Local Expert
Su-Jit Lin
Su-Jit Lin once left her native New York on a whim and a gut feeling and has yet to regret the spontaneous shift that has led her to one of the most amazing and character-rich cities in the world.…
Su-Jit Lin once left her native New York on a whim and a gut feeling and has yet to regret the spontaneous shift that has led her to one of the most amazing and character-rich cities in the world. A cum laude Tulane University graduate, majoring in History and English, she has found it impossible to stay away from the one place that’s managed to capture her heart and speak to her spirit: New Orleans. Residing uptown, working downtown, and writing for Where Y'At Magazine smack dab in the middle of the Garden District, she takes full advantage of everything in between – or at least tries desperately to keep up with the frenzied activity! Pastimes include freelance writing and editing, travel, painting, music, her dog, and excuses to wear a scarf. Most importantly, she loves with a deep passion good food and drink, and all things New Orleans … even the poisonous caterpillars that seem programmed to find her year round.
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Review Articles
As with all good things, they eventually become spread out all over and become commoonplace, but when it's really good, you can't get that mad about it. rue de la course is one of those things.
One of the most popular coffee destinations in New Orleans, characterized by little green study lamps, sandwiches and pastries, and awesome, creative coffees, you'll find many a MacBook lit up at any of their stores. Intellectuals, academics, pseudo-intellectuals and academics, hipsters, and anyone that's attracted to a coffee spot that encourages quiet reflection tends to show up here. Lattes and literature, espressos and essays, granitas and genuflection -- these are all the common combinations in the airy, almost library-esque setting. Free Wi-Fi is another draw for that crowd.
The one on South Carrollton Avenue, though not the original, is my favorite, with its soaring ceilings, second floor seating that towers like a massive indoor balcony, and little wood tables with lamps on each. With streetcars rumbling down the neutral ground at the front of the store, and on the corner of quaint shop-filled Oak Street, it's easy to feel the inspiration to write something really great sipping on a cafe au lait with all the building's history surrounding you, and an echo-y calm wrapping you in a reverent silence.
There are a whole ton of coffeeshops in New Orleans, each with their own flavor and character. The one, to me, that most accurately portrays the laissez faire spirit of young New Orleans is the uptown Zotz on Oak Street. I've heard tell of another location in the Quarter or in the Marigny (both locations that would be highly believable), but I have yet to go there.
However, the Zotz on Oak Street is fun, a little overwhelming in its bright colors and loud, cluttered decor, but in a good way. It's barely controlled chaos in its look, and the way it's set up is the same way. The only unifying theme is crazy kitsch, with bench seating, old-fashioned long row tables that serve as shared desks, and dim little bitty rooms with antiquated armchairs for the ultimate in coziness. Books are scattered throughout the shop, and the delightful hidden courtyard is a gem. I believe dogs are welcome in this outdoor space, but don't quote me on it!
Obviously, the clientele for this slightly-off-the-wall place tend to be younger people/college students who love the academic side of the punkish counter-culture, and free Wi-Fi at this 24 hour coffeeshop attracts night owls and/or writers and the like. Date night people tend to stop in for dessert and a session in the "official makeout room," and with any bohemian atmosphere, there's a big variety of alternative and/or organic tea and food. Coffee ground on the premises, but only in the high-energy front room. The farther you go to the back, the more serene it gets, all the way back into the peaceful courtyard mentioend before.
As you get ready to fly out of town, you're probably regretting that you never got an exorbitantly-priced hot dog from the kitschy loaded frankfurter-looking Lucky Dog carts scattered throughout the French Quarter. And with options like Bayona, Arnaud's, Brennan's, K-Paul's, among many others, who can blame you for passing up $5 street vendor hot dogs? Unless you're a diehard Confederacy of Dunces fan like myself, the appeal and the poignancy would probably have passed right over your heads as your palates were dazzled by high-end classic Creole.
Well, regret sets in at the end of a wonderful trip to the Big Easy at not splurging for a very New Orleanian drunken meal, and maybe you, at the last minute, remember how gloriously entertaining Toole's anti-hero Ignatius J. Reilly was. And now, you're sad that you passed up that ridiculous dog on the street.
Fear not! It's a rookie mistake to miss these large Quarter franks, and at Louis Armstong International Airport, you get a last chance to be a part of a longstanding franchise tradition ... you lucky dog! A permanent cart sits a terminal, and $5 for a hot dog is starting to look a lot more reasonable than the inflated prices for standard airport food. Grab a praline from the nearby Praline Connection and consider yourself going out in true New Orleans style.
Now this may sound like the silliest thing just about ever, but when I head out to Louis Armstrong International Airport, away from rich Creole, awesome French, loaded po' boys, and delicious Vietnamese, I get a little excited. Not about flying -- personally, I love to travel, but hate the actual moving part -- but about fast food chain Sonic -- America's Drive In.
Sonic Burger (as so often misnomered by people who come from areas where the chain doesn't exist) has made itself a national craving, regardless of whether there are local locations or not. I remember salivating over commercials of luscious smoothies and tumbling tater tots back in New York, and I was thrilled when I realized that there were quite a few of them down here in New Orleans.
