Gambit: 40 under 40 2021 by Gambit New Orleans

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With the outbreak of COVID-19, we have moved our adoption process to appointment only. Fill out the adoption application on our website, www.la-spca.org, and a staff member will call you back within 24 hours to schedule your appointment.

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Summer BOUQUETS

CONTENTS

JULY 27 — AUGUST 2 , 2021 VOLUME 42 || NUMBER 30 NEWS

OPENING GAMBIT 7

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COMMENTARY 9 CLANCY DUBOS

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN 13 FEATURES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 5

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The championship speller, activists, entreprenuers and more making New Orleans a better place

STAFF EDITORIAL

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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 2021 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

On the record

Leigh Harris Memorial Concert

Satchmo Summerfest brings live music to the Jazz Museum

A HOST OF NEW ORLEANS MUSICIANS ARE GETTING TOGETHER AT TIPITINA’S ON SATURDAY, July 31, to remember Leigh “Little Queenie” Harris with a set of Lil’ Queenie & The Percolators tunes. The charismatic singer died of cancer in September 2019 at the age of 65. The concert will feature original Percolators bassist John Meunier, members of Bonerama, The Pfister Sisters, Debbie Davis, Alison Young, Papa Mali, John Mooney, Phil deGruy and many more. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, and organizers are encouraging donations to the organization in Harris’ name. The memorial concert starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 at tipitinas.com.

BY WILL COVIELLO LOUIS ARMSTRONG WAS NOT A FAN OF PANDEMIC SHUTDOWNS OF MUSIC VENUES.

The Spanish flu pandemic swept the globe in the years before he left New Orleans for Chicago. He left a brief account of coping with that pandemic, which had prompted health precautions similar to what we have today. “There was a very serious sickness spreading around New Orleans called the Flu … Everybody was down with it … Everybody except me,” he wrote, crediting himself with his health regimen. “Anyway, just when the Government was about to let crowds congregate again, they clamped down, tighter than ever before … with everybody around me suffering from the Flu, I had to work and also play the part of a doctor to everyone in my family and friends of my neighborhood … which if I have to say it myself, I did a good job in curing them.” Armstrong likely did cheer up his friends. He had a reputation for his generosity. Ricky Riccardi, author of two books about Armstrong and the archivist at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York, posted that note from Armstrong on social media last summer. This summer, he’s returning to New Orleans and the Satchmo Summerfest with more rare music and video clips to share in the seminar side of the festival. There’s also music on outdoor stages at the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Saturday, July 31, and Sunday, August 1. This summer marks the 50th anniversary of Armstrong’s death, and Riccardi will discuss the dramatic last year of Armstrong’s life in a seminar at 4 p.m. Sunday. He’ll screen rare TV interview clips of Armstrong with David Frost and Dick Cavett and talk about Armstrong’s last bid for another big comeback. “The end of Louis Armstrong’s life is like a movie,” Riccardi says. “He gets very sick in 1969 and ends up in intensive care. He goes back home and the doctors tell him to stop playing, but he’s like Rocky Balboa: He practices every day … He does two weeks at the Waldorf (Astoria) in March of 1971 and has a major heart attack. He comes home in May of ’71 and that’s where we pick up the story. In the last eight weeks of his life, he writes letters, he

begins playing the trumpet again. He does photoshoots. He makes about 20 or 30 reel-to-reel tapes almost exclusively made up of his own music. It’s the wildest thing.” Riccardi also leads seminars on other parts of Armstrong’s life and career. He’ll play extra clips from his work on Mosaic Records’ box set, “The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-66” (1 p.m. Saturday). He and Maxine Gordon will talk about Armstrong traveling in the South with an integrated band in 1952 (1 p.m. Sunday). Riccardi also will discuss Armstrong’s big band years at 4 p.m. Saturday. Riccardi’s second book, “Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong,” was released to critical acclaim last year. Other sessions feature NPR “Music Inside Out” host Gwen Thompkins in conversation with Adonis Rose (3 p.m. Sunday), and Kid Ory biographer John McCusker will talk about connections between Armstrong and Ory at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Roots of Music band opens the festival at the Barracks Street entrance to the grounds at 11:15 a.m. Saturday. That day’s lineup features trumpeters James Andrews and Wendell Brunious, Charmaine Neville, the Original Pinettes Brass Band, Robin Barnes & The Fiyabirds and more. Sunday’s lineup includes Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Singers, Hot 8 Brass Band, Shannon Powell’s Traditional All-Star Band, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, Treme Brass Band, Doreen’s Jazz and more. Music stages are set up on the Esplanade Avenue and Barracks Street sides of the museum. Seminars take place in a third-floor auditorium, and there is an overflow room for simulcast viewing on the first floor. Masks are required indoors. Festival admission includes

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Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers perform at the Satchmo Fest.

access to exhibits, but festival admission is capped as a Covid precaution. Tickets are available in advance for $7 and will be $10 at the gate. The New Orleans Musicians Clinic and Assistance Fund will hand out musician care kits at the festival. Riccardi also will attend the Friday night festival gala aboard the Riverboat Louis Armstrong. He’ll discuss his book “Heart Full of Rhythm” with Gordon at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 29, at Octavia Books. Armstrong was a prolific letter writer and throughout his life he documented his experiences in scrapbooks and recordings. During the pandemic, Riccardi and the Armstrong House posted a trove of digitized content, especially photos, on the museum website. Riccardi shared an anecdote from one of his bandmember’s daughters about Armstrong’s awareness of his legacy. “Anytime Armstrong came to Chicago, his old fans and friends would show up at his hotel,” Riccardi says. “They knew he was a soft touch. So they’d wait for him outside the elevator. He would walk out, and they’d be like ‘Hey, Pops, I haven’t worked in two weeks. I can’t catch a break,’ and he’d hand out $50 bills, $100 bills. Word got back to his manager, Joe Glaser, who hit the ceiling. He was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re going to give away all your money.’ Louis responded, ‘Man, I don’t care about money. They’re going to write about me in the history books one day.’ ” Visit satchmosummerfest.org for festival schedule and details.

BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet CAJUN STALWARTS BEAUSOLEIL CONCLUDE THE LOUISIANA CAJUN-ZYDECO FESTIVAL SERIES on Saturday. Dikki Du & the Zydeco Krewe perform on Friday. Shows are outdoors at 7 p.m. each night at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center at 1225 N. Rampart St. Food and drink vendors will be on site. Visit jazzandheritage.org. for information.

MidCitizen & GLBL WRMNG Pop-up ARTIST MANAGEMENT GROUP MIDCITIZEN AND HIP-HOP COLLECTIVE GLBL WRMNG are teaming up for a merch pop-up shop to help give New Orleans artists a boost. The pop-up shop, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 31, at d.b.a. on Frenchmen Street, will sell merch from Big Freedia, Cha Wa, Tank and the Bangas, Sweet Crude, Alfred Banks, Dominic Scott, LeTrainiump, Pell, Shaggadelic and others. There also will be a selection of clothes from the closets of participating musicians. Big Freedia and Tank and the Bangas will be around 2-4 p.m. for a meet and greet, and DJ Juane Jordan will provide music. Find more information on Instagram, @midcitizen.

Goddamn Gallows THE GODDAMN GALLOWS MET YEARS AGO IN A RUST BELT FLOPHOUSE and decided to collectively embark on a cross-country jourPAGE 53

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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N E W

O R L E A N S

N E W S

V I E W S

Mayor Cantrell really has that ‘fine, I’ll take my ball and go home’ type energy

# The Count

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down

Donald Harrison Jr., the New

Orleans-born saxophonist and composer, was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of its 2022 class. The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship is reserved for living legends and is considered the highest honor given to jazz artists in the U.S. It comes with a $25,000 award, and inductees will be celebrated in concert in March 2022. Bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer and educator Billy Hart and vocalist and guitarist Cassandra Wilson join Harrison as part of this year’s Jazz Masters class.

The number of “critters” it took to sneak into the Entergy substation and cause a shortcircuit that left more than 7,000 without electricity July 19.

P H OTO B Y T R AV I S S P R A D L I N G / T H E A DVO C AT E

Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, left, D-New Orleans, makes an impassioned plea for Senators to reject the override of the anti-transgender sports bill by Senate President Pro Tem Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton.

City Hall will use a $433,800

grant from the National Recreation and Park Association to help build up equitable park access in New Orleans. The funding will support the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families and New Orleans Recreation Development Commission in creating a citywide parks and recreation master plan, using input from a range of organizations and residents. The plan will include a strategy to build a “resilient park and recreation system accessible to all New Orleanians,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office says.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell told community organizers opposed to her plan to move City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium they have 90 days to come up with an alternative use proposal for the site — without the help of city resources, according to The Lens. This comes as Cantrell faces wide opposition to her plan, including from City Council members, who voted to block the development of any government offices in Armstrong Park for a year and to oversee the relocation of City Hall to any other site citywide.

Even a day later, 200 customers, mostly downtown businesses, remained without power. Officials claimed the culprit was a bird who flew into a transformer at the Derbigny substation. No single animal has disrupted the city’s main power supplier to that degree since an alleged cat got into a substation in 2018 and was tragically electrocuted. A second line for the misguided bird has not yet been announced.

