Southern Breeze Magazine - The Good Life on the Gulf Coast

we’ve taken all the best of the gulf coast and cut it down to eight things for the
second annual southern breeze hot list!

6 - Best Appetizer

There are certain dishes that you simply can’t screw up. Tacos and pizza come to mind. However, sometimes you find such a unique version of a classic that your taste buds thank you most profusely. This occurred the first time I tasted the Greek Seafood Nachos at Live Bait in Orange Beach, Ala.

Located in the multi-use lifestyle center The Wharf, Live Bait is
the ideal spot to bring out-of-towners. The restaurant has waterfront dining when the weather is nice—which is most of the time on the Gulf Coast—or you can dine in the sleek, contemporary upscale interior.

With the first bite you’ll discover that the chips are not your mamacita’s nachos; instead, Live Bait uses fried wonton chips, so right away they have a lighter, crisper taste. Heaping portions of black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, shrimp, and crawfish drizzled with a succulent creamy cheese sauce are piled on, creating a concoction that may have not reinvented nachos, but sure took them to a higher—and more delicious—level.—Mark A. Newman. Image courtesy of Thomas Birdwell.

7 - Comic Relief

Sean Patton When you think of things that are hot on the Gulf Coast, it’s usually the weather and the food and the drinks. Sometimes we can talk about the literature and theater as having some great cultural impact here, but we rarely get to talk about comedy because, let’s face it, the Gulf Coast isn’t exactly rife with comedic talent or even venues in which to hone those skills.

And that’s why Sean Patton is such a great find. A comedian originally from Slidell, Sean is quickly making a name for himself in the city where the best stand-up comics are molded, New York. But before arriving in the Big Apple, Sean played wherever he could in the Big Easy.

“I did stand up and improv in comedy in New Orleans for a number of years,” Sean says, but he admits the city was lacking in comedy clubs. Still, he persisted, and he even found that New Orleans audiences’ love of the sauce helped him sharpen his stand up chops. “A few close stand up friends and I would produce shows wherever we could,” he says. “Doing these shows for audiences that could be drunk and/or rowdy taught me how to be good at working a crowd over to get their attention and keep it. Audiences were also more forgiving so you could take a lot more chances.”

Since moving to New York, Sean has played everything from rock clubs to dive bars, basically wherever there was an open mic and an audience with a sense of humor. And the perseverance paid off; New Yorkers love his brand of absurd and irreverent comedy. For instance, in Sean’s world, people call into work sick because they have the “beat boxes” or “the roars,” because, as he says, if you’re going to lie, you’ve got to go all out. Conventional? No. Hilarious? Yes.

His jokes are relatable, no matter how off-kilter they may be, which has led to Sean’s appearances as a talking head on the ubiquitous VH1 list shows. So whether on TV or in comedy clubs across the U.S. and Canada, keep your eyes peeled because you never know where Sean Patton may turn up next.—Derek Bagley

Image courtesy ofAnya Garrett

8 - Hot Drink

Playing with Fire: The Flambeau

And when we say “hot drink” we’re not talking about a toddy or some sort of coffee concoction. No, the hot drink we refer to is the Flambeau at the Loa lounge in the International House Hotel in New Orleans.

This rum-based elixir is a tribute to the torch carriers in Mardi Gras celebrations of yesteryear who would illuminate the proceedings to the gratitude of the revelers who would toss coins, beads, and other goodies to these keepers of the flames.

Served in a martini glass, the Flambeau has an extra garnish its namesake would love—FIRE! Created as a celebratory cocktail, the Flambeau is comprised of ingredients representing the three Mardi Gras colors: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

The ingredients are simple:
1.5 oz. Old New Orleans Cajun Spiced Rum
1 oz. Grand Marnier
1 oz. POM Fresh pomegranate juice
¼ oz. fresh lime juice
Pour over ice, shake, strain, add ¼ oz. of Bacardi 151 on the surface then ignite and stand back! The Flambeau is your first sip of a hot night in New Orleans! [Not recommended for scarecrows] —Mark A. Newman

Image courtesy of the International House Hotel

Published in the Spring 2009 issue

hoobastank

Picked by Mark A. Newman

I think one of the things I like most about life along the Gulf Coast is it’s always full of surprises. You never know who you’ll run into, what you’ll get to taste, where you’ll go that will be your new favorite restaurant, bar, hotel, B&B, store, or even city or town!

I discovered a new favorite place to see live music this year at the Soul Kitchen in downtown Mobile, Alabama. Created out of the remnants of a long-closed Woolworth’s department store, this is the premier spot to see live bands. What drew me to the Soul Kitchen recently was an appearance by my favorite band, the Grammy-nominated group Hoobastank, who was out promoting its latest CD, “For(n)ever.”

When you go to Soul Kitchen, you better be sure you’re dressed for comfort because you won’t be sitting down. To maximize audience participation, the venue has a “general admission” policy with a stage at one end of the former dime store with plenty of room for almost 1,000 fans to rock out to their collective hearts’ content!

Local Mobile rockers, Top of the Orange, opened for Hoobastank and they were fantastic in their own right. Yet another surprise. Who could’ve imagined such a talented group right here in your own backyard? As good as the opening act was, it’s hard to compare to the headliner because when Hoobastank took the stage the hundreds of fans in the house went nuts.

And nobody was more surprised than me that I was among those going as nuts as anyone. Also I am glad to report that Hoobastank puts on an amazing live show. They played a mix of songs from their biggest hits (the 2004 Grammy-nominated single The Reason, Crawling in the Dark, Same Direction), songs from the new CD “For(n)ever” (My Turn, So Close, So Far, I Don’t Think I Love You), as well as lesser known—but still awesome—tunes (Out of Control and First of Me, which also happens to be my ring tone…I’m not kidding when I say I’m a huge fan!).

A few short month later, after Soul Kitchen and Hoobastank were featured in our Spring 2009 Hot List issue, I saw the band again when they performed at the Bottling Company in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. After the show, I presented them with a few issues featuring their Soul Kitchen performance and the guys were truly stoked (I think I was more stoked to meet them, but hey). And that’s when the above photo was taken with Hoobastank’s lead singer Doug Robb holding a Southern Breeze.

It just goes to show you that you never know who you’ll run into as you travel up and down the glorious Gulf Coast!