March 24, 2008
By Marino Parascenzo 

The Big Easy has been the Big Hurtin’ since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storied city is slowly, painfully pulling itself together. But as the waters receded, they revealed the old New Orleans – the joys of jazz, the tears of the blues, and still an exercise in sensory overload.

Visitors arrive saying “Noo-Orleens” and leave saying “N’awluns,” trying to capture that liquid native patois. But understand that while New Orleans is 4,190 square miles of complex and diverse elements, to the outside world New Orleans is that wall-to-wall party known as the French Quarter. Business hours: “Open 2 p.m. til ...”

First off, it’s a fact of life that the Quarter's biggest attraction is the strip club, of which there are many, and accordingly most visitors head first for Bourbon Street, a kind of headquarters. But there's more to New Orleans than ecdysiasts. You can ride a streetcar named Desire, hit the slots and the tables at Harrah’s, ride the steamboat Natchez, play the ponies at Fair Grounds, check out the ghost stories in the Garden District.

Sensory overload? The food and the music are overwhelming.

The Quarter is a symphony of tastes, mostly Creole and Cajun. Pick a restaurant, any restaurant. Maybe a light breakfast at the Cafe du Monde, with “coffee and an order” – a rich cafe au lait with powdered beignets. Go to Brennan’s for the obscenely delicious bananas foster, have the oysters en brochette at Galatroire’s, Pompano Pontchartrain at Antoine’s, blackened Louisiana drum at Chef Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul’s Lousiana Kitchen. Or head down any side street, and duck into the first place where the sign announces “red beans and dirty rice.”

The music of the strip joints is mostly rock ’n’ roll. But there are still jazz joints in the Quarter, such as the House of Blues, the Jazz Parlor at Storyville (relax – the real Storyville is long gone), and just off the Quarter there’s Snug Harbor, under the spell of Ellis Marsalis, father of the brilliant Marsalis Clan. Cajun music abounds, but zydeco – fruit of the button accordion and washboard – takes some searching. Try the Mid-City Lanes, a combination bowling alley and dance hall. “If you're really good,” a lady at the Lanes said, “you can have a cup of beer, and dance and bowl all at the same time.”

For old New Orleans jazz, there’s Preservation Hall on St. Peter. Seats about 70, some on the floor. There's no air conditioning. Also no food and no drink. “All we serve is music,” the gentleman said. And they still haven't washed the windows.

Finally, there's something N’awluns tells you when you arrive and won’t let you forget: Laissez les bon temps rouler – let the good times roll.

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