Trail of Crumbs: Tracing the Lore, Labor, and History of Bread-Making in New Orleans
The cultural, social, and economic development of New Orleans -- from a colonial port to an American city -- can be traced through its history of bread baking. Bakers and millers were among the earliest laborers brought to the city by the French in the early eighteenth century. By 1820, there were close to sixty bakers in New Orleans, primarily French. A century later, the city directories listed over 200 bakeries, many under German, Italian, and Anglo-American names. Although rooted in a French and Spanish colonial foundation, the bread-making traditions of New Orleans reflect the influence of the port, immigration, labor, and neighborhood allegiance. The Trail of Crumbs tour highlights six locations in the French Quarter open between 1789 and 1970: Cadet's Bakery, D'Aquin's Bakery, Chretien's/Francingues Bakery, the Bakers' Union Hall, Lombardo's Bakery, and Garic's Bakery.
Access: Walking
Distance: ~1.25 miles, ~30 minutes
Stories 6
The French and Spanish Colonial Mark on New Orleans Bread-Making: Cadet’s Bakery
The intersection of St. Peter and Royal Streets is loud and busy with the passing hustle of to-go drinks, music, and tourists, making it hard to notice a faded patch of tile work outside the corner…
Enslaved Bakers and the Foreign French: D’Aquin, Bouny, and Poincy Bakeries
Before the Civil War, enslaved labor was an integral part of the commercial baking industry and the overall economy in New Orleans. While food historians note the role that French, Spanish, and Anglo…
The Legend of New Orleans French Bread: Chretien’s Bakery and B.C. Francingues Bakery
In 2013, the reality cooking television series Top Chef filmed its eleventh season in New Orleans at 1231-33 Bourbon Street to revitalize the struggling restaurant and tourism industry following the…
Local No. 35: The New Orleans Bakers' Union
Bread-baking is a hard, physically demanding job. Before the Civil War, most bakery owners relied on apprenticeships and enslaved laborers to handle the workload. Postbellum bakery workers inherited a…
A Bakery Shaped by Place: Garic’s Bakery
Often visible in the background of historic images of the French Market, the three-story Italianate building with the “Garic’s Bakery" sign anchored the neighborhood. [1] Garic’s Bakery was once part…
Sicilian Bakers of New Orleans: F. Lombardo and Sons Bakery
The French may claim New Orleans French bread, but later immigrant bakers' influence on the city's bread-making traditions is undeniable. At the turn of the nineteenth century, a wave of Sicilian…Tour curated by: Dana Logsdon | Dedicated to the bakers of New Orleans and to Michael Mizell-Nelson.