Back from Jazz Fest

Well, we are back in DC safe and sound after yet another wonderful trip to New Orleans (our 15th in the last 20 years, we think).  As always, the main point of going is simply to recharge the batteries and refresh the mind.

Three days is just the right amount of time.  We had some great dinners (especially the one at our new find, Iris, in the French Quarter where we dined al fresco by the pool).  We spent some time with Paul's brother, Jim, and his wife Risa.  We hung out with some of our old friends Sarah and John, with whom we've gone to the Fest before.  [That's them in the picture -- this is one of a series we have of standing with our feet "on a log" at Jazz Fest.  Shudder to think what the series looks like!]

And, of course, we heard great music. We've posted some of the video clips already of some of the great music we heard.  Others, like the Pfister Sisters and Nicholas Payton will have to go uncovered.  But here is a last taste -- late Sunday on a sterling beautiful day (80s, partially cloudy, no humidity) Bruce Springsteen took the stage for a 2 1/2 hour set.  We saw the first hour and then began the long journey home.  Good news though -- we'll see him again in DC on September 14th when he comes to Nationals Stadium.

Sonny Landreth @ Jazz Fest

Here is Sonny Landreth, one of the great Blues guitarists of this generation.   Sadly, the sound engineers at Jazz Fest didn't get the mix quite right, but you can tell he is good ... we hope!

Evan Christopher -- Jazz Fest 2012

Evan Christopher joined Irvin Mayfield in the Jazz tent.  Notice the neat "squeak" at the end.  Other stars of the last two days that we saw include Irma Thomas (singing "He's Got the Whole World, In His Hands"); the Swamp All-Stars (Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril Neville, and others); and some neat new groups like the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Guitar Lightning Lee.

Tim Laughlin -- Jazz Fest 2012

New Orleans Jazz Festival 2012

It's been too long since we went to New Orleans for Jazz Fest.  Whenever we come we have a great time.  This year, as in the past, we are enjoying the food, the weather and, of course the music.  Here's a picture of Katy all excited and ready to go for the first day.

New Orleans -- Art

In addition to food and music, we also did some art browsing and, in the end, shopping. We love wandering around the French Quarter looking into all the art shops and chatting about what we see with the artists and/or shop owners. We did some of our usual stops, going in to see the works of Michalopolous and Dean Mitchell (both of whom we own works of).

But the revelations, as always, were in seeing new artists. One we say, loved, but did not purchase was a fellow named Peter O'Neill, who has just opened a one-person shop at the farther end of Royal St. He does a lot of mass marketing, selling his originals in glicee reproductions, which is something we aren't overwhlemed by, but his originals are just stunning. Here is one of his new pieces, called "Herald Square" that is a cool rendition of a New York City snow storm.



We also loved a number of his New Orleans based pieces, many of which were based on working man stuff -- there was a wonderful oil of a sous chef preparing a plate for serving.

We were thinking of buying one of his paintings, but in the end we didn't because we saw something we liked better -- a post-Impressionist French painting by Marcel Belle called "La Bateau Lavoir a Paris." The painting depicts a laundry boat on the Sienne from the time of the Paris Exposition in 1937. It just drew us in and we loved it, so "La Bateau" will be coming home with us to Washington, after the exhibition at the Mann Gallery, of which it is part of opens later in October. Here is the image of the painting:

NO Dining -- Great New Finds and Some Disappointments

This may be the first time we have come to this city without indulging in the traditional crawfish étouffé or jambalaya. Instead we decided to search out some of the more recent NO cuisine. One general comment about food in NO: it is heavy, sugar-filled and served in large portions, all of which accounts for the epidemic of obesity on display here this weekend.

We visited some old haunts, too, starting with the Central Grocery (see Roadfood site for more info) for the best muffaletta sandwich on the planet. We are not sure what their secret is since the sandwiches are made behind a wall and no customers or cameras are permitted to go there. As good as the sandwiches are, they sat heavily on our old stomachs for the rest of the day, forcing us to take a nap. ;-)

We also revisited Cafe Beignet on Royal, the site of previous early morning, post-walk stops. With croissants that were really croissant-shaped Parker House dinner rolls and orange juice that contained almost no real juice, that experience was a disappointment, and we will likely cross Cafe Beignet off our dining list for the future. There are plenty of other cafe options in the French Quarter. Though, the best we found was Starbucks -- alas!

