New Orleans for The Food Pilgrims: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Three hot beignets under powdered sugar and a café au lait since 1862; sit under the awning and skip the queue by going late.

A dozen raw Gulf oysters at the long bar, shucked in front of you, with charbroiled ones as a follow-up; a no-frills landmark since 1910.

A colonial-rum bar and kitchen in a crumbling-plaster room, with a punch list and small plates of rabbit and plantains.

The Saturday market with Creole tomatoes, Gulf shrimp straight off the boats and Chauvin pecans; breakfast is a crawfish pie.

A free tour of the whiskey house and a tasting at the end; the museum explains how the cocktail was born and sells you a bottle.

The French Quarter's formal Creole dining room since 1905, with mirrors, ceiling fans and the crabmeat maison; the waiters are the show.

A Bywater breakfast of praline bacon and a poached egg over cheese grits, in a room with local art on the walls.

The 1875 open-air market rebuilt after Katrina as a food hall: oysters, Vietnamese bánh mì and a daiquiri from separate stalls.

The Vietnamese bakery that bakes the city's bánh mì baguettes and king cake; take a box of both and eat in the car.

The open-air market of Creole tomatoes, hot sauce and pralines, a short walk from the river; buy a jar of Tabasco and a bag of roasted pecans.

A demonstration class in a molasses warehouse: gumbo, jambalaya and pralines, with a sample of each at the end.

A family counter since 1918: fried shrimp dressed on Leidenheimer bread, eaten at a wooden table with a Barq's root beer.