French Quarter Fest 2012

If you do not live in New Orleans (and i truly feel sorry for those who do not) you may not know about the wonder that is the French Quarter Fest. You may have heard of Jazz Fest, a two weekend festival in the early summer spent in the dusty hot racetrack. Its expensive, its sweltering, and sure you get to see big acts like Bruce Springsteen (this year) and Etta James (last year RIP). But let me tell you...so far, French Quarter Fest is where it is at!

First of all, the festival is held now...when it is till cool at times in New Orleans. Hell, last night I needed a sweater! But when the sun shines, it is like a perfect June day, full of sunshine, and river breezes.

Second of all, its all local bands. Blues, jazz, funk, blues, and soul. New Orleans has it all. And with 4-9 stages running all day, you are bound to find something you like.  Most of these bands have full time working musicians. The town can support them.  And let me tell you, they are GOOD!  For a musician to move here is like the Beatles going to Berlin. This is Malcolm Gladwell Tipping Point shite, yall!

And C...its FREE! Yes! Everyday i have been coming out with friends, sitting in the sun, sharing sunscreen and sangria, rockin' out to some amazing music.  And yeah, i actually just fell over (i have a bad foot which = bad balance) and the only comment i got was that at least i had nice panties. Well worth it to rock out hard core to a cover of Led Zepplin's Ramble On, I say!

Oh did I forget to mention the food? BBQ, alligator ka-bobs and Krispy Kreme bread pudding. Yes, please!

And all the while, ships keep heading up the Mississippi...

Wish y'all were riverside with me right now!

My Favorite Moment at Tales

Since I have a backlog of memories form this past trip to New Orleans, and since I could not sleep this morning for dreaming of going back, I thought I should start with the greatest moment at Tales of the Cocktail this year. It wasn't some fancy lavish party. It wasn't some amazing cocktail or some award or recognition. It was this free pig and punch party we had in Washington Square Park in my beloved Marigny.

A few boys in the industry came early this year to work with a group called Hands On New Orleans, a non-profit group dedicated to transforming communities in the the greater NOLA area through volunteerism and leadership. The group sent the boys to help fix up a new charter school. Devastated by the state of the arts and music program of the school, they decided to host a benefit to raise money. Booze, food, a great band and time were donated to throw this party for the community and the sale of t-shirts generated some much needed funds for the Fredrick Douglas Charter School of New Orleans.

I rode my bike over to the park at the start of the event. I chatted with Jill DeGroff (whom I always meet at such magical moments) and plopped myself down under a palmetto tree with pig, cold Abita and some Zapps chips. I listened to the cicadas. I danced with babies to the band. I napped on the grass while puppies sniffed my hair. This was the one event I attended where my body and mind actually stopped its hectic pace. I wasn't thinking of anything I might be missing, or where I had to be next. I just stopped, smiled and enjoyed this wonderful city and the people who call it home.

Check out Lush Life Production's great video of the event..featuring yours truly too!

Top 5 Tales of the Cocktail Seminar Picks

Its 35 days away from Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. Last night at a fantastic Meals on Wheels charity event, a band played a jazzy New Orleans song and my body started dancing that two step. I can't wait to dance on Louisiana soil again!

Here are my top 5 picks for seminars at Tales this year:

Creative Cocktails and the Power of Brainstorming
Wed, 21 July 2010
The Riverview Room, Hotel Monteleone
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

A highly interactive seminar. A short introduction to the creative process - examples of creative thinking. The key word here for me is "Interactive". I'd like to start this week off getting my creative groove on.

Hollywood Cocktails: Louisiana Style
Fri, 23 July 2010
Grand Ballroom North, The Royal Sonesta Hotel
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Lights! Camera! Action! It’s Hollywood Cajun-style. Louisiana has been the setting and location for hundreds of motion pictures through the years including classics and favorites such as A Streetcar Named Desire, Jezebel, King Creole, Easy Rider, Interview with a Vampire, Live and Let Die, and Sex, Lies, and Video Tape to name a few.

Some Movie Stars who have made Louisiana-based films include Paul Newman, Bette Davis, John Wayne, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, John Travolta, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Marlon Brando, and Vivian Leigh.

Come join this movie buff event lead by four film & drink experts; Ted Haigh, William T. Garver, Cheryl Charming, and the author of, New Orleans Goes to the Movies, Alan Leonhard.

Cocktails made with Louisiana spirits will be served. Yeah this one is right up my alley! But I demand recognition of The Big Easy and the smokin' Denis Quaid. Sadly this most anticipated seminar is right before my Margarita competition...hope I won't be too nervous to enjoy it.

New Tales for Old Cocktails: Techniques and Problems of Historical Mixography
Sat, 24 July 2010
The Queen Anne Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

The history of the cocktail has always proven itself highly resistant to accurate investigation. This session will discuss the causes of that resistance and explore some of the strategies that have proved successful in countering them. In other words, a session for the history geeks, but with colorful anecdotes and Lazarus drinks. I am a history geek, indeed. And j'adore David Wondrich, the moderator.

Plate and glass, finding Harmony
Sun, 25 July 2010
Grand Ballroom North, The Royal Sonesta Hotel
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
This is a hands on seminar that features guest Chef Peter Smith from PS 7's restaurant, and Gina Chersevani, mixologist. Attendees will gain a rich knowledge of how to grasp the concept of balance and harmony between the plate and the glass, and how to translate that into a menu that patrons will not only understand, but will LOVE! This appeals to my inner foodie and again..hands on is key descriptive here.

