Tag Archives: Royal Street

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Tales of the Cocktail raises spirits in the summer

One of the most successful and useful events on the New Orleans social calendar, this serious homage to the drink runs from June 20th-24th in the French Quarter. In under 10 years, Tales of the Cocktail has elevated the drink back to its pre-hippie state and found a reason for summer visitors to pack their pint glasses and head south.
In the organizers’ words, success can be measured easily:

Tales of the Cocktail® 2010 used 207.2 gallons of bitters, 2800 Driscoll’s blackberries, 1305 cucumber slices, 1320 egg whites, 1760 lemon twists, 2902 mint sprigs, 995 orange wheels, 475 ginger slices and 18,750 sets of taste buds that were delighted during the five-day festival.

Filled with events, tours and competitions there is something for the casual, serious or historical fan of the cocktail. And that its headquarters remains the beautiful Hotel Monteleone is another testament to the organizers’ savvy. The events are just about sold out for 2011, so visit it online and mark it down for next year.

Tales

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Any addition to Antoine’s is welcome

On Royal Street, there are some truisms:
1. stuff is expensive.
2. shade is unlikely
3. good public places to sit are taken quickly by musicians and audiences.

So, every time a new place that seems like it might balance one, two or all of the above, I make a beeline for it. The latest is Antoine’s Annex, the coffeehouse brought to us by our oldest restaurant. Just as the Hermes Bar has been such a hit (their newish bar with street entrance which has available Antoine’s appetizers on their menu), it’s likely this Royal Street annex will be too.
I have gone three times since it opened, and I will say the early excitement from the staff seems to have waned. They spent loads of time explaining the pastries back in the day and proudly showing the place itself. Of course, it was a bit much to take when one just wants an espresso and a seat but it was still appreciated.
The pastry case has gotten lighter or has less choices. I mean I didn’t count them, but I remember 2-3 things the first few times I thought looked interesting (and bought one once I remember) but the last 2 times nothing appealed from the case. And I believe it’s all done in-house too so I hope they continue to push the boundaries on pastries- especially with Croissant d’Or’s new owners disappointing so many locals who used to get their croissants, Napoleons and baguettes on Ursulines.
Please Antoine’s Annex, go a little crazy and wow us on the desserts.
The coffee was good; it’s true that cafe au lait is a tough mistress to master in New Orleans, as locals have so many memories and places with which to compare it. I am always unhappy when coffee is served from airpots, as it means it is meant to stay hot longer than it stays fresh in those things. I did see a nice steam but again, am not sure baristas can tell by eyes only when the temperature is perfect as the milk needs to be just below boiling for locals. Their espresso is also fine or good enough (I wonder about the quality of the beans they use), and in all cases the cups used are right and lovely and not just heavy generic coffeehouse stock. And the many flavors offered for espresso was a nice touch.
As for the gelato, they looked okay, but I so appreciate the La Divina local fruit gelato or Brocato’s ice cream, that I have a hard time accepting their small selection as the best they can do. But I promise to come back on a hot evening this month and try one fair and square.
The real treat is the decor and work put into the place. Beautiful. As Royal is as good a place as any to people watch, sit and do that.
Their patio is fine too although it would be nice if the staff would take 5 steps to the street to accept their mobile phone calls and leave the small outside area for sitting and face-to-face level conversations.
But I say let’s keep going and simply ask for more from our Antoine’s. They can handle it.

a nice respite from the street while staying in touch with it.

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Link to Bergen article

T-P writer Doug MacCash has written another charming piece about New Orleans, a bit removed from his usual art critic duties. He interviewed Margarita Bergen, a FQ fixture, ostensibly to talk about her love of champagne for the New Year’s Day edition, but every story with her is fascinating to read. The Bergen shop was one of the best (well-managed and well stocked) frame and poster shops in the Quarter throughout the 80s and 90s, closing around 2000 I think. This was during the heyday of poster sales in New Orleans, when it seemed a multitude of young drifters were framing in the back of every shop to support their drinking habits while clerks in front sold hundreds of posters of  misty  streetcars to tourists. Many mortgages were made on Jazz Fest poster sales alone; based on their windows, the Bergens did a brisk business on the Sitting Duck series for far longer than anyone else. (Now they have a shop on Decatur with my old Royal Street gallery boss, Casell.)

