Downriver creative neighbourhood of shotgun houses and warehouses. Saint-Germain, Bacchanal Wine, N7, Turkey and the Wolf, Elizabeth's: the city's most interesting modern rooms.
Saint-Germain in New Orleans is the Michelin-starred ten-course tasting menu inside a Bywater double-shotgun from chefs Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith.
Signature: Ten-course tasting, Open-flame squab
Order: There is no choice; the ten-course is what they serve. Add the wine pairing.
Tip: Reservations open monthly. If you can't get a seat, the wine garden out back takes walk-ups and serves bottles with snacks.
N7 in New Orleans is the Bywater French wine bar behind an unmarked fence on Montegut Street from Aaron Walker and Yuki Yamaguchi, with French bistro plates.
Signature: Tinned-fish plate, Steak frites with Bordelaise
Order: The tinned-fish board with bread, then steak frites with Bordelaise.
Tip: Reservations are tight; the garden seating opens at 17:00 and walk-ins land best on weeknights.
Elizabeth's in New Orleans is the Bywater corner cafe at Chartres and Gallier that invented praline bacon, with pecan sugar lacquered slices on a breakfast.
Signature: Praline bacon, Redneck eggs Benedict
Order: The praline bacon, ordered as a side with the redneck eggs Benedict.
Tip: No reservations. Arrive by 09:00 on weekends or wait an hour for the brunch turn.
Bacchanal Wine in Bywater runs an outdoor backyard with nightly live jazz, a wine and cheese deli inside the cottage and Mediterranean small plates plated.
Tip: Music seven days a week. Pick a bottle from the shop, take it to the back patio. Weekend brunch sets start around 12:00.
Saturn Bar on St Claude in Bywater is the cluttered velvet-painting dive with a tin ceiling, cheap beer and a back room that runs DJs, brass.
Tip: Cash bar, no card minimum. Saturday's Mod Dance Party runs from 22:00; the front bar opens at 16:00 weekdays.
Vaughan's Lounge sits on a Bywater residential corner, a 60-year neighbourhood dive that ran Kermit Ruffins' Thursday residency for two decades and still.
Tip: Side-door buzzer entry. Thursday brass sets start around 20:30 with a second set near 23:00; free red beans and rice on Thursday nights.