The Story of Arnaud's

              The S tory of Arnaud's
Dedicated to
The Memory of its Founder
COUNT ARNAUD CAZENAVE
(C Petimus bene (vit)ere
Quod petls hie est"
by
Germaine Cazenave Wells
June 27th, 1950
ARNAUD'S RESTAURANT
801,825 Bienville Street
New Orleans, Louisiana
ofeon BertranJ --4rnauJ Cazenafle,
founJero!--4'nauJ~
Count Arnaud Cazenave
I t has been said that "the truly civilized man has no enemies." No
phrase better describes Arnaud Cazenave, for he was a highly civilized
man who made friends at every turn.
He was born in the French village of Bosdarros and he was
christened Leon Bertrand Arnaud-a name that was eventually to be
shortened to Arnaud and become known in every section of America.
A man's childhood influences his whole life, and Arnaud Caze­nave's
love of perfection had a firm root in the beauty that surrounded
him from his earliest days. For Bosdarros was more than a French
village on the outskirts of the famous city of Pau-residence of the
Kings of Navarre. It was a village whose charming church and quaint
houses were flanked by the grandeur of the Pyrenees and encircled by
the beautiful vineyards of France.
Arnaud Cazenave Comej to America
When his fundamental education had been completed in private
schools; Arnaud Cazenave was sent to Paris to study at the Lycee Na­poleon.
There his love of France deepened and that devotion to his
native country remained with him all of his life. But he had a gay,
adventurous spirit and he also had a great ambition. That ambition
was to become a doctor and America beckoned to him as the land of
great physicians.
Coming to the United States on the invitation of relatives, he found
that before he could enter any school of medicine he must perfect his
scanty knowledge of English. He entered St. Stanislaus college in Bay
St. Louis and studied in preparation for his medical education. But he
soon discovered that the years of study in a medical college would re­quire
funds that he did not possess. It was then that he decided to earn
money by using his expert knowledge of the vineyards of France to sell
champagne and other wines. Traveling from city to city he came at
last to New Orleans and here he found many things that reminded him
of his beloved Paris. In this American city which held the flavor of
the continent, he decided to live. From then o~ New Orleans was
his home. In this city he married and in this city his only child was
born.
When the opportunity presented itself for him to lease the old
Absinthe House and open a cafe, he did not hesitate. His thorough
knowledge of French food and his innovation in serving a small bottle
of red wine gratis with each meal, attracted a large number of patrons.
But he had lived beside the great Pyrenees mountains and he was not
content with anything on a small scale. And so he dreamed of owning
his own place-a dream that was realized when, in 1920, he bought the
building at 811 Bienville street and opened the doors of the now famous
Arnaud's Restaurant. The first chef was a woman, Madame Pierre, who
knew the secrets of fine French and Spanish cuisines.
Count -Arnaud ~ Succedd
Year after year the prestige of Arnaud's increased-calling for
more space-and year after year Arnaud Cazenave extended his prop­erty
holdings until now they reach along Bienville Street from the
corner of Bourbon to within a stone's throw of the corner of Dauphine.
Some will tell you that his amazing success was due to his astute­ness
in management and planning. Some will tell you his success was
due to the fact that he was an epicure and believed cooking was an art
and "the soul of festivity at all times and to all ages." Some believe
his success rested upon his knowledge of wines and his famous cellar.
But all will agree that these things were insignificant when compared
with the magical influence of his personality.
His personality has become a legend in New Orleans and many are
the tales New Orleans relates about him. Tales of his wit and his
ability as a raconteur, tales of the dishes with mysterious, delicious
flavors that he concocted, tales of the never depleted stock ol wines
chosen by him with infinite care. '
Tales of his house (544 Esplanade) which
held fine books, fine paintings and fine sculp­ture-
a house lavishly equipped for his family
yet containing for his personal use a single
room so simple in its furnishings that one had
but to enter it to know that the man who called
that room his own was a man of meticulous taste. Tales of the
multitude of keys kept in that room-each key labeled carefully-and
tales of the bo~ks by famous authors autographed affectionately to
Arnaud Cazenave. Tales of the drawings on his wide, bare table­drawings
executed by him with the precision that would have made
his hand an excellent surgeon's hand-of the medical books in his
glassed book cases, books reflecting his never failing interest in
medicine.
Tales of the wardrobe of finely tailored suits worn by him with
such distinction that he was known as the best dressed man in New
Orleans, of the ever present carnation in his buttonhole and the cigar
that he handled with such grace. Tales of the distinguished visitors
from Europe and every part of America who would wait for his nightly
appearance at 811 Bienville-wait for the moment when he would
enter and greet his guests in the courtly manner that earned for him
the city's affectionate title of "Count:' Tales of old baptismal records
in France showed that he might have claimed that title, if he had
wished, long before New Orleans bestowed it on him.
