Revel in Reveillon

Annika Mengisen

	Cajun-Style Christmas

New Orleans native Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong once asked, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"

Don't answer Armstrong until you have seen the familiar smokestacks of riverboats drifting down the Mississippi, heard Dixieland and blues waft from every corner and seen Spanish moss lazily framing time-weathered facades.

The city of the rising sun has been through trying times, but its spirit is as vibrant as ever.

Its appeal could be attributed to voodoo, if you believe in that sort of thing, but a more likely culprit is the smell of gumbo or the oyster stew wafting from New Orleans' irresistible restaurants.

"When you think about New Orleans, you think about the music and the food," says Kathleen Alter, CEO of French Quarter Festivals.

"The musicians are ready; the hotels and restaurants are open," says Alter. "We have to let everyone else know that the [New Orleans] spirit is still here ... and never left."

Throughout December, city restaurants serve up an old French holiday feast called the Reveillon.

Le Reveillon, meaning "the awakening," is an elaborate feast originally eaten after the midnight Mass in France and Canada.

With its heavy French influence, New Orleans has adapted this feast to its local culture.

Cajun Spice

During the mid-1800's, Creole families returned from St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square to an elaborate dinner on Christmas Eve. The meal consisted of sweet breads, egg dishes and Creole specialties such as daube glace, a jellied meat usually spread on crackers.

New Year's Eve brought another decadent Reveillon, usually enjoyed with family.

Today, Reveillon is celebrated nightly during the Christmas season in restaurants throughout the city.

Menus custom-designed by each restaurant will floor you like a wailing blues riff, proving that the Crescent City does not mess around when it comes to food.

The Reveillon's four or five courses are served up at an equally delicious fixed price, much lower than such dinners would ordinarily cost.

The French Quarter Festival Organization, which revived and promoted the Reveillon tradition more than 10 years ago, encourages participating restaurants to make up their own special Reveillon menus while staying true to old-world New Orleans Christmas fare.

The true spirit of the Reveillon can be found in two of New Orleans' oldest restaurants, where patrons enjoy classic Creole cuisine and celebrate not only the warmth of the season but also, more recently, hope after adversity.

Galatoire's Gaiety

Run by four generations of family members, Galatoire's Restaurant (209 Bourbon St.) turned 101 this year.

"The menu basically does not change," explains Galatoire's executive chef Bryan Landry.

Galatoire's is reminiscent of an old French bistro, with its black and white tiles and mirrored walls. "It's a wild place -- real noisy, but lots of fun," says Landry. "A great restaurant to celebrate."

The restaurant has packaged some of its greatest hits into a four-course Reveillon menu, which starts out with Galatoire's famous turtle soup.

"Coming in out of the cold and having a nice cup is definitely a way to start [the meal]," says Landry.

Foie gras (the fattened liver of duck or goose) and high-end foods like truffles are typical staples of the Reveillon feast, according to Landry.

However, Galatoire's menu is always locally driven. "It's duck season in Louisiana, so you will probably see a lot of [that]," says Landry.

Galatoire's Reveillon menu ranges from $45 to $50, depending on whether you choose the poisson meuniere amandine (a rich, almond-garnished fish), or petit filet (beef tenderloin). All meals include a glass of wine or Sazerac, a special Galatoire's cocktail made with rye whiskey, herbsaint and a few dashes of bitter.

In the South, explains Landry, eating a meal -- especially Reveillon -- is an event in itself. "When you sit down and have a four- or five-course meal, you are definitely here for the evening."

A New Orleans native, Landry grew up celebrating Reveillon at home with his family on Christmas day. He has been working in the city's restaurants since he was 15.

"The hurricane kind of turned the city on its ear," says Landry, referring to Hurricane Katrina. Galatoire's was closed for four months, but now the Bourbon Street joint is jumping again.

Tradition at Tujague's

Tujague's Restaurant (823 Decatur St.) heeded the Reveillon call 15 years ago. "The basic idea was to bring more people to the French quarter," says owner Steven Latter.

The second-oldest restaurant in New Orleans (the oldest is Antoine's), Tujague's opened in 1856.

	Galatoire's Juicy Petit Filet

The restaurant serves up a traditional Reveillon menu, virtually unchanged from the days when horses and buggies rolled by its windows and a beer was 4 cents. Here, you can feast on the same cuisine that has drawn in President Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, John D. Rockefeller and Harrison Ford.

The celebration kicks off with shrimp remoulade, gumbo soup and boiled brisket of beef with horseradish sauce (the house specialty). For the main course, sink your teeth into a braised lamb shank with Creole stew -- another favorite, according to Latter -- and finish up with some heavenly banana bread pudding, all for $33.

Of course, don't forget to try the dark-roast coffee in a shot glass or a pint of microbrewed Tujague's beer.

Tujague's clientele consists of mostly locals, notes Latter, which helped the restaurant keep a healthy customer base through the hardship after the Katrina.

Hungry for More?

You can check out all that New Orleans has to offer for the holidays online. Don't miss the historic home tours, bonfire cruises and the French Quarter's eclectic shops -- a perfect place to find that last-minute gift.

No matter where you choose to celebrate the Reveillon, remember the "philosophy of dining" printed on the backs of Arnaud's menus: "Americans are prone to forget, in the ultra-rapidity and super-activity of modern life ... that eating should be a pleasure, not a task to get over with in a hurry."

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