Nicolas Cage gives us his New Orleans restaurant recommendations

Nicolas Cage has a long history with New Orleans and, most recently, shot the political drama The Runner (out Aug. 7) in the city. Who better, then, to ask where your writer should take his mother to eat on an upcoming trip to NOLA than the star of The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans? You can read what the Oscar-winner had to say on the subject, below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I’m visiting New Orleans this September with my mother, who hasn’t been there before. Do you have any restaurant recommendations?

NICOLAS CAGE: I would certainly recommend Cochon. If you want a flame-roasted oyster, it’s absolutely one of the great taste sensations you shall ever have. I think your family will enjoy that. And then you have the old guard. The Commander’s Palace is an institution. It’s just a beautiful ambience, and they’re very nice people, and they really go above and beyond to give you that flavor and that experience that is unique to the city.

Any other thoughts about our visit?

You meet people who are just so poetic. I met this young man, I was just walking in the Quarter, and he said to me, “Oh, I loved Gone in Sixty Seconds, you touched the will of Eleanor.” Eleanor was the name of this Mustang I drove in the movie. I never heard anyone quite put it like that: “You touched the will of Eleanor.” Then, I remember I flew into the city, and I left the airport, it was September, and I was sweating, it was so hot. I said to the gentleman who was there to get me to the hotel, “Why is it so hot in September? And he looked at me and said, “Oh, September is a tease.”

It’s just a very poetic way of expressing oneself and I see it time and time again in that city. And I’m reminded of people like Tennessee Williams, when he wrote Streetcar… You can walk across the street and go into a barber shop and they’re listening to Wagner’s Parcifal. It’s a very cultural place within a small amount of geography and the people there are genuinely interested in the arts — and I like that.

You can see the trailer for The Runner, below.