Museum of the American Cocktail explores New Orleans hotel bars

　　Hotels have always been a reliable place to find a drink. “The tavern evolved out of the inn, where a weary traveler would enjoy having a drink after settling into his lodging,” said Philip Greene, author of the forthcoming book “To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion ”.

Matthew Hinton / The Times-PicayuneMuseum of the American Cocktail talk explores the bars at grand New Orleans hotels like the Hotel Monteleone. 　　On Monday, November 7, Greene joins local bartender Chris McMillian at the Museum of the American Cocktail to recount the history of hotel bars in New Orleans. Greene, a descendent of the 19th apothecary and bitters maker A. A. Peychaud, is also a founder of the cocktail museum.
“In New Orleans,” said Greene, “during the Belle Epoch or Golden Age prior to the Civil War, hotels became not just a place for visitors, but for local businessmen to meet and consummate business deals.” The two leading hotels of that era, the St. Louis and the St. Charles, were both destroyed by fire. By the early 20th century, the Roosevelt and the Monteleone had become the new prime destinations for both locals and visitors.
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Across the country, Greene still sees hotel bars as a space where travelers and natives can mingle. “We’re seeing a renaissance,” he said, “where hotel bars aren’t just homogenous, cookie-cutter corporate bars, but they have their own personality.”
Tickets to “The Hotel Bar in New Orleans: Vieux and Nouvelle” are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. The talk begins at 6:30 p.m. The Museum of the American Cocktail is located inside the Riverwalk Marketplace (500 Port of Orleans Pl., Julia St. entrance). For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org.