Ban on trans women athletes dead following veto override failure LOUISIANA HOUSE MEMBERS FAILED TO RALLY THE 70 VOTES needed on

July 21 to override Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of a bill banning female transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The House vote was 68-30, meaning the bill will not become law. Overriding the veto would have required the vote of two-thirds of the members in both the House and the Senate. On July 20, the Senate voted 26-12 to override the veto — the exact number of votes it needed to cross the two-thirds threshold. The House vote, like the Senate, was extremely close, with lawmakers meeting at the last minute to try to garner votes for an override. Sen. Beth Mizell, a Franklinton Republican who filed the bill, has repeatedly said it was about making girls’ and women’s sports “fairer,” but LGBTQ advocates said the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s policies regarding transgender athletes are already so hard to meet that there aren’t any trans athletes playing at the high school level in the state to begin with. “This bill will not protect our girls. This bill will only further ostracize and alienate our state’s most vulnerable and marginalized children,” said Rep. Royce Duplessis, a New Orleans Democrat. “They’re not on a mission to dominate sports. They’re on a mission just to survive.” Even fervent supporters of the bill have been unable to name a single instance of transgender women or girls winning sports competitions in Louisiana but continue to frame women’s sports as “under attack.” “If we do not fix this problem, women will never win in sports in the future,” said Sen. Mike Fesi, a Houma Republican, on the Senate floor Tuesday. Fesi filed a bill earlier this year that would have required minors get written parental consent to access gender-related counseling, surgery and hormone treatments, but shelved the bill after major pushback. Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, a New Orleans Democrat, said Tuesday that some of her colleagues expressed concerns to her about the bill behind closed doors. PAGE 8

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OPENING GAMBIT PAGE 7

“There are many of you who I’ve had conversations with privately, and you tell me that ‘I know this isn’t a good bill, Karen. It’s really a bad bill,’ ” she said. “Your conscience tells you one thing, but you’re worried about political consequences.” Both the House and the Senate easily passed the bill this spring, despite strong and organized opposition from LGBTQ rights advocates and allies. Some business leaders also said they worried the bill would have affected the state’s ability to attract major sporting events. Mizell filed a similar bill last year but that effort was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the Senate vote as lawmakers were convening, transgender rights activists interrupted them, yelling slogans like “Hands off trans kids” and “Trans lives matter” in the balcony of the House chambers at the Capitol. Videos posted to social media, including by Rep. Mandie Landry, a New Orleans Democrat, show Capitol security forcibly removing at least five protesters from the balcony as they screamed in opposition. One of the protesters waved a transgender flag before being escorted off the balcony. “We are the most vulnerable population,” one protester said. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans also failed to override vetoes of a permitless concealed carry bill and two voter suppression measures, both authored by Sen. Heather Cloud. Unlike a number of southern and other Republican-controlled states which have enacted often draconian limits, Louisiana’s GOP has largely avoided efforts at sweeping voter rights changes. — KAYLEE POCHE

Queen Bee Zaila Avant-garde gets some fresh custom kicks Spelling bee legend Zaila Avantgarde is feeling the hometown love from head to toe. When the 14-year-old Harvey resident returned home from winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee, a drive-by parade wasn’t the only surprise waiting for her. Husband and wife duo Alisha Tinson Henry and Larry “Duce” Henry Jr., owners of custom clothing and shoe design business D&A Henry Designz, also had a pair of bright yellow shoes ready with her name on them — literally. The custom Nike Air Forces, created by Duce, are half yellow and half white with bees flying around the black checkmark. One shoe says Avant-garde’s name and “Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion,” while the other is emblazoned with her winning word “murraya” and “1st African American to win.”

Indeed, Avant-garde was the first African American to win the Scripps bee. The only other Black champion was Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998. Avant-garde was also the first Louisiana resident to win the bee. Much of the world discovered Avant-garde for the first time this month after hearing of her historic bee win — and equally impressive basketball prowess — but the Henrys had another connection to her. Alisha’s aunt Cassandra Wilson Howard lives next door to Avantgarde and is friends with her mother Alma Heard. When Alisha heard

P H OTO B Y H E AT H E R B I LL I S O N AC K E R / P R OV I D E D B Y A L I S H A T I N S O N H E N R Y

Larry “Duce” Henry, Zaila Avant-Garde and Alisha Tinson Henry pose with the custom kicks.

about Avant-garde’s big win, she knew she wanted to plan something special for her and got the idea for a drive-by parade. “I just told my aunt, ‘Well, we need to do something for her, maybe a little drive-by, something small with a few of my friends,’ ” she said. “And it just turned out to be bigger than what I expected.” Alisha estimates around 200 people showed up to celebrate Avant-garde, who showed up in a shirt Alisha designed for her special day. The Zulu Tramps were among that number and second-lined with her to an afterparty at the Woodmere Cafe in Harvey. After the parade, it was time to show Avant-garde the shoes, which Alisha said Duce spent all day and night working on to finish in time. “It actually took him all day,” she said. “He was up all night. He didn’t get no sleep. He went straight to work. He was trying to get it done.” But the work was worth it when they saw Avant-garde’s reaction. “She was very excited,” Alisha said. “She told my husband, she said, ‘You did those shoes? You made these?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ ” On Monday, the Henrys shared photos of Avant-garde with the shoes on Facebook and the post got nearly 400 shares on Facebook. “It was a pleasure honoring her with those shoes and T-shirts,” Alisha said. — KAYLEE POCHE

COMMENTARY

SOMETIMES, A SOCIETY MEASURES ITS PROGRESS by what it chooses

not to do. Such was the case last week when the Louisiana House upheld Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of legislation banning transgender girls from playing sports. It was a rare bit of good political news, and praise and credit are due to those who bravely opposed the bill. Trans activists, notably home-town hero Dylan Waguespack of True Colors United, did a remarkable job of educating and lobbying lawmakers to cast what for many were difficult votes. Democratic Rep. Royce Duplessis spoke eloquently against the veto override. Kenner Rep. Joe Stagni deserves singular credit: He was the only Republican to not only oppose the bill’s original passage but also to vote against the veto session and the veto override. The same can’t be said for New Orleans’ Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, who voted to override the veto even though many of her constituents work in, own or manage businesses in the hospitality industry, or may be trans themselves. Hilferty is the only House Republican with a significant Orleans Parish constituency (60% of her district is in the city), and hospitality leaders loudly opposed the override. Hilferty cast herself as a moderate Republican when she first ran in 2015 but since has turned out to be anything but. We hope her vote against the civil rights and economic interests of constituents won’t be forgotten by voters. There is a broader bit of good news to come out of the veto override session. Too often Louisiana and the South are cast as so enthralled by the forces of injustice and discrimination as to make meaningful change seem impossible. There’s some truth to that — the override barely lost and several members voted against it because it didn’t apply to trans men. But last week’s vote shows progress is possible. Like civil rights leaders decades ago, trans rights activists know we don’t live in a world where lawmakers will always be swayed by righteousness. Sometimes a coalition must include those motivated by the bottom line.

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In a rare bit of good political news, the Louisiana House upheld Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of the anti-trans sport bill.

In truth, guaranteeing everyone’s equality and human dignity can pay handsome dividends — something smart business leaders understand. There’s a reason Gay Days at Disney World has been around for three decades, despite boycotts by Christian hate groups. So it makes sense that business leaders opposed the override and made the broad economic case against it. That case goes well beyond the NCAA’s threat not to hold the Final Four here next year. Countless other conventions and events would have pulled out, and the state would have found itself branded as unwelcoming to anyone who supports equal rights for all. That this fight was necessary at all shows how much more work is needed. And in many cases businesses won’t be an ally in the fight for civil rights. But finding common ground for the common good will mean having odd bedfellows on occasion. Throughout our history, trans people have been at the forefront of the struggle to make this a more perfect union for us all. We hope this victory will mark a step toward making it a kinder, more equitable one for them.

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CLANCY DUBOS

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Da Winnas & Da Loozas: Overtime Edition HALL OF FAME NEW YORK YANKEE MANAGER YOGI BERRA famously

quipped, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” That’s certainly true of baseball, but it’s also true of politics — including (especially nowadays) the machinations of Louisiana legislative sessions. The Republican-dominated Legislature convened a historic, first-ever veto session on July 20 in high hopes of overriding several of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ vetoes following the annual session’s adjournment. In particular, they set their sights on reversing the governor’s rejection of an anti-transgender bill and a so-called “constitutional carry” bill. Both measures are part of the national GOP’s latest line of red-meat fundraising schemes. They excite the party’s hardline conservative base and force moderate Republicans to cast difficult votes on divisive issues (see commentary, page 9). In fairness, they also stir liberal Democrats into fundraising overdrive. At the close of my recap of the annual session last month, I predicted that the carnage wasn’t over yet. I had listed Edwards among the Loozas, but noted, “If he vetoes some of the controversial bills enacted by the GOP majority in the final days, will they convene a veto override session? And if they do, will they succeed? On that front he could yet become a Winna…” Lo and behold, Edwards has done exactly that. He played his hand skillfully, while his GOP adversaries overplayed their hand. Several others on my initial list of Winnas and Loozas moved from one side of that ledger to the other as a result of the veto session. Which brings us to my own first-ever overtime edition of Da Winnas and Da Loozas, starting with …

DA WINNAS 1. GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS — The governor always held the high moral and legal side of the argument on both bills that the GOP targeted for override. In the end, he also held the high political ground. He called the anti-transgender bill, which sought to prohibit trans women and girls from playing on female athletic teams, discriminatory and very likely unconstitutional. In opposing the “constitutional carry” measure, which would have allowed almost anyone to carry a concealed firearm with no training or permit, he noted that 80% of Louisiana voters favored keeping the present requirement for concealed carry permits and training. He also marshaled some of his longtime

allies in law enforcement to step forward and speak out against the bill. The state Senate voted (along party lines and with no votes to spare) to override him on the anti-trans bill, then failed to override his vetoes of other Senate bills. The next day, when the House fell two votes short of overriding Edwards on the anti-trans bill, his GOP foes threw in the towel. Advantage Edwards. 2. THE LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS — All Senate Dems voted to sustain the governor’s vetoes, including some who initially voted for the two targeted bills, and all but one House Dem followed suit. That was a remarkable — and highly effective — display of party unity, but it was the Black Caucus that led the way. 3. THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY — This is another initial Looza that wound up winning big. Particular credit goes to activist Dylan Waguespack of True Colors United, who stood tall and spoke loudly and effectively in educating citizens and prodding lawmakers to sustain Edwards’ veto of the antitrans bill.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards ended up coming out of the veto session a shiny Winna.

laurels. He was first out of the gate to call for a veto session and exuded confidence that the Lower Chamber would override, even though the GOP is two votes shy of a super-majority there. A more experienced politician would know that one underestimates a governor at one’s own peril. Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, kept his cards close to the vest, and looks a lot stronger for at least seeing the Upper Chamber vote to override the anti-trans bill. Schexnayder promised to try again next year, but, as in baseball, that’s what every coach says when his team loses the World Series. A year later, nobody remembers the runner-up.

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y C H A R L E S C H A M PAG N E

Dylan Waguespack, public policy and external affairs director at True Colors United and a co-founder of House of Tulip, is one of he trans activists who are lookin’ fresh wearin’ their Winnas Laurels.

4. NEW ORLEANS BUSINESS AND HOSPITALITY LEADERS — They took painfully long to coalesce around a message, but ultimately local business and hospitality leaders effectively warned lawmakers and the public about the dire economic consequences that would befall the city and state if the anti-trans bill became law. Which brings us to …

DA LOOZAS 1. HOUSE SPEAKER CLAY SCHEXNAYDER — The overtime period cost Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, his initial “Winna”

P H OTO B Y B R E T T D U K E / A P

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales is one of the biggest Loozas of the failed veto override session.

