September 1-7, 2020 Volume 41 // Number 33
BULLETIN BOARD
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Lane Lacoy Historic Home Specialist
Asociate Broker/Realtor®
929 ELYSIAN FIELDS AVENUE MARIGNY • $499,000 Stunning 2 BR, 2.5 BA sidehall single, All Original Architectural Details, Cent. A/H, Slate Roof, Country Kit./Stainlesss/Corian, Generator, Lushly Landscaped Rear Yard.
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EMPLOYMENT FRENCH AS 2ND LANGUAGE TEACHER (MULT):
Teach French & other subjects in French language to elementary & middle school students. Reqs: Bach.’s in Education, French, or closely related (in lieu of Bach.’s degree, employer will accept any degree, program of study, or number of years of education in the same fields, domestic or foreign, that will permit the incumbent to receive teacher cert. or state auth. to teach in the state of LA); 2 yrs’ exp. teaching in French language; native or near native fluency in French & English; excellent teaching ability; LA teacher cert. French immersion or eligible. Mail resume to Latoye Brown, Audubon Charter School, 428 Broadway St., New Orleans, LA 70118. Please refer to job #026.
SMALL SPACE FOR SALE
CALL 483-3100
Pursuant to Louisiana statutes Metro Storage LLC, as managing agent for Lessor, will sell by public auction (or otherwise dispose) personal property (in its entirety) belonging to the tenants listed below to the highest bidder to satisfy the lien of the Lessor for rental and other charges due. The said property has been stored and is located at the respective address below. Units up for auction will be listed for public bidding on-line at www.StorageTreasures.com beginning five days prior to the scheduled auction date and time. The terms of the sale will be cash only. A 10% buyer’s premium will be charged per unit. All sales are final. Metro Storage LLC reserves the right to withdraw any or all units, partial or entire, from the sale at any time before the sale or to refuse any bids. The property to be sold is described as “general household items” unless otherwise noted. All contents must be removed completely from the property within 48 hours or sooner or are deemed abandoned by bidder/ buyer. Sale rules and regulations are available at the time of sale. Metro Self Storage-4320 Hessmer Ave., Metairie, LA 70002-(504) 455-3330-Bidding will close on the website www.StorageTreasures.com on 09-17-2020 at 10:00 am for the following units: Eco Pool Service “Michael John Walet” unit 1225: Pool equipment &Tools. Angela Marie Smith unit 3174: Sofa & love seat. Emilo Jose Peraltacasal unit 3057: TV, computers, Desk and office equipment.
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CONTENTS
A G i f t T h at
Stands Out
SEPT. 1-7, 2020 VOLUME 41 | NUMBER 33 NEWS
OPENING GAMBIT
6
COMMENTARY 8
SEND FLOWERS
CLANCY DUBOS
9
BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN 10
ARRANGEMENTS STARTING AT $40
FEATURES
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 5 EAT + DRINK
18
MUSIC 24 GOING OUT
26
PUZZLES 27
EXCHANGE 27 @The_Gambit
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11
COMING OF AGE DURING THE PANDEMIC Three young reporters from JRNola look at how school responses to the pandemic affect their generation.
STAFF
GET
dy! a e R l l a Footb
Editor | JOHN STANTON
Advertising Director | SANDY STEIN BRONDUM
Arts & Entertainment Editor | WILL COVIELLO Contributing Writers | IAN MCNULTY
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Gambit (ISSN 1089-3520) is published weekly by Capital City Press, LLC, 840 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130. (504) 4865900. We cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts even if accompanied by a SASE. All material published in Gambit is copyrighted: Copyright 2020 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
Lawn Care
Tenet-ive engagement
Lawn settles in and gets uncomfortable
DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S anticipated summer thriller “Tenet” hits theaters nationwide this week, including the reopened Broad Theater. It also screens at The Prytania, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas.
BY JAKE CLAPP
Warm reception
MAC FOLGER AND RUI DE MAGALHAES ARE PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD
when they talk about “Johnny,” their upcoming second album as Lawn. This is a different type of record for the New Orleans band. Lawn’s well-received 2018 debut album “Blood on the Tracks” featured songs that relied more on either Folger’s or De Magalhaes’ individual songwriting. The two gravitate to contrasting influences — Folger leans toward pop and De Magalhaes grew up heavy into punk and alternative rock. They complement and balance one another as Lawn. But the songs on “Blood on the Tracks” started at each end of their spectrum and had to meet in the middle. “For the first record, Mac was like, ‘I have five songs,’ and I would have seven songs or whatever. We would meet up, rehearse, and then the song was ready,” De Magalhaes says. “This one, there was more of, ‘Hey, I have an idea and before it takes any form or shape, I would like to present it to you.’ There was more collaboration.” “Johnny” will be released Friday through New Orleans’ Community Records and Muscle Beach Records, based in Oxford, Mississippi. The record features Folger on guitar and vocals, De Magalhaes on bass and vocals, and drummer Hunter Keene. Nicholas Corson, the band’s former drummer, and Merle Law add additional vocals to a handful of tracks. Jamie Joyce, another past Lawn drummer, and Duncan Troast also appear. Troast and Corson now perform with the band Video Age, whose Ross Farbe recorded and mixed “Blood on the Tracks.” Lawn recorded “Johnny” with Matthew Seferian, a member of Pope and the center of Matt Surfin’ & Friends. On “Blood on the Tracks,” Lawn deftly struck a balance between “clever Kinks-inspired pop with Minutemen-like austerity,” as Alex Woodward described it for Gambit. Lawn continues to find that balance on “Johnny,” but the album is richer and fuller as styles mix more comfortably. Folger and DeMagalhaes are learning to harmonize. “Rui lends himself more to talk singing and less the whimsically, melodic stuff,” Folger says. “Our two styles are
WESS “WARMDADDY” ANDERSON came from New York to study with Alvin Batiste and develop his style. He played alto saxophone in both Wynton Marsalis’ Septet and in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He performs on the balcony of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Visit nolajazzmuseum.org for the live-streaming link, and later in the week (2 p.m. Thursday) for a link to a performance by the Jazz Foundation America All-Star Jazz Ensemble.
Day dreaming
different but similar enough that they can mesh together when we nail it. That was different for me.” Lawn covers a range of big ideas on “Johnny,” writing about reflections and contradictions — like wanting to be out and social but hating the party, as Folger sings in “Nighttime Creatures.” Listeners may build some thematic bridges between songs. Privilege is a frequent topic on “Johnny.” Folger, who is from near Nashville, Tennessee, and De Magalhaes, who grew up in Nicaragua and Venezuela, dissect their own backgrounds and what it means to be privileged in various ways. The two musicians both moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University. The album’s title track is named for Folger’s grandfather and is about his own background growing up in a liberal bubble and the traps that can create to being comfortable in your beliefs. The song “Jane Ryan,” one of the earliest Lawn tracks, talks about the privilege of power and money. Jane Ryan was the pseudonym of Filipino politician Imelda Marcos who amassed a billion-dollar fortune through corruption. On the song “Summertime,” De Magalhaes sings about a racist encounter he had while working at a local restaurant. A man said, “How dare you hide your accent from me?” which appears as a line in the song.
P H OTO PR OV I D E D B Y E L L I E W I L L I A M S
Guitarist-vocalist Mac Folger and bassistvocalist Rui De Magalhaes are the duo at the core of Lawn. On their new record, ‘Johnny,’ they are joined by drummer Hunter Keene.
“I grew up privileged,” De Magalhaes says. “I don’t fit into a lot of those boxes of what Hispanic people are supposed to be in this country. It’s just very strange moving to a country like this when you’re 17 to go to a private school and having this set idea of Hispanicness, and realizing that while you’re Hispanic and still part of this group and a Brown person and easily profiled, I’m just not on the same wavelength as people who grew up Hispanic-American. Privilege is also rooted in where you’re from.” Touring on their first record and the march of time have made Folger and De Magalhaes want more responsibility for themselves. “I feel like a lot of people get to [their late-20s] and you have some accountability for your life, you’re trying to figure out what to do moving forward,” Folger says. “I have more of a responsibility for myself and where I end up going. I think there’s just some frustrations and different feelings that brings out.”
DRAG PERFORMERS Laveau Contraire, Cucci Licci, Tarah Cards and Qween Quan perform in the virtual drag show “Digital Dreamland” on Tuesday, over Facebook Live and Zoom. Visit facebook.com/laveaucontraire for information.
Spaced out THE HOUSE OF BLUES’ For the Culture live-streaming series features New Orleans saxophonist Khris Royal and his Dark Matter project at 7 p.m. Thursday. As Dark Matter, Royal and his band perform spacey jazz fusion that carries a funk beat. Also in this week’s For the Culture lineup is soul artist Tonya Boyd-Cannon at 7 p.m. Friday. Boyd-Cannon is working on a new album to be released this fall. Both performances will stream on facebook. com/hobneworleans.
Tips and the Bangas
P H OTO PR OV I D E D B Y I N G R I D W I L L I A M S
Tank and the Bangas
TANK AND THE BANGAS ARE UP next in the Tipitinas.tv series, recording a performance at the club for broadcast at 8 p.m. Saturday via nugs.net.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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OPENING GAMBIT N E W
O R L E A N S
N E W S
+
V I E W S
Up in the mornin’ and out to school, the teacher is teachin’ the COVID rule
# The Count
Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down
49,000
AT&T has donated $100,000 to
STEM NOLA as the local educational nonprofit moves its workshops and afterschool activities to a virtual platform for the coming school year. STEM NOLA designs and hosts science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs in area schools and introduces students to STEM-based careers. AT&T made its donation through its Distance Learning and Family Connections Fund, which supports virtual learning tools for the fall semester.
The approximate number of students who attend the 78 public schools in New Orleans.
P H OTO B Y DAV I D G R U N F E L D/ T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E
Gov. John Bel Edwards
has extended Louisiana’s Phase 2 restrictions another two weeks. The governor announced the extension Aug. 26. The day before he made the extension official, The Advocate reported, Edwards said he was “concerned” about students returning to campuses and the need to use mass transit and shelters in response to Hurricane Laura. “We’re doing better and I’m very thankful for that, but we’re still in the red zone for new cases,” he said.
Republican state lawmakers seem hellbent on depriving as
many COVID-affected and non-Republican voters as possible of the right to vote in the Nov. 3 election. In party-line votes, GOP-majority committees in the Louisiana House and Senate approved a plan to reduce early voting from two weeks to 10 days after early voting was expanded from one week to two for the summer elections, and severely restricting voter access to mail ballots. Gov. John Bel Edwards says he will veto such a plan. (See Clancy DuBos’ column, P. 9.)
FROM LEFT: City health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno, NOLA Public Schools medical advisor Dr. Benjamin Springgate, NOLA Schools superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis and Orleans Parish School Board president Ethan Ashley spoke about safely reopening public schools on Aug. 28.
