Depending on your beliefs regarding the afterlife, New Orleans is the most haunted city in America, or the fact that the designation exists at all is just plain silly. But either way you can’t deny that America’s best Halloween celebrations are held within the city limits of this almost 300-year-old town. Look at the backdrop; we have craziness and costumes every day anyway.
Ground zero for great Halloween parties (and for hauntings, if that’s your pleasure) has to be the French Quarter – and that means Jackson Square. The red-brick, two-story building with the wrap-around balcony that sits across the street from the square is Muriel’s, a restaurant of deserved renown. Within those walls there are candlelit stairways and chandeliered dining rooms as well as the Séance Lounge, inhabited by Mr. Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, who passed from this life in 1814 (he committed suicide in that very room). In fact, Muriel’s proprietors claim he isn’t the only past member of New Orleans society present – all the more reason for having a drink.
Muriel’s Fleur de Lis Cocktail
1 1/4 ounces Stoli Raspberry Vodka
1/2 ounce Chambord
1/4 ounce orange juice
1/4 ounce pineapple juice
Pour all ingredients over ice into a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain over 1/4-ounce sparkling wine or champagne into a martini glass. Garnish with an orange slice.
