When something is Uptown, there is its equivalent Downtown. It is hard to find a good bagel in New Orleans.  Uptown, on Freret Street, there is Humble.  Downtown, at 457 North Dorgenois Street, Is Flour Moon Bagels.  When you are in New Orleans, go to Flour Moon.  It is a ten minute walk from our front door, across the greenway.

I arrived at Flour Moon a little before 7:30 this morning, just before they open.  Three people were already at the door.  A van pulled up.  Seven people got out, all kinds.  Timing is everything at Flour Moon.  It is always worth the wait.

Flour Moon opens at 7:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  They open at 8:00 AM weekends.  They always close at 2:00 except on Wednesdays, when they are closed all day.  

There is a steady stream of customers.  This tidy corner bagel shop, on the corner of North Dorgenois and St. Louis Streets, is a must-stop for people on their way to work or wiling away their morning writing about what it is like to sit here.  It is very nice.  I just talked to one of the owners.  I am not a regular but I am regular enough.

There are no strangers in this part of New Orleans, only friends you haven’t yet met.  The proof is at Flour Moon.  The bagels are made fresh daily.  

The formica concrete counter seats five.  The sweet spot is right at the bend.  There are four tables along one wall, and four stools that face the glass wall, the one with the view of the Lafitte Greenway.  

Birds are singing.  That cloud looks like a pony.

Flour Moon Bagels has the best roast beef sandwich in New Orleans.  It is house-made rare roast beef, red onion, horseradish mayonnaise, aged white cheddar, and a pinch of greenery, your choice of bagel.  Everyone who tries one, orders another for later.  It is $16.00 as of this writing.  Who can put a price on satisfaction?  Everything on the menu is good.

The music on the soundtrack is excellent.  This really is Brooklyn by way of New Orleans.  There is an outdoor patio with outdoor seating.  A lucky thirteen tables are arrayed for cross-table banter and blooming camaraderie.  There is no morning so cheerful as a local morning.  Home is where the heart is.  Four tables are at the bannister they face Il Milagro Iglesia.  Bienvenudos.  Welcome.  It is a Church of God.  Its olive walls are accented with yellow snow trim.  Its corrugated metal roof sparkles in the morning light.  

Flour Moon is open until 3:00. If you are there later, don’t worry about it. Skeeta Hawk is the brewery next door. You can still get yourself some greenway action in the afternoon into the evening with it’s hours of relaxation.

All this and more can be yours when you are in New Orleans. All you have to do is stay at La Belle Esplanade. Close to all the tourist “must-see’s” but in the real city, in the heart of it.