Cafe Reconcile is not only a great local restaurant, but also a hugely successful charitable project – this charity programme to help disadvantaged youth has turned into a popular restaurant with wonderful food. Teaching job skills may be the stated goal, but the kitchen’s true focus is New Orleans home cooking – but brought up several notches. The baked chicken is nearly perfect, the excellent red beans and rice give comfort on a Monday, and the Thursday special of white beans and shrimp has become a new classic. Take a taxi to this fringe neighborhood, but be aware that the folks inside have come from all over the city to eat here. The storefront dining room, with its huge windows and high ceilings, always buzzes with conversation.