Party Central New Orleans

Yeah, … “there’s nothing wrong with a good grilled cheese every now and again”, chimed our server Christi as she raced around busing tables after taking my order. It was nearly midnight and Déjà Vu was still cranking out the daily special. After ordering a beer and checking out the scene inside the psychedelic bar and cafe, I decided to take my friend’s advice.  “Just go with it” he laughed. So, with Toby Keith crooning I Love This Bar in the background, I sat back and tried to bask in the freedom that New Orleans bestows on everyone who steps foot in this wild, crazy town.

It was deep into another hot summer and every few minutes a thunderstorm would blow up and down Bourbon Street outside but that didn’t stop the midnight revelers from pounding the asphalt of NOLA’s famous main drag in search of the next bar that they would love.  In case you didn’t know it, New Orleans is in perpetual pub crawl mode and the fact that our visit was timed to coordinate with the city’s long running Tales of the Cocktail event was no accident. An unabashed celebration of cocktail culture, “Tales”, as it’s known to insiders within the nightlife community, has taken what comes naturally to this city and made it downright respectable. In the process it’s also made the search for a great drink very exciting since it continues for five straight days.  With a long history of specialty drinks like the Hurricane and Shark Attack created right on Bourbon St. so folks can let their hair down and enjoy the town’s inimitable music scene, New Orleans is no stranger to the sauce! I didn’t think that many frozen daiquiri flavors were possible.

Contrary to what most visitors probably think, though, Bourbon St. was not named for the popular brown spirit but actually for the French family of royals who, along with many other Frenchmen, made this city wonderfully foreign.  Streets are called “rue” like in France, French restaurants abound and the town’s tourist magnet, Café du Monde, serves a breakfast of café au lait and beignets (donuts coated in powdered sugar for the uninitiated). But dodging the puddles on the way out I noticed the mood was jovial everywhere and nobody was the worse for wear from the downpour. In fact almost everyone was laughing and smiling.  I’m guessing there was a secret ingredient or two that accounted for it … like the line in Guys & Dolls when Sergeant Sarah asks Sky Masterson what’s in the drink he’s given her, the Dulce de Leche.  “Milk, he replies, and a secret ingredient. “What’s the ingredient”, she asks. His response? Bacardi.”

Winding our way to the landmark Hotel Monteleone, perhaps a famous Italian’s contribution to this city, we admired the beautiful porticoed buildings edged with delicate ironwork, their balconies abundant with hanging flowerboxes, pricy antique stores showing off 18^th and 19^th century wares, and period gas lamps decorating many of the establishments. It’s quite easy to step back in time in New Orleans and that is certainly true at the Monteleone’s Carousel Bar, immortalized in the writings of Ernest Hemingway and itself also a relic of a former time. Installed in 1949 and perched directly off the lobby, the rotating bar is a mainstay classic in the hospitality business. The 24 seat circular bar is housed within an actual carousel that turns on 2000 steel rollers making a complete revolution every 15 minutes.

Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar

Our midnight search was on for that perfect cocktail and tonight the bar was buzzing with an industry crowd. After a few minutes we were lucky to score 2 stools and each of us ordered a Ramos Fizz, one of the house specials here along with the Sazerac and Vieux Carre. Happy to be immersed in the hub of the event’s core, we totally forgot about the turning and 6 or 7 minutes later we were almost on the other side of the bar. It was so busy I wondered how the bartender would find us with the drinks. It was another one of those NOLA moments and when the frothy white liquid was plopped in front of us, we were amazed, then slurping ensued. Having a Ramos Fizz in New Orleans is practically a special occasion for you rarely find the laborious cocktail served anywhere. The secret ingredient here is not the gin but in fact, a little orange flower water and a lot of love. At least one of those we know New Orleans has no shortage of.

Loving fine cocktails and the places to imbibe them has become something of a cult lately, hence the excitement that returns yearly to New Orleans when TOTC strikes.  But if you factor in some fine dining, a long morning taking in the sights on the Hop On, Hop Off bus, a visit to the Voodoo Museum, and an impromptu ride on the grand old St. Charles streetcar through the lovely Garden District with its stately homes and gardens, you have the makings of an appealingly alternative short stay in a grand destination.  Sure, it’s a tad rough around the edges but that’s what makes it so cool.  And try to score an invite to one of the industry parties on one of the nights of the event.  On the first night this year the Absolut welcome party took over Mardi Gras World, a 400,000 square foot warehouse containing the grand colorful floats created by Blaine Kern Studios used by the town’s Carnival parades.  On the surrounding grounds they replicated a full scale side show with numerous bars manned by barmen garbed like bearded ladies and assorted characters and an old fashioned merry-go-round and strength tester that kept the guys lining up. A Studio 54 disco operating at full throttle with a pair of dwarfs costumed to look like mini Andy Warhols dazzled the crowd.  And let’s not forget the drinks!

New Orleans will do that to you.  It will push and prod you to find the conviction to be that party animal, even if you’ve never stayed out all night even once in your life.  Can anyone argue with a town that brings out your alter ego and makes you freer?  Yeah, it didn’t take too long for me to “just go with it.”  As long as I had my grilled cheese first.

*Tales of the Cocktail takes place every year in mid-July. 2015 dates are July 15-19.

www.neworleanscvb.com

The area code for New Orleans is 504.