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| Here I am enjoying my second Sazerac on the rocks at Galatoire's restaurant. |
Last Friday was my final day on a 10-day trip to New Orleans: As my blog followers know, I was down in the Crescent City to write a feature entitled “Southern Revival” for the October issue of Sky. I crisscrossed Nola like nobody’s business. From up-and-coming Oak Street to the bars of the Bywater and the sno-blizes to be had on Tchoupitoulas Street, I hit it all. But then, I am in N’awlins at least six times per year, so I am already mostly clued-in.
On the final afternoon of my grand tour, I decided to pull some strings to lunch downstairs at Galatoire’s on Bourbon Street. Friday lunch at this Nola institution is a local tradition, so good luck getting a seat in the main floor dining room unless you happen to know an owner or are invited by a New Orleans native. And I do happen to know a Galatoire’s owner, so the very kind Bill Kearney fit a tiny table into the restaurant’s bustling dining room. P.S. If you don’t know anyone, you’ll be relegated to the upstairs dining room and that’s just no fun. So get to know someone who can get you in.
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| The Candlelight Lounge, a Wednesday night hotspot in the heart of the Tremé. |
What a sublime meal. I started with a potent Sazerac cocktail on the rocks and moved on to the incredible soufflé potatoes with a rich Bearnaise sauce and the tangy shrimp remoulade. Next up was the crabmeat gratin.
The “theater” that was taking place around us was equally delicious. My lunch dates—Lois and Jary, aka my groovy and fun parents—and I were certainly the only non-regulars in the dining room, so it was great fun to watch the wonderful, kind waitstaff interact with the clientele, many of whom have been lunching at Galatoire’s on Fridays for decades. Another Sazerac, and we departed the restaurant happily satiated.
While my parents set off for a long bike ride up Magazine Street, I wandered off to the Tremé neighborhood. The Tremé—recently made famous by the HBO series of the same name—is a wonderful and historic neighborhood, and it’s one of my favorite faubourgs to explore in the city. Situated just across Rampart Street from the busy French Quarter, the Tremé is decidedly more quiet and leafy and lacks the hordes of visitors who populate the Quarter’s Bourbon Street and French Market.
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| The exterior of the elegant Treme Villa, home to the New Orleans African American Museum. |
Once home to the largest and most prosperous community of free people of color in America, the Tremé houses everything from Congo Square—the birthplace of jazz—to glorious architecture as well as innovative cultural institutions. If you can fit a visit to the Tremé into your Nola itinerary, the trip will be well worth your while. The best place to start your tour is the New Orleans African American Museum, housed in the elegant, circa-1828 Treme Villa. Browse current exhibitions including “A Gumbo of Colors: New Works by New Orleans Quilt Artists” and “Dancing String Bean: Paintings & Drawings by Eugene Martin” before savoring the museum’s elegant, beautifully planted gardens. But that’s just scratching the surface of the Tremé. There’s also the Backstreet Museum, the Dooky Chase Restaurant and the Candlelight Lounge, a must-visit on Wednesday nights.
I’m back in NYC now, but I’m looking forward to seeing Nola again real soon.