2. FAMILY FORUM — Rev. Gene Mills’ conservative Christian lobby is normally one of the strongest forces in the Legislature, and he went all-in for overriding Edwards’ veto of the antitrans bill. Along with Schexnayder, he fell short in the House. It was a close vote, but an inch is as good as a mile when you miss. 3. The NRA — Full disclosure: I’m an avid outdoorsman and hunter, but like responsible gun owners everywhere, I can’t understand why anyone in his

or her right mind would want to let every knucklehead with an attitude and anger management issues carry concealed firearms without a permit and training. Then again, the NRA doesn’t really care about safety, it cares about sales — as in firearms sales. Fortunately for law enforcement and innocent bystanders, enough lawmakers weren’t buying an override of Edwards’ veto of the so-called “constitutional carry” bill. 4. LABI — The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry was the biggest Winna after the annual session, but it literally sat on its hands and did nothing to oppose the anti-trans bill while the New Orleans business community carried the tiki torch (to use a metaphor favored by LABI prez Stephen Waguespack) against the measure. That was a shameful display of spinelessness on LABI’s part, particularly when the potential adverse economic fallout from the bill was so apparent. Leaders lead not just when it’s convenient; they stand tallest when it’s difficult. Till next year, the 2021 annual lege session is finally over. Wanna Learn More about Local and State Politics? Anyone interested in learning the ins and outs of local and state politics — from campaigns and elections to the sausage-making of governance — is invited to apply for membership in the 2021-22 class of the Loyola Institute of Politics. For half a century, the IOP has trained budding politicos and political aficionados in the fine (and sometimes dark) arts of successful campaigning and governing. Classes meet weekly beginning in the fall and continue into the spring. For more info and to apply, go to loyno. edu/iop. The deadline for applications is Aug. 9.

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BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™ Hey Blake, The Boh Bros. name is on construction and street projects all over town, but how many brothers are there? When did they first get into the construction business?

Dear reader, Arthur Boh founded the A.P. Boh Construction Co. — as Boh Bros. was initially known —in New Orleans in 1909. The company began as a residential construction firm, building four double houses on Banks Street in Mid-City as its first project. After World War I, Boh shifted to the municipal contracting business, building sidewalks, curbs and storm drains for the rapidly-expanding city. The company’s name changed to Boh Bros. in 1935, after Arthur’s brother Henry joined the business. The company also expanded into Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas. As the city’s footprint grew after World War II, Boh Bros. played a role in building nearly every major highway and bridge in the area, including the Pontchartrain Expressway, West Bank Expressway, Greater New Orleans Bridge (Crescent City Connection) and Interstate 10 High Rise. The company drove the pilings for the Superdome, while its subsidiary, Broadmoor LLC (created in 1973) renovated the facility after Hurricane Katrina, among many other high-profile projects. Speaking of Katrina, one of Boh Bros.’ proudest achievements was rebuilding the Interstate 10 Twin

P H OTO B Y J A M E S G U I LLOT / T H E T I M E S - P I C AYU N E

Robert Henry Boh (standing) and his father, Henry Boh.

Spans after Katrina decimated the bridge. Crews completed the work in just 28 days. The business remains family-owned and operated. Henry Boh’s son, Robert H. Boh, took over as president in 1967 and remained in the position until 1993. He continued to serve as chairman of the board until his death in 2017. His sons Robert S. Boh and Stephen H. Boh now lead the company. According to the company’s website, each year it completes an average of 150 projects all over the country. Recent work includes the new Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the safety shoulders on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

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theater? Vitascope Hall, located in the 600 block of Canal Street, opened 125 years ago this week. Motion pictures were still a novelty in 1896 when New York businessman William “Pop” Rock paid $2,500 to become the New Orleans distributor of the Vitascope film projector. Thomas Edison marketed the early projector, which was invented by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. Rock and his business partner, Walter Wainwright, first brought their Vitascope projector to the old West End resort and entertainment district, where they showed short films to large, enthusiastic crowds. After a month or so, the businessmen decided to relocate downtown. According to Times-Picayune movie critic Mike Scott, the two rented space in a former storehouse at the corner of Canal Street and Exchange Place, blacking out the windows with canvas and filling the place with 400 chairs. Their theater, Vitascope Hall, opened on July 26, 1896 and is widely recognized as the world’s first permanent, for-profit movie theater. It played movies daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission was ten cents. Vitascope Hall closed after just three months and Rock and Wainwright reverted to pop-up exhibitions. The former home of Vitascope Hall at 623 Canal St. has served as home to a number of businesses over the years. A historical marker was unveiled outside the building in 2019. The name Vitascope Hall lives on at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where a bar and restaurant (featuring huge TVs, but no movie screens) shares the theater’s name.

Visit bestofneworleans.com/vizzyvacay2021 for details. (Contest starts June 1st & ends September 6th. Winner will receive gift card valued at $1500)

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With community at the forefront,

New Orleans Business Alliance is leading the way toward economic recovery, one neighborhood at a time BY AMANDA MCELFRESH

amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

As part of an intentional and strategic response to meet the needs of vital communities during the pandemic, the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) and the City of New Orleans launched a joint program, the “RESILIENT CORRIDORS INITIATIVE,” in 2020. The transformational program provides much-needed ﬁnancial support to small businesses in Algiers, Gentilly, Gert Town, Hollygrove, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans East, and Tremé, ensuring their ability to continue operations through COVID-19 and continue to be anchors for future economic growth within these key neighborhoods. The Resilient Corridors Initiative also supports a variety of special projects that advance commercial revitalization efforts and build economic development capacity within the seven targeted neighborhoods. Businesses chosen to participate in the program received $5,000 in grant funding and customized technical support from a cadre of diverse experts and practitioners to help develop and implement strategies to sustain their presence through this period of economic downturn and recovery. “What we’ve always known at NOLABA, but further proved during this pandemic, is that the work of economic development cannot be based solely in the Central Business District,” said NOLABA’s Assistant Vice President of Strategic Neigh-

borhood Development Greg Lawson. “These seven critical corridors serve as the foundation for the unique culture of New Orleans but have been slowest to recover in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We cannot succeed as a city unless they do. Which is why we selected these neighborhoods as a focal point of this initiative and continue to prioritize and support them as part of our broader Strategic Neighborhood Development plan.” Through its newly-developed Strategic Neighborhood Development program, NOLABA has already created tremendous impact for New Orleanians, including: • Provided 40 scholarships to residents from various neighborhoods for a University of New Orleans’ Community Development Finance Course; • Facilitated multiple business associations along historic commercial corridors, including Claiborne Avenue, Earhart Boulevard, and Lake Forest Boulevard, to connect businesses to customers and support opportunities through networking and information-sharing. • Enabled neighborhood leaders to establish strategic blueprints for economic growth, by seating the Lower Ninth Ward Economic Development District, and providing more than 100 hours of technical assistance to Algiers Development District, New

Orleans Regional Business Park, Bio District, and Gentilly Development District. • Working with stakeholders in New Orleans East and Algiers on a multiyear creative placemaking initiative to expand public art. The plans include sculptures on Lake Forest Boulevard, a youth-driven mural series in Joe W. Brown Park in New Orleans East, and other works. In addition to these efforts, NOLABA has partnered with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) and several other community organizations to invest $100,000 in projects to advance commercial revitalization efforts and build capacity for economic growth. Through it all, Lawson said the input of neighborhood residents and business owners has been critical. Each project involves multiple charettes and engagement opportunities to gather ideas and feedback from the people directly involved in and affected by this work. Lawson continued, “Yes, we’re economic developers, but we never come in to any community as the know-it-all. New Orleans is a beautiful melting pot of neighborhoods, each with their own unique needs and cultural identity, and there is no one-size-ﬁts-all solution to meeting their needs. Community engagement is key to our success, from before a project starts to after it’s been

completed. That’s ingrained in all that we do at NOLABA.” With many in these neighborhoods still struggling to get back on track after unprecedented losses due to COVID-19, Lawson said NOLABA’s relationships and commitment to them have never been stronger. Earlier this year, the Business Alliance received a $400,000 EDA Sprint Challenge grant, allowing it to provide more than 600 hours of technical assistance to scale black-owned small businesses in the technology, biological innovation, and food manufacturing industries. Through increased collaboration with neighborhood organizations like the Lower Ninth Ward Economic Development District and Sankofa CDC, the organization is also helping to facilitate the implementation of the St. Claude Mainstreet project and expand creative placemaking strategies to revitalize the Lower Ninth Ward. And the work doesn’t stop there. “We have some big and exciting announcements in store for this summer around national partnerships in the technology and innovation space,” Lawson said. “It’s been a tough year across the board, but each challenge presented us with a new opportunity to engage with our community and create real and lasting impacts in the lives of our fellow New Orleanians. As a result, the future of our city has never been brighter.”

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Sternberg, Naccari & White emerges as pivotal legal resource for businesses BY AMANDA MCELFRESH

amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

When a fellow attendee at a New Orleans networking event told business lawyer Abid Hussain that he hoped he never “needed” to give Hussain a call, Hussain quipped that a lawyer is to growth what an accountant is to tax returns. You probably need advice before, not after, the trouble starts. Hussain is one of 15 lawyers at upstart boutique Sternberg Naccari & White, LLC. Founded in 2017, the firm is well-known for its burgeoning First Amendment and media practice, including representing Gambit and its sister publications. But helping businesses and individuals grow is what the firm is built around. An innovative approach and an enviable list of clients has led the firm to expand, and to offer extensive, cost-efficient services to clients across Louisiana, including general counsel, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, successions, bankruptcy, tax matters, business disputes and much more. “We can assist with serving a business from start to finish,” said SNW Partner Keith Naccari. “Several of our attorneys have MBAs and experience

with building and selling companies. We have a fairly good background with numbers as well, which I think makes us a little unique for law ﬁrms. It’s a good mix of people with a lot of expertise in different areas.” Scott Sternberg, the ﬁrm’s Managing Partner, said one of the most common problems he sees is a lack of planning, or failing to be proactive, especially in the early stages of a business problem. Communication between attorney and client has to be wide-open, or that attorney will always be reacting—and billing—for problems they have to help solve. SNW Partner Suzy Montero said she has handled two recent contract dispute cases in which parties signed lengthy agreements before consulting legal counsel. “They didn’t want to bring in a lawyer because they thought it would make them look like they didn’t trust the other parties,” Montero said. “They didn’t want their potential partners to think badly of them. But on the other side, there was a team of lawyers putting that agreement together.” Hussain added that bringing on an

attorney is not necessarily a sign of a negative relationship. “You can’t be afraid to get counsel,” he said. “It doesn’t mean things will be adversarial. If you go into an agreement without the proper education, there could be a real danger of signing away something valuable. It’s all about being preventative.” To help businesses and owners, SNW often uses a unique fee structure that is based more on results, not individual actions. The attorneys do not generally charge for brief phone consults, emails or texts, and encourage clients to stay in regular communication. The ﬁrm even has dedicated instant-message communication channels for some of its clients. The focus is always on results, and the endgame for the client. “Most law ﬁrms make money in lawyer time. We try to make money in lawyer product,” Sternberg said. “I never want somebody to hesitate picking up the phone to talk to me.” SNW operates differently in other ways as well. The use of technology such as Slack and video conferencing was common for them long before

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COVID-19 made it a necessity. Montero noted that the firm scans every document that comes through the door and shreds almost everything, reducing the need for large physical storage spaces. The firm also entrusts many of the administrative functions to a chief operating officer, Mary Hill, so that attorneys can focus on practicing law. “The way we work is completely different than any other law firm in Louisiana,” Sternberg said. “There isn’t a piece of technology we will not invest in. We like that when people think of us, they often think of us being young, punching above our weight class and being tech-forward. That’s going to continue to be what we do.”

