Trompe le Monde: Two New Orleans Icons: Napoleon House & Café du Monde

In keeping with the sometimes-we-do, sometimes-we-don’t tradition of dedicating a post to somebody, I would like to dedicate this entry to my dad, Eric DiBlasi Sr., with whom I first explored New Orleans in 2009.

This marked Alexa’s first time to New Orleans and my second, which allowed me to both revisit many of the same restaurants, shops, and other sites of interest from my first visit, while also doubling as a guide through my favorite place in the world. The afternoon we arrived, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and drove into New Orleans proper. I took us right to Napoleon House, at the gorgeous intersection of St. Charles and Chartres Streets, and one of many places where my father and I ate during my first trip to New Orleans four years earlier.

Napoleon House is a building with history literally etched into its walls, with the bricks visible beneath the cracked plaster. For a town that is already distinctly different from the rest of the United States (Voodoo historian Jerry Gandolfo called it “the north coast of the Caribbean,”) walking into Napoleon House is like stepping into a European bistro, albeit with a tropical climate.

Both times I ate there, I kept it simple and classic: red beans, rice, and sausage. No frills, no bullshit, nothing fancy. A staple of New Orleans cuisine, it is the perfect blend of flavors and textures. Words are barely enough to describe it. When done right, red beans and rice is a food experience that borders on the divine.

On my recommendation, Alexa ordered the muffuletta sandwich. An often-overlooked fact about New Orleans is that it boasts the largest Italian-American population in the United States. The muffuletta is an invention of Sicilian immigrants, featuring layers of meat (mortadella, salami, and ham) and cheese (provolone and mozzarella) on muffuletta bread, topped with a slightly spicy olive tapenade. The bread is somewhat like focaccia, thin and soft, and topped with sesame seeds. To soften the cheese – and also to make it into a melty bite of Heaven – the sandwich is usually served warm. Most restaurants will offer the sandwich in quarter, half, and full-sized portions. Measuring ten inches across, the full-sized portion is a lot of sandwich.

If the food is among the best things I ever ate (apologies to Alton Brown), then the atmosphere is even better. Featuring both indoor and outdoor seating, it is an ideal spot to enjoy a good meal, coffee and dessert, or to just sit back with a local favorite (Pimm’s Royal is highly recommended) and people-watch while listening to the classical music played over the house speakers.

We didn’t order it this time around, but when I visited New Orleans with my dad, I enjoyed the cassata (spumoni ice cream served with jelly and cake – a true delicacy) while my old man indulged in one of his favorite things on the planet, after Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, 1950’s sci-fi B-movies, and his Fender Mustang: the cannoli. Regardless of what you do there, no trip to New Orleans is complete without stopping by Napoleon House and just soaking in the atmosphere – but be sure to order something among all the soaking.

Just a short walk away from the Napoleon House is Café du Monde, one of the better known dining spots in the French Quarter, famous for their beignets and traditional New Orleans style coffee. The beignets, deep fried pastry fritters topped with powdered sugar, arrive steaming hot to the table under a large green and white striped canopy in pure French flair. The café au lait is another local must. The coffee beans are roasted with chicory, giving a peppery flair to your morning coffee. While Café du Monde is one of the more touristy spots, it is worth the visit. The beignets and café au lait make the perfect mid-afternoon snack or ending to a day in one of America's coolest cities.