A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, this week’s edition of Gambit focuses largely on efforts to start a new school year in the midst of a pandemic, and features work from local student reporters who are members of JRNOLA, a local journalism mentorship nonprofit. The work of these three young reporters provides a unique perspective on the pandemic and how we’ve handled it so far: from our children. Chris Taylor’s story examines how the pandemic threw the carefully laid plans of graduating student athletes into chaos this spring, and their struggles to prepare for college this summer; Phillip Petty’s deeply reported story lays bare the concerns students have about the efforts to reopen schools and their understandable worries about what this will mean for their futures; and Evelynn Coffie’s essay gives a small glimpse into emotional effects of losing one’s graduation year to a deadly pandemic. Over the coming months we will continue to publish the work of these and other young reporters as part of our collaboration with JRNOLA. With journalism under attack from all sides, it is now more important than ever that we support the next generation of reporters, so that they’ll be there to speak truth to power, give voice to the voiceless and stand witness to our society’s failures and triumphs alike. If you would like to donate to JRNOLA, visit their website at jrnola.org. — JOHN STANTON
Orleans Parish public schools to begin cautiously reopening classrooms as soon as Sept. 14 Orleans Parish public school students, pre-K through fourth grade, could return to classrooms five days a week as soon as Sept. 14. Older students could return in mid-October following a hybrid schedule of in-person and remote learning, NOLA Public Schools superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis announced on August 28. Even when these reopenings occur, families uncomfortable with a return to classrooms will have the option to continue with distance
This does not include the thousands of students who attend private and parochial schools in the area. As students adjust to the “new normal” of hybrid learning in NOLA Public Schools, health officials have expressed hope that the latest phase will improve their learning experience.
C’est What
? Should New Orleans high schools attempt sports this year?
10.2%
28.6%
ONLY IF IT’S INTERNET CHESS
NOT IN THE FALL, BUT LET’S TRY IN THE SPRING
34.7%
26.5%
YES, IF DONE SAFELY
NO, IT’S NOT WORTH THE RISK
Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com
7
OPENING GAMBIT The district’s reopening plan, which will impact 78 schools, also involves “robust” testing, said Avegno, along with continuing to follow physical distancing measures, wearing personal protective equipment and maintaining proper hygiene, like frequent handwashing. Because each school has varied enrollment, staffing and other operational factors, schools are encouraged to communicate with families directly in the coming weeks. School officials said they would be implementing a multi-layered testing plan that focuses on providing acute responsive testing aimed to increase ease, accessibility and frequency for students and school employees. Children’s Hospital New Orleans and Ochsner Hospital for Children, along with LCMC and Tulane are some of the partners they will work with to provide rapid tests to those exhibiting symptoms. Springgate said he would finalize more details in the coming weeks. — SARAH RAVITS
Hurricane Laura relief: here’s how to help out There are ways to provide relief to those impacted by Hurricane Laura, a category 4 storm that ravaged parts of southwest Louisiana, including Lake Charles on August 27. The best way to help in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic storm is to donate directly to response organizations on the ground in southwest Louisiana, including: •Second Harvest Food Bank, which is distributing emergency food, water and supplies as well as helping with other recovery efforts. • World Central Kitchen, has set up kitchens and is already preparing meals to feed communities. • The Junior League of New Orleans is accepting donations of new diapers and feminine hygiene products at their headquarters (4319 Carondelet St.); and • The Mutual Aid Response Network is a group of Louisiana residents, led by Imagine Water Works, that activates during floods, storms and other natural and manmade disasters. They are accepting donations that will prioritize aid benefiting Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who are suffering in the aftermath of the storm. For more information and ways to contribute, visit ready.nola.gov/ give. — GAMBIT STAFF
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learning in 9-week periods, school officials clarified. Cautiously optimistic public health officials, including the Orleans Parish School Board’s medical advisor Dr. Benjamin Springgate and the city’s health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno, helped guide the decision for the district’s measured, four-phased “Roadmap to Reopening” plan — but they warn this could change if COVID-19 cases spike back up. The reopening plan is also based on the guidelines mandated by the Louisiana Department of Education and includes restrictions not just in classrooms and campuses but also on school buses. At the district press conference Spring gate and Avegno praised New Orleanians for their continuing efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus and pointed out that daily number of new cases has decreased significantly, while testing has increased. The positive test rate has in recent weeks been at 5% or below — one of the health indicators they established over the summer. Daily new cases of the virus in New Orleans have also been lower than 50, another metric they examined. Avegno said, “Our announcement means that our community listened. Our current data has significantly improved from where we were in July ... But in order to be successful in keeping schools open and returning more students back into classrooms, we must all remain vigilant in the daily steps to keep transmission rates low.” Children have been distance learning since March, and Dr. Henderson Lewis, superintendent, says it is a priority to get the youngest ones back in classrooms first. They “have the most to gain from in-person learning,” he said, adding that being in a classroom setting with teachers is critical to their social and emotional growth. Older children, according to the plan, would rotate in-person sessions scheduled by their individual schools. High schoolers would attend school a minimum of two days a week based on their course schedule. And students of all ages with critical special needs — as determined by the school — would be allowed to return to school full-time. Other guidelines include requiring face coverings for all adults and children, in-depth cleaning of surfaces, seats and handrails. The district encourages school employees to keep windows open to increase airflow. School visitors would be limited except under extenuating circumstances.
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focuses heavily on the state of our schools. It features stories written by students from JRNOLA, a nonprofit that helps mentor aspiring young journalists in our community. Their stories relay the experiences teens have had with the educational system during the pandemic, as well as their concerns about the coming school year. There’s a lot to unpack in these pieces, and we urge everyone to read them, if for nothing else than to better understand how adults’ responses to the pandemic play out in the lives of our children. But if there’s one lesson we hope our readers and leaders come away with, it’s that we need to figure out not only how to get our schools open, but also how best to plan for the next catastrophic event. It’s clear no one was ready for COVID-19. From the moment education officials suspended in-school classes in March, teachers and students have largely drifted amid the chaos of the spreading virus. In the months since, local public, parochial and independent private school leaders have worked hard to put in place plans for the resumption of school this fall. Administrators and officials have found themselves in a no-win situation. Nobody was ever going to find the perfect solution to educating tens of thousands of children of various ages and abilities, across multiple jurisdictions and with varying technological and financial resources at hand. The results so far have been mixed. None of the school systems are following the same set of rules or guidelines, which to the public seems, to put it mildly, messy. While some private schools are finding ways to open relatively smoothly, others — most notably Catholic schools — have struggled and been forced to quarantine scores of students for potential exposure to COVID-19. Teachers and staff remain worried about the safety of reopening schools, even on a partial basis. All of this takes a toll on children, from worries that further disruptions will hurt their chances at scholarships to widening educational gaps between rich and poor students — they’re dealing with a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. A certain amount of disruption will always accompany world-altering events, but if any community should have been prepared to shift from brick-and-mortar schools to virtual learning quickly, it’s surely ours. This wasn’t, after all, the first time something like this has happened — 15 years ago this week, Katrina closed
P H OTO BY S COT T T H RE L K E L D/ T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E
Science teacher Catherine Wilkinson, left, and her son, Eildon Wilkinson, 13, protest before a School Board meeting at the Jefferson Parish Public Schools Administrative Building in Harvey on Aug. 5.
our schools, scattered students and teachers, and made it unsafe for anyone to physically return to classrooms for months. Although the pandemic is a vastly different kind of challenge, the similarities are stark. We urge our leaders to work in a collaborative way to put in place plans to make sudden transitions and long-term disruptions less painful in the future. There are lots of lessons we can already see for the next time. For instance, the ongoing work between school boards and public health officials is a model for future events; those relationships should be formalized and maintained. From the Governor’s Mansion to City Hall, it’s clear our leaders need to commit to closing the technological gaps between the rich and poor. This includes expanding, not shrinking, access to publicly available Wi-Fi through our libraries and ensuring parity in students’ access to laptops and other technology. Administrators and teachers could begin building flexible lesson plans and educational tools into their curriculum, so that when sudden changes occur everyone is prepared. Above all, we need to better communicate with students. Many of their fears and anxieties stem from simply not knowing what is happening and how it will affect them. We also need to listen to what they have to say. After all, it’s their future we’re trying to save.
9
CLANCY DUBOS
GOP keeps playing politics with voting rights
P H OTO B Y B I L L F E I G / T H E A DVO C AT E
Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin is caught in the middle. GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS AND LEGISLATIVE REPUBLICANS are
once again at loggerheads over voting rights for Louisiana citizens amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor wants to expand early voting and mail balloting for the Nov. 3 election. Most GOP lawmakers oppose virtually anything that expands opportunities for people to vote. It’s obvious why. Republican Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, to his credit, worked with Edwards several months ago to confect a reasonable plan for expanded early and mail balloting for the delayed spring elections. GOP lawmakers rejected it out of hand. Ardoin is caught in the middle. As the state’s chief elections officer, it’s his job to make voting legally accessible to all eligible citizens. As a statewide Republican elected official, he’s feeling the heat from GOP right wingers, who want him to promote their voter suppression agenda. When Republicans killed his initial plan for the summer elections, Ardoin came back with a watered down version that expanded early voting from one week to two and provided a modest expansion of mail balloting. Louisiana is one of only seven states that don’t allow no-excuses mail balloting. The delayed spring elections, held in July and August, came off without a hitch. That argues strongly for a similar plan in November, because presidential elections always produce the highest voter turnouts. Republican legislators know this, yet they slavishly follow the party line, blathering vague concerns about the potential for vote fraud. The problem with that argument is the lack of any credible evidence to support it. Every independent investigation of mail balloting confirms that the incidence of vote fraud is infinitesimally small.
Still, legislative Republicans persist. It proves what I’ve said for months about this issue: Republicans don’t fear vote fraud; they fear voter turnout. President Trump admitted as much on Aug. 13, when he told Fox Business News he opposed increased funding for the U.S. Postal Service and increased election funding for states because it would allow more Democrats to vote on Nov. 3. “They need that money in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” he said, adding, “If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting.” Days later, on Aug. 17, Ardoin submitted his plan for the Nov. 3 election. No doubt under pressure from the GOP to further curtail voting opportunities, he proposed reducing voters’ access both to mail ballots and to early voting. The Republicans’ shameless grandstanding got so out of hand in committee hearings that Ardoin broke down and cried at one point. GOP lawmakers doubtless will approve the latest plan, but Edwards has already said he will veto it. That means things could get decided by the courts. There’s already a challenge to Louisiana’s restrictive access to mail ballots in federal court in Baton Rouge, but putting this entire matter in the hands of a judge poses risks for both sides. Ardoin told the House committee on Aug. 17, “Politics and a pandemic don’t mix.” That’s only true because Republicans insist on playing politics with citizens’ most sacred right.
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@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake, I know John James Audubon painted some of his famous bird paintings in Louisiana. Where did he live and work?