But no tale does full justice to Count Arnaud. For it was the com­bination
of many qualities that gave him a firm place in New Orleans'
history. It was his graciousness and his dignity; it was his versatility
in all subjects; it was his wit and his joie de vivre; it was his kindness
and his generosity and it was his loyalty to this city, this country and
to the glory of his native land, France, that made him a man New
Orleans will always remember.
~rnauJ; J{!e:1fauranf :loJag
When Count Arnaud died the tremendous task of continuing the
restaurant was faced by his widow, Mrs. Arnaud Cazenave, and his
daughter, Germaine Cazenave Wells. After a year, however, Mrs.
Cazenave retired and the entire operation of the restaurant is now in
Mrs. Wells' hands.
Inheriting her father's pride in the prestige of ,Arnaud's, Mrs. Wells
declares: "This restaurant was not founded upon shifting sand. It was
founded on the determination to serve the public well and give New
Orleans a restaurant of international reputation."
Today Arnaud's offers you food and wine according to the fine
tradition of excellent service that Count Arnaud insisted upon. Special­ties
of the place are Count Arnaud's own famous creations and still
treasured are the Count's penciled notes on food. An epicure himself,
these notes were sent from time to time to his chef and were al wa ys
prefaced with the admonition: "I am not a cook-I give you the out­line.
We will improve or change if necessary."
From those notes evolved the dishes for which Arnaud's is famous.
A few of them are as -follows:
Shrim p A·rllaud-shrimp with the famous Arnaud sauce.
Filet de Truite Vend8me-shrimp, mushrooms and claret wine com­bined
with trout.
Supreme de Volaille en Papillote-chicken cooked in a paper bag with
a marvelous white wine sauce.
Heart of Artichokes en Surprise-a surprisingly excellent way ·to serve
artichokes.
Filet Mignon Clemenceau-steak at its best.
Oysters Bienville-a masterpiece of oysters.
Chicken Victoria-boned chicken with a delicious sauce.
Monts d' Am/our, Rosalinde-peaches in a novel way.
Crepes Suzette Arnaud-the dessert to remember.
Not only are the Count's famous dishes served here but new dishes
devised by Germaine Cazena ve Wells are also here to continue the
tradition of good food.
Canape a'la Irma, named in honor of her mother, is a savory shrimp
and red wine concoction.
Pineapple Flambee, and Apple Pie Flambee, a'la Magdalene are
unusual and delicious desserts.
Water Cress Salad a la Germaine-the perfect salad .
. . . and to begin any meal, Germaine' s Special is an excellent choice.
:J~f! Stall
Always generous, Count Arnaud never failed to give credit to his
staff. Those who for twenty years or more have been loyal in the fol­lowing
the tradition of Arnaud's are:
Eddie Alcorn
Isidore Ariatti
Mrs. Magdalene Anna Willoz
Edw. L. Delaune Eugene Lartigue
Stanley Greig Michel N aretti
Emile Theriot
John Quinn
Octavia Sunseri
5~e ::Dining RoomJ
Through the iron doorway one enters a tiled vestibule and on the
right is the main dining room. Here one finds comfortable seats at snowy
damasked tables.
Above the central fireplace hangs the portrait of Count Arnaud,
painted by Mrs. Lizette Meyers. Those who see it feel the impact of
his personality in the smile that endeared him to New Orleans-a
smile captured on the canvas.
811 Bienville street is still the main dining room, but on the left
is the popular Grill and to the right is the Richelieu room opened by
Count Arnaud only a year before his death and named by him for the
famous French Cardinal.
Upstairs are the private dining rooms which can be reserved for
private parties and the huge banquet hall which seats two hundred and
fifty guests. In all these dining rooms one finds perfect service which
results from years of co-operation between Count Arnaud and his staff.
Modern and immaculately kept, the huge Arnaud kitchen com­bines
efficiency with old world charm. The fine, giant kettles of alum­inum
banded in copper, the great fifty gallon boiler for stock-that
indispensable base for the true chef's cooking-and the shining pots and
pans show the best in modern kitchen equipment. But from this kit­chen
come culinary triumphs with old world flavors.
When Mme. Pierre died, Count Arnaud employed Louis Lamothe
as chef and Jean Laune as his assistant. Both had been pupils of the
Gardere Brothers, the renowned chefs of Napoleon, the Third.
At their deaths, Jean Baptiste Lauhle (born by strange coincidence
in Count Arnaud's native village in France) was discovered in America
by the Count and succeeded the famous Louis and Jean.
room.
:lite Count ~ .JJiJtor'j 0/ WneJ
Arnaud's famous cellar is the result of the Count's personal super­vision.
He chose the wines with infinite care and the restaurant's cellar
was so fully stocked that when the first world wir came arid wine-could
not be obtained, Arnaud's restaurant could still supply its guests with
the finest wines.
F rom this cellar you are served rare Sauternes, sparkling pink Bur­gundy,
Rhine wines and the finest Italian wines, Chianti (white) and
Chianti (red) . . . here one finds Moselle wines and Alsace wines, the
Vins de Bourgogne (Northern Burgundy), and the Vins de Maconnais
(Southern Burgundy), and from this cellar comes the Champagne
which Count Arnaud chose with such pride-Veuve Cliquot ... G. H.
