Where to Stay in NOLA for the French Quarter Festival this April?

Good question. And you might want to book early to get a nice room in the French Quarter. AFAR has you covered on this one.

Oh. What is the French Quarter Festival?   It is very hip.

First and foremost, the French Quarter Festival is a local favorite—but it’s certainly catching on for visitors. It began in 1984 as a small event to welcome locals back to the Quarter after World’s Fair street construction. Meant to be a one-time thing, the fest was immediately embraced by the community. In 2019, the four-day festival attracted an estimated 825,000 attendees.

April in NOLA? That would be very cool!

Go for it!

JJ’s Late Night Hang in New York – Lion’s Head Tavern

There are a lot of “killer” places in New Yorkt. You might get blown away by them, but you won’t necessarily feel like just hanging out.

So if you were a cool chef who worked a great Harlem gig, where would you go to hang out? Chef JJ Johnson has this rec for you

“For late night, I want to bring you back uptown to Lion’s Tavern on 109th and Amsterdam. It’s a true New York City dive bar. Everybody knows the bartenders. And the room represents a genuine cross section of New Yorkers. They sell beer for $3 and mixed drinks for $7. They have Pat LaFrieda burgers. You pick your toppings and tater tots or fries. Lion’s Head gives you everything you need late night. It’s a friendly, vibrant, cool place to hang out and have a good time.”

BTW, that aint the only rec JJ offers. Check out the above link to Robb for his full list. I hadn’t thought of having a breakfast meeting at Asiate!

Go for it!

The Liz Warren Conundrum

Dave Leonardt puts it rather well

The bottom line is that Warren has a better claim to being the strongest potential Democrat president than to being the strongest potential nominee.

The reason?  The nagging question whether she could beat Trump.

Her problem? She has made no effort to court any moderate votes so far. She is a progressive through and through. And that might turn off middle of the road voters.

BTW, this is what happened in 1972 when the dems nominated progressive George McGovern. George beat out moderates Muskie and Humphrey, and went on to get absolutely steam rolled by Richard Nixon in the general. election.

And anyone remember good old Adlai Stevenson, the progressive who lost two times to Dwight Eisenhower?

So there is that lingering doubt that progressives can win general elections on their own. That is why both Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama courted the center.

BTW, Bernie also is a flat out progressive. So it is a fair question why folks are not as freaked out about his electability. The answer? Being a white male helps.

It will be interesting to see if Liz Warren’s pugnacity, intelligence, and ability to connect with people propels her beyond the above concern. After all, Americans like a fighter. And Liz is a fighter.

Stay tuned!

 

Travel Advisory Services are the Future

I agree with AFAR that it is great to get inside information about a place before you get there.

Even better when you get to meet very cool people after you arrive, who introduce you to doing stuff you would not normally do.

You can do that if you engage a travel advisor who knows his or her stuff. And my prediction is that this type of service will become far more accessible over time.

Why? Because we need it.

How? Via platforms that reward everyone who uses the platform.

When? Soon.

Pic of the day: Skiing with Bode

From a fun Fathom article on how the1% ski!!

A Bitter Taste in Paris????

From Paris by Mouth (news from February, 2020)

Prodigious 24-year-old Franco-British Alexia Duchêne of Top Chef France fame has opened Datsha Underground with a restaurant upstairs and a cocktail bar below. Emmanuel Rubin of Le Figaro says the open-plan kitchen lends an almost “combative” atmosphere to the restaurant, but he surrenders to Duchêne’s spot-on seven-course prix fixe. At L’Express, Ezéchiel Zérah dubs Duchêne “a whiz-kid who makes the simple sublime.” Marie Aline is slightly less impressed, writing for Le Monde that the team is unwilling to admit mistakes and that despite Duchêne’s clear talent, “a bitter taste” was left in her mouth regarding the ambiance.

Hmmmm … from the outside, everything looks normal

Inside?

This does not look like a problem to me. What do you think, mes amis?

The Ultimate T Shirt?

I knew it would come to this.

As a general matter (at least in the west) we are moving away from formality. We tend to wear this sort of thing less frequently

Indeed, many are oblivious to the idea that some used to dress for dinner! Yes, that  might mean formal.

We are even moving away from the suit as basic business attire. Sure we still wear them, but in the old days, it was the ONLY thing we wore.

At the same time, this does not mean we are moving away from demands for quality. We want great “casual wear”. Stuff that we feel gives our clothes a special feel.

So, we are soon to demand “luxury T Shirts”. T shirts that offer us something more than the average T can provide. Excellent materials, excellent construction. Beautiful coloring. Jeeves would be appalled. But his time is long gone!

And voila, Elton is offering just that NOW: Don’t ask the price.