Sternberg, Naccari & White LLC has ofﬁces in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. For more information, call 504-324-2141 or visit www.snw.law.

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BY MICHAELA BECHLER JAKE CLAPP WILL COVIELLO AMANDA MCELFRESH KAYLEE POCHE SARAH RAVITS JOHN STANTON DOMONIQUE TOLLIVER PHOTOS BY SOPHIA GERMER

TAHJ WILLIAMS, 23

MARDI GRAS INDIAN; TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER, MICROSOFT The way she sees it, Tahj Williams lives a double life. She’s masked with the Mardi Gras Indians since she was 9, and her stunning handmade suits recently earned her a spot in Jon Batiste’s “Freedom” music video, which dropped last month. But she also loves technology and starts as a support engineer at Microsoft in September. “I call myself Hannah Montana,” she says. Williams became interested in masking in 2008 after seeing a Mardi Gras Indian queen for the first time, which she says was like seeing “a unicorn” since she’d only seen men mask previously. As she got older, Williams worked her way up to mask as a queen in the Golden Eagles tribe. Over the years, she’s experimented with different suit styles outside of tradition, including wearing pants instead of the usual dresses women tend to wear. “Trying different things has really been my claim to fame,” she says. It didn’t come without pushback, but she says she stayed true to herself and eventually people came around. Williams says masking has taught her “confidence on a different level,” that has allowed her to embark on a new chapter in her life, as she heads to Houston for work and starts a solo art career, including creating her own luxury line. “I believe that if Beyonce was in the room I would be just as confident, and I really owe that to this culture,” she says. “That’s something I’m gonna take with me no matter where I go.” — KAYLEE POCHE

TIANA NOBILE, 33

POET; TEACHER, KID SMART & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF LOUISIANA

Award-winning poet Tiana Nobile recently published “Cleave,” a collection of poems about adoption, motherhood and identity. It explores her own experiences as a transnational adoptee, stories of international adoptions from Australia to Russia, and the literature of adoption. Nobile was born in South Korea and grew up with her adoptive family in New York. While attending Sarah Lawrence College, she came to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina to gut houses and help rebuild. Later, she moved here, earned a master’s degree in teaching at the University of New Orleans and spent 12 years as a lead teacher in Orleans Parish public schools. Her writing led to the 2017 publication of “Spirit of the Staircase,” a chapbook about responding

to racial stereotypes and slurs. She won a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award and was a Kundiman Fellow. A grant enabled her to visit South Korea, and she focused on her adoption experiences. “I always felt supported and loved but at the same time, I carried a deep sense of loss,” she says. Since earning an MFA, she’s engaged students in local classrooms as an arts integration specialist through KID smART and currently works on storytelling with third-graders at the International School of Louisiana. New Orleans has become her permanent home. “As an adoptee, ideas of home and belonging can be complicated,” Nobile says. “I grew up on Long Island and I never quite felt like I belonged there. Feeling embraced by New Orleans and setting down roots — finding community here — has been so significant for me, as an educator and as a person, and I am grateful to call it home.” — WILL COVIELLO PAGE 21

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BRITAIN FORSYTH, 26

CAMPAIGN STAFFER; ACTIVIST

Britain Forsyth originally thought counseling was their “definite calling,” but while in graduate school in Atlanta, they found themselves asking bigger picture questions about poverty and structural racism. “I was just constantly worried about how systemic issues were impacting people,” Forysth says. When Trump was elected, that was a turning point for them. They decided to move back to New Orleans and start their first political job: working on LaToya Cantrell’s 2017 mayoral campaign. “I got to know New Orleans in a way that I didn’t have the chance to before,” Forsyth says. “I got to have direct conversations with people from every neighborhood in the city and just talk about what matters to them.” They have since worked for many other local politicians, including Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer, state Rep. Mandie Landry and state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson. Forsyth also helped with the sex work decriminalization campaign at the Louisiana Legislature this year. Teaming up with Christine Breland Lobre and Lakeesha Harris from Women With A Vision and the worker-led Sex Workers Against Criminalization, Forsyth helped handle the logistics — organizing the press conference at the Capitol and preparing people to testify in front of the House committee. Though the measure did not pass, people testified for about three hours and many sex workers were able to share their stories at the Capitol for the first time. “The sooner we start that conversation anywhere in the country, the sooner we can get to full decriminalization for sex workers,” Forsyth says. — KAYLEE POCHE

NATE CAMERON JR., 37

EVENT CURATOR; CO-FOUNDER, GLBL WRMNG

For years Nate Cameron Jr. watched as other cities built their music “infrastructure” — not just the musicians but songwriters, publicists, graphic designers and others who help create strong, vibrant communities of artists — even as his native New Orleans lagged behind. Whether in Nashville while attending Tennessee State University or Atlanta following Hurricane Katrina, Cameron could see the importance of it all. And the lack of a homegrown network here in New Orleans was equally clear, thanks to his own work as a musician, a promoter through the company Them People Productions he and his wife Krystle Sims-Cameron run, and time on the board of the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans. “I was like, we’ve got to bring some of these ideas home, because we’ve got the cats that can perform. We’ve got creative minds and ideas in New Orleans like no other place,” Cameron says. So earlier this year, he and hip-hop artist Pell formed the music collective GLBL WRMNG made up of musicians and industry professionals. The goal, according to Cameron, is to meld the creative and business aspects of the industry and build up New Orleans’ music infrastructure over time. “I want to leave a place for my kid where if my kid wants to work in [the music] industry, there are more than just performing jobs or venue jobs,” Cameron says. — JAKE CLAPP

ALEX OWENS, 35 & DIANA TURNER, 35

CO-DIRECTORS, BE LOUD STUDIOS

Children across New Orleans are finding their voices with the help of 4.0 SCHOOLS Be Loud Studios, an independent nonprofit founded by Alex Owens and Diana Turner while the two were teachers at Bricolage Academy. Since 2018, Be Loud Studios has worked with hundreds of kids across the city encouraging confidence and creativity through radio and digital media. Be Loud produces its Radio Hour weekly, an FM broadcast on 102.3 WHIV. Their “Pass the Mic” fellowship provides teachers with the funding and equipment they needed to create audio content with the community. “We are so privileged to have the ability to do this project to work with youth across New Orleans,” they say. “It is rewarding to give kids a safe and meaningful opportunity to create content that reflects who they are and what they care about.” Be Loud Studios pivoted during the pandemic and started recording with a core group of middle school DJs, helping them set up studios at home where they could write, record and produce radio segments. They also started soliciting content from organizations and teachers from across the city. Owens and Turner recorded stories and interviews from 826 New Orleans and New Harmony High School, facilitating a broader network of youth storytellers across the city. “Be Loud works with these young DJs not to teach them creativity, but to amplify the creativity that is already within them,” Turner and Owens say. — MICHAELA BECHLER P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y

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Tim Kappel grew up with music, playing guitar in local bands as a teen before eventually attending Middle Tennessee State University where continued to play while studying music business. After college, he interned at SoundExchange in Washington, D.C., and in the Office of Music Development in New Orleans city government. Following Hurricane Katrina, he moved home and pursued a law degree at Loyola University. He wanted to represent artists and eventually started his own practice. In 2012, Big Freedia took a leap of faith and became his first big client. Now, he and his firm, Wells Kappel, represent many local performers, including Tank and the Bangas and Sweet Crude as well as artists from across the country. He’s always looking for new talent, and recently added LeTrainiump. “I tend to have WWOZ on in my house,” he says. “I heard something the other day and I took out my phone to Shazam it, and I see that it’s LeTrainiump and he’s from Mamou. It turns out people I know manage LeTrainiump. I told him I love his music. I want to be involved.” Kappel also teaches at Loyola University’s law school. He’s also active on behalf of musicians, advocating for them on issues including artist compensation from streaming platforms and recording artist compensation from broadcasting, as well as recording-related tax credits. He drafted the Allen Toussaint Legacy Act to help the families of deceased artists retain rights to their likeness, and will follow it through the legislature. — WILL COVIELLO

LAVEAU CONTRAIRE, 29

DRAG QUEEN; TEACHER, KID SMART

Where in the world is Laveau Contraire? Just about everywhere these days. The drag queen once described herself to Gambit as a “drag chameleon,” and she says the label “absolutely” still applies. She just did a virtual family-friendly drag queen story time at the New Orleans Public Library and will embark on an international tour in September with the not-as-family-friendly drag wrestling group Choke Hole. “The chameleon name continues as I find new and different ways to explore drag in my artistry,” she says. When the pandemic and its restrictions hit local performers hard, Contraire and fellow drag queen Tarah Cards created Cyber Distancing, a series of virtual drag and variety shows, to help performers pay the bills. Each show had around 13 performers and the series drew nearly 60 performers total, Contraire says. “That really got us through the pandemic,” she says. “It helped us find something to look forward to and something to work on instead of the constant fear and dread of the panorama.” Now, Contraire is working on Cyber Distancing Live, which will feature live performances with digital content by local queens playing in the background, and “Triple Threat,” a competition drag show where performers will compete to see who can make the most tips. On top of all that, she teaches children music through KID smART, a nonprofit that puts working artists in classrooms. But her ultimate goal? “I would love to bring the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ crown back to New Orleans,” she says. — KAYLEE POCHE

BELLA BLUE, 39

BURLESQUE PERFORMER AND PRODUCER Bella Blue describes sex work as healing work. You’ll hear sex workers talk about how engaging in their work “is what gave them access to healing, gave them access to autonomy over their bodies, gave them the confidence to figure out what their boundaries are and to exercise their boundaries,” she says. In turn, that allows sex workers to “hold space” for their clients, who might be themselves healing.

