behind the scenes

As I walked the streets of the French Quarter today, bringing up the rear of this afternoon’s New Orleans Culinary History Tour (Tasting Tour), I was chatting w/a lovely couple from Toronto enjoying their first visit to nola.  They were thrilled about all the amazing sneak peeks we get behind the scenes inside some of the city’s oldest culinary establishments, I told them that I was just as giddy the first time I tagged-along on the tour & saw these places.  Growing up here, all these years, these hidden gems were hiding right under my nose, or well, behind closed doors.  Who knew about the nearly 15 additional private dining rooms upstairs at Arnaud’s or the Escargot room at Antoine’s?!  What’s more, I still get excited the 5^th time, you always notice something different & pick up some new factoid from another tour guide (I was doing another tag-along today, as I’m still in-training for these culinary tours).  I noticed that I’m often taking more pictures than the tour guests are, even though I’ve been there before…seriously, I’m like a kid in a candy store, I can’t get enough. 

I explained to the couple that what is so fantastic (in my opinion) about being a tour guide is that it allows you to be a tourist in your own town…enjoying all the things that I love about this place, the reasons that I choose to live here, but hardly ever get to do or see while swept up in the usual day to day grind of a 9-5 job & all the other tedious crap that easily gets in the way.  Often, when you live in an amazing city like New Orleans, you take for granted all that it has to offer or you put it on the back burner…”I’ll do that another weekend when I have more time or when I’m not so tired.”…”we’ll check out that exhibit next time friends come in town”…”we have to try that new restaurant that everyone is raving about, let’s put it on our list.”  This is what I found myself saying instead of actually taking advantage of the fact that I have great FOOD, amazing MUSIC, gorgeous old ARCHITECTURE, & some of the friendliest PEOPLE you’ll ever find (just to name a few components that make up this wonderful town) all at my fingertips!! 

As for New Orleans Culinary History Tours, they are definitely living up to their reputation.  I’ll just put it this way, if you like to eat & you’re at all interested in history, you’re a fool if you don’t take this tour the next time you visit New Orleans!!  Ok, yes, I know I’ll be working for them, so I’m biased, but lemme tell you, I wouldn’t be working for them if I didn’t believe in them & love the tours myself.  After 10 years wasting away doing database maintenance at UNO Library, I am not just gonna take whatever tour comes across my path…I’m being picky this time.  One of the few things I’ve finally learned by my early 30’s, it’s ain’t worth doing if you’re not passionate about it.  Of course, I fully recognize how elitist this sounds b/c I have the luxury of choosing, so it’s always hard for me to say these things.  But, if you’re gonna go ahead & bite the bullet, as I have (after 2 fucking car accidents, loosing the job I’d always bragged was so secure, & a complete emotional breakdown), you might as well do it right.  The Tasting Tour takes you into some of the oldest restaurants in the city, samples some of our most famous dishes, & teaches you about New Orleans’ rich history, & how intertwined our food is with our culture & just how integral our unique cuisine is to our way of life.  I’d say that’s a pretty damn good way to spend an afternoon.

BTW, before tagging along on the culinary tour this afternoon, I started off my day w/FOC’s monthly tour guide meeting.  After catching up on our usual business, our speaker, Lawrence Powell told us about how Hurricane Katrina influenced his new book, The Accidental City. Improvising New Orleans.  I chose to study art history in college not only for my love of art, but because of my fascination with the story behind the art.  That’s what Lawrence Powell gave us this morning, & now I’m even more excited to start reading my autographed copy of his book! 

Then, of course, a gal’s gotta eat, right?  So, I grabbed a quick lunch with 2 of my best tour guide friends at Stanley in Jackson Square.  I had an Eggs Benedict Poor Boy, of course, I took a picture of the plate before devouring it, it’s served open face & you must eat it with a fork & knife, there’s just no other way of getting around it.  It was lovely & scrumptious.  And, the portion was just begin enough to satisfy without making me feel ill, so I had just enough room to fit in 2 scoops of Brocato’s pistachio gelato (my absolute fave, nothing better) at Antoine’s Annex before the culinary tour.  Come on, how could I resist?!  First of all, Antoine’s Annex is like my home away from home when in the quarter, it’s a great little coffee shop, & it is literally around the corner from the start of the culinary tour…I had to find some way to kill the time, right?!  Mind you, I did not eat on the culinary tour, the food is just for the guests…well, ok, there was an extra brisket at Tujague’s & one can’t let these delicacies go to waste, that is some serious horseradish in that sauce, phew, cleans out the sinuses, but it’s damn good! 

So, after another day of continuing ed for tour guides courtesy of FOC, a great lunch w/my tour guide gals & wandering in & out of old restaurants in the quarter, sampling some of their most famous & traditional dishes w/a group of 17 tourists, I’m reminded, yet again, not just how happy I am, but relieved & thankful that I chose this new path.  Mel Brooks infamously said, “it’s good to be the king”.  Well, as cliché as it might sound, I say, it’s good to be a tour guide.