There were so many musical choices this weekend with drum circle of spiritual music offered at the New Orleans Healing Center, an A-list of musical acts at the Hogs for a Cause fund-raiser, Congo Square was alive all three days with Latin and African music not to mention the clubs bursting with very musical genre known. There were not enough hours in the day to take it all in. It is true New Orleans seem to have music in their blood and it is not unusual to drive down the street and see a young person with a trombone in their hands blowing a few licks as they walk down the road,. Music is everywhere. But if you wonder how this musical tradition gets nurtured (in addition to nature) it is through a host of music education programs in the schools and the support of organizations like the Titpitina Foundation which routinely donates instruments to schools. There is a big fund-raiser concert annual Instruments A’ Coming (which Sully Mansion always donates a few nights at the inn) but this year they held a competition for middle and high school brass bands. Class Got Brass? featured 15 brass bands from schools across the area which held their own small parade around Armstrong Park stopping before the viewing stand which featured Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall, Dr. Michael White, Shamar Allen and Trombone Shorty. The kids were great. We stood out on Rampart street and cheered all the teams (my personal favorite was St. Mary’s Academy which was all girl, nothing like a fifteen year old girlk tuba player!) It was awesome and full of the rich musical culture heritage which makes this town so special. Wish you were here.
Posts Tagged ‘New Orleans Festivals’
New Orleans Food Trucks
September 23rd, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
So often a really wonderful local festival in New Orleans goes viral and the next thing you know the lines for beer wrap around the corner and you cannot get a good space on the dance floor for all these guys from Cleveland who heard about the festival from their cousin from Palm Springs and before you know it the little local festival with killer NOLA food and great music has a high entry price and the local have ceded the event to visitors. Well, time to get in on the ground floor of what I have no doubt will be an annual tradition! Tomorrow is the first annual Street Fare Derby. Promising to celebrate the culture of street food and food trucks, the Derby will be held at the Fair Grounds (the site of that other little local festival the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival) and will have over fifteen food trucks, libations, excellent music to the tune of Big Sam’s Funky Nation as well as Kermit Ruffins. If that is not enough the Derby is being held in on the Closing Day of the track’s Summer Quarter Horse Meet so you can also watch the ponies and place a small wager if you are so inclined. So if we time it right we can start off with a gourmet grilled cheese (perhaps Havarti and Bacon) watch a race, move on to a hybrid Po Boy-Sandwich-Vietnamese Banh Mi,dance it off and then snack on an Asian Noodle Bowl and a Ginger snowball to wash things down and watch them come down the stretch. What a day! What a town!
A Spirited Dinner in New Orleans
July 22nd, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
Wine pairings for dinner are so routine they are almost passe. Here in New Orleans during the Tales of the Cocktail one of the special events are custom designed dinners at one of twenty different world class eateries paired with cocktails. The chefs and mixologists work for weeks to perfect a blend of tastes in food and libations. We went with friends last night to A Mano’s cock tail pairing where the chef and New York bartender duos the Tippling Brothers created a favorable and unique take on Italian Creole. Our delicious menu is below. I must admit I did not recognize half of what I was drinking, but loved every course. The risotto was a standout although the pairing had a bit more fire than I am used to. Favorite drink was the rum and bittertruth sloeberry with some file . Not your basic gin and tonic! The crowd was festive and appreciative. We went for more toady hoping to spend time in their tasting room but the event has gotten so popular that there were long lines so we bailed, had an oyster poorboy and came home to wait for our guests to arrive. Like so many wonders in this city what started as a local diversion has become a popular destination event. If you enjoy your imbibing you need to mark your calenders for the 2012 event which entails lectures, tasting of every spirit you can image, a speakeasy, luncheons and of course the Spirited Dinners. See you there!
