Monthly Archives: July 2012

Tales of the Cocktail Roundup

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What a hell of a week (or just short thereof)! Starting on Tuesday with registration and a handful of events, things for Tales of the Cocktail basically only picked up steam from there. Events, tasting rooms, seminars, cocktail legends and free booze abounded. Boy was there ever booze. I don’t think you could walk two feet without there being a tasting room, snack tent or some other marketing ploy to induce you to consume free beverages. After a week of testing most of my limits, I’ve learned a thing or two. While they’ll do us no good right now, they will be preserved for next year.

5. Patience: If you’re not a particularly patient person, this is going to take some work. Don’t expect things to kick off exactly on time or to be able to slide in anywhere without a line. The seminars often require complex setups (like 10 different tasting glasses all filled with different styles of gin) and these set ups are done, for the most part, by volunteers. This all means things will take a bit extra time. Plus, so what if your seminar doesnt’ start on time, it just gives you an extra few minutes at the nearest tasting room. And if you want to go to something, it is a pretty safe bet to assume a whole bunch of other people are too. The doors to these events are only so wide, so lines are inevitable. Just keep your cool, grab a drink from the little freebie stand behind you and before you know it you’ll be in.

4. Water: One of the first things most people do when they enter a bar/event/party is locate where they can score a drink. At Tales, you need to do the exact opposite. Find the water. Whether it is in bottles at the back of the room or pitchers on the table, you’ll need to know exactly where the water is. Hydrating often can be the difference between walking down the steps of the Monteleone and sliding down.

3. Skip Things: Tales is serious business for sure, but you aren’t trying to graduate with a four-year degree in two years. Don’t jam in every event, seminar and tasting room or you won’t be able to make it to the end of the week. Take time to rest, relax and take a nap or sit by the pool. This leads right into the next bit of advice.

2. Don’t Take Every Drink: Alcohol of every size and color is available for your tasting pleasure at every turn. But this doesn’t mean you’ve got to down each one. If you’re not comfortable with saying no to a drink someone with a pretty face handed you, remember you don’t have to drink it all. Considering that the free drinks start up as soon as the sunrises, passing on a few drinks could very well keep your afternoon schedule in tact.

1. Go: Despite the crowds and organized chaos of the Monteleone, Tales offers so much to anyone with any interested in drinks and drinking. You can learn about the 40-something different distinct aromas of gin (that was a cool class), learn how to make your own bitters, taste exotic liquors that aren’t available in your market (or even the United States), have drinks mixed up by some of the country’s best bartenders or discuss the merits of classic cocktails with Gaz Regan or David Wondrich all in an afternoon. When you sit down and think about it, that’s a pretty cool thing to have right in our backyard. So if you haven’t been before, mark your calendar for the end of July, because you’ll need to go.

Around Town: The Fresh Market on St. Charles

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I had a very fun opportunity last night to catch a sneak peek at The Fresh Market that is opening on St. Charles. At first glance the store is beautiful, but by actually touring the store with some of their fancy corporate team members yesterday, I gained a new appreciation for all of the care and consideration taken in planning out a store like this one. The Fresh Market focuses on high quality, fresh produce and other perishables, with nice grocery staples and gourmet additions thrown in for good measure. The store is designed to suit both shoppers who are hoping to grab something quick for dinner and those who want to browse for new inspiration.

This location is unique for The Fresh Market team because its the first location with retail on two floors. Lots of people have been wondering how they’d handle that and whether there’d be a Target-style “cart-scalator” to move shoppers between the floors. (Fun fact: those cart-scalators are actually called Vermaports. Oh the things you learn when your dad’s an engineer…)Turns out they opted not to use up space with an escalator and instead will rely on an elevator for that purpose. BUT never fear, although the second floor is predominated by beer, wine and booze, there are also some quick selections of beer and wine downstairs, so you could complete your quick run to the store without ever having to pop upstairs. If you do plan on browsing the selection upstairs, it’s convenient enough that you could just grab a cart and head straight there before you start makin’ groceries downstairs.

This location is also the first to offer gelato by the scoop. Many of the products at The Fresh Market will be sourced locally and the store proudly prepares a multitude of options right on the premises.

