FINAL DAY...CHEERS TO NOWFE

LAST DAY!!!! Saturday, May 24

Wining down and already looking forward to next year. This is my all time best wine/food festival. But don’t know how much the old tummy can handle.

Number one rule…MODERATION. But it’s soooo hard to resist all the temptations.

Skipped the morning seminars saving everything for the Grand Tasting at the Superdome.

Took a ride to Cochon’s Butcher shop and had the Banh Mi, a Vietnamese poboy with head cheese, pork pate and fresh herbs instead of lettuce. The Cuban sandwich is also an excellent choice. Darn should have taken a picture, you can tell I’m slowing down. Go see for yourself at 930 Tchoupitoulas, New Orleans LA 70130 504-588-PORK,
mon-thu 10–10, fr+sat 10-11, sun 10-5901, more info and menu at cochonbutcher.com.

The Grand Tasting was…well…Grand! The event has taken more of an entertainment venue with Bonerama and Andrew Osborne on stage blasting good vibes revving up the huge crowd. Ran into Chef Lazone Randolph with Brennan’s restaurant…always a blast to talk to Lazone. We stood behind the Banana’s Foster (bananas with brown sugar sauce poured over Blue Bell ice cream) and watched hundreds of “fosters” fly off the counter.

Mark Newman (editor of Southern Breeze magazine) joined us, then Lee Froehlich and we had our own private party tapping into the back door of the nearby wine booth. Later a parade passed with Warren Easton Band and it felt like Mardi Gras again. Mini floats with chefs on board threw beads and the party was going into high gear. After the parade the band Bonerama kicked it up a notch.

Time to move on and get dressed for the Le Meritage vinter. Jyl Benson (PR gal pal) was the perfect host. Chef Michael prepares a very refreshing and laid back menu and has just been voted “Chef’s to Watch” by Louisiana Cookin Magazine. I had the house salad with a bouquet style presentation, nothing like I've ever seen, the whole table was talking about it, should have taken a picture. And the Tuna was pure heaven. Very fine job Chef!!!

The weather was great all weekend after predictions of “doomsday” thunder boomers. A group of us took advantage of the beautiful evening and hit the French Quarter bars. Started at Molly’s Irish Pub and had a Guinness…what else?! Then over to Pirates Alley near the St. Louis Cathedral, great patio to people watch, then a nice walk to Jean Lafitte Blacksmith Shop…my all time favorite bar in the Quarter.

It’s Sunday morning, the coffee’s gone, finished the Omni Royal Pralines and watching the chimney swifts playing tag outside my window. God I’m going to miss this place.

Big THANKS to Liz Goliwas and Cary Alden.

CHEERS NOWFE…JOB WELL DONE!!!!

DAY THREE...FRIDAY MAY 22

DAY THREE, Friday, May 22, 2009

Okay, I confess, I was a little slow in getting started this morning and no two mile walk along the riverfront. Luckily the first event was in the Omni and I enjoyed seeing the legendary Dickie Brennan (Palace Café, Bourbon House, and Dickie Brennan Steakhouse) on stage as a panelist for the seminar “Party like it’s 1999.”

The event featured ’99 cabs paired with prime rib debris topped with mashed potatoes with a hint of blue cheese courtesy of Dickie’s Steakhouse Executive Chef Jack Martinez. For dessert dark chocolate bonbons with red velvet cake, so good I had dessert first. Lee Anne Garner (Dickie’s marketing guru) catered to my every need as I huddled in the back with the press groupies.

I said my good byes and trucked over to Harrah’s Theater (good Ipod walk—at least 10 blocks). Donald Link (Cochons and Herbsaint) presented carvings of Cochon de Lait complete with decapitation and sliding the head into a pot of boiling water then subsequent dissecting to prepare head cheese. Four Rohn wines were presented, a lighter white and red sipping wine, then served with the meal, a heavier red and white to dance with the vibrant fatty flavors of the pork and head cheese.

The head cheese was served on Melba toast topped with chowchow, and the pork served atop a biscuit layered with coleslaw. A country boy, Link is quite a story teller recalling the days of his youth in a town nearby Crowley, Louisiana. One of 95 grandkids he recalls his grandfather and many like him raising their own pigs and using every part in making the food go a long way.

