Randall Layman's Tales of the Cocktail, last call

Randall Layman, a bartender at Vesta Dipping Grill, is just back from New Orleans, where he attended his first Tales of the Cocktail. We'll be printing his dispatches all week (read the first installment here).

Taryn Kapronica

The Green Goddess

Day five:

Our last morning in New Orleans is probably the hottest. After a quick brunch with Anika Zappe and Mike Henderson at the Green Goddess (I had the chiliquiles with smoked pork, awesome!), we wander the French Quarter for the last time before heading to the airport. If I ever complain about the heat back home, slap me: Two blocks and my shirt is drenched in sweat.

Seeking refuge, we seek out Arnaud's French 75 Bar for its drinks and air-conditioning. Both are excellent. The Sazerac is even tastier, and delivered with more grace, than the one at the Napoleon House. It's a nice way for us to say farewell to this amazing town.

While sipping on my last cocktail in NOLA, the dark wood and smell of cigar smoke take me back through the past five days, and what fun they've been. My time here as a part of the young cocktail scene that has some severe talent back in Colorado makes me proud. Proud that everyone in Denver and Boulder wants our entire community to continue on this path to cocktail greatness.

Taryn Kapronica

Randall Layman

Thank you to Sean Kenyon, Mike Henderson, Anika Zappe, Kevin Burke, Bryan Dayton, Mark Stoddard, Matt Lanning and all the Colorado barmen and women who were at Tales in spirit. We have something special here; the rest of the country will find out soon enough.

Cheers.

Randy Layman, Vesta Dipping Grill