Tag Archives: booze

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.

Bring on the Bubbly!

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It’s almost time to start the official countdown to the New Year. I gotta admit, 2010 has been pretty wonderful to me and I’m not sure I’m ready to let it go! I’m sort of dragging my feet on planning 2010’s farewell party. And if you’re like $1.25 and me, you’re still looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve and you’re looking for something that won’t break the bank. Well, no question about it, the night has to involve a little bubbly…and those bottles can add up in a hurry!
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What else is going on in there?

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So it’s back to being slammed at work right now, so nothing long or profound, but I did run across something that caught my eye.

Like most guys, I’ve known that women’s rooms are typically bigger, nicer and with more amenities than men’s rooms, no matter where you go. I mean just the other day, the cleaning people left the door to women’s bathroom at work open and I found out they have a sitting room, couch and all!

It’s not that I’ve ever really cared, the bathroom is not a social place. In and out, there’s no need to lounge around on a couch. Besides being clean and having adequate toilets, I think the less a bathroom has the more comforatable I’ll be. I’m just plain weirded out when a bathroom has an attendant. So let the ladies have their bigger bathrooms and couches and attendants, I really don’t care.

Or at least that is how I used to feel. Then I saw this post from Robert Simonson over on Make It Simple But Significant (nee Off the Presses), one of my favorite ways too keep up with the future of booze. If there are couches, a bar and bartender in the bathroom, what’s to send people back out?

Tools of the Trade: Where to Drink in New Orleans

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Decisions, decisions.  Those of us who live in New Orleans really are fortunate.  When we get a little thirsty, we’ve got a bar, a pub, a club, or a hole-in-the-wall on almost every corner.  But that can lead to challenges for those of us who just can’t quite make up our minds.  We have so many options, we could waste precious drinking time just trying to figure out where we’re going to drink.  And heaven help the poor tourists who think that Mango Mango is their only option.  Well, a fine gentleman named Ian Hoch has come to our rescue with this handy dandy Where to Drink in New Orleans chart.  Ian, I don’t know you, but I like you.

With questions to help guide you such as “Where are you?” (Mid-City) “Do you like Irish Pubs” (sure, but let’s change it up today) and “Want live music?” (yep) Ian has helped me narrow down the buffet of options city-wide to a manageable 3 choices (Rock N Bowl, Chickie Wah Wah, and the Banks Street Bar). Problem Solved.

If you’re from Metairie, you should answer very carefully, lest you be told to just stay home. But the rest of you will have fun with it. Heck, I even learned that if I’m downtown and in need of a haircut, there’s a bar for that! And if you’re dressed like Elvis, don’t worry, you’re covered too.

Spot at the Bar: Sazerac–the play at home version

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My recent (read: 6-8 months) obsession with the Sazerac reached new heights this last week. As you may recall in my first post about the sazerac, I said:

Given the sazerac’s storied New Orleans history, you’d think that every bar in New Orleans should be able to make a decent sazerac.

Then I realized that I have a bar in my house, which is in New Orleans. Which lead to the horrible realization that not only had I never made my own sazerac, but I didn’t even have all the necessary ingredients on hand to attempt to knock one out. Thankfully, with liquor available most everywhere it was only a short detour before I was fully stocked and ready to go.
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Spot at the Bar: Gin’s Grandpa–Bols Genever

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While combing the gin aisle at a local liquor store in search of strange and unusual gins, I spied a tall, slender bottle that for some reason had not caught my eye before. I was even more surprised by the date on the bottle, an impressive “Est. 1575.”
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Programming Updates

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A quick review of the logs here shows that what the people really seem to like is the talk of booze. When the people want what I like, I deliver. This is our little dystopian after all. We’re (but mostly me) are all in luck, as I’ve recently stocked up on some weird and out-of-the-way booze that I’ll be discussing. One such acquisition may even prompt me to share a nice little secret of what I’ve been doing in my spare time (hint: it isn’t sick or perverted and I’m getting better at making it not gross).

To top it all off, if the Fates are ever so kind to me there could be a special treat for tomorrow. Of course, assuming I don’t get sidetracked with the research discussed above.

Spot at the Bar: The Sazerac

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The sazerac is without a doubt a truly New Orleans creation, vastly superior to our more recent contributions to boozing, like the Hand Grenade or Hurricane. So thoroughly New Orleans is the drink that our legislators saw fit to have declared it the official drink of New Orleans. Of a slightly more disputed nature is the claim that the sazerac was the first cocktail, so named for the coquetier (pronounced “ko-k-tay”), a double-sided egg cup, that was used in the preparation of the drink (further clouding the issue is the claim that the drink was actually served in the coquetier). The sazerac is a simple drink which boasts only four ingredients and a garnish, yet it proves to be exceedingly difficult to master.

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Around Town: Tales of the Cocktail – An Overview

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Ladies and Gentlemen, it is July in New Orleans. This means heat, humidity, and…Tales of the Cocktail! I’ve been waiting for weeks to write about Tales of the Cocktail because I’m just so darn excited about it. It doesn’t help that the Sirius radio station I routinely listen to has been talking about the event for months now…I think they’re excited too. But I figured I didn’t want to wear you out with the details too early on, so I patiently waited until my self-imposed “get excited” deadline, which was the start of July. So, now I’m excited! Continue reading →