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Escape To NY: Your New Orleans Staycation

By

Jaya Saxena

Published Mar 23, 2011

Modified Feb 12, 2013

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Food: If there's one thing New Orleans is known for, it's food. And luckily, New York has no shortage of NOLA-expats and fans who want to bring their flavors to Yankee territory. We're currently in the middle of crawfish season, which the East Village's Mara's Homemade is offering in traditional boils, in po-boys, or in a crawfish mac & cheese. You can wash those down with Abita's seasonal Strawberry Harvest, or traditional NOLA cocktails like a Hurricane, Pimm's Cup or Sazarac. Great Jones Cafe also offers lots of traditional New Orleans fare, from jambalaya to seafood gumbo to cornmeal-battered catfish. They also do a brunch featuring "Crescent City Smothered Eggs" and an andouille sausage omelet.Of course, leave room for dessert: there are a number of places around the city serving up beignets (here's a list, but call ahead); the aforementioned Mara's also has them on their dessert menu!

 

Crawfish in Central Park, via em_vp's flickr

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By

Jaya Saxena

Published Mar 23, 2011

Modified Feb 12, 2013

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It happens to every New Yorker: the desire to leave the five boroughs. Yes, we have constant exposure to the world's best food, culture, theater and nightlife, but what is it worth if we have nothing which with to compare it? Sometimes, we just need to get out. But it's a harsh world out there, full of handsy TSA agents, red states, and bed bugs. So with that we introduce our Escape to New York Staycation series, bringing you the best ways to experience all the world has to offer right here in your home town. First stop: New Orleans. And if you have anywhere you want to "go" without leaving city limits, let us know!

Green-Wood Cemetery, via AMARTI02's flickr

Graveyard Tours: New Orleans has a longstanding tradition of being obsessed with death, mainly because when you can't actually bury anyone (you hit water), death rites become more of a part of everyday life. And though you probably won't see too many jazz-funerals parading through the city's cemeteries, New York does offer one of NOLA's more morbid traditions: graveyard tours.

Every Wednesday at 1 p.m. Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery offers two-hour trolley tours of their grounds, detailing, "the Cemetery’s history, its bird life, the most fascinating tales of its permanent residents, views of Manhattan’s skyline, The Green-Wood Historic Fund’s Civil War Project and its preservation program." And the trolley even looks like the New Orleans streetcar! For a more historical look at the city's cemeteries, Patriot Tours offers a walking tour of the churches and graveyards of lower Manhattan, including Trinity Church and its graveyard and St. Paul's Chapel. And there are always the walking tours at the Bronx's Woodlawn Cemetery. If anything it'll serve as a reminder of where you can't be buried.

Rebirth Brass Band playing in New Orleans, via dogseat's flickr

Jazz: New Orleans' Jazzfest is around the corner, but there are plenty of options to enjoy everything the NOLA music scene has to offer in New York. Signing up for the NOLA Funk mailing list will get you news on New Orleans bands tourin around the city, like Rebirth Brass Band's show at Brooklyn Bowl on April 7th. The Jazz at Lincoln Center series is also directed by NOLA's favorite son, Wynton Marsalis, and features events like a Duke Ellington revue and "Bebop with Vincent Gardner." To enjoy both jazz and food, Jules has live jazz every night with champagne cocktails and French bistro fare.

Oysters! Via natwhat23's flickr

Cheap Oysters: It's not just the taste of New Orleans food that makes it so good, it's the price. The availability of 50-cent oysters almost everywhere you go almost ruins the bivalves for us up north, but there are many places to get oysters on the cheap around the city, especially during happy hour. Essex restaurant offers dollar oysters all night from Sunday through Thursday, and half-price drinks from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.. Mermaid Oyster Bar also has dollar east-coast oysters and $1.75 west-coast oysters every day until 7 p.m., and $7 cocktails like a classic Dark & Stormy.

Hurricanes: Yes, of course you can go out for a Hurricane at numerous bars around the city, but in this economy why pay $12 for a drink when you can just make one at home? Hurricane-inventors Pat O'Briens offer a Hurricane powder mix on their website, but here's a good substitution in case you want to use real juices:

Combine all ingredients, mix well (shake or stir). Pour over crushed ice in hurricane glass.

If this has you missing Mardi Gras... don't forget ladies, it's always legal to take your top off here in NYC (just not for free drinks).

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Escape To New York

Escape To NY

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new orleans

staycation

Jaya Saxena

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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