hotelmonteleoneblog: May 2009 Archives

And the winner is!

By Thom Butler on May 22, 2009 8:02 PM | No Comments

Brian Robinson from Arlington, VA was announced as the winner of the Anniversary Cocktail Contest. His drink was judged on Friday, May 22 by a panel of celebrity judges including Hosea Rosenberg, Jamie Lauren, Jeff McInnis and Lean Cohen from the last season of Bravo's Top Chef. The event was held at the Hotel Monteleone and hosted by Ann and Paul Tuennerman also known as Mr. and Mrs. Cocktail.

"The Anniversary Cocktail will be added to the Carousel Bar menu in honor of this celebration," said Andrea Thornton, Director of Sales and Marketing at Hotel Monteleone. "The anniversary of the Carousel Bar has been a great success, and we are looking forward to its next milestone."

In addition to the contest announcement on the Hotel Monteleone blog, key Tales of the Cocktail bloggers joined in to broadcast the contest. Recipe nominations for the contest came from places such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, London, Ontario and Ireland in addition to those received from right here in Louisiana. The staff of the Carousel Bar narrowed the recipes down to the top five prior to the event.

In addition to having his recipe added to the drink menu, Brian Robinson will receive a complimentary four night stay at the Hotel Monteleone during Tales of the Cocktail, July 8-12, 2009.

The winning recipe is:

Monteleone Cocktail

2 oz Rye Whiskey
1 ½ oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
½ oz Domaine De Canton Ginger Liqueur
2 dashes Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
Splash Ginger Ale

Shake ingredients and strain into a julep cup or cocktail glass with crushed ice. Garnish with orange slice.

Congratulations Brian! Now everybody can come down to The Carousel and order The Monteleone

Tonight's the night!

By Thom Butler on May 21, 2009 12:40 PM | No Comments

60 years ago The Carousel Bar was born and tonight we celebrate with the party of the year starting right out front of The Hotel Monteleone at 5pm and continuing on inside until we can't stay up any longer.

It all begins with blowing out the 60th birthday candles on the cake in our lobby, and a champagne toast to the next 60 years!

Outside, Johnny Angel and The Swinging Demons will kick things off for us out on the street at 214 Royal where we'll be holding a full blown carnival with four bars, lots of goodies, and a portion of the proceeds going to support City Park's Carousel Gardens. We'll of course be awarding all kinds of prizes including free nights at Hotel Monteleone, gifts from French Quarter merchants, and more. Mike Theis of Mix92.3 and Rita Benson LeBlanc will be hosting the celebrations.

At 8:00 the party will move inside to The Carousel Bar with music and fun with Anais St. John, Harry Maryonne and Leah Chase.

It's a party that been 60 years in the making... so we're pulling out all the stops.

Join us as we celebrate 60 years of The Carousel Bar!

Woo Hoo!

By Thom Butler on May 19, 2009 6:17 PM | No Comments

The big announcement came this afternoon! New Orleans has been picked to host the 2013 Super Bowl at The Louisiana Super Dome on February 3, 2013.

This makes ten Super Bowls for The Crescent City and we can't think of a better place to hold the ultimate tailgate party than right here at The Hotel Monteleone.

For all of us in New Orleans it's one of those great big shots in the arm that lets people outside our beloved city know that the struggles of the past few years are well behind us and we are coming BACK! Of course... if you've dropped into the Hotel Monteleone at any time recently you already knew that.

"This is a great accomplishment for New Orleans, and the significance of bringing the Super Bowl to our city and region can't be overstated," Saints owner Tom Benson said. "From every perspective, this shows that our city is on the rise, viable and thriving, and I have great faith in what we can accomplish and the impact it will have, starting today. This is my hometown, and maybe we don't need to talk about New Orleans being on the way back anymore. New Orleans is back, and today is proof."

From all of us at The Hotel Monteleone,congratulations New Orleans, congratulations Saints, and congratulations NFL for picking the best city in the country to host the 2013 Super Bowl!

