Secret societies do exist, and I'm a member!

(Guess it's not a secret anymore)

With the arrival of a square box this morning, I became the
latest inductee into the International Order of the Sazerac. Along with a crushed
velvet red fez, was the following note:  “Thank
you for all your support of Tales of the Cocktail. As a special friend of
Tales, we invite you to be a part of the International Order of the Sazerac,
our highest honor. Enjoy and wear with pride,” signed Ann Tuennerman, Founder.

Now, I thought I had the highest honor when I was named the
2010 Ambassador of Tales, but apparently there was another. Who knew?

There are nearly 25 people in the International Order so
far, Chris Hannah, bartender at Arnaud’s French 75 Bar, one of America’s Top 5
bars by Esquire magazine, being one of them. He’s donning his fez in this youtube video where he shows viewers how to make a Brandy Crusta cocktail.  

“The inductees are hand-picked by me and it’s given to those
individuals that are beyond supportive of Tales,” said
Tuennerman.

The fez is by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever received.
I’ve gotten so much from my involvement with Tales of the Cocktail, from
friendships, professional relationships and industry knowledge of spirits,
customer service and maintaining those positive professional relationships.

When I wear the fez, and there’s no doubt that I will wear
it, I will remember everything I’ve gained from my Tales of the Cocktail
experience.

Vodka producers keep the flavors coming

The history of vodka infusions dates long before the market was infiltrated with citrus and fruit flavors and buttered popcorn and marshmallow. The odorless and colorless spirit made originally from potatoes lends itself to adopt the profile of anything it’s paired with. It’s a favorite of those individuals who need or want to imbibe at lunch on a workday because it’s undetectable on the breath—so I hear.

A cucumber Lemon Tea
Belvedere Vodka cocktail
served at the Bon Appetit
Grub Crawl Media Party.

With nearly 300 bottles of booze in our home bar, flavored vodkas have found their place among the rums, gins, bourbons, whiskeys and liqueurs. Most recently, I came into a bottle of Lemon Tea Belvedere from the media event for the Bon Appetit Grub Crawl. As a sponsor of the event, Belvedere took the opportunity to promote its usage in a variety of cocktails created by local bartender Star.

At the recent Tales of the Cocktail, a trip through the media swag room resulted in scoring a bottle of the organic and sustainable 360 Vodka in the Glazed Donut flavor. Released in time of the annual National Donut Day in June, the health benefit of the new release was touted as an 80 calorie alternative to an actual glazed donut with 250 calories or more.

I decided that this morning was as good as any to open the bottle and Google a few recipe options. The easiest was the Chocolate Glazed. Possibly the easiest drink I’ve made in years.

Chocolate Glazed

1 ½ oz. Glazed Donut 360

3 oz. Chocolate Milk

Shake over ice, serve straight up in a martini glass. I served it over ice in a double old fashioned glass.

Other flavored varieties are of course the Absolut New Orleans, a mango and black pepper release following Hurricane Katrina, with proceeds benefiting the Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation to the tune of $250,000. The Absolut Los Angeles, a blueberry and acai berry and Absolut Brooklyn, a green apple and ginger, also have shelf space in my home bars.  

My favorite of all the flavored vodkas is the Grey Goose La Poire.  Pear Flower is my favorite recipe. 

Are you a fan of flavored vodkas? Do you think it's a trend that needs to stay or GO?

Behind closed doors in New Orleans

My all-time favorite thing about living in New Orleans is the chance to go into some of the most historic homes in the city. From walking tours to parties and fundraisers, I’ve found myself in some pretty grandiose cribs in town.

Drue and I were invited by one of his former colleagues at Northrup Grumman to a Republican fundraiser at New Orleans real estate mogul Joseph Cannizarro’s modern neo-classical mansion in Old Metairie. For those of you unfamiliar, Cannizarro is “the man best known for bringing high-rises to the New Orleans skyline,” according to the New York Times and the founder of First Bank and Trust.

The home spans nearly the entire block on Northline Drive and had more religious art than NOMA. The aspect that I’d to that point never witness in a homestead was that it had a chapel, which could easily accommodate 20 or so, located right off the marble-laden foyer. His personal priest was present at the event as was honored guest Jenna Bush. Between Jenna, Drue and I, we were the youngest in attendance by several decades.

We spotted the house on an episode of Memphis Beat, filmed in New Orleans, although it did little justice to what Drue found was an obscene display of wealth and opulence. Another odd point was the fact that we couldn’t find a cocktail napkin in the entire place. When I served on the Louisiana Seafood Festival board, we’d hold our meetings in Cannizarro’s private board room in the First Bank and Trust headquarters at 900 Poydras.

