Our lady Misty, at a LUPEC
garden party last summer.
Photo: Matt Demers

by Julia Bainbridge

My partner in devoration, Mollie Chen, recently pulled up a barstool at Boston wonder-chef Barbara Lynch's new cocktail spot, Drink. Behind that bar was another wonder woman, cocktailian Misty Kalkofen, who a couple of years ago shook up some sumptuous flips and fizzes for me at Cambridge's Green Street Grill. (Note: Kalkofen is also friends with guest DTer Lauren Clark. Together, with the help of some spirits-minded women folk, they formed the Boston chapter of LUPEC, or Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails. After years of attending New Orleans' ultimate drink event, Tales of the Cocktail, Kalkofen knows the NOLA hot spots. She shared them with Mollie (along with the Fort Point, a "fantastic twist on a Manhattan"), and now we're sharing Kalkofen's top picks with you. She's thrown in a couple of activities to work off the whiskey:

* Favorite place for a cocktail: French 75 at Arnaud's on Bienville (between Bourbon and Dauphine). The person you are looking for here is Chris Hannah; enjoy one of his delicious drinks in a truly historic NOLA locale
* You must go to the Napoleon House for a Pimm's Cup...or three
* Tujague's on Decatur.  SRO bar.  Have a Sazerac.
* Brandy Milk Punch at Brennan's
* Swizzle Stick Bar at Café Adelaide
* Go to the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone and have a Vieux Carré, created at the Carousel Bar in 1937
* Bars to sit and drink a beer: Erin Rose (open 24 hours), the Alibi
* Music? The Maple Leaf uptown (take the trolley for a cheap ride), Vaughan's in the Bywater.  If you have a chance to see Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers or Rebirth Brass Band you definitely should!
* Bowling at the Rock-N-Bowl uptown
* Fried chicken: Coop's Place on Decatur or Mother's in the Bywater
* Burger and potato at the Port of Call is the way to go for lunch one day. Cheap and delish!

Further reading:
* Gourmet's first taste of Drink
* Lauren Clark's boozy tour of Boston
* The DT geared up for Tales of the Cocktail this year--we were there in spirit
* The LUPEC ladies blogged live from 2008's Tales of the Cocktail
* Catch of the Day: International noshables