Food and Beverage

By Amanda LaPlaca

Twelve might be part of the bar’s name but it’s really just a two man team: Chris runs the kitchen while Cole pours the drinks. The humanitarian bartender from DC and Texican BBQ lover met and worked together in the New Orleans service industry for years. Eventually destiny happened, destiny meaning Twelve Mile Limit.

It’s walls are ‘plum’ and within them is an impressive alcohol selection and tantalizing menu. However, Twelve Mile Limit most definitely isn’t trying to be a posh, snobby establishment. It feels more like your dad’s dream basement bar.

Twelve Mile Limit falls under the ‘neighborhood bar ‘ category. And although it might not be entirely integrated, Chris and Cole stress they don’t want to be a catalyst in gentrify the area. They are sticking to being loyal to the locals. But the reputation of their drink concoctions and back-to-the-basics barbeque (simple, dry rub) is bringing them a lot of attention. They’ve recently been written up in The Times, Men’s Journal & other local publications. And I can understand why: the combination of The Baudin (the house special consisting of bourbon, honey, lemon & hot sauce) and simple mac & cheese was divine, balanced and a hats off to Louisiana. Another New Orleans nod worthy of trying: the “Debbie does Doberge” with the shot of your choice special.

Chris’s brother might look like a character from ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’  but Twelve Mile Limit seems to be the one who embody the laughs, hospitality and shenanigans of that show. So if you find yourself in Mid-City, look for a big hand-drawn OPEN sign outside and see what all the buzz is about.

Twelve Mile Limit
500 South Telemachus Street, New Orleans, LA
http://www.facebook.com/#!/twelve.mile.limit

+Monday Nights at Twelve Mile Limit: Free Food @ 7pm (each week the free food changes from curry to shepard’s pie to anything delicious Chris feels like making).

Photo Credits: All taken from Twelve Mile Limit’s facebook page.

Amanda LaPlaca is a creative designer from Brooklyn, NYC. She is an avid calendar filler (volunteering, events, etc) and loves being on the go but relaxes each day in her Uptown backyard garden after a long bike ride. www.amlaplaca.blogspot.com + www.amandalaplaca.com

By: Emily Jensen

Along the entire circumference of the Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone, a gleaming 25-seat contraption that rotates on 2,000 large steel rollers around a handsomely stocked liquor shelf, there is not a single gap. Which begs the question…how do the bartenders get out?

“We don’t,” our bespectacled barkeep shrugs from behind the slick black counter. For the most part, until their shift is over, they are trapped under the glittering lights of the circus-inspired structure, with a 1/4-horsepower motor thrumming below their feet. At the end of the night they just hop right over the bar, which has hosted the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner since its installation in 1949.

The unusual entrapment of these expert mixologists deepens the general sense of time-warp hanging over the Carousel Bar. It’s not just the old-school drink menu (whose highlights include the classic Vieux Carre, invented by a Carousel bartender, and the surprisingly not-gross Brandy Milk Punch) or the live jazz echoing in from the adjacent lounge that distorts ones sense of time at this French Quarter bar – it must be, more than anything, the heady mystique of circling the room involuntarily while drinking strong cocktails. It’s a strange, wonderful feeling; and knowing that literary legends once took the same bizarre ride will make you feel unreasonably cultured and intellectual. This one ought to be on every New Orleanian’s bucket list.

The Carousel Bar is located to the right of the main entrance at Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal Street.

P.S. Check it out back in 1968 before its remodel.

By: Dan Shukis

As locals, we tend to avoid the “historical experience” tourist shenanigans that are all too common in New Orleans. So when hearing about a “themed” cocktail lounge that is inspired by the city’s past, one might associate such a place with those same shallow selling tactics that lure in historically curious visitors. But let me assure you: Belloq is different.

It really isn’t fair to refer to the Lee Circle lounge as “themed” in the first place. Bellocq is the creation of Kirk Estopinal and Neal Bodenheimer of Cure on Freret St. They named the club after E.J. Bellocq, a New Orleans photographer who became posthumously famous for his “secret stash” of nude photography featuring prostitutes of Storyville, the city’s legal red light district. The menu puts emphasis on drinks from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, specifically the cobbler, which traditionally mixes a fortified wine with crushed ice, sugar, and fresh fruit.

The space itself is warm, welcoming, and comfortable. It’s technically inside the confines of the Hotel Modern (formerly Hotel Le Cirque, the big building that used to have flashing disco lights viewable from the St. Charles street car line), but it’s not like you’re walking through the lobby to get to Bellocq. The steel door entrance is in a gardened court yard next door to the Hotel’s restaurant Tamarind, completely separate from the main traffic of hotel guests. The candle lit interior is full of red, gray, and black velvet couches on top of oriental rugs, with the main metallic bar off to the side. Everything inside is still twenty first century, but there is definitely an old brothel, high-end but sexy feel. There’s even a black and white mural on the ceiling of one of E.J. Bellocq’s ladies posing Titanic-style.

