Everyone who visits New Orleans is aware of the original Cafe du Monde at the French Market in the Vieux Carré . It’s not possible to fly out of Louis Armstrong International unless a gate agent certifies that your shirt is covered with powdered sugar. There are seven branches scattered in and about NOLA, and they’re fine in a beignet emergency. However, the original is the most fun. But did you know that the greatest number of Cafe du Mondes can be found in Japan? 21 to be exact. How did that happen?

Jennifer Larino has written the interesting story, for The Times Picayune, of how Japan fell in love with coffee and beignets. It all began at the 1984 World’s Fair. Our favorite quote, from Cafe du Monde’s Jay Roman: “They wanted to follow a plan, everything has a plan and we’re not exactly plan kind of people.” Ahhh, The Big Easy…