Blue, a New Orleans area native, has been a burlesque performer and show producer for close to 15 years — she was introduced to the art by Trixie Minx — and was headmistress of the New Orleans School of Burlesque, which has been on hiatus due to the pandemic. She also dances in clubs, books dominatrix sessions — and cuddle sessions for a softer experience — operates an OnlyFans account and teaches pole classes at Awakenings on Canal Street. As the pandemic took over last year, Blue decided to go back to school. She’s now studying American Sign Language and social work, and her goal is to incorporate all of those things together — she gives an example of recently dancing at a strip club and being able to sign to a group of deaf patrons. “I think in the future, what the work looks like is accessibility for one, and accessibility within the realm of sex work and social work and where those things intersect,” she says. — JAKE CLAPP

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JUSTIN REESE, 39

PARTNER, THE KING FIRM; CAST MEMBER, BRAVO’S “SOUTHERN CHARM NEW ORLEANS” New Orleans native Justin Reese says he’s been mentoring for more than half his life — going back to his college days when he was a flag football coach for 5- and 6-year-olds. Now a partner at The King Firm and an NFL Players Association certified registered agent, Reese is focused on giving back to New Orleans’ youth. He is a volunteer mentor at Son of a Saint, an organization that provides fatherless young boys with mentors and support. Reese says through his mentoring he wants to teach young men “respect and professionalism” as well as financial literacy. “I want to start teaching young people about finances and entrepreneurship, so they see that there are other ways to build generational wealth and diversify their money,” Reese says. Reese says his mother inspired his desire to be involved in the community, as she volunteered them to feed the homeless during Thanksgiving and participate in community service events. “My mother is one of the most caring and giving individuals I know,” Reese says. “She taught us that when you’ve been blessed you have a responsibility to give back to others.” — DOMONIQUE TOLLIVER

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LEGAL DIRECTOR, INNOCENCE PROJECT NEW ORLEANS When Richard Davis took a gap year to do volunteer work, he signed up for a fourmonth internship with Innocence Project New Orleans. Davis had recently earned his bachelor’s in law from the University of Sheffield in his native England and was looking to do hands-on legal work. That was 16 years ago. “It turned out to be a really good fit and I kept finding ways to stay,” Davis says. “I eventually went to Loyola for a year for my master’s and took the bar exam to be an attorney in Louisiana.” Davis is now the IPNO legal director, where he works with other staff to help release wrongfully convicted individuals from prison. Seeing someone walk free, often after years behind bars, is rewarding for Davis. But he is even more buoyed by the gratitude shown when IPNO takes a case. “Our clients have often been treated as disposable or unimportant,” he says. “When we work on their case, the innocent person has some power in the situation because they have the help they need.” Davis says the opportunity to do such work in New Orleans is an added bonus. “It’s an old city by American standards and the architecture here makes it one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” he says. “It’s also a city that has traditionally been accepting of all people, some of whom are not always accepted in other places. I really like that aspect of living here.” — AMANDA MCELFRESH

ZAILA AVANT-GARDE, 14

CHAMPION, SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE; BASKETBALL WORLD RECORD HOLDER; G.O.A.T. There might be something Zaila Avant-garde can’t master, but we haven’t found it yet. The 14-yearold from Harvey became an overnight sensation to much of the world after she became the first Black American and first Louisianan to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee this month. She earned congratulations from President Joe Biden, the Obamas and Golden State Warriors player Steph Curry, as well as several scholarship offers to Louisiana colleges. Plus, confetti, bees and her P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y Z A I L A AVA N T- G A R D E winning word, “murraya,” pop up when you Google her name. But Avant-garde was stacking up the accolades well before her Scripps victory. She holds three dribbling-related Guinness World Records, performed with the Harlem Globetrotters, and was in a shoe commercial with Curry — which she describes as feeling “like running in Jell-O” because she was so excited. Above all, Avant-garde has a love of learning second-to-none. She estimates she’s read more than 1,000 books, of which her father keeps a running list that spans several notebooks. She wants to be an NBA coach and work for NASA, but she also loves math, history, mythology and neuroscience. Avant-garde knows accomplishing her dreams will take a lot of work, but coming off of six to 10 tutoring sessions in the last few weeks, she’s used to that and says she enjoys staying busy. “If you want to be one of the best, you’re going to have to work a whole lot and sacrifice other things to do it,” she says. — KAYLEE POCHE

MICHAEL HOPKINS, 35

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COASTAL AND COMMUNITY PROGRAM, PONTCHARTRAIN CONSERVANCY

Why is the Gulf of Mexico where it is? Why are the barrier islands not closer to the mainland? How did the Gulf come to be what it is now? Michael Hopkins asked himself these questions as a child on the beach in his hometown, Biloxi, Mississippi. “I’ve always been curious about the natural world and what makes things the way they are,” Hopkins says. He studied geology in college, and upon graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, began P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y studying faults and tectonMICHAEL HOPKINS ics in California, Oregon and Louisiana. In 2016, Hopkins began working at the Pontchartrain Conservancy as a geographic information systems specialist studying faults. In his first year there, Hopkins moved up to a scientist role and then to the secondary assistant director role. Hopkins now works as assistant director at Pontchartrain Conservatory, which focuses on swamp restoration. Over the last 10 years, the conservatory has planted around 80,000 trees to reestablish cypress swamps for the habitat but also as surge protection in the lines of defense during storms. “My passion is to help the people I live around to understand their environment,” Hopkins says. “I’m using my natural talents to better help other people understand their circumstances.” — DOMONIQUE TOLLIVER

RACHEL TABER, 36

COMMUNITY OUTREACH SPECIALIST AT UNITED HEALTHCARE; VOLUNTEER WITH UNION MIGRANTE; BARTENDER Rachel Taber wears enough hats to open her own haberdashery. Between her day job with United Healthcare and a community outreach specialist, her volunteer work with local nonprofits including Union Migrante and her side hustle as a freelance interpreter, it’s a wonder she has time to breathe. And did we mention she’s a bartender? The Kenmore, Washington, native is a longtime advocate for the Spanish-speaking community, including undocumented immigrants. She’s worked to expand food access, maternal health care and mental health care for this population through United Healthcare, and during the COVID-19 pandemic helped make testing and vaccination available to them. Her volunteer work at Union Migrante, a nonprofit formed for immigrants by immigrants, supports education and advocacy. Taber has worked with the organization and the city’s Office of Community Development to expand the amount of resources that are available to Spanish-speaking New Orleanians, and has helped immigrant families get help from the emergency rental assistance program as they face unemployment and an absence of stimulus checks. Union Migrante is also working to develop a bond fund to support members directly in encounters with ICE or police. “I draw inspiration seeing everyday people stand together and fight to transform our city and make it a safer, more inclusive place for all,” she says. — SARAH RAVITS

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MARVIN ARNOLD, 33

ORGANIZER, EYE ON SURVEILLANCE

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y M A R V I N A R N O L D

Marvin Arnold didn’t set out to do battle with the surveillance state. In 2015, the Maryland native was looking for a change and had moved to New Orleans. But it wasn’t long before Arnold, a computer programmer by trade, became concerned with what was happening at City Hall. “I started to see the impact that technology was having … a lot of bad things happen because the powers that be kind of say, ‘It’s just technology. It’s too complicated. And there’s nothing to look at here,’ ” he says. His work in computers gave him the ability to see beyond that, though, and he joined the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor, a civilian oversight agency founded in 2009. Following a tour of the Office of Homeland Security’s Real-Time Crime Center in early 2019, Arnold and a group of other activists from groups ranging from BARE NOLA to the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, began organizing Eye on Surveillance. “There was a lot of shock in the group when we saw how invasive this system was,” Arnold says. In less than two years, the group would score a major victory when the city council banned the use of facial recognition software by police, becoming the second Southern city to do so. Though more work needs to be done — the city continues to look for ways to undo some aspects of the ban — it was a crucial first step. “The ordinance, I think, was really groundbreaking in a lot of ways,” Arnold says. — JAKE CLAPP

MARK MELASKY, 35

REGISTERED PATENT ATTORNEY, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CONSULTING, LLC;STEERING COMMITTEE CHAIR, THE ELLA PROJECT’S LOUISIANA INVENTS PATENT PRO BONO PROGRAM Mark Melasky knew he wanted to become a patent attorney before most people do. It was his guidance counselor in high school who suggested him for a scholarship at a local law firm for students interested in becoming a patent attorney, and he won. “Once I got into the workplace, I saw that intellectual property is a key to advance yourself in your business,” Melasky says. “Using my skills as a patent attorney is a way for me to give back to the community in my niche area.” In 2018, he began working with The Ella Project, a nonprofit that provides pro bono legal assistance to local creatives. He co-founded their program Louisiana Invents in 2019, which helps low-income inventors get patents for their ideas. Even as the pandemic limited volunteers, the program was still able to reach all its applicants, he says. Melasky was recognized with the 2020 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for providing at least 50 hours of pro bono services. Melasky also works as an adjunct professor in Tulane School of Professional Advancement’s Information Technology program and teaches Zumba, two vastly different roles that he says help him unwind. “I always question what tools I have to assist someone else to grow on their path,” he says. “With Tulane, it’s letting students know what I have seen that I think they need to know. For Zumba, (it’s) trying to assist people to get into a healthy mindset.”— DOMONIQUE TOLLIVER

MIRIAM BELBLIDIA, 36 & KLIE KLIEBERT, 36

CO-FOUNDERS, IMAGINE WATER WORKS

MIRIAM BELBLIDIA P H OTO C O U R T E S Y O F K AT H L E E N F LY N N

KLIE KLIEBERT P H OTO B Y M I R I A M B E L B L I D I A

At the nonprofit Imagine Water Works, co-founders Miriam Belblidia and Klie Kliebert address a wide range of issues, from climate change and hazard mitigation to storm preparedness and more. They also emphasize climate justice. “That boils down to: People most impacted should be leading the work,” Belblidia says. Belblidia previously co-founded Louisiana Water Works in 2012, which partnered with other groups to develop holistic water management plans. Belblidia grew up in several East Coast states as well as Algeria and Switzerland, but her grandparents lived in New Orleans and she always was drawn to the city. After completing a master’s degree in public administration relating to civil security and disaster management at the University of Pittsburgh, she moved to New Orleans. She took a job as a hazard mitigation specialist for the city, which was interrupted by a Fulbright Fellowship to study water management in the Netherlands. Kliebert comes from a family with deep roots in the New Orleans and St. James Parish areas. They have a background in social work and helped storm survivors in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They also served as the communications director of Transilient, which documented the lives of transgender or nonbinary people. At Imagine Water Works, Belblidia is the director of research and advocacy. Kliebert is the executive director and is engaged on community-facing projects such as the Mutual Aid Response Network, which has thousands of online participants; the Trans Clippers Project, which assists people who are queer and transgender affected by disasters; and storm preparation guides, including a Queer/Trans Guide to Hurricane Season. — WILL COVIELLO PAGE 30

