Tuesday, May 17, 2016.
NOW&FE Rebuilds Its Programs.
I no longer program the two-to-five-guest round table radio shows we did for about four years. Too many listeners found them confusing. But sometimes I bring the format back for special needs. Today we have nine guests in three platoons to talk about this year's New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, which begins next week.
I'm glad we do this, because from talking to the various chefs, board members, and wine guys I learn that this year's running of NOW&FE will be substantially different from what we have seen in the previous twenty-four years.
The changes start with the schedule, almost all of which runs a day later than in past years. The vintner dinners that have filled the town with winemakers and chefs harmonizing with one another in big formal dinners are on Thursday now. There are thirty-one such dinners this year, which is a smaller cadre than in the biggest past years. The prices are significantly higher than in the past, topping out in the vicinity of $190 per person at R'Evolution and the Rib Room. In contrast, the low end of the spectrum (around $100) is at Café B and the Red Fish Grill.
The Royal Street Stroll moves from Thursday to Friday. Better news is that the wines and appetizers will be returning to the galleries, antique shops, and other businesses that make Royal Street so colorful. For the past few years, few galleries took part. The food was doled out from what amounted to food trucks. The quality of the event went down substantially, with long lines for less-than-great food. The rejiggered Stroll promises to return to its glory days this year.
As in the past few years, Vinola is the event where the best and most expensive wines (not always the same) precedes the Stroll. At this writing, its $175 tickets are still available.
Later on Friday evening, a new event called Midnight Mangia goes off from a secret location to be revealed in social media. It's supposed to copy the late-night eating and drinking scenes in Southern Italy and Sicily. Interesting concept. $40 a person.
The biggest change of all is the lopping off of one of the two Grand Tastings. The single running will take place in the near end of the of the Morial Convention Center on Saturday afternoon. The logic: asking restaurateurs to leave their establishments on both Friday and Saturday was deemed as too much for them to bear. The food at the Grand Tastings has always been a giveaway on the part of the assembled restaurants, and it will continue to be. Also, there was a lot of duplication of wines, food, and attendees over the former two-day Grand Tastings. I'd say the change will be neither an improvement nor a step down.
For a few years, NOW&FE has tried to launch an event for the pastry chefs and the sweet wines. The Big Gateau never seemed like much to me, but this year they seem to have figure it out. It's a competition among the bakers, with a theme of muses--the muses being burlesque dancers. One of the dancers--Trixi Minx--showed up on the radio with me, straining my ability to concentrate. Five-foot-tall cakes and hundreds of cupcakes are required of the participants. And finally, there is something going on in NOW&FE's final day. There are both $75 and $150 tickets for The Big Gateau Show.
All this looks like a smart strategy for NOW&FE, which has struggled in recent years to figure out what it will do in the future. That's a ticklish process, which involves pleasing both the people who have come to the event for all these years and the younger crowds who want different pleasures from what they're parents wrought.
Maybe that's why a seminar I've moderated for the last twenty years to full houses has fallen off the agenda. I am slightly miffed by that, but I still recommend NOW&FE, the best food and wine event of the year.
The changes start with the schedule, almost all of which runs a day later than in past years. The vintner dinners that have filled the town with winemakers and chefs harmonizing with one another in big formal dinners are on Thursday now. There are thirty-one such dinners this year, which is a smaller cadre than in the biggest past years. The prices are significantly higher than in the past, topping out in the vicinity of $190 per person at R'Evolution and the Rib Room. In contrast, the low end of the spectrum (around $100) is at Café B and the Red Fish Grill.
The Royal Street Stroll moves from Thursday to Friday. Better news is that the wines and appetizers will be returning to the galleries, antique shops, and other businesses that make Royal Street so colorful. For the past few years, few galleries took part. The food was doled out from what amounted to food trucks. The quality of the event went down substantially, with long lines for less-than-great food. The rejiggered Stroll promises to return to its glory days this year.
As in the past few years, Vinola is the event where the best and most expensive wines (not always the same) precedes the Stroll. At this writing, its $175 tickets are still available.
Later on Friday evening, a new event called Midnight Mangia goes off from a secret location to be revealed in social media. It's supposed to copy the late-night eating and drinking scenes in Southern Italy and Sicily. Interesting concept. $40 a person.
The biggest change of all is the lopping off of one of the two Grand Tastings. The single running will take place in the near end of the of the Morial Convention Center on Saturday afternoon. The logic: asking restaurateurs to leave their establishments on both Friday and Saturday was deemed as too much for them to bear. The food at the Grand Tastings has always been a giveaway on the part of the assembled restaurants, and it will continue to be. Also, there was a lot of duplication of wines, food, and attendees over the former two-day Grand Tastings. I'd say the change will be neither an improvement nor a step down.
For a few years, NOW&FE has tried to launch an event for the pastry chefs and the sweet wines. The Big Gateau never seemed like much to me, but this year they seem to have figure it out. It's a competition among the bakers, with a theme of muses--the muses being burlesque dancers. One of the dancers--Trixi Minx--showed up on the radio with me, straining my ability to concentrate. Five-foot-tall cakes and hundreds of cupcakes are required of the participants. And finally, there is something going on in NOW&FE's final day. There are both $75 and $150 tickets for The Big Gateau Show.
All this looks like a smart strategy for NOW&FE, which has struggled in recent years to figure out what it will do in the future. That's a ticklish process, which involves pleasing both the people who have come to the event for all these years and the younger crowds who want different pleasures from what they're parents wrought.
Maybe that's why a seminar I've moderated for the last twenty years to full houses has fallen off the agenda. I am slightly miffed by that, but I still recommend NOW&FE, the best food and wine event of the year.