I can’t wait to head back to The Fresh Market. After my sneak peek last night I can already tell you its going to be hard to get out of there without a very full basket.

The Fresh Market opened this morning at 9:00 with a ceremonial “cheese cracking” rather than a ribbon cutting. It’s in the old Borders located at 3338 St. Charles Ave.

Tools of the Trade: Favorite Cookbooks

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These days it seems like more and more recipes can be found online, and I certainly love surfing the net for meal planning ideas. In fact, $1.25 just bought me a new appendage, um, I mean iPad, and I’m loving it for recipe hunting.  Internet searches are super convenient and usually you can rely on the comments to help you decide if what you’ve uncovered is worth the effort or not. And of course, with my new-found love of Pinterest, I’m finding whole new worlds of recipes to try out.

But, sometimes I just love to sit down with a good cookbook and physically turn the pages. My cookbook collection is pretty solid, with two Gourmet magazine cooking “bibles” and a slew of other options that are either cuisine-specific or targeted in some way. And then there are my very favorite cookbooks, that are already spotted, marked up, dog-eared, and loved.

Here’s a quick run-down of the cookbooks I turn to ALL the time for favorite recipes and new inspiration. In random order, the winners are…

Barefoot Contessa Family Style, by Ina Garten
Honestly, I love everything about this cookbook. The pictures are gorgeous, the recipes are simple but delicious, and Ina Garten’s laid-back personality shines in her writing and techniques. Some of my favorite dishes from this cookbook are the Parmesan Chicken, Tequila Lime Chicken, Linguine with Shrimp Scampi, and she has THE BEST recipe for Mac & Cheese. Some of the recipes seem so simple (like tomato & mozzarella salad), but there’s something to her emphasis on quality ingredients and helpful hints that really make the simplicity work.

Barefoot In Paris, by Ina Garten
My love for this cookbook is very similar to my love for Barefoot Contessa Family Style, except it is amplified by the fact that I ADORE Paris. Ina gives you a little glimpse into her life when she’s visiting Paris and I’m absolutely dying to try out some of her recommendations for French markets and cooking next time I get the chance (someday!). My absolute favorites here are the Profiteroles that my family insists on having every Christmas Eve, the Creme Brulee, Cheese Straws, and the Cauliflower Gratin. All of these recipes are awesome and I find myself making them over and over again with fantastic results.

Everyday Italian, by Giada De Laurentis
This cookbook is my absolute go-to for risotto. I also use it for ideas and inspiration for simple roasts and pasta dishes for an every night meal or for a special occasion. Remind me to tell you about how I exploded a blender one time when I was making the Roast Pork Loin with Fig Sauce. I swear, that kitchen would still have purple spots if I hadn’t replaced the cabinets along the way. But that’s not Giada’s fault and there are so many other great recipes that all use simple ingredients. $1.25 and I have a new soft spot for anything Italian, so this cookbook sees a lot of action these days.

Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home
This cookbook has in interesting format, based on the premise of preparing 52 meals at home and the recipes are collected together into menus based on the season. Although this is a newer cookbook in our house, I LOVE the Steak with Chimichurri Sauce. Considering how many times we’ve relied on that recipe for ourselves and entertaining, I’d say the cookbook was worth the price just for that recipe alone.

So there you have it.  When I’m looking for inspiration or planning a meal for company, you can bet that I’ve used at least one of those cookbooks in the process.  Even with all the technology out there, I love to curl up with a good [cook]book every now and then.

Tales of the Cocktail Week

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We’re pretty stoked in this corner of the internet because Tales of the Cocktail begins tomorrow! For those of you with an intense interest in learning everything booze, you’ve had your seminars reserved and your scheduled all laid out for months now. However, not everyone shares our love for the cocktail and the nuances of booze. So how do those folks get involved?

All this cocktail geekery aside, there are still great opportunities to participate in Tales even if your only interest in the hows and whys of booze is “how can I get it” and “why isn’t it in my mouth?” The easiest way to get in on the cocktail fun is through the Spirited Dinners on this coming Thursday night, which are all about pairing your favorite drinks with food at your favorite restaurants. Word on the street is that there are a number of seats still available for many of these Thursday dinners. That being said, I highly recommend getting in on one of these dinners ASAP before they all sell out.

