Pulling up to Gambino’s Bakery on Tuesday, I almost fell out of the car. Mardi Gras Indians were performing on Veterans Boulevard in honor of the king cake tasting! That’s just not something you see every day.
At 10:30 a.m., half an hour before the judges started tasting king cakes, a corner of the bakery parking lot was occupied by a big barbecue rig turning out burgers. Inside, a face painter and a caricature artist already were at work, and lots of free samples were available: olive salad, lemon doberge and German chocolate cakes, Jester cake with purple, green and gold layers, king cake and chocolate-covered strawberries.
As you might imagine, lots of customers, as well as those who came for the tasting, were jammed inside, too.
Donald Marshall of Folsom found out he’d won a doberge cake in one of the ongoing drawings — while he was having his face painted. He was there with daughter Melissa Marshall and her 2 1/2-year-old daughter. (Music fans will remember Melissa as a Loyola-educated soprano who was active in local musical theater here a decade ago.) She was in from Germany, now her home, for the holidays.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Times-Picayune