The morning of our fourth day, we decided to head to St. Roch Cemetery, as it’s in our neighborhood. This cemetery isn’t necessarily one that lots of tourists go to, partly ubecause it’s out of the prime tourist hub of the city, but also perhaps because it’s quite new. The earliest death we came across was 1877, the tomb located in the floor of the chapel in the first of two of the St. Roch Cemeteries. In the bright sun of New Orleans, all the white tombs blinded our eyes as we walked through corridors of the above-ground tombs, also making it difficult to take proper picture. And, as I said, all the tombs were quite new, the overwhelming majority of the deaths occurring in the 20th and 21st centuries. If you’ve been to older cemeteries like the ones I wrote about on my UK trip, the relative newness of St. Roch might disappoint, but the grandiose majesty of the tombs surely won’t. Rows upon rows of tombs above the ground, long corridors that delight a certain macabre sensitivity, surely something unlike anything I’ve seen before.
Following this, we went on a quite wonderful guided food tour, and we happened to be the only two who signed up for this particular day and time, so we inadvertently got to go on our own private tour. Our guide was Michael Batterman, and he was absolutely fantastic. He gives tours through an outfit called the New Orleans Culinary History Tours, and I highly recommend you seek him and them out.
This particular tour took us through some fine restaurants in the French Quarter including Antoine’s where we got a tasting of their seafood gumbo, Arnaud’s where we had shrimp Arnaud, Tujague’s where we had beef brisket with Creole sauce, Davina Cafe where we enjoyed muffuletta and gelato and cannoli, and lastly Creole Delicacies where we enjoyed red beans and rice.
I’ve talked a buch about the food so far on this trip, but it’s difficult not to. Simply put, the food is just absolutely fantastic! Never understated, never dull, never lacking in anything. What was really special about this tasting tour, though, was our tour guide, Michael, and the stories he had to share about all the places we visited. While at Antoine’s he told us about the long history of the restaurant (established in 1840 by Antoine Alciatore, solidly earning the restaurant the title of oldest family run restaurant in the country, run by the Alciatore since it’s very beginnings), took us through the Mystery Room (so named because it was a secret moonshine room during prohibition) and the Proteus Room (so named after one of the various carnival krewes, an organization that puts on a parade or ball during carnival season) in addition to other dining rooms, and we got a glimpse of their fantastic wine cellar, a 165 foot long and 7 foot wide space that holds a magnificent 25,000 bottles. And then we got to also take a stroll through the kitchen, which was fun.
When we moved on to Arnaud’s (established in 1918 by Arnaud Cazenave), we were introduced to Arnaud’s cigar bar called French 75 (it wasn’t quite open yet, so we could only peer through the locked gate), where Michael recommended we get the drink of the same name or perhaps a gin fizz. Upstairs, however, was a real treat: the Germaine Cazenave Wells Mardi Gras Museum, named after a woman who reigned as queen over 22 Mardi Gras balls. We got to view her extravagant gowns, and it reminded me of walking through New Orleans’s version of the exhibit of various monarchs’ regalia on view at Westminster Abbey in London.
The remaining restaurants on the tour were all special in their own right, but didn’t quite have the long history that the first two had, which didn’t make the tour less enjoyable by a any means: at Davina we learned that cannoli were a symbol of fertility (they are, indeed, cream-filled confections shaped into a cylinder which surely suggests a cream-filled phallus), at Tojague’s we learned that the restaurant was the birthplace of the grasshopper ice cream drink, and at Creole Delicacies we learned that red beans and rice was typically eaten on Mondays, which was wash day, so they needed something that could simmer all day while the wash got done.
After bidding adieu to our gracious host and tour guide, Michael, we made our way to Tableau, where we enjoyed some sazeracs, a drink called the bee’s knees, and a Pimm’s cup, along with some redfish beignets and fried boudin balls. We also had a really splendid conversation with our bartender, Clarence, who gave us more suggestions about where to go (it’s good to get the locals’ perspective so you can enjoy the non-touristy attractions), and he told us about how at 25 years old he has a baby sister only 6 years old.
Our evening closed with first visiting Blacksmith (one of Clarence’s suggestions, a very cool little place dimly lit with only candlelight) where we tasted our first hurricanes (a famed drink here in NOLA, but nothing to write home about), and then we had some barbecue at the Joint in the Bywater. Sadly they were out of ribs, but I enjoyed some brisket and pulled pork with mac and cheese. I keep saying this over and over again, but if there’s one thing to remember about Southern food, it’s that it’s never understated. It’s a celebration of the senses, and no expense is left un-spent to provide the fullest dining experience.
And, indeed, our gluttonous adventure in New Orleans cuisine won’t stop here…