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Last year, it clicked into action when he hired a team of young service industry professionals—a chef, craft cocktail bartenders, all that one expects from a top modern bar. The old fountains were restored and replumbed, the bar was refinished, the back room redecorated. With his constant presence as host, the Absinthe House went from strength to strength, allowing the family to buy the restaurant across the street in 1946 (in 1950 Brennan’s Vieux Carré became simply “Brennan’s”). Meanwhile, Bourbon St. got seedier and seedier, as strip joints moved in and straight businesses moved out.
Fresh Guides
The Newport Corporation was owned by Anthony and James Moran Jr., who had inherited the venerable Restaurant de la Louisiane (on St. Louis St., not far from the Absinthe House) from their late father Joseph “Diamond Jim Moran” Brocato. After all the years and all the termites and all the hurricanes, it was crumbling, and now there was TV money to fix it. At the end of June, it closed for six months of heavy renovation, including serious structural work involving iron girders and lots of masonry. In a way, this could be said to be the end of the bar that had been founded by Jacinto Aleix back in 1841. For almost 200 years the Old Absinthe House bar has been a staple of life in the French Quarter. Reopened in 2004 bearing Jean Lafitte’s name to pay homage to its historic roots, it may be a strange change of pace from the superficial glitz of modern-day Bourbon Street, with its sunburned partiers, plastic drink cups, and the blended sugary drinks that fill them.
“The stuff legends are made of”
The speakeasy operation at 400 Bourbon Street is now a Mango Mango Daiquiri shop, serving overproof, frozen concoctions to New Orleans visitors eager to embrace the local open-container laws.
Old Absinthe House and the Battle of New Orleans
Among them was an older African-American man, consulting a paper. When you approached the table, he would slowly rise to his feet. Those who were willing to do so found an Absinthe House transformed, pretty much the same way Tex Avery had transformed the cartoons of the day. Where Jos Ferrer had allowed customers to post their business cards, Brennan handed out cards for people to sign and tack up.
As the movement towards Prohibition gained strength, those who supported the measures began to look at the Old Absinthe House as a symbol of alcoholism and debauchery. Absinthe was on the verge of being outlawed, and authorities wanted the Absinthe House closed for good. The passage of the 18th Amendment forced the bar to go underground. The bar staff moved the furnishings and famous copper-topped bar to another location on Bourbon Street under cover of night, keeping the exact whereabouts highly secret. As the U.S. and Great Britain clashed over territorial rights, Major General Andrew Jackson and wanted pirate Jean Lafitte was calmly having a conversation over a few drinks in the Old Absinthe House. Jackson was coming to Lafitte for help in the upcoming Battle of New Orleans.
Yoo-Hoo and Absinthe—That's the Drink - Bon Appetit
Yoo-Hoo and Absinthe—That's the Drink.
Posted: Sat, 01 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The bare brick walls and raucous street outside were obvious reminders that Jackson was in Lafitte’s territory now. The original Old Absinthe House bar was to cease serving liquor at the start of Prohibition—a powerful message delivered to one of New Orleans’ most significant watering holes. After a few years of below-the-table liquor sales, the bar and all of its fixtures were removed from the Old Absinthe House and moved under cover of darkness to a 400 Bourbon Street in order to preserve it. This speakeasy operation was known as "The Absinthe House Bar” and served bootleg booze to those who were in-the-know on where to party or at least knew who to ask. In 1815, the ground floor was converted into a saloon known as "Aleix's Coffee House" and was run by the nephews of Senora Juncadelia. This coffee house was later rechristened "The Absinthe Room" when mixologist Cayetano Ferrer created the famous Absinthe House Frappe here in 1874.
Cocktails
Tony Moran had sold the lease to one Yousef “Jober’t” Salem Al Adwan, a Kuwaiti medical student who somehow found himself in the New Orleans bar business. Salem promptly changed it from a failing jazz club to a highly successful Frozen Daiquiri stand—“Mango Mango,” he called it. The old bar, now decrepit, plus the absinthe fountains and the other surviving fixtures went into storage. While there was some expectation the same fate would descend upon the original Old Absinthe House, it did not. In the 1970s, the Absinthe House was still serving Absinthe Drips, or at least Herbsaint ones (using the local substitute), and attempting to make the famous New Orleans drinks. Indeed, by 1981 it was being managed by Carlos Marcello’s nephew Vincent; his tenure ended when he became a guest of the federal government later that year due to an enterprise in which the words “intent to distribute” featured prominently.
This Seattle restaurant and bar celebrates the spirit of the Bayou with expertly-prepared Cajun food and absinthe galore. You can enjoy a single glass of the green fairy or taste a flight of three different kinds, whether you choose one of their pre-set combos or wish to customize your own. They have plenty of classic cocktails featuring the spirit alongside their own signature potions like the Sunflower—absinthe, gin, St-Germain, lemon juice, triple sec—if you want to make things more interesting.
A Brief History of Scent With Saskia Wilson-Brown
History endures against the backdrop of a bustling, neon Bourbon Street. Vintage Paris collides with early 20th century Pacific Northwest vibes at this dimly lit cocktail den. Nestled inside a Victorian-era hall that’s part ballroom and part recording studio, Secret Society Lounge features local distillers and winemakers in addition to a well-rounded absinthe list.
Jean Lafitte’s ghost is never seen without his pirate hat, and some say they’ve seen Andrew Jackson hanging with the old pirate as well. The Old Absinthe House is the oldest bar in New Orleans, a city that has no shortage of old bars, and one of the oldest in America. This column has been exploring its history from its founding, back in 1841 (give or take), to the period at the turn of the last century when it was one of the most famous bars in America, to its struggles during Prohibition and the Great Depression. The Old Absinthe House is rumored to be the spot where future President of the United States Andrew Jackson met with French pirate Jean Laffite to work out a strategy to subdue British forces in what would be known as the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson had come to the second floor of The Old Absinthe House—then an importing firm, in the heart of the city’s French Quarter—to ask Lafitte if he would help man his ships and fight against the invading British forces.
Two Spaniards brought the bar back to life and made the Old Absinthe House one of the city’s coolest bars. During the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson enlisted the help of legendary pirate Jean Lafitte, and the Absinthe House is where they had their meeting. Thanks to Lafitte, the Americans were able to drive the British out of New Orleans and once again take control of the Mississippi River. By the time Prohibition rolled around, the bar was the go-to spot in town for a drink, and for Prohibitionists, the building represented the debauchery that came with alcohol.
Gone were the cards and such—the new walls, which had the former contents of the upstairs museum bolted to them, were even designed to resist thumbtacks. The managers wore scarlet coats and the bartenders ruffled shirts. After putting a marble plaque outside repeating the long ago-debunked claim that Jean Lafitte and Andrew Jackson had planned the defense of New Orleans there (they hadn’t), Brennan didn’t stop there. He decked out the building’s old “entresol” (the half-height storage area wedged between the first and second floor) as a museum, stuffing it with bric-a-brac from the antique shops on Royal St., including a giant punt gun used for commercial duck-hunting. That was all designed to lull people into boozy complacency for the “secret” side-room, where lifelike papier maché figures representing the general and the pirate, plus various other parties were grouped around a table lit only with a guttering oil-lamp.
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