For an echo of New Orleans In Boston Border Cafe 32 Church Street, Cambridge, 617-864-6100 Dixie Kitchen 182 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-536-3068 House of Blues 96 Winthrop Street, 617-491-2583 New York Baby Jakes 14 First Avenue, 212-254-BABY Cajun 129 Eighth Avenue. 212-691-6174 Tramps Cafe 42 West 21st Street, 212-633-9570 San Francisco Elite Cafe 2049 Fillmore Street, 415-346-8668 PJ's Oyster Bed 737 Irving Street, 415-566-7775 Gulf Coast Bar and Grill 736 Washington Street, Oakland, 510-836-3663

So you've recently arrived for a visit to New Orleans, or perhaps you've been there once before. You have walked through the enchanting and decrepit French Quarter, and you have saved your pennies and had a meal at Galatoire's or Antoine's or Brennan's. But the tourist-gulch has gotten a bit old. You want to venture out, into the New Orleans that exists beyond the Quarter, and you want to explore the neighborhoods of the city for amazing secret and not-so-secret places where the locals love to eat. When you do branch out, you'll discover food that ranges from simple boiled crabs on formica tables to haute Creole bistro cooking impeccably served by black-tied waiters of the old school. Spectacular food is the norm, the flavor enhanced by the delicious sense of having escaped the over-traveled tourist by-ways.

Okay adventurer, for your first meal, wear blue jeans, and head north (in local parlance, head lake side). In the north-west corner of the city, where Lake Ponchartrain meets 17th street canal, you'll find Bruning's, crab shack extraordinaire (1924 West End Park; 504-282-9395). For more than reasonable prices, you can get a dozen or more of some of the best oysters on the half shell in the city. (This is no small thing. Oysters are as common as french fries here. They're usually about six bucks a dozen, and can be found next to the beer nuts on the menu of any local bar.) You might get a black pearl so chew with care. The shrimp are cooked in a spicy shrimp boil that makes cocktail sauce seem an insult. Crabs arrive in mounds ­ if you're among the uninitiated, ask your server for a lesson, there's an art to this eating. For those craving fish that doesn't have a shell, Bruning's is justly famous for their flounder, served whole. And, of course someone at the table should try a soft shell crab po' boy (the local variant on the submarine, hero, or grinder). Wash everything down with the local brew, Abita Amber.

After a siesta, you could go to the Commander's Palace and enjoy superb, world-class cuisine of the sort you might find in midtown Manhattan. But you'll find oodles more charm in an unassuming residential part of the city's University Section, at Clancy's Restaurant (6100 Annunciation Street; 504-895-1111). In this low-lit gem, local prominents dine on beautifully cooked, traditional New Orleans fare. The shrimp remoulade here is some of the best in the city. Crab meat shows up in many elegant guises from appetizers like Crab Louis, and Sauteed Crabmeat Octavia on toast, to main courses like a unique smoked soft shell crab (with crabmeat), or a fork-tender veal with crabmeat and bearnaise. The smoked duck is strong and served with greens, and the trout almandine executed with a wonderfully light touch. Service is professional and the wine list reasonably priced and well-matched to the food.

Inspired by last night's dinner? Any budding Creole chef ought to visit the Crescent City Farmer's Market (Saturdays from 8 AM until noon at 700 Magazine Street at the corner of Girod) in the heart of the up-and-coming Warehouse district. Rub elbows with growers, vintners and some of New Orleans' better-known chefs, and you're sure to come away with some useful hints to take to your cajun-deprived hometown. Buy one of Tee Pam's Homemade pies (try the sweet potato) and nibble while you peruse the gorgeous piles of squashes, tomatoes, yams, and herbs, homemade jams, breads, and fruit wines. Every week a different local chef from one of the city's finest restaurants gives demonstrations, passes out free samples, and generally struts his or her stuff. Jamie Shannon, from Commander's Palace, Rob Mitchell of Gautreau's, and Greg Duva of Vino Vino have all made recent appearances.

Other local favorites, to be leaked to tourists on a strictly need-to-know basis, include: La Provence on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, in St. Tammany Parish (25020 Highway 190, Lacombe; 504-626-7662). Here you can find truly local ingredients and methods combined with a Provencal influence brought by chef Chris Kerageorgiou. The dining room is intimate with heavy wood beams on the ceiling and a brick fireplace. In the Carrollton section, try Brigtsen's (504-723 Dante Street, New Orleans; 504-861-7610). In a renovated cottage filled with old furniture, it specializes in local cooking with a contemporary flair. Feelings in Bywater (2600 Chartres Street, New Orleans; 504-945-2222) serves up Creole French standards in an unbeatable atmosphere -- a renovated eighteenth-century slave quarters, joined with a late 19th century Faubourg Marigny storehouse. Get a table in the brick courtyard, and enjoy their conservative approach to the classics.

In the end, any adventurer in New Orleans can always head out boldly, phone book in one hand, map in the other, trusting in the goodness of the fare and the blessings of hunger renewed.