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EBONY S. MORRIS, 32

ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY, GARRISON, YOUNT, FORTE & MULCAHY, LLC; PRESIDENT-ELECT, GREATER NEW ORLEANS LOUIS A. MARTINET LEGAL SOCIETY

After watching a documentary in middle school about the late Johnnie Cochran, Ebony Morris knew she wanted to practice law. Originally from Amite, Louisiana, Morris is an associate attorney based in the New Orleans office of Garrison, Yount, Forte & Mulcahy, LLC. She is also the 2020-2021 President-Elect of the Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. While Morris is a member of many organizations and has been publicly recognized for her accomplishments, she says she once felt outnumbered and doubted her abilities. According to the 2019 American Bar Association Profile of the Legal Profession, only 5% of all lawyers are Black. It is commonly reported that minority lawyers feel like outsiders which results in some leaving the profession entirely. Morris created The Raising the Bar Initiative with a group of Martinet members to increase diversity in the legal profession, specifically in the Greater New Orleans area, and rectify the decline of attorneys of color through mentorship and sponsorship. “The welcoming and eager response from young attorneys and judges to the initiative has been the most surprising part because they also recognize the need for this initiative and its longterm impact on the legal profession in Louisiana,” says Morris. Morris enjoys writing and has been published by the ABA and Defense Research Institute. She also enjoys reading, learning new things, the city’s diverse culture and food and spending time with her loved ones. — MICHAELA BECHLER

HEIDE WINSTON, 38

FOUNDER & EDITOR IN CHIEF, GEAUX GIRL!

Geaux Girl! Executive Director and Editor in Chief Heide Winston says she launched the nonprofit magazine and women’s health organization in 2018 to give young women in New Orleans an accessible and trusted, teen-centric source of comprehensive reproductive health information. Originally from Germany where sex education is mandatory and begins in primary school, Winston formed Geaux Girl! as a way to help fill the void in a state where sex education is optional and largely abstinence-focused. The magazine publishes about three times a year and is a collaboration between volunteers, a teen advisory council and the board. Sections like “Real Talk” provide articles and answers from local doctors, and both teen and adult contributors are published in P H OTO C O U R T E S Y H E I D E W I N S TO N each issue. “The creativity, wisdom, humanity, courage, and vulnerability that show in the girls’ work are a moving reminder of how uniquely gifted and passionate girls here in New Orleans are,” says Winston. Winston is a graduate of the Greater New Orleans Jewish Federation’s Katz-Phillips Leadership Development Program and is on the board of the Anti-Defamation League’s South Central Region. She also teaches at Tulane University, where she works as the director of communications and civic engagement in the university’s Office of the President Emeritus. Winston says the easy-going way of life in New Orleans balances out her more rigid German mentality. “There is a lightness and love of life and community that I didn’t know before living in New Orleans,” she says. — MICHAELA BECHLER

EMILY VUXTON, 34

POLICY DIRECTOR, COALITION TO RESTORE COASTAL LOUISIANA A shocking op-ed detailing coastal land loss in Louisiana inspired Emily Vuxton’s career studying coastal restoration. She was familiar with coastal issues growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, and spending summers in New Orleans with her grandmother. In college, she researched coral reefs in French Polynesia under threat from climate change and studied coastal environmental management, where she learned about policy and law, before moving here. “It felt great to get to New Orleans and do the work I’ve been dreaming of for a long time,” she says. “I’ve always loved New Orleans culture and food. It’s a magical place,” Vuxton says. “But I also remember growing up hearing stories about my grandma hiding under her dining room table during Hurricane Betsy. I was aware of how much damage Hurricane Katrina did to the city. Knowing that our existence is so tenuous because of what’s going on [with] the coast is sobering.” In her spare time, Vuxton volunteers as an EMT with the New Orleans EMS and helped give out vaccines this spring. Mayor LaToya Cantrell also appointed her to the Audubon Commission last October. “Anyone can be an advocate for change,” Vuxton says. “I hope younger generations choose to be advocates in any issue that they are passionate about.” — DOMONIQUE TOLLIVER

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DAVID W. ROBINSONMORRIS, 38

FOUNDER AND CHIEF REIMAGINELUTIONARY, THE REIMAGINELUTION, LLC

David W. Robinson-Morris is the founder and chief of Reimaginelutionary at The REImaginelution, LLC, the strategic consulting firm he started earlier this summer focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion. He fell in love with New Orleans while in college, first at Xavier and then Loyola. He graduated shortly after Hurricane Katrina and stayed to work in the recovery effort with the Office of Economic Development. Robinson-Morris began to work directly in the Mayor’s Office of Communications as the senior publicist and for the then-Office of Planning and Development. “While one of the most difficult jobs of my life to date, I had the opportunity to see and understand the city in ways that I did not think were possible as a non-native,” he says. Robinson-Morris says one of his proudest achievements is founding The Center for Equity, Justice and the Human Spirit at Xavier. “I birthed it from idea to institution,” he says. “The work of the Center in many respects is the work of my lifetime. It’s the beginning of my life’s work of collective healing and liberation through systemic transformation.” Robinson-Morris is also currently serving as a guest curator for the annual Open Call exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans. “I understand that I am being guided in ways that are seen and unseen. My work here is not done, and in some instances, my work in and for the city of New Orleans is just beginning,” Robinson-Morris says. — MICHAELA BECHLER

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DILLON KING, 32

CO-OWNER, FLAMBEAUX FITNESS When Dillon King opened Flambeaux Fitness in Metairie with his wife in 2016, there had been “signs left and right” he needed to open his own gym, he says. States were passing laws banning trans people from using bathrooms and dressing rooms corresponding to their gender identities, and he wanted to create an inclusive CrossFit gym where members of the LGBTQ+ community could feel comfortable working out. As a trans man, fitness had boosted his confidence and he wanted others to share that experience.

“There was a sense that we didn’t feel safe in all gyms,” King says, “so I wanted to create a space of something I love that I knew was beneficial to people’s lives.” Five years later, Flambeaux has around 100 members, and King estimates 60% are LGBTQ+. He joined CrossFit’s diversity council this year to further promote equity within the sport. King’s also the president of The OUT Foundation’s New Orleans chapter, which aims to remove barriers LGBTQ+ people face in accessing fitness by paying local athletes’ fitness-related expenses for a year. He also speaks to staff and students at LSU’s medical schools about gender-affirming health care as part of their LGBTQ+ cultural sensitivity training. King used to perform in drag around New Orleans, and he works to create a similar sense of family among Flambeaux members by having regular social events outside the gym, like tubing excursions. “I’m trying my best to keep the sense of community as alive as I can,” he says. — KAYLEE POCHE

JIMMY GALE, 37

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Jimmy Gale’s work preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases is personal. When he was 24, he was diagnosed with HIV. “My world fell apart a little bit,” he says. From there, he began getting involved in the field of HIV prevention, and he’s continued that work for the nearly 13 years since. In California, he worked for the Rainbow Community Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. It was work that brought Gale to New Orleans four years ago for the National Minority AIDS Council conference, where he learned about the city’s high rate of HIV transmission and decided he wanted to help lower it. Now, he works for the Louisiana Department of Health as a community health worker in its local STD/HIV/Hepatitis program, supporting locals living with HIV by talking them through any questions they may have. “I’m just a phone call away if they’re having a bad day and need somebody to talk to,” Gale says. “I’m basically like an on-demand cheerleader.” Gale also started Krewe of Pride Floats last month, a Pride Month spinoff of the Krewe of House Floats. He wanted to find a way to safely celebrate Pride, especially with several anti-trans bills popping up in the Louisiana Legislature. Gale says about 150 houses across the city ended up participating and he hopes it becomes an annual tradition. “It was a level of community that I had missed during lockdown,” he says. “It was probably the best Pride experience I’ve ever had.” — KAYLEE POCHE

MAI DANG, 37

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, URBAN STRATEGIES, INC.

Mai Dang vividly recalls the people and programs who helped her family when they immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in the 1980s. Federal resources like subsidized housing and food stamps helped Dang’s parents provide for their family. An English as a Second Language teacher advocated for her to be tested for gifted programs. When Dang missed a shift at her first job as a teen, her boss gave her a planner and told her to write down her responsibilities. “I think about all of these resources we had access to and also how many people had my back along the way. If I did not have those people, things would be a lot different for me,” Dang says. Today, Dang is the senior project manager for Urban Strategies Inc., a nonprofit focused on community development and planning. The role allows Dang to work with families who often remind her of her own. “So much of my work is about being the connector, making sure people are not only stable, but also have the opportunities they deserve,” she says. “We advocate with them to get the resources that are meant for them.” Dang is most touched by the direct impacts — a child who moves on to the next grade after struggling in school, a health care worker who lands a better-paying job, or someone becoming a first-time homeowner. “It brings me joy when I can support a resident in achieving goals and creating goals they never thought were possible.” — AMANDA MCELFRESH

BRITTNEY ROBINS, 33

EDUCATOR; FOUNDER, BRIGHT MINDS In her 12 years working in education, Brittney Robins has held several positions: She joined Teach for America, taught at Scotlandville Elementary in Baton Rouge, was on the founding team of KIPP New Orleans, became director of special education for ReNEW Schools, and started her own organization, Bright Minds. Robins, who is from Baton Rouge, didn’t start off on this path. In fact, she originally had plans to pursue marketing after college at Southern University. Then, in February 2009, Robins’ grandmother who had raised her, passed away. She had been a lifelong educator, mostly in special education, and Robins was compelled to honor her memory by entering education herself. She turned down a job offer in Minneapolis and decided to join Teach for America instead. “She really instilled in me these values of just a strong moral compass, really being able to see the good in people and be willing to give everything you have to the betterment of others,” Robins says. “I owe her kind of everything.” In 2018, she founded Bright Minds, which works with parents of New Orleans students with special needs to help them navigate a system they are often simply dropped into without much education themselves. Robins last year also returned to KIPP as the director of high school student services. Throughout, Robins has tried to better understand the challenges of special education in order, she says, to “understand what it means to truly serve students with disabilities.” — JAKE CLAPP

