My dear friend, Char, knows what I like.

I like New Orleans. I like everything about NOLA. The food, the people, the music, the beverages.

So Char sent me an email outlining all the things I love best to coax me back to Louisiana.

It shouldn’t be that difficult.

What say you, Miss Char?

RISING TEMPS AND GAS PRICES PUT YOUR VACAY ON HOLD? ENJOY AN EASY TRIP TO THE BIG EASY!
(AND THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT)

My favorite US city. Besides, Atlanta, of course!

NEW ORLEANS, La. – June 21, 2011 – Temperatures are rising along with gas prices, so book a trip to New Orleans and enjoy an easy, cost-effective, walk able, runner friendly, COOLinary and luggageless vacation.

New Orleans is a quick flight or a short drive for regional travelers, so getting to the city is easy. Most visitors don’t book rental cars simply because New Orleans is a walkable city. The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans is situated on the edge of the French Quarter, one block from Bourbon Street and in walking distance to the best that the Crescent City has to offer.

New Orleans is renowned as the “home of the cocktail,” the “birthplace of jazz” and it is considered a culinary destination. The best of the Big Easy lies within and just outside the hotel’s doors. Every weekend, visitors to the hotel’s Davenport Lounge enjoy the jazz stylings of the hotel’s headline entertainer, Jeremy Davenport. There’s no admission fee and parking is validated with a purchase. Visitors can sample classics like the Ramos Gin Fizz, Brandy Milk Punch, Sazerac and Mint Julep from the lounge’s cocktail menu and for those who imbibe too much, the hotel’s Recovery Concierge offers his services and “cures” free of charge. This unique concierge assists Club Level guests recover with his homemade Bloody Mary, a fancy Cure Royal (Kir Royal) or bottled water. During the summer and fall, the Crawfish Concierge, Snowball Sommelier and Oyster Butler offer their services to visitors.

Feeling guilty after eating the chocolates on your pillow? Guests of The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans are treated to complimentary chilled bottled water in a silver punch bowl along with jogging maps and towels as they exit for their morning run. Hotel guests also have free access to the hotel’s fitness center if the heat is too much to bear and the center’s indoor resistance pool provides the perfect spot to cool off post-workout. Reserving a Mimosa Champagne Massage at The Ritz-Carlton Spa, New Orleans will also provide relief from the heat.

August, the hottest month of the year, just got a little cooler thanks to the COOLinary New Orleans promotion sponsored by the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOMCVB). New Orleans finest restaurants, big and small, opt-in to offer a two-course lunch for $20 and a three-course dinner for $35 for patrons. M bistro restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans participates in this annual citywide promotion. Newly appointed Executive Chef Vinny Russo is working on the COOLinary menus and tastings are underway to revamp all of the hotel’s menu offerings. For those who want a one-of-a-kind cultural and culinary experience, they can reserve the Sportsman’s Paradise package ($21,000 USD). It includes a charter boat fishing excursion in the Gulf of Mexico along with a sea plane, helicopter and limo ride. Most importantly, Chef Russo will prepare your fresh catch at the Chef’s Table in the kitchen of The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans.

Last, but not least, when it’s time to go home after a cost-effective excursion to the Big Easy, choose the hotel’s luggageless travel service. For roughly the same amount that it now costs to check your baggage, you can ship it to your home or office. Avoid check-in lines and ease your travel woes. The hotel does not charge a handling fee, so the only cost is that associated with the actual shipping.

If you are still on the fence about a trip in 2011, then visit us in 2012 for the Bicentennial of the State of Louisiana. As the website says, “This is one celebration that has been 200 years in the making!” And, if Mardi Gras is a gauge of how we throw parties, then we highly suggest a trip to our State. Please see below for additional resources.

