Best Of New Orleans Blog

Tales of the Cocktail goes tiki

Kevin Allman — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:49:09 +0000

Like so many things in New Orleans, the annual Tales of the Cocktail convention is deeply frivolous on its face, but the subtext is completely serious: thousands of liquor distributors, restaurateurs, bartenders, and cocktail geeks gather to wheel and deal, attend seminars, and drink all night. The amount of press here (national and international) has to gladden the battered heart of the city’s tourism bureau (”I can’t believe how well the city has come back!” marveled a writer from the Los Angeles Times). There are waits at Galatoire’s…in July. And perhaps best of all, no one seems to be talking about l’affaire Tremé; they’re too obsessed with weightier matters, like single-batch rums, artisanal gins (”Juniperlooza” was a popular event), and hooking up in the Monteleone’s Carousel Bar, which is ground central for cocktail geek groupies.

Below the cut: tales of flaming desserts, gossip from The Times-Picayune, and a “spirited dinner” that ended with naked swimming….

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Goodbye McDonald’s, notes from a loco-vore

Sarah Andert — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:44:31 +0000

THURSDAY
8:45 am: Excited to go to work because of the locally roasted French Market coffee, local sugar and half and half waiting for me.

9:15 am: Discover local half and half smash hit in office, was poached by other fiends and gone in A day. Go to store to buy more. Label it accordingly: “You touch, you die. Except Noah and KPG,” because they have shared their half and half with me previously.

Also thwarted by discovery that Rouse’s now carries world’s best yogurt, Fage, from Greece. Memories of study abroad in Athens overwhelm. Must purchase.

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Sunpie’s in the House

Will Coviello — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:57:29 +0000

Bruce Sunpie Barnes and the Louisiana Sunspots headline a funraising party at Republic tonight (Friday, July 18) to help construct a community center in Bywater. A Shared Initiative is a nonprofit created by the ASI Federal Credit Union and is dedicated to providing affordable housing and community development in the Upper Ninth Ward. The Clifford N. Rosenthal Community Center will be built at 3401 St. Claude Ave. (at Desire Street). As Barnes and his band play zydeco and Creole music, performance painter Frenchy will complete a painting of the group. The finished painting will be auctioned off at the end of the evening. Tickets $20 at the door. Republic NOLA (828 S. Peters St.)

Blossman Pulls Out of PSC Re-election Bid

Clancy DuBos — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:11:30 +0000

Embattled Public Service Commissioner Jay Blossman of St. Tammany Parish has pulled out of his re-election bid, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. Blossman, who was first elected to the PSC 12 years ago, faced a tough re-election fight on the heels of revelations that he used his office stationery to promote a business venture owned by the son of a friend and supporter. Even more recently, he was the subject of a report by WWL-TV’s Lee Zurik for accepting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Entergy employees — after promising not to accept any utility contributions during his first campaign in 1996.

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Look who’s on the mic

Will Coviello — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:39:19 +0000

You can’t trust what you find on the Internets. For example, I don’t believe these pictures are from Eli Manning’s wedding reception. But I enjoyed them anyway.

Watch tonight- Travel Channel in New Orleans

Jeanne Foster — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:15:09 +0000

Samantha Brown visits New Orleans on tonight’s episode (Thursday, July 17) of Passport To Great Weekends airing at 9 pm CST on the Travel Channel. Check out this episode to see if very very perky Samantha Brown picks the right spots or ends up amongst the tourist wide eyed on Bourbon St. According to Brown’s press page the host may be spotted listening to jazz in the Faubourg Marigny, dancing and bowling at Rock ‘n’ Bowl, taking a back water bayou trip and helping rebuild homes. After you watch, post comments on what you think of the show here. Did anyone happen to spot Samantha Brown filming in NOLA?

At Least She Wasn’t Wearing a Powder Blue Shirt

Clancy DuBos — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:55:38 +0000

Katy Reckdahl’s account in today’s T-P of a harrowing incident involving an unidentified, irate New Orleans policewoman brandishing a gun and hurling vulgarities outside a Treme daycare center — sending kids and parents scurrying for cover — is yet another example of how out-of-whack NOPD is these days. Read the story to get all the details, which Katy (a former Gambit Weekly writer) does a fabulous job of gathering and reporting. Hopefully, the story’s front-page treatment will put some pressure on NOPD brass to identify and discipline the offending officers — both the gun-waving woman and the male investigating officer who swept the incident under the rug. The incident also provides further proof of why NOPD needs a civilian monitor. (See, Gambit commentaries here, here and here, just to name a few.)

Beyond the Traditional Po-boy

Ian McNulty — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:59:03 +0000

A passion for po-boys is stoked by tradition, by making New Orleans’ favorite sandwich according to the best practices laid down generations back. That’s the fire behind Koz’s, the reincarnation of Gentilly’s Po-boy Bakery, now relocated to Harahan, and the subject of my column this week.

But even the strict traditionalists need a break, and that’s the principle guiding the increasingly interesting specials board at another reincarnated stalwart of po-boy history.
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Broadmoor School Going Green

David Winkler-Schmit — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:10:10 +0000

New Orleans, LA – On Thursday, July 17 at 2:00 p.m., a groundbreaking event will be held on the campus of the Wilson School at 3617 General Pershing Street to kick-off the important community alliance formed between Global Green USA, the Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School, the Broadmoor Improvement Association (BIA) and the Recovery School District (RSD) for redevelopment with a focus on modeling the latest in green, sustainable building.

As a part of their Green Schools program, which was launched in 2004, and with the help of a generous grant from the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, Global Green USA is offering the $300,000 contribution as well as all necessary technical expertise to achieve LEED Silver status for the city’s first Model Green School.

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Tales of the Cocktail gets underway

Kevin Allman — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:41:16 +0000

The cupcakes? Sazerac-flavored, courtesy of the New Orleans Cake Café.

Even the pastries are boozy at Tales of the Cocktail, the annual convention/convocation for hospitality professionals, bartenders, liquor distributors, drinks writers, general sots, and what seems like hundreds of bloggers. (“Are you a blogger?” seems to be the new “Who do you work for?”) Begun as a single afternoon event 7 years ago, Tales turned into a 5+ day bacchanal of parties, dinners, seminars, and some pretty aggressive networking.

Things kicked off this afternoon at the Hotel Monteleone and continue tonight with a welcome dinner at the Palace Café. On the schedule for tomorrow: some two dozen seminars and tastings, a cocktail hour with booksignings and happy-hour snacks from a selection of New Orleans restaurants, and the “Spirited Dinners” program, where mixologists from around the country pair up with local chefs at their own restaurants to create cocktail-cuisine pairings. And that’s just Thursday.

More later; you can also check out the official Tales mob blog.