From King Cake to Lunar New Year Treats
In New Orleans, February has never been for restraint, but this year, the city's sweet tooth has reason to celebrate in triplicate. Mardi Gras, Valentine's Day, and Lunar New Year all collide in the same week, with Valentine's landing on Endymion Saturday and Fat Tuesday doubling as the Lunar New Year itself.
From classic king cakes to seasonal specials in shops across the city, New Orleans bakers and restaurants are finding ways to let Carnival, Valentine's Day, and Lunar New Year each leave their mark on the month—turning February into one long celebration of sweetness.
King Cake Season: Carnival's Crown Jewel
Every January, king cake season begins the city's annual race of ovens and mixers. Part pastry, part community ritual, the ring of sweet dough and colored sugar is more than dessert—it's edible pageantry. The tradition traces back to Epiphany celebrations, but New Orleans turned it into a two-month spectacle of flavors, fillings, and fierce loyalties.
Ask 10 locals where to find the best king cake, and you'll get 10 different answers. Still, two names tower above the rest: Dong Phuong Bakery and the Randazzo family. Dong Phuong's Vietnamese-French bakeshop in New Orleans East gained national notoriety when it received the James Beard American Classic Award in 2018. Their king cake is locally famous for its soft brioche layers, cream-cheese filling, and light frosting. The Randazzo family bakeries, which trace their roots to Hi-Lan Bakery in Chalmette in 1965 and now stretch from Metairie to Covington, are best known for classic cinnamon-swirled cakes with icing and sprinkles.
Others add their own flair. Hi-Do Bakery draws on French-style baking traditions when crafting king cakes. Bywater Bakery turns out various inventive iterations, including Chantilly, azul dulce blueberry, and even savory king cakes, while Breads on Oak offers a fully vegan take on the Mardi Gras classic. The modern king cake may change shape or filling, but the question at every table stays the same: Who got the baby?
If you'd rather bake than buy, King Arthur's Golden Brioche Mix makes an easy shortcut. While the dough rises, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter into a sandy paste. Roll the dough flat, spread the cinnamon filling, then roll and shape it into a ring. Bake until golden, cool, and drizzle with icing—just powdered sugar and milk will do, sweet enough to share even without a sugared sparkle.
Valentine's in Deep Gras
Valentine's Day often lands somewhere within Carnival season, but this year, love and parades share the same night—Endymion Saturday, when the city glitters from Canal Street to City Park. The pairing feels natural here, where intimacy and communal celebration co-exist year-round.
In the Uptown and Garden District stretch, Gracious Bakery on Prytania showcases seasonally themed pastries and desserts, including past Valentine's offerings such as a chocolate-raspberry mousse. Sucré Sweet Boutique on Magazine offers elegant French-style macarons—including a Valentine's Day assortment—beautifully boxed and ready for gifting. Mid-City's Willa Jean brings warmth and nostalgia with seasonal treats, fresh baked goods, and its beloved chocolate-chip cookies, all adding to the bakery's holiday charm.
For couples planning dinner before the floats roll, one elegant option is Miss River at 2 Canal St.—which, in recent years, has offered a Valentine's prix fixe featuring a shared dessert such as banana pudding for two—just steps from the parade route. Meanwhile, The Bower on Magazine traditionally touts a decadent flourless chocolate cake crowned with candied rose petals and rosy, love-day cocktails mixed just for the occasion. Both balance quiet romance with the hum of the season, letting diners linger over dessert before heading out to join the crowds.
Lunar New Year in the Crescent City
As Carnival nears its finale, another celebration of light and renewal unfolds—Lunar New Year. The Year of the Horse begins February 17, marked by lion dances, lanterns, and the scent of sesame and citrus drifting through neighborhood streets. It's a season of fortune and family, rooted in the city's Vietnamese, Chinese, and other Asian communities whose traditions have long shaped local life.
The annual Tết Festival at Mary Queen of Vietnam Church draws crowds for live performances, fireworks, and rows of vendor stalls serving Vietnamese street food, sticky rice cakes, and other New Year treats. Visitors linger over bánh mì, phở, spring rolls, and holiday snacks—often washed down with strong coffee sweetened with condensed milk—as the community welcomes the lunar new year.
At home, the custom is simple—fill the table with something sweet and bright: tangerines for wealth, coconut for togetherness, and a touch of gold or red to welcome good fortune through the door.
In New Orleans East—home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the South—shoppers looking for traditional Southeast Asian sweets will have the best luck at markets along the Chef Menteur Highway corridor, including Viet My Super Market and Minh Canh Market. Around Tết, those stores are especially likely to stock celebratory treats such as sesame balls, red bean buns, candied coconut ribbons, and sticky-rice cakes—sweets long associated with good fortune, renewal, and prosperity in Vietnamese New Year traditions.
In New Orleans, Lunar New Year doesn't compete with Carnival—it completes it. Both honor abundance and renewal, both bring people together, and both remind the city that celebration is a shared language—one that always ends with dessert.
