Contents
MAY 2022
Events
11 6 8
Features
MOTHER, MAY I Concerts every weekend, festivals erupting in small towns and large, plus a wellness retreat or three
REFLECTIONS Where to draw the line by James Fox-Smith
NEWS & NOTEWORTHIES
VO LU M E 3 9 // I SS U E 5
34 38 42
Publisher
VIRTUES & VINES Mindful guzzling at Wild Bush Farm & Vineyard by Lucie Monk Carter
James Fox-Smith
Associate Publisher
Ashley Fox-Smith
TENNESSEE IN NEW ORLEANS A complicated love story
Managing Editor
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
by Alexandra Kennon
Arts & Entertainment Editor
NIGHTSHADE FLOWERS An urban farm on Rabbit Street by Chris Turner-Neal
Alexandra Kennon
Creative Director
Kourtney Zimmerman
Contributors:
Glade Bilby, Taylor Cooley, Samantha Eroche, Lucie Monk Carter, Brei Olivier, Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux, Chris Turner-Neal
On the Cover
GROWN IN LOUISIANA Cover image by Brei Olivier
The thing about using locally-sourced flowers, points out Chris TurnerNeal in his feature on New Orleans’ Nightshade Flower Farm page 42, is that you can get the more delicate stuff. The finnicky, particular blooms that don’t tolerate travel well: dahlias, for instance, and snapdragons. You also get the weird ones, the strange eruptions of nature that your neighborhood flower farmer, such as Becca Greaney, is especially fascinated by: false Queen Anne’s lace, starflower, Salpiglossis cafe au lait. The point is: you don’t have to look very far to be enchanted. In fact, from our very particular “here,” so many special things do grow. This year, our “Embrace Your Place” issue taps into the riches emitted from and inspired by this Gulf South region and the intriguing folks who call it home. The flowers are grown on Rabbit Street, just down the road from where Tennessee Williams wrote his grand opus A Streetcar Named Desire (page 38). In Baton Rouge and Natchez, local culinary experts become educators, sharing the traditions of this region’s tastes by way of storytelling, and encouraging their students to take those stories home (50 & 52). On the Northshore, a viticulturalist couple is dreaming of distinctly-Louisianan wines. And against the flow of the Mississippi River—Como Plantation is hosting retreats, escapes from the business of daily life; experiences designed to reflect on one’s inner self in this world, in this place.
Cuisine
50
SOUL FUSION Chef Jarita FrazierKing reconnects Natchez cuisine to its roots. by Lauren Heffker
52
REVISITING RED STICK SPICE Anne Milneck’s essential spice cabinet expands to include a teaching kitchen and a tea shop. by Lucie Monk Carter
Culture
56
LIGHT BULB IDEAS Green Light New Orleans fosters sustainable solutions in local communities.
58 62
Special 45Advertising 70 Section:
M A Y 2 2 // C O U N T R Y R O A D S M A G . C O M
QUIET AT COMO The historic Feliciana estate enters a new era of spiritual contemplation.
by Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux
by Samantha Eroche
Go Local
4
Escapes
A BIT OF ABITA A boutique Northshore experience by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
PERSPECTIVES L. Kasimu Harris’s “Vanishing Black Bars” by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Cover Artist
Brei Olivier
Advertising
SALES@COUNTRYROADSMAG.COM
Sales Team
Heather Gammill & Heather Gibbons
Custom Content Coordinator
Lauren Heffker
Advertising Coordinator
Laci Felker
President
Dorcas Woods Brown
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