|
| |
 |
A milk cart in front of the Restaurant de la Louisiane on Iberville.
The street is named for Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur de Iberville, the
founder of Louisiana who designated New Orleans as its capital in 1723.
The cart also delivered Creole cream cheese - a light, fresh,
farmhouse-style cheese midway between ricotta and crème fraiche, with
an underlying hint of buttermilk. Once de rigeur as part of a Creole
breakfast, it is usually served sweetened.
|
1837 – Building completed and became a residence to James Walters Zacharie, a merchant prince and renowned illustrious host.
Sometime before
1881 – Purchased by businessman Amaron Ledoux.
1881 – Leased by Louis Bézaudun and his wife Ann as the site of a hotel and restaurant, La Louisiané.
1890-1920 – The “Alciatore Era.” The Bézauduns were joined by Ann’s nephew, Fernand Jules Alciatore in operating the restaurant. He acquired a reputation as a master host and transformed its French-Creole menu into the city’s best. He began the famous “Golden Book,” the guest registry crammed with signatures of the most prominent figures at the time.
1920 – Alciatore purchased La Louisiane
1930 – After Alciatore’s death, he was succeeded by his son, Fernand Jr.
 |
|
Gone is the old Creole restaurant and instead there is a drive-in
entrance for the parking garage that replaced the adjoining Solari's
building in the 1960s. The pressure was on to provide greater parking
within the tiny grid of the original colonial village, then becoming an
ever greater tourist attraction. Today the French Quarter is much less
residential and much more commercial than it was a half-century
earlier.
|
|
1931
– Fernand Jr. died unexpectedly, leaving the restaurant to his widow, Helen. She immediately sold it for $200,000 to A.M. and J. Solari Ltd. Of New Orleans and married the firms president, Omar H. Cheer.
1932
– Cheer began renovations to La Louisiane, making it “abreast of the newest ideas in restaurant hygiene and efficiency.”
1932
– Restaurant reopened and became a glittering haven from the cares of the Great Depression
1942
– The Great Depression combined with Omar Cheer’s death caused Helen to close the restaurant for the second time.
1943
– Edward H. Seiler, Leon Dupont and Harold E. Wise purchased the contents of the site and leased the building for $150,000, calling their restaurant “Restaurant and Lounge de la Louisiane.”
1954
– This year marked a new era in the restaurant’s history. “Diamond Jim” Moran leased the property and redefined La Louisiane for modern times. It was renamed Moran’s La Louisiane. He served classic Italian fare and added a glittering “Flamingo Crystal Room,” a “Diamond Room” decorated with blinding chandeliers, lifelike murals of ducks in flight, and other extravagance. The core clientele were “Diamond Jim’s” friends, a ring of politicians, judges, racing aficionados and local celebrities. The restaurant was so much a part of “Diamond Jim” that once or twice, customers actually discovered diamonds nestled inside their meatballs.
1958
– “Diamond Jim’s” reign was suddenly halted when he suffered a fatal heart attack in the restaurant. La Louisiane went to his two sons, who continued as proprietors in their father’s tradition for two decades.
1978
– The brothers allowed two local restaurant owners, Salvador and Joseph Marcello, to operate the restaurant for them.
1978-1993
– Salvador “Sammy” Marcello and Joseph Marcello Jr. assumed operation of the restaurant and it flourished as an Italian-Creole hot spot.
1993-1996
– Restaurateur Jim Chehardy and partner Carroll Glindmeyer reopened as La Louisiane.
1996-2003
– The old Zacharie mansion and its two connected buildings hosted no guests for the first time since 1888.
2004
– Smith family completed a historical reconstruction after purchasing the site in 1998, aiming to revitalize the restaurant with contemporary décor, an eclectic menu, and to restore La Louisiane into an elegant bistro and lounge with a focus on its unique history.
reservations
:: history ::
private dining :: menus
photo gallery :: accolades ::
weddings :: home
|
