Archived Article
By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published May 19, 2008
Wednesday-Sunday, May 21-25
Maxing Out At The New Orleans
Wine & Food Experience
This Wednesday, May 21 presents a rare opportunity for those who like to dine at the highest levels. That night, forty restaurants will simultaneously mount winemaker dinners.
That would be extraordinary even in a much bigger city. It's the best illustration of what a superlative event the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience has become after seventeen years.
The Winery Dinners inaugurate five days of highly varied food and wine events, ranging from T-shirt casual to jacket-and-tie formal.
The Experience began in 1992 with a goal attempted and failed at by several previous events. It aims to create a special event to pull in visitors to the city during the warmer months. At first NOWFE took place in July--the beginning of a really dead period for restaurants. It moved up the calendar each year after until finally landing on Memorial Day weekend. Nothing much is going on then, but many potential visitors had a few extra days off.
That timing made the event take off. Its Grand Tastings have outgrown several generations of venues over the years. The new location this year is as big as they come: the Louisiana Superdome. That will probably not sell out, but other parts of the program probably will--notably Vinola and the Royal Street Stroll. And some of the Winery Dinners sell out months in advance.
Winery Dinners: Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
At this writing, seventeen of the forty dinners are booked up. While the sold-out dinners do include some of the best restaurants on the list, many of them are filled by people who go to the same restaurants for this every year. I usually wait until the last minute to reserve, and with only one exception in seventeen years, the dinners were all exceptional.
I'm pleased to see that somebody at NOWFE rode herd on the chefs to deliver their menus at least a little sooner. Almost all of the dinners with space still available have their menus posted on the NOWFE web site. In past years, many dinners failed to sell because of the reluctance diners have to signing up for a dinner about which they know nothing.
One less happy change: the prices for many of the dinners have gone up. While most are still at the $85 level they were five years ago, we see quite a few prices above $100. (Those include tax, tip, and wine, however, and so they still represent reasonable values.)
Vinola Wine Tasting And Auction: Thursday, May 22, 2-5:30 p.m.
New last year, this was the talk of the Experience. At the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, attendees pay $150 for two hours of tasting serious premium wines, with retail prices of $75 or higher. It's a great addition to the program, answering a call from local wine buffs for a high-end wine program. The last hour and a half is an auction of one-of-a-kind wine lots. It's conducted by Fritz Hatton, who for many years has been the lead auctioneer at the Napa Wine Auction. I've seen him in action many times, and he's very entertaining.
Royal Street Stroll: Thursday, May 22, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
The Stroll is the most casual and most popular event on the schedule. Fifty-five businesses (a record number) along the six blocks of Royal Street from Bienville to St. Ann will have winemakers pouring samples of their wines; most have food, too. Art galleries and antique stores are in an overwhelming majority, and that adds further interest. The price is $75. It has not been uncommon for the Stroll to sell out beforehand, so you're taking a risk by planning to buy tickets on site (at 400 Royal),
As I have for many years, I will broadcast The Food Show from the Stroll. This year the broadcast will originate at Brennan's, 417 Royal. I'll be on the air from 3-6 p.m. Come by and let's share a toast!
Seminars And Grand Tastings:
Friday Afternoon, May 23; Saturday Morning and Afternoon, May 24.
The main event in the NOWFE program takes two days, each with two disciplines. Friday evening and Saturday midday at the Convention Center, a bill of seminars is offered. These achieve the greatest heights, as chefs and winemakers at the highest levels talk and pass around samples. Some of these are extraordinary; unfortunately, those sell out quickly. However, some still have openings. Unfortunately, for the first time in many years, I will not be moderating a seminar this year--my son will be graduating at that precise date and time, and I'll be there. (I'll return next year.)
After the seminars, the doors open on the Grand Tastings. On the floor of the Superdome, restaurants dole out something like 100 dishes and winemakers pour about 500 (no kidding!) wines. And then a new bunch of both food and wine comes in the next day.
The Grand Tastings are vastly improved over what they were pre-Katrina. The dense crowds and the imbalance between the wine and food offerings are things of the past. Last year, there was lots of food right down to closing time. Some of the restaurants bring major specialties (i.e., Galatoire's with its crabmeat maison), but others get adventuresome (Dominique's usually brings fresh conch ceviche).
On top of that, culinary demonstrations go on, with chefs whipping up something before your eyes and then passing it around. The demos also give one a rare opportunity to sit down. The Grand Tastings are a stand-up affair, although they do provide you with an interesting gizmo that allows you to hold both a plate and a glass of wine in one hand, leaving the other free for a fork.
All of this largesse costs $89 per day--$100 at the door. That's a charity expenditure unless you love wine, in which case it's a bargain. The wines being poured are a very mixed lot, with a dizzying number of unknowns vying for your attention with many, many major names. This is one of those activities, like going to the opera or playing tennis, in which the more you know, the more you'll get out of it.
The best-known secret of the Grand Tastings is that most of the wineries have a limited amount of special wines hidden behind their tables. They are not stinting about giving these to those who express an interest and a little bit of knowledge. But start with the basic wines before you start demanding the good stuff. (Which not all the wineries will have anyway.)
The Experience remains a tour de force. Its end result--raising a lot of money for educating people interested in culinary careers--is so important to our city that the week-long overfeed remains the best major culinary event of the year.
© 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com