Apps:
Historic New Orleans (free; determines your location and shares photos from the 1920s through 1950s taken in the same spot)
New Orleans Bar Caddy (free; guide to 200+ bars, clubs and music venues)
CityGuide New Orleans Guidepal (free; highlights attractions and offers local recommendations)
French Quarter Finder (free; current events, news and hotspots in the French Quarter)
Streetcar (free; interactive guide to New Orleans streetcars)
Garden District Historic Mobile Tour ($4.99; tour garden district homes and enjoy podcasts)
New Orleans Best Bars ($2.99; well known, and not so well known, bars around the city)

Free:
Audubon Park
City Park
French Market
French Quarter
Garden District
Gallery Night
Jackson Square
Magazine Street
Royal Street
Woldenberg Park
New Orleans Guide Book (coupons, maps, etc.):
http://nomcvb.com/crm/index.cfm/action/viewform/formID/9/

Almost Free:
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
Audubon Insectarium
Audubon Zoo
Carriage Rides
Children’s Museum
Contemporary Arts Museum
Ghost Tour
Haunted History Tour
Historic Home Tour
IMAX
Louisiana State Museum
National World War II Museum
New Orleans Museum of Art
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
Southern Food & Beverage Museum
Steamboat Natchez
Streetcar
Voodoo Tour

Top 10 Things You Must Do in New Orleans: http://www.neworleanscvb.com/static/index.cfm/contentID/915/sectionID/1/subsectionID/0

Wow. Um, Char, did you say Crawfish Concierge? And what was that about luggageless travel? So I can keep my hands free for just one more hand grenade?

Hand Grenade!

I’ll be right there!

Today blogging to Jerry Lee Lewis – Chantilly Lace

Hope you all are having a splendid weekend filled with fun.

You know how I love The Ritz-Carlton. Not only are their properties to die for, but I have made some fabulous friends there, too. And they are always coming up with new and exciting things to delight visitors with. And with the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day just around the corner, they are planning the most divine scenarios imaginable. Take a look:

From way down south, my friend Paulina at The Ritz-Carlton Cancun shares a unique dining experience at Twelve. With seating for only twelve guests, you are welcome to step into the kitchen with Chef Rory and help prepare the night’s meal, if you would like. The Viking equipped kitchen overlooks the Caribbean Sea – Eric and I were so privileged to indulge in this gourmet fantasy over the Christmas holiday, so you can trust me when I say it is the ultimate foodie experience. Three set menus in Mexican, Southern and Mediterranean cuisine await you in this five course experience that you will never forget. How about that for whisking your darling away for Valentine’s Day? Perhaps to pop the question?

Cook with Chef Rory in this magical kitchen setting.

A little closer to home, Miss Christine from The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach is making magic with the reopening of their luxe eatery, Angle. If you ever wondered what it would be like to dine at Versailles or even with the Trumps, now is your chance. I spied this spectacular space when Eric and I visited in September and wondered why it was not being utilized. But it is now!  Just take a gander at this incredible dining room fit for a king (or twelve). I just can’t wait to return so we can enjoy an enchanted evening at Angle.

Why not extend your stay in Palm Beach for Valentine’s Day so you can engage in some beach front tootsie play in one of their cabanas? Ply your sweetheart with aphrodisiac cuisine such as fresh crab claws, luscious caviar, succulent shrimp and ending with the most scrumptious desserts imaginable. Sweep your Sweetie off her (or his) feet. It’s okay, you will both land in the soft, white Florida sand, giggling together in a champagne glow.

Imagine yourself at Angle...

Feeling frisky? How about The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans for a deliciously wild time? The always chic Char shared with me the most mouth watering news. M Bistro, helmed by my swell buddy Chef Matt Murphy, has been named by Travel + Leisure as one of the World’s Best Farm to Table restaurants. Chef Matt utterly spoiled us in July with his seductive cuisine. I have never had a dining experience such as the one he gifted us with. Incredible. Go and taste for yourself the new menu items that include Cauliflower Bisque, Roasted Sweet Corn Cioppino, Grilled Quail and Arugula Salad, Covey Rise Farm Salad, Duck Confit and Spinach Salad, Gulf Shrimp BLT, Crispy Pecan-Crusted Sweetbreads, Crispy Boudin Cake, Chanterelle and Morel Mushroom Gnocchi, Braised Rabbit Cassoulet, 17^th Hour Veal Cheeks. If you are planning an engagement, Char can set you up in ways you probably have not considered. How about rose petals covering your bed? A shout out from the fabulous Jeremy Davenport during his show in the Davenport Lounge? Dinner in one of their velvet draped cheater’s booths? Hopefully, you only propose once, make it the most memorable event of your life at The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans.

