2015 was a slow news year for me as I only managed to pen 312 articles for the Scrumptious Chef site. There’s still a week left in 2015 so I’ll try and improve my output between now and years end. Below you will find a few cherry-picked posts and photos that we were particularly proud of publishing. RL Reeves Jr

The best greasy pizza in New Orleans is at Venezia. Really greasy. If you like chewy cheese, salty pepperoni and plenty fat in your pie then this is your spot. In 2015 we vowed to eat at Venezia once per year and are looking forward to our visit next month.

We’re fascinated by Frady’s One Stop in the 9th Ward. We shoot this old school hot plate joint 4-6 times per month. A tribute befitting the best fried baloney po boy in the city.

I’m a founding member of Texas Txoko, the only Basque gastronomic society in the Lone Star state. Last Winter I flew into Austin and arrived at the supper party just as the lamb testicles hit the hot fat. Sublime. RL Reeves Jr

RIP Big Shirley’s, the maker of the finest hoe cakes in New Orleans.

Mary Queen Of Vietnam Church in New Orleans East put out a memorable, $20 bowl of goat soup at their big annual food festival in February.

Will they tear down Club Desire Will New Orleans keep its soul?

We experimented with a pressure cooker shrimp boil

We drove to Houma and ate like landed Cajun gentry at Abear’s.

We enjoyed great fried catfish while watching motorcycle gangs do burnouts in front of Cajun Seafood. Then a fight broke out

In a city of spectacle, Super Sunday is the grandest riot of sound and color of them all.

Louisiana is in its craft beer infancy. We’re about 15 years behind neighboring Texas but with breweries like Gnarly Barley up in Hammond we’ll be catching up soon. Zac Caramonta brews my favorite porter in the entire state.

The single best bite of pizza we had this year came from Zuppardi’s when they drove down from Connecticut to New Orleans for the Roadfood Festival in the French Market.

The Four Seasons is coming to New Orleans. Brace yourself heathens.

We saw a lot of second lines in 2015 but at the end of the day the Pigeon Town Steppers put on the best parade of the year. Here’s why.

St Roch Market opened up and the neighborhood lost its mind

We filed a report on the Pontchatoula Strawberry Festival and ran into Louisiana’s Queen of Queens Abby Earles.

We called on Mansura Louisiana to shut down their Cochon de Lait Festival

We found the best cracklins in Louisiana and in the same storefront we watched a charcutiere make blood boudin

Irvin Mayfield had a stunning fall from grace in 2015

Justin Boswell is retrofitting the historic Gem Theater as a microbrewery called Wayward Owl.

This party animal came to play and so did we at the big New Orleans Oyster Festival

Tiffin Inn, a once mighty enterprise saw it’s anchor location shutter after a generation.

Our 500 Po Boys series raced out to Chalmette to visit the tiny diner inside Joey Jeanfreau’s

We nearly got put off fried catfish po boys in Des Allemands

We took the show on the road and visited the first Kentucky Fried Chicken. Note the nice bed as the original business model included rooms to sleep in after a filling fried chicken meal.

We blazed a New Orleans Taco Trail

We made hundreds of pounds of homemade bacon

We saw the debut of Two Girls One Shuck, a dynamite oyster shucking pop up concern.

We met a friendly giant who happens to make some of the best po boys in New Orleans

National media descended upon Lower 9th Ward Market

We flew to Brady Texas for the World Championship Goat Cook Off

We wrote a San Antonio Barbacoa Trail

The Pearl was shuttered by the owner after a multi-decade run. We ran by on the last day of service for a fried shrimp po boy

We found Kentucky-quality biscuits and gravy at Willa Jean

The best IPA on offer in USA comes from Lone Pint Brewery in Magnolia Texas. They’re not coming to Louisiana but we still managed to lay our hands on a few over the past year.

We drove to Lafayette for the 250th anniversary party of the Cajun’s arrival in Louisiana and I tell you what cher we sure did eat

When we booked a trip to LaPlace for their big Andouille festival we never expected to see a world class dance troupe like NOLA Dolls

Drink Bayou Teche beer y’all.

We became friends with this lovely 23 year old donkey named Margaret.

Scenes from Allen Toussaint’s funeral

Steve Anderson passed away

We ate dozens of po boys for our 500 Po Boys series this year. Best in show? Zuppardo’s

We love this busted old town.