by Sandra Scalise Juneau A VISIT WITH YVONNE ALCIATORE BLOUNT is like a delectable banquet enjoyed at her family’s fabled restaurant—flavored with her effervescent zest for living, spiced with her marvelous wit and sweetened by fascinating reminiscences shared with elegant panache. Recounting the succession: from her greatgrandfather, Antoine Alciatore, who arrived from France with classical culinary training and fulfilled his dreams of creating a fine restaurant by establishing Antoine’s in New Orleans; to her grandfather, Jules Alciatore, who was sent to France for studying culinary arts; to her father, Roy Alciatore, who ran the restaurant through most of the 20th century.
Foremost among her family’s traditions is a deep heritage of Catholic spirituality. As Yvonne affirms, “Both my mother’s and my father’s families were from a tradition of staunch Catholicism. Our faith was nurtured in our home and within our extended family. My Aunt Marie Louise, whose two sons became priests, was a great influence on our Catholic spirituality.” Faced with the responsibilities of being a single parent following divorce, Yvonne had no idea how she would sustain her family, but held firm to her faith, attesting, “God has His reasons for everything.” Like her father, Yvonne had a love for international travel, so for the next 30 years, she planned group tours while working for a local travel agency. Best of all, just like her father, Yvonne was able to taste the best of international cuisines while exploring the world’s great capitals. As a true New Orleanian, Yvonne
Visiting a Vieux Carré Legend
laments, “Nowhere in the world has good food like New Orleans. In Paris, I once ordered Truite Amandine. I was served a whole fish complete with tail attached.
Yvonne Alciatore Blount Yvonne says, “Initially, my father was very shy, but he took over on a moment’s notice when his father died. My father traveled the world making friends in the restaurant business. He truly was the one who brought both the national and international acclaim that established Antoine’s as a world-famous restaurant. He was gifted with genuine charm.” It was Roy Alciatore who, from the early 1930s, steered Antoine’s through lingering desolation from the Great Depression through World War II and the destructive forces of hurricanes into the late 1960s. With remembrance and a prayer, “Thank you Lord,” Yvonne recalls having learned the art of French cooking at the knee of her father, a skill she has relished—and one that has been greatly enjoyed by her seven children, seven grandchildren and now, two great-grandchildren. 40
Inside New Orleans
It was only embellished by three small almonds.” Having traveled the world, Yvonne is now at home in her Vieux Carré apartment, where from her gallery overlooking St. Louis and Royal streets, she says with delight, “The Quarter walks by me.” The rooms above the restaurant, which through the years have served as a residential rental unit and intermittently as assorted storage space and the law office for brothers Roy and Billy Guste, were repurposed after >>