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Born in 1785, John James Audubon began sketching and painting birds and animals early in life. While working as a merchant in Kentucky, the financial panic of 1819 forced him to rethink his future. He decided to pursue his art full-time. As author and TimesPicayune | New Orleans Advocate columnist Danny Heitman explains in his book, “A Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House,” Audubon needed a way to support his family while working on his art. He came to New Orleans in 1821, hoping to find portrait commissions. He lived and worked at several spots in the French Quarter, including a house in the 700 block of Barracks Street and in what is now the Dauphine Orleans Hotel. His work as a drawing instructor introduced him to Lucretia Pirrie, who hired Audubon to tutor her teenage daughter, Eliza, at Oakley House, her family’s plantation located near St. Francisville, 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. From June through October 1821, Audubon was given $60 a month,
P H OTO PR OV I D E D B Y AU D U BO N .O RG
Louisiana heron, painted by John James Audubon.
room and board and free time for birdwatching. Although Audubon traveled much of the eastern U.S. to complete the 435 paintings in his “Birds” series, Heitman writes that he began working on at least 167 of the images in Louisiana. He also returned to New Orleans and lived off and on here for nine years before his death in 1851. Oakley House is now a state historical site. As for New Orleans’ Audubon Park, the land was developed in 1850 as Upper City Park to distinguish it from what we know as City Park. The name was changed in 1886 in tribute to Audubon.
BLAKEVIEW THIS YEAR MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of the debut of New Orleans’ first
professional restaurant critic, Richard H. Collin. He published his landmark guidebook, “The New Orleans Underground Gourmet,” in 1970. At the time, he was a professor of American history at the University of New Orleans. Collin approached Simon and Schuster about writing a New Orleans edition for their “Underground Gourmet” series. Featuring 250 restaurants reviewed on a 4-star rating system, it detailed “where to find great meals for less than $3.75 and as little as 50 cents.” The book was one of the first to highlight the city’s smaller, “underground” restaurants, as well as its well-known eateries. Its enormous popularity led the States-Item to hire Collin for a weekly restaurant column. “My reviews … will follow the same premises as did the book,” he wrote in his first newspaper column on Oct. 17, 1970. “I will judge restaurants on their best rather than on their worst. I will try to find what the restaurant does well. I do not believe in destructive criticism.” Although Collin was effusive in his praise, he did not mince words with his criticisms. In 1974, a restaurant owner filed a $2 million libel suit against him after an unfavorable review, though the state Supreme Court ruled in Collin’s favor. In 1975, he and his wife Rima, also a UNO professor, wrote “The New Orleans Cookbook,” which became a classic. They collaborated on four other books. Collin left the newspaper in 1980 to focus on his teaching and historical writing. Following the death of his wife in 1998, he wrote “Travels with Rima: A Memoir.” Collin died in 2010.
Graduating athletes once looked forward to collegiate sports; now they face uncertainty B Y C H R I S T A Y L O R
P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y T Y E M A N S I O N
PREPARING FOR COLLEGE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY for
P H OTO P R OV I D E D BY CH RIS TAY LO R
Tye Mansion. She should be entering her first year at Grambling, fresh from the emotional high of prom and graduation, of a summer celebrating with lifelong friends, and of long, hot months of workouts with coaches before the start of her collegiate athletic career. That was the plan, her dream, anyway. But in the spring, as Mansion got ready for one last season of high school softball and a last round of evaluations by scouts — in the hopes of securing scholarship offers, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. There’d be no formal graduation ceremony from McDonogh 35, no final season of softball and no workouts for scouts. Instead, she’d have to create a daily workout regime to stay prepared amid so much uncertainty. And while Mansion, who also plays volleyball and basketball, has the drive and discipline to do it, it hasn’t been easy.
Over the past few months, Mansion has searched YouTube for tips, sprinted up grassy levees to build stamina and focused on abdominal workouts to keep her core strong. She also runs to keep up with conditioning. Without access to school facilities during these unprecedented times, many college-bound athletes such as Mansion found themselves creating their own at-home routines and making the most of their surrounding environment to stay in shape for a season of sports that might not even happen. “I’m feeling a little unprepared because we have been on hold for so long, and I think it’ll be a little frustrating getting back into it all,” she says. Mansion is one of 70,000 Louisiana high school student-athletes dependent on structure. Typical high school athletes live by a rigorous schedule: school, practice, homework and then resting to prepare for games or tests. Some put in extra work before school or after practice in order to get an advantage on highly
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P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y C H R I S TAY LO R
Former Sarah T Reed student Corey Larkins
sought-after scholarships, which make paying for college possible for many students. But COVID-19 has wrecked this structure and the many scholarship opportunities players otherwise would have earned. Athletes have had to get creative, as they try to keep their bodies and minds healthy during these chaotic times. On March 13, students across New Orleans vacated campuses, unsure of when or if they would actually ever return. People were getting sick, and the government was beginning to mandate strict measures to control this new virus. Within days, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an order to cancel in-person school for the remainder of the spring, in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Overnight, more than 49,000 students in New Orleans were out of school, according to Teach New Orleans, an online network that connects teachers to local jobs. Students began to adapt to finishing school at home without in-person guidance from their teachers. Corey Larkins, a basketball player and track and field athlete, was also in the middle of his final semester at Sarah T. Reed High School. Larkins describes the transition as a tough one. “Not being able to be face-to-face and have that hands-on assistance was hard,” he says. Being a teenager and in high school can be hard on anybody, and learning while trying to juggle family, friends, work and hormones can be challenging. Not being in class made subjects like math particularly hard for student-athletes like Mansion. “Online school is pretty rough,” Mansion says. “It’s harder than it
is when in class, [which is] more hands-on. At home, you have to get it on your own.” While some students reported struggling with their schoolwork, athletes were also worrying about whether the pandemic would prevent them from attending college at all. In the past, many senior athletes who had already secured a scholarship through a fall sport wouldn’t be concerned about the scholarship now. The pandemic has brought a sense of fear and uncertainty — not only for athletes who play fall sports but also spring athletes who may not receive a scholarship at all. “It sucks — I was supposed to play summer volleyball,” Jonquelle Chandler, a graduating senior at Sarah T. Reed High School, says. “But I can’t do that and now my scholarship is questionable.” “One of the coaches came to my house and we checked [standing and running vertical] measurements in my front yard against my garage, which is kind of funny,” Chandler says, acknowledging that at least one college is still looking out for her. Although Larkins already received many scholarship offers from colleges for basketball, he was expecting to get more attention from colleges in track and field. “I felt this would have been my shining year,” he says. Like the others, he continued to do his at-home regime: pushups, sit-ups, burpees, and he even added running a mile three times a day. He received more workouts from his high school coaches and got some tips from coaches at a college he may attend. With recruiters unable to see them play, students found
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P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y T Y E M A N S I O N
Former McDonogh 35 student Tye Mansion
C AN SCHOOLS MAKE A
Coronavirus comeback After a spring semester marred by the pandemic, returning students worry they’re in for more BY PHILLIP PET T Y
FOR TWO MONTHS THIS PAST SPRING,
Tajh Watts used his bed as a school desk, propping two laptops against pillows each morning as he hunched over, diligently taking notes under the blue glow of his neon lights while struggling to hear his teachers over a portable speaker. Though Watts, now a senior at St. Augustine High School, kept at it, the setup wasn’t very conducive to learning. “I have trouble in chemistry,” Watts says. “That hands-on experience is something I wish I had during these times, because it helps me a lot.” So Watts started taking matters into his own hands. He went to YouTube to find guidance for his chemistry problems, which helped him get better results than just doing it on his own. But it was far from ideal, and now he worries his education is suffering from it. And he’s not alone. With schools across the greater New Orleans area starting to come back into session, students and teachers say they have little confidence the spring’s COVID19-induced chaos won’t be repeated again this fall, particularly if a new outbreak forces them back into fulltime distance learning. “Students will not get the same education that they receive in regular classes as in virtual classes,” says Leslie Pittman, a science and math teacher at Clancy Maggiore Elementary in Kenner, which is overseen by the Jefferson Parish School Board. Jefferson Parish public schools started hybrid classes Aug. 26. “I think the reopening plan will be a fail,” she says, “because not everyone is on the same page.” On March 13, New Orleans schools announced they were postponing classes indefinitely due to the coronavirus. Teachers, students and school leaders did not know what would happen next, and by the end of the month Gov. John Bel Edwards had shut down in-person schooling for the remainder of the spring. The decision forced all schools
P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y TA J H WAT T S
Tajh Watts, a senior at St. Augustine High School, uses his bed as a school desk, propping two laptops against pillows. With the lack of in-school teaching, he sometimes resorts to guidance from YouTube videos when he struggles with his chemistry homework.
in the state to switch to a distance learning model. From the start, the shift was riddled with problems. Although private and parochial schools, as well some wealthier city charters had the resources to provide students with laptops and hotspot devices, others did not. This forced some — including some better-off schools like St. Augustine — to contract with telecommunication companies to install Wi-Fi in students’ homes. Others scrambled to procure and distribute hotspot devices to help students gain access to their classes. The Orleans Parish School Board also worked to provide Chromebook laptops to students in need. But the problems with the online system ran significantly deeper. No teachers, let alone entire schools, had plans in place for switching from in-person classes to a completely
virtual classroom setting, and students and teachers alike struggled to adapt. “I don’t really like online school,” says Dalisia Hughes, a senior at Benjamin Franklin High School, a top-ranked charter school adjacent to the University of New Orleans’ campus. It opened classes to students on August 12 and plans to be virtual until after Labor Day. “I’d rather be in school,” Hughes says. “Being at home with sisters and brothers can lead to distractions.” For teachers, the shift was equally difficult. Most teachers spend months preparing lesson plans for an upcoming semester — plans that went out the window the moment the governor closed down schools. Combined with their own struggles of
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innovative ways to get their attention. “I had to send out tapes, but it was kind of late because I couldn’t play or go to parks,” Mansion says. Without the structure they’re used to, some student-athletes say they have also struggled with staying motivated throughout quarantine. Not being able to attend practices and workouts can lead to athletes getting out of shape. Larkins and Chandler both have opted to stay close to home and attend the University of New Orleans this year. And while they’re both excited about their futures, the frustrations and uncertainties remain: There’s little chance any of the students will have a “normal” college semester for the foreseeable future. With the road maps they’d carefully plotted gone, student-athletes are preparing for college as best they can. Larkins says he received a workout routine from his high school coach which includes “push-ups, sit-ups, burpees and going outside running a mile or two.” Larkins performs these routines multiple times throughout the day to stay in the best shape possible. But it’s not the same. “It sucks,” Larkins says. It’s an understandable sentiment: They feel like years of hard work have gone down the drain. They’ve lost the sense of structure and traded it for a lifestyle of disorder. Along with the rest of the world, many student-athletes were forced to undergo huge changes, but they adapted, found ways to stay active and keep their dreams alive. “I’m just trying to keep the bad out of my mind,” Mansion says. “And keep the good going.”
