A couple of us "locals" are wondering if anybody would be interested in an offline for Jazzfest. We'd generally be aiming for the second weekend of Jazzfest (Fri., Sat., or Sun., April 29-May 1), but all the details (which day, location, expense level, wine focus) are open for discussion.

Check here if you need info on Jazzfest. Plan time to shower before dinner...it gets hot on the racetrack all day!

perleo

That's the weekend we'll be there. I'm always interested in an offline.

i am a repeat offender at 'fest and im a huge fan of your city, and i would love to meet and share some bottles with some like minded food and wine people .i have several good friends that live and play in n.o. and would also love to be involved.im a professional chef and would love to ply my trade[gratis,of course]if you could raise some interest in that as well.i use my daughters e mail adress ,so if this seems stange ,ill be available at ;guttergirl83003@a0l.com
"leisier bon tomps rouxliez"[sic]


look forward to your response,


rick dayan

p.s.theme?

i a regular to jazz fest and would love to be included.i have several friends in n.o. that would also love to be included.if this doesent generate too much interest,and you would like to get together for some wine and dinner,please advise,so i can start choosing my wines soon.im a professional chef and can be easily coaxed into cooking as well,i generally stay at the maison orleans or the wyndham and im there for both weekends.look forward to pulling some corks with you,"leisz bon tomps rouliesz"[sic]



thanks


rick dayan

sorry all thought the first one didnt go through

Will be there 2nd weekend with 6 other fest lovers and wine lovers...Would be up for something one night. We're staying at the Pere Marquette. Any ideas? Jacque-Imo's?

Won't be making it to Jazzfest this year, but I do have a restaurant recommendation.

GAUTREAU'S
1728 Soniat St.,
New Orleans, LA, USA
Phone: 504/899-7397

Without a doubt my favorite restaurant in the city. Have fun!

how about herbsaint,bayonna or delmonico?

Hate to admit it, but have no experience with those 3. My post-Fest adventures are usually limited to only one or two "good food nights" each year, and one of those is always Dookie Chase, so I haven't gotten out as much as I should.

I'll take a browse on the internet and read about them. Which night are you thinking, so I can prepare my team? We try to minimize the dialy beer intake on "good food" days.

MH

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chef du vin:
"leisier bon tomps rouxliez"[sic]

That's funny, I like that.

Clancy's or Gabrielle as they are both (very) wine-friendly with us. Reservations required so the sooner the better for a big crowd.

Showers are mandatory.

Since we are getting some interest, now we're considering the possibility of having TWO offlines...one for each weekend of Jazzfest. Because, you know, there's no such thing as too much wine. This would give people who are visiting some flexibility, too...and the locals, twice the opportunity to meet people and drink different wines.

Do people have preferred dates for either weekend? We're fairly flexible at this point. As for the venue...and we're leaning towards a restaurant, because we don't have a good location for cooking for a group...that is also open to ideas. We'll have to check out Gautreau's, Clancy's, and Gabrielle's. Jacques-Imos, in my (limited) experience, can be very cramped and may not be the best spot for a large group. We've had a couple of very successful offlines at Chateaubriand, so that's high on our list of options for at least one dinner. But we can be persuaded.

The theme, too, is open. Any suggestions?

Just keep me informed on how it progresses for the 2nd weekend, as I need to prepare my group & monitor their beer intake on the appointed day. Agree that J-I might not be great for a larger group. As far as "theme"; will need to know ahead of time so we can travel with the appropriate wine.

Just FYI, we are 7 people
looking forward to it!

Michelle

Excellent. That will give us a minimum of 12 for the second weekend, a good-sized group with room to grow if needed. Do you have a preferred night, since you have a large group? We locals can pretty much do it any night that weekend.

Don't worry, we will definitely pin down a specific night, time, location, and theme before anyone travels, even if we have to make a declaration to do so. For now, though, we're a democracy. (Or should I say oenocracy?)

good deal. We're pretty open, as far as I know. We're not all arriving in time to do it Thursday, and we lose one on Sunday so I guess I'd say Friday or Saturday. Maybe Friday would be best, since Saturday has been, historically, the "rock out with your c&%k out" day, pardon my creole....

God, I can't wait. I need a break.

Looking forward to meeting all y'all.

Mh

Whew...sounds like y'all are in the right and proper frame of mind for Jazzfest!

Friday sounds fine to me for the second-weekend dinner. Any objections?

I've been trying to think of some theme possibilities...my favorite is dessert wines, but that doesn't work too well as a theme for a whole dinner. Instead, how would people feel about Rhone wines as a theme (to include Rhone-style blends from other countries, so that we don't get too bogged down in a single region). There's even room for a white or two there if that's your thing.

That's just an idea for kicking around...feel free to suggest alternatives.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: perle0,

im in for all of the above,2nd weekend ,1st weekend ,dessert wines ,rhones,food,music,wine just let me know so i can dig real deep.i wouldnt mind finding out where the best places to shop for wines in n.o. as well.

Chef,

We've got such a large group of people who will only be there the second weekend, that it might be more cozy if you and your friends attend the first weekend dinner. That one may be more focused on the locals. Do you have a preferred night for that weekend (Apr. 22-24)? How many are in your group?

As for places to shop for wine in N.O., our local website forum has a list of the main ones. We can give you the scoop on them later.

perleO

We will be there the second weekend. There are eight of us but I'm not sure if the whole group will attend. Keep me posted on day, time & place and I will try to get commitments from the group!

im very amiable to what ever benifits the ngroup,what ever i can do to help please let me know.if its a large group let me know ,i have a 6ltr. of 79 gloria that could be fun ,or maybe mags.?

I have a double mag of Neal Family Merlot I could bring.

I'm not going to tell anyone NOT to bring a large bottle, but let's not make it a requirement. They're not easy to find around here, especially in the more interesting wines.

Preferred, I think we've settled on Friday April 29th for the second weekend dinner. Try to find out how many in your group will be interested in attending.

If you plan on having large parties you better think about making reservations NOW. There is a possibility the good restaurants could be booked already.

I won't be traveling from cali with any big bottles, assuming I'll be bringing other jazzfest paraphanelia - chairs, etc..--but you can count on us bringing something within the theme. Are we still thinking "Rhone" ?

How many are we? about 15 ?

I'd say that we're thinking "Rhone if you need a theme, whatever you want to bring otherwise." I may bring a Rhone and a dessert wine, but I'm still making up my mind.

Okay, sounds like we really need to get the numbers down so we can make a reservation ASAP. So far we have:

Tastebuddy--7 people (is that definite?)
Preferred--8 people (will they all come?)
Chef du vin--1 person, possibly others--how many?
My local group--4 people

That's hovering right at 20, which is already a pretty large group for sharing wines.

The date we are looking at is Friday, April 29th, at 8 p.m.

Let me know if these numbers don't mesh with the numbers you are expecting to bring. Once we have reservations, there'll be a limited amount of flexibility.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: perle0,