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32 MYROUSESEVERYDAY MAY | JUNE 2017
the Coffee issue
Morning Call
Café Du Monde is the oldest tenant
of the French Market, dating back
to 1862. But they were not the only
coffee shop in the neighborhood.
The Morning Call Coffee Stand first
opened in the 1870s, behind the “red
stores” buildings in the French Market.
Morning Call replaced the Vegetable
Market in the 1930s. In its location at
Ursulines and Decatur, Morning Call
offered curbside service; carhops
would take your order so you didn’t
have to leave the car. Morning Call
was a fixture of the “back of the
market” until the business moved to
Metairie in 1974, just behind Lakeside
Mall. The interior of the Metairie
location features the original fixtures
from the French Market stand. In the
1990s, Café Du Monde opened a stand
inside Lakeside Mall itself, so once
again, the two coffee stands are just a
few blocks walk from each other.
—Edward Branley,
by Liz Williams, Director of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum
Street vending was alive and well in New Orleans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Not everyone had
access to a kitchen, nor were shops always open, so selling food on the street was not only popular — it
was necessary. It also presented an opportunity for people of color, both slaves and free persons, to earn
money. One of the most resourceful and creative of these vendeuses was Rose Nicaud.
Rose Nicaud is considered to be the inventor of the coffee stand in New Orleans. She would have roasted,
blended and ground her own coffee, perhaps adding chicory. She was known to sell her delicious coffee —
both noir and au lait — in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, so that those who had fasted before attending Mass
would be able to fortify themselves immediately after the service. Although in the beginning people stood near
the stand to drink their coffee, Rose was later able to have a stand with seating at the French Market. She
inspired others to create stands for selling coffee, as well as foods such as pralines and calas.
ROSE NICAUD
Vintage photos — New Orleans, French Market