Where to Stay, Eat and Drink When NOT at Carnival Parades

ALL PHOTOS BY MELANIE WARNER SPENCER Tatlo in the French Quarter is the witchy absinthe bar of your dreams. Go for the vibes and stay to live deliciously through the enchanted cocktails and delectable food

Normally, when friends say they want to visit New Orleans during Carnival season, I steer them toward autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mardi Gras. As evidenced by my membership in The Merry Antoinettes, a cake-throwing, champagne-swilling krewe dedicated to Carnival excess and year-round decadence. But, New Orleans is a different place during Carnival. It’s harder to navigate due to parade street closures and paused streetcar services; accommodations are scarcer; restaurants and bars are busier; and revelers are rowdier than usual. So for this inaugural edition of the new LA Rambler travel column, if (after learning the challenges) you plan to visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras (and everyone should at least once), or if it has been a while, here’s this New Orleanian’s guide for hotel stays, eating and drinking when you aren’t at a parade. Plus, provisions and pro tips for when you are on the route.

First, let’s figure out where you are staying. Design lovers will want to book rooms at the Hotel Saint Vincent, located in the restored circa-1861 Saint Vincent Infant Asylum on Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District or in the restored Victorian mansion, The Chloe, on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown. Both boutique hotels are the brainchildren of hospitality veterans and are on or within walking distance to the Uptown parade route. Steeped in luxe design with tightly curated amenities (D.S. & DURGA bath products at the former and complimentary welcome beverage at the bar, chef-made breakfast and chocolates from New Orleans chocolatier Piety and Desire at the latter, plus fine Italian bed linens at both), each features upscale eateries and see-and-be-seen bars. In the Central Business District, your luxury accommodations might be the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans or, at a lower price point but still indulgent (and with Richard Branson’s coolness credentials), Virgin Hotels New Orleans in the CBD’s Warehouse District. All the aforementioned hotels have pools, naturally, and are doggo friendly (but check the pet policies for restrictions and don’t bring your fur family to parades other than Krewe of Barkus). In the French Quarter, local hotelier Robert LeBlanc (whose group also owns The Chloe) recently flung open the doors to The Celestine, which was quickly awarded MICHELIN Guide’s new MICHELIN Key designation (the Hotel Saint Vincent is also one of six New Orleans hotels with the classification). The 10-room hotel is everything you’d want in a French Quarter stay, including courtyard balconies and choice antiques, giving it the feeling of a stay in your old-school New Orleanian friend’s home. Rumor has it the parlor bar was once Tennessee Williams’ rooms, so points for provenance. Ponder this while you sip cocktails in the courtyard bar, Peychaud’s.

Kick back in a classic and lush French Quarter courtyard at The Celestine hotel with cocktails from the onsite bar, Peychaud’s, or a caffeinated beverage from the hotel’s coffee bar.

When it comes to bars in New Orleans there’s not enough space on the entirety of the internet to make a comprehensive list, so I’m going to narrow it down to my top four — and may the drinking gods forgive me. In the French Quarter, you must have drinks (and food if you are hungry) at Tatlo, located behind Olde Absinthe House. This space is not only magickally themed but also, the proprietor, Chef Cristina Quackenbush, is a practicing witch. Locally sourced moss drips from the ceiling, along with other herbs and botanicals, an altar takes pride of place near the door and the cocktails are ensorcelled for your pleasure, abundance and protection. No trip to New Orleans is complete without a twirl around the room at the Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar. Yes, it’s touristy. But do the locals love it, too? Also, yes. Pop into the Erin Rose for dive bar vibes and a frozen Irish coffee. Be sure to get out of the Quarter and visit Cure in Uptown’s Freret Street neighborhood. The James Beard Award-winning cocktail program belies the bar’s neighborhood vibes and friendly bartenders. Cure’s happy hour falls under “too good to be true” territory with an $8 beer and a shot option. Make sure you get the pimento cheese spread appetizer and order an old-school martini with a twist. Or my favorite, a French 75.

Designed by globe-trotting interior designer, editor and author Sara Ruffin Costello, the interiors at The Celestine evoke Old-World-meets-1950s glamour and come with custom linens and toiletries.

This is going to sound repetitive, but we have the same issue with restaurants in the Crescent City that we have with bars. So here, I’m sharing the restaurants I frequent and where I take my friends and family when they visit. If you have only one takeaway from this column, let it be making a reservation at Mosquito Supper Club. In a charming, rustic-chic uptown bungalow, Chef Melissa Martin shares her take on her family’s Cajun cuisine, her experience as a Cajun and the bounty of this ecologically fragile region. High Hat Cafe in the Freret neighborhood is all about comfort food and has my favorite dark roux chicken and sausage gumbo in town. Get it with the sweet potato salad. This is a fantastic pre-parade lunch spot and the cornmeal pancakes are a weekend brunch must. Gris-Gris in the Lower Garden District and the same chef/owner Eric Cook’s newly reopened Saint John in the CBD offer top-notch Creole cuisine and vibes to spare. My husband loves the shrimp and grits at Gris-Gris and the shrimp and the grits and grillades at St. John.

No trip to New Orleans is complete without beignets. Skip the lines and get your fix at the location in City Park.

Speaking of food and drink, you’ll need them for the parades. Gourmands, get thee to Meyer Provisions in Uptown, where you’ll find specialty, imported gourmet goodies from Italy and France, as well as local options. Nearby Martin Wine Cellar also stocks gourmet items, plus there is a café. In the French Quarter, pack your cooler at Rouses or Verti Marte.

When you need a break from the onslaught of booze, beads and marching bands, sneak off to City Park Conservancy. Enjoy the New Orleans Museum of Art, Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans Botanical Garden and a sweet little amusement park, and grab beignets and coffee at a not-so-secret, but far less chaotic and tourist-filled Café Du Monde. Once fortified by nature, art, sugar and caffeine, you’ll feel like you’ve won Mardi Gras. And you’ll be right.

Location

New Orleans

The streetcars have been rolling in New Orleans more than 150 years.

Cafe du Monde beignets are fried in cottonseed oil heated to 420 degrees.

City Park Conservancy is home to some of the oldest oaks in the world, with some of the trees dating to 800 years ago.