Quintessential New Orleans

Quintessential New Orleans

Food

A port city for the better part of three centuries, New Orleans absorbed culinary influences from all over the world and distilled them into what may be the country's most distinctive regional cuisines. At the top of the food pyramid, so to speak, sits Creole, which blends classic French techniques with south Louisiana's ridiculously bountiful seafood harvest. Beyond Creole is a wealth of local delights, from overstuffed po' boys and olive salad-laden muffuletta sandwiches to such simple dishes as red beans and rice. Cajun cuisine is a big component of New Orleans-style dining (if you want to start an argument, ask a group of locals where to get the best bowl of gumbo) as is Caribbean and West African-influenced soul food. Top it off with sugary beignets and café au lait, bread pudding swimming in whiskey sauce, or a flaming plate of bananas Foster. It's a dieter's nightmare, but no one comes to New Orleans to abstain.

Music

The city that gave the world Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and the jazz funeral is understandably one of the best places to hear live music. What New Orleans lacks in big-name touring acts it more than makes up for with home-grown talent and the sheer number of opportunities to see local musicians show off their chops, from snazzy hotel bars to ramshackle dives, impromptu street parades, and Jackson Square buskers. Jazz, whether performed by traditional brass bands or in a more modern vein, is New Orleans' best-known indigenous musical product. But the city also has a vibrant underground rock scene, commercially successful hip-hop stars, a polished symphony orchestra and practitioners of just about every musical style in between. First-time visitors are often struck by the intimacy of performances here; in many clubs, the "stage" is no more than a corner of the room.

Festivals

Pick a weekend; chances are, there's a festival happening in or not far from New Orleans. Carnival, several days of pageantry, debauchery, and just plain silliness that culminate on Mardi Gras day, is the Big One. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, in late April and early May, runs a close second. Also in April, the French Quarter Festival rolls out a weekend's worth of food and free music in Woldenberg Park, and the Crescent City Classic, a 10-km benefit run that ends, naturally, with a huge party. Southern Decadence started out years ago as a Labor Day weekend house party; now it's the city's largest annual gay event. If you want to avoid big crowds or excessive partying, there are more high-toned events like the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival, or smaller festivals dedicated to tomatoes, shrimp, strawberries and gumbo. Even the lowly mirliton, or chayote, gets its day in the sun.

Walking

Its compact size and large stock of historic architecture make New Orleans a great place to explore on foot. Unlike a lot of U.S. cities, you don't have to rent a car; most sites of interest are clumped together in the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, Warehouse District and Central Business District, and the Garden District. Audubon Park and City Park -- all good places for a stroll -- are easy to reach by streetcar. The Uptown stretch of Magazine Street is lined with antique shops, clothing stores and funky boutiques; the blocks just east of Jackson Avenue, flanked by rows of early-20th-century storefronts, are especially atmospheric.