It was only 1:30 and my body was begging for a siesta, but the parade of pale clouds and swirling breeze begged me to take the long way back. A quick detour at Urban Outfitters was very profitable…$60 tops for $20, couldn’t resist. Back at home base (Omni Royal Orleans), I changed into my bathing suit and hauled my laptop to the packed seventh floor pool. People were diving into those lawn chairs like sea gulls after Cheetos. Got a little sun, worked on the tan and I got some work done. Who needs surf when you have the current of the Mississippi River in plain view.

After my battery ran out, it was time to get revved up for part II of the day’s itinerary, dinner at G. W. Fins.

On a recent elevator ride I ease dropped on restaurant reviews from tourists who were clearly on a culinary sampling marathon. All strangers, and their number one pick: G. W. Fins. Located on Bienville Street, half a block off Bourbon and directly across from Arnauds restaurant, the warehouse-chic décor with floor-to-ceiling windows sets the stage for a new cast of culinary characters.

Lee Froehlich (Executive Editor of Playboy Magazine) and I gorged ourselves on a nine course small plate meal. OMG!!! Clearly the best seafood I have ever eaten in the city of New Orleans or…anywhere else for that matter.

The stars of the show:
Crabcake with fried slivers of wontons
Lobster salad with slices of mango, papaya, avocado and lemon
Lobster dumplings filled with a mix of red fish and caviar
Smoke oysters cooked in a 500 degree oven in their shells
Soft shell crab and Russian almonds
Grilled shrimp
Black bass served on top a bed of mushrooms
And the Finale…Grilled tuna with foie gras
Oh and dessert, Strawberry shortcake and Apple Pie a la mode

Chef Tenney Flynn joined us as we stuffed the last forkfuls of dessert and gulp down some double espressos. Could have sat there all night chatting with Tenney, although he’s a seafood genius, he’s also the same guy who once owned a rock-n-roll bar in the 70s, now there’s a story!!!

A humble chap, he didn’t talk about his long list of accolades on gwfins.com, there were no medals hanging from his neck, no…just a tablespoon and ink pen peeking above his front pocket. They serve dinner seven days a week so go see for yourself why the 2009 edition of Zagat’s New Orleans Guide listed it as the “Top Seafood Restaurant in New Orleans” and the coveted John Mariani, food editor of Esquire magazine listed G. W. Fins as “The Best U.S. Seafood Restaurant” on ForbesTraveler.com.

Going to be hard to beat my third day, but the fourth day, Saturday, May 23, promises to be a flurry of activity with the Grand Tasting at the Superdome and the Great American Cookoff.

See ya on the flip side…

DAY TWO...THURSDAY, MAY 21 CONTINUED

Sitting here listening to Dave Mathews on the Ipod…life is grand! That seems to be my motto for the last couple of days. After writing poolside at Omni Royal Orleans, I took off to the press meeting and the Royal Street Stroll.

A brief shower gave way to a steady stream of sunshine filling Royal Street with an unbridled energy simmering with low temps and humidity. The Krewe of Cork opened the festivities parading down Royal wining around the Vieux Carre. Generous crowds sampled small plates in a village of white-tented canopies starting with a stage of music outside the Monteleone Hotel, past Brennans, Omni Royal Orleans, and Court of Two Sisters.

Some of New Orleans finest restaurants played host to the giant size block party. Foodies dined on Lobster dumplings filled with a mix of red fish and caviar from G.W. Fins while a long line waited for oysters from Dragos. Even the jambalaya from Rouses Grocery store (primary sponsor) helped soak up the generous pours of wine, champagne and a limited number of dollar cocktails.

Much like Magazine Street, Royal Street holds three decades of memories from my late teens shopping the boutiques on Sunday afternoons to today’s marathon photo shoots and French Quarter morning jogs.

And the king of them all, Brennan’s Restaurant, a half block from the hotel, continues its legacy of fine food and superb service. Executive Chef Lazone Randolph stood outside soaking in the festivities shaking hands chatting with people, a southern gentleman and New Orleans legend working for Brennans for more than 40 years.

