Elsewhere around our country, sensible people are putting away holiday décor and perhaps battening down for a long, productive winter. Not here.
Carnival begins Jan. 6 with parades and parties, and of course king cake is a centerpiece of those. Having Twelfth Night arrive on a Saturday should spark them all up even more.
King cake from around the city at King Cake Hub at the Zony Mash Beer Project in New Orleans - clockwise from top, chocolate king cake from Bittersweet Confections, praline from Caluda's King Cakes, chocolate from Gracious Bakery + Cafe, bananas Foster from Brennan's - on Thursday, January 6, 2022. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Here are a few ways to kick off your Carnival 2024 with king cake, beer and cocktails.
Friday countdown at King Cake Hub: King Cake Hub is wasting not a moment of this year's short season by hosting a party starting the night before.
Adi Seres helps her son, Bowie, age 4, pick out king cakes inspired treats at King Cake Hub at the Zony Mash Beer Project in New Orleans on Thursday, January 6, 2022. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
King Cake Hub is a business that gathers cakes from many different producers in one spot, a sugary showroom to shop for a wide variety in one place. It’s back again this year at Zony Mash Beer Project (3940 Thalia St.), a brewery built in a converted vintage movie theater.
Its King Cake Monarch Pageant and Countdown to Carnival Party is held in the brewery taproom on Friday, Jan. 5, from 9 p.m. to midnight.
King Cake Imperial Stout from Zony Mash Beer Project was brewed to pair with king cake served up at the king Cake Hub, sharing the brewery's roof. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Drag performers will compete in a pageant to crown a monarch for the season, with the first cakes to be cut and shared at midnight. There will be beer (including Zony Mash’s king cake stout), hot chicken sandwiches from Southerns Food Truck and music.
King Cake Hub then opens for business Jan. 6 at 8 a.m. with live piano music from Josh Paxton, coffee from HEY! Coffee Co. and donuts from Paw Paw's Donuts for snacking on site.
This year, there will be some 70 different king cakes cycling through from producers including Bittersweet Confections, Breads on Oak, Brennan’s, Bywater Bakery, Caluda’s, Cannata’s, Caywood and Randazzo Bakery, District, Hi Do Bakery, Gracious Bakery, Joe Gambino’s Bakery, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Sugar Love, Nolita, Mad Batter Bakery and Marguerite’s King Cakes.
King Cake Hub operates daily from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. through Lundi Gras (Feb. 12 this year, and yes that feels really early).
The entrance to The Sazerac House at 101 Magazine Street in downtown New Orleans.
Pre-parade party at Sazerac House: Sazerac House (101 Magazine St., 504-910-0100), a multi-floor museum to New Orleans cocktail culture, hosts a Jan. 6 party called Cheers to Carnival with king cake and cocktails that can also serve as a prelude to the evening’s Joan of Arc parade, which begins in the French Quarter near its downtown location.
An interactive bar where you can sit and interact with digital bartenders at The Sazerac House at 101 Magazine Street in downtown New Orleans.
Saturday’s party is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (the parade rolls at 7 p.m.) and begins with a toast with Ojen cocktails, a drink steeped in Carnival tradition. Throughout, there will be samples of king cake and cocktails, appearances by krewes and marching groups, a glitter bar and DJ music.
Attention to detail such as the letter "S" built into the stair railing inside The Sazerac House at 101 Magazine Street in downtown New Orleans.
There’s also a “Golden Geaux Cup” competition, inviting people to bring their “festively decorated drinking vessel of any kind” for a chance at prizes.
Tickets are $10, including samples of king cake and three cocktails. Register at sazerachouse.com/events/.
No Bywater block party: One knock-on effect of this year's short Carnival season turns up from the start at Bywater Bakery (3624 Dauphine St., 504-336-3336). This neighborhood gem usually hosts its own annual Kings' Day Celebration on Jan. 6 with the dimensions of a block party. But this year founder Chaya Conrad said she couldn’t justify the expense while facing such a short season to recoup it.
Bywater Bakery in New Orleans. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Still, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson will perform on the house piano here on Jan. 6, and there will be many types of king cake (both sweet and savory).
