
Commander's Palace
Turquoise Victorian mansion restaurant known for haute Creole cuisine, turtle soup, and a storied quarter-priced martini lunch.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Commander's Palace in New Orleans starts with a family disagreement in the late 1990s, when Dottie Brennan suggested reviving a stunt from an old sister restaurant: a quarter-priced martini at lunch. Ti Martin and Lally Brennan, running the kitchen their aunt Ella had built into a Creole institution, worried it would embarrass the linen rather than fill the room. You'll hear about Ella's own reign in that kitchen, her turtle soup and tableside bread pudding souffle, and the young cooks who passed through before their names meant anything. Listen for how a cheap idea and a formidable aunt's legacy end up sharing the same dining room.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Brennan's
Storied Creole house where a superstitious kitchen crew still credits a late chef for a flawless service.
Arnaud's New Orleans
Century-old Creole dining room where a Prohibition-era wine seller turned bootlegging into legend.
Antoine's Restaurant
French-Creole dining room guarding a secret sauce recipe its inventor took to his grave.
Galatoire's
French-Creole dining room serving twice-fried potato puffs from an eighteen thirties royal-kitchen accident.
Tremé / Lafitte
Storied Creole neighborhood whose corner kitchen fed civil rights strategy over bowls of gumbo.
Dooky Chase Restaurant
Creole dining room where a nineteen sixty-five bombing failed to stop secret civil rights strategy sessions upstairs.