You can buy almost anything in New Orleans.

You can buy a fine meal, a good seat for a great band, a room in a historic hotel, and enough drinks to make Bourbon Street seem like a reasonable idea.

But the best part of New Orleans can’t be reserved. It happens when someone gives you their time.

Last week, 23 guests traveled with me on my Yonderlust New Orleans tour. I’ve always tried to take people deeper than the standard itinerary. The food matters. The music matters. The museums, neighborhoods, and history matter, too. But what makes a trip memorable is a person who stops what he or she is doing, opens a door, pulls up a chair, tells a story, and lets a group into their world.

That happened several times last week. None meant more to me than the time we spent with Chef Frank Brigtsen.

I’ve said for years that if you polled 100 chefs in New Orleans and asked them to name their favorite chef, Frank would get about 95 votes. The other five probably misunderstood the question.

Frank has been cooking in New Orleans for more than 50 years. He worked for Chef Paul Prudhomme at Commander’s Palace, then followed him to K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen as his sous-chef. When Frank opened Brigtsen’s in 1986, Chef Paul helped bankroll the restaurant.

Forty years later, Brigtsen’s is still there, and Frank is at the heart of it.

Midway through dinner, Frank brought a chair into the dining room, sat down among us, and visited. He didn’t give a speech or put on a show. He talked about food, people, New Orleans, and a life spent in restaurants.

If I had asked the 23 guests to name the highlight of the trip, I suspect that hour would have received the most votes.

But it had plenty of competition.

Parkway Bakery and Tavern is closed on Tuesdays. The other six days, the line stretches down the street, and they serve more than 1,000 po’boys a day.

My friend Justin Kennedy opened Parkway just for us.

We had the place to ourselves. Justin covered the tables with shrimp and oyster po’boys, fried shrimp po’boys, roast beef po’boys, and the James Brown, a combination of barbecued beef and shrimp that makes perfect sense once you’ve eaten it.

We also spent time with my friend Eric Cook at Gris-Gris as he nears the end of his run there. I had ordered plenty of food, but Eric apparently took that as a rough suggestion.

Two dishes that have been on my Best of New Orleans list for several years were already coming—his gumbo and the fried oyster BLT. Either one is worth driving across town for.

Then the extras started arriving.

There were shrimp and grits, prime rib, other courses I hadn’t ordered, and two desserts. By the end of supper, nobody was thinking about breakfast.

We finished the trip Thursday with brunch at Brennan’s. Ralph Brennan and his daughter, Catherine, spent time with us. Ralph has spent his life in the restaurant business, and Catherine is carrying that family tradition forward.

I’m grateful to the 23 people who trusted us with their time. But I’m even more grateful to the people in New Orleans who gave us theirs.

I don’t want people to just see a place. I want them to understand why someone loves it. That usually happens around a table, in a kitchen, inside a music room, or during an hour spent listening to somebody who has devoted a lifetime to his craft.

We ate well, heard some great music, and New Orleans showed off the way New Orleans always does.

But the best things we received weren’t for sale.

Onward.

ANDOUILLE CHEESE GRITS

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon bacon fat or clarified butter
1/2 pound andouille sausage, medium diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons Hot Sauce
2 tablespoons Creole Seasoning
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white grits, quick cooking (stone ground or regular grits can be used- adjust cooking time)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
■ In a large skillet, heat clarified butter until hot. Add andouille and garlic and saute for 4–5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain off excess fat using a fine-mesh strainer. Set the andouille and garlic aside.
■ In a large saucepan, bring the milk, seasonings, and butter to a boil. Slowly pour in grits while stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Continue to stir for 15 minutes. Add the sautéed andouille and garlic mix, and cheese. Serve immediately.

Robert St. John is a restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, and world-class eater from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has spent four decades in the restaurant industry, written 13 books, and written a syndicated newspaper column for more than 24 years. Read more about Robert at robertstjohn.com.

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