Tales of the Cocktail in NOLA

[fatdeko]

I was just curious how many fellow gullys would be making an appearance down in NOLA. Should we maybe get together for our own little outing? And: which dinner are you going to? Me, I'll be at Arnaud's w/ Wondrich.

Voulez le bon temps roulez!

[Mayhaw Man]

Welcome to eGullet. Glad you are coming to visit.

What event are you coming for?

[beans]

Oh, I've given *much* thought to going.... The summer heat is high, and air fares are low.

I've a best friend/former co-worker that works on Bourbon Street and he's all for it. Will Sazerac of his own Gumbo Pages be there?

DrinkBoy?

I am truly waivering as it seems like perfect fun, in a fantastic city and a chance to catch up with one in the biz that I really admire and am lucky to consider my best pal on the face of the earth.

Mayhaw Man Brooks and his better half would be the crowning touch....

And I'd be thrilled to meet Splificator as well as the other in the biz gliteratti.

[beans]

What event are you coming for?

This event.

[Mayhaw Man]

Whoops. Kind of forgot about that. I will be around that weekend if anyone has any ideas.

Incidentally, for you cocktail fans you might want to take a serious look at Kerri McCafferty's book Obituary Cocktails (I have worked at 4 of the places in the book, I am proud to say, although my liver's opinion is still out). You can find some photos here. It is a great book and makes for a very handsome addition to any table top (and Kerry is pretty handsome herself, he says in a totally sexist aside ).

It looks like a nice series of events. Please, whatever you do-go to the Monteleone and have a Sazerac while riding in the Carousel Bar. It is a great experience. I have been drinking there since I was born (it is Louisiana) and a wonderful place to while away a couple of hot afternoon hours.

I hope to see some of you in town.

Brooks

[fatdeko]

Beans,

You should just do it. I was on the fence too. I got on the outside of a little too much Bushmills one night and thought I'd poke around on ExpediOcityLine just to see what deals could be had. I Clicked when I should have Clacked and BOOM! "Congratulations, click here to print your Itinerary" So here I am going and I haven't had a second thought about it. (Incidentally, RT Air from Portland ME and three nights <$500. This was 3 weeks ago--deals could be even better now.)

Mayhaw--Kerri will be there and I believe she's giving a walking tour the day after. Also the main event(s) are at the Monteleone. A couple of these are free (simply RSVP) so you should take part.

Edited August 4, 2004 by fatdeko (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

Beans,

You should just do it. I was on the fence too. I got on the outside of a little too much Bushmills one night and thought I'd poke around on ExpediOcityLine just to see what deals could be had. I Clicked when I should have Clacked and BOOM! "Congratulations, click here to print your Itinerary" So here I am going and I haven't had a second thought about it. (Incidentally, RT Air from Portland ME and three nights <$500. This was 3 weeks ago--deals could be even better now.)

Mayhaw--Kerri will be there and I believe she's giving a walking tour the day after.

The tour goes right by my wife's apt. A serious upgrade from the usual ghoulish types that appear after dark and discuss secret rooms and slave ghosts and stuff.

[Squeat Mungry]

It looks like a nice series of events. Please, whatever you do-go to the Monteleone and have a Sazerac while riding in the Carousel Bar. It is a great experience. I have been drinking there since I was born (it is Louisiana) and a wonderful place to while away a couple of hot afternoon hours.

Ha! That's the hotel I stayed at last time I was there. Definitely recommend the bar -- it's a hoot.

I'm jealous 'cuz I can't make it!

Have one for me,

Squeat

[bleachboy]

Please, whatever you do-go to the Monteleone and have a Sazerac while riding in the Carousel Bar.

Those bartenders know their trade well. I highly recommend their Ramos Gin Fizz - I think they do the best in the city.

[Libationgoddess]

Dale and I will be there, as well. We will be doing a cocktail pairing with the spirited dinner at Louis XV!, and a cocktail seminar at the Ritz Carlton.

Guaranteed to be a fun time with Drinkboy and Wondrich...

Hope to see you guys there!

Audrey

[DrinkBoy]

Yep, I'll be there.

[Splificator]

I've been away from the computer for a few weeks, said time spent cloistered in a walk-in preparing my body's core temperature for the experience of New Orleans in the middle of August. I think I'm just about ready.

Fatdeko--very much looking forward to meeting you, chez Arnaud. I don't want to spoil the surprise and tell you what the cocktails will be, but I will say it's the usual mixture of historical obscurities and obscure historicities, with nothing older than 1850 or younger than 1920.

Beans--will you be attending? I hope so.

Audrey, Robert--see you there.

--D

[slkinsey]

I hope you three understand that we're expecting detailed reports of the fun upon your return...

[beans]

If Cleveland's temps continue to dip into the 50's (F) in the evenings, I'll find myself with much time off to travel.

Sidenote: I generally don't go anywhere from May until September, at a minimum, as that is our "season." Now we've a staff of about 48 bartenders that are all begging for hours thanks to mother nature since the restaurant is usually all open air (removable panel doors) and most of our bars are out doors....

