DINING IN NEW ORLEANS – PART 2
Personal Recommendations from an Exile
About the Author
Rick Downing is a Product Manager with Springer-Miller Systems, as well as author of a culinary and travel blog. Not only has Rick traveled the world seeking culinary experiences but he has curated a cookbook collection of over 6,000 volumes.
Casual but still Upscale
There are a number of places in the city that would fall into this classification – wonderful atmosphere, great service, excellent food from renowned chefs – but presented in an informal setting.
Compere Lapin – 535 Tchoupitoulas Street (Warehouse Arts District)
This is one of the hottest new places in the city and is set inside The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery. Chef Nina Compton has been making a very big name for herself introducing the city to her native cuisine from St Lucia. It is hardly a traditional menu but she is definitely making things that you will want to put in your mouth. (By the way, the street is pronounced “chop-a-too-luss”.)
Upperline – 1413 Upperline Street (Garden District)
For many years, Upperline has been a bastion of true old-line Creole fare. The turtle soup is legendary but it is difficult to go wrong with anything on the menu. This would be a cab ride (though you could take the St Charles streetcar, get off at Bordeaux and walk a block and a half.
Atchafalaya – 901 Louisiana Avenue (Lower Garden District – Touro neighborhood)
The roots of this restaurant go back to the 1920’s but the current owners bought and renamed it in 2008 (pronounced “at-cha-fa-lie-ya”). Great (!) place for brunch Thursday through Monday but equally good for dinner any night of the week. Very popular with locals so reservations are strongly recommended. The cuisine would be considered contemporary Creole with a spicy dash of Cajun. Wonderful wonderful wonderful. Highly recommended.
Avo – 5908 Magazine Street (Audubon – West Riverside)
This is a relative new comer to the scene but it has certainly made a splash. New Orleans manages to turn almost everything into a hybrid cuisine – French-Creole, German-Creole, Greek-Creole, Thai-Creole (seriously) – and Avo is a great example of Italian-Creole. Fun place, great food. The location, by the way, would be a cab ride but traveling up Magazine Street is one of the most fun things you can do in NOLA. The street follows the river all the way from downtown off Canal up to Audubon Park and is lined from one end to the other with amazing restaurants, bars, bistros and the greatest concentration of antique shops in the world. For a fun day excursion, take a cab up to Jackson and Magazine (stop in at District Donuts) and then just start walking up Magazine until you can’t go any more…then take a cab back to your hotel and start planning dinner.) Better yet, time it so that you can have dinner at Casamento’s (http://www.casamentosrestaurant.com/main/main.html), one of the great oyster houses nurturing New Orleanians for decades.
See you in New Orleans for HITEC 2016 at Booth 1933. Let us know how these restaurant recommendations work out!