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When I began reviewing the restaurants of New Orleans, French cooking was king here. Even unarguably Creole restaurants such as Arnaud's, Antoine's and Galatoire's claimed they served French food and used the French language heavily (exclusively, in the case of Antoine's) in their menus.
The few non-Creole French restaurants tended toward the most formal end of the dining spectrum, and were among the most expensive and ceremonious restaurants in town. That condition peaked in the early 1980s, when palatial restaurants such as Louis XVI, the Sazerac, L'Escale, Les Continents, Henri and Maison Pierre created a buzz in gourmet circles.
Their days were numbered. Suddenly, all of those named above were gone, with no more of their ilk to take their place. The restaurants people gravitated to for a big occasion were the new Creole restaurants driven by star chefs.
Few French restaurants survived the mass extinction. All were bistros. The early examples were La Crepe Nanou, Chateau du Lac, Cafe Degas and the now-extinct Crozier's and Chez Daniel. Escargots, onion soup gratinee, mussels mariniere, poulet a la grandmere, steak and frites, and tarte Tatin were everywhere.
Such bistros blossomed all around New Orleans in the 2000s, but their population reached a plateau. The big, expensive, formal French restaurant never came back. I don't expect it ever will....