Virtual French Market -- Walking Tour

We cross N. Peters Street right in-between the Red Stores and the Bazaar Market. Right in front of us is a multi-purpose entertainment tent that regularly has bands, magic acts, etc., on weekends to provide street entertainment to passers-by. Almost every Saturday and Sunday afternoon you'll find a band of some kind--jazz, R&B, zydeco, whatever, playing at this tent. There's a neat fountain here with a cat chasing a bird on the edge. They're two of several wonderful bronze figures you'll find all the way down Dutch Alley and behind the Butcher's Market.

Right up against the floodwall behind the Bazaar Market is the Cuisine Market. This building was originally constructed in the 1930s as the Fish Market. The Fish Market was a wholesale seafood market where restaurateurs and grocers would meet the fishermen and buy their catches in an arrangement similar to the way the Farmer's Market works. The need for this market faded out with time, since refrigerated trucks and giant supermarkets offered an alternative to both the fishermen and the customers. When the market was renovated in the '70s, this building was converted from the open air seafood market to a multi-story restaurant venue. For years this was the location of Moran's Riverside, operated by the late Jimmy Moran. Currently the Cuisine Market houses Bella Luna, Chef Horst Pfeiffer's place. The riverfront view from this building is so nice that Moran's was a very popular restaurant, in spite of mediocre food and high prices. Bella Luna fixed the mediocre part, giving the diner a splendid view as well as a great meal.

In addition to the restaurant, the Cuisine Market also houses the Visitor Centers for both the French Market and the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. The French Market Visitor Center is a great place to run into the air conditioning for a few minutes, catch your breath, and ask questions of the very polite and helpful staff. They've also got several kiosks housing touch-screen computers that can provide you with lots of neat information (since most of us can't walk through the Market with Virtually New Orleans up and running). The Jean Lafitte N.H.P. Visitor Center is run by the National Park Service. Jean Lafitte is a strangely-constructed park, in that it includes the entire French Quarter as well as other sights across the state. The NPS offers walking tours of the Quarter and the Garden District, and you can get all the current info on these here. In addition to the restaurant, Bella Luna also operates a gourmet food outlet store in the Cuisine Market.

The alleyway in-between the Cuisine Market and the Bazaar Market is a wonderful, shady place to escape the bright afternoon sun for a few moments. It's called Dutch Alley, in honor of the late Mayor Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial, the city's first black mayor and the father of the current Mayor, Marc H. Morial. Dutch was a strong mayor who was very passionate in his love for the city. When he was elected in 1978, the city's demographics had just crossed the point where there were more black folks than white folks living in Orleans Parish. Dutch was a strong politician who became a good unifying force at a time when things could have gotten extremely bad. Dutch's enemies usually disliked him because he was a ruthless politician, and color had little to do with that. When he passed away, this section of the French Market was named for him.

After stopping in the two Visitor Centers for a few minutes, it's time to double-back down Dutch Alley to back in front of the Red Stores. From here, we're going to walk down Decatur Street and explore the Bazaar Market.