Before we came to NO, we made dinner reservations at a perennial favorite restaurant, Bayona. Sadly, this was not our best experience there. The food good, but not outstanding (Paul had a tasty stuffed crab appetizer and an okay pork chop, and Katy had a decent salad and interesting Rabbit entree). The real problem was the slowness of the service. We had 8pm reservations with the hope of being out by at least 9:30 to get to the 9:00 show (late) at Tipitina's, for which we had tickets. As it turned out, we did not get done with our meal until 10:20. It took them 1 hour 10 minutes from the time we ordered to get our entree out. Not sure what the problem was. They were pretty full, as they always are, but they should be organized enough to get food out timely. Of course, by the end of the meat we were too frustrated and tired to wend our way over to Tip's to catch what little might be left of the show. So we missed it.

So much for the old standards. Among the new places we tried, there were some winners and some losers. The losers included the dining room at Snug Harbor. We thought it would be convenient to eat there before the Ellis Marsallis show because there are not many dining options in that area of town. We would not go back. Katy had ordinary fried shrimp of the kind you can find at any cheap restaurant. Paul went for the blackened fish and got blackened hockey puck.

Another so-so choice was Oceana for breakfast -- "Petunia's Breakfast." Its fare is billed as a traditional southern breakfast. Paul, for example, had "Maw-Maw's Cajun Breakfast," which was basically jambalaya with eggs and bacon instead of andouile sausage and chicken. Here is where you really saw the excess portions and heavy food! I think we left behind at least half of what we were served. It may be worth the experience, but only once.

The real treats and finds in New Orleans were Lilette and Le Foret two relatively new restaurants, one just outside the Quarter and the other in the Uptown District. These we will definitely return to at the first opportunity.

Lilette:

A search of Time-Picayune restaurant articles brought my attention to Lilette, which is on Magazine Street in the Uptown area - a trendy area with plenty of art galleries, shops and other restaurants and some great examples of NO architecture. Lillete can be reached via the St. Charles St. streetcar (get off at Antoine St. and go a few blocks south) or by taxi from the Quarter. Since it is closed on Sunday, the only opportunity for a dining foray there was lunch on Saturday. Even so, it was packed. It is clearly a local favorite. The dining was leisurely - no rushing to get you out even on a Saturday when they were turning people away -- and the service great. While we had only luncheon food, its quality portends great dinner fare as well. The food was flavorful, well prepared and in right-sized portions. Katy had an arugula salad and a delicious duck confit with grilled pears from the appetizer menu for her main course, making a thoroughly satisfying lunch. Paul had a half dozen exquisite oysters followed by a chicken salad that contained, among other things, port-infused figs, which he loved.

Le Foret

At the recommendation of a helpful sales representative the Mann Gallery in the Quarter, who declared that the food was so good it brought tears to her eyes, we made reservations for Sunday dinner at Le Foret. While we are not given to easy crying, Paul did nearly swoon at the lobster cappuccino soup he had for an appetizer! The restaurant is located on Camp St. just across from the Sheraton Hotel on Canal, and it has only been open for 10 months. On Sunday it was almost empty. Being so close to the Quarter, at this point Le Foret must predominantly rely on tourists or business men and women for its clientele and Sunday is, of course, a slow day for both.

The meal began Le Foret with a number of ameuses bouches, each a taste treat. The bread was freshly made. Katy had a delicious leek salad, sadly without the Gorgonzola dulce that usually accompanies this Delicious salad (lactose intolerance), and Paul had the aforementioned lobster soup. When we recovered from that we were brought our entrees. Katy had a filet mignon with truffle sabayon, accompanied by potatoes and kale, and Paul quickly devoured his red snapper accompanied by spinach with raisins (a really nice touch) -- all in all, simple flavors, deliciously cooked.

Finally, we returned home on Monday for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and left over pizza dinner -- cuisine ala Kunzweig!

New Orleans -- The Music

We come to New Orleans for two reasons -- the food and the music. [Actually, we also come for the art and just to get away ....]. In this post, we wanted to talk about the music we have heard on this trip:

Ellis Marsalis Trio -- We started off Friday night with the early show at Snug Harbor. Snug Harbor, as the name implies, is a tiny little bandbox of a jazz room. The entire place fits maybe 75 people in a room the size of a small living room (with a balcony above). It defines the intimate setting and it is the home to some fantastic jazz. We were seated 10 feet from the stage to hear the Ellis Marsalis trio. Ellis Marsalis is both literally and figuratively the "father of New Orleans jazz." Figuratively because his music captures the heart of classic New Orleans style rhythms and literally because 4 of his sons (Wynton, Branford, Delfayo and Jason) have followed in his footsteps and play magnificent music.