I’ve been in quite a number of historic Garden District homes including that of Vogue and Newsweek writer and author of The House of First Street, Julia Reed. When I worked at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art for five months in 2006, she was chair of the board and hosted a party for the board and staff. I remember how completely foreign it seemed for someone to have enough china in the same pattern to serve, buffet style nearly 50 people. The other, even stranger thing, was the fact that several guests thought it appropriate to place their shrimp Creole stained china on whatever surface was available when they were done, including on a light colored and clearly custom sofa.

Recently I found myself in an Upper Pontalba Apartment overlooking the spot where Drue and I tied the knot on the Place d'Armes or Jackson Square. From the balcony of this nearly 2,000 sq. foot entertaining space, the view of the Cabildo and St. Louis Cathedral throw an old live oak tree is just magnificent. I fell in love with New Orleans all over again at this bird’s eye view. The apartment has 14-foot ceilings with beautiful crown modeling, a double parlor living space with a built-in bar and an additional sitting area.

Read more »

Local gourmet popcorn shop boasts Louisiana-inspired flavors

On our visit, the Popcorn Bistro had 84
flavors including chocolate, cheeses,
dessert flavors in addition to locally-
inspired flavors like King Cake,
Bananas Foster, Hot Boiled Crawfish
and Tiger Bait. 

One of my Facebook friends recently posted about the Popcorn Bistro and during today’s lunch break, I decided it was time to pay it a visit. Where the former Lee Michaels jewelry store was housed in Lakeside Mall, the Popcorn Bistro has been selling gourmet kernels since December 1 of last year. How did I not hear about it? For one, I rarely visit that end of the mall. 

The wrap around counter is center stage and located in the middle of the store is a three story metal rack lined with 10 pound white, double-side labeled pails full of big beautiful kernels. The staff of two were friendly and the gift displays made me run through my mental Rolodex for an upcoming birthday or special occasion. Unfortunately there were none, so I purchased a few minis for my husband. 

This is the Popcorn Bistro’s second retail location. The first is located in Covington on the Northshore of New Orleans. Popped fresh daily, the menu at the Lakeside location offered 84 flavors, but the company rotate flavors which top 250. The Popcorn Bistro is owned by Leslie and Richard Capdebasq and they also own a catering company. 

The most popular savory flavor is the Louisiana themed favorite Hot Boiled Crawfish, followed by Dill Pickle. On the sweet end of the spectrum there top sellers are Wedding Cake, Red Velvet and Oreo Cheesecake. The LSU themed flavor--Tiger Bait is caramel coated and of course, purple and gold. 

I took home the mini bags of Hot Boiled Crawfish, Dill Pickle and Tiger Bait. Drue taste tested the two savory and his favorite of the two is Dill Pickle. No doubt, we'll be trying other varieties in the future, as they would make for adorable gifts. 

Gifting popcorn for the holidays particularly is not uncommon and the shop did a brisk business last Christmas. Although according to the salesperson, most assumed the shop was seasonal. Prices range from as low as $1.99 for certain mini bags. The more elaborate the flavor, the more expensive. Chocolates and caramel with nuts of course lead to higher price tags, but the cheese flavors and candied flavors fall in the middle of the scale. 

Popcorn is actually making a comeback and according to Publicis it's actually affordable for all budgets and has a list of ingredients is short, simple and we can all understand. 

Recent news report also tout the healthy benefits of popcorn. However, it's unlikely that any of these varieties fall into that category, especially the ones doused with white chocolate and cashews.  

