Good Times are Rolling for NOLA

Super Bowl win…City coming back to life…To celebrate Mardi Gras, here’s a version of my New Orleans article that appeared in the latest issue of VERTICAL, Tampa Bay’s beautiful new online style magazine!

Go to http://www.verticaltampabay.com/ to see more of this gorgeous publication!

I like to get lost in the past.

Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to New Orleans time and again. Shacked up for a long weekend in the French Quarter, I can leave the 21st century behind. Its architecture—ramshackle plaster, ancient bricks, mysterious courtyards—works as well as any time machine.

Many of the hotels, although modern inside, are built around old bones that have existed for over a century. A favorite haunt is the Dauphine Orleans Hotel, a former 18th century townhouse and its adjoining bar, May Baily’s Place (once a well-known Storyville bordello).

Dining in the past is easy too—no shortage of joints doing what they’ve done best for decades.

• Café du Monde: frying perfect beignets and perking chicory coffee since 1862 (don’t wear the chic black turtleneck—it’s not so chic with a snowdrift of powdered sugar across your chest.)
(http://www.cafedumonde.com/)

• Central Grocery: est. 1906; this Italian market’s prized invention: the muffaletta—a whopping sandwich smothered in olive salad, ham, salami and cheeses.

• Fiorella’s: It’s been around since 1937 and I’d love to sample some of their Italian specialties but I can’t get past the spicy fried chicken.

Drink up—the Quarter abounds with bars and cocktails that go way back.

• Napoleon House, ca. 1914: Sipping a Pimm’s Cup in a dark corner booth is a great antidote to the hot Southern sun.

• The Roosevelt Hotel bar’s Ramos Gin Fizz (trademarked in 1935)

• The Swizzle Stick Bar inside Loew’s Hotel, where, if you ask nicely, their top notch bartender will mix an Aviation—a lavender-hued marvel that first landed around 1916. (http://www.cafeadelaide.com/)

Some fab new attractions steeped in history that couldn’t have a more appropriate home base than New Orleans:

• The Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) fosters a newfound appreciation for that oyster po’boy.

• The Museum of the American Cocktail (part of SoFAB) highlights the evolution of mixology with well-preserved artifacts. (http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/)

• Bustout Burlesque at the House of Blues: Glittery, bawdy fun in the best tradition of Bourbon Street’s famous 1950s nightclubs before they went to seed (see photo above). (www.bustoutburlesque.com/)

New Orleans’ trademark joie de vivre took a big hit in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We can help with its continuing recovery by visiting and supporting the culture that gives us so much—music, art, cuisine, history—and teaches us how to let the good times roll, even when the times get tough.

Winging It (or Not)

There was a wrinkle in the time-space continuum when we checked in at the Lord Amherst Motel. The colonial décor conjured up the bicentennial. The bathroom even had a throwback to earlier days: a slot built into the ceramic wall tile for dropping in used razor blades!

We thought we should have some Buffalo wings to commemorate our trip. The Anchor Bar—where, reportedly, someone first fried up wings and smothered them in hot sauce—was in the opposite direction, back downtown. It was drizzly out and I was starting to sniffle. A former Buffalonian in Florida recommended Duff’s, which happened to be about five minutes away from the motel.

Duff’s was packed but we seemed determined, so we went in and put our names on the list. It’s a divey little place that opened in 1946, and they’ve been “wingin’ it” since 1969.

Duff’s is so popular, people park anywhere (including in front of the neighboring businesses) in order to eat there! In fact, when we walked in, there was a hand-written note on the front door asking patrons to PLEASE not park in the Falafel Bar’s parking lot. Falafel Bar?

David happens to love falafels. It’s a Middle Eastern dish—balls of chickpea flour and spices, fried and served in a pita with lettuce, tomato, and usually a sauce like the Greek tzaziki, made with yogurt and cucumber. But we were here for the BUFFALO WINGS! Right?

After a few more minutes waiting in the increasingly busy, noisy vestibule, we both admitted that we really weren’t that keen on chicken wings (they’re SO messy anyway!) and what we’d really like to try was…You guessed it, The Falafel Bar, two doors down.

We had an amazing meal of falafels, grilled chicken and potatoes, Greek salads, lentil soup, hot tea—we were stuffed and happy. And we didn’t miss the wings at all.