Go figure that Seattle is having hotter summer weather than us? We've hit 90 degrees once, back in June!

This event seems like it would a blast.

Of the events that may appeal to those in the biz, I've a flair competition with the Gravity Games (in Cleveland) this fall and have been invited to view (not compete) in Orlando for Quest for the Best. We're selling our sister restaurant and that gives much hope for the Vegas bar show in my future. Finally!

[slkinsey]

This just happened, right?

So...?!

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Mayhaw Man]

No reports yet, Sam- I was in the city but did not attend any events-I did go to a bar or too however

My friend Chris Rose wrote a very nice piece on New Orleans Cocktails as a lead in to the event. This story captures nicely a feeling that many of us have about bars and drinking in New Orleans

[DrinkBoy]

We had a FABULOUS time :-> I'm sorting through my digital pictures right now, and will post some of them to the cocktail porn thread, and I'll include more details about what happened there in this thread later (as will hopefully some of the others who attended...)

...of course some of what happens in New Orleans must stay there ;->

[slkinsey]

...of course some of what happens in New Orleans must stay there ;->

If some of my past trips to New Orleans are any indication, some of what happens in New Orleans must stay there because no one remembers exactly what happened anyway.

[fatdeko]

I got back late Sunday afternoon and need a day or 2 to decompress before I can give a more than half assed report. That and waiting for sound Judgement to return.

This I can say: I fell in love last week with a girl named Nola. She walked like a woman and drank like a man, to be sure, but..........

And some exciting news was made (or at least officially announced). The Museum of the American Cocktail soon to be a reality and taking up residence in NOLA. Look for updates and details from the MOTAC crew.

And a very special thankyou goes out to Robert, Audrey, Dale, Jill and David for letting me hang-out with them. You guys turned what was only gonna be a great trip into a truly memorable and awesome experience.

A big "Here's How!" to the Liquor-atti.

Over and Out,

Myers

PS: To the girl at Harrah's with the cute n freckly shoulders: I suppose I WILL have another of those whiskys.

[Libationgoddess]

Darlin, it was an absolute pleasure drinkin whiskey and gin with you!!! Would love to see you wind up in NY one of these days

Sorry it took me so long to respond----decompressing as well, and got caught up this week canning the last of the seasons cherries...I hope all these berry stains under my nails pay off....

I fell in love with the Ramos bros, all over again. What a breakfast, what a drink!

Folks, don't miss this event next year. It was an all-around wonderful experience. The combination of (many!) great people who are so clearly impassioned about this thing we call the "cocktail", combined with the historical value made for a magical trip.

Phil Green (a descendant of Antoine Peychaud) conducted a wonderful seminar on the history of Peychauds bitters, and interesting anectdotes about his family as well. Great to see his demo of the Sazerac!

And the pharmacy museum left me speechless. Robert and I visited it together and I'm so happy that he took all the photos. I couldn't even begin to describe....

If anyone does get down there anytime soon, be sure and stop into the Library Bar at The Ritz-Carlton. The hospitality of Chris MacMillan and his wife Laura was just astounding. They were the nicest, warmest, people; it was like meeting your cousins for the first time. And mind you, the Library is "his" bar; they close it whenever he's not working (I love that). He took the week off just to hang out with us! His knowledge and passion of the history of cocktails (and additionally New Orleans) is beyond belief. He will play an integral role in the museum, and that seems a perfect fit.

Talk about Southern hospitality. Wow.

...and still fuzzy. But happy to report that the voodoo dolls are doing well, and standing proud on their temporary perch

Audrey

[ludja]

It looks like a nice series of events. Please, whatever you do-go to the Monteleone and have a Sazerac while riding in the Carousel Bar. It is a great experience. I have been drinking there since I was born (it is Louisiana) and a wonderful place to while away a couple of hot afternoon hours.

I hope to see some of you in town.

Brooks

Silly but true story.

A friend and I wandered into this bar without knowng anything about it, ponied up on a stool, ordered Sazeracs and it actually took us a minute or so to figure out that the Carousel Bar was actually turning slowly ! Kind of freaked us out for a minute. I have no good excuse except maybe it wasn't our first bar stop that day... It's great!

[Mayhaw Man]

Libationgoddess,

The Pharmacy Museum IS neat. God knows how many people walk by there and never open the door. There is a bunch of really cool stuff in there and the people working there are always well informed and interesting.

I'm glad all of you had a great time. Hopefully you got here early enough to enjoy some of that freaky weather that we had last week. I thought that I had died and gone to Canada.

And Ludja, I have been riding on the Carousel Bar since I was a tot (really), and a couple of times I have spend enough time on there that I was eventually turning the opposite direction from the bar . Does that mean that I was not moving? Physics is not my best subject.

Lots of people fall in love with NOLA, but she's the kind of girl you really can't ever take home to meet your Mom.