New Orleans Beyond Bourbon

Get an insider's glimpse at life in New Orleans through photos, videos, reviews, recommendations, and much more! Check out our YouTube channel of the same name at youtube.com/channel/UCHAVNd4JOc64AOMlIN5xqJg to see all of our videos that we've posted here and more!

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A mannequin and two skeletons are spotted hanging out on the balcony of a Lower Garden District house while dressed in their Easter finery. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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A house in the Garden District prepares for Easter with an array of colorful pastel decorations. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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A fountain spotted outside the Royal Street Courtyard Bed and Breakfast in the Marigny is playfully decorated with a variety of differently themed rubber duckies. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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A unique form of graffiti spotted just off of Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District provides inspiration to passer-by. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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A long row of bright and colorful doors line the side of a building in the Marigny. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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A charming house in the Marigny stands out with its bold choice of bright, vibrant colors. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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An oak tree overlooks the water in New Orleans’ City Park. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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Hanging baskets overflow with ferns and brightly-colored flowers from ornate iron balconies in the French Quarter. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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St. Michael’s Special School, a Catholic school located near the Irish Channel that provides education to people with special needs from elementary school and high school/vocational training to a graduate activity center program, put together a St. Joseph’s Day altar for the second consecutive year. The students of St. Michael’s Special School helped put together the altar in various ways. Many of the flowers seen, such as those forming the archway above the St. Joseph’s statue in the center of the altar, were grown by students at the school. Students in the high school/vocational training program helped make the large, cross-shaped loaf of bread seen laid out below the St. Joseph’s statue in the center of the altar, as seen in the third picture. Other students decorated the many plates of fig cookies laid out all across the altar. And other students contributed by making decorative paper flowers using a cut-out of a tracing of their hands, as seen in the last picture. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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Angelo Brocato’s, founded in 1905, is a popular Italian dessert place located only a few shops away from Venezia’s on Carrollton Avenue in Midcity. Angelo Brocato’s is known for serving a variety of delicious Italian ices and gelatos, as well as spumoni, tiramisu, biscotti, and fig cookies. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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Venezia’s, founded in 1957, is a popular Italian restaurant that serves a variety of food, from authentic Italian cuisine and handmade pizzas to fresh local seafood. Venezia’s is located in Midcity on Carrollton Avenue. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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Central Grocery, which is located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, is credited as being the inventor of the muffuletta. A muffuletta is a popular Italian sandwich in New Orleans that features ingredients like salami, provolone, and olive salad. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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St. Mary’s Catholic Church, also known as St. Mary’s Italian Church, was built in 1845 next to what is now the Old Ursuline Convent (but what was at that time an actively used convent by the Ursuline nuns). It began to be known by the name of St. Mary’s Italian Church due to the fact that many Italian immigrants in New Orleans attended Mass here, especially as more Italian immigrants began to move into the French Quarter. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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St. Joseph’s Day Altars

On the feast day of Saint Joseph, there is a unique tradition in New Orleans connected to the Italian community.

New Orleanians of Italian heritage will often build altars in homes, churches, schools, restaurants, and even bars to honor the famous saint. The legend of Saint Joseph altars is that there was a severe drought in Sicily. In the midst of this suffering, the Sicilians turned to their patron saint, and begged him to send them rain. They promised that if rain came, they would prepare a feast in his honor. The rain came, and the Sicilians were saved from starvation by the fava bean, the one plant that would grow. True to their word, the Sicilians held a large feast in honor of Saint Joseph.

Today, Saint Joseph altars are large and elaborate. On the altar, you will find statues, candles, prayer cards, pictures of the deceased, and mostly food. The largest statue on the altar is traditionally Saint Joseph and he stands at the top of the three-tiered altar. The three tiers of the altar represent the Holy Trinity. 

Placing pictures of the deceased may seem a little creepy to non-New Orleanians, but here in New Orleans we believe that the connection between the dead and the living is very strong, and there is nothing strange with acknowledging our relatives who are still very close to us.

The food is not only visually appealing, but highly symbolic as well. It is worth stating that since Saint Joseph’s Day always occurs during Lent, all the dishes on the altar are meatless. Breads are baked into various shapes including crosses, crowns of thorns, the carpentry tools Saint Joseph used in his trade, and even wildlife from Louisiana.

