Holiday Pop-Up Bar Miracle Will Return to Barrel Proof This Season

Welcome to p.m. Intel, your afternoon roundup of New Orleans food and restaurant news. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

• In addition to Lafayette and Baton Rouge, insanely popular Christmas pop-up bar Miracle is coming to New Orleans this holiday season after all. Organizers have confirmed to Eater that the pop-up, which came to New Orleans for the first time last year, will again take over Barrel Proof (last year, Miracle popped up at Longway Tavern in addition to Barrel Proof, both owned by local hospitality group LeBlanc + Smith). The hip LGD bourbon bar will host Miracle from November 23 to December 31, 4 to 11 p.m. daily, walk-in only (first come, first served, using a text waitlist system). Miracle is hitting New Orleans alongside Sippin’ Santa, popping-up at Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 from November 27 to January 1.
• Saints and Dixie Brewery (soon to be officially called Faubourg Brewing) owner Gayle Benson is debuting a wine label, called Twelfth Labour, reports NOLA.com. The wines, reportedly a 2015 cabernet sauvignon and a 2016 Sonoma chardonnay produced by a California winery. are expected to start appearing in New Orleans stores and restaurants in December, and possibly expand into other markets from there. The project started with her husband, Tom Benson, before he died in 2018, and is named Twelfth Labour because it would be his twelfth line of business.
• New Orleans culinary school NOCHI is launching a rooftop movie series next month, featuring a themed dinner, cocktail pairings, and a film screening. Each ticket includes a full-service two-course dinner and specialty cocktail or non-alcoholic beverage (vegetarian options available). The socially-distanced rooftop tables can be reserved for parties of 2 to 6 at nochi.org/movies.
• As part of a campaign with bourbon brand Wild Turkey, actor Matthew McConaughey chatted with New Orleans artist Devin De Wulf, who has worked with locally-owned restaurants to feed New Orleans frontline workers and hire and feed artists and musicians throughout the pandemic. The campaign, called “Local Legends,” intends to highlight and celebrate the four individuals chosen them with a personalized token of appreciation to thank them for their efforts; video below.

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