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Arnaud's is a
restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
in the
French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...
of
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, specializing in
Louisiana Creole cuisine Louisiana Creole cuisine (, , ) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends African cuisine, West African, French cuisine, French, Spanish cuisine, Spanish, and Native American cuisine, Native American influenc ...
. Established in 1918, it is one of the older and more famous restaurants in the city. The restaurant also houses a museum of the
New Orleans Mardi Gras The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the West ...
.


History

Arnaud's was founded in 1918 by a French wine salesman, Arnaud Cazenave. He had immigrated to New Orleans in 1902 from France by way of New York City in the early 20th century. Cazenave came to New Orleans with the intent of offering fine food and wine to the local people. He acquired multiple adjacent properties on Bienville Street in the New Orleans French Quarter, thereby establishing a large restaurant. Cazenave's daughter Germaine Wells took over management of Arnaud's as of his death in 1948. During the period of Wells's ownership, she maintained the restaurant practices established by her father. In 1957, she was recognized by the
National Restaurant Association The National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry business association in the United States, representing more than 380,000 restaurant locations. It also operates the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The associa ...
for her hospitality as a restaurateur. In 1978, 60 years after the restaurant first opened, Archie Casbarian and his wife Jane Casbarian acquired management of Arnaud's, initially as a lease. The Casbarians had considerable experience in the
hospitality industry The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, food and beverage services, event planning, theme parks, travel agency, tourism, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Sector ...
. By that time, Arnaud's had deteriorated significantly from neglect, and the Casbarian family restored the restaurant to then contemporary standards while retaining its original appeal. These renovations included both physical changes to the building and updating and improving the menu. To finance the renovations, the new owners sold timeshare rights to tables at the restaurant. In these agreements, for US $10,000, buyers received US $12,000 in food and drink credit at the restaurant. They also received a guarantee that their table would be available within 30 minutes of contacting the restaurant, and their names were permanently memorialized in a wall at the restaurant. These changes brought the restaurant positive recognition and widespread approval and restored the restaurant's elegance. The timeshare arrangement also created a sense of ownership among some of the clientele. At the same time that Arnaud's was undergoing restoration and modernization, the new owners updated their offerings of Louisiana Creole cuisine and introduced their own versions of classic creole recipes. As they assessed their offerings, they used local creole chef and restaurateur Warren Leruth as a consultant. Under the terms of the lease of the restaurant by the Casbarians, Germaine Wells continued to live in an apartment within the restaurant buildings. At the same time, she exerted some influence over restaurant management. The Casbarians acquired full ownership of Arnaud's at the time of Wells's death in 1983. Arnaud's restaurant was one of the first local restaurants to reopen after
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
, which caused great damage in the Greater New Orleans area in August 2005, re-opening in November 2005. Arnaud's is run by the fourth generation of the Casbarian family, which are siblings Katy Casbarian and Archie Casbarian, as well as their mother Jane Casbarian. The family retains the style of its founder, Arnaud Cazenave. In 2018 Arnaud's publicly celebrated its centenary.


Contemporary restaurant

Arnaud's serves classic Louisiana Creole food. The restaurant has fourteen named dining rooms: Mezzanine, Creole Cottage, Bourbon Suites, Edison Park, 1920, Iberville, Bienville, Toulouse, Dauphine, Lafitte, Bacchus, Gold, Irma, and Count's. Each room is furnished with a variety of
antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...
,
chandeliers A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now in ...
, and drapes that are suggestive of the early 20th century environment in which Cazenave first established the restaurant. The restaurant has a dining capacity of up to 220 customers. Arnaud's has six menus: À La Carte Dinner Menu, Sunday Brunch and Jazz Menu, French 75 Menu, Table d'Hôte Menu, Dessert Menu, and Speakeasy. The dress code at Arnaud's is
business casual Business casual is an ambiguously defined Western dress code that is generally considered casual wear but with :wiktionary:smart#English, smart (in the sense of "well dressed") components of a proper lounge suit from traditional informal wear, ...
. The restaurant employs approximately 220 people. Arnaud's is well-known for its oyster dishes. In 1956, ''The New York Times'' published Arnaud's recipe for Oysters Bienville, the recipe having been given to ''The New York Times'' by Arnaud's proprietor Germaine Wells. Arnaud's signature dishes are also served at a more family-friendly cafe, "Remoulade", located nearby on
Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (, ) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending twelve blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars and strip clubs. Tourist numbers have b ...
, also within the New Orleans French Quarter. the
executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French language, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that Supervisor, leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef ...
at Arnaud's is New Orleans local Tommy DiGiovanni. A recipe of DiGiovanni's from Arnaud's for cornish game hen was published. Kit Wohl authored a cookbook based on Arnaud's restaurant recipes. Food journalist John DeMers authored a book describing the history of Arnaud's and some of its more unique recipes.


Bar

Since Arnaud's founding, the restaurant has always had a bar for serving alcoholic beverages. The bar remained open surreptitiously during the time of the American prohibition. At times, the bar was strictly for men-only. It was known for part of its history as the Richelieu Bar. During the 1978 renovation of Arnaud's, the Richelieu Bar remained open to regular customers, who could then observe the progress of the renovation. More recently, Arnaud's established the French 75 Bar, located next to the main dining room. The bar reverted to its original name, French 75 Bar, after being renovated in 2003. Arnaud's French 75 won the James Beard Award for outstanding bar program. In 2010,
Esquire magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under the guidance of ...
included the French 75 bar as one of its 15 recommended bars worthy of a visit as a destination.


Museum

Germaine Wells, the long time owner of Arnaud's, was active in the
New Orleans Mardi Gras The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the West ...
, serving as queen of several krewes, among other responsibilities. She accumulated a collection of Mardi Gras costumes, especially her own. At the time of the renovation of Arnaud's restaurant in 1978, the Casenave family, as the new managers of the restaurant, discovered Well's collection which were in storage at the restaurant. In homage to Wells, the Casenave family opened the Germaine Cazenave Wells Mardi Gras Museum in 1983. The museum contains
Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...
artifacts that were all accumulated by Germaine Wells. The museum is housed within Arnaud's restaurant.


See also

*
List of Louisiana Creole restaurants Following is a list of notable Louisiana Creole cuisine, Louisiana Creole restaurants: * Acadia: A New Orleans Bistro, Portland, Oregon, U.S. * Antoine's, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. * Arnaud's, New Orleans * Brennan's, New Orleans * Broussard' ...
*
List of oyster bars This is a list of notable oyster bars. An oyster bar is a restaurant specializing in serving oysters, or a section of a restaurant which serves oysters buffet-style. In France, the oyster bar is known as ''bar à huîtres''. Oysters have been con ...


Notes


References


External links

* Biographies o
Arnaud Cazenave and Germaine Cazenave

Portrait photograph
of Arnaud Cazenave
History of Arnaud's Restaurant
as written by Germaine Wells in 1950
1946 Arnaud's menu
maintained at the historical menu collection of
The Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a Private university, private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena, California, St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singa ...
{{Restaurants in New Orleans Louisiana Creole restaurants in the United States Louisiana Creole culture in New Orleans Restaurants in New Orleans Restaurants established in 1918 French Quarter Oyster bars in the United States 1918 establishments in Louisiana Fishing in Louisiana