Mardi Gras

Twelve Nights and Confusing Cake

King Cake Dolls.

Update 2/13/2012: Tasting party winners corrected for all categories. Back around the beginning of king cake season this year (January 6, twelve days after Christmas, a/k/a “King’s Day” or, “Twelfth Night”, the Catholic holy day of the Epiphany, the day when the three wise men discovered the baby Jesus in Bethlehem), there was a...

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Marching On

Le Krewe D'Etat's new blinky skull ring.

As post-Carnival depression sets in I like to go over all the pictures (blurry from cell phone) from the season and try to recapture some of the spirit. On Friday, as always, Hermes and Le Krewe D’etat rolled Uptown. The weather was sketchy but the showers held off most of the evening. We caught...

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Carnival Reflections, Or, Mardi Gras In New Orleans Is The Last Bastion Of Civilization On Earth And Not Just A Bunch Of Chicks Flashing Their Breasts For Beads (Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That)

The New Orleans Carnival is descended from ancient religious rites of the Greek and Latin World. Ovid described the Greek shepherds of Arcadia who, five thousand years ago, celebrated a spring festival in hopes of better pastures and the remission of sins. —Henri Schindler, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, 1997. I was reading the...

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Antoine’s Hermes Bar

Antoine’s Hermes Bar

It’s celebrated for its storied dining rooms named after and decorated with memorabilia from some of New Orleans’ most staid carnival krewes. Antoine’s is expanding on its traditions with a new venue, next door to the hallowed restaurant: the Hermes Bar. The bar’s grand opening was Friday, coinciding with the opening day of French...

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Backstreet Culture

Backstreet Culture

Sylvester Francis runs the show at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in Treme. He’s a film maker, photographer and historian. A world of New Orleans African-American culture awaits inside the museum, located at 1116 St. Claude, across the street and down a little ways in the same block as St. Augustine church. Mr. Francis has...

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Krewe du Vieux 2009

Krewe du Vieux 2009

Last year was my first encounter with Krewe du Vieux. It’s definitely “one for the locals;” highly satirical and raunchy to the extreme, it’s also held early enough each year that it’s off of the regular Mardi Gras beer-and-hand grenade-swilling, boob-flashing tourist crowd’s radar. As KdV’s website says: It is unique among all Mardi...

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Sazerac Academy

Sazerac Academy

“On my honor I will do my best: To do my duty to God and my country…” Oath, Boy Scouts of America. “I vow to personally buy the first Sazerac for any visitor who asks ‘Hey, where do I get a Hurricane?’ and pledge to pull out the Herbsaint and Rye no matter the...

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Tales of the Cocktail to Open at the Sazerac Bar

I’ll let the press release from Ann Tuennerman explain all the good news: TALES OF THE COCKTAIL OPENING RECEPTION TO BE HELD AT THE NEWLY RESTORED ROOSEVELT HOTEL TOAST OF THE EVENING TO OCCUR AT THE ORIGINAL SAZERAC BAR NEW ORLEANS, LA—December 1, 2008 – Tales of the Cocktail, a cocktail and culinary festival...

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One K a Day, Day 5: Ground Zero #2

One K a Day, Day 5: Ground Zero #2

This is the side of a house on Bellaire. Its backyard was bordered by the 17th Street Canal levee; which broke directly behind it, to the right in this picture. It’s a wonder the whole thing didn’t get washed away. I’d like to be able to say something poignent, like the people looking at...

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Streetcar Art Meets Tales of the Cocktail

Streetcar Art Meets Tales of the Cocktail

YLC Streetcar artists Paulette Lizano and Will Smith popped up during Tales of the Cocktail at the event’s Cocktail Marketplace on Saturday. Paulette, who is in the process of building her streetcar, “Perley’s Barnyard Party” was there selling glass coasters and plates featuring martini glasses and S&WB meter cover designs. Will Smith’s streetcar is...

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“Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Livers!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Livers!”

With that challenge, Kevin Brauch (the reporter on Iron Chef America who is not Alton Brown, thank Gawd) opened up Tales of the Cocktail. But first things first. Today’s kick-off event was Toast to Tales of the Cocktail in the Riverview Room of the Hotel Montleone. NOLA blogger Loki of Humid City and the...

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Lenten Lull and Food Porn

Lenten Lull and Food Porn

I was thinking, “I got nuthin’.” Nola’s covered the Streetcar Named Inspire sponsor party last week and there’s a quick write-up on StreetcarArt.com. So what to write about? One thing to note is that it is Lent in Southern Louisiana. Forty days of sacrifice in preparation for the Easter celebration of Christ’s resurrection. For...

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All Over Now

Carnival season is steeped in official ritual and tradition. Traditionally, the 12th Night Revelers and the Phunny Phorty Phellows kick the season off, and traditionally, one does not indulge in king cake before then (or after Fat Tuesday as well). Families have their carnival traditions through the season as well. It might be a...

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Parade-iquette

There’s a lot to be said concerning parade etiquette nowadays. Look at Endymion this past Saturday night. On the one end of the scale, five people were wounded at the corner of Poydras and Carondolet. Gunplay to end an argument in the middle of a crowd and in front of a bunch of cops...

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Le Krewe d’Etat 2008

Le Krewe d’Etat 2008

Le Krewe d’Etat 2008 rolled Friday evening with the theme “Le Krewe d’Etat’s Dirty Dishes.” The satire this year was served up in gastronomical terms. Once again, no one was spared. President Bush (Blame Duck Gumbo) and Hillary (Left Wing Fried Chicken Special) covered the national political scene while Brittany and Paris and Lindsay...

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Live to Ride, Ride to Live

Live to Ride, Ride to Live

Le Krewe d’Etat rides again this year Friday, their motto is “Vivite ut Vehatis. Vehite ut Vevatis” which translates to the title of today’s post. Nola’s post today relates how important Mardi Gras 2006 was for the city, and how this krewe in particular throws parades “for the locals.” It’s in the tradition of...

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Pics from Mardi Gras Past Part II

Pics from Mardi Gras Past Part II

I’ve been trying to find my older photos from the time I got my first digital camera in 2000. That was a rough one. I had just moved back to the city from Baton Rouge that year and was hanging out on St. Charles Sunday afternoon waiting for for my first Bacchus in years....

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Who’s This Baby’s Daddy?

Who’s This Baby’s Daddy?

Me, I guess. I got a surprise with my mid-afternoon king cake snack—this lovely little golden child. King cake from Fresh Market in Mandeville. Another winner, not as flavorful as the Marguerite’s from yesterday, but moister. Plus, it comes with doubloons! Now I must fulfill my obligation and get one for Monday. I’ve got...

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King Cakes Part II

King Cakes Part II

I was going to write a short post and put up some pics of today’s office king cake. Which I will. First, let me tell you how happy I am to share this article on Nola.com that has some great pics and reviews of king cakes found around town. The offerings at Sucre and...

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Pics From Mardi Gras Past Part 1

Pics From Mardi Gras Past Part 1

Mardi Gras 2006 was the first post-K carnival season. I was of the opinion at the time that the city just was not ready. Way too much of town was uninhabited and uninhabitable; much of the devastation lay in traditional parade areas such as Endymion’s Mid-City route. How would the rest of the world...

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