With its emphasis on seasonal ingredients, backed up by top-notch execution in the kitchen, Galatoire's is still the best of the old-line New Orleans dining rooms. The menu is loaded with classics, like oysters Rockefeller (invented here), soft-shell crabs smothered in étouffée, pompano meunière almondine (not one or the other, but both preparations together) and chicken bonne-femme, as well as grilled meats and a half-dozen fresh fish of the day offerings. Reserving a table in the upstairs dining room "is strictly for tourists"; the multigenerational local clientele that remains devoted to the restaurant prefers to wait in line in order to sit in the downstairs dining room, especially at Friday lunch, when the cream of New Orleans society shows up to celebrate the end of the week.w Orleans society shows up to celebrate the end of the week.