I hope you have your plan down for Mother’s Day. Me? I’m over here turning over the latest gift my own mom gave me, one that resonates through New Orleans food and hospitality.
New Orleans is a hospitality town, part of our cultural DNA, and one of the great pleasures I take from living here is showing visitors a proper good time. But long before I made New Orleans my home, the hospitality gene was nurtured in me by my mother.
I watched how she hosted friends and family, the pride of presentation on the table, the pacing to extend good times with good company.
She also was my first guide to the world of food. It was her delight at bringing the family to her favorite Chinese restaurant, and the openness to try something different when the first Indian restaurant opened a few towns away.
As our lives have progressed and our relationship has evolved, I’ve learned to love the process of reciprocating the experience of sharing and hosting. I got a gigantic serving of such recently when mom visited New Orleans to celebrate a milestone birthday with our family.
We did more than dine at wonderful restaurants, though honestly not much more.
We started at the oyster bar at Pascal's Manale Restaurant, which has ritual status in my family. Then there was dinner at Rosedale, a love letter to New Orleans food written by chef Susan Spicer.
We went to Brigtsen's, a restaurant that feels less like a business and more like an expression of the extended family that Marna and Frank Brigtsen have built here.
And then there was a journey over the river and through the exurbs to Mosca's a restaurant that always feels like a family story come to life.
New Orleans culture is a gift to ourselves, one we create by participating in it, and it’s one so easily shared with others through hospitality. At Mother’s Day, when we want to express our love for mom, I’m grateful for how our restaurants, and the restaurant people behind them, bring us such a rewarding way to do that through food.
