Since 1947, the Dorignac family has supplied New Orleans and the surrounding area with specialty groceries, wine and liquor with an especially stellar reputation for superior quality meats. The family food story began in an Irish Channel butcher shop. Lifelong butcher, Joseph P. Dorignac Sr. and his wife, Margaret Dedebant Dorignac, worked together in the meat market. When their only son, Joe Jr., joined them there, he learned the art of butchering from his father.
After Joe Sr. passed away, his son began to dream of a life bigger than the butcher shop. Together with his mother, in 1947 he turned Dorignac’s One Stop Supermarket into a reality. The Jackson Avenue store included a dozen parking places for drive-up convenience. In New Orleans’ Lower Garden District, the modern grocery concept flourished.
When much of their clientele moved to Metairie in the early 1960s, Joe Jr. and Margaret invested in a second location just across the Orleans Parish line on Veteran’s Memorial Highway. The much larger Dorignac’s stretched over 37,000 square feet and included more than 200 parking spots. Eventually, the Jackson Avenue store closed as Joe Jr. concentrated on his burgeoning business in the suburbs. The new store included a deli and café, which served as Joe Jr.’s de facto office and living room. From his table, he conducted business while greeting friends and customers for more than 30 years.
Originally local chain McKenzie’s operated as the in-house bakery, situated at the store’s entrance. By the 1980s, Joe Jr. realized the bakery business was a way to grow Dorignac’s margins, so he ordered special ovens from France and hired top-notch bakers to produce New Orleans’ favorite pastries and specialty cakes like Doberge. Dorignac’s became renowned for their house-made breads, especially the seeded Italian loaf known as St. Joseph’s bread, which is available year-round. When orders for mini muffulettas pour in through catering, the bakery produces the bread, often in astounding quantity.
Creole cream cheese is another unusual product produced in-house. Dorignac’s is one of the few places the New Orleans favorite can be found. Eaten mostly for breakfast, generations have started their day with this local delicacy. The store sells over 20,000 units of Creole cream cheese annually. Willie Matamoros has been dairy manager for 59 years, while employee Kim Charlot has produced all of Dorignac’s Creole cream cheese for nearly two decades, ensuring its meticulous consistency.
Today, Joseph P. “Jody” Dorignac IV and his wife, Nicole, maintain the family store’s traditions while overseeing Dorignac’s business. Key to Dorignac’s customer experience are friendly baggers stationed at every checkout. It has always been a company policy to employ special needs adults whenever possible.
“Our baggers are everything you’d want in an employee,” Nicole beamed. “They’re such sweet, genuine people. It helps our cashiers, and our customers love it.”
When Jody and Nicole were dating, she began working there herself.
“I started in the courtesy booth, where people would pay their utility bills and cashiers checked in and out,” she said. “It was a wonderful way to get to know the shoppers and all the employees.”
Fittingly, Nicole’s earliest grocery shopping memories are of Dorignac’s. Her grandmother, Esther Newhouse Gallagher, took her along on frequent shopping trips.
“It was the only place she ever bought her meat,” said Nicole, who learned to love cooking from her grandmother. When she passed away, Nicole’s mother, also named Esther, continued to foster that love. Together they would prepare many beloved meals that have inspired some of Dorignac’s most popular deli dishes. From stuffed mirlitons to artichoke casserole, mac and cheese, and her classic chicken salad, Nicole’s culinary heritage shines in Dorignac’s prepared foods today.
Jody and Nicole have one child, Margaret Nicole Dorignac, namesake of the store’s matriarch. Jody is usually in the store seven days a week, displaying the intense work ethic learned from his grandfather. For over 75 years, Dorignac’s has represented fine quality products delivered with friendly, family service. From Joe Jr.’s favorite table in the café, the tradition continues.
Catch Poppy Tooker on her radio show, “Louisiana Eats!” Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM.
Poppy Tooker has spent her life devoted to the cultural essence that food brings to Louisiana, a topic she explores weekly on her NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! From farmers markets to the homes and restaurants where our culinary traditions are revered and renewed, Poppy lends the voice of an insider to interested readers everywhere.
