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Morning Call Coffee Stand

3325 Severn Ave., Metairie, LA - (504) 885-4068
Posted By Michael Stern on 10/18/2012 2:17:00 PM
Like ordinary donuts, beignets range from heavyweight to heavenly. Those served at Morning Call are divine. Lightweight and crisp-edged, they always come hot from the fry kettle. It is the your job to apply powdered sugar from shakers set out on tables.

Although it is located in a fairly nondescript area, Morning Call is vintage New Orleans, having opened in the French Market in 1870 but squeezed out by urban renewal in 1974. From the outside, other than the old sign over the door, there's nothing about the Metarie location that suggests it is an important part of New Orleans Culinary history, but the moment you enter, you know. Staff are dressed in crisp white uniforms and bow ties. Mirrors line the wall like at Galatoire's (but at 1/10 the price). Lighting is vintage incandescent.

Take note of the fact that Morning Call's cafe au lait is not just coffee with a lot of milk. No, no, it is full-bodied French drip chicory coffee poured out of its pitcher in a long flowing stream. When the cup is about half full, warm milk is added so that both streams swirl together, filling the cup to its top and creating a frothy head elegant enough to match Morning Call's peerless beignets.

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Scorecard

5 - Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace
Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace
Beignets (3)
Cafe au Lait
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Reviewers Photos [Upload Your Photos]

One beautiful beignet with a judicious amount of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. This photo in no way conveys its elegance.
"One beautiful beignet with a judicious amount of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. This photo in no way conveys its elegance."
Michael Stern





Pouring cafe au lait is an art. Hot coffee and warm milk must go in at exactly the right times and in the proper ratio.
"Pouring cafe au lait is an art. Hot coffee and warm milk must go in at exactly the right times and in the proper ratio."
Michael Stern


An order of hot beignets, pre-sugar. Those who get them to go open up the mouth of their paper bag and bang on the bottom of the powdered sugar dispenser until they get enough. After Stephen, Jane, and I got through dusting a couple of orders at our table, it looked like the scene of a food fight. And my black pants had turned mostly white.
"An order of hot beignets, pre-sugar. Those who get them to go open up the mouth of their paper bag and bang on the bottom of the powdered sugar dispenser until they get enough. After Stephen, Jane, and I got through dusting a couple of orders at our table, it looked like the scene of a food fight. And my black pants had turned mostly white."
Michael Stern


The best fixtures of the old French Market location were moved with the restaurant to its Metarie location in 1974
"The best fixtures of the old French Market location were moved with the restaurant to its Metarie location in 1974"
Michael Stern


Not your ordinary coffee house, Morning Call is unique to New Orleans.
"Not your ordinary coffee house, Morning Call is unique to New Orleans. "
Michael Stern


The way it used to be: Morning Call in its French Market days.
"The way it used to be: Morning Call in its French Market days."
Michael Stern



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