Cafe Normandie

The sparkling $66 million Higgins Hotel New Orleans might just be America's first museum hotel, with a World War II theme from stem to stern. Beyond the hotel's many stunning Art Deco spaces, dining and drinking options impress. Café Normandie, where French chef Virgile Brandel presides, rustic French cuisine shakes hands with the New Orleans' table. The crab beignets, offered for lunch and dinner, are a revelation, airy pillows of dough stuffed with creamy Louisiana lump crab meat. But really everything is tasty here, from the char-grilled oysters and crispy duck with duck fat fried fingerling potatoes to the stuffed portobello tangy with asiago cheese and for dessert, of course! crazy good warm beignets with dark chocolate dipping sauce. As the holiday season rolls around, restaurants all over town will be debuting their Reveillion celebratory menus, a uniquely New Orleans tradition. Historically, the meal unfolded in homes after Christmas Eve mass - the name comes from the word révei - meaning "waking" - because everybody ate all night long until morning, when it was time to open presents. Now, these special menus are just part of the season. Chef Brandel's prix fixe $84 menu celebrates his French heritage, with four courses and choices like oyster vichyssoise with Cajun caviar, escargot with almond garlic cream and exotic mushrooms and pan seared scallops with creamy vanilla grits.