The "New" New Orleans

If you’ve been lucky enough to be watching Treme on HBO this spring, your mind is on New Orleans.

New Orleans (say “New Orleenz” and you’re marked as a tourist) five years post-Katrina is a changed city in some ways and the same place in others. There is a seriousness about it now, wrought by the hurricane and its ongoing hardships. Yet there are whole neighborhoods, particularly ones tourists frequent, that bear no traces of Katrina. Other parts of the city remain ravaged or pockmarked by the storm.

It’s going to be a quarter century before the hurricane’s true impact can be gauged, but New Orleans, one of America’s singular cultural and sensual experiences, is back. Bourbon Street is as vile as ever, the Garden District gleams, the Tulane campus is full of students, and the music scene jumps. If Katrina took or expelled many of the city’s residents and some of its insouciance, it has left a slow-to-recede historical record that is fascinating to bear witness to.

There’s no better time to return to New Orleans—everything you’ve loved is there, there are a few new pleasures, and the bruises add real depth.

Lakeview
The shores of Lake Pontchartrain and the new-money neighborhoods just south of it are not typically visitor haunts, but the area is on the way in from the airport and illustrates the hurricane’s aftermath. Storm surge from the enormous lake (among other failures) devastated the affluent neighborhood of Lakeview, and even today, along Canal Boulevard and side streets, restored homes sit side-by-side with vacant lots and damaged homes covered in first responders’ spray-painted coding. Not everyone devastated by Katrina was poor, nor has everyone with means recovered. Stop for lunch in nearby Metairie at R&O (216 Old Hammond Hwy., 504-831-1248), a big honky-tonk joint known for seafood, po-boys, and, oddly enough, great pizza. There ain’t a tourist in the place.

Lower 9th Ward
If you are interested enough in Katrina’s wake to stop in Lakeview, you inevitably will want to see the Lower 9th Ward, today largely deserted. It’s been stripped of most everything, though some new construction is evident, notably the collection of high-design, sustainable homes built with the motivational and financial assistance of Brad Pitt. These homes are centered just north of Claiborne Avenue in several square blocks between Delsonde and Forstall Streets. The notorious Industrial Canal and its levees are a stone’s throw away. You will need a car or indulgent cabbie to get here.

Garden District/St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans’ crown jewel is not the French Quarter, but the Garden District, St. Charles Avenue, and the streetcar that courses down this charm- and history-filled artery from Canal Street to Uptown. The Garden District is just south of St. Charles Avenue at Washington Avenue. You can stroll gorgeous Victorian and period streets, gazing at the flowers and immaculately kept homes, or take one of any number of guided walking tours. Don’t miss Lafayette Cemetery (Washington Avenue at Prytania Street) for a sense of how the high water table affects everything here. The dean of Garden District restaurants is the legendary high-style Creole Commander’s Palace (1403 Washington Ave., 504-899-8221, commanderspalace.com). Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop (3454 Magazine St., 504-899-3374, mahonyspoboys.com) offers a more casual lunch; Eleven 79 (1179 Annunciation St., 504-299-1179, eleven79.com) is a traditional New Orleans Italian; while Casamento’s Restaurant (4330 Magazine St., 504-895-9761, casamentosrestaurant.com) has the best oysters.

Uptown
Take the streetcar all the way to its endpoint on Carrollton Avenue. The Garden District gradually evolves into Uptown, a slightly bohemian, eclectic neighborhood of shops, stylish homes, good restaurants, and city icons Tulane University and Audubon Park and Zoo. Magazine Street, a few blocks toward the river, parallels St. Charles and is the city’s signature shopping and gallery thoroughfare. Uptown is loaded with eating, from the historic Camellia Grill diner (626 S. Carrollton Ave., 504-309-2679, camelliagrill.net) with its tuxedoed servers; to Brigtsen’s (723 Dante St., 504-861-7610, brigtsens.com), where topnotch Creole and Cajun fare is brightened with modern technique; to Patois (6078 Laurel St., 504-895-9441, patoisnola.com), a bright French/New Orleans bistro

Warehouse District
The hottest urban quarter is the Warehouse District, off the CBD, where characteristic restored (and derelict) buildings are home to innovative restaurants and galleries. Some blocks are gentrified, others not, but the area is a good stroll on a Friday or Saturday. The district is also home to the impressive and unexpected National World War II Museum (945 Magazine St., 504-528-1944, nationalww2museum.org). Notable dining spots include the acclaimed Cochon (930 Tchoupitoulas St., 504-588-2123, cochonrestaurant.com) and Cochon Butcher next door (504-588-7675, cochonbutcher.com)—chef Donald Link’s paean to the humble cuisine of rural southwest Louisiana. Chef Link’s Herbsaint (701 St. Charles Ave., 504-524-4114, herbsaint.com) is one of the city’s more understated restaurants, featuring Southern-Creole recipes and upscale technique.

French Quarter
I have mixed feelings about the French Quarter, where New Orleans began. Its core is touristy and, at times, repellent. But the charming streets on its northern and eastern fringes (Burgundy Street, Ursulines Avenue, Governor Nicholls Street, Barracks Street) are the province of locals. Iconic, bustling Jackson Square is worth a stop, though nearby Café Du Monde is all tourists (the diverse staff does, however, give you a taste of changing New Orleans). Take a ranger-led walking tour from the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park (419 Decatur St., 504-589-2636). The culinary highlight is the legendary French-Creole temple Galatoire’s (209 Bourbon St., 504-525-2021). It helps to go with a local or really schmooze your waiter. Stanley (547 St. Ann St., 504-587-0093) offers chefy New Orleans comfort fare and is a great spot for a light meal; Irene’s Cuisine (539 St. Philip St., 504-529-8811) serves classic New Orleans Italian, heavy on seafood and assertive sauces.

The Music Scene
New Orleans is one of America’s great music towns, from jazz to regional sounds from Cajun Country and the South. Those in the know go to Tipitina’s (501 Napoleon Ave., 504-895-8477; 233 N. Peters St., 504-566-7096, tipitinas.com) for rollicking local beats, Vaughan’s (4229 Dauphine St., 504-947-5562) for jazz trumpet legend Kermit Ruffins on Thursday nights, Snug Harbor (626 Frenchmen St., 504-949-0696, snugjazz.com) for traditional jazz, and Spotted Cat (623 Frenchmen St., 206-337-3273) for old-school brass bands.

The Food Scene
If you are serious about food, find local restaurant critic Brett Anderson’s semi-annual dining guides (nola.com) before you leave home. Restaurants worth the effort outside the traditional tourist areas include Dooky Chase (2301 New Orleans Ave., 504-821-0600), the city’s legendary home for soul food and homey Southern fare; Mandina’s (3800 Canal St., 504-482-9179, mandinasrestaurant.com), for traditional Creole-Italian and po-boys with the locals; Parkway Bakery & Tavern (538 Hagan Ave., 504-482-3047, parkwaybakeryandtavernnola.com), for killer roast beef po-boys in a revived neighborhood tavern near City Park; and Mosca's Restaurant (4137 US 90 W., Westwego, 504-436-9942, moscasrestaurant.com), the leading purveyor of garlicky Creole-Italian fare from a concrete bunker in the ’burbs. Any of local legend John Besh’s (chefjohnbesh.com) restaurants are worth a visit. Many New Orleans restaurants operate limited hours and only certain days of the week, so call ahead.