Three

On da third day of Christmas, we stopped at

McKenzie's, for

three french breads

Tujague's recipe

for the crawfish they caught in Arabi.

McKenzie's (prounounced MUH-ken-zees) Pastry Shoppes was a New Orleans institution for several generations. People used to say they were going to "McKenzie's Bakery," but the stores themselves weren't bakeries. They were retail storefronts, literally "pastry shoppes." The main bakery was down on Desire Street. All the goodies were baked down there, then trucked to the 30+ retail stores throughout the metro area. To this day, you'll have people tell you that they miss McKenzie's donuts or turtles, or petit fours, or blackout cake, or...well, you get the idea. Even my 19-year old misses their chocolate whip-top pie.

The McKenzie's chain closed in 2001. This is, to my knowledge, the only McKenzie's sign left (If you know of another, please let me know). "Chicken in a Box" was a feature of the McKenzies on the corner of Frenchmen and Foy in Gentilly:

The entrance for the pastry shoppe was right on the corner, or you could go around to the side entrance and get fried chicken. After the storm, someone took over the entire location and it's now a take-out chicken-and-sandwiches place.

There was only one "Chicken in a Box." There was one other variation on the typical McKenzie's store, the "McKenzie's Ice Cream Parlor, on Harrison Avenue in Lakeview. That also closed years ago. The location, a bay in a strip mall, was slated to become a Tastee Donuts prior to the storm, but it never materialized.