The menu by chef Tory McPhail of New Orleans’ Commander’s Palace is tray-served throughout the evening. It highlights traditional New Orleans dishes such as this take on red beans and rice—crispy popcorn rice arancini stuffed with crawfish-boiled mozzarella, aged Parmesan, creamy red beans, and ham hock puree.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Friends pose for a photo while enjoying French 75s, one of the evening’s specialty cocktails.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Commander’s Palace executive chef Tory McPhail prepares dishes to be served throughout the evening.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Crawfish étouffé is a crowd favorite made with wild crawfish; toasted garlic; scorched tomatoes; the holy trinity of onions, bell peppers, and celery; a dark roux; and a fiery Louisiana hot sauce.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Legendary New Orleans trombonist Charlie Halloran transports the Chicago crowd to NOLA with some classic New Orleans jazz tunes.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Chris Hannah of New Orleans’ Arnaud’s French 75 mixes up some of his favorite New Orleans specialty cocktails for the evening.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Sarah Forman, Senior Communications Coordinator for New Orleans CVB, and Kristian Sonnier, Vice President of Communications & PR for New Orleans CVB.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
The Creole cocktail by Chris Hannah is made with rye whiskey Averna, vermouth, Bénédictine liqueur, and a lemon peel.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
Richard Moten, Sarah Forman, Charlie Halloran, Tory McPhail, Kristian Sonnier, and Chris Hannah.
Photo: Lorenzo Tassone
