It's in the texture of the place. It's in the architecture, the balconies, the porches, the dormers and doorsteps, in the art, the landscaping. It's in the trees, Spanish moss and branches aglitter with Mardi Gras beads (all made in Fuzhou, China, by the way) tossed to the winds. It's in the smells and the colors, and it's in the friendliness of people on the streets. It is in, heaven help us all, the glory of the food.A miracle is that everyone here doesn't weigh 500 pounds or more, so wonderful is the food and so vast is the opportunity to sample it at restaurants, cafes, pushcarts and beignet emporiums. Cajun. Creole. Catfish. Crawdads. Shrimp. Gumbo. Jumbalaya. Rice and red beans. Muffulettas. Oh, my.
The French Quarter, Magazine Street, Mid-City, Gentilly and so many other parishes pulse with otherworldy offerings of food such as nowhere else might boast. To recommend restaurants is like trying to choose which grains of sand at the beach are the prettiest. Antoine's. Emeril's. Central Grocery. Liuzza's. Cafe du Monde. Brennan's. Too many.
You can look at www.gumbopages.com or www.neworleansrestaurants.com to scratch the surface or visit the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau site for clues ( www.neworleanscvb.com). You can hardly go wrong, and might have to work at it to remember that 2 1/2 years ago, 80 percent of the place was flooded. The city wants to move on from that memory, too. If New Orleans doesn't want to make a big deal of its Katrina woes, why should the visitor?
Well, to honor them. To respect the suffering of so many who do not stay at the Ritz or take to Bourbon Street for their frisky fun but, instead, are trying to rebuild their small, poor houses and their lives. complete story
Test your knowledge of New Orleans - quiz
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