Nora McGunnigle

I may have expressed my excitement previously about my favorite neighborhood bistro, Coquette, having a special dinner with all you can eat fried chicken, greens, watermelon, mashed potatoes, creole tomatoes, cornbread, coleslaw, accompanied by delicious beers. It was pretty much the best night ever. Talked to really nice and cool folks, ate great food (in addition to the above, there were passed apps that included shrimp, deviled eggs, and this amaaaaaaazing boudin wrapped in collard greens and cut up to sort of approximate sushi rolls) and drank some very nice beer that was well suited to the hot summer evening. We were greeted with a Lil' Slammer, which was a cute way to start, and having just walked in from the heat, it went down nice and easy.  Then as we wandered, we found the beer table pouring Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch and Anchor's Brekles Brown. Everyone was super nice, and after talking with a fellow ChowHound (Sanglier) and his guests for a bit, we found...

Last week was the much anticipated Louisiana launch of the well-regarded San Diego brewery Green Flash . I'd been looking forward to it, especially since I'd had only limited exposure to it before moving-I think MA only had West Coast IPA, their flagship. The Avenue Pub did a three day rollout between June 19 and 21. Tom and I showed up on the last day of the rollout, when all the beers (even the bottles) were available for tasting. We each got a tasting ticket (5 tastes for $12) and proceeded to sample the list. Funny story- I started using the Untappd app recently and I started checking in all the beers we were sampling - since I was checking in both our beers and they were small amounts, I was doing so fairly rapidly. After the 4th or 5th check in, I got a message from my friend the Beer Buddha , saying, "Nora, slow down. Seriously!" Oops! I explained the logistics, got made fun of a little bit. On to the beers! Le Freak! First up: I had the Le Freak a...

OK, so you missed the first Coquette beer dinner .  It's all right, you didn't know any better.  Now you do!  So call the restaurant for reservations ASAP (504-265-0241) for the upcoming Fried Chicken And Beer Dinner on Tuesday, June 26 at 7:00pm . Behold! the menu: Passed Hors D'oeuvres & Ponies Collard Green and Boudin "Grapeleaves" Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs Pickled Gulf Shrimp Accompanying beers: Anchor Brekle's Brown, Stoudt's Kolsch, and Wasatch Little Slammer Family Style Fried Chicken Dinner Three Varieties of Fried Chicken Collard Greens Potato Salad Cole Slaw Heirloom Tomatoes Watermelon Salad Mashed Potatoes Accompanying beers:  Brooklyn Sorachi Ace and Rogue Dead Guy Dessert Peach Crisp Chocolate Pecan Tart Summer Berry Shortcake Accompanying beer:  Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout OK SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, THIS WILL BE EPIC.  (possibly I love fried chicken a little too much, hence, e...

So, in my non-beer drinking life I work for a non-profit organization here in New Orleans, and often cross paths with other community organizations who are working to raise money to support their work. Jen Gick from Longue Vue House and Gardens and I crossed paths yesterday and I found out about this event which was truly RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS: Tom and I will be going- what's not to love? Beer, food, beautiful grounds, and a good cause on a lazy Sunday. And $12? A steal! Hope to see ya there. Email or call Jen Gick (504-293-4723, jgick@longuevue.com) by Friday to get your RSVPs in, very important!

So, holy crap, Pretty Things Beer And Ale Project (originally from Somerville, MA, our old stomping grounds) is now apparently being kinda-sorta distributed in New Orleans! First, for American Craft Beer Week, the Avenue Pub did a tasting of two beers released through their "Once Upon A Time" project. This particular project was the result of a collaboration with beer historian Ron Pattinson, and examined what happens when you brew the same Mild "X" beer as it was brewed in both 1838 and 1945. From their website: Two X Ales from the same London brewery, 107 years apart: these beers were brewed and sold as the “same beer”. But they weren’t the same beer at all! This side-by-side release allows you to taste history in a very direct, beat-you-about-the-head kind of way. The beers are whoppingly, fantastically different. There’s no way you would think they are connected by the same brewery, brand name and style. Isn’t history wonderful?  We first tasted these b...