A novel, retro fast-food concept, at normal highway-side Sonics, you drive up to a parking spot and order into the mic in the mounted menu. Your server will come out with your food and deliver it to your door, big onion rings, large burgers in foil bags, and hot dogs stinking up your interior with the delightful smell of grease. Yummm. :)
Obviously, that's not the case with our airport Sonic, since if you tried to drive up to the terminal locations, that'd be the least of your problems. But the all-day breakfast options are still there, the customizable slushes, and the huge sandwiches, ready to feed your mass media-induced craving.
Coffee is a Very Big Deal here in New Orleans, which, when you think of it, is a little ironic considering the slow pace of life in our drowsy city. But then again, it's all about taste in this town, and the Crescent City isn't shy about that at all, as demonstrated by the creative measures taken by locally established specialty coffeeshops like PJ's.
As they say themselves, "with all due respect to Seattle, PJ's coffee is simply the best coffee." Smoother tasting, ground with select beans and roasted in small batches in their own facilities within the city, this Uptown native (the original shop was right in the University Corridor on Maple Street, and established in 1978) has become a franchise all throughout the area, and also built up a reputation for inventive, whimsical recipe drinks.
One inspiration for a flavored coffee is a sweet found all over this city--the praline. Pralines are a pecan candy that's become synonymous with New Orleans, carmelized sugar, cream, and whole nuts combined to become one beautiful patty-like treat. PJ's has taken this treat and added the essence of its flavors to its cold drip Praline Coffee for a sweet and playful taste profile with medium body. However, you have to wait for springtime to get this seasonal blend.
Another seasonal favorite, as the weather gets a bit chillier, is also based on a favorite sweet escape--Bananas Foster. Starting in August, PJs around the city serve a coffee that combines the flavors of bananas and banana liqueur, rum, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, for a really rich combination.
Tiramisu is another dessert-based combination, also served for limited times.
However, their normal flavored coffees are just as decadent and delicious, and are available year round. English Toffee, sweet and syrupy, Southern Pecan, a subtly nutty roast, and the standard French Vanilla and Hazelnut are enough to satisfy many a New Orleanian. Served with a delicious, absolutely perfect moist and flavorful muffin with a slightly crisped top, and there's no greater simple pleasure.
The average American, before his or her eyes even fully open, already crave it. In the middle of the afternoon, the need is intense. At the end of a big meal, when sweets hit the table, it's a dire situation.
So what is this magical food item?
Well, duh -- it's coffee. But with options abounding and every corner churning out franchised cups of joe, what to do?
In New Orleans, I say, do as the New Orleanians.
Cafe du Monde is one of the signature coffee spots in NOLA, their green and white awning and powdered-sugar covered floors iconic of the French Quarter. As beloved by locals as it is by tourists, it's considered one of the must-go places to complete a New Orleans experience, and they make it easy to pay them a visit. Open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, it's pretty much only been closed for Hurricanes Katrina and the boy-who-cried-'wolf' Gustav.
It's fun for its randomness. You'll see the most random assortment of servers in paper hats roaming around the floor or sitting to the side of the big awning, listening to the incessent tooting of the steamboat just on the other side of that big wall dividing the city from the river. Musicians play on the sidewalk in front of the stand and on the sidewalks across in famous Jackson Square. Artists hang their wares on the big iron gates of the park, and moments are made in this idyllic corner of the earth in front of St. Louis Cathedral.
The cafe au lait is what you'll be drinking here, with coffee proportional to steamed milk. However, you may detect a pleasant and slightly woodsy sweet flavor in your caramel-colored drink. This, my friends, is a Very Good Thing, one of the very best things, actually, of living in this city -- chicory coffee.
Now, if you're like most people, you have no idea what chicory is. Before I moved here, and even a few years after, I hadn't a clue. Bark? Oil? Plant? To clear up the confusion, chicory is actually the root of a delicate tiny lettuce, the endive. Roasted and ground, it's blended into the signature coffee mixes at Cafe du Monde.
It's funny, though, how popular and quintissential-New-Orleans chicory coffee has become. This combination was invented overseas in France, due to the scarcity of coffee during their civil war. In adding chicory to their coffee, they were able to add body and flavor to their beans without running through their precious stores of roast, so that strong coffee could still be produced without using a lot of real coffee! But this ingredient does change the taste composition quite a bit, and much for the better. It softens the bitter edge and adds a smooth, silky, almost chocolate-y flavor to each cup of brew, making Cafe du Monde's cafe au lait warmly pleasing even to non-coffee drinkers like myself.
If you're not convinced, order a plate of their famous beignets, hot made-to-order square "doughnuts" literally covered in piles of powdery white sugar, then take a sip out of your cup. You'll never feel more timeless for less than $5 than this, and never feel more New Orleanian, taking part in a grand old tradition, than when you lean back in that metal chair, lean back, and people watch at sunset on South Peter as Jackson Square gives over to the night. Go ahead -- lick your fingers. No one's watching ... and no one cares. It's New Orleans.