Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Future of Music: Spotify

Posted on September 29, 2011 | 1 Comment

He Said:

Fifteen million songs. Absolutely free; absolutely legal.

October 23 will mark the 10th anniversary of the original iPod, a revolution that made Apple a cultural touchstone and, perhaps more importantly, drove the final nail into the coffin of giant CD storage towers as acceptable home decor. Millions of us would eventually be able to lower the sun visor on our morning drive without fear of being smacked in the forehead by A Decade of Steely Dan and the other nine CDs we’d acquired for just 1 penny and a lifetime of harassment from Columbia Records. Right up there with fire and the wheel, this was.

But a decade is like a millennium in technology years. The iPod is as dated as a Members Only jacket next to the coolest export from Sweden since ABBA: Spotify. The service has been legal in Europe for years but has only recently secured the rights to operate in the U.S. Free memberships were on an invite-only basis until last week when they were thrown open to everyone (everyone with a facebook account, that is).

Streaming music? Big freaking deal: Pandora’s been doing it for years, you say.  Spotify is a quantum leap forward, 15 million tracks versus only about 800K for Pandora, the ability to integrate your personal music library into your selections, and the ability to create and share playlists. For example, here’s a little one with a few selections from artists scheduled to perform this fall at Wednesday’s at the Square. You can check it out once you’ve downloaded the Spotify software.

Spotify comes in three flavors: Totally free, which contains ads, Unlimited for $4.99 per month which eliminates the commercials, and Premium for $9.99 which also allows unlimited streaming to any mobile device. If you’re a music freak, this moves the needle. Instead of an algorithm feeding you music ‘like’ something else, a la Pandora, you can listen to the actual song you want to hear. Imagine that. There’s a ‘Related Artists’ tab, perfect for discovering new music, and an ‘Artist Radio’ tab if you do want that lean-back Pandora approach.

Spotify’s by far the best take on streaming music I’ve ever seen, good enough to forgive Sweden for that whole Dancing Queen thing. All the cool kids are doing it, so you should check it out.

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Posted in He Said, Music

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Wrapped in Velvet: The Windsor Court Polo Club Lounge

Posted on September 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

She Said:

Ladies, when you want to be cuddled in old-school luxury, insist on a visit to the Polo Club Lounge at the Windsor Court for your next date night.

He Said wrote yesterday about my request for a date night last weekend and our frustration with the management of Le Foret, who apparently stepped outside to do a keg stand during customer service training. At 7:15 Saturday, the date was in serious trouble as it was beginning to look like I might have won an all-expenses-paid drip to cranky husbandville. Trust me, not one of the 1000 places to see before you die.

But all was not lost. We were saved by a very nice dinner at the always-impressive Lilette (more about that later in the week), and a fantastic finish at the Polo Lounge. Continue reading →

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Posted in Reviews, She said

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Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting: Le Foret

Posted on September 26, 2011 | 8 Comments

He Said:

 I can’t remember the last time a place squandered a service opportunity as badly as Le Foret did Saturday night.

Strangely enough, I can’t remember the last time I saw someone capitalize on one as effectively as The Windsor Court Polo Club Lounge did the same evening.

My wife wanted a date night, badly enough to write a post about it. I took the hint, making reservations for a 7:00pm dinner at Le Foret followed by cocktails and jazz at the Polo Lounge.

7:00pm Saturday? Wasn’t there a certain purple and gold nationally televised beat-down scheduled for the same time? You are correct, but there’s more to life than football, and a wise man always understands where his priorities should be.

The word on the street was that Le Foret was absolutely killing it after their opening in 2010, but by the time we’d put it on our calendar they went through a chef change. Prudence dictates you always stay away during a transitional period, so we decided to wait a bit, the result being that it remained one of the very few fine dining venues in town we’d not visited and my logical choice for a fabulous date night. (We’d actually suggested it to several groups of friends recently who were uniformly impressed, making us all the more eager to check it out). Continue reading →

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Posted in Dinner, Food, He Said, Restaurant, Reviews

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On the Foodie Side of the Street: Street Fare Derby

Posted on September 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

He Said:

It can’t always be white tablecloths and candlelight. In fact it shouldn’t be. This Saturday is a perfect opportunity to graze from the other end of the table, so to speak, at the Street Fare Derby.

Street food’s been around awhile, as in thousands of years, but it’s attained a certain cachet recently, accelerated no doubt by the less than robust U.S. economy. You can sample a lot of tacos for what you’ll drop in one evening at Restaurant August for example.

So this is a destination for Everyman, a democratic haven for the cost-conscious foodie. And now that the movement’s gone mainstream, you won’t have to worry about fighting crowds of smarter-than-thou hipsters for your Banh Mi (unless of course they’re attending the event ironically).

More importantly, street food is a culinary Polaroid, a snapshot of culture and place. Folk art on a plate, if you will. Vietnamese and Latin dishes, for example, are a window into ethnic groups changing what NOLA looks like and where it’s headed. Just as old French dishes like Coq au Vin and Cassoulet have shed some of their peasant-food trappings and migrated to fine dining, today’s street fare is a reliable barometer of what will influence upscale menus in the future. And that is a good thing.

