My Cafe du Monde Theory

[jess mebane]

Weel, now. If it's moi, fair Jay, rest assured I wouldn't ruin anything precious like your commemorative Velvet Elvis T-shirt with the powder. 'Cause I haves one and it's like an heirloom, see.

[Roger McShane]

I must be losing my grip of the English language - I didn't know that a curmudgeon was a person who wanted good food experiences as opposed to revolting food experiences!!

[hjshorter]

I didn't find CDM revolting at all. For what it's worth, my husband was raised in New Orleans and didn't consider a visit beneath him at all when he took me to his hometown. We also went to Le Madeleine, the one uptown, at the end of the streetcar tracks.

[foodie52]

Gosh, I'm sorry....maybe "curmudgeon" was the wrong word here.

My apologies.

[hollywood]

Gosh, I'm sorry....maybe "curmudgeon" was the wrong word here.

My apologies.

Never apologize to a curmudgeon.

[Jason Perlow]

What the hell is wrong with giving recommendations for places when you are drunk? I'd figure as an Australian you'd appreciate that 

Tell us about that sandwich. Blown up it looks great.

Read the Arthur Avenue Market thread. Many more pictures from where that came from.

[Jaymes]

Gosh, I'm sorry....maybe "curmudgeon" was the wrong word here.

My apologies.

I agree. 'Curmudgeon' was probably not the correct word.

It's certainly not the one that came to my mind.

[joiei]

So according to your definition, Emeril is a chain? he has 3 restaurants in New Orleans, plus. That would make Susan Spicer a chain. That would make Rene Bayeax a chain.

Morning Call is good. But it is in Metairie. The French Quarter is Unique. And about the only people I ever see at Starbucks are tourists. The local coffee shops are happening.

[Bigfoot]

A tangent on one of the CDM chains. They've got one in the modern Kyoto Station that I've been too, which serves the cafe au lait and chicory coffee, but no trademark beignets. I went there a little ways back with my husband and in-laws who both went to school in Baton Rouge. We were surprised about the lack of beignets and asked the waiter about it -- evidently they don't have the proper equipment for it and there's something about the station that prohibits frying them up on site (forget the details). I haven't been lately; I'd be curious to know if they're still beignet-less.

[Roger McShane]

Hello everyone

I really want to try to get this discussion into perspective. Earlier today I had coffee at Macrina Bakery in Seattle. This is about as good as coffee gets! Not quite as good as in the coffee palaces in Torino. Maybe not quite as good as the ABN AMRO building in Sydney. But it was certainly up there with the best.

So, it is not that I am against a particular country or coffee style. It's just that CDM sucks!!!

[phaelon56]

Not that Starbucks doesn't have good coffee.

But they don't..... and that really is a problem in places like NYC where they continue to crowd out the little guys. Last time I checked there were over 60 Starbucks in Manhattan alone and the number is still growing rapidly.

If nothing else.... I am opinionated. I once made the mistake in another forum (Fodor's Travel Talk) of commenting that not only did I think the cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde was just not all that special, I was really surprised that beignets were just fried dough with powdered sugar. I got treated like a Dixie Chick at the GOP convention for that remark (which I refuse to retract - am I truly missing something? Is there some other magical ingredient in beignets that I'm unaware of?). Not knocking beignets in specific or fried dough in general but it ain't all that. Please.... don't get me started on Krispy Kreme.

Edited May 7, 2003 by phaelon56 (log)

[jhlurie]

But beignets ARE just fried dough with powdered sugar. Then again, so are zeppoles. And funnel cake.

It's like anything else with simple ingredients, it can can taste great under the right circumstances and lousy under others. Is there something inherently wrong with that?

[Jaymes]

But beignets ARE just fried dough with powdered sugar.  Then again, so are zeppoles.  And funnel cake.

And buñelos. And churros.

[gecko]

...not only did I think the cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde was just not all that special, I was really surprised that beignets were just fried dough with powdered sugar.

If other forms of fried dough don't excite you, then that explains why you don't understand all the fuss about beignets. The cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde may not be the best in the world, and the beignets may not seem to be special, but they do go together very nicely. And the real magic is that their volume of business allows them to serve you both fresh coffee and freshly fried beignets whenever you go there (without having to wait for a certain neon sign to be turned on). Most of us don't have anything like that at home.

[jess mebane]

freshly fried beignets whenever you go there (without having to wait for a certain neon sign to be turned on).  Most of us don't have anything like that at home.

dang! thank heavens for klever marketing, or I might've felt like pavlov's dog, pulling into the drive-thru that last time...... The head kremesters should've done some tie-in advertising with that Ring movie last year.

[ballast_regime]

Even if people knew it was a chain, I don't think they would care very much. Starbucks has been posting double-digit profit margins the last two quarters, even though it's used as the posterboy for why consumerism is bad. In-N-Out Burger is a respectably big chain with franchises in three states, but a faux-California nostalgia seems to propel its appeal to have an almost cultlike mythos. This sort of schmaltzy assocation works in Cafe du Monde's favor, even if it's a cookie-cutter business whose coffee isn't very good and whose beignets are mediocre. Then again, what other popular outlets are there for chicory-infused coffee and beignets? None. New Orleans is my hometown, but even I have been the good, unquestioning typical tourist upon returning.

Much peace,

Ian Lowe

ballast/regime