Helen Wilde Is The Legend Of Cafe Du Monde

Café du Culture
Clowns, dancers, and musicians aren’t the first thing people think of when they hear Café du Monde, but these are just a few of the things that set it apart from other restaurants in the French Quarter. This French market is not only a destination for tourists to each during their time in the Quarter, but it is also a hot area for performers. Tourists can either watch a party clown twist balloons for kids or listen to the sound of a trumpet while they eat. Dwaino, a party clown who performs right outside Café du Monde, explains why Café du Monde is such a center of attraction in the French Quarter. “It’s a legend, you know, everybody knows about Café du Monde, people come from all over,” Dwaino said. That ”legend” has been around for over 150 years, and is open for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Though it has always had a small menu, the Café’s famous beignets and coffee draw in large amounts of tourists each year. However, it is not only tourists who visit this restaurant regularly, New Orleans natives who know of its cultural uniqueness also enjoy eating at Café du Monde.
Glenn Wilde, the manager of Café du Monde, who has worked there for thirty-five years, explains what compelled him to work there.
“Just the tourist sites and the atmosphere,” Wilde said. Performers like Dwaino can work outside the Café in their free time to not only collect donations, but to also contribute to the atmosphere Hack Bartholomew, a trumpeter, describes as “relaxing and entertaining”. Bartholomew plays his trumpet outside Café du Monde almost every day to collect donations for his local church. Tourists line up to purchase a variety of cd’s he sells. The conversations between him and the impressed tourists can last anywhere between 20 seconds to 5
minutes. “They can sit down and eat as they watch me perform, or they can talk in the shade and watch me perform, it really does not matter, we are all happy here,” Dwaino said Dwaino also plays mostly every day of the week too. The consistency of performances makes it know that the tourist or family will almost always have something to watch or listen to as they eat. As seen with Dwaino and Bartholomew, the story behind every performer is different from the other. While the Café is an attraction for performers, same performances almost never overlap. As a new band arrives at Café du Monde, Bartholomew leaves. This only further accentuates the peaceful atmosphere, as it avoids the clash of sounds and genre. Though performers contribute a lot to the culture of Café du Monde, there are many other elements that make it such a famous restaurant. Right around the corner is the artist co-op, where tourists can observe the local art of the Quarter. On the other side of the Café is the St. Louis Cathedral, another famous building located in the Quarter. It’s a great location, you can catch everything from one spot,” Dwaino said. The location of Café du Monde is another part of what makes it such a happy place, as described by both Dwaino and Bartholomew. It is right next to the Mississippi, allowing tourists to grab a quick bite before they catch the ferry or streetcar. Bartholomew explains another reason why it is such a happy environment. “There are no drunks or trouble makers who come here,” Bartholomew says. Drunks and crime being a large problem in the Quarter, the location and atmosphere of the Café provides a safer feeling area for tourists and families.