The Street Fare is tomorrow, from 12:30 to 6:00, at the Fairgrounds. Tickets are $15 at the door, and $10 in advance, so you might want to grab yours today. A $40 VIP ticket gets you parking, entrance one hour early, an open bar for that first hour, and 5 food tickets. You’ll be able to sample tacos, burritos, grilled cheeses, snoballs, and yakamein, among other items. Music by  Papa Grows Funk and Kermit Ruffins, and the ponies will be running. A not-to-be-missed chance to check out the bleeding edge of the NOLA food scene. We hope to see you there.

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Posted in Festivals, Food, He Said

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In Search of Date Night

Posted on September 22, 2011 | 7 Comments

She Said:

Ever feel like you get stuck in a rut? I am definitely in a bit of a one which has encompassed, or rather engulfed my life lately. Work has been “interesting” (I believe I have a reader or two that I work with so we’ll leave it at that). And life in general has more than a few stressers lately. Retail therapy isn’t a viable option at this juncture, so in light of that I am seeking alternative modes of relaxation.

I am not a huge cruiser, but my girlfriend alerted me to a $167 cruise deal for a 4 day out of New Orleans. Unfortunately, by the time I got back to her the deal was over. It’s a shame too because I have been trying to figure out a way to get the hell out of Dodge for the past several weeks (even if for one night). Sadly, I will have to wait out the 30 days until we leave for Seattle and Vancouver (it’s a rough life, I know).

In light of that disturbing revelation, I am left with only one alternative:

Date night,stat! The husband is on alert, but I can’t simply stop there, not if I want to have this plan come to fruition. So, here is where the blog comes in. Public shame is the name of the game today. I figured if it put it out there to the world, Steve will have to plan a cool date. No pressure or anything.

I previously agreed to a girl’s night for Friday, so our date will have to take place on Saturday. If you have fantastic thoughts about what our night should entail, please do share. He Said has been known to take the easy road, so I am positive he would appreciate suggestions.  More importantly, last time we left him to his own devices he ended up missing the boat because he “didn’t know we would need reservations.” Some may argue that my tactic of public intimidation isn’t smart and could end up putting me in the position to apologize later. I would counter that this is actually a win-win predicament. He plans a great evening- I get to participate in the great evening and publicly praise him. I have faith. He Said will come through! You just wait and see.

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Posted in Rants, She said

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In a Sentimental Mood: Happy Birthday John Coltrane

Posted on September 20, 2011 | 2 Comments

He Said:

This Friday, September 23, would have been John Coltrane’s 85th birthday, but I wanted to take a moment to celebrate a few days early, because today from 4pm-7pm Jazz From the French Market on WWOZ will feature three hours of the sax legend.

If you’re familiar with Coltrane, well then you know. If not, and you labor under the misapprehension that jazz is sleepy elevator music, check out the frenetic pace of Mr PC, from 1960′s Giant Steps:

Coltrane remains one of the most influential musicians ever to record, and his work from fifty years ago retains a modern sensibility. The sessions for Giant Steps (named for the unorthodox chord progression in the title track) occurred just weeks after Coltrane completed work on Miles Davis’ landmark Kind of Blue, perhaps the most significant jazz recording ever produced. The troubled musician battled heroin addiction and died of liver failure in 1967, leaving a brief but prodigious body of work including collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk, among others.

So tune in to ‘OZ this afternoon and chase the ‘Trane for awhile today. John Coltrane makes pretty much everything better.

And finally here’s his amazing take on Sentimental Mood, with Sir Duke on piano:

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Posted in He Said, Music

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Comfort Food: Pork Chops in Onion Gravy

Posted on September 14, 2011 | 2 Comments

She Said:

Ever get tired of the daily dose of foie gras and black cherry injected boudin, drunken cherries, butter braised leeks, and sweet onion soubise? Me too.

Occasionally in the He Said She Said test kitchen we just find ourselves hankering for good old basic southern comfort food. This past weekend one such recipe passed muster for public consumption. It is based on an all-time favorite of mine, my mom’s Pork Chops and Onion Gravy, but has been adjusted slightly to suit our tastes. While this recipe is quite easy to prepare, it does require a fair amount of hands-off time to simmer once all ingredients have been added. Try it and let me know what you think! Continue reading →

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Posted in Food, Recipes, She said

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The Fox in the Henhouse: Garland Robinette

Posted on September 6, 2011 | 4 Comments

He Said:

Take a look around and ask yourself whether everyone you see is a window-licking village idiot. If they are, Garland Robinette should be just fine in the weeks and months ahead.

But they’re not, are they?

Robinette is finished in this town. Finished.

The sight and smell of the pigs sticking their faces in the public trough is common enough in South Louisiana, and a white-collar perp-walk combined with a Jim Letton presser might be my favorite reality show. But the Times Picayune’s report that Robinette received a $250K ‘interest free loan’ from River Birch Landfill owner Fred Heebe after serving as his on-air pimp is extreme even by the woefully low standards we keep around here. Continue reading →

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Posted in He Said, Rants

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