New Orleans: how to do The Big Easy like a local

On my last night in New Orleans I found myself in Tremé with neighbourhood residents, barbecueing on a vacant lot next to the Candlelight Lounge.

I’d gone there to catch a rotating cast of brass-band musicians who play every Wednesday night, and sometimes on Mondays.

When the Candlelight opened in 1990, the Tremé Brass Band was the resident musical act. They’ve long gone stratospheric, so these days both seasoned and newbie musicians take the stage, watched by locals and savvy tourists who come on the right night. Not me, as it happened —on this Monday night I’m out of luck.

I’d arrived in New Orleans — or Nola, as it’s called here — four days earlier to see how locals do the Big Easy. Not for me the booze and beads of Bourbon Street; I was entrusting myself to the local knowledge of Kelley Troia. Her company, Clandestine, creates bespoke, high-end itineraries for this city that’s usually dismissed as hedonism central.

She’s guided by your personal interests — and since mine lean towards eating and partying, we chose an upmarket take on the typical Nola experience.

It started with a bar crawl. First up, a Sazerac — Nola’s unofficial-official drink, said to be America’s oldest cocktail — by the pool at the Roosevelt Hotel. Then it was onto Clancy’s in the upscale Audubon area, which started as a “Po’boy” (sandwich) shop in the Forties and turned to fine dining in the Eighties.

It offers a contemporary take on Creole classics but we were there for the bar, stocked with one of the largest liquor selections in the city. Several regulars came up to kiss Kelley or shake her hand but these friendly airs extend to strangers, too.

Next came a food break. Patois, a French-American restaurant a couple of blocks away, made its debut on the global stage when HBO’s TV drama Tremé was filmed there. We filled up on huge pork chops cooked to perfection — then, this being New Orleans, we took off to imbibe some more.

Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar is one of only three establishments in New Orleans that allows smoking inside, and is the only smoking venue with live music. Perhaps that’s to keep away queasy tourists; that night we saw the Loren Pickford Quartet rolling away on some soft jazz while the onlookers quietly clinked their glasses.

Almost too quietly, maybe — because the next place on Kelley’s itinerary was completely different.

If you didn’t know the yellow sign to look for, you might miss the Mayfair Lounge in the Touro neighbourhood. It’s cash only, has Barbie dolls, Mardi Gras beads and other tchotchkes hanging from the ceiling, and you’re only allowed in after ringing a bell. The perfect place to end the night.

Not all Nola locals eschew the centre, so the next day Kelley wanted to take me to Bourbon Street. A world away from the daiquiri-soaked bars and stag and hen groups is Galatoires, a 112-year-old fine-dining restaurant. There’s a strict dress code and there are no reservations for the main dining room. On Fridays the queue starts at 5am for the noon seating.

It is, however, the place to see and be seen — the place is filled with the great and good of Louisiana and the noise level is so high that our waiter has to yell as he delivers dishes such as fried aubergine with Béarnaise sauce and powdered sugar, shrimp remoulade and Galatoires’ iconic spinach-baked Oysters Rockefeller. It is, however, all worth the wait. Suitably fed, we’re ready to face a French Quarter bar crawl.

The “Quarter”, as the centre is known locally, offers most of the tourist hot spots (like Bourbon Street) but its old-world charm and cobbled streets can’t keep locals away. Ernest Hemingway wrote about the rotating Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone adoringly, while the Chart Room at 300 Chartres Street has floor-to-ceiling antique French slatted doors that are perfect for summer.

For a pick-me-up, po-boy makers Killer Poboys work out of the back room of the Erin Rose Irish pub. We tried a few but my favourite was the “Dark & Stormy” pork-belly.

When you’re ready for a hair of the dog The Country Club, in the newly gentrified Marigny/Bywater area, offers a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar for £7 a drink; add to the vodka and house Bloody mix, pickled okra, beetroot, bacon, celery, cucumbers, olives, Tabasco or any number of hot sauces.

If you can still stand, you’ll find community crawfish boils and marching bands in the surrounding streets — at least, during winter and spring. We were lucky enough to catch the Uptown Swingers Social Club Second Line and danced and marched with strangers for four hours straight.

After all that, it was a relief to part ways with Kelley and give my liver a rest. Although, by Monday night, when I arrived at an empty Candlelight Lounge, I felt her absence.

Details: New Orleans

British Airways flies from Heathrow from £670 return. Hotel Maison de Ville has doubles from £217. Kelley Troia’s customised experiences start from £1,128. Visit clandestinenola.com for more information.