Welcome Cocktail
Averna Amaro, orgeat, guava, prosecco, cucumber
Antipasti
Tuna crudo, watermelon, herb salad
Shrimp, giardinara, Creole tomato diavolo
Grilled peach, lardo, sprouts, saba
G’Vine Floraison gin, Esprit de June, lemon, basil
Primi
Seafood Risotto-saffron
Barsol Pisco, fino sherry, red pepper, orange, Tabasco air
Secondi
Duck conservata, orange, fennel-legs, fennel pollen
Rhum JM VSOP, Bitter Truth Sloeberry, filé syrup, Bitter Truth Creole and Chocolate bitters
Dolci
Lavender panna cotta, honey, sea salt
Excellia Reposado tequila, Averna Agrumi Sambuca, pink grapefruit, black pepper, honey
Festival Saturday in New Orleans
April 4th, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
Now I know I am supposed to be a regular blogger, how else do I keep my loyal readers and build up my fan base? But how can a girl both live her life and find time to write about? Delayed recap is the best I think I will be able to do while New Orleans is in full tilt festival mode and the Sully Mansion bed and Breakfast is hopping with guests! This last weekend there was five different festivals to chose from, one in Algiers across the river offering up good eats and gospel music, another at City Park celebrating all flora and fauna of the area culminating with Arts in Bloom in which there are sculptures made of flowers and plants, there was the Jammin’ on Julia down in the Warehouse District where art galleries open at night accompanied by is music and cocktails in the street, or the two we decided to go to, the Fete Francaise which was a fund- raiser for Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle-Orléans. It celebrated all things French complete with can-can girls berets galore and delicious food. The photo of the French poodle was taken there. Many French restaurants were offering their bests frites and moules as well as crepes, champagne and fantastic cheeses. The music was an eclectic mix, my favorite was Sunpie Barnes doing a full Cajun set in French. We then moved on to the Feret Street Festiuval which was a one day huge block party with three stages of music, food which spanned the usual po’boys to cucumber and dill smoothies. I had some cerviche which was incredible and flavorful as my friend lam kebob. While the music and art were great what was most exciting was the nine block stretch was with new stores and commerce in a neighborhood which was decimated after Katrina. There are corner doughnut shops, art galleries, dog grooming places and interesting bars and a vibrancy I do remember just four years ago. Some say that Ferret Street may blossom into a vibrant corridor like Magazine Street in a few more years. Yes French Quarter Fest is next week and the Jazz and Heritage Festival in two weeks after that, but it is the smaller little jewel festivals which makes this city so special, so much fun and so hard to find the time to write a blog.
The Jasmine is in Bloom in New Orleans
March 18th, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
It is time to put away the socks and sweaters boys and girls as it is spring in New Orleans and everywhere you walk your olfactory glands are in overload with the scents of jasmine, sweet olive and wisteria. Walking around the Garden District every block brings a different delight, while Gracie goes wild sniffing the sidewalk her trusted walker is following the scent from the vines which wrap around the wrought iron fences and stucco walls. Everything is in bloom from the azaleas to the pansies to the crepe myrtle and the fragrant vines are starting the first of their three blooms from now till August. The sky is robin egg blue and gentle sunshine is everywhere glittering off the Mardi Gras beads dangling from trees left by an exuberant float rider. There is zero humidity and suddenly everyone is out on their porches and sitting in parks, along café tables on Magazine street. There is no better time or place to be than New Orleans in the spring (unless it is New Orleans in the fall!). And did I mention it is the beginning of festival season? Every weekend if it is eating crawfish, watching Tennessee Williams plays, dancing to salsa or listening to Haitian drum circles, or good old N’awlins jazz -there is a festival for that. While most of the country is still looking at that last bit of frozen tundra the March weather has not erased, we are digging out our flip flops all set and ready for fun.
Carnival Season Begins in New Orleans
January 8th, 2011 by Nancy Fournier
For those of you not living in New Orleans , you may not have known that this past Thursday the 6th of January was 12th night and official beginning of the Carnival season which will culminate
with Mardi Gras on March 8th. There king cakes throughout every office, a small parade for Joan of Arc, the mayor held his kickoff breakfast with king cake and gumbo and you see all the purple green and gold bunting for sale. It feels a little early to start decorating seeing as we just took our tree down and revelers from the Sugar Bowl just left town but at the Sully Mansion this year’s Twelfth Night had a special meaning as January 6 2006 was the day we took over operations of the inn.
As it was Twelfth Night and Fifth year anniversary all at once we had to commemorate the day. We got all gussied up and had a fabulous night of dining and dancing at the Ritz Carlton. We ate at the M Bistro and listen to Jeremy Davenport and even took a spin or two on the dance floor. A long five years, when we arrive the Sully as serving as a FEMA hotel and we had displaced New Orleans around our dinign room table and everything they owned in bags in the guest rooms. The traffic lights did niot work along St. Charles Avenue, there was no street car and for most of the city simple things like street signs and water pressure were a longed for hope. We remember both the resilience of the people to try to create some sense of normal when everything was sodden, the Army Corps of Engineers was saying everyone had to elevate their houses four feet and it looked like the corner would never be turned. From them to now has been a long hard road but we have never been prouder to be a part of the re0borth of this amazing city. Yes the challenges of blight and crime are daunting and the continual assaults on the fragile coastline make the later part of hurricane season full of white knuckle moments, but as we often tell our guests- there are many things which make it hard to live here but many more which make it impossible to live anywhere else- here’s to another five years and happy carnival to all.
