Noteworthy
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N E W S , T I M E LY T I D B I T S , A N D O T H E R
CURIOSITIES
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The Sweet Spot Cocktail Trail COLD, CREATIVELY-CRAFTED DRINKS AT THE HEIGHT OF SUMMER? SEE YOU IN ASCENSION!
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The Sweet Spot Cocktail at Don’s Seafood is a Lemonberry Old Fashioned. Photo courtesy of the Ascension Parish Tourism Commission.
n between the rippling seas of Ascension Parish’s sugarcane fields are its vibrant urban centers, rich with heritage and teeming with tradition. And within those towns— Gonzales, Donaldsonville, Sorrento, Prairieville, Darrow—you can visit fascinating museums, historic homes, high caliber restaurants. You can also get a damn good drink. This summer, the Ascension Parish Tourism Commission has collaborated with some of the region’s best mixologists to curate the Louisiana Sweet Spot Cocktail Trail. Which means it’s time to call
The Fest Returns!
your favorite sober friend (mocktails for the win!), hit play on your favorite summer playlist, and embark on a spirited Saturday (or Sunday, or Monday—there are no rules) road trip. Don’t forget your passport, which can be picked up at any of the participating businesses, the Ascension Parish Visitor & Tourism Center, or downloaded online. Collect a stamp for every specialty “Sweet Spot Cocktail” you try, and receive a commemorative glass for your efforts—as well as a chance to win the grand prize giveaway, valued at over $300.
Sipping Lemonberry Old Fashioneds at Don’s, Back Porch Lemonade at Grapevine Café and Gallery, and Pineapple Jalapeño Mojitos at Sno’s—consider yourself a cocktail connoisseur for the day. Pick your favorites, make some friends, ride the buzz, and soak in these last days of summer from the cool vantage of our regional restaurants and bars. The Louisiana Sweet Spot Cocktail Trail experience lasts through July 29, when all passports are due. For more information, visit visitlasweetspot.com/ cocktailtrail. —Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
It’ll be bottoms up at The Myrtles during the fourth annual St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival. Photo by Raegan Labat.
THE ST. FRANCISVILLE FOOD AND WINE FEST, THAT IS
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ere’s a recipe for a good time: Take eighteen standout chefs from acclaimed Louisiana hand Mississippi restaurants. Blend their best dishes with fifty distinctive wines, then add a healthy splash of flavor courtesy of a dozen regional microbreweries and craft distilleries. Pile on some award-winning barbecue. Season generously with live music and let rise. Then, roll the whole concoction out at one of the most beautiful outdoor locations in Louisiana at the height of fall, and add people. That’s the recipe for the fourth annual St. Francisville Food & Wine Festival— the autumntime event co-produced by
The Myrtles Historic Inn and Country Roads magazine and billed as “Louisiana’s most beautiful culinary festival”. This year’s festival returns to the spectacular grounds of The Myrtles in midNovember, packing in more celebrated chefs, notable wine pairings, craft beers and distinctive local spirits than ever before. As in past years, the festival serves as a showcase for Louisiana and Mississippi flavors, presented at chef-manned tasting stations which are arrayed around The Myrtles property. Glass in-hand, attendees get to wander from station to station, sampling dishes while getting to know the culinary geniuses behind some of the region’s best-known restaurants.
Primal Nights
A NEW KIND OF TRINITY AT BACCHANAL IN NEW ORLEANS’ NINTH WARD
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hen Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, Louisianans rose to the occasion with an outpouring of support and aid. We understand perhaps better than anyone what it’s like to have your home battered by storms, after all. Even some of the least-expected organizations put together initiatives to help our Puerto Rican neighbors in Maria’s aftermath— including Bacchanal, New Orleans’ laidback Ninth Ward wine bar and backyard
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music venue. The result was Primal Nights, a fundraising initiative for which Bacchanal invited different big-name chefs into their kitchen to create exciting dishes, the proceeds of which initially went toward the international nonprofit Pure Water 4 Kids, which provided much-needed resources following Hurricane Maria. The first collaboration was so successful that Bacchanal kept Primal Nights rolling, and since that first fundraiser, the special events have raked in over $100,000 for
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Between the dishes, beverage stations pour dozens of carefully-selected wines. In the Craft Beer & Brats garden, seasonal beers and ales from a dozen regional breweries flow while a live band keeps the beat. New for 2022, this year’s festival adds a five-course winemaker dinner featuring Keenan Family Winery of Napa Valley, CA (Friday, Nov. 11), a
Bubbles & Barbecue Festival showcasing six acclaimed barbecue chefs and a free-flowing champagne bar (Saturday), and a “Louisiana Spirits” cocktail and spirits-tasting courtyard (Sunday). Tickets for all events go on sale July 1 at stfrancisvillefoodandwine.com.Don’t wait; this event sells out every year. —James Fox-Smith
local and international causes including the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Capoiera and Brazilian Cultural Arts Center New Orleans, Bike Easy, Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief, No Kid Hungry, Planned Parenthood, NAMI, and many others. “Since we started, Primal Nights have been an enjoyable way for us to collaborate with friends, give back to the community and pay homage to Bacchanal’s humble food beginnings,” said Managing Partner of Bacchanal Joaquin Rodas. “This year, in honor of our twentieth [anniversary], we’re partnering with more chefs and look forward to raising even more money for organizations near and dear to our hearts.”
As Bacchanal rounds out two full decades of uncorking European wines and slinging charcuterie boards, the self-described “wine lab” is bringing Primal Nights back in time for summer of 2022. Chefs for July include Alfredo Nogeira of the Cure Group (July 12) and Jonathan Zaragoza of Birrieria Zaragoza in Chicago (July 26), with the ACLU and The Power Coalition as the first charity partners. The series runs every Tuesday through November, inviting a dazzling series of guest chefs to host different exciting pop-up dinners each week—bridging community, philanthropy, and food; surely another one of New Orleans’ favorite trinities. bacchanalwine.com. —Alexandra Kennon