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JASON GAINES, 38

PROFESSOR, TULANE UNIVERSITY; LGBTQ ACTIVIST

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PROMISE OF JUSTICE INITIATIVE Mercedes Montagnes’ work at the Promise of Justice Initiative is rooted in her belief that the criminal court system must be reformed in order to keep communities — both inside and outside prisons — safe. It’s difficult work and takes years to see even modest changes to the system. “Our criminal court system is broken, but it took generations to create,” the Harvard Law School graduate and mother of two says. “As we try to reimagine it, that takes more time than any of us are comfortable with.” Originally from Toronto, Canada, Montagnes came to New Orleans after law school to clerk for Judge Carl Barbier in the Eastern District of Louisiana between 2009 and 2010. She spent a year in Richmond, Virginia clerking for Chief Judge Roger Gregory on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals before returning to the city. Over the past year Montagnes has filed lawsuits and litigated on behalf of incarcerated people for being mistreated by the prison system and having pre-existing conditions and illnesses worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. PJI is also working to make the criminal court system more trauma-informed and continuing to push for new trials for the more than 1,000 people still incarcerated by nonunanimous juries. “There is no end to the challenges when you are mostly working on behalf of folks who are incarcerated,” she says. Logistical and financial challenges abound, but “the hardest of all is watching people experience harm, and not being able to help them immediately.” Though it’s an uphill battle in the state with the highest incarceration rate in the world, she knows she and her colleagues are doing important work for an oppressed population. Plus, the resilience of her colleagues and those she represents is contagious. “I have a passion for facilitating good work,” she says. — SARAH RAVITS

KATHERINE CONNER, 33

COVID-19 VACCINE MANAGER, TESTING CLINIC COORDINATOR AND HIV LINKAGE SUPERVISOR AT CRESCENTCARE Katherine Conner of CrescentCare has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic from the beginning, whether it was by establishing some of the city’s first test sites in spring 2020 or organizing vaccination events that incorporate the city’s culture of celebration. The Maryland native has been the brains behind events like the “Shots for Shots” vaccination pop-up at Dragon’s Den and a number of others that often incorporate some combination of live music, booze and twerking. “Having music at your vaccine event is necessary,” she says. “Hell, music at work has had a positive impact on all of us — workers and patients.” Her previous experience working with newly diagnosed HIV patients — and helping them quickly find health care providers — gave her some of the skills P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y K AT H E R I N E C O N N E R necessary to navigate the pandemic with a sense of urgency. These days, Conner, who has a master’s in public health from Tulane, is focusing on bringing vaccines and other forms of health care to communities that often lack access, particularly the city’s Latinx community. “Being able to provide accurate and digestible public health information to the community has been rewarding,” she says. “And I love it when people see me on the street and say, ‘Hey, you gave me that vaccine!”’ — SARAH RAVITS

While growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a love of musical theater, Jason Gaines thought he might go into an entertainment-related field. But that changed on 9/11, his second day in college. At an open microphone that day on the campus of Sarah Lawrence College, one speaker blamed the event on Jews. “No one said anything,” Gaines says. “Not a word. I was 18. I had been in college for 36 hours. I decided I wanted to know what to say. I never wanted to feel powerless to respond to something like this.” Gaines pursued religious studies in college, and then a master’s and Ph.D. in Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at Brandeis University. “I fell in with love with sacred texts — The Hebrew Bible,” he says. After teaching at Smith College, Mount Holyoke College and College of Holy Cross, he moved to New Orleans three years ago and currently is a Professor of Practice at Tulane University, where he teaches introductory level religious studies classes, including a course on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He also teaches courses on mythologies of the ancient world as well as the Bible and social justice. He’s the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Jewish Studies. Gaines also is active with Jewish Pride New Orleans, where he serves as co-chair and focuses on Jewish-LGBTQ issues. He was recently appointed to the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. This summer he’s been working on a new book about the concept of sexual consent in the Hebrew Bible, and he bought a condo in the French Quarter, which he now calls home. — WILL COVIELLO

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MERCEDES MONTAGNES, 38

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40 UNDER 40 ANGEL CHUNG CUTNO, 36

TEACHER; FOUNDER OF RE(AD) TREAT

P H OTO B Y C H R I S F O U N TA I N

Angel Chung Cutno has taught middle school in Baton Rouge and New Orleans and has been involved with advocacy for various causes. During the pandemic, she started RE(ad) TREAT, a “nomadic library” that brings books and mentoring to New Orleans children ages 4 to 14. “When we give scholarships, we are only rewarding students who have achieved the most,” Cutno says. “We could take that same money and invest it in the entire student body and benefit a larger group of students instead of just the one at the top.” At RE(ad) TREAT events, kids read aloud or silently and present an oral summary to earn coins to exchange for school supplies, science kits or other materials. RE(ad) TREAT tries to send every child home with a new book. Cutno also has made the sessions more culturally relevant to New Orleans. “For Juneteenth, we wanted to focus on books that highlight Black children, and stories and voices and authors,” she says. “We’re also trying to partner with more local authors so we can have them come do read alouds and support the authors by buying their books.” Cutno studied art education at LSU, and has worked in media including collage, painting, jewelry and restoring hats. Since moving back to New Orleans, she has focused on beadwork and is the Queen of the 8th Ward Black Seminole Masking Indians. She’s active with several groups, including the Rotary International and serves on the board of directors of the Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association, Asian/ Pacific American Society and Front Yard Bikes in Baton Rouge. — WILL COVIELLO

MEGAN BOUDREAUX, 39

FOUNDER, KREWE OF HOUSE FLOATS

Megan Boudreaux essentially saved Carnival 2021, and it all started with a tweet. After the city canceled parades and large celebrations because of COVID-19, Boudreaux, who works as a claims account manager at an insurance company, took to social media and lightheartedly mused about “house floats.” The idea quickly caught on, and cooped-up residents across the city soon got to decorating, showing off their creative skills and harnessing the spirit of Carnival through their homes’ exteriors. “I opened my big mouth on the internet one day and suddenly found myself planning Mardi Gras with three months’ notice in the middle of a pandemic with no budget and very little experience,” she says. Thankfully, New Orleanians are generous neighbors who are accustomed to making the best out of bad situations, and Boudreaux was able to recruit and rely on dedicated volunteers who offered time as well as organizational skills to move it forward. “It was very much an exercise in learning to ask for help and trusting people,” she says. It was also a boon for local artists who were struggling for work with shutdowns, and the citywide coalition — made up of subkrewes of neighborhoods — also raised money for mutual aid organizations. Finding new ways to celebrate and showcase New Orleans’ culture and traditions also helped people to cope, rebuild connections and have some hope for the future, Boudreaux says. And Krewe of House Floats was so popular that it will return in 2022, though hopefully in conjunction with street parades. “It keeps you going through the hardest parts,” she says. — SARAH RAVITS

JEN LARINO, 33 & EJAAZ MASON, 29

FOUNDERS, LEDE NEW ORLEANS

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P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y E J A A Z M A S O N

Jennifer Larino, a longtime print journalist, and Ejaaz Mason, a filmmaker, teamed up with a vision to diversify the New Orleans media landscape and make it more equitable for young storytellers, ages 18 to 25, from marginalized communities, including people of color and those who identify as LGBTQ. In just the year and a half since they launched Lede New Orleans, they’ve served more than 50 people with free workshops that cover different media skills and ongoing, longer-term fellowship programs. Even though in-person sessions were temporarily tabled amid COVID-19 shutdowns, “We knew we were going to press forward regardless,” Larino says. Rather than become discouraged over the last year, the duo became more determined to continue their work. “It crystalized what we were trying to do,” Larino says. Stories and other creative multimedia projects are posted on Lede’s website and on their social media channels, including YouTube, and the duo hopes to see both the site and fellowship programs grow in the coming years. They also hope to partner with bigger media outlets to amplify stories told by people who have been historically underrepresented in media. “This is about restoring communities and empowering them,” Mason says. — SARAH RAVITS PAGE 39

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BEN LORIO, 38

OWNER, BELOW PRODUCTIONS

Over the course of his career, New Orleans-born musician and producer Ben Lorio has racked up an impressive resume. A specialist in recording and mixing, he has more than 200 credits to his name, including work with Trombone Shorty, Big Freedia, The Revivalists and Tank and the Bangas. In 2013, he started his own studio, Below Productions, and opened a bright, airy studio space on Magazine Street in 2018. Over the years, it has become a go-to spot for many of New Orleans’ biggest names and up-and-coming acts alike. “What I really enjoy is working with the people in the beginning stages,” Lorio says. “Even the bigger artists that I’ve worked with, it started fairly early on. That’s what I’m really passionate about — when it’s helping them get to the next level and giving them a little push forward.” Lorio started making beats and working with production while a teenager. After high school, he attended Full Sail University and then Loyola for a degree in music industry studies. In 2008, he started working with The Music Shed Studios, eventually becoming their house engineer and working on everything from hip-hop and pop to jazz and indie rock. Lorio admits he doesn’t take a lot of time away from working on music, but every summer, he volunteers with the Miracle League, a sports program for kids with disabilities. When he was a pre-teen, Lorio had a brain tumor removed and spent time at the Children’s Hospital in Arkansas. Working with the Miracle League has been a way to help pay it forward, he says. — JAKE CLAPP

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40 UNDER 40 TRAVIS C. BANKS, 38

PROJECT MANAGER AND PRINCIPAL, GRAVEL ROAD BUILDERS AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES Even as a young kid, Travis Banks wanted to build things: After all, it’s in his DNA: he’s from a long line of construction workers and engineers. Banks recalls following his father around to construction sites, where he thought to himself, “When I get older, I will open a construction company as big as Boh Brothers.” In his early 20s, after Hurricane Katrina hit, he was displaced to Leesville. Bored and listless, he took up sketching as a hobby and developed a knack for drawing buildings. He pursued a business degree and then a master’s in construction management at LSU. “It seemed like it was molded for my childhood dream,” he says. In 2016, he launched Gravel Road Builders and Construction Services, a full-service contracting and construction company that focuses on green infrastructure. Some of his bigger projects have included restoring and painting the interior of a historic church and installing new railings at the Audubon Zoo, in addition to helping other clients with drywall installation, building fences and other restorative work. Banks is also involved in several community service projects, often centered around cleaning up blight. And he’s on the steering committee for Sankofa Community Development, a nonprofit dedicated to stabilizing the Lower Ninth Ward, where he shares input about green infrastructure and buildings. Banks hopes to expand the business and bid on larger projects so that Gravel Road becomes “one of the biggest minority-owned construction companies in Louisiana.” “I want [young people] to say, ‘One day, I will have a company as big as Gravel Road,’ ” he says. — SARAH RAVITS

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MARIAH WINESKI, 34

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LOUISIANA COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

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Mariah Wineski may have a quiet demeanor, but for the executive director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, that’s a key part of her work process. “I always go into any situation listening first. I never want to be the loudest voice in any room,” she says. “In my field, I think the most important thing we can do is truly listen.” That listening spurred Wineski to help develop a housing assistance program for women who have fled abusive relationships and can no longer stay in a shelter. Last year alone, the program helped more than 1,600 survivors obtain secure long-term housing. “It’s amazing what can happen when you take away the red tape and give people what they say they need,” she says. “They know their own needs best.” She admits it can be challenging when clear change isn’t immediately apparent, but she holds on to the belief that things are improving, albeit sometimes slowly. “A lot of it is social change work and you don’t necessarily get to see the outcome of that right away,” Wineski says. “It takes time to change people’s attitudes and the way people think about an issue like domestic violence. I always try to take a step back and see the big picture and get energized by the smaller wins.” — AMANDA MCELFRESH

TROY GLOVER, 30

NEW ORLEANS DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES; CANDIDATE, CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT D Troy Glover is busy. In addition to being the executive director of the New Orleans Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) and working with other community groups, Glover decided to add politician to his resume as a candidate for the New Orleans City Council District D seat. But Glover often reflects on how things could have turned out differently. His father was killed when he was two. His mother struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. Seeking ways to cope, Glover was arrested at age 17. Despite it all, he knew people were rooting for him. “When I was arrested, folks helped me pay fines and fees,” he says. “I was the first person in my family to set foot on a college campus. When I failed at first, they helped me regroup. Because of that, I got my bachelor’s degree from UNO. People have stepped in and played a huge role for me. That’s my goal now.”