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14 adapting to working from home, the chaos and uncertainty made it difficult for them to effectively do their jobs. And the students noticed. Both Hughes and Watts, for instance, said teachers gave increasingly more work in online classes in the spring, compared to regular in-person classes. And the lack of direct interaction made it challenging for teachers to provide needed help to students who might be struggling. Most students believe being at school is a more effective way of learning than at home. “Online school is more stressful at home than being at school,” says Bobby Davis, a senior at the International School of Louisiana. “I’m more organized with my work at school rather than at home.” It’s difficult to strike the balance between reopening plans. Virtual
“Students will not get the same education that they receive in regular classes as in virtual classes.” — LESLIE PITTMAN, A SCIENCE AND MATH TEACHER AT CLANCY MAGGIORE ELEMENTARY IN KENNER
P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y B O B B Y DAV I S
Bobby Davis, a senior at the International School of Louisiana, says he’s more organized with his studies when he can attend classes in-person.
classes ensure less spreading of COVID-19. But one immeasurable struggle for virtual classes is that teachers can’t provide all of the proper resources for students. Pittman typically uses physical models and objects in science class to help her students feel and see the interactions between matter and energy. But with virtual classes in the spring and now distanced hybrid classes, that option is limited. “My students are used to learning by interacting with one another and using objects,” Pittman says. “It will be much tougher for the students to learn this year because the hands-on experience isn’t there.” Kendall Crawford, a teacher at St. Augustine, readily admits the online model used during the spring had a lot of flaws. And even once a system was in place it proved to have unexpected logistical challenges that bogged down the educational process. For instance, Crawford says it proved difficult to manage everyone’s work when students are sending in different assignments at different times, and it now takes him longer to grade their work. Teachers didn’t have long to plan for the spring due to the uncertainty of the virus. Voltaire Casino, a New Orleans-area teacher who asked that his school not be identified, says while most teachers in area schools were frustrated with only three days to get their plan together in the spring, the summer has been helpful for his school. After polling students, teachers and families, administrators came up with their plan for the fall. Likewise, most school systems put into place plans for reopening schools this fall. For instance, New Orleans public schools are following the “Roadmap to Reopening” which was developed in coordination with city and state health officials. It lays out how and when schools are to open. It envisions a hybrid mix of in-person and distance learning for much of the coming semester, which educators hope will help solve some of the biggest problems students faced last year. But most students remain skeptical. “Online school is a pain in the ass,” Watts says. “I thought I would be finished with it after last year, but having to do it this year, during my senior year is just something I hate.”
T HE LOST
Senior Year B Y E V E LY N N C O F F I E
A version of this article first appeared at jrnola.org. THE ISOLATION CAUSED BY COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS
placed a strain on Kayla Andrus’ relationships with teachers and friends. Now Andrus, an 18-year-old graduating senior at Mount Carmel Academy, finds herself staying up until two in the morning and waking up later in the day to begin incessant Zoom meetings for classes that don’t seem to matter anymore. For Andrus and thousands of other students in New Orleans, senior year was supposed to be the year of prom, graduation, college move-ins, new beginnings, and sorrowful goodbyes. But what does it mean for seniors to miss out on these rites of passage that mark a step in their adolescent journeys? “I was originally planning on going out of town for college, but now I’m forced to reconsider these options because of the virus,” Andrus said, referring to her dream school of New York University. “I wanted to major in cinema and get internships that I wouldn’t get here in New Orleans.” After some deep consideration with her parents, Andrus said it might be better to re-apply later and transfer because it’s too risky to travel from New Orleans to New York without the guarantee of adequate safety procedures or proper PPE. “We were scheduled to graduate from Mount Carmel on May 18 and didn’t hear word of changing the date for a while,” Andrus said. “Until the lockdown happened.” Andrus was looking forward to her school’s senior theme events like senior countdown and jazz brunch. “I always thought I was an introverted person,” Andrus said. “But isolation has proven me wrong.” For 18-year-old Zoe Kanga, a graduating senior at Lusher Charter School in New Orleans, the swift transition from in-person to online
P H OTO B Y E V E LY N N C O F F I E
Writer Evelynn Coffie in cap and gown for her graduation from Lusher Charter School.
classes was also not ideal for her living situation. “My grandmother had spinal surgery in late March and is currently wheelchair-bound,” she explained. “My mom and I are staying with her in Abiquiu, New Mexico, where I’ve been serving as her parttime nurse/housekeeper while being a senior.” Kanga is president of Student Life Council in school, which is in charge of school-wide events like assemblies and prom, but it’s been difficult for her to retain school spirit while being so far away. “Lusher is really like no other school,” she continues. “I was looking forward to prom and graduation, wearing my college gear and second-lining out the building with my peers while the school waved us off.” Kanga describes Abiquiu as “a tiny town on a mountain in the desert.” Her days are a repeating pattern
15 because they have the funding and resources to prevent a major outbreak without a huge financial loss,” Kanga said. “But there are plenty of schools putting their students, faculty, and staff at risk.” In Kanga’s view, human lives are more important than the economy. As students like Kanga acclimate to new environments amidst the pandemic, others like Malak Mohammad have had to acclimate to home life. Mohammad is an 18-year-old recent graduate from Haynes Academy. The transition to virtual classes came as a soft blow for her because most of her courses were already online. Compared to other Jefferson Parish schools, Mohammad attended dual-enrollment classes at the University of New Orleans to earn credit for college courses. “I was very excited about graduation and our senior walkthrough before school ended where all the seniors would get dressed up and walk through the campus to wave goodbye to lower classmen while the band played music through the halls,” Mohammad said. Mohammad works a full-time
job as a billing specialist at Tiger Fuel and Stars Oil, where she bills customers for fuel products. It’s a pretty tedious task dealing with numbers, especially with the rapid influx of customers as gas prices drop. Since lockdown, Mohammad has been sleeping in more and hanging out with friends less. When her days are not consumed with work, she spends her time on social media like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, where she posts snippets of meals she shares with family members or displays the indigo sunsets plastered across the City Park skyline. Schools weren’t the only things to shut down as the pandemic swept through the nation. Mohammad also missed out on gathering with close family and friends during Ramadan this year, a month-long period of fasting and self-reflection. “It’s truly a month that unites everyone together and it saddens me greatly that we’ll be unable to continue this tradition with friends and family,” Mohammad said.
P H OTO B Y E V E LY N N C O F F I E
Writer Evelynn Coffie in cap and gown for her graduation from Lusher Charter School.
LOVE COVID-19 in the Time of
The perfect wedding or engagement gift
Celebrate an engagement or wedding by telling your love story in Gambit
< A SPECIAL SECTION CELEBRATING LOVE IN OUR OCTOBER 20 ISSUE > Stanton & Moore
Sarah Stanton and Telly Moore were both students at Loyola Law School, when they met in 2017 at Snake & Jakes dive bar. Ms. Stanton, who grew up in New Orleans is now practicing environmental law at Bates Walker. Telly who was from Washington D.C now works at Fishman Smith as an associate attorney. “I was very attracted to him,” said Sarah “and we had a magical first Jazz Fest together after we met, and had a mutual love for Stevie Wonder.”
Stanton & Moore Sam Stanton and Telly Moore were both students at Loyola Law School when they met. Mr. Stanton, who grew up in New Orleans is now a lawyer at Bates Walker. Telly who was from Washington D.C now works at Fishman Smith. Sam and Telly celebrated their nuptials at a small ceremony in Audubon Park on July 27.
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Stanton & Moore
Sarah Stanton and Telly Moore were both students at Loyola Law School, when they met in 2017 at Snake & Jakes dive bar. Ms. Stanton, who grew up in New Orleans is now a lawyer at Bates Walker. Telly who was from Washington D.C now works at Fishman Smith. “I was very attracted to him,” said Sarah “and we had a magical first Jazz Fest together after we met.” Sarah and Telly celebrated their nuptials at a small ceremony in Audubon Park on July 27, under the tree of life. The couple will now reside in Mid-City with their golden doodle, Beignet.
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Telly proposed at Patois Restaurant before the pandemic in November 2019. A destination wedding in Costa Rica was originally planned. Following the travel ban, Sarah and Telly celebrated their nuptials with their immediate families at a small ceremony in Audubon Park on July 27, under the tree of life with a masked picnic reception to follow. The event was catered by Chez Nous. The couple will now reside in Mid-City with their golden doodle, Beignet
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of waking up, getting her grandmother out of bed, cleaning up the house, doing her homework, taking brief walks, and ending her day with evening meals. Compared to New Orleans’s population of 390,000, Abiquiu, New Mexico has a population of less than 300 where locals can be fined for not wearing masks. Residents coming from out-of-state must quarantine for 14 days upon return. “I haven’t seen my friends in eight weeks and I miss them,” Kanga said. “I miss New Orleans. While everything else has been lost, it would be nice to have some kind of normalcy.” Kanga has since returned to New Orleans and is heading to Yale University in less than a month. “My college has decided to house only 75 percent of their student body with first-years returning in the fall and second-years returning in the spring,” Kanga said. “Everyone will be living in a single dorm and all classes will be held online.” For Kanga, however, she believes states should return to Phase 1. “I think there are some universities that have the privilege to reopen
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BRANDED CONTENT
SNAPSHOTS FROM SCHOOL REOPENING: COLLEGIATE ACADEMIES Collegiate Schools: #OpportunityCantWait
All across our city, schools and charter networks are meeting the challenge of this moment with optimism and determination. Collegiate Academies (CA) has been rolling out their plans for the year with the hashtag #OpportunityCantWait. They know that even if school cannot start in person, there is no time to
waste in helping their students get the high-quality education they deserve. With five high schools and two secondary education programs across New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Collegiate Academies serves over 3,500 students and 1,700 alumni. CA’s high schools in New Orleans are Abramson Sci Academy, Livingston Collegiate Academy, George Washington Carver High School, and Rosenwald Collegiate Academy. We spoke with three CA team members about the network’s plans for the start of this school year. Dominque Howse, CA’s Senior Director of Communications; Soraya Verjee, CA’s Chief of Talent; and Andrea Bond, Chief Academic Officer, joined together to share their reflections. They talked about their focus on engaging their community, making sure each child had the technology they needed, providing high quality instruction, taking care of their teams, and their motto of “all means all.”
Involving Students, Parents, and Teachers Planning for this year was a community effort. Collegiate Academies involves their families, students, and teachers in decision making, and planning for this year was no exception. They knew a democratic approach to problem-solving for this school year was critical. They invited all families, teachers and students to share their insights through committees, surveys, and virtual meetings to foster collaboration. “We heard from students, school-level teams, parents, and network leadership about what does and doesn’t work,” says Howse. “Not only was it important for us to hear about their technological, academic, cultural and socio-emotional needs, but also to explore ways to interweave those desires and needs into our planning.” They also launched steering committees that will continue into the school year. The teacher steering committee vetted everything from the attendance policy to the online learning platform students would use. The parent steering committee weighed in on the best way to be in touch with CA’s families. As a follow-up to the work that took place throughout the summer, CA designed and shaped “Virtual Family Forums,” 60-minute online Zoom sessions for families that shared health and safety updates; academic expectations; virtual attendance policies; examples of distance-learning classrooms; information about school scheduling and technology; and offered the chance for “Q&A” with CA team and school leaders.
