New Orleans
Listen to Scott bradlee The City of Jazz. and Mystery. and Great Food. and Great People. It’s A City I Grew Up Reading About And Seeing in Movies and on TV. New Orleans, Louisiana
New orleans. The city OF jazz. And mystery. And great food. And great people. It’s a city I grew up reading about and seeing in movies and on TV. I’d always wanted to visit, but it wasn’t until a short film that I produced (“Above the Sea”) was accepted to the New Orleans Film Festival last fall, that I finally had an excuse to travel to the Crescent City for a couple of days. So of course I made sure I made the most of it.
lodging The festival graciously put me up at the New Orleans Marriott, where my room had a view of the Mississippi River and check-out time was at the very reasonably comfortable hour of noon. It was also conveniently located near the French Quarter and St. Charles Streetcar line.
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feasting As an avid fan of both pork and Anthony Bourdain, Cochon was a priority, so I made it a point to have dinner there my first night in town. The complimentary bread rolls were delightful, as was the glory that is the Smoked Pork Ribs with Watermelon Pickle ($12). But ironically, what I loved the most at this place of pork was the palette of flavors that came in the Mushroom Salad with Deep Fried Beef Jerky & Lemon Vinaigrette ($9). Seriously, it’s probably the best salad I have ever had.
A great spot for breakfast is Café du Monde. Yes, tourists flock there, but so do the locals. And for about $5, you’ll get a plate of three legit New Orleans-style beignets and a cup of café au lait, all while street musicians serenade you with the standards.
Commander’s Palace in the Garden District is a fancy old timey restaurant where “shorts and t-shirts are never allowed” but reservations are a must. I went for the two course lunch special, of which I ordered the dubious-sounding but most definitely appetizing Commander’s Turtle Soup. And when the martinis go for 25 cents a pop, this place offers an incredibly affordable posh experience.
walking While the French Quarter has become a tourist cliché, avoid Bourbon Street and it’s still a fantastic area to traipse around and marvel at the architecture and hanging planters from the wrought iron balconies. Fun boutiques to check out in the area include Papier Plume and Voodoo Authentica.
In the evening, I made my way over to Frenchman Street, at the border of the French Quarter and the Marigny neighborhoods, and got a chance to listen to incredible, soul-nourishing jazz performed by an informal brass band on the street. Good music is not difficult to find in New Orleans, you just have to decide whether you want to hear it at a sit-down venue like Preservation Hall or on a street corner.
