Why you should vacation in New Orleans this year.

By John Romano

10/24/06

Okay, so Katrina is slowly fading from memory and New Orleans is finally coming back to life.  Last weekend I attended a travel conference in New Orleans.  I was quite wary of visiting the city and of dealing with the politically-charged subject of Hurricane Katrina close-up.

I didn’t know what I expected from New Orleans but what I found was delightful.  Once you get off the freeway from the airport and enter the narrow one way streets of the French Quarter, you’re in a city that is definitely enchanted, something about the place oozes magic.  My wife and I arrived on Saturday evening at the 4 star early 20th century high rise Hotel Monteleone, dropped our bags and headed up to Bourbon Street just one block away.  Bourbon Street is terrifying at first glance: drinks in “go cups” everywhere (you can legally drink on the street in N.O., as long as it’s in plastic), food, girls, video poker, and a good bunch of folks there planning on getting crazy.   The sense of danger fades after an hour or so when you notice a cop or two quietly making the rounds, and the place takes on a mystique of its own.  I recommend the “Huge Ass Beers” - that’s actually the name of the place -  and the jazz courtyard at Café Beignet, a  block or two before Canal Street.   The courtyard had the only good jazz on Bourbon Street itself.  We heard Steamboat Willie playing trumpet on 1920’s classics.  He had a bass and banjo backing, plus a really giant black lab named Rudy relaxing next to the bandstand.

Most of the music in the clubs had hack cover bands that were pretty bad.  Perhaps the pre-Katrina talent was better, but the music we heard was awful.  Two bands were covering “Play That Funky Music” at the same time at adjacent bars with equally dismal results.  Pat O’Brien’s bar is another good pick. Those are the folks that invented the Hurricane drink, basically fruit punch with four shots of rum.  Use with caution.

Now on to the food!  Acme Oyster House is a sure bet, however I found the lack of oyster choices disappointing.  That’d be Gulf Coast, Gulf Coast or Gulf Coast.  Besides that, you can get the local amber beer Abita at a good price, and fried crab claws, a delicacy I haven’t had anywhere else. 

Next we ate at Muriel’s on Jefferson Square.  The food was decent, i.e. pecan crusted drum, a local fish, with generous helpings of crabmeat, and really great shrimp cakes,  but the service, despite two servers, was indifferent. I ordered a $12.00 glass of Viognier, forgoing buying a bottle or half bottle.  When it arrived it looked as if someone had drank half the glass.  Upon discussion with the frosty waitress, I was told that the glass was actually 3 jiggers and that was a standard for wine in a restaurant.  On what planet? Totally BS in my book, for twelve dollars the glass should be at least six ounces.  There were no more than three ounces in the glass.  About five sips total.  $2.40 per sip.  The worst part?  When I complained I was told that they recently switched to wider glasses and it just looked empty.  It was all in my head…..Yeah, right.  The wine incident took away from the taste quite a bit.  Service is as important as food.  How restaurants have lost that touch is beyond me.   A local later kindly told us Muriel’s is a Jackson Square tourist trap.

Juggling the events of our convention, we squeezed in two visits to the Old Absinthe house, at Bourbon and Bienville,  which dates back to 1807.  This potential tourist trap is in fact a friendly place with a meticulously made Mojito featuring fresh muddled mint and lime syrup.    Even locals go there.   A friend had recommended the hot dogs sold along Bourbon Street.  I got one with chili, onions (fill in the blanks).  A lot better than the drunk’s food you might think it would. 

On our last morning, we ate at Brennan’s for breakfast.  This re-opened only over this past summer, surely due to the chronic staff shortage in town. The food is amazing.  There is a 3 course breakfast for $36.  It being a Tuesday we skipped the cocktail choices.  We feasted on baked apples with double cream, Eggs Sardou (creamed spinach, artichokes, poached egg and perfectly fried shrimp), followed by dessert.  Does a person need dessert for breakfast?   Yes if it is Bananas Foster – sugared and flambed bananas over ice cream.  All along, plenty of chicory coffee, fresh French bread and attentive service.  I recommend Brennan’s with a 100% satisfaction rating.

I just want to put in a word on the antiquing on Royal Street.  Now I’m a dude, always have been always will be, but even I found the antique shops in New Orleans awesome.  Coins from the Roman Empire, Confederate guns, canes with knives in them.  Cool stuff indeed. 

A word on where we stayed.  The Hotel Monteleone is one of New Orleans oldest.  Our room was small but very comfortable and the bathroom was recently re-modeled.  The service at the hotel was good but not great.  For instance, our neighbor’s room service leftovers were in the hallway for 36 hours, but this can be chalked up to New Orleans demographic problems.  As the city repopulates, issues like this should fade away like the last train whistle at dusk.

Head to New Orleans, the people are kind, the city needs tourist dollars, and there is good voodoo in the air.