New Orleans Keeps a French Holiday Tradition Alive With Seasonal Feasts

Réveillon season is approaching — here's how to celebrate.

Livelier than the sweltering summer but more laid-back than the Carnival season that will soon follow, December in New Orleans means smaller crowds, mild temperatures — think 50s and 60s — and a host of unique holiday traditions.

In Louisiana, Papa Noel tags in for Santa Claus, delivering presents in a boat pulled by alligators. The first Saturday of the month, a cheery Holiday Parade in New Orleans’ downtown daylight, including Trombone Shorty Academy and other talented youth marching bands, gives way to an eerie spectacle put on by the Krewe of Krampus, whose folk monsters haul naughty children in cages through the Bywater streets. Christmas standards like “Let It Snow” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” get jazzed up, literally, at dedicated holiday shows at Preservation Hall and other music venues, while originals like “Santa Is a Gay Man” and “Crazy Cool Christmas” from New Orleans stars like Big Freedia and Kermit Ruffins, respectively, make a play for the local canon next to Louis Armstrong’s “Christmastime in New Orleans” and Louis Prima’s “What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin').”

To amplify all the merriment, swanky hotels and historic houses drip with decorations, creative bars mix seasonal drinks, and restaurants pull out the stops with extravagant Réveillon dinners, making the Big Easy a simple choice for a festive trip.

Réveillon menus in New Orleans

A French Catholic custom that migrated to Louisiana with the French Creole population, Réveillon comes from the word for “awaken” and began as a celebratory meal at home after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Raw and roasted oysters, turtle soup, gumbo, cassoulet, and bûche de Noël are some of the many dishes that could grace the table for the special occasion. Over time, the meal waned in popularity, largely fading from practice until a revival in the 1990s thanks to local tourism efforts, which brought the practice to restaurants during standard dining hours. Dozens of them now serve decadent multi-course Réveillon feasts throughout most of December, turning back time to dishes from the 1800s.

Some restaurants play the hits faithfully and expertly. Duck and andouille gumbo is a Réveillon must at Ralph’s on the Park, a convenient stop for anyone checking out the massive light show Celebration in the Oaks at City Park. Suzie’s Soulhouse, one of the most affordable options around, centers soul food like ​​fried catfish and shrimp Creole, while Antoine’s Restaurant, the city’s oldest, has served countless bowls of lobster bisque and plates of crispy duck.

To ensure the spirit is right at the legendary Commander’s Palace in the Garden District, executive chef Meg Bickford draws upon her own fond memories of shucking and frying oysters, carving a big ham, and celebrating with her family long into the night. “Réveillon embodies the spirit of sharing, family, and festivity, transforming the holiday season into a time of communal feasting and joy,” she says.

Related: Great Recipes from Top New Orleans Chefs

Commander’s Palace shifts its luxurious menus frequently, Réveillon included, honoring and innovating on Creole heritage. Holiday showstoppers have included a roasted bone marrow canoe with green apple batons, greens, crispy shallots, Leidenheimer French bread, veal-fat sherry vinaigrette, and Luxardo jam and a caviar crepe with smoked Gulf oyster mousse, which may or may not appear again. “We’re constantly pushing the envelope and looking to discover the next best New Haute Creole dish, and Réveillon is a perfect time to try new things,” says Bickford.

Bickford isn’t the only chef playing with expectations. The nearby Atchafalaya has kicked off Réveillon dinners with poached oyster stew with absinthe cream and then transitioned into wagyu daube, a modern interpretation of an old-school beef stew, while Miss River, inside the elegant Four Season Hotel New Orleans, might lead with oysters and holy trinity mignonette, move to breaded red snapper with blood orange to take advantage of citrus season, then cap the meal with a pumpkin sazerac trifle or bananas Foster rum cake, clever takes on classics.

Seasonal cocktails

Holiday pop-ups like Miracle have raised the bar for seasonal tie-ins, helping timely cocktails with punny names in kitschy mugs proliferate throughout the country. New Orleans is no exception, hosting Miracle and several of its offshoots at popular bars like Barrel Proof. But the city has a strong homegrown holiday cocktail scene too, often tied to Réveillon.

Related: 11 Iconic New Orleans Cocktails

In the Central Business District adjacent to the French Quarter, Couvant, serves a Réveillon menu in the stylish hotel, The Eliza Jane. The restaurant dresses up indoors and out as the Jingle & Jester bar from mid-November through early January, rolling out cocktails like boozy hot chocolate and Elfing Around, a mix of mezcal, amaro, pomegranate, port, and rosemary. Around the corner, concoctions such as mulled wine and “Santa?! I Know Him!,” a creamy Cognac-based drink referencing the movie Elf, are on the seasonal menu at the Kimpton Hotel Fontenot’s French-inspired King Brasserie and Peacock Room.

Some drinks don’t need to change with the weather, though. Antoine’s iconic flaming coffee cocktail, Café Brulot Diabolique, is perfect for winter just as it is. The Sazerac Bar at The Roosevelt New Orleans doesn’t mess with its namesake whiskey drink but does shine extra bright as the hotel lights up in gaudy splendor. And Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge is a beloved Uptown dive bar that keeps Christmas in its heart every day of the year — “especially Christmas,” per the website.

After all, Satchmo said it best: “Golly, what a spirit, you can only hear it / down on Basin Street.”