A Computer for Every Student
Every student at Collegiate Academies schools will have their own laptop for “one to one” computing; CA has ordered hotspots to support all families that need internet access. The “classroom” for CA’s students right now is Zoom. To open up that classroom door, schools handed out laptops to every child and have ordered WiFi hotspots for every family that needs one. Students will use Zoom and two other educational applications, Canvas and Nearpod, to connect with their teachers and peers. “When we are aligning ourselves with our vision, mission, and commitment, or when we say “All Means All,” we are making sure all students have access to the hardware and software they need to connect, learn and grow,” Dominque Howse explains. “This technology does not only connect students to their classes, but also prepares them for a 21st century global economy and for college and career readiness,” says Andrea Bond.
WHEN WE SAY 'ALL MEANS ALL,' WE ARE MAKING SURE ALL STUDENTS HAVE ACCESS TO THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE THEY NEED TO CONNECT, LEARN, AND GROW.
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BRANDED CONTENT
Collegiate Academies has more than tripled the number of courses with high-quality curriculum shared across their network, so more teachers have access to strong materials. They can collaborate and build off of existing content instead of “reinventing the wheel.” “We know that high quality curriculum is critical to drive equity and high quality learning,” explains Bond. In prior years, eight of CA’s core subjects had adopted their own high-quality curricula, shared across the network. This allowed teachers to collaborate with the same materials and focus on teaching, building relationships, and innovating for their particular students. Over the summer, CA expanded to having twenty-six shared curricula. They used the state’s highest-rated “Tier 1” curriculum or used materials from rigorously vetted sources. In cases where there is yet to be a published high-quality Tier 1 curriculum, their teachers worked together, leveraging the state standards to design them. All of the curricula are now shared with teachers so they can customize them for their classes and students. CA’s teachers will use these curricula, no matter their classroom context. For now, while school is virtual, the structure of the day varies by campus, but every student will take four classes, with full class (synchronous) instruction and individual (asynchronous) learning time. There are also set-aside blocks for things like social emotional learning and advisory. “We are proud of the way in which we’re approaching distance learning,” Howse says. “There is a dense amount of training, conversations, and innovations happening. Without a doubt, this team is doing whatever it takes to make sure the needs of all students are met, even amidst COVID-19.”
Taking Care of Teachers and Teams For the start of the school year, all CA teachers will be working from home as students learn remotely. CA is also rolling out increased mental health supports for its staff. As schools begin this year remotely for students, Collegiate Academies made the choice to have their teachers work virtually, too. “At the start of the year,” says Howse, “teachers and support staff will work remotely delivering equitable and effective instruction. We know our teams can do their best work when they feel safe, supported and positioned to excel.” While CA takes care of its teachers physically in this way, they are also working to take care of the mental and emotional health of all of their team members. “Erin LaBostrie, our Director of Human Resources, surveyed our staff to understand the challenges our folks have faced in accessing mental health services,” says Soraya Verjee.
In response, CA in the coming weeks is rolling out content to teach employees how to use their new benefits app to connect to therapists and counselors (as well as other healthcare providers). The app, HealthJoy, allows team members to “chat” with a representative regarding their needs and get a list of options in their network that fit their criteria. For example, staff can use the chat to request therapists by specific criteria, like those who see clients after school hours or those who reflect specific identities.
WE KNOW OUR TEAMS CAN DO THEIR BEST WORK WHEN THEY FEEL SAFE, SUPPORTED AND POSITIONED TO EXCEL.
CA TEAM MEMBERS MEET OVER ZOOM TO LEARN SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES IN PREPARATION FOR DISTANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING
With so much pain and uncertainty in the world around us, CA’s students and staff are driven, hopeful, and determined. Teachers are launching into their virtual lessons. Students are logging onto Zoom, excited to learn and connect with their peers. Student government has even begun to hold meetings. Together, CA’s community is positive, creative, and committed to starting this school year off strong.
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High Quality Curriculum and Instruction
EATDRINK
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Validated Vals serves tacos and Mexican fare on Freret Street BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O CURECO PARTNERS Neal Boden-
heimer, Turk Dietrich, Matthew Kohnke and chef Fredo Nogueira originally contemplated turning a funky old Freret Street garage into a taco bar in 2015, long before “social distancing” was a thing. The restaurant opened in June in the middle of the pandemic, a bold move that, all things considered, is going great. Vals, named for a garage that once operated on the site, has plenty of outdoor space, offering diners well-crafted margaritas, spot-on street tacos and plenty of elbow room. Roll-up garage doors connect a spacious covered patio to a large bar and a small dining room, with only the handsome industrial bar not currently in use. “We originally opened with just a take-out window,” says Bodenheimer, who also is a founder of the nearby cocktail bar Cure. “We found that was problematic — people weren’t distancing. It wasn’t comfortable.” Now a host — often Dietrich — greets guests at the end of the restaurant’s walkway, lined on one side by faux grass. Diners are shown to a table, and there is some indoor seating available. The construction called for covered seating, approximately where the gas pumps used to be, and during the pandemic, there’s also tent-covered tables. Chef Nogueira, who’s also in charge of the kitchens at Cure and Cane & Table, is a partner in Vals. He spent about a year cumulatively in Mexico, and that research smartly informs his spare but terrific menu of Latininspired dishes. Divided into tacos and “not tacos” categories, he offers solid takes on Mexican street food. Diners circle what they want on the menu, sushi bar style, and place the paper in a slot on the table to signal the server they’ve completed their
order. Starter plates include very crunchy chips made by Mawi Tortillas. They come with a smoky tomato salsa with the slightest bit of heat or the mild cremosa green salsa made with avocado. Shrimp ceviche is bright with citrus and cilantro and is served with a wedge of lime and sliced avocado. Elotes, the grilled corn on the cob snack so popular in Mexico City, is outstanding, slathered with spicy mayo and dusted with chili for just the right balance of spice to make the sweet corn shine. A bowl of frijoles charros works magic on the simple pinto bean, adding bacon and chiles into the mix. The chef and his crew make nubby corn tortillas every day, and the toothsome corn discs set the stage for five different tacos, all priced at $3. Fans of Baja style will love the fried catfish taco, topped with slaw and pickled red onion salsa that packs plenty of heat. Crispy fried beef belly combines juicy meat with onions and cilantro. Nogueira’s carnitas taco tops shredded pork shoulder with salsa and queso fresco. Shredded chicken in green mole sauce has robust tomatillo flavor. Sweet potato tacos offer a well-balanced vegetarian option. The drinks menu focuses on agave spirits, with many special bottles gleaned from Cure’s shelves. “The magic in the barrels takes sometimes eight to 10 years to happen,” Bodenheimer says. “We were planning ahead so we’d have really good small-batch tequila and mezcal options.” Agave aficionados can see the evolving list by scanning a QR code on the drinks menu.
Vals
WHERE
4632 Freret St., (504) 356-0006; valsnola.com
WHEN
4 p.m.-10 p.m. daily
HOW
Email dining@gambitweekly.com
Bar food THE THREE NEW ORLEANS BARTENDERS who opened Pirogue’s
Whiskey Bayou in Arabi in 2016 could draw on decades of combined experience to start their own business. To get that business going
PR OV I D E D P H OTO F R O M L I S A M C C R AC K E N
Pirogue’s Whiskey Bayou serves Detroit-style thick-crust pizza.
P H OTO B Y C H ER Y L G ER B ER
Chef Fredo Nogueira serves tacos and Mexican dishes at Vals.
The drinks list also includes frozen seasonal margaritas, micheladas, beers and Mexican sodas. Bodenheimer and Kohnke opened the upscale cocktail lounge Cure in 2009. Bodenheimer and Nick Detrich later opened the rum-inspired restaurant and bar Cane & Table, where Dietrich worked as a bartender. Nogueira ran the kitchen. At Vals, he’s focusing on more casual food. “Fredo’s intention was never to reinvent the taco wheel,” Bodenheimer says. “It’s been done, what can you say? Our goal is to do what we do really well, to get it right. We trust Fredo so much, we just said do your thing and he nailed it.”
? WHAT
FORK CENTER
No reservations; online ordering available for takeout
CHECK IT OUT
Tacos and Mexican street food
again in the pandemic, however, they’ve had to expand their skill set to include restaurant operator. “We’re officially a restaurant, which is very strange for us bartenders,” said Muriel Altikriti, who runs Pirogue’s with Lisa McCracken and Kelly Sheeran. The bar has always had a kitchen, but they’ve always brought in others to run it. Now, back open with the skeleton crew, they’re giving it a go themselves, with Detroit-style pizza, fried chicken sandwiches and “Irish nachos” built on waffle fries. “We’re on a learning curve,” Altikriti says. “You have to go to tables, you can’t just shout at people from behind the bar, which is where we’re most comfortable anyway.” Adapting, however, is a necessity. At stake is whether Pirogue’s Whiskey Bayou can stay open, and many other local bars are now in the same boat. Bars across Louisiana are limited to takeout service and to-go drinks under an order from Gov. John Bel Edwards aimed at stemming spread of the coronavirus. A separate order from New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell goes further, prohibiting to-go drinks in a city famous for them and effectively closing bars citywide. But like Pirogue’s, some bars have been able to resume business after
EAT+DRINK area behind the Riverbend bar has been converted to a patio, with artificial turf, sunshades and a new mural. Some bars now open under these permits have always been known for food. The Beachcorner Bar & Grill is synonymous with burgers off the grill. After closing, then reopening for a stint with takeout, Beachcorner added a restaurant conditional permit and is serving those burgers again to customers around the tavern’s booths, while the takeout orders continue. “I feel so blessed that we were able to do this now,” said Gina Scala Perret, third-generation owner of the tavern. “Before it was just so depressing, not knowing what we were going to do, my people not making money. It’s made a huge difference for us.” — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMESPICAYUNE | THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE
Pizza and beer NOLA BREWING COMPANY ANNOUNCED it will open NOLA
Pizza Co. this fall. It will focus on New York-style pies. It will take over the taproom space used by McClure’s Barbecue, a spokesman confirmed. McClure’s Barbecue announced its closure in posts on social media
OPEN DAILY 7AM - 8PM
Validated Parking
Dine In Takeout Delivery
(504)523-9656 MothersRestaurant.net 401 Poydras St
SHANA TOVA! Rosh Hashanah begins Friday night September 18th!
LET US CATER YOUR HOLIDAY MEAL!