New Orleans’ Ten Best
December 31st, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
It seems every magazine and newspaper article has their selected ten best lists of 2010 today so while I am waiting for the guests to come down for breakfast I decided to compile my own 10 best New Orleans personal experiences in 2010.
1. Fishing for redfish in Barataria Bay – A month after they capped the well in the Gulf ad some spots were open for fishing, we decided to support our local charter boat captains and spent the day out on the water catching redfish. They were plentiful and shimmering in the water and delicious to eat!
2. Listening to roosters’ crow on an early morning in the Marigny- We stayed with friends in the Fauborg Marigny (the neighborhood to the east of the French Quarter) who have a large backyard garden. Sitting with coffee in hand in the diffused morning sun we heard roosters throughout the neighborhood and it brought me back to times in the Dominican Republic. We really are the northern most Caribbean country!
3. Treme at Treme- Going to the Treme Gumbo Festival and seeing Wendall Pierce and Clark Peters from the HBO Treme series there eating gumbo and dancing to Shamar Allen like the rest of us.
4. Beignets at café Du Monde- Yes a touristy thing to do but something every local enjoys every once in a while. Our son and girlfriend were visiting, the sun was shining the café au lait was perfect and the powdered sugar five inches deep, good company and yummy beignets.
5. Marching with the Krewe of Dead Pelicans- when the BP oil spill happened we all felt so angry and helpless and worked out our frustration with a good old New Orleans parade complete with costumes and a brass band.
6. Attending the Burlesque Review- New Orleans hosts a national burlesque competition in the fall. Curious about how burlesque is making a resurgence we went to the final night review showcasing the winners of the competition, while I enjoyed the acts, it was the merchandise in the lobby I really loved, who knew there so many versions of fishnets and pasties existed?
7. Wearing my Saints shirt every Sunday- I never really rooted for a team before and living in New Orleans in 2010 means you are a Saints fan. Everyone dresses on game day and you cannot go anywhere without seeing folks in saints shirts, and that includes nurses working in the hospital, wearing them under their scrubs. I sport my “12” Colston jersey with pride and feel part of something larger than myself on game day.
8. Listening to Kermit Ruffins rehearse with a full orchestra swing band – We made the rounds on my birthday and one stop was at the Mid City Rock and Bowl (dance hall and bowling alley for the uninitiated) and before the show we went in and listened to my favorite trumpeter play and croon songs from the 1940’s, even took a spin on the dance floor!
9. Surrounded by tubas- Tuba Fats was one of New Orleans most famous tuba players and they had a second line for him this year at the jazz and Heritage Festival with all the best tuba players in the city participating. I don’t know how but I ended up in the middle of them as we marched throughout the Fairgrounds, tubas as far as the eye could see and the swell of their music, it was like marching in the midst of musical elephants.
10. Landing a Drew Brees football during the Bacchaus Mardi Gras Parade- Long story, suffice it to say there were crowds, Superbowl champions , Saturday before Mardi Gras and Drew Brees throwing plastic footballs to the crowd. I am my far the smallest and most sober of those around me, but when the smoke cleared, we have a keepsake on our mantle! Here’s hoping for a wonderful 2011 and Two dat to all!
Christmas Shopping in New Orleans
December 16th, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
Yes Christmas is coming and there is baking and shopping to be done as well as parties to attend. If most of the country is finding their bundles for under the tree on line or at the mall, here is New Orleans we prefer to perform our elf duties at street festivals. After all our guests were settled on their activities for the day, Guy and I spent the entire Saturday going from one street festival to another to get our fill of presents, music and of course food. We started at the Kingpin Christmas Fair which is a small little watering hole
a few blocks from the inn, described in Zagats as one of the greatest dive bars in the city.. Every December they host an art market for the holidays, it is strange to enter a bar (the contrast from a bright sunny day to the dark diffuse light of a dive bar was a novel Christmas shopping experience!) and see handmade masks and pottery on the bar and hand painted purses next to the jukebox. My favorite this year were necklaces made of zippers fashioned as flower petals and rosebuds. A friend of ours was selling her small ceramic dolls which looked like a cross between Mexican Day of the Dead figures and Toulouse Lautrec dancers. Very bohemian and perhaps a bit much for early Saturday afternoon so we headed to Ferret street for their annual Ferrestivus a fusion of art market, libations and music. So many wonderful crafts to choose from, I particularly loved the antique leather fingerless gloves refashioned through a batik tea stain and small rosettes at the wrist made from the fingers. There were beautiful ceramics and soaps and heavenly jewelry. Strolling through the aisles to the sounds of the Free Agent Brass band, munching on a tasty cochon du lait po-boy and sipping fresh spiced tea. There is a friendly neighborhood vibe there and everything to hand rolled tamales to Christmas wreaths done up in black and gold in honor of the Saints. 
