A Night Out with Keith Pandolfi

So... why was I not able to blog the other night? Well, I blame it all on Keith Pandolfi and a series of coincidences. Let me explain: Earlier I had updated my Facebook status to read: "Jeni just learned how to make gumbo, jumbalaya, etc." A couple hours later I got this e-mail from my friend Keith (a former coworker) that was like, "Where the hell are you? You're not in New Orleans, are you?? I'll be there tonight." Ha! That was funny enough.

Turns out Keith was in town for the Mardi Gras parade on Saturday. It is just that big of a deal! And Keith is a Nola expert, having lived there for six years. (Later he regaled me with tales of weeklong benders in honor of Mardi Gras and other shenanigans...)

So he and his friend Katie drove out to meet me at my hotel, the Renaissance, which is where coincidence #2 came into play: Katie was headed there anyway... because it was her last day as kitchen manager at the hotel restaurant, MiLa!!

Alright, maybe I sound like a retard, but I am seriously bowled over by coincidences like that.

We met up. We went to this bar around the corner, Cajun Mike's (divey). Two more of Keith's friends came out, Elisabeth and John. Coincidence #3: John is the sous chef at Jack the Horse Tavern, a restaurant that's about two blocks from my house in Brooklyn! Amazing!

Anyway, from Cajun Mike's we were suddenly walking down Bourbon Street. I was going on about how disgusting it is, blah blah blah, but wouldn't you know it, pretty soon we were at some bar and I was getting an Abita to go in a plastic cup and walking down the street with it. Yes, you can drink outside in New Orleans. Completely ridiculous.

I think the night's itinerary from there went something like this:

1. Pat O'Briens -- probably the most famous bar in New Orleans, home of the "Hurricane" (fruit punch mixed with rum). John bought one in a souvenir glass. There were multiple rooms, including one with two people playing grand pianos facing one another, and a courtyard with a fountain on fire (?!). Also the site of Keith's very first martini at age 18.

2. Jean Lafitte's -- named after the French pirate. The oldest bar in New Orleans. Somehow we closed the bar out even though it was only 1 am.

3. dba -- cousin to the one in New York!

4. Molly's.

5. R-Bar. I think.

There might have been other stops along the way, but the memory is a little hazy. At 4 am, Katie and Keith drove me back to the hotel. And that is why I was not able to blog that night.


Elisabeth and John on Bourbon Street.


Pat O'Brien's.


Me & Keith at Pat O'Brien's.

dba.


Molly's.