Having lived just outside of NOLA, I can vouch for this: especially the food. The NOLA area is the only place I ever lived in where you had to purposely go out of your way to find a bad meal. Hell, we used to leave the base at lunch time, drive to the nearest convenience store and order authentic
Chinese food ... cooked in a wok right in front of you ... and don't even get me started on the places we frequented in The Quarter.
I don't know what it is about the place, but chefs from all over the world seem to descend upon NOLA, pull up their britches and plate their best dishes. There used to be a place there, on Dumaine Street, called Peristyle. Not only was it affiliated with Emeril Lagasse, but it was rated as one of the best restaurants in the South. Sadly, I just read that it has now closed, but I'm sure that there are still plenty of great places in the Mecca of great dining.
By the way, if anyone reading this post has ever been to the Dry Dock Cafe on Algiers Point, I'd love to know if they're still serving their fantastic crab bisque? Tres bon!