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We all know about Cajuns, zydeco and spicy crawfish. But stray off the beaten path and you'll find salsa dancing, nouveau Asian cuisine and Irish ballad sing-alongs.
By JUDI DASH
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 16, 2003
NEW ORLEANS -- The dog checking in ahead of us at the Hotel Monaco didn't seem the gumbo-and- Dixieland type. Surely Sigmund, an uppity poodle in a leather vest, and his swank human companion would have found the Big Apple more fetching than the Big Easy.
But then, New Orleans was full of surprises on a recent visit, not the least of which was the sight of three dogs slurping Evian water at the hotel's evening cocktail party. During a leisurely five days in the city, we ignored the usual guidebook recommendations and sought advice from locals. We also visited during a relatively quiet period; no major festivals were in progress. Consequently, we got to know a New Orleans with a diverse selection of music, food and innovative activities, free of crowds and price gouging:
Instead of fat-filled Creole dishes, we sampled lean Asian/French cuisine; fresh, seared seafood; hearty but healthy nouveau American entrees, and piquant Vietnamese, Thai and kosher cooking.
Instead of the too-familiar Dixieland band scene, we found Latin salsa, poignant Irish ballads, steamy blues, cool club jazz and rollicking zydeco (at a bowling alley).
Instead of the usual French Quarter "Maison this" or "Chez that" hotel, we chose quieter, more interesting lodgings at the pet-friendly Monaco, in the Central Business District, about 10 minutes from the French Quarter.
Housed in a recently redone Masonic temple, the Monaco goes wild with faux-mink bed throws, cougar-print bathrobes and biscuits for pets during turn-down service. (Guests with no animal companion are issued a goldfish in a bowl.)
This is a particularly good year to visit New Orleans. The bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase -- President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the fledgling United States through the 800,000-square-mile buy from France -- brings with it a yearlong bounty of cultural events, art exhibits, walking tours and theatrical performances.
To avoid the hordes, steer clear during big draws such as the annual Mardi Gras parades (this year they strut from Tuesday through March 4) and the Jazz and Heritage Festival (April 24-May 4).
Also determined to steer relatively clear of fatty foods (practically synonymous with New Orleans), we delighted in the light Asian/French cuisine with a Creole zing at little Stella!, on quiet Chartres Street in the French Quarter. Our candlelit window table overlooked the soft glow of streetlights, and chef Scott Boswell, a graduate of New York's Culinary Institute of America, visited each table.
The lobster-scented spotted gulf trout with crawfish pearl pasta was delicate and richly flavored, as were pan-seared diver scallops with truffle-scented new potato hash.
At GW Fins, an expansive, split-level dining room and bar crafted from a former warehouse on Bienville Street in the Quarter, we had the freshest yellowfin tuna, seared rare, with ginger and wasabi, laid out attractively on a bright blue, rectangular ceramic platter. We liked the restaurant's reasonably priced wine list, which offered several dozen creatively chosen vintages by the glass.
Cobalt, one of several innovative new restaurants guided by the vision of chef Susan Spicer, specializes in regional American cuisine: herb-marinated chicken with seared wild mushrooms, parsley pesto and pinot noir reduction sauce; pork chop with mustard seed aioli, smoky smothered greens and slow-cooked white beans.
Sassy live piano jazz, bright blue martinis and freshly shucked oysters served on a bed of blue ice added a playful tone: This was a classy place, but we were clearly meant to have fun.
Spicy grilled southwest chicken, and Sicilian shrimp, crab and olive pasta sauteed with tomato and artichoke hearts were standouts at Sun Ray Grill. This versatile new cafe is in a former cotton mill on Annunciation Street in the newly chic Warehouse/Arts District (near the brilliantly designed National D-Day Museum).
We went ethnic with piquant curry gulf shrimp and wok-smoked salmon steak at Lemon Grass Vietnamese restaurant in the Central Business District. There was beef carpaccio with capers and sun-dried tomato bruschetta at romantic Bella Luna, which overlooks the Mississippi River.
