There was a Chinese salt and pepper shrimp dish that took me back in time to a lost restaurant. There was a chicken shawarma done exactly the way it should be, though too often is not. There were a few cocktails in plastic cups and nicer drinks along the way.
This was me returning to a certain stretch of Decatur Street in the French Quarter to explore anew a collection of restaurants and bars that need our help.
You’ve heard the news about the almost year-long public utilities project still under way in the French Quarter that has ripped up the road along several blocks of Decatur Street and portions of Saint Peter Street across the Quarter as well.
We can still get to the businesses alongside the slow rolling work, but it might not necessarily look that way.
Business has plummeted and several spots closed in one week in June. This situation is dire and getting worse as the summer progresses.
At risk are precisely the independent, quirky local small businesses the French Quarter badly needs.
If forced to close, I dread what might replace them. Yet another rinky-dink T-shirt shop?
So I’ve been going back to do my bit. I have found some fantastic stops on the way. That Chinese dish is from Zhang Bistro, with shrimp lightly battered and carrying the flavor of a wok and bringing to mind the late great Kim Son restaurant in Gretna, which had a range of dishes like this.
Across the street, the shawarma was at Lebanon Grill, tightly packed in a thin wrap with garlicky white toum sauce and pickle spears, and presented pretty as a picture on a platter.
In between there’s much more including the island-style cocktails and Latin food at Cane & Table, brunch at Toast, ice cream, rabbit jambalaya and pizza. And then there are the bars.
I love ducking into Decatur Street watering holes, whether it’s Turtle Bay with a good bar burger and great steak night special, the immortal Molly’s on the Market, the hard rocking Santos or the permanent twilight of the Abbey.
Each one is like a different tune pulled from the jukebox. Let’s hope the music keeps going here in the long run.
