Cafe du Monde
800 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA
There are some places that are tourist draws for a reason – and still manage to turn out good food even with the constant onslaught of crowds. Cafe du Monde is one of those places. Since 1862, Cafe du Monde has been turning out world-famous beignets with cups of trademark chicory coffee. You can wither choose to sit in the historic open-air tent or take your coffee and beignets to go. Either way, expect a line, even though CdM is open 24h!
A beignet is really nothing more than a fried piece of dough, doused with a heaping helping of powdered sugar; however, like the descriptions of many of our favorite baked goods, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Chicory coffee, again deceptively simple, is basically a strong coffee blend mixed with chicory root. It is a pretty divisive topic – people either love it or don’t get its appeal, I think I am a fan so far (though M doesn’t drink coffee so his verdict is still out).
We arrived at Cafe du Monde on a pleasant fall day, and decided to enjoy our treats in nearby Jackson Park – so we headed straight for the takeout line. The line went pretty rapidly (an order or two of beignets seemed to pretty much be the standard order) and the cashier was hyper-efficient (as the cashiers at this type of high-volume operation tend to be). Within a minute or two we were out – a small pack of three beignets and a cup of chicory coffee in our possession. The beignets especially were amazing, totally fresh and way more delicious than they needed to be. Moreover – we were covered in clouds of powdered sugar for the next few hours. The pigeons of Jackson Park enjoyed the powdered sugar even more than we did, however. We’d love to try to make beignets someday, but I think we’d prefer a return trip to New Orleans.
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[updated 2/2016] Happy Mardi Gras! In Chicago, the classic Mardi Gras treat of choice is the Paczki, however we are also big fans of a fried doughy treat right out of New Orleans, the beignet! While we are not going to be near Cafe Du Monde, we are hoping to get some of that NOLA spirit, so where to go in Chicago? It turns out there are quite a few places. You can get beignets in Chicago at Jimmy’s which specialized in NOLA-style beignets, Big Jones and our new favorite beignet: Butcher & Burger, which also serves Cafe Du Monde coffee. Of course, you can always make your own. Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Eating The World 