It's all about The Carousel

By Thom Butler on May 17, 2009 5:55 PM | No Comments

This is the week we celebrate the 60th anniversary of everybody's favorite bar in New Orleans, The Hotel Monteleone's Carousel Bar.

The Carousel Bar overlooks famous Royal Street through large fan windows and has long been a favorite of both locals and tourists. Originally installed in 1949, it is the only bar in New Orleans that revolves around the room.

The 25-seat carousel bar turns on 2,000 large steel rollers, pulled by a chain powered by a one-quarter horsepower motor. Visitors who have imbibed for a while often claim that the bartender has turned up the motor's speed, and while some of our bartenders seem to enjoy encouraging this rumor, the fact is that the bar always rotates at the same speed.

In the early days of the Carousel Bar, the hotel was the home to the famous Swan Room, a nightclub where Liberace both performed and gathered with his friends.

William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Winston Grooms (Forrest Gump) are among the famous authors who have enjoyed drinks at the Carousel Bar. Today, the Carousel still attracts celebrities, including some recent sightings - Michael Jordan, Dennis Quaid, Greg Allman and Sally Struthers.

For the last 60 years The Carousel Bar has had a great run, and Thursday night we'll be celebrating the beginning of the next 60 years with a grand party, and a competition to name the NEW Monteleone Cocktail.We hope you'll join us in this celebration of a fabulous New Orleans landmark.

Remember You All Had Mothers

By Thom Butler on May 10, 2009 11:17 AM | No Comments

Mother's Day is a tradition that is celebrated the world over, though following the grand Southern tradition, New Orleans perhaps celebrates a bit more enthusiastically than some other places, and at The Hotel Monteleone, we have our share of Mother stories. My favorite is probably the story that Truman Capote told to Johnny Carson on the Tonight show when he claimed that he had been born in the Hotel Monteleone. The true story is that he was in fact born at Touro Infirmary nearby, but that his mother was living at The Hotel Monteleone when she went into labor.

At Le Cafe today we are celebrating mothers with a special Mother's Day Brunch that includes a fabulous selection of salads (didn't your mother always tell you to eat your vegetables?). omelets made to order, and a list of entrees that includes, among others, Eggs in Profiterole, Pistachio Snapper, and Roasted Sirloin with Caramelized Vidalia Onions & Merlot Thyme Reduction (my favorite!). Of course, being that this is a special day of celebration, an assortment of fabulous Le Cafe deserts is also on the menu.

There are two seatings for this brunch, 11:30 am and 1:30 pm so you can take it easy, let mom relax and then come along to The Hotel Montleone for a perfect brunch for the most important woman in your life.

As New Orleans' premiere songmeister, Allen Toussaint, sings, "Do respect the women of the world, remember you all had mothers..."

Hotel Monteleone Sponsors Cocktail Contest

By Jessica Rayneri on May 6, 2009 4:17 PM | 29 Comments

Finally, and this is directed at you who are going to Tales of the Cocktail this year. The Hotel Monteleone, which hosts Tales, is sponsoring a cocktail contest. Here's what the Monteleone has to say about it:

The Hotel Monteleone is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Carousel Bar on May 21, 2009. From 1949 until about the late 60's or 70's there was a drink on the specialty drink menu called the Monteleone Cocktail. Unfortunately, we have no idea what the exact recipe or ingredients were. The Hotel Monteleone is hosting an online contest to accept drink recipe nominations for a new official Monteleone Cocktail. The recipes will be judged by VIPs who will be at the Carousel anniversary celebration on May 21. There are no requirements on types of liquor or style of drink, but all drink entries must be received by May 18, so that the ingredients may be acquired and drinks prepared at the May 21 event. Participating bloggers should post their entries online, and all participants should e-mail their drink recipes, along with their name, address and phone number, to athornton@hotelmonteleone.com. The winning entry will become the new official Monteleone Cocktail, and the winner will receive four free nights at the Hotel Monteleone during Tales of the Cocktail 2009.