Feasts, fests, fun: New Orleans

American Visions, Feb-March, 1995 by Michael Pina

One of the oldest is Dooky Chase's, which was opened in 1941 by Edgar "Dooky" Chase and Emily Tenette. Today Dooky's daughter-in-law, Leah Chase, and her husband run the restaurant, about a five-minute ride from the French Quarter. Dooky Chase keeps the atmosphere mellow with a modem decor, mirrors on the walls, chandeliers, and art by local artists of color. Some may consider her soul food--served on china with linen tablecloths and napkins--a bit pricey, but many more understand the cost of business and appreciate that Dooky was there when no one else was. Before leaving the restaurant, be sure to pick up a copy of the Dooky Chase Cookbook, which will allow you to re-create such Louisiana specialties as jambalaya, sweet potato biscuits and Creole meatballs.

Just south of the French Quarter is the Praline Connection, an African-American restaurant that is extremely popular among all ages, colors and backgrounds. Waiters and waitresses in white shirts and derby hats move swiftly across the restaurant's checkered floor, delivering healthy, delicious and moderately priced orders of gumbo Zaire, crawfish etouffee and New Orleans' famous po' boy sandwiches. The Praline Connection. also has a carryout bakery, serving, of course, pralines, as well as chocolate pralines and mud pies, which are treats made of chocolate, caramel and pralines. The establishment's popularity is attested to by the opening of a second Praline Connection in the city.

Other favored soul and Creole restaurants in New Orleans include the Basin Street Club and Restaurant, Olivier's Famous Creole Cuisine and Zachary's. You can hardly go wrong eating out!

Need a little help in choosing? just remember that black-owned restaurants in New Orleans basically fall into two categories: Creole restaurants, like Dooky Chase's and Olivier's, serve spicy dishes such as shrimp Creole and gumbo, a soup with shrimp, oysters and sausage in a brown broth. Soul food eateries, such as Dunbar's and Praline Connection, serve traditional Southern cuisine and po' boy sandwiches, a New Orleans treat made of roast beef and oysters or crabs, smothered in gravy and surrounded by French bread.

TOURS

Whew! So much to do and see in New Orleans! Why rely solely on your amateur perspective? Surrender to a tour company whose itinerary keeps pace with the pulse of the city.

Gwen Carter runs USA Heritage Tours, one of the few black-owned tour companies in New Orleans. Her "Roots of New Orleans" tour offers morning and afternoon excursions that include visits to the Amistad Research Center, Congo Square, the Neighborhood Gallery and the French Quarter. Carter, who has been studying the history of black New Orleans for the past 16 years, gives the tours herself and explains everything from the rituals of the city's voodoo mystique to the origins of its Creole cooking. Other African-American-owned companies offering heritage tours of the city include Le Ob's, Louisiana African American Odyssey (which is based in Baton Rouge) and Williams Tours.