New Orleans.
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54 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
Jewel of the South?
Destination · American, cocktails · French Quarter · $$$$
book ahead
Jewel of the South takes its name from the 1850s room where Joseph Santini built the Brandy Crusta, and it pours one: cognac, curacao, maraschino, in a sugar-rimmed glass.
Turkey and the WolfBibjust added?
Destination · American, sandwiches · Irish Channel · $
walk-in
The collard green melt is a double-decker on rye, swiss melted through it, pickled cherry pepper dressing holding it together.
Dooky Chase RestaurantBibjust added?
Destination · Creole · Treme · $$
book ahead
Leah Chase's fried chicken fed A.P. Tureaud and Thurgood Marshall while they worked, and the kitchen still sends it out.
Mister MaoBibjust added?
Solid · Asian, Indian, contemporary · Uptown · $$
book ahead
Sophina Uong serves pani puri filled with chickpea and potato masala, pickled blueberry and fiery mint water, in a room that used to be Dick & Jenny's.
New & next.
Fritaijust added?
Solid · Haitian · Treme · $$
walk-in
Charly Pierre pours clarin, the Haitian cane spirit, as a flight, and sends out plantain sandwiches with fried pork under spicy pikliz.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
The dependable sends
Good cooking needs no occasion, and these are the ones I hand out on a normal Tuesday. 8 here.
Molly's Rise and ShineMichelinjust added?
American, breakfast · Garden District · $
walk-in
Country ham arrives with hollow cheese puffs, and the McMuffin comes with a small American flag stuck in it.
Brennan'sjust added?
Creole · French Quarter · $$$$
booking essential
Owen Brennan's brother was sitting on a surplus of bananas, so Ella Brennan and Chef Paul Blange turned them into Bananas Foster, and the room still fires it at the table.
Cafe Du Mondejust added?
Beignets, coffee · French Quarter · $
walk-in
The stand was established in the French Market in 1862 and the menu still runs to coffee, beignets, milk and orange juice.
Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29?
Tiki, Caribbean, rum · French Quarter · $$$
book ahead
Jeff Berry is the man usually credited with bringing tiki bars back, and this is the room where he pours. The Navy Grog runs Jamaican and Demerara rums with allspice, lime and grapefruit.
The Avenue Pubjust added?
Beer, pub food · Lower Garden District · $$
walk-in
Polly Watts is one of about sixty publicans in the world Cantillon sends a Zwanze keg to, and she pours it on the day they say.
The Courtyard Breweryjust added?
Beer · Lower Garden District · $
walk-in
Three historical recreations pour here at once: an 1880s London porter, a 1915 mild and a 1930s interwar stout, next to a Nelson and Riwaka IPA.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 41 here.
Manolitojust added?
Cuban, cocktails · French Quarter · $$
walk-in
Manolito takes its name from Manuel Carbajo Aguiar, who tended bar at El Floridita in Havana, and it pours daiquiris off a short Cuban list.
The High Hat Cafejust added?
Southern · Freret · $$
walk-in
The catfish comes out of the fryer in a cornmeal coat, dressed on Leidenheimer bread, $18 with pimento mac and cheese on the side for six more.
Black Pennyjust added?
Beer, cocktails · French Quarter · $
walk-in
Close to a hundred cans of beer sit racked above the bar, and the bartenders will make you a cocktail if you ask, which they will not mention.