Breakfast
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The Cafe Du Monde is an ideal location for breakfast located at
800 Decatur Street. It is the original Cafe du Monde location - with a
number of other branches mostly in and around New Orleans, as well as a
large international presence exclusively in Japan. It is located near
the shores of the Mississippi River in the French Quarter this is where
you come for the French-style beignets pastries and the coffee. You can
drive here or walk from the Hotel Monteleone - its about 10-15 minutes
depending on how fast you walk. Wear white or at least wear lots
of paper napkins as these square beignets are literally covered
with fine |
powered sugar. Be careful about sneezing near these! This pastry is made
from deep fried dough and are crowd favorites. The restaurant is open 24
hours a day, 7 days a week aside from Christmas Day and possible
hurricane closures. The prices are great, its always hopping and is a
very late night favorite of some of the nearby street performers. You
know you have a winning recipe when both tourists and locals frequent
the same restaurant. Lots of open air covered dining tables. Visit:
www.cafedumonde.com
After a leisurely breakfast at Cafe Du Monde take some time to browse
through the French Quarter. Just minutes from Cafe du Monde are small
stalls with vendors providing a bunch of items ranging from souvenirs,
to unique jewelry to interesting arts and crafts. The French Quarter is
a mix of European and Caribbean influence (note that some of the names
are part Spanish and French), balcony lined streets, restaurants, shops,
tons of art galleries, and unique museums all contained in approximately
6 x 14 blocks. Other highlights are walking along the Mississippi River,
visiting the grand St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, the IMAX
Theatre, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, and the French Market -
America's oldest Public Market.
Also of note is the Old US Mint which is the only building in America to
have served both as a U.S. and Confederate Mint. At the time of our
visit a very educational exhibit on Napoleon Bonaparte was on display.
Visit:
www.napoleonexhibit.com
You never know what you might find in the dirt under lawns surrounding
historic buildings. During our visit we found a group of archeologists
from the University of New Orleans were digging right in the main lawn
surrounding the old US Mint building. Buttons, old musket shells and
other era metal was being recovered. Fascinating! View our video of this
here:
Lunch
You are in New Orleans - a city well known for their local cuisine.
Where else is a sandwich a tourist attraction?! Make lunch a muffuletta
from New Orleans's finest muffuletta producers, Central Grocery.
In fact it is this store where the muffuletta originated. This
Italian-American grocery is located at 923 Decatur Street and was
founded in 1906 by an Italian immigrant from Sicily. It is still owned
by the same family. The sandwich consists of muffuletta bread, several
meats and cheeses and then the core of the sandwich is the marinated
olive salad. Take note, these sandwiches are fairly large and can be
shared by several people. Visit:
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Dinner |
| Luke's is a fabulous brasserie (French for cafe which is also a
restaurant) located in the heart of New Orleans's downtown area just
south of the well-known Canal Street. It is one of several restaurants
owned by famed chef John Besh. John operates an organic farm which
provides some of the vegetables and meats for this restaurant. Start out
your meal with a Sazerac, one of the oldest cocktails in the world which
actually originated in New Orleans in the late 1850's. Then jump
right into the amazing appetizers. A couple that we can
recommend from first hand experience are the Rabbit Pate and the
blood sausage. |
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Great salads
including the fresh tomato salad when in season. Choose from a plethora
of main dishes with some excellent seafood selections. Also look for
individual specialties based on the day of the week. A full service bar
includes several custom locally brewed beers. Their wine list focuses
exclusively on French produced wines. Visit:
www.lukeneworleans.com
You of course cannot visit New Orleans without walking Bourbon
Street...especially at night when this becomes the "life" of the French
Quarter. After dark, neon signs scream out advertising drinks -
typically cheap "big ass beers", and sex shows including signs that
state, "Female Impersonators, Men Prettier than Girls" - and other
exotic shows. |
