We have a new airport in New Orleans, and you have questions. How do we get there, how long does security take, where’s my Uber? Right now, I think the answers vary.
But when it comes to the food at the New Orleans airport now, I can tell you this: it’s a game changer.
The concessions here now feature so many familiar local restaurant and bar names it feels like its own restaurant row between the boarding gates. I was intrigued.
You need to clear security to get to the restaurants, and for that you need a ticket. So I booked a cheap flight, arrived a comfortable eight hours early and got down to an eating romp, like tackling the latest food fest. Turns out I never did make that flight after all.
This self-guided tour took in Leah’s Kitchen, in honor of Leah Chase, the latest from Emeril and John Folse, the cocktail lounges Cure and Bar Sazerac, City Greens and Lucky Dogs, PJs and Café Du Monde, Midway Pizza, Munch Factory, Ye Olde College Inn, Mondo and Mopho and Anglo Brocato.
In New Orleans we obsess over our food and our restaurants, and much of our city’s reputation as a tourist destination hinges on them too. That’s why the way food was presented at the old airport was such a bizarre disappointment. It was a missed opportunity for a hospitality city to carry through on the experience it promises from arrival to departure.
The new facility is a quantum leap ahead of the old one. It’s like getting in a new car after driving your last clunker into the ground, and wondering how you managed for so long with the old one. Now, if the airport can drive it right – with service, consistency and quality - the conversation about food we’re forever having in this town can carry through to the last gulp before people leave.
With the unknowns of navigating the new airport still an issue, it is a good idea to get there early. At least now, you’ll have plenty to eat.