We even got a little Yiddisha mothering at the Creole Kosher Kitchen in the heart of the French Quarter. Pastas, vegetarian dishes and Persian specialties offered a kosher alternative to the neighborhood's predominating pork and seafood.
We did cast cholesterol caution to the wind one Saturday afternoon, but only because local friends with clout nabbed a table in the ground-floor dining room of Galatoire's, the 98-year-old doyen of New Orleans Creole bistros.
The city's movers and shakers hold standing reservations at specific tables, not just week to week, but generation to generation. Mortals usually are shooed upstairs to an attractive room that lacks the panache, or they wait in long lines for the chance table downstairs.
Wherever they sit, diners love Galatoire's oysters Rockefeller, trout meuniere amandine, banana bread pudding, sweet potato cheese cake and cafe brulot (a flaming coffee drink spiked with brandy and orange Curacao). The food's the same on both floors, but it seemed tastier amid the joyful twitter of the anointed set.
We were as eclectic in our entertainment as our eating.
Locals like to joke that while other cities have juvenile gangs, New Orleans has juvenile brass bands. But we chose to sample a mix of other musical styles, relying on the local magazines OffBeat, Gambit Weekly and Lagniappe, the comprehensive Friday entertainment supplement to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, which listed about 150 venues for live music on one Saturday night.
"Even people who live here get overwhelmed by all the choices, so you just have to take a lot of naps during the day and catch as many acts as possible all night," said Pay Jolly, a native who passionately follows the city's music scene.
So nap we did, and here's where the moon found us:
Dancing Latin salsa to Fredy Omar Con Su Banda at Cafe Brasil, a laid-back Frenchmen Street club where there always seems to be a party, inside and out. The place was steamy with sexual tension (what with all those gyrating hips), and I wouldn't dream of going back without a tight little red dress and matching 3-inch heels.
Nodding along to the folksy blues of Spencer Bohren at Snug Harbor, where the best of contemporary musicians always are on tap. Here, no one dares treat the performers like background music.
Shaking our hips and faking fancy footwork to the accordion-and-washboard beat of Zydeco Joe and his band at the uptown Mid City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl. Thursdays, a rainbow coalition of locals and tourists, in tight jeans and cowboy hats, dances the night away, Dixie beers in hand. The sound of bowling balls hitting pins adds a background beat, and the old-fashioned red Coke machine still clanks out cold ones.
Laughing and sniffling to the comedic and mournful ballads of legendary Irish bard Tommy Makem at O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Centre & Pub. Dozens of ales and lagers were on draught, and the mostly local audience mouthed every word to every song it wasn't invited to sing along to.
Savoring joyful vibes and improvisational pairings at Donna's Bar & Grill, where, late Monday nights, jazz luminaries come to jam after their regular gigs. The house serves free red beans and rice at midnight.
We intended to stay through only one set of blues at queen Marva Wright's performance in the Jazz Parlor of Storyville, but she had to belt out only one verse of Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do (arguably the theme song of New Orleans), and we were rooted to the club the whole night.
We caught bawdy blues with attitude from Charmaine Neville at Cobalt, braved dense smoke to hear the cool club jazz of the Jason Marsalis Quartet at the Funky Butt, joined a group tango lesson at Le Chat Noir and enjoyed quirky Yiddish klezmer music at the Mermaid Lounge. But we also fled the very loud rhythm and blues of Alvin Youngblood Hart at the Maple Leaf Bar.
For old times' sake, we sampled a little traditional New Orleans jazz at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, where 91-year-old trumpeter Lionel Ferbos was worth the $5 per person cover charge (assessed even if you were having dinner).
The cafe setting was a lot more comfortable than New Orleans' more famous vintage performance center, Preservation Hall, where tourists wait in long lines for the privilege of sitting on wooden benches or on the floor, and no food or drink is permitted.
Sunday, at the crack of 11:15, we joined the Gospel Brunch Cruise aboard the Creole Queen paddle-wheeler. As we glided along the Mississippi chowing down on pork roast, chicken piccata, stuffed crabs and bread pudding, gospel singer Betty Winn and her nine-member choir, One-A-Chord, in long white robes embroidered with gold harps, passionately entreated us to "Shout hallelujah and let the Lord in."
