19 October 2009

Lost City: New Orleans Edition: Antoine's Descends


Unlike, perhaps, the rest of the world, I am not happy when a restaurant backs down on its coat and tie dress code. (Witness my response to the "21" Club's capitulation to the madding crowd.)

You'd think the oldest restaurant in the U.S. would hold firm. But, no. ABC reports that formal attire is out the window. "We still don't allow things like ripped jeans and flip-flops," said Yvonne Alciatore Blount, whose family has run Antoine's for five generations. "And many of our diners, especially at dinner, do enjoy dressing up, but we no longer enforce the coat and tie rule."

And civilization marches slowly to the sea.
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3 comments:

  1. Editilla~New Orleans Ladder10/20/2009 6:45 AM

    Just one more example of civilization going to the Mall in a Hand Basket, turning its back from Fortuna as we writhe in furby body gloves before the one-eyed beast!
    Alas, Ignatious Riley lays open-valved and vindicated!
    Harrrrrumf!

    ReplyDelete
  2. K.10/20/2009 7:54 AM

    As we packed for the 208 Jazzfest, my wife asked me if I was bringing a coat and tie. "Of course," I replied. "We're going to Antoine's." So when we went, I was quite taken aback by the change in the dress code.

    When I asked our waiter about it, he explained that it was Katrina fallout: Even Antoine's couldn't afford to turn away customers because they weren't wearing a coat and tie, For a while, they had tried to give out coats, but even with thirty coats in reserve, they ran out regularly.

    Not that they liked it. The maitre d' presented us with a complimentary cookbook inscribed in part: "So very happy that the winds from the west blow in class unlike the eastern winds."

    ReplyDelete
  3. K.10/20/2009 7:55 AM

    e if I was bringing a coat and tie. "Of course," I replied. "We're going to Antoine's." So when we went, I was quite taken aback by the change in the dress code.

    When I asked our waiter about it, he explained that it was Katrina fallout: Even Antoine's couldn't afford to turn away customers because they weren't wearing a coat and tie, For a while, they had tried to give out coats, but even with thirty coats in reserve, they ran out regularly.

    Not that they liked it. The maitre d' presented us with a complimentary cookbook inscribed in part: "So very happy that the winds from the west blow in class unlike the eastern winds."

    ReplyDelete

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