Let's face it, in the past year alone, New Orleans restaurants have definitely been raising the bar when it comes to their cocktail programs. Signature cocktails and bartenders are better than ever and a testament to the return of refined drinking, whether pre-dinner, post-dinner, or more importantly, with dinner.
In honor of these ever-changing times, here is a map of the best new restaurant cocktail programs in New Orleans. This doesn't mean there aren't great cocktails at other restaurants; it's just that these programs have all come about (or been drastically upgraded) in the past year, and are utterly worth the try right now.
Kimberly Patton Bragg heads up an extraordinary bartending team (including Steve Yamada and Haley Berry), with a cocktail list that does wondrous things with over 50 American Whiskeys, and at the same time borders on the experimental with wild new creations that include fun-time ingredients like housemade cereal milk.
Nick Detrich and Cure Co. do proto-tiki on Decatur Street, where regulars drink from pineapples and Shamu mugs, and the rum doth abound. It's a must try for food as well, with Adam Biderman and Ean Bancroft throwing down in the kitchen and an indication that tiki is about to hit New Orleans in full-force.
Bar director Ian Julian brings the cocktail sexiness Uptown, with his menu of handcrafted wonders, like his Pho Cajun sour, including his housemade pho syrup. Add that to the ongoing guest-bartender fundraiser series the restaurant has, and well, you have yourself an cocktail hotspot.
Felipe's on teh list twice? Yes, the taqueria is having it's cocktail program hey day, with the Tiki Tolteca pop-up also setting the tiki trend ablaze, literally. At least one Scorpion Bowl gets set on fire on Tuesday or Thursday, when the pop up is open. Nathan Dalton and team are cocktail-obsessed, and with the addition of exotica lounge dance nights, it all makes for a great escape.
Ste. Marie has been heating up in 2013, gaining enough praise to trump even the brasserie's opening in 2011. Bar director Murf Reeves has basically recharged the cocktail program, bringing a list of slightly-manly but very dignified drinks, from a Sazerac to complex mezcal and grappa drinks, which are the perfect fit for Kristen Essig's farm-to-table cuisine.
The frozen drinks shine here, with usually two daiquiris on rotation, but well-crafted cocktails on trend also abound. Housemade ingredients from bitters to smoked velvet cream soda and interesting flavor elements (salted watermelon? sweet peppers? Yes.) make it difficult to choose a drink, though the Bywater Bomber daiquiri is a staple.
Up and coming mixology-master Christine Jeanine Nielsen has created a fun cocktail program, befitting of the Juan's/Rooster team, including everything from cobblers and snaps, to a slew of exotic house-made syrups ie. minted pear celery that can be made into sodas, and better yet, boozy sodas.
Earlier in 2013, the Bacchanal team wisely added an upstairs dining area and cocktail lounge to the mix, which is news to libation-lovers ears. The cocktail selection is everything you'd want for a night spent in the Bywater courtyard, from a raspberry and rye shrub to a Cynar cocktail infused with IPA syrup... it's refreshingly on point.
Naturally, one of the hottest restaurant openings in the country includes a legit cocktail program. On trend drinks, including a zombie and a Hemingway daiq variation made with gin, pair well with the seafood-centric menu, but the Paul Clifford is basically the best Dark & Stormy you'll ever try.
New renovations at this Grand Dame include the addition of the long, sleek Empire Bar, manned by legendary crankypants Paul Gustings (formerly of Serendipity and Tujague's), and a menu of pre-prohibition drinks, punches, and a few modern twists on classics, like the improved Pimm's Cup.
Chris McMillian, a New Orleans icon, mans the bar at Kingfish, where classic cocktails, like his signature Mint Julep, are the name of the game, and all drinks from the blackberry Bramble to Blueberry Hill have an air of southern refinement.
Be fooled not by this addition to the Mid City Marketplace. Felipe's isn't just a new relatively cheap spot for tacos, but bar director Nathan Dalton has used the taqueria's expansion as a means of testing out an exceptional Pisco menu that is worth the trip.
Kimberly Patton Bragg heads up an extraordinary bartending team (including Steve Yamada and Haley Berry), with a cocktail list that does wondrous things with over 50 American Whiskeys, and at the same time borders on the experimental with wild new creations that include fun-time ingredients like housemade cereal milk.
Nick Detrich and Cure Co. do proto-tiki on Decatur Street, where regulars drink from pineapples and Shamu mugs, and the rum doth abound. It's a must try for food as well, with Adam Biderman and Ean Bancroft throwing down in the kitchen and an indication that tiki is about to hit New Orleans in full-force.
Bar director Ian Julian brings the cocktail sexiness Uptown, with his menu of handcrafted wonders, like his Pho Cajun sour, including his housemade pho syrup. Add that to the ongoing guest-bartender fundraiser series the restaurant has, and well, you have yourself an cocktail hotspot.
Felipe's on teh list twice? Yes, the taqueria is having it's cocktail program hey day, with the Tiki Tolteca pop-up also setting the tiki trend ablaze, literally. At least one Scorpion Bowl gets set on fire on Tuesday or Thursday, when the pop up is open. Nathan Dalton and team are cocktail-obsessed, and with the addition of exotica lounge dance nights, it all makes for a great escape.
Ste. Marie has been heating up in 2013, gaining enough praise to trump even the brasserie's opening in 2011. Bar director Murf Reeves has basically recharged the cocktail program, bringing a list of slightly-manly but very dignified drinks, from a Sazerac to complex mezcal and grappa drinks, which are the perfect fit for Kristen Essig's farm-to-table cuisine.
The frozen drinks shine here, with usually two daiquiris on rotation, but well-crafted cocktails on trend also abound. Housemade ingredients from bitters to smoked velvet cream soda and interesting flavor elements (salted watermelon? sweet peppers? Yes.) make it difficult to choose a drink, though the Bywater Bomber daiquiri is a staple.
Up and coming mixology-master Christine Jeanine Nielsen has created a fun cocktail program, befitting of the Juan's/Rooster team, including everything from cobblers and snaps, to a slew of exotic house-made syrups ie. minted pear celery that can be made into sodas, and better yet, boozy sodas.
Earlier in 2013, the Bacchanal team wisely added an upstairs dining area and cocktail lounge to the mix, which is news to libation-lovers ears. The cocktail selection is everything you'd want for a night spent in the Bywater courtyard, from a raspberry and rye shrub to a Cynar cocktail infused with IPA syrup... it's refreshingly on point.
Naturally, one of the hottest restaurant openings in the country includes a legit cocktail program. On trend drinks, including a zombie and a Hemingway daiq variation made with gin, pair well with the seafood-centric menu, but the Paul Clifford is basically the best Dark & Stormy you'll ever try.
New renovations at this Grand Dame include the addition of the long, sleek Empire Bar, manned by legendary crankypants Paul Gustings (formerly of Serendipity and Tujague's), and a menu of pre-prohibition drinks, punches, and a few modern twists on classics, like the improved Pimm's Cup.
Chris McMillian, a New Orleans icon, mans the bar at Kingfish, where classic cocktails, like his signature Mint Julep, are the name of the game, and all drinks from the blackberry Bramble to Blueberry Hill have an air of southern refinement.
Be fooled not by this addition to the Mid City Marketplace. Felipe's isn't just a new relatively cheap spot for tacos, but bar director Nathan Dalton has used the taqueria's expansion as a means of testing out an exceptional Pisco menu that is worth the trip.
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