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Where Y'Eat: Raising a Glass, and the Bar, at the French 75

The French 75 Bar recently brought new attention to the old line French Creole restaurant Arnaud's.
Ian McNulty
The French 75 Bar recently brought new attention to the old line French Creole restaurant Arnaud's.

The pace of change for New Orleans restaurants feels rapid and constant. But we still look to one corner of the dining scene as a rock of stability. It's the old-line French Creole restaurant, steeped in history, bound by tradition and never changing. Right? 

Well, actually no. Change and even trends visit these restaurants too, though sometimes in ways that are subtle and gradual, but still fundamental. To see what I mean, let's go to the French Quarter.

We take just a few steps from the hurly-burly of Bourbon Street, pass the ornate main entrance of Arnaud’s Restaurant and continue to its French 75 bar. We push through two sets of flapping double doors and then step, as if through an airlock, into this chamber of bourbon-colored wood, brass and beveled glass. Bartenders wear white dinner jackets and black bow ties. Patrons hold fizzy Champagne cocktails by the stem or burnished-red Sazeracs in their palms.

The look at the French 75 bar is Belle Époque, the feel is Roaring Twenties and lately the buzz about the place has been ramping up. This spring, the French 75 brought Arnaud’s the James Beard award for Outstanding Bar Program. This award essentially gave a bar in a 99-year-old New Orleans restaurant recognition as being in the forefront of bars and cocktail culture in the country.

It didn’t happen overnight, but rather through a long development led by the head bartender at Arnaud’s, Chris Hannah. He made the French 75 into a New Orleans destination for high-caliber drinks just as that craft cocktail trend was taking off nationally. He did it here by blending a reverence for ingredients and technique with time-honored recipes. Guess what? That proved a natural fit in a restaurant already deeply ingrained with its own traditions.

This recent national recognition for Arnaud’s has also turned the spotlight to a part of the New Orleans dining spectrum that is usual cast in terms of the past.

According to the familiar story line, he grand old line French Creole restaurants are bastions, stalwarts, even time capsules. In fact, in the turbulent years since Hurricane Katrina, all of them have changed. Broussard’s, Galatoire’s, Tujague’s, even Antoine’s, and especially Brennan’s – they’re all seen change, in one form or another, from ownership to menus to how they present and market themselves.

They may still remind us of a bygone time. But they have to do business and compete in modern New Orleans and also live up to legacies established long ago. 

That can’t be easy, but it is fascinating to watch as they balance and evolve. After all, these restaurants are unique creations of New Orleans culture. They show the world a culinary style that was created here and really only thrives here. These days they’re also showing how restaurants that tell stories reaching back into the past can also set the table for the future. 

Or, in the case of Arnaud’s, how they can raise the bar.  The French 75 bar is named for a Champagne cocktail, mixed here with cognac, sugar and a little lemon juice. It’s a drink that’s distinctive and festive. With the shine of its national recognition still glowing, distinctive and festive fairly well describes the feel around Arnaud’s too.  

Arnaud’s Restaurant and the French 75 Bar

813 Bienville St., 504-523-5433

Dinner nightly, brunch Sunday.

Ian covers food culture and dining in New Orleans through his weekly commentary series Where Y’Eat.

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