Grand Victorian Bed & Breakfast

Wine and Dine Your Way Around New Orleans Memorial Day Weekend

By Bonnie Rabe. Come to New Orleans for Memorial Day and experience the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, a nationally recognized festival that features over 175 wineries, 1000 wines, and has raised more than $1 million over the last 20 years for local charities.

Except for the Vinter Dinners, most events are held in the French Quarter, a 10 minute historic streetcar ride from our New Orleans garden district bed and breakfast. The Vintner Dinners match restaurants with vineyards to plan menus and pairings at over 20 of the city’s best restaurants. See if your favorite restaurant is on the list, or fall in love with a new restaurant.

Highlights from this year’s events include:

• Several “Grand Tastings” with offerings from New Orleans’ finest chefs and wines from around the world plus a Louisiana Seafood Cook-off competition.
• The Royal Street stroll provides great architecture, shopping, live music, wine offerings in the art galleries, and a parade featuring Krewe of Cork.
• Teams of architects will build magnificent structures entirely out of canned goods and non-perishable food items, with each structure providing 10,000 meals donated to charities.

So, “Come to Your Senses” and spend a few days eating and drinking good wine in the French Quarter and retire to our peaceful garden district bed and breakfast for restoration.

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New Orleans is the Number One City to Visit for New Year’s Eve

More National Travel Awards for our home town!

Holiday Oaks on historic St. Charles Avenue

We are very excited to share that, in addition to the previous 21 awards presented to New Orleans from travelers in 2012, subscribers of Travel & Leisure magazine named us the number one city to visit for a New Year’s Eve vacation. Here in the historic Garden District, we couldn’t agree more.

It will also come as no surprise to anyone sitting in on our breakfast conversations, New Orleans was named as a top holiday getaway for foodies, citing our traditional Reveillon dinners and other Christmas in New Orleans events during the festive season.

CNN Travel listed New Orleans as one of the world’s eight most romantic cities in December; the only U.S. city listed along with other destinations such as Moscow, Barcelona, Havana and Amsterdam.

Yahoo! released their annual tally of top destination searches, and New Orleans was given a top ten spot on the list for 2012 alongside London, Hong Kong and Dubai.

Make New Orleans your destination vacation for 2013 at our award-winning bed and breakfast. Check out our new website and experience all the beauty and charm of this bed and breakfast in New Orleans for your next romantic or holiday getaway.

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Thank you to our Vets!

It’s the third annual B&Bs for Vets! Inns and B&Bs throughout North America opened their doors to active and retired military and vets by offering a free room on November 11, 2012 to those who’ve served in the military.

The Grand Victorian welcomed Dan and Robin and Kevin and Nikki (shown below in our parlor) for a night out in the Garden District of New Orleans for Veterans Day.

Dan served a tour in Iraq with the U.S. Coast Guard training their navy to protect shipping rivers and also worked in West Africa on improving port security. He has currently been responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Kevin was deployed to Afghanistan with the Navy. We were pleased to offer Kevin and Nikki a night out to kick off their house hunting trip to their new location in North Carolina.

From the Grand Victorian and the entire B&B industry, thank you to all those who are presently serving or have served to protect our freedom.

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October Festivals in New Orleans

Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival
October 12-14
Downtown New Orleans, Central Business District
Lafayette Square (St. Charles Avenue at Poydras Street) is the home for this free blues festival.  Two stages plus food and craft booths, including some of the best barbecue in the South. Get your blues on with these performers: Keb Mo, Otis Clay, Latimore, Lil Buck Sinegal, Luther Kent and more.  Take the historic streetcar from our front door to Lafayette Square for the full New Orleans experience.

New Orleans Film Festival
October 11-18
Various venues

Voodoo Music Experience
October 26-28
City Park
You can also take the streetcar to City Park for the Voodoo Music Experience with headliners that include Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Green Day, Green Day, Marcia Ball, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irma Thomas, Grand Victorian favorite Paul Sanchez (formerly of Cowboy Mouth), and the burlesque dancers from Fleur de Tease

Halloween in New Orleans
October 2012
Haunted Tours and Spiritual Shops

You might want to start with one of the many haunted tours through the French Quarter or some other spooky part of the city. There are haunted houses Uptown, in the Garden District and elsewhere, if you know where to go or are with someone who does. And then, of course, there are the world-famous cemeteries where the dearly departed are buried in tombs aboveground. Hundreds of stories abound in which the ghosts of these “Cities of the Dead” make their presence known, some of which have actually been documented and visually captured.

While prowling around the French Quarter there are a number of Voodoo shops you can check out to learn a little more about the history behind these centuries-old spiritual practices. You might even learn a few spells and mystical incantations. There are even shops catering specifically to vampires, believe it or not. Some of the shops plan special events for Halloween, so make sure you stop by and get in on the action. You can read about them online byclicking here.

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New Orleans Goes Back to School: Resources for Parents

New Orleans’ universities will be welcoming the influx of returning and new students to their doors and into our community. As our New Orleans Bed and Breakfast is just a short streetcar ride to Tulane and Loyola University campuses, we are always glad to greet returning parents and welcome new ones to New Orleans, LA.

Streetcar pick up just outside the Grand Victorian!

