opening letter

Hey Everyone,

When people ask if I liked growing up in New Orleans, I ask ‘em a question right back. "Well, have you been to New Orleans?" If  “yes", then you know that the food, music, architecture, joyful culture, hot wet climate and gritty port town vibe make this place like  no other city in America.  

Most of you will be downtown, in the French Quarter which is really the Spanish Quarter - seriously, only three French buildings.  #Fact. Well, the Quarter is like living on Mars, ummm … with Elon and his cray creole cousins, that is if Mars was an adult amusement park with 300 years of the best time-worn patina and everyone was drunk and it was founded by pirates, with some still practicing the craft.  

But, the legendary Quarter - 13 blocks long x 7 blocks deep - is not the only place that makes this PLACE special. Think of New  Orleans as a necklace of neighborhoods that dot the Mississippi River - from Uptown and the Garden District to Bywater and the Lower Ninth. Each one so great. The whole even better than its parts.  

Another kool thing is the welcoming warmth of local people. Everyone here is glad you are coming. Genuinely. We want you to enjoy this city. Stay a few days or a lifetime. Take lots of pictures. Sip a frozen daiquiri and walk the lantern-lit streets cocktail in hand -- 'cause well... you can’t do that in Brooklyn, DC, or West Hollywood. It’s called a "go-cup” people! Anyway, listen to the music. Eat the food. Taste this PLACE. Savor it, and love it like I do. People have been drawn to this city for generations. Maybe because New Orleans is an island. Island in Louisiana. Island in America. Island in the world. The Crescent City.  America’s Most Romantic City. My hometown. It’s actually the Northernmost Caribbean City, and it is not only on this nation's geographic map but the star its poetic map.

Here’s why: Steeped, marinated, percolated, and distilled over 303 years, New Orleans culture is a joyful one of ritual and romance, food and drink, unlike any other place. Cocktails and dining are a nightly ritual, in a culture that prizes leisure over working late. With menus drawn from our region’s natural bounty and from Sicily to Senegal, Venice to Vietnam, Haiti and Havana, we love coastal ingredients and stories from the marvelous mosaic of humanity still flavoring this city in every way.  

To help you love it even half as much as I do, here are my favorite neighborhood haunts.  Not an exhaustive list. Just a helpful start and a lil wayfaring. Enjoy it all Good People.  Thank you for coming.