I grabbed the I-pod and strutted to the Harrah’s Theater inside Harrah’s Casino for the FEASTIVAL. Our culinary darling, Chef John Besh, hosted and emceed the evening’s event as each chef prepared their specialty:

Chef Kelly English from Memphis
Chef Rick Browne with the Barbeque America TV series pouring Abita Beer
Chef Neal Fraser and Grace Restaurant in Los Angeles
Chef Paul Kahan, Blackbird & Avec, Chicago
Chef Michael Richard, Citronelle, Washington, D. C.
Chef Hosea Rosenberg, Bravo’s Top Chef, Season 5 winner
Chef Marc Vetri, Osteria & Vetri, Philadelphia

A sizable gathering of hungry patrons moved from each station dining on the chef’s featured dish. Only stayed an hour, decided to stop by Brennan’s for a late night cocktail with Chef Lazone, he’s that kind of guy.

We chatted with PR extraordinaire Bonnie Warren, and her guests Lee Froehlich, Executive Editor of Playboy magazine, and Chere Cohen, a freelance writer and novelist from Cajun Country. After the restaurant emptied Chef Lazone, Lee and I moved to the patio sipping wine and cocktails under towering magnolia trees and the savory smell of blooming ginger.

Stay tuned, Friday promises to be a stellar day for wining and dining…

The Magic of New Orleans at NOWFE (New Orleans Food and Wine Experience)

Hello my writing fiends,

Follow me on my four day New Orleans Food & Wine Experience sojourn discovering the best food and wine in the country in the culinary capital of the world.

If you're looking for a creative palette, may I suggest the magic of New Orleans? A true southern belle, she's endured some of the south's most grueling battles, and still remains a gracious host.

Her elite kitchen kings prepare a carousal of fine foods along a fairytale trail of foie gras and sweetbreads. Even her "place-setting" skyline serves a dome saucer with sky-high tumblers. And while most admire her curvaceous iron-laced balconies, the real beauty is perched high above the rooftops. A swarm of chimneys rise above slated roofs in a family of centuries-old brick facades with faded wall-size ads. The colonies of diving chimney swifts slice the air with the grace of synchronized swimmers. Their gleeful chirps play harmony with the bouncy tunes of the Calliope and distant tolls of St. Louis Cathedral.

A commanding view normally reserved for Europe's prestigious countryside comes alive at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel. From the room's spacious French Door windows to the seventh floor pool side balcony and observatory, each turn of the compass brings a different story. To the south the Cresent City Connection stands guard over the mighty Mississippi, the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square hold court on the east side, and the north and west bring a mix of skyscrapers and historic hotels with whispers of street musicians singing jazzy blues.

DAY ONE…

Wednesday May 20
Omni Royal Orleans Rib Room Dinner
Reminiscent of England’s culinary battlegrounds, a battalion of crystal wine glasses, sterling utensils and palace size tables take part in a three hour dining extravaganza. More than 100 people dined on delicacies prepared by the Rib Room's executive chef Anthony Spizale and sipped fine wines from the Trinchero Family Estates where, Barry Weis, a New Orleans native and Trinchero's Vice President of Trade Communication shared some of his early years of imbibing. From sipping $.50 "contractor" happy hour specials at Schwegmann’s Grocery store to the exquisite grapes of Trinchero's Nappa Valley vineyard, Weiss introduced the evening’s six selections.

Chef Anthony and his kitchen mastered a superb five course meal:
Crab, Shrimp and Crawfish Short Stack served with Vista Montone Chardonnay
Chef's Garden lettuce salad paired with Mary's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
Herb Poached Louisiana Speckled Trout teamed with the Vista Montone Pinot Noir
Twin Filet Mignon topped with crabmeat & asparagus and Mario's Reserve Meritage
And drum roll please...Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Tart with Terra D'Oro Port

The tart's smooth finish brought memories of mamma's fudge bowl; some of us slipped a portion wrapped in tin foil in our purses for a late night snack.

The Rib Room serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a wall of windows along Royal Street. A favorite of New Orleans notables and politicians, along with a hot spot for business deals, it is said that the plan for the Superdome was contrived in the basement wine rooms reserved for private parties.

Excellent food, wine and charming conversations about New Orleans memories offered a fitting beginning to the NOWFE royal event.

DAY TWO…
Thursday, May 21, Royal Street Stroll, Monteleone Carousal Bar 60th birthday, and FEASTIVAL.

Celebrating 60 years of spinning around the Monteleone, the Carousal Bar was a creative nook for literary greats Truman Capote, William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams. And for Liberace fans, he was the first to tickle the keys on the resident piano. Join the party and witness a celebratory pyramid of a 1000 cupcakes followed by the Royal Street Stroll.

Check out my blog tomorrow for a roving report of Deb's mischief and mayhem.