Luxe Beat Magazine JUNE 2015 | Page 59

Epicure Antoine’s 175 Years of New Orleans History By Debi Lander The Rex Room I had the thrill of eating lunch in the elegant green painted Rex Room. Rex is one of the original Mardi Gras krewes and it is Rex who is the King of Carnival. In April 1939, the Rex organization’s Carnival Kings’ Club, made up of former monarchs, began meeting in the 1840 Room. In a few years, those meetings moved to The Rex Room. The Rex Room holds 20 to 50 guests and the Rex club supplies the decorations such as crowns and septers and photographs in the room. According to Rex archivist Dr. Stephen Hales, the Kings’ Club of ex-Rexes have met there annually. In recent years, Rex has claimed the restaurant for the organization’s luncheon on the Wednesday before Mardi Gras. Rex also uses Antoine’s as the site for the annual dinner honoring donors to the organization’s Pro Bono Publico Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports community endeavors focusing on the public schools. According to Hales, the annual dinner is hosted by the two 59