Mumms Cordon Rouge . .. Pol d' Arey, Cliquot Lucien-these and many
other famous champagnes can be had at Arnaud's as well as the best
wines of North and South America.
Count Arnaud was not only a connoisseur of wines-he was a
student of the history of the wine countries and his notes on wines and
where they are produced are of tremendous interest. A few of his com­ments
on wines and the wine countries are quoted here.
Red Bordeaux-also termed clarets-deriving from the French
word clairet meaning light in color rather than dark red in hue ...
grown around and about Bordeaux in the department of La Gironde.
This department is divided into six districts-the Medoc, Graves, Sau­ternes,
Barsac, st. Emilion, Pomerol.
The Medoc district is probably the greatest wine district in the
world-a small, dry, sandy strip of land North and South of Bordeaux.
It is said that Bordeaux wine has such health giving properties that it
is called rr Ie lait des viellards"-the milk of the old.
W~ile l]urgunJie6
White Burgundies are always dry. Chablis, the most popular white
wine in this country (the American taste favoring dry wines) .was favor­ably
known as far back as the ninth century .. . it keeps for long years
and never grows darker with age.
· Burgund" (Red)
The difference between Bordeaux and Burgundy has been de­scribed
accurately as follows-Bordeaux, La Grande Dame. Burgundy,
Le Grand Seigneur. Bordeaux more subtle, delicate, more patrician ...
Burgundy, heady, vigorous, imperious ... "the king of wines and the
wine of kings."
R~ine Wne~
Rhine wines have a fine distinctive bouquet and possess the rare
quality of stability. The Moselle wines, on the other hand-which are
produced in the Moselle valley, from the city of Koblenz, where the
Rhine and Moselle rivers meet, to the Luxemburg boundary-are more
delicate, slightly acid at times, and it is claimed are at their best within
the first eight or nine years of their existence.
Contrary to the belief instilled into some of us by our wine growers
who make and advertise dry Sauternes, there is no such thing as French
dry Sauternes. All Bordeaux white wines are sweet or semi -sweet, the
Graves being reputed about the dryest and that most celebrated of all
wines "Chateau d'Yquem" the sweetest.
C/'ampagne-:J/'e J(;ng 0/ J(;ng~
Champagne with its pale golden tint is made from black grapes.
The coloring is in the skin and great care is taken in preparing the wine
and letting it ferment apart from the mash.
The best part of the Champagne wine country lies some ninety miles
east of Paris in the district of Rheims, Epernay and Chalons. By an
official decree in 1911 it was declared that only wine made from grapes
gathered within the boundaries of a certain zone could be called
Champagne) the most famous of all French wines, since the days of
Dom Perignon, the famed Benedictin~ cellar keeper of the Abbaye
of Haute-Villars.
Champagne has been the table guest of kings, princes, marshals,
poets, philosophers, wits and half wits, and pretty women and this
"vine of wines has never been better described than by the historian
of the 'Abbaye in the ninth century who wrote, "It makes the cup glitter
with the radiance of pearls."
At any time of the day or evening,
one finds distinguished visitors as well
as New Orleanians at the famous old Arnaud
Bar, and at the new Richelieu Bar-opened by the
Count's daughter, Germaine Cazenave Wells. Not only
are all the usual cocktails served, but the unusual as
well: Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Cazena ve' s specialty),
French 75, Prince Ferdinand, Germaine's Special, and
the Count's famous Ambrosia-the drink of the Gods.
}(){){~~~~~~){~~~){){
){ ){
}( The Philosophy of Dining }(
}( }(
){ The Art of Cooking is an art to be proud of. It is the soul of Festivity at all }(
w times and to all ages. Corneille, the great Classic, once exclaimed in an ecstasy W o of well being, after a good dinner: /Ill y a tant de maitresses ... II n'y a qu'un 0
X diner." X
){ Corneille was, we have no doubt, a dilettante in food, but was he not reflecting ){
){ the placidity of old age when he paraphrased so lightly upon the masterpiece and ){
){ Pride of the Creation . .. IIQuot homines, tot sententiae." ){
){ Americans are prone to forget, in the ultra-rapidity and super-activity of mod- ){
){ ern life, trying to crowd eighty seconds of toil into one minute's time, that eating ){
}( should be a pleasure, not a task to get Ol/er with in a hurry. ){
){ A dinner chosen according to one's needs, tastes and moods, well prepared and ){
w well served, is a joy to all senses and an impelling incentive to sound sleep, good w
X health and long life. Therefore, at least once a day, preferably in the cool and X
){ quiet of the evening, one should throw all care to the winds, relax completely and ){
){ dine leisurely and well. }(
){ //Au revoir, mes amis! Je vais vivre et diner en sage." )e(
):( Arnaud Cazenave )e(
):( 1876-1948 :«
):( ){
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