P H OTO B Y I A N M C N U LT Y/ T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E
Round Challah • Honey Cakes Full Menu available at www.koshercajun.com
NOLA Brewing Co. will serve pizza in its taproom.
in mid-July and is now looking for a new location. Neil McClure opened McClure’s Barbecue in 2013 on Magazine Street. He later expanded to the taproom at NOLA Brewing, and then closed the Magazine Street location. This year, the 11-year-old brewery released a series of hopped teas, which are available on draft in the taproom and in cans across the state. It also has made hand sanitizer during the pandemic. — WILL COVIELLO
3519 SEVERN Sun & Fri 10am - 3 pm Mon - Thurs 10am - 7 pm Closed Saturday www.koshercajun.com 504•888•2010
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getting “restaurant conditional” permits from the state Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. The permits essentially allow businesses licensed as bars to also operate as restaurants between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. As communities across the country struggle to control virus spread, bars have been a flashpoint for controversy. Public health officials name them as one of the riskiest settings, and over the summer many states that reopened bars closed them again as cases surged. The conditional permits and operating as a restaurant require bars to change. Table service is required, hours are limited and food is a must; but the bars can do business and hire back staff at a time when many bars have no avenue for reopening. Many of the bars now open in this fashion had been trying to get by in earlier phases of the pandemic response with takeout food alone. One is Mid-City Yacht Club, a corner joint nestled deep in its namesake neighborhood. Through each phase when it was allowed to operate, customers came by for takeout orders of crawfish fries and tuna melts. Now, the bar can seat them in its patio, where the TVs show basketball and each umbrella-topped table offers a little glimpse of normalcy between the beer pitchers and burger baskets. “We haven’t seen a lot of business, but that’s OK. It’s a lot of regulars coming by, wearing masks, taking this seriously, which is good,” co-owner Jeremy Sauer says. More than 200 bars statewide have obtained restaurant conditional permits since the pandemic began, according to state records. In New Orleans, the number of bars with these permits rose from less than a dozen to more than 40 in recent months. Stan Harris, president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, said his group is encouraging more bars to look at the option. “It keeps businesses operating, provides jobs and keeps generating sales tax revenue, which is all going to be very valuable as communities realize the extent of the revenue shortfall that this crisis is bringing,” Harris says. Many large patio bars received such permits to reopen, including Wrong Iron in Mid-City and the Tchoup Yard in Uptown, where outdoor tables facilitate mandated spacing requirements and set the stage for full table service. At Cooter Brown’s Tavern, in addition to the high-backed booths and indoor tables, a small parking
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EAT+DRINK
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3-COURSE INTERVIEW
SAINTS 2020 NEW ORLEANS
NFL PREVIEW ISSUE
Hoda Tahmasebi CHEF HODA TAHMASEBI GREW UP IN A PERSIAN FAMILY in Baton Rouge.
She discovered her passion for food while in New York and came back to New Orleans to enter the local restaurant industry, working her way to sous chef positions at Saba and Saffron NOLA. In the fall, she started her pop-up Persian Lime (@persian_lime on Instagram) to serve Persian food.
How did you discover your interest in food?
PROM OTE YOU R
Black + Gold Merchandise Game Day Food + Drink Specials Your Who Dat Spirit
CALL TODAY ISSUE DATE SEPTEMBER 8
To advertise call Sandy Stein at 504.483.3150 or email sandys@gambitweekly.com
HODA TAHMASEBI: I was in a medical field until (Hurricane) Katrina. My parents were trying to get me to go to medical school, but I ended up in occupational therapy school. I moved to New York, which is where my passion for food started. I missed my mom’s food, so I was always on the phone talking to her about Persian food. And I fell in love with Italian food in New York. I thought maybe I should go to school for this. I worked at Jacques-Imo’s to make enough money to go back to school at Delgado (Community College’s) culinary program. Out of school, I started working for the Besh [Restaurant] Group at Borgne. From Borgne, I went to Shaya, but left when the whole thing happened at Shaya and Alon was fired. I was there working with Alon and Zach Engel. I was the sous chef at Saffron for a year. When Alon opened Saba, I was the sous there. But working 80 hours a week was a lot, so I left and started doing pop-ups.
How would you describe Persian food? T: Persian food has a lot of tart flavors and sour flavors. The flavor profile is fresh and clean and there’s not too much spice. There’s saffron and a lot of turmeric. There’s a lot of citrus and fermented dried limes. We’ll pop that in a stew to give it earthy flavor. (Persian food is) green: parsley, mint, herbs and lot of fresh greens stewed down. The first dish I learned to cook was karafs, a chicken and celery stew. It’s not something you’d see on a Persian restaurant menu. It’s a
P H OTO PR OV I D E D B Y H O DA TA H M A S E B I
home cooking thing, a hearty stew. It reminds me of gumbo z’herbes. It’s like soul food to me. I also did tacheen, it’s like a baked rice cake with crispy rice. There’s meat like beef, chicken or lamb and rice, saffron and yogurt. You marinate meat with egg yolk, yogurt and saffron. You put that on the bottom and you invert it — like a cake mold. Then there’s tahdig. You almost burn the rice on the bottom (of the pot). It’s really buttery and crunchy. You’re cooking it enough to get a crust. Then you serve a stew on top. The main thing in Persian restaurants is kebabs. I bought a charcoal grill so I can do that when I can do pop-ups again. I’ll be outdoor grilling somewhere.
How is the pop-up working? T: I started it in November at Pearl Wine Co. and breweries like Miel (Brewery and Taproom). Since COVID, it’s been home delivery. I post a menu (on Instagram) on Monday and deliver food on Thursday. A friend is taking over a space in Marigny. She’s going to have stuff to go. I’ll have that karafs stew in quarts on the shelf there. I’d like to get in grocery stores eventually. The restaurant industry is too much. I don’t know if I want my own restaurant, but I do want to cook. A restaurant isn’t the only way to do food, especially here. Home cooking is a passion. — WILL COVIELLO
TO
Contact Will Coviello wcoviello@gambitweekly.com 504-483-3106 | FAX: 504-483-3159 C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S AT W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are in New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.
Notice: Due to COVID-19, dining at restaurants is impacted, with limited indoor seating and other recommended restrictions. All information is subject to change. Contact the restaurant to confirm service options.
BYWATER Luna Libre — 3600 St. Claude Ave., (504) 237-1284 — Roasted chicken enchiladas verde are filled with cheese, hand-rolled and served with special house-made cheese dip. The menu combines Tex-Mex and dishes from Louisiana and Arkansas. Curbside pickup is available. B Sat-Sun, D Wed-Sun. $
CBD 14 Parishes — Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave.; www.14parishes.com — Jamaicanstyle jerk chicken is served with two sides such as plantains, jasmine rice, cabbage or rice and peas. Delivery available. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D daily. $$ Eat Well — Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave.; www.pythianmarket.com — Phoritto is a spinach tortilla filled with brisket, chicken or tofu, plus bean sprouts, jalapenos, onions and basil and is served with a cup of broth. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D daily. $ Kais — Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (941) 481-9599; www.pythianmarket.com — A Sunshine bowl includes salmon, corn, mango, green onions, edamame, pickled ginger, ponzu spicy mayonnaise, cilantro, masago and nori strips. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D daily. $$ La Cocinita — Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (504) 309-5344; www.lacochinitafoodtruck.com — La Llanera is an arepa stuffed with carne asada, guasacasa, pico de gallo, grilled queso fresco and salsa verde. Curbside pickup and delivery available. B, L and D daily. $ Meribo Pizza — Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (504) 481-9599; www.meribopizza.com — A Meridionale pie is topped with pulled pork, chilies, ricotta, mozzarella, collard greens and red sauce. Delivery available. L and D daily. $$ Willie Mae’s — Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave.; www.williemaesnola.com — The Creole soul food restaurant is known for its fried chicken, red beans and more. Takeout available. L and D Mon-Sat. $
CARROLLTON/UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOODS Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; www.mikimotosushi. com — Sushi choices include new and old favorites, both raw and cooked. The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki,
B — breakfast L — lunch D — dinner late — late 24H — 24 hours
$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11 to $20 $$$ — $21 or more
avocado and snow crab. Takeout and delivery available. L Sun-Fri, D daily. $$ Pyramids Cafe — 3151 Calhoun St., (504) 861-9602 — Diners will find Mediterranean cuisine featuring such favorites as shawarma prepared on a rotisserie. Takeout and delivery available. L, D daily. $$
CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; www. breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. L, D daily. $
FAUBOURG MARIGNY Kebab — 2315 St. Claude Ave., (504) 383-4328; www.kebabnola.com — The sandwich shop offers doner kebabs and Belgian fries. A falafel sandwich comes with pickled cucumbers, arugula, spinach, red onions, beets, hummus and Spanish garlic sauce. No reservations. Takeout and delivery available Thu-Mon. $
HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; www.therivershacktavern.com — This bar and music spot offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; www.theospizza.com — There is a wide variety of specialty pies and diners can build their own from the selection of more than two-dozen toppings. The menu also includes salads and sandwiches. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D Tue-Sat. $
LAKEVIEW Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; www.lakeviewbrew.com — This casual cafe offers gourmet coffees and a wide range of pastries and desserts baked in house, plus a menu of specialty sandwiches and salads. For breakfast, an omelet is filled with marinated mushrooms, bacon, spinach and goat cheese. Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with melted Monterey Jack and shredded Parmesan cheeses. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. B, L daily. $ Lotus Bistro — 203 W. Harrison Ave., (504) 533-9879; www.lotusbistronola. com — A Mineko Iwasaki roll includes spicy snow crab, tuna, avocado and cucumber topped with salmon, chef’s sauce, masago, green onion and tempura
crunchy flakes. The menu also includes bento box lunches, teriyaki dishes, fried rice and more. Takeout and delivery are available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$
METAIRIE Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; www.andreasrestaurant.com — Chef/owner Andrea Apuzzo’s specialties include speckled trout royale which is topped with lump crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in light cream sauce. Curbside pickup and delivery are available. L, D daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 8882010; www.koshercajun.com — This New York-style deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available. L Sun-Thu, D Mon-Thu. $ Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing — 2035 Metairie Road, Metairie, (504) 832-8032; www.marktwainpizza.com — Mark Twain’s serves salads, po-boys and pies like the Italian pizza with salami, tomato, artichoke, sausage and basil. Takeout and curbside pickup are available. L Tue-Sat, D Tue-Sun. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; www.theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $
MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; www.angelobrocatoicecream.com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Window and curbside pickup. L, D Tue-Sun. $ Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar — 231 N. Carrollton Ave., Suite C, (504) 609-3871; www.brownbutterrestaurant. com — Sample items have included smoked brisket served with smoked apple barbecue sauce, Alabama white barbecue sauce, smoked heirloom beans and vinegar slaw. A Brunch burger features a brisket and short rib patty topped with bacon, brie, a fried egg, onion jam and arugula on a brioche bun. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. $$ Doson Noodle House — 135 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 309-7283; www.facebook. com/dosonnoodlehouse — Bun thit is Vietnamese-style grilled pork with cucumber, onions, lettuce, mint, cilantro and fish sauce served over rice or vermicelli. The menu includes rice and vermicelli dishes, pho, spring rolls and more. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. $$ Five Happiness — 3511 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 482-3935; www.fivehappiness. com — The large menu at Five Happiness offers a range of dishes from wonton soup to sizzling seafood combinations served on a hot plate to sizzling Go-Ba to lo mein dishes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; www.katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites at this Mid-City restaurant include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic, scallions and olive oil. There also
are salads, burgers and Italian dishes. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$ Nonna Mia — 3125 Esplanade Ave., (504) 948-1717; www.nonnamianola.com — A Divine Portobello appetizer includes chicken breast, spinach in creamy red pepper sauce and crostini. The menu also includes salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and more. Curbside pickup and delivery are available. Service daily. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; www.theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Willie Mae’s Scotch House — 2401 St. Ann St., (504) 822-9503; www.williemaesnola.com — This neighborhood restaurant is known for its wet-battered fried chicken. Green beans come with rice and gravy. There’s bread pudding for dessert. No reservations. L Mon-Fri. $$
NORTHSHORE Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; www.theospizza.com — See Harahan/ Jefferson section for restaurant description. $
UPTOWN Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 891-0997; www.joeyksrestaurant.com — This casual eatery serves fried seafood platters, salads, sandwiches and Creole favorites such as red beans and rice. Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; www.theospizza.com — See Harahan/ Jefferson section for restaurant description. $
WAREHOUSE DISTRICT Carmo — 527 Julia St., (504) 875-4132; www.cafecarmo.com — Carmo salad includes smoked ham, avocado, pineapple, almonds, cashews, raisins, cucumber, green pepper, rice, lettuce, cilantro and citrus mango vinaigrette. The menu includes dishes inspired by many tropical cuisines. Takeout and delivery are available. Mon-Sat. $$ Provisions Grab-n-Go Marketplace — Higgins Hotel, 500 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; www.higgingshotelnola. com — The coffeeshop serves salads, sandwiches, pastries and more. Takeout available. Service daily. $
WEST BANK Mosca’s — 4137 Hwy. 90 W., Westwego, (504) 436-8950; www.moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery has changed little since opening in 1946. Popular dishes include shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca, made with breadcrumps and Italian seasonings. Curbside pickup available. D Wed-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Specialty Italian Bistro — 2330 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna, (504) 391-1090; www.specialtyitalianbistro.com — The menu combines Old World Italian favorites and pizza. Chicken piccata is a paneed chicken breast topped with lemon-caper piccata sauce served with angel hair pasta, salad and garlic cheese bread. Takeout and delivery available. Service daily. $$
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MUSIC
the
R A L U P O P T S MO OF THE YEAR
New releases by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, SideBar and Nation of Gumbolia BY JAKE CLAPP
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‘Axiom’
Chief Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (Ropeadope / Stretch Music) Chief Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah has received acclaim in recent years for his “stretch music” — the New Orleans-based trumpeter’s concept of stretching jazz and absorbing similar African- and African-Americanrooted genres like West African percussion, Afro-Caribbean styles, hip-hop and brass band music. And it’s on his live albums listeners can hear Adjuah stretch the furthest, feeding off the energy of the crowd and his band. “Axiom,” out Aug. 28, is Adjuah’s third live album, recorded at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on March 10, right as the U.S. began hurtling into the pandemic era. The set captured on “Axiom” remains the group’s last show to date. Adjuah and his band perform fresh variations on material pulled from his prolific recent discography. Adjuah dedicates this performance of “The Last Chieftain” to Big Chiefs Donald Harrison Sr. and Jr., Adjuah’s grandfather and uncle respectively.
DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 18 ISSUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 29 CONTACT Sandy Stein TODAY! 504.483.3150 sstein@gambitweekly.com
‘SideBar Sessions, Vol. 2 & 3’
Various artists (Self-released) In July, I wrote about the first release in a new series of live albums launched by Mid-City jazz lounge SideBar. “SideBar Sessions, Vol. 1”
was a recording of a fantastic, intuitive set by The Extended Trio featuring saxophonist Brad Walker. I apparently jumped the gun and wrote about an album that still needed some polishing before its official release. The intended version is now available on Bandcamp along with volumes 2 and 3 of the SideBar sessions, equally impressive performances by New Orleans musicians in the bar’s small space. “SideBar Sessions, Vol. 2” is a duo performance by guitarist Mahmoud Chouki and drummer Johnny Vidacovich recorded in May 2019. The performance has an experimental feeling to it as the two master musicians flow between jazz, flamenco and other genres. Cellist Helen Gillet, drummer Jason Marsalis and trombonist Rick Trolsen performed together in February and that electrifying set is captured in Vol. 3.
‘File’
Nation of Gumbolia (Gumbolia Music) As Nation of Gumbolia, a group of Black Masking Indians from different tribes and musicians join forces to perform music that could only come from New Orleans. Performers on “File,” the group’s recent fulllength record, features longtime Preservation Hall Jazz Band drummer Joe Lastie, Eric Burt Sr. (bass and vocals), Leo Davis (flute and vocals), Jami “Ju Ju Child” Williams (guitar and vocals) and several others. The group breezes through old songs, like “Old Time Tradition” and “Lil Liza Jane” — here featuring Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. — more recent tunes like Anders Osborne and Monk Boudreaux’s “Dive in the Gumbo,” and originals. Vocalist 504 Detroit, the group Young Indians of the Nation and Chief Gerald Paige of the Great Spirit Warriors make guest appearances. The record is an adept mix of New Orleans rhythm and blues, funk and Mardi Gras Indian traditions.
MUSIC
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BY WILL COVIELLO THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL gave the
term “cubes” a local meaning. The release of the hour-by-hour, stage-by-stage schedule of the festival invites a lot of scrutiny and fussing. When the festival was canceled this year, WWOZ offered the virtual substitute “Festing in Place,” inviting people to celebrate remotely while listening to recordings of past Jazz Fest sets. The cube release brought the same rituals of joy and grief, as fans discussed the merits of chosen artists, and some grumbled about a few “TBA” slots: The announcement of a Bruce Springsteen set was delayed while the station confirmed it had the rights to air the music, says WWOZ director Beth Arroyo Utterback. For Labor Day, OZ is launching another seven days of Festing in Place, this time broadcasting archived shows and recordings over two weekends. The cubes were released Aug. 28, and OZ content director David Ankers drew from a wide array of artists, recording locations and decades. The cubes bend time as start times are approximate. He also has planned “secret sets” — or short interludes too brief to fit on the printed schedule. Programming features recordings from French Quarter Festival, the Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival and other events the station has broadcast live. There also are sets from local clubs, so while some fans can reminisce, others may get their first chance to hear a live show by James Booker at the Maple Leaf Bar or Professor Longhair at Tipitina’s. There also are vintage Tipitina’s shows by Parliament Funkadelic, the Wild Magnolias and Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indians. OZ is including encore presentations of two sets from the first Festing in Place. Stevie Wonder joined Ella Fitzgerald at the festival in 1977, and that legendary performance will run late in the morning Saturday, Sept. 5. The Fats Domino performance from 2001 also will be rebroadcast on Friday, Sept. 4. To unearth rare recordings, Ankers reached out to local organizations, including the New Orleans Jazz Museum and the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University, which
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WWOZ fans Fest in Place.
is directed by ethnomusicologist Melissa Weber, who OZ fans also know as DJ Soul Sister. She’s helped search its catalog of recordings. Rare recordings include Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet performing at the Municipal Auditorium in 1945. Another discovery came during Ankers’ review of tapes. He recognized Dr. John sitting in with Allen Toussaint during one of the radio station’s annual Piano Night fundraisers. That airs late afternoon Friday, Sept. 4. Recordings cover an array of local music, and there is plenty of music by past legends, such as Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, Louis Prima and singer and OZ personality Ernie K-Doe. There also are themed days and showcases, such as the focus on funk on Sept. 11 and a night of music by John Boutte, Lillian Boutte and Tricia Boutte on Labor Day. Kicking off events is the station’s annual Groove Gala, which is a free online event this year. Hosted by John Goodman and Norman Robinson, it features pre-recorded sets by Irma Thomas, Tank and the Bangas, Kermit Ruffins, Samantha Fish, John Boutte and others. There’s a patron party hour for sponsors and patrons at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. The Groove programming is at 7 p.m. and will be replayed through the night on the station’s YouTube page. The gala previews the station’s 40th anniversary. Beginning Oct. 26, OZ will begin a 40-day countdown with special programs daily until its birthday. Festing in Place runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Monday, Sept. 4-7, and Friday through Sunday, Sept. 11-13. Tune in to WWOZ 90.7 FM or wwoz.org.
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FILM
Film reviews BYWILL COVIELLO
Good Williams hunting
THROUGH DOZENS OF FILMS AND TV SHOWS and appearances, Robin
Williams was a bottomless well of energy and inspiration, which made his 2014 suicide at the age of 63 a mystery to many. Even his wife Susan Schneider Williams didn’t know about his underlying medical condition until after his death. “Robin’s Wish” is an intimate look at his final years, as he slowly succumbed to Lewy body dementia, a degenerative brain disorder with no cure. While on the sets of “A Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” and the TV show “The Crazy Ones,” Williams told people he didn’t feel like himself. One of
P H OTO PR OV I D E D B Y V ER T I C A L E N T ER TA I N M E N T
his hands occasionally shook, but doctors only could tell him that he didn’t have Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases, and he wasn’t schizophrenic. The documentary explains what happened to him, mostly through the eyes of those closest to him, but also with behind the scenes and interview footage from Williams’ final years. Susan Williams, actors, comedians, friends, neighbors and others describe his talents and what they started to notice about him. Lewy body dementia isn’t well known, and it’s not easy to identify as it spawns many changes in perception, memory and motor skills. In an old interview, Williams says, “I don’t have an act, just a cesspool of consciousness.” Williams was known to change even the most scripted and controlled film projects with spontaneous improvisations. In an old studio clip, Williams can
barely slow down while unleashing impromptu lines for the Genie in the animated film “Aladdin.” On the set of the final “Night at the Museum,” he had trouble remembering lines and sought reassurance, slowly losing confidence and awareness. Williams was a familiar face around his community in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. He was an avid cyclist, and up until close to his death he dropped into a comedy club in Mill Valley on most Tuesday nights to do a couple of hours of improv after the scheduled shows. But even there he started to get nervous about going onstage. Doctors and scientists describe the way Lewy body dementia is caused by protein deposits in various regions of the brain and discuss the connection of neuroscience and psychology. The film doesn’t say much about it, but Susan Williams became an advocate for treatment and diagnosis of brain disorders. That leaves open a question about why the film doesn’t discuss the prevalence of the disease, or how it impacts people without the abundance of personal and material support available to Williams, though it is ultimately about him and not the disease. It also goes unquestioned why Williams continued to work on “Night at the Museum” when he was struggling. In hindsight, nothing could have helped him, but director Shawn Levy’s praise of Williams “pushing through” seems like it was better for the film company than Williams. There isn’t much of a bio of Williams, but the film glosses over early projects like “Dead Poets Society.” It more pointedly revisits his friendship with actor Christopher Reeve and their time together at Juilliard in New York, where Williams went to pursue an acting career. There he improvised raunchy lines in iambic pentameter when playing in Shakespeare productions. The friendship with Reeve broaches the subject of dealing with severe physical impairment, and there also are clips of Williams on USO tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, talking with wounded soldiers. It gives the film a window for Williams to address fear and self-confidence. “Robin’s Wish” is a fascinating and compassionate look at Williams’ difficult departure and the creeping awareness of it for him and Susan and friends. “Robin’s Wish” runs at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge through Sept. 3.
