FRENCHMEN STREET (Insider's Guide)

by Ray Ruiz, La Dauphine B&B

First off, here's what Where magazine says about our neighborhood, Faubourg Marigny, "...popular with French Quarter expatriates looking to escape the crowds...

The hip district is the nightlife center of town for locals, and Frenchmen Street swings with live music clubs, casual restaurants, and other hangouts."

Robert De Niro's new restaurant Belle Forche' on Frenchmen at Decatur is excellent, and not terribly pricey. Matt Yohalem is co-owner & chef. Phone 940-0722. Also, they offer a late night dining menu available from 10:30 p.m.

As Frenchmen Street rapidly becomes preferable to many French Quarter hot spots, it is also turning into "Restaurant Row" with a lively music scene. Wasabi (sushi) has just opened at 900 Frenchmen; phone 943-9433-- no reservations. Cafe Marigny has newly relocated to the corner of Royal and Frenchmen with full bar. Then, there's Snug Harbor for dining and jazz club, Spotted Cat (the new live music popular spot featured in national magazines), Adolfo's (Creole Italian), Cafe Negril (Jamaican music and dining),

Praline Connection (soul food), Cafe Brasil (live music), Mona's (Lebanese), the afore-mentioned Belle Forche', Old Dog, New Trick (vegetarian) and two more restaurants where Frenchmen ends at Esplanade: Marisol, and Siam (Thai food down and live music upstairs). An Iranian entrepreneur, Mr. Moezzi, has just opened Blue Nile, another hot music venue. And, there's still P.J.'s coffee house on Frenchmen, and the Santa Fe Bar & Grill on Frenchmen and Dauphine (Tex/Mex & the best margaritas!).

On Dauphine and Touro, there's La Peniche 24-hour diner. So, out of 13 restaurants, guests can likely find something all day and all night in our area. (Cafe Negril, Mona's and Old Dog, New Trick offer lunch as well as dinner.) And, there's always delectable Creole food at Feelings restaurant on Chartres and Franklin Streets.

A few feet from the new Belle Forche' is another hot venue with live music most nights called the Matador at 504 Esplanade. (You'll pass Checkpoint Charlie's en route with live rock music most nights.) Local columnist Chris Rose says: "El Matador is a draw for the slumming Hollywood scene when marquee actors are roaming the streets of New Orleans-- Vince Vaughn, David Arquette and Fran Drescher are recent visitors to the bar." Another reason it's so popular with the in-crowd is that the proprietor is Rio Hackford who splits his time between here and Hollywood-- acting in a couple of films a year. He's the son of Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman) who married British actress Helen Mirren (Madness of King George). They have maintained a home here for years, and in fact, own the building that houses the Matador. Bruce Willis has been seen hanging out on Frenchmen, and Nicolas Cage is all over the neighborhood, as he just bought a house nearby on Esplanade Avenue, near his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola's house.

Another hot spot on Frenchmen serving a couple hundred beers and liquors from all over the world is "d.b.a." Their first location is a big hit in New York City. We often send our European guests there and they love it. It's really a great place to just "hang out," and the crowd there is so pleasant and attractive.

There are other little "hot spots" incubating in many areas of town-- but Frenchmen seems to be ultra concentrated in a two block area, so near the French Quarter, and such a special, happening area from lunch time till the wee hours of the morning.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.