Auburn, Arnaud’s, and New Years in New Orleans

54^th Annual Sugar Bowl.

For the 1988 Sugar Bowl, my wife along with her older sister & husband, the youngest sister, and parents arrived three days before the game that was on New Year's Day. We were excited to see our 6^th ranked Auburn Tigers take the field in the Super Dome against the undefeated 4^th ranked Orangemen of Syracuse. We had rooms at the Sheraton overlooking Canal Street and enjoyed all the sinfully fun activities the Crescent City offered. The daughters took the parents to all the required food stops. There was the obligatory “Breakfast at Brennan’s”, a leisurely beignet at Cafe du Monde, dinner at Commander's Palace, and the night before the game, Arnaud's. What could be more exciting than Auburn, Arnaud’s, and New Years in New Orleans?

New Orleans, Louisiana.

For those few that have not heard of Arnaud's, it offers the quintessential New Orleans fine dining experience featuring a French and Creole menu. They offer several signature dishes and are renowned for their table-side presentations. We were having Bananas Foster prepared for us and the table behind us was having Café Brûlot. Preparing Cafe Brûlot table-side is an event unto itself. Steaming hot strong coffee, lemon strips, cloves, peel of one orange in one intact strip, etc. All are prepared with the finest silver service and of course, the lights are lowered for the flaming finale. The server drizzles flaming brandy into the coffee bowl by way of the long, spiral, orange peel.

Entrance to Brennan's.

 Since we were having Bananas Foster, which also required flame, these two guys were back to back. For the first few minutes, all was going well. All eyes from both and other tables were on our servers. The noise of the room also appeared to quieten as if the light dimmer also controlled the room's volume.

Now before I continue, I must tell you my Father-in-law has sinus and allergy issues and is prone to sneezing attacks. His sneezes are loud, but they are "sensed" before it happens. Much like the way a tornado sucks the air from around you, he inhales a moment before the cocaphonous concussive and violent expulsive explosion. Many of his neighbors have jumped from their recliners with quite a startle on still, summer evenings when he commenced to sneezing.

Entrance to Arnaud.

Cafe du Monde

As fate would have it, the spices tickling his nose was more than he could handle. For some of us at the table, time slowed down. When I replay this in my mind, it is much like the Zapruder film of the JFK assassination. Blurred images, jerky movements, all in silent progression. In my heart I know he tried to stop but could not. The first sneeze caught nearly everyone unaware. Our server, whose head was facing the opposite direction of my father-in-law, jumped, spilling Bananas Foster on the floor. He turned to face my now horrified father-in-law who was now on his way to another sneeze when the server scrunched his head and neck as if receiving an impact. I believe to this day he said, "I'm Hit!". Perhaps it was some spittle or “some magic loogie”. The impact knocked him into the server behind him, who at the precise moment of the initial sneeze, lit the brandy-laced orange peel as he began his ladle pour. Our server slams into the other's back, causing him to drop the flaming orange peel into the bowl of spiced brandy while also ending the lit ladle into the air. The ladle and its contents were last seen traveling towards the kitchen, with a flame following behind as if it was rocket-propelled. By now a server, laden with a tray full of entrees, exits the kitchen to find the smoldering ladle with his foot. He slips and falls causing the server behind him to do the same. Somewhere across the dining room, a woman screams "We're all going to die!". Although later, when pressed on her outburst, she claims she said, "We're all going to see Coach Dye!"

Café Brûlot ladle pour.

By now my father-in-law has stopped sneezing. His face is a lovely shade of purple; part blue from lack of oxygen and part beet red from embarrassment. For a moment, there was complete silence throughout the restaurant. No one moved. Time stood still. Then, as if on some unseen cue, busboys, servers, front-end managers, and hostesses all appeared and cleaned the mess, tended to the diners, and offered heartfelt apologies. Our server managed to salvage the Bananas Foster and we even ordered Café Brûlot. However, we told him we preferred he hold on to the ladle. He forced a smile.

When our check arrived, we scrutinized it looking for any charges not related to our meal. We decided to pay cash for the meal, so we broke out the Benjamins—we did not want our full names known to management. I could not resist and wrote on the check, "Best Dinner Theater in NOLA!" signed "Orange Nation—SU", in hopes they would think we were "Damn Yankees" from New York.

Coach Dye autographing Ties.

What a way to ring in 1988. It was a fun night. One that gave us many laughs, even during times of duress or mourning, memories of that evening always brings a smile to our faces.

As for the game, it was a Tie, 16-16. In response, Syracuse sent hundreds of ugly "ties" to Coach Dye. (Tie Dye. Get it?) In return, Auburn fans sent "sour grapes" to their coach. To have the last laugh, Coach Dye autographed each one of them, then sold them for $100 each. More than 2000 Syracuse fans unknowingly became Auburn University donors with the proceeds going to the General Scholarship Fund. Those “sour grapes” were sweet as Sugar. War Eagle!