We then headed down to the Treme Gumbo Festival which is put on by the Jazz and Heritage Foundation. Again more Christmas present possibilities (we picked up a 2008 Jazz Festival tote bag for $5, what a bargain) and admired the blown glass pelicans. The highlight of the festival is the multiple samplings of gumbo available and the music. We arrived in time to hear Shamar Allen and Kermit Ruffins play. Fabulous music and food all for free. While catching up with friends and the gumbo and music was great the highlight was seeing Wendell Pierce and Clark Peters both featured actors on the HBO series Treme. How perfect to see the cast of Treme in Treme! That was all we wanted for Christmas. Beats a day at the mall anyday!
Christmas in New Orleans; Bling in the Holidays!
December 4th, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
We are now in the thick of the Holiday Season.
New Orleans Christmas Mantle
Christmas is one of the few times New Orleans is in synch with the rest of the country, usually we are going all out for a holiday (like Mardi Gras ) that most of the country doesn’t even recognize, this time we are in step with the rest of the nation. For this first weekend in December in New Orleans and we are hosting a Christmas Parade downtown- the Krewe of Jingle! Followed by a jungle mingle block party, there are nightly concerts in the Cathedral in the square and holiday open houses where selected beautiful homes both in the French Quarter and the Garden District are festooned with holiday decorations and open themselves up for visitors. Up and down St. Charles Avenues the grand homes are draped in greenery and red and gold ribbons. When it comes to decorating for Christmas, here in the Crescent City you cannot have enough gold touches! While Williamsburg Virginia has their pineapple and fruit cornucopia over their front door transoms and Santa Fe is well known for the small lights in transparent adobe brown bags lighting the walkways, and we all know about the bright red balls on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, down here it is all about the gold! Gold piping on the ribbons, gold sequins in the tree ornaments, gold sprayed twigs in the flower arrangement, gold sequins on the Christmas sweaters. For New Orleanians, decorating requires our glue gun (always at the ready) some greens and a zillion ways to sneak gold into the color scheme. We are like teenage rap stars dripping with gold necklaces and five inch sparkling rings- what can we say –we love our food spicy and our music funky and our Christmas decorations in gold. Whatever you think about us, you cannot confuse us with those who prefer muted tones!
Saturday in New Orleans
June 14th, 2010 by Nancy Fournier
We went to the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival yesterday to enjoy the Creole tomatoes, eat our local seafood and hear some good dancing music. It was a typical June day in New Orleans, hot and steamy, bougainvillea blooming against a steel blue sky. The festival is held along the river in the French Quarter and is actually three festivals in one, celebrating the Creole tomato, local seafood and Cajun and Zydeco music. The tomatoes are fabulous, rich earthy smooth taste, seafood is still thankfully plentiful and the music is just what a hot sultry day called for. Cajun is a slower waltz-tempo music sung in French with a mournful fiddle accompaniment. Zydeco is kick up your heels dancing music featuring an accordion and washboard.
Just as we walked up to Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers the sky opened up to a Louisiana rainstorm pelting the area with thick wet drops. With steam rising from the sidewalks, a few ran for cover but most folks just kept dancing. The band was tearing it up and their washboard player was incredible with energy and a great sense of rhythm, he had long arms and a skinny torso so from the side he looked like a stick figure with a washboard drawn on his front but boy could he play. A few hours of listening, a dance of two between the raindrops, toe tapping under a wrought-iron gallery, a beer or two we hopped back on the streetcar to the Sully Mansion where two couples who were guest of the inn and had formed a friendship at breakfast were sitting in the porch together drinking wine sharing stories of their lives. Just another Saturday in New Orleans
Keeping the New Orleans Music Tradition Alive
NOLA's Loney Planet
We Love a Good Parade
