Arabi

French Quarter

The first block of Bourbon Street off Canal Street was almost a no-man's land after the major department stores closed. The first sign of life in lively scene there now was the opening of the Red Fish Grill, whose colorful digs and impressive casual cooking set off a trend. As if it had something further to prove, it was the first major restaurant in the French Quarter to reopen after Katrina, even though they had to use paper and plastic serviceware and bottled water even for dishwashing. It all made the statement that this somewhat wacky-looking restaurant was in earnest about its food. And it still is.

French Quarter

Among the memories carried around by lifetime Orleanians, the circumstances surrounding the eating of one's first raw oyster loom vividly. For a long time, the population could be divided into those who had their first oyster at Felix's, and those who did so across the street at the Acme. What with all the oysters bars in town now, this effect has transmogrified into a predictor of the oyster-eater's age. If your first was from either Felix's or the Acme, you are probably over fifty.