The Beat Goes On In New Orleans
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday July 21, 1989
NEW ORLEANS - it's a town that never sleeps, seldom misses a beat, a mixture of sights and sounds: noisy oyster bars, towering skyscrapers and the happy mood of the French Quarter with its horse-drawn carriages, jazz joints, the whistle of river boats plying the Mississippi (hauling tourists by day, romantics by night), Jackson Square with its artists, the fragrance of magnolia blossoms, chicory roasting at Cafe du Monde and the good smell of Creole cooking.
In the French Quarter, jazz flows night and day from places like Preservation Hall. Pure old-time jazz that brings to mind the ghosts of such greats as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbeck, Emile "Stalebread" Lacoume, Alcide"Slow Drag" Pavageau and Jelly Roll Morton.
Later, while the night people shuffle off to bed, the day people stroll along Royal, Toulouse, Dauphine and Chartres streets. New Orleans is a canvas that stretches unending, never fully completed, changing constantly, never dull.
Where to eat:
The Commander's Palace, 1403 Washington Avenue, is possibly the best restaurant in New Orleans. Marvellous seafood, Creole specialties served in an old Victorian mansion in the historic Garden District.
Galatoire's, a French bistro at 209 Bourbon Street (a family restaurant with mirrored walls). Accepts no reservations but is worth the wait.
K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, 416 Chartres Street, is famous for its Cajun-style cooking. A specialty: blackened fish. Spicy, hot entrees. (K-Paul's uses a pepper in place of an olive in its Cajun martinis.)
Antoine's, 713 St Louis Street. Operated by the same family since 1840. More than a dozen separate dining rooms. Oysters Rockefeller, chicken, beef, seafood. An unending menu.
Arnaud's, 813 Rue Bienville. French-Creole cuisine. Arnaud's is called the grand dame of the French Quarter. A jazz brunch on Sunday.
Brennan's, 417 Royal Street. Famous for its breakfasts as well as its lunches and dinners. Over-rated, expensive. A romantic setting, though, for couples with stars in their eyes.
Cafe Sbisa, 1011 Decatur Street. Creole cuisine, a jazz pianist and a Sunday brunch.
Court of the Two Sisters, 613 Royal Street. A daily jazz brunch and gaslights in the patio in the evening.
Le Bistro, 733 Rue Toulouse. Operated in conjunction with Hotel Maison de Ville. Rated highly by New Orleans diners. Award-winning chef Susan Spicer has gained acclaim for her seafood dishes, pasta, chicken, veal, lamb, rabbit, quail, duck. A definite Provence and Mediterranean influence. Note: Seats only 40 persons.
Olde N'Awlins Cookery. Occupies an 1849 building at 729 Conti Street. Fine Cajun selections (blackened fish, barbecued shrimp, pasta with seafood, trout with pecans). The building once served as a brothel, later as a bistro-disco. The menu also lists jambalaya, gumbo, alligator. Nice atmosphere, inexpensive
Princess Monaco's, 912 Royal Street. Both inside and outside dining (a spacious courtyard crowded with plants). This is an old carriage house. French and Creole cuisine. Inexpensive.
Bed and breakfast:
Sarah-Margaret Brown operates a bed and breakfast service. Rooms, apartments and houses in neighbourhoods throughout the city, including the French Quarter. Brown is already booking space for Super Bowl 1990.
"It's never too early to sew up accommodation for this big event (January 28)," she insists. Rates: $25-$60 and up. In the French Quarter Brown will steer you to an apartment with a queen-size bed, living room, kitchen, balcony. Another in the French Quarter features an attractive courtyard with an entrance through a wrought-iron gate. Among other listings is an 1850s townhouse with lots of art, a four-poster bed. And off Royal Street there's a two-storey cottage with a courtyard, turn-of-the-century atmosphere, free off-street parking.
Contact Sarah-Margaret Brown, New Orleans Bed & Breakfast, PO Box 8163, New Orleans 70182.
Jazz:
Famous Door, 339 Bourbon Street.
Pete Fountain at the Hilton Hotel. (Call to be sure Pete is playing, as he's on the road occasionally.)
Preservation Hall, 726 St Peter Street. Old-time musicians, lots of foot-stomping music.
More things to see:
Free tours by the National Park Service take in Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve (the French Quarter, the Barataria Marshland on the West Bank of the Mississippi, the Garden District, cemeteries).
The St Charles Street Car (oldest continuously operating street car in the United States) runs from Canal Street down St Charles Avenue into the Garden District.
Mississippi River cruises on the Natchez ($9.50 for two hours) and the Creole Queen (three hours, $12).
Natchez Steamboat and Bayou Jean Lafitte, 2340 World Trade Centre. Telephone toll-free (800) 233-BOAT.
Cajun Queen River Boat and the Creole Queen, Poydras Street Wharf. Call(800) 445-4109.
Gray Line of New Orleans, 2345 World Trade Centre. Call (800) 535-7787.
Family Tours and Service, 930 Lesan Drive. Provides airport transfers, sightseeing, river-boat cruises, visits to plantation homes.
Cypress Swamp Tours, 622 Napoleon Avenue. Tours of Cajun country.
New Orleans Limousine Service, 3119 Jackson Avenue.
A Guide to New Orleans:
The French Quarter is best seen on a walking tour (or for the weary there are horse-drawn carriages). Touring the Garden District can be done by street car, bus, automobile or taxi. Other tours take in cemeteries, numerous parks, suburbs and sights along the Mississippi.
For maps and booklets, stop at the Greater New Orleans Tourist Bureau, Louisiana Superdome, 1520 Sugar Bowl Drive. Other information from the Louisiana State Office of Tourism, 529 St. Ann St.
Antique buffs: Stroll along New Orleans' Antique Row on Royal Street with its silver, china, jewellery, paintings, rugs, brass beds, gilt-edged mirrors, hutches and other fine furnishings.
Visit Jackson Square, St Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo (site of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase).
Relax over coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde on the Mississippi (within sight of artwork displayed on iron-lace fencing surrounding Jackson Square).
See the Beauregard Keyes House, 1113 Chartres Street (a classic Greek Revival-style home built in 1826).
Costumed figures can be seen at the Musee Conti Wax Museum, 917 Conti Street.
A permanent collection of fine art is arranged in galleries at the New Orleans Museum of Art, Lelong Avenue in City Park.
Stroll along Riverwalk, New Orleans' new shopping mall on the Mississippi between Poydras Street and the Convention Center. Shops include Laura Ashley, Abercrombie & Fitch, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, Guy LaRoche, Charles Jourdan.
Louisiana Superdome, Sugar Bowl Drive. Tours seven days a week.
New Orleans' Jazz Club, 400 Esplanade Avenue. Instruments once owned by famous New Orleans musicians are on display.
New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, 724 Dumaine Street. Crafts, lectures, dolls.
Black History Museum, 2522 Willow Street.
Confederate Museum, 929 Camp Street. Civil War memorabilia.
Louisiana State Museum, Jackson Square.
© 1989 Sydney Morning Herald