Eating in New Orleans, Five Years Later

by Leslie Pariseau, Posted Aug 26th 2010 @ 5:00PM

roasted oysters at Coquette restaurant Photo: rdpeyton, Flickr

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, eating in New Orleans is definitely not the same. Quite possibly, it's better. "I'd argue that our restaurants are better today than before," says Brett Anderson, restaurant critic for the city's paper, the Times Picayune. "It has a lot to do with the remarkable number and quality of new places that were unimaginable before September or October [of 2005]."

Eating in New Orleans is geographically specific like in no other American city. And where there is eating, there is passion -- passion about the food, passion about the region, and passion about the neighborhood. "We have a tradition of eating in neighborhood restaurants," notes Anderson. Willie Mae's Scotch House, famous for its fried chicken, could only exist within the fabled streets of Treme, just as the Creole stronghold Antoine's is unimaginable anywhere but among the genteel blocks of the French Quarter.

Since Hurricane Katrina, only a handful of the best neighborhood spots haven't reopened, and it seems that for every one shuttered, two or three new ones have moved in. Among those Anderson names as the best are Coquette, an Uptown wine bar and bistro; the nationally renowned pork paradise Cochon; Mahoney's, a new po' boy shop ("It's not easy to make po' boys in this town and get noticed," attests Anderson); and Boucherie, a crew of young chefs reinventing Southern food (think Krispy Kreme bread pudding). "It's also the small things," Anderson says, "now, New Orleans is a better place to get Italian. You can get really high quality meats and better sandwiches."

Of course, fundamental ways of New Orleans life have been indelibly changed, even more so since April's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. "I'm worried our losses from the oil spill will be even greater than those from the hurricane. Who would have thought?" questions Anderson.

However, he realizes the strength of New Orleans' culinary identity, "Poverty, schools...those are problems," he muses, "but for now, eating well is the least of New Orleans' problems. It's taken care of."

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Tags: hurricane katrina, new orleans, new orleans food