Known to a generation of New Orleans schoolchildren as “Aunt Leni” because of the care she showed while selling Stride Rite shoes at the Imperial Shoe Store on Canal Street, she believed her life’s purpose was to give something back to the community she loved by serving others. Our restaurant is dedicated to her and in her memory.

Lurline Amelia “Aunt Leni” Donahue McCloskey was born in 1914 in New Orleans’ Irish Channel to a large, hard-working Irish-American family. The family moved to Algiers Point when her father, James Donahue, began working for the Southern Pacific Rail Yard.

Aunt Leni found her way into the restaurant business, when her eldest sister, Irma Donahue Murphy, opened Irma’s on Patterson Street in Algiers Point in the 1940s. Irma's became known as a community gathering place, friendly to workers and families alike. They eventually opened another Irma’s at the site of the current Old Point Bar in Algiers Point. When a younger sister, Hanna Donahue Eskine, opened the Maticard Restaurant and Bar in Gretna, Aunt Leni joined her and operated the restaurant with Hannah running the bar.

Lurline's daughters: Hillery, Barbara and Sylvia recall many pleasurable memories in Algiers Point, gathering with their families, eating wonderful food, the connection with family and friends and the  music. The recollection of those times of her life, Aunt Leni’s daughter, Hillery McCloskey Moïse, always dreamt of spending some part of her life in the restaurant business. Hillery was born in Algiers Point, grew up on Opelousas Avenue and graduated from Holy Name of Mary High School. Today she still lives in The Point, in a big 150 year-old house that often is filled with her family, her friends and especially her 11 grandchildren.

Aunt Leni’s Café and Market is more than a place of business to Hillery and Ed. It is an extension of their lives and a way of supporting and giving back to the community they so value and love. One of the first new restaurants to open in Orleans Parish following Hurricane Katrina, Aunt Leni’s Café and Market is dedicated to the residents of Algiers Point and is committed to serving the people of the neighborhood and community.

Hillery and Ed