Bed, Bath and Beyond allows you to order dorm room or apartment supplies online and pick them up locally, instead of packing and moving all those boxes. Don’t forget sheets, a reading lamp, coffee maker, picture frames and some basic cooking supplies.
Nearest Store:  4410 Veterans Blvd, Metairie, LA 70006  504-454-6930

Whole Foods Market has a “survival” checklist for back-to-dorm basics such as healthy snack and wellness items.
Nearest Store: 600 Magazine Street, New Orleans LA 70115  504-899-9119

Project Green Dorm’s website gives you information on all the top eco-friendly products for college students.  You can also participate in a Dorm Makeover Contest and win prize packages that will set up your college student for the semester.

No car?  Help your incoming student learn to get around town with the New Orleans public transit map.  $1.25 gets you down to the French Quarter, and $3 day passes get you around town all day! Don’t forget our Garden District B&B has the New Orleans Streetcar pick up just right outside our front door!

Dutch Treat? Take them out for one last meal on the parents before you drop them off at the cafeteria.  Coolinary New Orleans during the month of August is offering pre-fix menus from some of the best New Orleans restaurants with these amazing specials: 3-course lunches for $20 or less and 3-course dinners for $35.00 or less!

If you’re packing and moving your progeny down to a university in New Orleans this month, we still have openings for most of the Orientation and Registration weekends.  Check our Reservation Book at Grand Victorian Bed and Breakfast for details and dates.

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Taste Your Way Around New Orleans with Tales of the Cocktail

Sidecar Cocktail

It’s the tenth anniversary of the world’s premier cocktail festival that happens right here in New Orleans. Tales of the Cocktail® (July 25-29) features a “spirited”array of activities for the professional mixologist as well as the enthusiastic imbiber.

Most of the events take place in the French Quarter, a 15 minute historic streetcar ride from our Garden District Bed and Breakfast.

Well-known bartenders from New Orleans and around the country will create their exotic concoctions during the 5 day schedule. There is something for everyone at this festival with author events, “Spirited Lunches and Dinners” which pair cocktails with meal courses, lectures, demonstrations, and of course, cocktail hours! Almost 30 restaurants from around New Orleans will participate. Some highlights include a recreation of the night before Prohibition at Antoine’s, an evening of barbecue and moonshine at Boucherie and a luncheon honoring the female pioneers of the bar. The dinners and lunches often sell out in June, so make reservations early for this intoxicating festival and while you’re at it make reservations to stay at our historic Garden District B&B.

This year’s “Official Cocktail” is an updated concoction of an Old Fashioned created by contest winner Dominic Venegas of NoMad Hotel in New York City. It’s called the “Rum Row Old Fashioned.” You will get plenty of opportunitiies to taste it during the festival.

Major distillers are also preparing special, limited-edition commemorative bottles: Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac, Sazerac Rye, Berg & Hauck Creole Bitters, and WhistlePig Rye Whiskey.

The Sazerac Started it All…

Sazerac at the Roosevelt Hotel

Legend has it that the first true cocktail, the Sazerac, was mixed in New Orleans in the early 19th century by a pharmacist named Antoine Amadee Peychaud. When Monsieur Peychaud poured the mixture of his family’s recipe for stomach bitters and French brandy into double-end egg cups known as coquetiers (pronounced koh-kuh-TYAYS) the pronunciation came out like “cocktail.”

“Tales of the Cocktail” was conceived in 2003 to commemorate this auspicious beginning and has become one of the city’s favorite celebrations.

Celebrate the Sazerac and take the streetcar back to our Garden District B&B where you can enjoy libations and the view from our porte cochere balcony. Check out our summer specials for an extra reason to spend a few days sipping in the city.

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The Top 5 Seafood Restaurants in the New Orleans Area!

Last week, we penned a Love Note to Louisiana Seafood; now that we’ve extolled its virtues, here is our top 5 list of where to get it. The restaurants are recommended by staff (and guests) and in close proximity to our New Orleans bed and breakfast.

1. Jacques-Imo’s is best described by Bonnie Rabe’s favorite menu item, the Innkeeper of New Orleans Garden District bed and breakfast “Godzilla meets fried green tomatoes.” This Carrollton area restaurant is a perennial favorite because there are always different kinds of fish prepared in a variety ways. A perusal of their current menu lists over 20 seafood entrees from Fried Mirliton with Oysters to Amberjack Provencal. They only take reservations for large groups, so hit this popular eatery early.

Crawfish Macque choux

2.  Mandina’s has been a mid-city institution since 1932, and the post-Katrina renovation is bigger and better. Check out the “House Specials” menu for our favorites including Trout Meuniere, Grilled Shrimp over Pasta Bordelaise and of course, their famous Turtle Soup.

3.  Superior Seafood is the new kid on the block that has an old New Orleans feel to it. It is located on the historic streetcar corner of St. Charles and Napoleon Avenue. It features an oyster bar including a sampler plate that serves two traditional New Orleans fare–Bienville and Rockefeller–plus something new called “Angels on Horseback.”

4.  Guy’s PoBoys – 5257 Magazine, New Orleans, LA, 504-891-5025. It is the proverbial hole-in-the-wall as Guy’s doesn’t even have a website and takes cash only. Sit down for a few minutes as all the po-boys are individually made by the owner. Hang out with the locals, have a Barq’s Rootbeer, and talk about the daily news as this is a nostalgic place of days-gone-by.

5.  La Thai may sound strange to some as we have a Thai restaurant on our list, but Chef Merlin’s Jumbo Lump Crab Cake is what keeps us coming back on a regular basis! Chef Merlin has won several seafood awards including 1st Runner Up as the King of Louisiana Seafood, 2010-2011.

Shrimp po boy – ask for it “dressed”

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the best seafood restaurants in New Orleans, so you’ll have to make several trips to the Garden District bed and breakfast to experience them all.

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