Business travel is usually a fairly thankless undertaking. From repeated harassment and fondlings by the TSA to cramped rental cars with broken AC, it is far less glamorous than one would image. For every Paris, there’s three Peorias.

Occasionally however, I can string some fun into an otherwise routine business trip, and managed to shoehorn 18 hours in New Orleans on the tail end of an otherwise lackluster trip to the back woods of Mississippi. Upon arrival at the W Hotel in the French Quarter, I hit up my trusty cocktail-finding friends: Chowhound.com and Google maps.

After an OK dinner, I headed over to Green Goddess, a not-quite bar, not-quite restaurant that fit into some ill-defined niche that held instant appeal when I saw the eclectic collection of booze and kitchen staff that outnumbered the patrons (for the moment).

The barkeep, one “Scotty,” had spent time in our home state of South Carolina, and survived the early 90’s “tini” trend, as well as the more “demanding” over-exuberance in mixology. He served up a workable Aviation, followed by an excellent play on a Manhattan. Enjoying the vibe of the two-seat bar, I enjoyed a Bacon Sundae — yes it was as good as it sounds — complimented with a Trader Vic Macadamia Liqeur, which, while a bit sweet worked with the sundae. I finished up with a drink that i believe was called the “Boulevarier” (my notes are a bit hazy at this point) which was essentially a Negroni with Bourbon and a good bitter digestif to settle the stomach.

While a bit off the beaten path, excellent food and some nicely updated classic cocktails will bring me back to the Green Goddess again, hopefully with Mrs. Cocktail Hound in tow!