Ellis played a great set filled with everything from a cover of "These are a Few of My Favorite Things" (from the Sound of Music) that reminded us of the great Coltrane cover of the same song, to two tunes from his recent homage to Thelonius Monk, including our favorite "Straight, No Chaser." Combined with his own compositions the result was a quiet excellence that just uplifited you. His backups were well up to the task, especially the drummer (whose name we did not catch) who played most of the set with his eyes closed -- feeling the music rather than seeing it. On the whole, the experience was near magic.

New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band -- The Marsalis set ended early enough that we still had some time on our hands. So coming home, we stopped at the Preservation Hall. Katy had never heard them. There we got a nice one-set dose of classic dixieland jazz. The clarinetist had great style and the trombonist was a showman. The band played some old gospel, some swing and ended the evening with the classic "When the Saints." We wouldn't say the music was as technically fine as Ellis Marsalis -- but anyone who can hear the "Saints" and not walk out of the room smiling has no musical soul.

Jeremy Davenport -- Davenport headlines the music at the Davenport Lounge in the Ritz-Carlton. We had been planning to go to Tipitina's Uptown for music Saturday night, but dinner ran late and we didn't want to schlep all the way out to the Uptown area, so on a lark we stopped in the lounge. It's a classic New Orleans hotel lounge -- comfy chairs and expensive drinks. Davenport was backed by a 4-piece combo and they played alot of swing era and Brat Pack type favorites. It was well styled and many folks got up to dance, but Davenport's voice wasn't up to the lyrics. On the whole a "B" at best -- not bad but not music to die for.

The James River Movement -- For Sunday Jazz Brunch, we stayed at or hotel (The Roosevelt) for brunch in the Blue Room. What a fun time! The music itself was pretty good -- not great but pretty good. They played the classics including Fats Domino's "Blue Monday" and some downriver Blues (as well as the "Saints," of course). And the lead player had a neat way of playing -- for example, his harmonica was hooked to his flute, so he could switch between the two instruments seamlessly.

But what made the music was the crowd. On one side of the room there must have been 50 people there to celebrate Alysha's birthday (we know her name because we all sang for her). Alysha turned 80 recently and most of the other guests were her contemporary septuagenarians.

And boy were they having a great time. When the band played a tune they knew, they sang along. When he started to play the Blues, they waved their napkins in the air. And to top it off, the whole lot of them got up and danced a "second line" on the dance floor, led by the birthday girl. It was so exuberant and joyous that you couldn't help but smile -- and we smiled so much that our smile muscles hurt. All of which goes to show that music is about more than the notes on the page -- its about the emotions and pleasures it stirs in the heart. I hope that when I turn 80 I can have as much joy in my life.

Music is part of what makes New Orleans the place it is. Usually, we come down during JazzFest and get overwhelmed. This time, we heard some great stuff and still had time just to hang out.

New Orleans Craziness

Here we are in New Orleans for a little retreat -- really just to enjoy some good music, good art and good food over a long weekend. New Orleans is a frequent site of our adventures over the years, but it never ceases to amaze! In addition to the usual craziness, already, we have spotted three interesting "celebrations" occurring this weekend:

• The Half Way to St. Patrick's Day celebration, featuring a parade with floats, the tossing of green beads and a lot of drunk Irish (or those just pretending to be Irish, but nonetheless wearing green shirts).
• The 61st annual anniversary commemoration of the "Stormin' of the Sazerac -- a seige of women on the Sazerac Bar to demand to be allowed to drink without being accompanied by a male escort." The "protest march" was successful and for the first time in the city women were served alcohol without having to drag some poor guy along. And so, we saw 200+ women dressed ala the 1940's with great, funny feathered hats at an all afternoon drinking fest at the Sazerac, which is in the lobby of our hotel, the Roosevelt.
• Our hotel is also hosting a conclave of weirdos: the Grand Masquerade of Darkness. It seems that most of the guests in the hotel are participating. They are fans of a series of role playing games, novels and some cult TV show and they are engaged in a grand weekend-long role playing game at the hotel, wearing special badges and dressed in character. There are many piercings, tatoos, overweight nerds and a lot of black. Creepy!

Paul and I may be the only normal folks in town!! But, since this is New Orleans, the home of voodoo, etc., we are perhaps considered abnormal!

Off to New Orleans

A short weekend getaway to New Orleans, using some free tickets on Southwest [boo hiss -- the tickets expire if you don't use them after just 1 year]. We're staying at the newly refurbished Roosevelt Hotel which looks like a keeper -- lush lobby; rooftop pool; and steps from the French Quarter.

More later as we enjoy the city.