Cafe Adelaide And The Swizzle Stick Bar Introduces The First Bar Chef Table

"Chef tables" with an inside view of the kitchen's action and personal touches from the chef have gained popularity since their relatively recent stateside introduction. But leave it to the innovative Brennan family of New Orleans to place a savvy spin on the concept. Cafi Adelaide and The Swizzle Stick Bar (300 Poydras St.) has introduced the country's first Bar Chef Table, where guests are privy to a personalized, VIP drinking and dining experience from Bar Chef Lu Brow and Executive Chef Danny Trace. Does rum shake up your evening? Or is vodka your spirit of choice? Just say your preference, and let the experts take care of the rest!

The Bar Chef Table is a natural idea, especially in New Orleans - where cocktails were born and still reign supreme. With no end in sight to what several news outlets proclaimed as "the year of the cocktail" in 2006, the introduction of Cafi Adelaide and The Swizzle Stick Bar's Chef Table comes in response to diners' resounding response to, and clamoring for, food and cocktail pairings at the restaurant. Dinner and drink menus customized to the host's spirit of choice, as well as tableside service and interactive demonstrations with Bar Chef Lu Brow and Executive Chef Danny Trace, add up to a spirited and unforgettable experience.

"Aunt Adelaide was always in favor of 'Eating, drinking, and carrying on!'" exclaims Co-Owner Ti Adelaide Martin. "So with that mindset, it only seems natural that our extraordinary team would come up with a unique way to highlight Lu Brow's exciting talents right alongside the food of hot new chef Danny Trace. The Bar Chef Table showcases three things we do very well: innovative cocktails and elevated New Creole fare, and a live-in-the-moment New Orleans attitude," she adds.

Currently available one night per week for parties of four, the Bar Chef Table provides a colorful setting for collaborating with the chefs throughout the evening, and taking pleasure in a truly customized dining event. Guests will speak beforehand with Bar Chef Lu Brow, who, along with Executive Chef Danny Trace, will tailor drink and dinner menus to the host's preferred taste and will personally attend to the table throughout the night to present courses and talk about the synergy between the food and cocktails. The table sits adjacent to the Swizzle Stick's U-shaped bar, providing an up-close and personal view of all the action...

There's no other place we'd rather be.

To host a dinner at the Bar Chef Table, a reservation is required, and may be made by calling (504) 595-3305. Cost ranges from $100 to $125 per person.

About the Talent:
Bar Chef Lu Brow has studied with Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh and Dale DeGroff, known as "The King of Cocktails" and founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail, temporarily housed in Las Vegas, Nev. She recently underwent an intensive Beverage Alcohol Resource program in New York, for which she was awarded a scholarship by The Museum of the American Cocktail and Tales of the Cocktail.

Executive Chef Danny Trace has received glowing praise for his creativity and culinary prowess since taking over after Cafi Adelaide's post-Hurricane Katrina reopening on Thanksgiving Day 2005. Chef Trace is consistently noted for his innovative renditions of traditional Creole cuisine. Noting that harmonious balance between old and new in Chef Trace's contemporary Creole menu, New Orleans food critic Tom Fitzmorris beamed in his recent re-review, "I can't name many chefs who are doing a better job of that balancing act right now" and called Chef Trace "one of the great ones of the coming decade."

About Cafi Adelaide and The Swizzle Stick Bar:
Cafi Adelaide and The Swizzle Stick Bar is the latest establishment opened by New Orleans' Brennan family, which al