Picture an outing to Arnaud’s. There’s the grand entrance leading to dining rooms with etched glass and polished woodwork, where tuxedoed waiters flambee café brulot on tableside carts.
Between the 18 dining rooms, there’s a pocket-sized Mardi Gras museum and two distinct bars, one acclaimed (the French 75), the other practically hidden (you have found the Richelieu Bar, right?).
The French Creole menu has dishes that people have been ordering through generations here, to the tune of shrimp Arnaud (a definitive remoulade rendition), trout meuniere and bouquet-like plates of souffle potatoes, individually nested in the folds of a napkin.
But lately there have been more scenes here going off script.
Balloon arches make frequent appearances, and diners sometimes turn up in costume well outside of Carnival time or Halloween. The French 75 bar, normally a portal to Belle Époque elegance, regularly hosts pop-up and brand takeovers…