Cafe Du Monde

The original Cafe du Monde coffee stand was established in 1862 at the upper end of the French Market (now the French Quarter) in New Orleans. The shop has a limited menu of coffee, hot chocolate, sodas and beignets.

Beignets are deep-fried dough balls which are then doused with icing sugar…not the best thing for your waist line but OMG are they delicious and really, a trip to New Orleans isn’t complete unless you’ve stopped and enjoyed the fair at Cafe Du Monde. Their coffee is laced with chicory. During the Civil War, when coffee demand was high but supplies were low, the people of New Orleans experimented with different fillers in order to stretch their dwindling supply. They found that chicory worked best as the taste was pleasing and it cut some of the bitterness from the coffee. I must say, as a coffee addict, enthusiast I was quite taken by the coffee. Oh and my son had the hot chocolate and remarked that it was the best he’s ever had. I took a sip…he’s right.

Cafe du Monde is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, closing only on Christmas day. The place was forced to close for 7 weeks after hurricane Katrina due to water damage, power outages and the relocation of some of their staff.

Being out before sunrise to photograph the French Quarter this intrepid photographer was mighty grateful to slip into Cafe du Monde at the wee hours of the morning for some delicious, piping hit coffee and beignets. Photo © copyright by Edith Levy.