DIY Bloody Marys
The jazz brunch was the brainchild of restaurateur Dickie Brennan Sr. He was standing in the lobby of a grand hotel in London, watching a quiet sedate breakfast being served in the dining room while a trio of musicians played on the other side of the lobby. A lightbulb went on in his head. Dickie ran back to his hotel room and called his sister Ella in New Orleans. “Ella! Listen to this! Jazz brunch!” It was three o’clock in the morning in Louisiana and Ella questioned how much he had been drinking. But when he returned home, he gave the idea a shot. The Jazz Brunch at Commander’s Palace was an immediate success, and in fact made the restaurant one of the most profitable in the world, as long lines waited (and still wait) to pay good money for meals built around very inexpensive eggs.
In the city that invented the jazz brunch and where the daytime Sunday meal is one of the big socio-cultural events of the week, today you have many options in addition to Commander’s Palace; Arnaud’s, Antoine’s, and the Crystal Room inside Le Pavillon Hotel, to name just a few of the most popular. But one of the best newcomers and lesser-known spots (so far) is the high-energy jazz brunch at Atchafalaya Restaurant in the Lower Garden District. Every Sunday, the joint is jumping with lively diners and live musicians who might be playing jazz or blues or funk, depending on the weekend.
Info
Address 901 Louisiana Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70115, +1 504.891.9626, www.atchafalayarestaurant.com | Hours Sat and Sun 10am–2:30pm| Tip In a city made for Sunday Bloody Marys, “the best” spots include Pat O’Brien’s (718 St. Peter St) with their proprietary Bloody Mary mix and spiced-green-bean-and-lime-wedge garnish; the Avenue Pub (1732 St. Charles Ave) with their cucumber vodka Bloody Marys; and not surprisingly, Commander’s Palace, who make their mix in-house every single day, adjusting ingredients to include the day’s freshest produce.
Their menu features house-brunch specialties eggs Rockefeller, bananas Foster French toast, duck hash, grits and grillades, and their most popular dish, eggs Tremé, which includes boudin cake. Their top-billing item, however, is an entire buffet set up exclusively for making Bloody Marys. You can choose either a traditional tomato base or a green base made with tomatillos and green tomatoes. To spice up and customize your cocktail, the buffet features a huge array of vegetables and less-common garnishes, like bacon and shrimp.
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