Author Troy Gilbert. Photo by Brenda Maitland.

March 2011. And in New Orleans, we celebrate with food!

As the hundredth anniversary of distinguished American playwright Tennessee Williams’ birth approaches, New Orleans prepares to acknowledge the accomplishments and influence of its adopted son on multiple fronts.

The centennial celebration will be highlighted during the twenty-fifth annual Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, March 23–27 in New Orleans, recognized as Williams’ “spiritual home.” Various locations—primarily in the French Quarter —will host actors, authors and other guest artists, in performances, readings, panel discussions, films and exhibits. In addition, walking tours and contests—some featuring cocktails and food—will be among the attractions.

One symposium, “Dinner with Tennessee Williams” is based on the title of a book debuting this month by local writer Troy Gilbert and Chef Greg Picolo of the Bistro at Maison de Ville. Gilbert and Picolo will be joined by noted U.N.O. research professor and Williams historian Dr. Kenneth Holditch, who contributed to the book, as well as food show host and author Poppy Tooker who wrote the book’s foreword.

The event will take place at Chef Picolo’s restaurant, The Bistro at Maison de Ville, co-owned by Mike and Jaydine Maimone, which celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year. The restaurant adjoins the building that formerly housed the Maison de Ville Hotel, which was recently sold. In the mid 1940s, long before the Maison de Ville occupied the site, Williams rented rooms in the building and legend has it that Room 9 was where the distinguished playwright put the finishing touches on his masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire.

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