The 13/4-hour cruise left us craving more of those sweet, soulful sounds, so we headed to the House of Blues in the French Quarter, where the Zion Harmonizers, one of the nation's oldest gospel groups, coaxed us again toward salvation -- and where we ate another brunch.
-- Judi Dash is a freelance writer who lives in Beachwood, Ohio.
GETTING THERE: Several airlines fly to New Orleans from Tampa International Airport. Southwest makes nonstops several times a day.
STAYING THERE: These rates are per room, based on double occupancy, and soar during festivals and major athletic events. The area code is 504. Hotel Monaco, 333 St. Charles Ave.; call toll-free 1-866-561-0010; the Web site is www.monaco-neworleans.com. Central Business District. Rooms begin about $140. Great mood.
Hotel LeCirque, 936 St. Charles Ave. Book through New Orleans Fine Hotels; call toll-free 1-888-211-3447; www.hotellecirque.com. Renovated YMCA in the Warehouse/Arts District. From $69.
Le Richelieu 1234 Chartres St.; toll-free 1-800-535-9653; www.lerichelieuhotel.com. French Quarter. From $95.
St. Charles Inn, 3636 St. Charles Ave.; toll-free 1-800-489-9908; www.stcharlesinn.com. Garden District. From $85.
EATING THERE: Basil Leaf, 1438 S Carrollton Ave.; 862-9001. Uptown. Thai.
Bella Luna, 914 N Peters St.; 529-1583. French Quarter. Nouveau Continental.
Cobalt, 333 St. Charles Ave.; 565-5595. Central Business District. Regional American.
Creole Kosher Kitchen, 115 Chartres St.; 529-4120. French Quarter. Varied. Kosher.
GW Fins, 808 Bienville St.; 581-3467. French Quarter. Seafood.
Galatoire's, 209 Bourbon St.; 525-2021. French Quarter. Creole.
Lemon Grass, 217 Camp St.; 523-1200. Central Business District. Vietnamese.
Stella!, 1032 Chartres; 587-0091. French Quarter. French/Asian
Sun Ray Grill, 1051 Annunciation St.; 566-0021. Warehouse/Arts District. Nouveau Southwest.
MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT:
Cafe Brasil, 2100 Chartres St.; 949-0851; especially Latin dance nights.
Creole Queen Sunday Gospel Brunch Cruise, Riverwalk Dock at Spanish Plaza; toll-free 1-800-445-4109; 13/4-hour cruises board 11:15 a.m. April-October. $45 adults, $25 ages 3-12.
Donna's Bar & Grill, 800 Rampart St.; 596-6914. Especially Monday night jazz jam.
Funky Butt, 714 N Rampart St.; 558-0872.
House of Blues Sunday Gospel Brunch, 225 Decatur St.; 529-2583. Book way ahead. Shows at 9:30 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 2 p.m. $30 adults, $15 ages 6-12.
Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave.; 581-6333. Tuesday night tango dancing, lessons at 7:30 p.m. $5.
Maple Leaf Bar, 8316 Oak St.; 866-9359. Everything new and hot and loud. No chairs.
Mermaid Lounge, 1100 Constance St.; 524-4747. All things musical, sometimes including klezmer.
Mid City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl, 4133 S Carrollton Ave.; 482-3133; Bowling and live dance music Tuesday-Saturday. Wednesday night, swing; Thursday, zydeco.
O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Centre & Pub, 514 Toulouse St.; 529-1317.
Palm Court Jazz Cafe, 1204 Decatur St.; 525-0200.
Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, 626 Frenchman St.; 949-0696.
Storyville, 125 Bourbon Street; 410-1000.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Check with the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, 529 St. Ann St.; toll-free 1-800-672-6124.
Lagniappe; Friday arts and entertainment supplement to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Gambit Weekly; www.bestofneworleans.com. Free weekly music and arts magazine.
OffBeat; www.offbeat.com. Free monthly music and arts magazine.
Access New Orleans (HarperCollins, $19.95). Excellent street-by-street guide to the best of the city.