Boobs, Booze, & Beignets! – October party/charity event

  
The header of this blog reminds readers of this fun fact about LUPEC Seattle: “Occasionally we throw a party and use our power to raise money for local charities.” This is exactly what went down at the Rob Roy in Belltown on Thursday night. It was a perfect mixture of Seattle Cocktail Week and Breast Cancer Awareness month that led the throwing of “Boobs, Booze, and Beignets,” a New Orleans themed party that stretched from the street to the very back of the bar.



The official menu for the evening...















 But let’s start with the middle of the bar – or rather, the bar itself. Anu Apte and crew at the Rob Roy crafted a special Big Easy-themed drink menu for the evening, including four cocktails and a traditional serve Absinthe. Besides the Sazerac, also known as the official cocktail of New Orleans, the Bourbon St. Slushie was a popular choice among LUPEC members and other party-goers. Other options included a Ramos Gin Fizz and a Vieux Carre, another New Orleans classic. The miniature bottle of Angostura bitters that accompanied it may have been added incentive for this order!

Sazerac and raffle ticket

And now onto that part about the street – what New Orleans-themed party would be complete without food? Not one, in fact. Thank goodness for the Where Ya At Matt truck being there. Party-goers braved the chilly (but dry!) October air while stepping out onto the street for everything from Jambalaya croquettes to spicy shrimp bread to po boy sliders. The hot beignets lived up to their placement in the event’s name delighting many with their doughy-deliciousness and excessive covering of very powdery sugar.  

Where Ya At Matt shrimp bread and spicy sauce

 And finally, we get to the “boobs” part of the evening. Besides enjoying excellent cocktails and delicious food, the goal for the event was to raise $500 to contribute to the National Breast Cancer Foundation during Breast Cancer awareness month. Local bars and businesses generously donated (full list of donors below) everything from gift certificates to bottles of booze to a whiskey making kit! Raffle tickets went for $5 and each purchase got an attendee a bead necklace to add a bit of Mardi Gras-like flair to the evening. Early reports had the total amount of tickets sold at over $1000! As everything from envelopes to bags to boxes was passed across the bar to winners, ticket holders swirled their drinks and hoped their number would come up next. Many of them did!

Wendy was handing out raffle prizes left and right!

                                                                                                           

A huge thank you to our raffle donors:

• Gilt Group -  Totes
• Left Coast Libations/Inner Chapter Books - Autographed Copy of Left Coast Libations
• Sound Spirits - Ebb & Flow Gin, Ebb & Flow Vodka
• Scrappys Bitters - Grapefruit Bitters, Cardamon Bitters, Lavender Bitters, Celery Bitters, bitters travel pack
• Woodinville Whiskey    - Barrel Aging Kit with 2 Bottles of White Dog
• Estrella Salon    - choice of $150 worth of Skin Treatments
• Mulleady's Pub - gift Card
• Cooper & Sons - Pierre Ferand Cognac, Crop Organic Vodka
• Pur Spirits - Blood Orange Liquor, Pear Williams Liquor
• Novo Fogo - Cachaca Kit with Silver & Gold Novo Fogo, Muddler & Recipe cards
• Tales of the Cocktail - Two Party Passes to the invite only Opening & Closing parties, Meet the Distillers event and 5 Tasting rooms at TOTC on tour in Vancouver this Feb
• Small Screen Network - A guest spot on Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen, a web based video series. You'll step behind the bar and infront of the cameras to mix up a cocktail with Kathy!
• Liberty - gift cards (several!)    
• Daniel's Broiler - dinner for two
• Poquitos - dinner for two
• Bathtub Gin - gift card
• Rabbit Hole - gift card
• The Living Room Bar - gift Card
• Bastille - dinner for two
• Hotel 1000 - Spahhh Retreat: Two Spa Treatments & Lunch/Dinner
• Piscologia- Basket of Piscologia, Peruvian Bitters, recipe and t-shirt, leather handbag from Argentina

Thanks to everyone else who contributed to the great success that was Boobs, Booze, & Beignets. It was an excellent kick-off to the first annual Seattle Cocktail Week, indeed. More photos can be found here. Laissez les bons temps rouler!  

Big thanks to my lady on the street Chelsea for taking pictures during the event and writing this great post! Also big thanks to Rob Roy, Anu Apte & Trickey who shook to donate $5 per drink from the special menu. Where Ya At Matt, who donated 100% of money from the beignet sales. All the donors for the fab prizes and of course all of you for participating. Our goal was $500 and we did a total of... drumroll please... $2,360.00!!!! ~Wendy