Really Real Real Estate in Southern Bohemia, French Quarter

So as this blog starts to mature and we try to touch upon all facets of "cultcha" in the great city of New Orleans, I decided that imparting some measure of the experiences I have had thus far and hopefully help people that need direction, or perhaps are scared by the real estate process. I will also put together some posts on renovations, which is very important because in NOLA there are very few houses that don't need some kind of work.
The second part of this series deals with a little introspection on the part of the purchaser. New Orleans more than many places is a city of neighborhoods, in many ways, I think, even more now than before Katrina. As more and more, historic commercial areas are stimulated back into regular commerce it really begs a question, "What do I want out of my neighborhood?". Let's take a look at few neighborhoods and what they offer to perspective homeowners (or renters really).
French Quarter - For many new to the city o New Orleans the French Quarter (or Vieux Carre) is the ultimate neighborhood. It is the epicenter for nightlife in the city, at least for tourists and travelers, and has more packed into it 60 or so square blocks than many cities have within their entire municipality. There are approximately 100 restaurants in the "Quarter" and at least as many bars. In fact using a unscientific measurement, I estimate that there are at least 50 bars just on Bourbon Street in the first eight blocks ending at St. Ann. For many people moving to town, the Quarter IS New Orleans and why would anyone choose to live elsewhere. In fact, there are many residents of the downtown neighborhoods who refuse to cross Canal Street mirroring the historic divide between French and American New Orleans in the years following the Louisiana Purchase.
In addition to the being the "face" of New Orleans, the Quarter is the most expensive address in the city. Most of the properties sell for in excess of $500 per square foot, by far the highest in the city, and comps are not even close (the warehouse district averages less than $300 per sqft). In addition, to the high cost the size of living spaces are often modest, some times falling as low as 150 square feet, though to be honest these "apartments' are often no more than converted hotel rooms with small kitchenettes. These spaces mostly appeal to the weekend travellers, though if you consider the city to be your living room they are quite cozy.
There are a litany of services available in the Quarter in addition to the entertainment options. Hardware stores, banks, pharmacies, and groceries abound, though everything is a much more abbreviated scale in keeping with the smaller footprint of the orginal buildings. There might not be a better shopping area in the city, because of the sheer concentration of shops there and with a health dose of the French Market thrown in for inexpensive impulse buys.
The Quarter does have a large measure of disadvantages to counter everything it offers. In a area predating the automobile by almost two hundred years there is a decided lack of available parking. Noise levels in the entertainment areas are almost always elevated in keeping with the 24 hour nature of the area. Tourists and their insistence on taking full advantage of every kind of vice available can be tiresome, but realistically if you choose to live in the French Quarter these things will be no surprise.
As an alternative The Treme offers access to the Quarter and all of its amenities without many of the drawbacks (though also without much of the architecture that makes the Quater unique as well). The prices are on the order of half that of its neighbor and a person can actually own a whole building without a multi-thousand dollar mortgage payment each month. With the advent of street car construction on Rampart avenue and the redevelopment of the Iberville development, the Treme stands to be the recipient of a good deal of  re-examination as a desireable neighborhood and the budget real estate seekers are likely to move to the 7th ward just down the block, but for now the Treme is the budget winner for this area.

Fresh Market Fever

On the corner of St. Charles and Louisiana Avenues sits a newly opened Fresh Market grocery. It's a cross between a Whole Foods Market and the Rouses on Baronne in the Central Business District. The parking is extremely limited and we opted to park across Louisiana due to the heavily trafficked intersection and the wicked U-turn to avoid an accident. (There was evidence in the street that an accident involving a Honda had recently occurred.)

In most recent memory, the new Fresh Market location was a Borders book store. While the bookstore was rather short lived, the location was home to the Bultman Funeral Home for 83 years which closed permanently following Hurricane Katrina. 

The first area upon entering is the floral area, where lilies, irises, callas, hydrangeas, roses and spring bouquets offer visitors a well-rounded selection. In addition, candles, orchids and small gift items make Fresh Market a nice stop before a dinner, birthday or housewarming party. 

The produce section was as colorful as you'd expect but quarters were super tight as real estate is extremely limited throughout. I was thrilled to find the teeny grapes or bunchkins that I love and at $2.50, they were added to our small cart. 

Fresh Market brand
Meyer Lemon Soda.

We hopped the elevator to the second floor where the liquor department is located. In a pinch, it will do, but if you are looking for a wide variety or inspiration for a cocktail, this is not the place. With this limited selection, it's hard to justify spending several dollars more for wine, beer and spirits that any other area grocery store has and that after hitting the Fresh Market you'll probably have to visit to fill out your shopping list.

We were pleased to see that they had the full line of New Orleans Ice Cream Co. and even a few pints left of the Hubig's Apple Pie flavor. Yes, we added that to the cart as well as four bottles of Meyer Lemon Soda we'll use as mixers. 

Bulk candies galore, candy bars,
a tree of gourmet lollipops. 

The candy section is extensive and frankly rocks. The bakery is full of sweet and artisan breaded, over sized cupcakes and cakes, and the prepared food section is one that might offer a home cooked meal for us in a time crunch. 

Employing 90 and bringing an empty landmark back into commerce, the Fresh Market is definitely a welcomed addition to the neighborhood. It will also be a great place to hit before a Mardi Gras parade. 

