Chef Wicks and Mahony's New Orleans Po'boy Shop

Mahony's Po'boy Shop has been busy becoming a local favorite of the Garden District. Midday brings a long line of customers at the bar, ordering New Orleans po'boys of roast beef and gravy, eggplant Parmesan, fried shrimp, and root beer-glazed ham & cheese.

"The most popular is the grilled shrimp po'boy with fried green tomatoes and remoulade," Chef Ben Wicks tells me, sitting out on the porch to enjoy the warm-cool breezes of late spring in New Orleans.

So that's the po'boy I have, and it's delicious. The favors blend inside soft, crusty bread.

I have brought Clara with me, because she wants to order something I've heard is good, but don't personally like: the fried chicken livers & coleslaw po'boy.

"Excellent," Clara says. "Warm and firm and a little crunchy on the outside."

Chef Wicks says he really loves working with organ meats, then expands the statement to include "loving everything."

While the restaurant is still young, Wicks, a New Orleans native, has been a part of the Big Easy's dining scene for many years, including a stint at August, where he enjoyed the creativity of innovative New Orleans cuisine.

But when he was ready to open his own place, Wicks realized, "I really wanted to bring back the tradition of the New Orleans po'boy. So many tourist places are just treating it like some meat or filling that you put on some big bread.

"Roast beef shouldn't just be sliced meat with gravy. It has to cook in the juices. There's technique in making a real po'boy."

I ask him, "What is it that makes the po'boy different from the hero or the sub?"

"The bread," he says. "And I use local ingredients -- fresh shrimp every day."

Mahony's success is evident in the heavy lunch and dinner crowds, but Wicks particularly enjoys it when his fellow chefs take a seat at one of his tables.

"I love it when they come here and enjoy the food. It's the best compliment. And they get what I'm doing, the tradition I'm trying to follow, bringing the po'boy back."

On that note, I ask him to tell me three of his own favorite restaurants. Obviously torn at having to narrow it down, he names Lebanon's Café, Cochon, and Crepe Nanou.

"Why pick Magazine Street?" I ask next.

"Magazine is where it's at!" he answers with a wide smile. He loves the old neighborhoods, and the easy (free) parking. Like so many other people who work on Magazine, there's a feeling that the street has become the heart of the city's recovery from Katrina.

Finally, I ask why he named his place Mahony's. "My business partner, Arthur Murray, was born in the Irish Channel. I found out it was Arthur 'M.' Murray, 'M' for 'Mahony,' and I couldn't pass that up."

Mahoney's is located at 3453 Magazine, open Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. In addition to the po'boys, there's a kid's menu, some salads, and a daily lunch special. Their full bar doesn't offer much choice in wines, but features just about every flavor of Abita.