Why New Orleans celebrates Christmas with réveillon dinners

The tradition has its roots in New Orleans' religious history.

• Catholics would fast on Christmas Eve, finally eating after midnight Mass.
• By the time they got home, they were ready to dive into a good meal, and maybe a little bit of a party, too.

The intrigue: Réveillon dinners were popular in New Orleans among the city's Creole residents, especially through the 1800s. But as American monoculture took over, they'd all but disappeared by the 1970s.

• About 40 years ago, however, they made a comeback.
• Thanks to a clever marketing campaign by French Quarter Festivals Inc., which suggested celebrating "A Creole Christmas," the dinners came roaring back to life.

What she said: "When this idea came up, it was like, 'Oh, I lived here my whole life … but I didn't know that this was a dining tradition.' And I would venture that most of the other people didn't either," Sandra Dartus, who served as French Quarter Festivals Inc.'s executive director at the time, told Country Roads Magazine.

How to celebrate: These days, you can find réveillon dinners as prix fixe menus at restaurants across the city throughout the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.

Go deeper: Explore menus for participating restaurants.