In 2010, I got a one-in-a-million phone call. It was from the management of the Hotel Monteleone, asking if I would write a coffee-table book on the history of the hotel, which would turn 125 the next year.
I didn’t need to consider. I jumped immediately at the chance to compile stories of the French Quarter destination’s history. I listened to staff recount tales of ghosts slamming the doors of the supposedly haunted Hunt Room Grill (now the Criollo Restaurant). I heard management members relive so many glittering weddings and birthday parties held on-site. I called oft-returning guests, who shared the joy of bringing their children, and then their grandchildren, to experience the wonder of New Orleans and of the Monteleone.
During that time of research, however, anecdotes about the whimsical Carousel Bar charmed me most. The space began its days as the Swan Room, where Liberace was the first ticket on the bill. In 1949, a revamp debuted the Carousel: an indoor version of the classic amusement ride, with a red-and-white-striped circus tent top and seats pulled by a chain and rollers beneath the floor.
Patrons climbed aboard the barstools, as they would a carousel pony, and rode around a stationary center. Today, those stools still complete a full circle every twenty-five minutes. Beneath the floor, those original two thousand ball bearings and single bicycle chain still move them.
And so, in honor of the Carousel’s seventy-fifth birthday this month, let’s take a spin through seven of my favorite moments and facts starring the bar.
The Vieux Carré Kicks Off (and Carries On)
Walter Bergeron once worked as the head bartender for the Monteleone, and nearly a century later, his name still carries a global legacy: He invented the Vieux Carré at the Swan Room in 1938. After the Carousel debuted, it was (and remains) the place to try the cocktail—a potent mix of Sazerac rye, cognac, vermouth, Benedictine, and bitters. If you’re lucky, you’ll get served over the bar by today’s lead barman, the beloved Marvin Allen.
Tennessee William Eavesdrops Over Brandy Alexanders
The Mississippi-born author and playwright Tennessee Williams created some of the most colorful characters to ever grace page or stage, including Stanley Kowalski and Maggie the Cat. After moving to New Orleans in 1939, he lived there off and on for some forty years, including at 722 Toulouse Street in the French Quarter, only a few blocks from the Monteleone. When he needed a drink, he was no stranger to the Carousel, where he spent many evenings sipping on Brandy Alexanders and eavesdropping, looking for character inspiration, local gossip, and a good time.
Truman Capote Is Not Born There
There’s a great rumor that Truman Capote was born at the Monteleone. It’s also rumored that he started that rumor. The author of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s did, however, enter the world not too far away, at the Touro Infirmary, and his mother did reside at the hotel while she was pregnant with him. He, too, was very fond of the Carousel, and of drinking screwdrivers within. The hotel, in fact, named a suite after him, as it did for his drinking companion, Tennessee Williams, as well.
The 1992 Renovation Debuts
The Carousel’s first iteration looked more like a circus tent, but the hotel updated the bar over the decades, and, in 1992, added the carvings seen today. The facade now includes elaborate wood motifs featuring grinning jesters with rosy cheeks around the exterior rim, mirrors, and hundreds of marquee bulbs. The inner rim has a matching number of pretty cherubs. The entire structure is modeled after the Dentzel carousel at Disneyland and offers twenty-five seats.
Billy Joel Gives an Impromptu Performance
Liberace might have been the first man to play the room, but so many other famous names have belted out tunes here, from Gregg Allman to Etta James. If you were lucky enough to be in the Carousel on April 24, 2013, you scored a front-row seat to a free, impromptu performance by Billy Joel, when he sat down at the bar’s piano and sang “Stormy Monday” alongside the Smoking Time Jazz Club.
NCIS: New Orleans Films There
As a New Orleans local, I can attest that one of the town’s favorite hungover/rainy-day activities is to binge watch NCIS: New Orleans. It’s a fun game to try to spot your favorite coffee shop, bookstore, dive bar, or restaurant in various scenes. The show filmed on Royal Street quite often, and if you want to see the Carousel Bar in action, stream the season two episode “Collateral Damage.”
The Carousel Commemorates Its Big Birthday
Some of the bar’s best moments are sure to come this month: In September, the hotel will celebrate the Carousel in grand fashion with regular concerts by Lena Prima (daughter of Louis Prima, who often played there), noteworthy guest bartenders from around the country, signature drinks, giveaways, and interactive cocktail courses led by famed bartender Marvin Allen. The perfect way to learn to stir up a perfect Vieux Carré. More details can be found here.