Hope to see you around the seminars or at a Spirited Dinner!

First Look: St. Lawrence

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St. Lawrence has come in to 219 N. Peters to replace the Harbor, a bar/burger joint that suffered from a bit of an identity crisis and prices levels that were too high for the food. Despite my close proximity to St. Lawrence, my first exposure to it was through The Pop Shop (by the Alchemy Lounge), a pop up cocktail bar specializing in carbonated cocktails. In spite of the overwhelming number of hipsters, the cocktails were awesome and I found the decor of St. Lawrence to be very well done. While not much of a change from the Harbor’s decor, enough was done to make the space feel more upscale and inviting. Unfortunately that was about the extent of the positives for St. Lawrence to date.

On our lunch run, we went with the cheese burger and a turducken burger. Much to our dismay, there was about an hour lag time between ordering our food and having it reach the table. While the wait would have been more tolerable if you’re having a few drinks on a Saturday or with dinner, it was painful for a workday lunch. Unfortunately, when our food arrived it became quickly apparent that our burgers had all been cooking the entire time we waited. The burger was completely charred on the outside, the meat flavorless and so dry bits crumbled off when you bit into it. Aside from the turducken’s green apple remoulade, it was entirely indistinguishable from the regular burger. Unfortunately, the remoulade was a soupy mess. The house cut fries that came with the burgers were a high point, the dirty rice (also soupy) which accompanied the turducken burger was not.

Surprisingly, St. Lawrence seems intent on repeating the Harbor’s pricing errors. The cheese burger and the turducken burger each came in at $13. The addition of bacon to the burger would have been another $2. While a bit of a bump is sure to exist for the French Quarter location, you still need to be competitive with those around you. Yo Mama’s fanciest burgers come in at $10.50, Dickie Brennan’s steakhouse lunch bacon burger comes in at $9.50 and Cafe Adelaide’s bacon cheese burger is $14. Not only are each of these burgers cheaper than their St. Lawrence counterpart, each is also significantly better.

St. Lawrence does get credit for the great music and what appears to be a nice bar set up, but for now I can’t say much for the food.

Quick Hit: Killer Poboys

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There’s been a whole lot of hoopla surrounding the openings of Restaurant R’evolution and SoBou. So much so, that the opening of another nearby eatery has gone mostly unnoticed. Chefs Cam Boudreaux and April Bellow have set up Killer Poboys in the back of the Erin Rose (over on Conti) to serve up new takes on the traditional New Orleans sandwich. The heart of the menu is five po-boys, a Jameson grilled cheese sandwich and two salads, specials abound as the mood (and market) dictates. While the food coming out of the kitchen is definitely killer, they only vaguely resemble the po-boys found all over town. In fact, they’re probably a closer relative to Banh Mi than sloppy roast beef or fried shrimp po-boy you’re used to.

We’ve pretty much plowed through the entire menu and have yet to settle on a favorite. If pushed, I’d say the NOLA Rum & Chipotle Braised Pork (with summer veggie Chow Chow and garlic aioli) or the Moroccan Spiced Lamb Sausage (with Tzatziki sauce, sumac carrot relish and torn mint) would be 1a and 1b, while the Coriander Lime Gulf Shrimp (with marinated Daikon and carrot, cucumbers, herbs and the house special aioli) would be my close 2. For those of you cutting down on (or out) the meat, a Curry Roasted Seasonal Veggies and the Creole Tomato and Caper Basil Pesto round out the rest of the po-boys. The two salads are light and refreshing and, at a mere $2 or $4, hard to resist grouping with a po-boy.

One gripe I have about French Quarter eating is that the prices have been adjusted for that tourist “discount.” That and the good places are seriously outweighed by the bad. Killer Poboys doesn’t fall victim to either of these issues. The po-boys are $7 for the veggies, $8 for the pork and $9 for the shrimp or lamb. That’s pretty good for quality eating in the French Quarter, hell a foot long turkey from the Subway on N. Peters will run you just under $7.

Killer Poboys is currently open in the back of the Erin Rose on Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 10pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm. It is cash only.