The Hotel Grunewald, Roosevelt and Fairmont - Over 100 Years of Cocktail History
Sun, 25 July 2010
The Queen Anne Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

This seminar will chronicle the cocktail history and folklore attached to the great New Orleans hotels that have gone by the names Grunewald, Roosevelt, Fairmont, and once again, the Roosevelt. I am IN New Orleans, after all...why not absorb the rich cocktail history of town at its absolute fullest.

Another Three Favorite Things

This is in response to a request from my darling Francine!

RyeGirl’s top 3 food experience at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans 2009
(I am leaving out the Spirited Dinner, because that was a drink extravaganza in another catagory and I want to focus on “experience” and “food”)

3) After two hours sleep, a flight from Newark, and straight into 6 hours prepping and serving cocktails, I managed to stumble over to Acme, plant my ass at the bar and start ordering a plethora of food deliciousness. The charbroiled oysters with cheese, po boys (oyster, shrimp and soft shell crab), raw oysters, crawdad hush puppies…all washed down with fresh Abita beer. I was so intent on my eating and drinking, I had an entire conversation with the man sitting next to me before we both looked up and realized we knew each other! It was David from Siembra Azul and we have just spent 6 hours working together. Now, we were so focused on the feast before us, we did not realize we were sitting together! We laughed, he bought us some beers, then we took those beers for a walk around town. Love that open container law!

2) After two full days of tasting and events and more cocktails than I could mention, I just wanted a nice modest, quiet, delicious dinner with a glass of wine and good company. I got it at GW Fins. We started with a glass of Champagne then some tasty perfectly cooked seafood and a glass of wine. I openly wept from absolute contentment when a scallop passed over my lips. Strawberry shortcake for dessert and I was ready to lie down on a bed of berries and cream and slumber the dreams of angels.

1) Without a doubt the best meal came Thursday morning. It was 10:40am, a weird time for breakfast and is there brunch on the weekdays in NOLA? We call Luke’s and they invite us over, even though technically they were not open yet for lunch. But could it be a brunch? I ordered my first cocktail, a creamy absinthe fizz, we also get fresh pressed coffee and a pitcher of Orange Juice. Tons of liquids? Brunch? Check! We order ½ dozen oysters. Carlos, God of all waiters, brings us 7 giant oysters that taste like they were caught about ten minutes ago. Carlos, you have a boat back there? Then I order a fresh crabmeat omelet with salad AND French fries (love that!). Dave gets the gulf shrimp and grits en cocotte. Omelet and Grits? Check! They also had copies of the NY Times and the Times-Picayune… This is a BRUNCH, BABY!! I was feeling like I could move here..not to New Orleans..move into this restaurant…Carlos will you be my roommate?

God bless Carlos, God bless Luke’s, God bless New Orleans, God Bless America and all its wonderful bounty! I am SAVED! Hallelujah!

Utter Contentment at Luke's

Some Things I learned at Tales of the Cocktail

• I have endless amounts of strength and endurance when it comes to spirits and food.
• Thank goodness for the above. I needed every bit of it to make it through Tales.
• Real Louisiana boys are rare and special. When you meet one, its like riding a unicorn.
• I would like to drink nothing but coffee with chicory evermore.
• I can fall in love 2 and a half times in little less than 4 days.
• I don't know why beignets come in three when I can only consume one.
• New Orleans likes their cocktails sweet.
• Germany is perceived as the Ohio of Europe here in the states.
• I don't care about cooties and I will put my lips on any bottled offered to me...
• But I would never take my shoes off anywhere near The Olde Absinthe House.
• Sleep? Who needs that?
• Hangovers can be avoided if you just never stop eating and drinking.
• There is some sort of Voodoo blessing on me that makes me charming, witty and pretty within the confines of the Crescent City.
• I should move to New Orleans as soon as possible. (see above)
• Jesus and his followers were probably alcoholics, "Look Jesus! A puddle! Look!"
• GatahChop: when you are down for the count in NOLA.
• Bacon sandwiches made with french toast and dipped in maple syrup. That is all.
• Texas has adorable people in it.
  
• If I wanted to get married and have kids, once again, I have chosen the wrong profession.
• But everyone had dogs instead of kids and showed pictures on their phones squealing, "Look at my Baby!", so I guess I fit in.
• Oysters are good. Shrimp is good. Hush Puppies are good. Scallops are...well you get the idea.
• Cute bartenders from LA make a good Birthday gift (Enjoy your presents Andrea!)
  
• Carlos at Luke is my favorite waiter in New Orleans. Go visit him now.
• I like a town where everyone wears a dapper hat.
• I would like to spend part of every day poolside with a frosty cocktail.
• Karaoke in New Orleans can be a drag.
• Why sing with crappy background music when you have great live stuff all around you?
• I, apparently, live in the center of the cocktail universe and all my local favorites (Clover, Pegu) are the best cocktail bars in the world.
• But apparently the judges don't go abroad much so I still need to visit friends in Amsterdam, LA, Belfast, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, Munich, Tokyo, etc...and judge for myself!
• Belfast got its cocktail on! Gotta be better than Dublin (up the Dubs!)
  
• Textquited: when you quit your job via a text message.
• The people in this new business can be kind, generous and very sweet. Much like the aforementioned NOLA cocktail.
• What am I forgetting? Probably a lot.

Poolside libations