Cash cow poster series

Bergen article

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lovely paper

I have been roaming the FQ over the last few days, off from work for a week and with a car at my disposal. Car rented from the nice Hertz people at the Omni Hotel at Royal and St. Louis-well in the garage on the Chartres side. (It’s the only car rental counter in the FQ, and has nice staff who chat about all types of things with you although I DO wish Mr. Hertz would staff it everyday and stop being forgetful about taking the gas up fee off, but other than that, hurrah for all of the Hertz family and that does include little Hal Hertz and even Minnie Hertz who is still a bit whiny.) The car means Maddie the Cartoon Dog gets to come along and take a perambulation along her streets, happily poking her head in shops and smelling people’s shoes.
Between parking successfully and taking advantage of Golden Lantern’s drink prices, one of the things I have indulged in recently-while on my 2-3 trips to FQ-is paper.
Oh I love paper. I love to write notes or to send letters or to drop a card with some satsumas to someone’s door before they come home, so they can find it after (maybe) a bad day or just a ho-hum day.
This may be the only true manner that my Southern mother drilled in me. Well, I do say yes ma’am to older women and could curtsey still but since I haven’t had a dress on since the 1990s, it’s a lost art in my repertoire.
And you would think I had lovely penmanship they way I go on, but no, I lost that early in life and substituted nothing in its place. Maybe the beautiful paper is to make up for that loss.
So, paper. I almost always buy some beautiful cards at Nadine Blake’s on Royal. Her store is lovely, she and her “staff” both. And to have a store that takes serious care and delight with their window displays is a treat to those of us who remember the days of many of those type of store owners throughout the Quarter. There I buy greenery tropical cards, drinking quote cards, single funny birthday cards and the last time I bought a silver crescent moon that I when I returned home I immediately hung on the end of my ceiling fan pull chain.
After spending hour(s) there, I usually walk 2 blocks to the corner of Dumaine and Royal to my Florentine paper supply place, Papier Plume. Yes, Italian paper. I went to Florence in 2008 and was dazzled by the many, many things that Italian artisans still make. Paper, leather goods, textiles, cars, scooters, coffee makers, long underwear- the list goes on and on.
I bought paper while there and used it so sparingly because when would I be able to return for more? Then one day, I saw the same design through a window in my hometown and walked inside this magic place. Papier Plume also does calligraphy and wedding invitations and has lovely pens and (my latest addition) sealing wax and stampers. If you see an envelope with a blue owl or a red sun on the flap in your door, do know where it came from. Especially if food comes with..
The third is the dynamic sister store Ragin Daisy on Dumaine and Chartres. These two ladies are destined to be legends with their charming personalities and dry wit. They have such cool stuff; this is where I get journals and sometimes find boxes of vintage-styled postcards.
(I also use the tourist store at the corner of Camp and Magazine for cheap FQ postcards when I want to send a bunch of news out, like for a party. I think they are 10 for 100 there, don’t pore over the clichés too much; it’s better to just embrace the tacky once in a while.)
And you can stop by Historic New Orleans Collection’s gift shop on Royal, past Toulouse. You can get some oyster cards or maybe a lovely map. And view the collection and talk to the nice docent and gift shop ladies who are of a type, it’s true but still part of our gumbo. Just maybe not part of the dirty rice.
And finally, I will always give you a heads up to go see Gnome on Barracks and Decatur for many, many inspired finds. They will surely have moleskin journals and plain ol paper journals and probably some pens and you will be absolutely be fortified by the sense that good design is an important part of any ordered life.
Then go home and practice your penmanship.

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Verti Marte is coming along…

For those who miss their corner store on Royal, the signs are looking good that we will see them back before Mardi Gras passes.

and Santa says hi. but only to the Uptown side of town.