Eric in the Cheater's Booth at The Ritz New Orleans

But what if your sugar plum is a die hard sports fan? Our pal Bonnie fills us in on a fabulous surprise weekend for the football fan in your life.  The Ritz-Carlton Dallas has the ultimate experience for you. Are you ready for some football????? Take your love to The Super Bowl in Dallas and stay at The Ritz. They are football fanatics just like you. In fact, for the big game they even have Football Concierges – what other hotel can make that claim? Before the game you can hang out with award winning Chef Dean Fearing and his team of Guacamologists in the lobby where they will be whipping up guacamole with fresh ingredients flown in from the teams hometowns. How cool is that? They also offer a men’s tv viewing spa complete with pre-game bloody marys,  game time bourbons and post-game brandies.

What? You didn’t get a chance to eat while you attending the world’s most famous sporting event? Never Fear(ing) – Chef has set up “Aftermath”, a late night nosherie consisting of a bacon & egg pizza with ranch dressing, an array of sliders and cold beer.

The lounge will be offering a super size (after all, everything is bigger in Texas) Chocolate Extravaganza. Let your sweet tooth run amok!

It looks like a weekend of Super indulgence, if you ask me. And that, my darlings, is always a good thing.

Holy Guacamole - that looks terrific!

So many options, so little time! Enjoy and indulge. You only live once.

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Nat King Cole – I’m The Mood For Love

Louisiana, home of creole and cajun cooking, southern mansions and the unbreakable spirit of New Orleans. They have seen hard times, yet always bounce back with graceful resiliency. From Katrina and now the BP crisis, you might be wondering how the Paris of North America is faring.

They are faring quite well, thank you. And you should go and see for yourself. Party on Bourbon Street, enjoy the Garden District, listen to some down home music in Faubourg Marigny and don’t forget the beignets at Cafe Du Monde. With New Orleans only a 7 hour drive from Atlanta, you could be there in no time.

The Party Never Stops!

I have been in contact with my friends in New Orleans, Char Thian at the Ritz-Carlton and Kelly Schulz with the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. who tell me that all is well in their fair city and the best way to support it is to come and visit! Now, how many other ways can you give back by eating the country’s best cuisine and drinking up a storm? Only in New Orleans.

Take a look at this link. Honestly, the time has never been better to support New Orleans and have a dang good time in the process. The folks there are the friendliest anywhere and that food…OMG, that food. I am dieting right now in anticipation of my visit at the end of July. Can’t wait to drink sazeracs and eat all the luscious treats at Galatoire’s Friday lunch. You can even walk around with that Pat O’Briens Hurricane, as they encourage drinking and walking. But please grab a cab or a fab street car if you need to go further than your feet will take you.

But if you can’t get there right now, our own Pacci, in Atlanta, is supporting the cause with “We Cook While They Clean”.

We are very proud to announce that we will be joining the relief efforts in the wake of the devastation caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with our “We Cook While They Clean” fundraiser.
 

Beginning Wednesday, June 23, $1 from every seafood dish on our lunch and dinner menu will be donated to the Gulf Relief Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to providing relief to the fishing community of the Gulf Coast and their families. For more information on the Gulf Relief Foundation visit www.gulfaid.org.   “We Cook While They Clean” will continue until fishermen are back in their boats.

You could even plan to go down on July 30 – Aug 1, when I’ll be there. I would be happy to meet you at Tujagues for a evening of tippling. Come on down!

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Buckwheat Zydeco – On A Night Like This