Frommer's Review
Owned and operated by the same family for an astonishing 160 years, Antoine's sustained some of the most dramatic Katrina damage in the otherwise relatively untouched Quarter; a 30x40-foot portion of an exterior wall on the second and third floors crumbled, poignantly exposing the inside of the restaurant. Because of that wall collapsing, a beam was weakened and gave way in the main dining room. That's being worked on as we write this. But that's okay -- they have 14 other dining rooms, at least 7 of which had reopened by late summer 2006. Because we are sentimental, we have a serious soft spot for Antoine's. We love that Thomas Wolfe said he ate the best meal of his life here, and that author Frances Parkinson Keyes immortalized it in her mystery Dinner at Antoine's. We love that we took a friend, a multigeneration New Orleanian, and that she reminisced happily about her grandfather's regular visits and favorite dishes.
But we also like to eat, and consequently we can't help but notice that when asked for New Orleans restaurant recommendations, we never think of Antoine's. Not just on the "must-do" list, but even on the "if you can manage five meals a day, here's a bunch of other places you really ought to try" list. The food is as classic New Orleans dining as you can get, but if that were your introduction to same, you may well wonder what all the fuss is about.
Still, it's hard to ignore a legend, and so with some caution you may wish to investigate for yourself. Locals -- loyal customers all, mind you -- will advise you to focus on starters and dessert and skip the entrees. They're right; at best, the latter are bland but acceptable. You might order a side of creamed spinach, which is classic comfort food. Oysters Rockefeller (served hot in the shell and covered with a mysterious green sauce -- Antoine's invented it and still won't give out the recipe) will live up to its rep, and the infamous football-size (and football-shaped) baked Alaska is surely the most frivolous dessert ever. After he won the Nobel prize for literature, William Faulkner got one inscribed "the Ignoble Prize."
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