Sazerac at the Sazerac Bar, Roosevelt Hotel

Last Sunday we enjoyed a great respite at the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. This historic hotel off of Canal Street has been beautifully restored by the Hilton folks with all the chandeliers gleaming.  I have wonderful memories of a date with Julia Ann in the Blue Room of the Hotel with Julie London singing and slinking around the room in 1968.

The Sazerac Bar is a quiet temple for imbibing and casual conversations.  The paneled walls and mirrors are punctuated with large murals by Paul Ninas (1903-1964) who lived in New Orleans the last half of his life.  He painted these murals for the hotel in 1939 after the hotel owner saw his work for public buildings for the W.P.A.

Paul Ninas was born in Missouri and attended the University of Nebraska where his father taught.  He and a friend dropped out of school and hitchhiked across the U.S., visited Mark Twain's home in Hannibal and rowed a boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans.  He traved to Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa and Germany.  He studied art in Vienna and lived on Montparnasse in Paris along with other artists and writers like Ernest Hemingway.  After selling a coconut and lime plantation on the island of Dominica, he moved to New Orleans where he painted using a Caribbean style.  He later moved to a Cubism style of painting.

His daughter Paula lives in New Orleans and is creating interesting pottery.  These and some of Paul Nina's paintings are at the LeMieux Gallery at 332 Julia Street in the Arts District.

By the way, I enjoyed the Sazerac drink which is made from 3 oz of rye whiskey, 3/4 oz. of simple syrup, Peychaud bitters, Absinthe, and a lemon twist for garnish.

Here are some of Paul Ninas paintings.  The first ones are his murals from the Sazerac Bar.  By the way, an employee filed a lawsuit because she saw the murals as degrading to African Americans, especially women. Others say it reflects the 1930's in New Orleans.  What do you think?

The paintings are by Paul Ninas and are for sale at the LeMieux Gallery.  The last picture is of the pottery made by his daughter, Paula Ninas.  The pitcher on the right now has home with us in Los Angeles.