Revel in Reveillon

	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.