Galatoire's waiter

Destination: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Book: Galatoire’s: Biography of a Bistro(2004) by Marda Burton and Kenneth Holditch

New Orleans’ visitors intent on finding a good meal, have only one problem.  How do you choose among all those excellent restaurants? And book lovers and cooks face a similar problem if they want to learn about Cajun or Creole food, because it seems that for every famous NOLA restaurant, authors have penned at least three books.

If you are a traveler who looks for the restaurant that embodies the culture of your destination, and want to eat where the knowledgeable locals eat, you’ll head for Galatoire’s in New Orleans. Restaurants are taken seriously in this city, as is eating and cooking.  In no other city that I know of, can a raucous scandal erupt over the firing of a waiter. It happened in New Orleans. (Note: this is a rather long article, but intriguing and amusing.)

I plead guilty to writing a biased review. I am happy to say that Kenneth Holditch, co-author of Galatoire’s: Biography of a Bistro, (and author of a blistering letter upon the firing of the waiter) is a friend of mine, and I have dined with him at Galatoire’s. I mentioned his guided tour of New Orleans in an earlier post about Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. Holditch and freelance writer Marda Burton, both long-time residents of New Orleans, and patrons of Galatoire’s wrote a delicious book with all the history and the gossip included.  Theirs is not a cookbook, although they do include a few recipes, but it gives a great taste of New Orleans, and I highly recommend it.

For cookbooks, you can turn to two other books about the Creole cooking of Galatoire’s: Galatoire’s Cookbook: Recipes and Family History from the Time Honored New Orleans Restaurant (2005) by Melvin Rodrique and Jyl  Benson or Leon Galatoire’s Cookbook (1994) by Leon Galatoire. The Louisiana cookbook that I use in my own kitchen was published by the Times Picayune newspaper. The Picayune’s Creole Cookbook, Sesquitennial Edition (1984) celebrated the papers 150th anniversary. You may be able to find a copy, but they are now rare.

Do you have favorite foodie books for New Orleans–please share in the comment section.  If you’re a regular here, you will notice that the sharing buttons below look different. Actually you now have more choices of ways to share A Traveler’s Library.

Don’t miss our other articles about New Orleans:

Surviving in New Orleans

Literary Hotel

New Orleans as Seen by Faulkner

Book Lover’s NOLA

Book Stores

Faulkner and Williams

Writers from Faulkner to Ford

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