So why visit Bellocq? You get the same tasty attention to detail that you would from Cure, just in a different atmosphere. Seeing a long, diverse list of old fashioned drinks is a little bit confusing, but the staff is helpful in explaining them. My Sherry Cobbler was served in a tin cup with a wooden straw, topped off with grapes, raspberries, and orange. I also tried their Sazerac Rye Smash, which was definitely stronger than the cobbler and had a sharp minty after taste. I’m certainly not a “cocktail guy” by any means, but I like this place for the same reason that I like Cure: sometimes, you need to get buzzed in a classy way. These drinks, just like the ones at Cure, are subtly strong. You can sip on them and talk about how they taste as you slowly loosen up. This is the ideal set up for a first date or any situation where you need alcohol to lubricate and enhance your conversation. I’m definitely against gimmicks, but Bellocq isn’t gimmicky. It hints at a time in the city’s past in an indirect, clever way that still feels very contemporary. The prices are also reasonable (roughly $8-$12). It may not be the optimal place to get rowdy, but if you’re looking for a civilized cool spot with a menu that you won’t find anywhere else in the country (to my knowledge), check out Bellocq.

For more info, visit: http://www.thehotelmodern.com/bellocq/

By: Elizabeth Tran

I went to Katie’s in Mid City on a Friday night at 7 p.m. Obviously, an amateur mistake on my part—show up at primetime to one of the city’s favorite neighborhood joints on a Friday night? Foolish. The wait was more than an hour, which under normal circumstances, I would’ve peaced out. But I wanted to see what the fuss was about, so my friend and I squeezed a spot in at the packed bar and ordered two martinis—I got a refreshing (and girly) strawberry and cucumber martini. I’m a pretty cheap date, but I think the general public would agree that one of these martinis does pack a considerable punch.

The considerable wait time flew by, which I attribute to the friendly atmosphere of the restaurant and the alcohol I was drinking. It was loud, full of families, young professionals, and regulars. If my guest and I had wanted, we could’ve easily ordered our food at the bar, but we wanted the seated experience. Plus, we were enjoying catching up with each other and talking to the strangers around us…yeah, it’s one of those places. It’s what I love about a great local hole, especially in New Orleans: the fact that you can enjoy the company of your friends and feel comfortable making new ones while you down drinks.

We were finally sat and ordered the charbroiled oysters and garlic feta fries to split as appetizers. It definitely filled me up, and both were packed with flavor. Oysters are my favorite seafood, and they were charbroiled to perfection. Juicy, and still steaming hot when they were set down in front of us. The garlic feta fries were drenched in garlic buttercream reduction, tri- colored bell peppers, and feta cheese. I can unabashedly say I devoured it all, the only downside being that I smelled pretty garlicy for a full day afterward. For my entrée, I had Katie’s Cajun Cuban, which was a pressed and butter brushed sandwich filled with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese, and pickles. I could barely eat a fourth of the sandwich because I was so full of appetizers, but from what I tasted, the meat was juicy, flavorful, and moist.

The only real negative was that our server looked like he wanted to kill himself, but it was less a negative and more that I felt really bad that he had to work on a Friday night. Bottom line, I’ll be back, but maybe at 3 pm on a Tuesday instead.

—

3791 Iberville Street

http://www.katiesinmidcity.com/

By: Cate Czarnecki

First came Bride Wars, then Whale Wars and now for the epicurean: Pizza Wars. From March until April 15th, culinary arbiters can weigh in on the battle for pie supremacy between 10 competing pizzerias around New Orleans, voting on categories such as favorite slice, topping, service and “504ness”. Organized in part by restauranteur Jeff Baron to promote recent developments and additions to the local pizza community, participants collect stamps from each of the restaurants in “passports” before rendering their verdicts and being entered to win, among other things, a pizza party worth $150 or 2 Brass Passes to Jazz Fest.

Despite the logistical (not to mention gastronomical) labor inherent in such a competition, Pizza Wars provides residents with a real excuse to break away from their usual neighborhood pizzeria and explore the expanding market for exotic pies adorned with a range of interesting and tasty toppings.

With 8 locations in the Greater New Orleans area, Reginelli’s comes into the competition with a serious locational advantage; their Monday and Tuesday $2 Abita pitcher special shouldn’t hurt their campaign for victory either. As the elder statesman of the competition, the French Quarter’s Louisiana Pizza Kitchen has been operating under the same ownership for over 14 years and was one of the first restaurants to reopen in the city following Hurricane Katrina. Standouts on their menu include the BBQ Chicken pizza with corn, scallions and mozzarella and the Roasted Duck topped with mushrooms, bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions, calamata olives, mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.

Representing the blossoming Freret corridor, Midway Pizza and Ancora are both relative newcomers who have already begun to cultivate a loyal following among Uptown residents. Specializing in deep dish style pizza, Midway is primed to take that category as well as make a run for best beer list – their bar carries 40 varieties with 8 local beers on draft. Ancora offers traditional Neopolitan-style pizza cooked in a wood-burning oven that is visible from the dining room and kept at a steady 800 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in flash-cooked pizzas that boast a very distinctive style and texture.

Pizza Delicious, which operates only two days a week out of a community kitchen in the Bywater, is steeped in mystery yet championed by an extremely devoted following who have no qualms over waiting hours for their orders to be met. With a menu that is updated on a weekly basis based on the availability of local seasonal ingredients, this dark horse comes into the competition as a contender for numerous categories including favorite topping and favorite specialty pizza.

Contest co-organizer Baron shouldn’t have a hard time picking up at least a few victories, being the owner of three of the restaurants in the competition (Pizzicare, Crescent Pie and Sausage Co. and the Dough Bowl). Theo’s and Slice are also in the running, rounding out a strong list of candidates all eager to be officially crowned the the pizza king of New Orleans. Passports can be picked up and returned to any of the participating restaurants, and raffle winners will be notified after April 15th.

For more info, visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pizza-Wars/262821853787431