Midnight's Children
Just a block from the too-touristy French Quarter in New Orleans is Frenchmen Street - a lively stretch of authentic music clubs where even the locals go to get down.
(Photograph by Richard Oliver)
Frenchman Street, New Orleans.
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`Best seat in the house," I say to my companion, as we snag two wooden chairs on the balcony of Snug Harbor jazz club in New Orleans. Peering from behind wooden railings, we are directly above the stage, spitting distance from the band. Snug Harbor's cabaret theater-style showroom, where music-lovers kick back around tiny cocktail tables, is about as compact as they come - so intimate, in fact, that I feel a bit like I've snuck into someone's private soiree.
But on Frenchmen Street, where Snug is just one of many authentic New Orleans clubs, it's tough to feel like an outsider for long. Seven days a week, locals, transplants, and travelers mingle freely on this main artery of the city's Faubourg Marigny district, brought together by their love of good music. With only a few hotels and bed and breakfasts in the neighborhood, the Marigny can't offer the variety in accommodations that the nearby French Quarter does (it's just a street away). But while parts of the Quarter cater largely to tourists and the Girls Gone Wild set, the Marigny remains the real New Orleans: an even mix of old and new, with establishments housed in Creole cottages. And once visitors find their way to Frenchmen Street, there's really no need to go anywhere else. There you can find many genres - and some of the city's top musicians - within a matter of blocks.
Snug Harbor, one of the classier joints in the neighborhood, is known for its star-studded weekly lineup, including trumpet-player Irvin Mayfield Jr., singer Charmaine Neville, and pianist Ellis Marsalis (of Marsalis family fame). We are here, however, for Lionel Ferbos's 97th birthday celebration. For Snug's usual $15 admission price, we get to see the jazz trumpet player - New Orleans's oldest working musician - play and sing alongside a few other living legends, including bassist Chuck Badie.
When we finally duck out of Snug, it's late, but I want to keep going. With d.b.a., Apple Barrel, and Cafe Brasil all only steps away, there are almost too many options - all a little rowdier, with more drinking and dancing, than where we've just been. In the end, it's the Spotted Cat, a contemporary jazz venue right across the street, that wins out. We'd been there earlier in the evening, hogging seats at the bar, only a few feet from the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, but now the crowd outside is about three rows deep. In the glow of white Christmas lights that adorn the club, just feet away from the music, I realize that this may be the worst stage view anywhere on French- men. But it still beats what you'd see almost anywhere else.
GETTING THERE AND AROUND
EAT
Franky & Johnny's (504-899-9146; frankyandjohnnys.com) does a great rendition of the po-boy, the famous local sandwich stuffed with fried seafood or meat, and if you go sometime between January and June, you can enjoy a basket of juicy boiled crawfish along with it. For a fancier meal, check out Upperline Restaurant (504-891-9822; upperline.com) and enjoy classic local dishes with a contemporary twist.
SLEEP
Take a load off in style at Hotel Monteleone (504-523-3341; hotelmonteleone.com) in the French Quarter, starting at $179 per night, where literary icons like Truman Capote and Ernest Hemingway once rested their heads and found inspiration in the hotel's rotating carousel bar - still one of classiest spots in town to grab a drink. A few blocks away, just outside of the Quarter, the historic Le Pavillon Hotel (504-581-3111; lepavillon.com), about $129 per night, keeps up a longstanding tradition: Every night at 10, guests are served freshly made PB&J sandwiches and icecold milk in the hotel's gorgeously appointed lobby.
DON'T MISS
Shopping on Magazine Street. This funky 6-mile road, dotted with boutiques, restaurants, and cafes, offers a welcome reprieve from the schlocky souvenir shops that abound downtown. Feet First (504-899-6800; feetfirststores.com), New Orleans's largest independent shoe store, offers name brands like Kate Spade and Michael Kors in a variety of styles. Down the block, Ropa Fashion Loft (504-309-9772) is the place to go for unique women's fashion.
Deblina Chakraborty
