Start your food and cocktail tour with a 2-hour cooking demo at the New Orleans School of Cooking. A professional chef prepares classic specialties such as jambalaya, gumbo and pralines while you watch and learn. The class is served with a side of local history that goes into the spices that are essential to Cajun and Creole flavors. The modern-day cuisine of New Orleans opens a window onto the city’s rich cultural history, with its roots in the traditions of French, Spanish, Native American and African cooking. When the class demonstration finishes, snack on generous samples of the dishes, accompanied by complimentary coffee, iced tea and beer. Be sure to take the provided recipe booklet to try making the dishes at home! Please note: Participants do not cook during the culinary demo.

After your introduction to Cajun and Creole cuisine, stroll through the historic streets of the French Quarter on a cocktail tour with an expert guide. Learn about the origins of Southern Comfort, invented in New Orleans in 1874. The classic Sazerac cocktail goes back even further to 1850! Examine the Spanish and French-inspired colonial architecture as your guide shares fascinating stories about the world-famous neighborhood, including the bars and cocktails created here. After a fun and fascinating 4-hour cooking class and cocktail tour, return to your starting point in the early evening to end your tour.

Enter the Court of Two Sisters’ Carriageway Bar through the charm gates, wrought in Spain and blessed by Queen Isabella. Now a restaurant world-famous for its jazz brunch and courtyard canopied by a 130-year-old wisteria vine, the block has maintained a lively history since 1726.

Relax in the former residence of Antoine Peychaud, the Creole apothecary who prescribed and dispensed his patented herbal Peychaud’s Bitters, which would later become the key ingredient in the Sazerac, America’s first cocktail and the official cocktail of New Orleans.

At the intersection of two cobblestone alleys in the shadows of the St. Louis Cathedral, is a legendary pirate hangout. There you’ll meet the “green fairy” known as Absinthe, the mystical herbal elixir that induced intoxicating creativity in many authors, artists, poets and musicians.

There’s nothing like soul-stirring jazz to raise your spirits. Your tour ends on a high note at Fritzel's, not your typical dive bar. This jazz pub features the who’s who of New Orleans jazz, drawing jazz aficionados from around the world. You're welcome to stay for the show, then walk to dinner at one of many fine French Quarter restaurants nearby.