Cuccidata are ornate pastries with fig filling that also represent various religious elements. A common one is a clock set to three o’clock, the hour of Jesus’ death. Sometimes bread crumbs are spread in parts of the altar to represent the sawdust in Joseph’s carpentry shop. Various sweets are also displayed on the altar, including the famous fig cookies.

Pignolata is a dessert that consists of fried dough stuck together by hot syrup in a cone shape. This represents the pine cones Jesus supposedly played with as a child. Produce is also featured in the altar. A whimsical New Orleans tradition involves stealing a lemon from a Saint Joseph altar. Supposedly, if you steal a lemon from a Saint Joseph’s altar, you will find your future spouse within that year. If you visit a Saint Joseph’s altar, bring cash so you may make a donation and light a candle, if you wish. In exchange for your donation, you will receive a small bag that normally contains fig and sesame cookies, a prayer card of Saint Joseph, and a blessed fava bean. Many New Orleanians keep these “lucky beans” on them year round. The food does not go to waste either. After Saint Joseph’s Day, the altar is dismantled and the food is given to the poor.

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The History of the Italians in New Orleans

In honor of the feast day of Saint Joseph, we now shift our focus to the Italian community.

The Italians in New Orleans have a long and colorful history. The first Italians arrived with the colonial French when they settled Louisiana, but the Italian population of New Orleans exploded between the years 1850 and 1870. During this time period, New Orleans was home to the largest Italian born population of any city in the United States. The Italians who came to New Orleans were almost exclusively from Sicily, though a few did come from other parts of southern Italy.

At this point in history, many of the Creole families were already beginning to leave the French Quarter and settle in the up and coming neighborhoods along Esplanade Avenue and in the Marigny. The “French” Quarter became dominated by Italians and earned the name “Little Palermo”. Many Italians chose to import and sell produce thus gaining a monopoly on the industry in south Louisiana.

Since Saint Louis Cathedral still primarily served French speaking New Orleanians, many of the Italians in the French Quarter chose to attend Mass at the chapel of the Old Ursuline Convent on Chartres Street. In time, the chapel would be renamed “Saint Mary’s Italian Church.”

Unfortunately, the Italian community in New Orleans was subject to a good deal of bigotry. This is a familiar story in many Italian enclaves around the country and part of it is usually a by-product of Anti-Catholicism. With New Orleans being a strongly Catholic city, the situation here was unique.

The main reason for the bigotry is a murder that happened in New Orleans on October 15, 1890. On that night, New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy was gunned down on Girod Street. Since he was a crusader against the New Orleans Mafia, the Sicilians were suspected.

Here there is already an issue. Even if the Mafia did murder Hennessy (which most historians admit was probably the case), your average Italian had as much to do with the Mafia as your average Muslim has to do with ISIS. The Italian community suffered at the hands of the Mafia, too.

Despite this, nineteen Italians were arrested and indicted. Of these, ten were charged, and the remaining nine were named accessories. Amazingly, the jury declared a mistrial soon after. The people of New Orleans were so angered that they stormed the prison and shot the Italians one by one. President Benjamin Harrison called the incident “deplorable” and paid an indemnity of $25,000 to Italy. There was a palpable divide between the Italian population and the rest of the New Orleans community. However, this finally dissipated when New Orleans elected its first Italian mayor, Robert Maestri.

When mentioning the Italian community, it is worth noting that many tourists have sworn that New Orleans has some of the most underrated Italian cuisine in the country. Although it is mostly limited to southern Italian options, it certainly boasts an outstanding reputation. Central Grocery on Decatur Street is credited with being the inventor of the mufaletta, a popular Italian sandwich in New Orleans that features salami, provolone, and olive salad. 

We at New Orleans Beyond Bourbon agree that one of the best date nights in New Orleans is dinner at Venezia’s Restaurant on Carrollton Avenue, founded in 1957 and is delicious, followed by dessert at Angelo Brocato’s just a few shops away. Angelo Brocato was founded in 1905 and serves a decadent variety of Italian ices, gelatos, spumoni, tiramisu, biscotti, and fig cookies. There is normally a line, but it is well worth the wait!

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An interesting addition adds a touch of humor to an apartment’s ‘for lease’ sign seen hanging in the French Quarter along Royal Street. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).

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Japanese magnolia trees blossom outside some colorfully painted houses along Esplanade Avenue near the French Quarter. (New Orleans, Louisiana 2015).