New Orleans’ French Quarter has thrived as a destination for years because of its highly specific ambiance and the bars and restaurants that define it. Whether they are humble dives; buzzy live music establishments; or places referenced in literature, film and television, each one has a reputation to live up to. Some of them famously meet expectation better than others. Cane & Table accomplishes the feat. Its simultaneous respect for and departure from the standard New Orleans restaurant helped earn its place as a verified local haunt.

The two-story building has a compelling back story, built in 1830 and originally serving as part of Ursuline Convent before housing other bars and restaurants over the generations. Besides providing an interesting and ironic historic context, it has a timeless aesthetic where shabby chic (think chandeliers and aged mirrors) and minimalism come together. Beyond its lively, narrow, front-room bar, it is flanked with a large, laid-back patio adorned with tropical plants and an upstairs private room with its own bar, reception space and “formal” dining area.

© Elyse Glickman

In addition to the special way Cane & Table’s bar and kitchen teams interpret Southern Louisiana’s cultural and culinary underpinnings, the location — tucked into the decidedly less touristy lower edge of the French Quarter along Decatur Street with a blink-or-you’ll-miss it presence — adds a great deal of street credit. As evidenced by its spirits list and expansive cocktail menu, it is a bonafide rum destination whose back bar and bartenders celebrate the region’s legacy in sugar production and rum distillation.

The bar is billed by its management as “proto-tiki,” with Old World Caribbean colonial flourishes and modern twists. This means most cocktails stray from sweet and fruity vehicles and more toward less-charted waters of recipes that are spirits-forward and complex. In addition to dressed up classics, one may encounter a pineapple Sazerac; a banana Manhattan; a Hurricane & Table with a secret blend of rums; or the formidable Jamaica Queens, made with bourbon, rum, sherry, Angostura bitters and orange. The wine list is equally inspired, featuring less familiar Spanish wines such as Txakoli.

© Elyse Glickman

The kitchen deftly combines flavors of the American South and the Caribbean with Mediterranean and Southeast Asian cuisines. The mixture is in keeping with the restaurant’s mission statement, to blend “influences from the trade routes coming into a young Louisiana,” rooted in the idea New Orleans sits squarely on the northernmost corner of the Caribbean. The food menu is tight and focused, which practically assures everything will be executed with care. Southern standards like rice and beans can be found on the menu, but most of what diners will encounter is “all over the map” and, in some cases, worked into a single dish.

© Elyse Glickman

Sharable large plates, in keeping with this philosophy, include a hearty version of ropa vieja (a Cuban shredded beef dish), roasted chicken and Fish Rundown (fried drum, lump crab, coconut curry and “Jazzmen Rice”). The signature C& T salad and appetizers such as crab croquetas and stuffed empanadas balance sultry combinations of spices with rich textures. And, by now, as one would expect, the rum cake — a bold concoction of almonds, ginger sauce, lime cream and Jamaican rum — packs the perfect end-of-meal punch.

Cane & Table

1113 Decatur St.
New Orleans, LA 70116
tel 504 581 1112