Monday, December 13, 2010

Big in Japan


New Orleans isn't as much as a twenty-hour town as I was lead to believe.  While the city doesn't sleep, large swaths of it cat nap.  Despite that, there is plenty to do at all the wee hours.  Where else can you go to a twenty-four hour bar and laundromat?

Cafe du Monde in the Quarter is open around the clock.  It's a nice respite to enjoy coffee and beignets (donuts) between bouts of pub crawling.  Thanks to the Chicory blog for pointing out that Cafe du Monde is also operating in Japan.  Big in New Orleans and big in Japan; the best of all possible worlds.

I found it disconcerting to visit the shopping malls in Metarie and Gretna and see a Cafe du Monde franchise in that squeaky clean environment.  Well, everyone needs to make a buck.  If you've got a name people know, you might as well live off it.  I know I try.  I'm trying to book appearances at regional malls as we speak.  I need to widen my exposure and appeal.  Stay tuned.

2 comments:

Anita said...

This is just a skimpy historical note perhaps of no interest to anyone but me. The cafe au lait and beignets in the market were served at Morning Call for more than 100 years until 1974 when the shop moved to Metairie in the strip near the Post Office.

The French Market shop we see today, Cafe du Monde, is the business that has expanded via franchises. I do not know if both shops were operating in the market prior to 1974 or if Cafe du Monde took over the location vacated by Morning Call. Maybe you'll run across Morning Call and solve that little mystery one day.

The Metairie shop is interesting and has some lovely old fixtures from the former market location.

La Belle Esplanade said...

Is there such a thing as uninteresting history? Thanks, Anita. I'll file this scrap away.
Cheers.

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