkey. So pretty much everyone seems to have figured out how to please a crowd of Louisianians and Alabamans: Pork, booze and more pork.

Anyway, Eater got some photos of the two events. Presumably even if the barbecue from Jim 'N' Nick's didn't win the tailgate (they weren't really competing anyway), those folks probably went home happier anyway, judging from that god-awful football game. [EaterWire]

· All BCS Coverage on Eater NOLA [-ENOLA-]