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Started as a meat market on Jackson Avenue in the
1940s, Dorignac's now offers a full range of
groceries, deli, liquor and household products.
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A trip to Dorignac's Food Center (710
Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, 834-8216) is something like a family reunion,
with managers and check-out staff calling customers by name and shoppers, some
of whom have been buying their groceries at the family-owned business for almost
six decades, greeting each other.
"We have people who have been shopping here
for second and third generations," says store owner Joseph Dorignac III. "We'll
have a grandmother as a customer, then her daughter and later her granddaughter."
It has been a local institution in grocery
shopping since his father, the late Joseph Jr., opened a small meat market on
Jackson Avenue in 1946. He expanded that business in the same neighborhood three
times before the family moved the store to its present location in Metairie
in 1963.
From the beginning, Dorignac says, the philosophy
was intensely customer oriented. "He always did try and handle as many items
as he could, with lots of specialty items," Dorignac says of his father. "Whatever
the customer asked for, he would try to get it."
That mindset still holds true today. Over
the years, the store has expanded to include all types of food items from fresh
produce, specialty products, a delicatessen, snack bar, bakery, large meat department
and a huge liquor department.
"We have 250 types of beer," Dorignac says.
"The wine selection is tremendous; the whole liquor section is great. We keep
the prices down by the way we order."
The meat department also draws customers who
appreciate having a customer representative at the counter and as many as a
dozen people in the cutting room taking special orders and keeping the meat
counter stocked. The store also offers on-premises catering orders including
drumettes, sandwich trays, and vegetable and fruit trays.
To make sure the store maintains his family's
standards, Dorignac is in the store on most days, but he credits his staff with
keeping things running smoothly.
"I have very good people that work with me
-- the managers at the front of the store and each department has its own manager,"
he says. "Along with the customer service, our meat department and liquor department
are second to none in the area, and the liquor department is one of the biggest
and the best."
Despite the successful formula, Dorignac says
he has no plans to open a second store. "Right now we're trying to maintain
what we have; it's quite an operation," he says. "If you spread yourself out
too thin, you're going to lose something -- service or quality."
A host of corporate sponsors are presenting Bike New Orleans, a 25-mile
bicycle ride through New Orleans May 18, beginning at Marconi Meadows at City
Park and ending with a post-tour festival sponsored by Franco's Lakeview Athletic
Club. The after-tour party features free food and beverages, interactive games,
exhibits and music.
Registration is $30, with proceeds benefiting
the New Orleans Police Foundation. Registration runs from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
and the tour starts at 9 a.m.
Although it's billed as a bicycle tour, any
non-motorized, self-propelled vehicle can be ridden, including unicycles, tricycles,
trailers, side cars and bikes built for two. Helmets are required. Riders can
register on the day of the race or visit the Bike New Orleans Tour Expo at Marconi
Meadows from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 17.
Sponsors include Franco's, Gambit Weekly,
Whitney Bank, PAX TV, Channel 49, WNOE, Bollinger Marine, Ralph Brennan Restaurant
Group, Bicycling Magazine, Pepsi, Abita Light, Red Bull, Krispy Kreme,
Blue Bunny Ice Cream, French Market Corp., Smoothie King, The Vacation Place,
Joe's Bicycle, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines and www.wwltv.com.
Wedding Bliss
Shades Bridal Magazine, which premieres in July, is teaming up with Doubletree
Hotel and Fashion Fair Cosmetics to present the 2003 Black Bridal Expo
at 1 p.m. May 25 at the Doubletree's International Ballroom (300 Canal St.,
581-1300). Admission is $10.
The exposition will include a host of vendors
that will offer wedding planning advice, product samples, tastings of cuisine
from caterers, on-site makeovers by Fashion Fair cosmetics, door prizes and
other giveaways. Future brides also will be eligible to register for a honeymoon
package at the Sandals Beach Resort in Montego Bay Jamaica provided by The Travel
Network.
Expanding Bar Scene
Visitors to the Central Business District
now have a new place to relax with libations. Dominic's bar (219 Carondelet
St., 566-1876) opened last month in a renovated 1920s building in the CBD, just
a couple of blocks from bustling Bourbon Street. The upscale bar boasts one
of the largest drink selections in the area.
