In the 1970’s I was on a student budget so it was a big treat to be able to go to a five star restaurant with my parents on their trip to New Orleans. Nice restaurants were made more affordable by the fact that there was ample free entertainment on the streets including the Sugar Bowl Parade with the grand marshal being Melvin Laird, the Secretary of Defense for the Nixon administration during the Vietnam war. In true New Orleans fashion this did not seem to be a political statement but rather an assurance that everyone was welcome to join the festivities.

On my own time I was on my normal diet of going to neighborhood hangouts which in this city was largely a diet of po’ boys, with my New Year’s celebration being a  hamburger for breakfast at a fast food restaurant in Vidalia, Louisiana. To this day I don’t think I have ever had a bad meal in the state.

Following is the menu for what was considered at the time to be an expensive restaurant. Today the price per person according to Google Maps is $50 to $100. I know they are doing something right, though, having been in business since 1840 (at which time there were probably many customers whose native language was French).

When I was doing research for the Belgian immigration in the 1800’s in which my family was included, it seemed that New Orleans was the principal port of entry rather than Ellis Island. Even without this, though, people understood that French cuisine was one of the best in the world, and this type of restaurant would not face a lack of customers.

At the time my only other experience with French food was at Jacques’ in Oklahoma City. This restaurant did not impress me nearly as much as Antoine’s. I do not remember what I ate here but I do remember the escargots that all of my high school French class got at Jacques,’ making it seem more like a fraternity initiation than a fine dining experience. It was almost as if our French teacher did not want us to like French food, or maybe she was paying us back for the grief we put her through. In any case, I am confident going to Antoine’s will make you love the cuisine.

It is interesting that there are a lot of Anglicisms in the menu–the same thing I see in quite a few Mexican restaurants. One example at Antoine’s is “crabmeat.”

One thing probably not on the menu now is the cigarettes–something that was always a pet peeve of mine during that era.