Hijinks, Merriment and All That Jazz

As the only city in the United States named after a medieval French king, the heritage of Saint Louis is evident from Chouteau to Creve Coeur and back to Lafayette Park. But it took 240 years before our fair city could enjoy that most exquisite of French delicacies, the beignet.

Commonly described as a “French donut,” there is nothing common about this delicious pocket of powdered sugar perfection. Popular at cafés throughout New Orleans, beignets were nowhere to be found in King Louis' namesake city until 2008, when Executive Chef Christopher Lee introduced his signature beignet recipe to Café Ventana in Saint Louis.  Finally, St. Louisans didn't have to travel to New Orleans for the beignet experience.

So when Marlene (“Max”) and Bob Jones, longtime New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival fans, planned a Festival celebration at their South City home, they called on Chef Lee to create a memorable menu that included his “almost-sinful” pastries. Keeping to the French Quarter theme, the menu also included New Orleans-style muffaletta sandwiches and Abita beer, brewed in the Big Easy.

Max and Bob have been attending the Festival since 1978, when visitors brought their own cooler of food and a $4 admission fee. Now the Festival boasts over 100 food booths, with specialties like crawfish enchiladas, a cream-cheese-and-butter concoction that Max guarantees will “make your ventricles just slam shut!”

Enthusiastic and absolutely fun, the couple brings genuine Big Easy backgrounds to their popular gatherings. They met as college students (at Tulane and the University of New Orleans) when Bob worked at Fat Harry's bar. Max said with a sly smile, “I always seemed to have lots of reasons to be at Fat Harry's!” Some 24 years later, their legions of friends are very glad she did.

No one wants to miss a chance to celebrate at the Jones' home, where the theme of the get-together is always “hijinks and merriment!”

This Jazz Festival gathering was no exception. Great food and good company were everywhere, and a Zydeco-inspired soundtrack ensured that even the non-dancers were on their feet. (According to Bob, “If you have the right music, you can serve anything!”) Three French Hens provided the party décor, including a sparkling magnolia arrangement ill-uminated with tiny twig lights. And even though guests didn't want the evening to end, everyone was delighted with their special parting gift – a personalized, monogrammed fleur-de-lis pillar candle, also from Three French Hens.

While Café Ventana catered their spring Jazz Festival party, Max and Bob will don aprons for their annual summer fête, boiling 40-50 pounds of crawfish in an 80-quart pot (except for one memorable Tulane alumni celebration where the crawfish topped out at about 350 pounds!)  Local favorite, Louisiana dance band “Gumbohead” provides the music for the party, which gets just a bit larger every year. Max says, “We never have a set number of guests or a formal invitation – everybody's welcome!”

With most of the menu in one pot, it only takes crusty French bread and a Pimm's Cup to complete the meal. Oh, and a basket of warm beignets.

Menu created by Chef Christopher Lee of Café Ventana Jazz Party Menu • Lobster Bisque: secret ingredients • Café Ventana Crab “Cake”: Blue crabmeat, creamed cheese and herbs baked in a short dough crust, then tossed in a Creole-style remoulade • Muffaletta Sandwich: New Orleans-style sandwich on Italian bread with olive salad, capicola, Genoa salami, mortadella, gruyère and provolone • Bella Bella Salad: Fresh field greens, julienne capicola, portabella mushrooms and diced tomatoes tossed with your choice of dressing and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese • Beignets: Authentic French “donuts” made from scratch daily and dusted with powdered sugar • Sazerac Cocktail: Classic New Orleans cocktail • Spanish Coffee: Caramelized sugar rims this warming concoction of coffee, rum, brandy, kahlua and creme • Abita Brewing Company Beers: Brewed in New Orleans – Abita Beer, Purple Haze, Turbo Dog, Amber