It’s the doldrums, the summer slump. We’re at the start of a long season that’s notoriously hard for New Orleans restaurants, and fatal for some.
But what I think deserves more attention is the pleasure of dining out in New Orleans in the summertime, with the double bottom line of memorable meals and helping out our neighbors.
New Orleans summer is a time for the locals. The city is ours again. Going around to restaurants, seeing more familiar faces in less crowded dining rooms, it can feel like being on campus during semester break.
It's easier to get tables at even the most in-demand spots. Just as reservation books are looser, often our own social calendars are too. It’s a good time to get together with people you've promised to catch up with but kept missing through the holidays and festival season.
What we get from local restaurants is different in summer, too. If the business end is a struggle, many chefs still call this their favorite season for cooking because of the quality of local produce and seafood they get.
Sometimes I start with a happy hour at one restaurant and make it a progressive dinner of two stops. Last summer, I spent many a productive late afternoon happy hour hopping at restaurants, checking out the food specials that many run alongside drink deals. It's all about small plates, lighter final tabs and spreading around the support.
And slow isn’t always a dirty word in summertime. Like the pre-season for a sports team, many restaurants use the downtime to up their game, train staff, spruce up and stretch their range.
Some make up their own small scale in house events. They collaborate on special dinners with visiting chefs from around the country, who, yes, still want to visit in summer. They roll out specials and get creative.
Deals abound, starting with the Restaurant Week, which starts June 8 with fixed price meals at about 100 restaurants.
It all gives us locals another reason to go out and discover, perhaps anew, the cultural riches of our dining scene, which may be a little easier to see when it’s not quite so busy.
