5 Nights with NOLA: A Taste of NOLA

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.

Friends pose for a photo while enjoying French 75s, one of the evening’s specialty cocktails.

Commander’s Palace executive chef Tory McPhail prepares dishes to be served throughout the evening.

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.

Legendary New Orleans trombonist Charlie Halloran transports the Chicago crowd to NOLA with some classic New Orleans jazz tunes.

Chris Hannah of New Orleans’ Arnaud’s French 75 mixes up some of his favorite New Orleans specialty cocktails for the evening.

Sarah Forman, Senior Communications Coordinator for New Orleans CVB, and Kristian Sonnier, Vice President of Communications & PR for New Orleans CVB.

The Creole cocktail by Chris Hannah is made with rye whiskey Averna, vermouth, Bénédictine liqueur, and a lemon peel.

Richard Moten, Sarah Forman, Charlie Halloran, Tory McPhail, Kristian Sonnier, and Chris Hannah.

A classic Mardi Gras king cake is served as dessert.

Guests leave with a Cocktail & Sons Fassionola and a recipe to make the famous Commander’s Palace Hurricane with this specialty cocktail syrup.