Fleurty Girl scores huBIG for the cause

Wendy Waren, with Hubig the yorkie, Lauren Thom, aka
Fleurty Girl, New Orleans' Poppy Tooker and
Ann Tuennerman, aka Mrs. Cocktail with Delta Dawg
take a moment to gather for a photo at the
fundraiser Aug. 2 for Hubig's Pies. 

Thursday happy hour was spent in a jammed packed Fleurty Girl store on Magazine Street, as Lauren Thom moved many Hubig's tees with proceeds benefiting the Hubig's family. 


Drew Ramsey was onsite giving interviews to WWL and WGNO as throngs of folks waited in line for their Apple, Lemon or Chocolate Hubig's shirts and then paid their respects to Ramsey. 


At the time of the event, Ramsey said that the insurance company had yet to come to New Orleans and visit the site. Expected to happen next week, he said he wanted to take the insurance guys to lunch and call in the Hubig's fans to stack the deck so to say, in Hubig's favor. Poppy Tooker offered to help pack the place and ask everyone to where the Hubig's tees in support. We'll see if Ramsey takes her up on the offer.


No doubt the insurance company has seen the local, regional and national coverage of our beloved fried pie factory. The New York Times even covered the story. Here's hoping that once they see the site and hopefully run into folks during their visit that will express what this brand means to New Orleans, they'll do the right thing. 


Ramsey said they want to rebuild the facility, but better than it was before. With innovations in equipment and production systems, this will take more than just the payout from the insurance policy. As a New Orleanian, I look forward to the grand re-opening and will do my part to help Hubig's. 


On a side note, this week New Orleans Ice Cream Co. announced that they have held back release of the Hubig's Apple Pie Ice Cream and will slowly send limited quantities to groceries around the area.

This is a HuBIG Deal

It really goes without saying that New Orleanians will rally for a cause. And last Friday in the early hours of the morning, when our beloved little fried pie factory caught fire and burned to the ground, I knew this was going to be a big deal. 

The profits from each Hubig's shirt
sold at Fleurty Girl shops will benefit
the Bowman and Ramsey families as
they rebuilt their livelihoods. 

This evening to support the Hubig family, Tales of the Cocktail's Ann Tuennerman and Fleurty Girl, aka Lauren Thom, are teaming up for a special Save Hubig's event, August 2, 5-7 p.m. at the Fleurty Girl shop located at 3117 Magazine Street. Chris Hannah of French 75 will create a Hubig's-inspired cocktail and all are invited to purchase a Hubig's t-shirt. All profits from the sale of each shirt will go directly to the Bowman and Ramsey families to help them rebuild their factory and put their legendary pies back on the shelf. Drew and Kathleen Ramsey will be in attendance. 


Mourning Pie Cocktail
Created by Chris Hannah, Arnaud's French 75 Bar


1 oz. Plymouth Gin
3/4 oz. Pineapple juice
1/2 oz. Limoncello
1/2 oz. Lemon juice
1/3 oz. Creme de Cacao


Shake and pour over ice. 

Hubig Sazerac Deshotels
is a yorkie named
for the beloved snack food
and the official cocktail of
New Orleans.  

I learned of the news in the minutes after the fire started from Facebook and immediately texted Mrs. Cocktail, as we were in the throws of the 10th Anniversary week of Tales of the Cocktail. It is the official snack food of Tales. Loving the brand of Hubig's so much, I actually named my yorkie Hubig. His middle name is Sazerac. Several people commented on my Facebook saying they thought of me first when they heard the news and asked how my little pie Hubig was holding up. 


Also, surrounding the fire have been a few people using Twitter and Facebook to question whether or not we should be holding a fundraiser at all for the families, asking didn't they have insurance. To them, I'm disappointed that these words are even uttered. It's the New Orleans way to help out a neighbor and it makes me wonder about the hearts and compassion of these individuals. We can hold fundraisers for laid off employees of the Times-Picayune who received severance packages, but help out a family run business and its employees and suddenly it's a question of the helper's integrity. I pray for you. 


I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Rouses. According to their Facebook, they have offered Hubig's employees a place in their Carrollton, Baronne and Tchoupitalousas locations until the factory is rebuilt. This is really a true example of the spirit of Louisiana and how helping those in need is part of the core of who we are as a people. If you don't get that, you probably aren't from here. 


Prior to this situation, the little pies were consumed on fishing docks every morning, shipped to friends afar, snacked upon and even eaten for breakfast. We'll do what it takes to help them come back.