Now onto my 11th food tour in America, you may be thinking I’m starting to get bored or finding them all a bit same-y… But then one like the New Orleans Culinary Walking Tour comes along and it’s like a whole new experience! I was very excited to be in Louisiana because I’d heard such great things, so my expectations were high and I was eager to check out the local cuisine and learn more about the history of this fascinating city.
| Tijague's on Decatur Street
The tour started at the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans; Tujague’s on Decatur Street. Here I met the incredibly amiable Naif, our tour guide who was born and raised in Louisiana, and promptly assured us that we would be ‘Safe with Naif’!
I could already tell Naif was going to be a great guide, as he learnt all our names right away and seemed highly enthusiastic about the 3-hour experience ahead. While he talked us through the history of the restaurant, we were each served a slice of their signature dish; a creole beef brisket po-boy. We also got to learn the origin of the name po-boy, which is a term now used all over the world!
| Creole Delicacies
As we walked towards our second destination, Naif told us about the original settlers of New Orleans, and how ‘creole’ was a term used to identify those born in the colonies, or the ‘new world’. We also passed the first luxury condominiums built in 1850 by Micaela Almonester - luxury because they had running water! This brought us to Creole Delicacies, a speciality food market on St Ann St.
Walking through the shop full of kitchen trinkets and local foods, we went through a door at the back to an open courtyard, then into a small kitchen where a lovely woman named Sindra was cooking up some red beans and rice. A classic dish to have on a Monday as this was wash-day, red beans and rice is often served as a side dish in other parts of the USA, but it’s most certainly a main course in New Orleans.
We also tried some ‘mardi-gras dip’ which Naif describes as a “party in your mouth”, and learnt about some of the main ingredients that go into creole food. Apparently chicory is popular in the UK but I’d never heard of it!
| Antonie's
The next stop on the tour was a particularly special one, the oldest restaurant in New Orleans: Antoine’s. Opened in 1840, the restaurant is a maze of opulently decorated rooms that are essentially museums to the establishment’s incredible history.
We sat in the old Spanish jail house to try some delicious seafood gumbo, then walked around the various rooms learning about the history of the Alciatore family and the many celebrities who have dined there. There are also several rooms dedicated to historic mardi-gras celebrations, and a 165ft wine cellar with over 25,000 bottles inside!
| Leah's Pralines
Across the street is Leah’s Pralines, a quaint confectionary store that has been operating since 1944.
Here we got to try their bacon pecan brittle, and take away a whole original recipe praline to enjoy later (or immediately as was the case for some guests!), which was just divine, I could have eaten three!
The fifth and final stop on the tour was the famous Arnaud’s, located on Bienville St and operating since 1918. We started in Remoulade, known as ‘the casual side’ of the restaurant, where we got to taste their signature shrimp remoulade, and something I’d never had before; turtle soup!
| Secret Door...
That was the end of the food part of the tour, but the experience wasn’t over yet… We followed Naif through a secret door at the back of the restaurant which took us to the upscale side, plus the incredible speakeasy bar that Arnaud operated throughout prohibition.
The most interesting part of the restaurant, however, was a small museum on the second floor dedicated to (and created by) Arnaud’s daughter, Germaine Wells. A truly fascinating character, Germaine was obsessed with being famous and when her acting career failed, she set out to be remembered as the best mardi-gras queen of all time - an accolade that she was awarded 22 times!
The museum displayed her various gowns throughout the years, which were all just stunning (if not a little creepy), and made for a brilliant end to the tour.
| Thanks for reading!
Naif was the best tour guide I could have hoped for, and I imagine is the best tour guide in all of New Orleans - his knowledge on history, cuisine, ecology and architecture was astounding, but at no point did it feel like we were being lectured! I’m now even more excited to get out into the city and find some of the spots he recommended, and enjoy the rest of my time here in this beautiful location.