In transition IN BRAZILIAN-BORN FILMMAKER
Flavio Alves’ “The Garden Left Behind,” Tina Carrera has worked hard to build a life for herself and her grandmother Eliana in the Bronx, but nothing is easy for her. They’re undocumented immigrants, so Tina has to get fake identification papers when she
the hormonal treatments she wants to begin. Her boyfriend is becoming distant, and it’s unclear if he doesn’t want her to change or wants Tina to keep their relationship hidden. Tina can’t walk in the streets of New York without risking unwanted attention, and the drama builds slowly as she negotiates a world of uncertainty. Her grandmother is happy to celebrate Tina’s birthday with her transgender friends, but she’s still trying to understand Tina. It’s a heartbreaking drama that captures Tina’s desire to live her life as she wishes. “The Garden Left Behind” opens Sept. 4 at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge.
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gets a second job. She sneaks her boyfriend into their apartment late at night when Eliana is asleep, and she wonders whether he’s reluctant to be seen with her in public. Her friends are organizing protests over the police killing of a transgender woman named Rosie, and she joins the group. Tina also is transgender, and she’s trying to scrape together enough money to pay for medical treatment to begin hormone therapy. “The Garden Left Behind” won the Audience Award at the SXSW film festival in 2019 as well as awards at other festivals. It’s polished despite working with a small budget built through crowdfunding. It’s candid but not graphic about sexuality, and some of it is in Spanish with English subtitles. Among the familiar faces in the cast are Ed Asner, a candid and only slightly gruff therapist, and Michael Madsen, who starred in “Thelma and Louise” and many Quentin Tarantino films. Carlie Guevara stars at Tina, and all transgender characters are played by transgender actors. The film’s title refers to a family garden in Tina and Eliana’s home in Mexico, before they came to New York, and at times they wonder if they should return. Tina wants to stay, and she balances confidence and frustration. She’s not struggling with her identity, but she has no idea how to afford
by George Wein, who created the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954. In 1958, Bert Stern filmed the Newport festival, capturing performances by Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Chuck Berry, Mahalia Jackson and many others in a landmark concert movie, “Jazz on a Summer’s Day.” A 4K remastered version with vibrant color was released recently. The festival at Newport, Rhode Island (it was held in New York for a period) was always a bit stuffier than Jazz Fest. It takes place at Fort
P H OTO PR OV I D E D B Y K I N O LO R B ER
Adams State Park on a peninsula surrounded by yachts and mansions. Many in the crowds in Stern’s film look dressed for a society party and they sit in neat rows of chairs. But the music in the film is great and it’s an entertaining look back. Louis Armstrong performs with his All-Stars, including Jack Teagarden. There also are performances by Dinah Washington, Anita O’Day, Chico Hamilton and others. It screens at Zeitgeist and The Broad Theater and also is available for online viewing via links from both theaters.
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ACROSS 1 Inexpensive 8 Nazarethâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ancient locale 15 Carbo-loading food 20 Conditionally free prisoner 21 Ram into from behind 22 Voices below mezzos 23 Pooch in a Texas city? 25 Vegas machines 26 Certain snake 27 Employ 28 Margarine, quaintly 30 Eight in front? 31 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; -brainerâ&#x20AC;? 33 Lock opener in an Oklahoma city?
38 Display stand for curios 42 Marked, as on a ballot 43 Toothy tool 44 See 56-Across 45 Young lady in a California city? 50 Song satirist Tom 52 Stroll along 53 Aegean, e.g. 54 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shrek!â&#x20AC;? writer William 56 With 44-Across, â&#x20AC;&#x153;In all probability ...â&#x20AC;? 57 Cake alternative 58 Cake levels 60 Subway in a Duke Ellington title 63 West of film 64 Long seat in a
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Kansas city? 70 Year-by-year records 72 AFL- â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 73 Poohâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mopey pal 74 Band gig in an Arkansas city? 81 Playfully shy 82 Hispanic woman 83 Lines on street maps 84 Platoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tâ&#x20AC;? 85 â&#x20AC;&#x153;M*A*S*Hâ&#x20AC;? co-star 88 Microbe-filled 91 Municipal law: Abbr. 92 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Carlo 94 â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Far Sideâ&#x20AC;? cartoonist Gary 97 Opening for light in a Wisconsin city?
DOWN 1 Links gp. for women 2 Sculling tools 3 Prepare a gift 4 Cheat 5 Aged 6 Chain of cosmetics stores 7 Actress Garr 8 Rosey of the 1960s Rams 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Lingus (Irish carrier) 10 Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chou En- â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 11 Angry feeling 12 Strung along 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Gay (warplane) 14 Yard tools 15 Fathers 16 Sign off on 17 Actress Channing 18 Walked unsteadily 19 Ore analysts 24 Wall St. opportunist 29 Of speech 31 Light-footed 32 Campbell of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Screamâ&#x20AC;? films 34 Acne care brand 35 Ale barrels 36 Emend 37 Pile up debt 38 That, to Lucia
39 Orchestral drums 40 Surrounding, as sound 41 Cow on milk cartons 46 Lustful look 47 Noble Brit 48 Get, as profit 49 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; fire under (roused) 51 Sweetums 55 Fidoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s threat 58 Boob tube 59 Large bag 61 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nineâ&#x20AC;? Tony nominee Karen 62 Cynical reply 63 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; de mer 64 Earthen pot 65 Actor Cage, to pals 66 Entryway 67 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not possibleâ&#x20AC;? 68 Toasted bread cube 69 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yo!â&#x20AC;? 71 Map source 75 Highway semi 76 Blood type, for short 77 Vocalist Vikki 78 Net tyro 79 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fameâ&#x20AC;? singer Irene 80 Singers Arnold and Grant 84 Moderately muscular 85 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Great Jewish Joke Bookâ&#x20AC;? writer
ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRS
86 Body of water off Buffalo 87 Get closer, quaintly 89 Kittyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call 90 Yearnings 92 Act silently 93 Fleecy female 95 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well well!â&#x20AC;? 96 Dweeby sort 98 11th mo. 99 Vocabulary 102 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Enough!â&#x20AC;? 106 Tough puzzle 107 Opposite of 104-Across 108 Actresses Stone and Watson 109 Off the ground 110 Omaha loc. 115 Get closer 116 Between the sheets, say 117 Mandolin kin 118 Love god 120 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tarzanâ&#x20AC;? star Ron 122 Fruit stone 123 Major fuss 124 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; -TURN (street sign) 125 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; -Magnon man 126 That woman
ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PUZZLE: P 25
PUZZLES
100 Alias letters 101 â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;&#x201D; So Fineâ&#x20AC;? (1963 #1 hit) 103 Singer Yoko 104 Anybody 105 Boxy vehicle in a Virginia city? 111 Scarlet, e.g. 112 Casino game with 80 balls 113 Ruinous end 114 Banks do it 116 Cooked in the style of 119 Maya Angelouâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Still â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;? 121 Sluggard in a Florida city? 127 Dr. Watson player Bruce 128 As a help to 129 Sign off on 130 Disney Hall architect Frank 131 Try 132 Arrange in a different way
GARDEN DISTRICT OFFICE 2016 & 2017
27 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > S E P T E M B E R 1 - 7 > 2 0 2 0
HISTORICAL 7TH WARD
Lot 46: Chanel Black and Gold Brocade Evening Bag, c. 1990, Serial # 1867994, H.- 5 in., W.- 7 in., D.- 21 in., with original box and papers. Est. $1,000-$1,500
Lot 42: Hermes Victoria Brown Clemence Leather Cabas Shopper, H.- 13 in., W.- 14 1/4 in., D.- 4 1/2 in. Est. $1,500-$2,500 Lot 15: Louis Vuitton Marco Wallet, with dual bill compartments, four card slots and a single interior snap compartment, H.- 4 in., Closed W.- 4 in., Open W.- 8 in. Est. $250-$450
IMPORTANT SEPTEMBER ESTATES AUCTION Friday, Sept. 11th - Sunday, Sept 13th
COUTURE & FINE ESTATE JEWELRY
Lot 711: Lady’s Platinum Dinner Ring, with a 1.9 carat emerald, total diamond wt.- 1.33 cts, size 6 3/4, with appraisal. Est. $3,500-$4,500
BEGINNING FRIDAY, SEPT 11TH @ 1PM Lots 1 - 200
Lot 20: Prada Tessuto Stampato Shopper Tote, Serial # B4696F, H.- 14 in., W.- 16 in., D.- 5 1/2 in. Est. $800-$1,200
Full color catalog available at:
www.crescentcityauctiongallery.com
Lot 595: Pair of 14K White Gold Diamond Stud Earrings, each with a 1.25 carat round diamond, total diamond wt.- 2.5 cts., with appraisal. Est. $4,000-$6,000
Lot 286: Lady’s Platinum Eternity Band, Lot 381: Lady’s 18K Yellow Gold Dinner Ring, mounted with 24 channel set round diamonds, total diamond accent wt.- .29 cts., total diamond weight.- 1.68 cts., size 6. size 6 1/4, with appraisal. Est. $1,500-$2,000 Est. $4,000-$6,000
Lot 293: Mexican Sterling Silver and Enamel Snake Form Link Necklace, 20th c., #5554, by Margo of Taxco, L.- 16 1/2 in. Est. $500-$1,000
Lot 52: Pair of Limited Edition Safilo Sunglasses, inspired by Peggy Guggenheim, H.- 2 1/2 in., W.- 6 in. Note: inspired by her vast art collection and modeled off a similar pair Peggy wore in the 1960s. Est. $250-$450
Lot 811: Graduated Strand of 29 Gray Tahitian Cultured Pearls, ranging from 13-15mm, with a 14K white gold ball clasp, L.- 17 in. Est. $2,000-$3,000
Lot 9: Chanel Red Lambskin Leather Chain Bag, H.- 4 in., W.- 8 in., D.- 3 1/4 in. $1,500-$2,500
WATCH AND BID LIVE ONLINE FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME! Lot 54: Oscar de la Renta Embroidered Silk Coat, c. 2000, from Saks Fifth Ave., with two front pockets and a back center split, size 8. Est. $300-$500
Crescent City Auction Gallery, LLC
Lot 45: Chanel Purple Caviar Leather Wallet Purse, c. 2000, with a gold tone chain strap, Serial # 6678094, H.- 5 in., W.- 7 1/2 in., Chain L.- 24 in., with authenticity card and original box. Provenance: from the Estate of Mary Ferry Bigelow, New Orleans, Louisiana. Est. $600-$900
1330 St.Charles Ave, New Orleans, La 70130 504-529-5057 • fax 504-529-6057 info@crescentcityauctiongallery.com 25% Buyers Premium For a complete catalog, visit our website at: www.crescentcityauctiongallery.com LA Auc Lic AB-411, 1354, 1529
Lot 7: Louis Vuitton Hunter Green Leather Taiga Serviette Briefcase, H.- 10 3/4 in., W.- 15 in., D.- 2 1/4 in. Est. $600-$900
Lot 41: Chanel White Caviar Quilted Leather Shoulder Bag, c. 1985, with gold tone chain-link woven leather double straps, Serial # 0222291, H.- 9 1/4 in., W.- 11 1/4 in., D.- 3 1/4 in. Est. $3,000-$5,000