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CEO has put more than 150 formerly incarcerated people to work in the past year. The center helps individuals with mental health care, substance abuse treatment, childcare and more. Glover and others also gave their $2,000 federal stimulus payments to returning individuals last year. “I see the work that I do as part of my commitment to give back the way people have invested in me,” he says. “This is my life’s work.” — AMANDA MCELFRESH

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“As a young adult, I hated beer. My dad drank Milwaukee’s Best and Natural Light, and I thought it was disgusting,” says Urban South Brewery Co-founder Jacob Landry. After an eye-opening year of trying new types of alcohol in France as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, Landry became a huge beer fan. His newfound love of beer turned into him daydreaming about owning a brewery while working in the Pacific Northwest. In the decade before opening Urban South, Landry worked for Teach for America and as a cabinet-level policymaker for the Louisiana Department of Education and Jefferson P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y J AC O B L A N D R Y Parish Public Schools. He also worked to change a law that would allow breweries to sell more of their products directly to consumers in their taprooms. This change more than doubled the number of breweries in the state. He eventually teamed up with Kyle Huling, co-founder, vice president, and professional brewer, to create Urban South. In just five years, the brewery has become the second largest in the state employing 55 people. During the pandemic, Urban South provided over $150,000 in hand sanitizer to local schools and school districts. Owning and operating a business in New Orleans comes with plenty of challenges, but Landry credits his past careers for the skills he uses as an entrepreneur. In fact, he’s now working to pass those skills on to others as an adjunct lecturer at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business. — MICHAELA BECHLER

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It’s important, Lindsey Hortenstine says, for the Orleans Public Defenders to talk about the injustices they see. To share the things many people outside of the criminal justice system “may not see happen every day, both ordinary and extraordinary,” she says, “and the effect the interaction has on individuals, on families and communities.” That’s where Hortenstine steps in: As the Orleans Public Defenders’ director of communications and development, she shares those stories to give the public a look at the work OPD does and to better explain where the justice system is failing. She’s also trying to break the misperceptions people may have of public defenders as overworked, underpaid attorneys just “clicking the box and doing the bare minimum.” “I work with some incredibly passionate, dedicated and talented advocates,” Hortenstine says. Born in Texas, Hortenstine attended LSU before moving to New Orleans in 2007. In 2009, she started working at OPD in an administrative role and stepped into communications for the office in 2012. In 2019, she was instrumental in securing funding to create a re-entry team to help formerly incarcerated people navigate the parole system upon their return home. “The way you get people to connect and understand is through storytelling,” she says, “and I was excited to help share those stories.” — JAKE CLAPP

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When Annie Irvin walks through the Beauregard-Keyes Historic House and Garden, she sees more than a National Historic Landmark built in 1826. She also sees the museum as a way to connect current New Orleans residents and tourists with the city’s multicultural history. “We have expanded our narrative to include a lot of Italian history, as well as a lot of history about enslaved people and free people of color who contributed to the beauty of the house,” Irvin says. “We’re encouraging visitors to view history through an empathetic lens.” To ensure the property continues to make history come alive, Irvin has led fundraising efforts that have resulted in many improvements, including replacing drainage and electrical infrastructure, stabilizing the home and repainting the building. With pandemic restrictions lifted, Irvin is working with the Beauregard-Keyes program director on new classes, programs and concerts. “I’ve learned there are times when I have the privilege to provide this space as a platform, but not necessarily be the messenger,” Irvin says. “When we are doing lectures about French Quarter history or slave dwellings, it’s a matter of providing the space and inviting people in for an honest conversation.” — AMANDA MCELFRESH

By Amanda McElfresh amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This story is brought to you by the University of New Orleans. A new era is underway at the University of New Orleans as leaders from academia, public agencies and private industry enhance their collaborative efforts to further innovation. UNO’s Research and Technology Park has been rebranded The Beach, giving the 30-acre site on Lake Pontchartrain a fresh identity with additional goals. “What is most signiﬁcant about the rebranding and the new name, The Beach at UNO: A Sandbox for Collaboration, is the re-energized spirit of partnership that will be led by a new programming division and the commitment to provide up to $100,000 a year to inspire research or special projects among UNO faculty, students and our tenants,” said Rebecca Conwell, president and CEO of the UNO Research and Technology Foundation. Conwell said the Foundation’s other key initiatives include encouraging companies to relocate to The Beach; form a vibrant culture at the research park; increase innovation and entrepreneurial exposure at UNO and the park; create grants to encourage companies and organizations to engage in research with UNO faculty; and develop a longterm real estate project with a focus on innovation, collaboration, networking and placemaking. The hub for this activity is The Beach, which has 600,000 square feet of office and lab space among six buildings. The site also includes the 26,000 square foot Lindy Boggs International Conference Center, plus abundant green space and free parking. “There is an energy in the air that I

find unique to The Beach,” Conwell said. “Depending on the building, the hallways and offices look like a typical office space, but the eclectic nature of a research park means that in some instances you can turn the corner and be surrounded with active working labs focused on testing and research.” That type of environment can spur creativity and inspiration, said John Wiley, a UNO chemistry professor and director of UNO’s Advanced Materials Research Institute, which he described as a feeder to The Beach. “People just stop and talk to each other in the hallway and new ideas will pop up,” Wiley said. “Unexpected ideas will develop because of these conversations. There’s a lot of cross-pollination between different labs that can develop into new projects or new funding sources. I expect it to lead to, interesting and exciting new directions for all of us in terms of science.” For example, in one portion of The Beach, Eurofins employees test food and agricultural products. The company has more than 50,000 staff members across a network of more than 900 independent companies in more than 50 countries and operating more than 900 laboratories. Because of its New Orleans location in the research park, the team from Eurofins has been able to collaborate with another Beach tenant that handles inspections, shipment and transportation of agricultural products to and from overseas destinations. “We have a relationship where we are able to make sure all testing is done per expectations and that we address anything that evolves in the markets we both serve,” said John Reuther, president of Eurofins Central Analytical Laboratories. “I think with this revitalization, we’re going to have even more opportunities to collaborate. We would really like

to be more involved with local businesses. We’re in a great town for food and we have some of the best restaurants and chefs in the world here. I think our expertise in the food business could be a service in that industry here in New Orleans.” Meanwhile, other tenants at The Beach are also working to help local businesses continue to make strides. The New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce moved to The Beach earlier this year and is already seeing benefits, said LaVerne Toombs, the Chamber’s executive director. “I think it’s a great atmosphere to be surrounded by other small business owners,” Toombs said. “We believe these are businesses we can assist and that we can continue to grow and support each other’s goals and objectives. Being a part of this ecosystem is very timely because being a part of something new really builds our brand as well. When they grow, we grow, so I think it’s very beneficial for everyone involved.” Toombs said she is also excited about the Chamber being a part of the UNO community and hopes to involve university students and faculty in the Chamber’s work. Some ideas include having UNO students work as interns at the Chamber and work with UNO faculty to offer workshops on business topics such as finance, marketing, technology and public relations. Those types of partnerships will build on existing ones between the university and The Beach tenants. Reuther said UNO chemistry and biology students regularly work as interns at Eurofins. In addition, Eurofins leaders work with UNO department chairs to identify and recruit students for permanent positions upon graduation. Also, Eurofins has donated testing instruments to UNO that can be used for training and research.

Michael Hecht, president and CEO of GNO, Inc., said those joint collaborations are among the main beneﬁts of research parks like The Beach. “It’s an opportunity for researchers to see their work commercialized and also an opportunity for students to apply their research and learning in a commercial setting,” Hecht said. “It ultimately ends up being a revenue generator for the university, which in turn makes UNO better for everyone there.” With the rebranding, Hecht said he believes UNO and The Beach can follow in the footsteps of nationally-recognized research parks, including those in Arizona and North Carolina. “I think you are going to see continued growth at the park in terms of existing companies growing and new companies coming in,” he said. “I think you may see a lot of companies related to areas like technology and the maritime industry because of its location. I think this is going to drive attention to the university and result in more students being attracted to UNO in the future.” Conwell said The Beach rebranding is just one aspect of a renewed focus for the Research and Technology Foundation. There are plans to enhance The Beach with more walkways and a revitalization of the Lindy Boggs International Conference Center. In addition, the Foundation is creating a programming division to guide new initiatives to increase innovation and entrepreneurship, plus strengthen community relationships. “Our focus now is on implementing our strategic plan,” Conwell said. “It’s much broader than just The Beach and the brand. The Beach signiﬁes all of the new endeavors that we have created to add value to the University of New Orleans.” For more information, visit www.thebeachuno.org.

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UNO leaders revitalize The Beach research park with new name, strategic plan and goals for innovation

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VOTING OPEN FROM JULY 1-31, 2021

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > J u ly 27 - Au g u st 2 > 2 0 2 1

WHO IS THE Best?

EATDRINK

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > J u ly 27 - Au g u st 2 > 2 02 1

CHRISTOPHER AND ADAM FORD are

The Mill serves seafood, Creole favorites and more BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O

team that includes cocktail guru Taylor Bonds behind the bar. The restaurant’s menu, crafted by Robinson and Sylve, includes a terrific wood-fired half-pound wagyu beef burger, shrimp and truffle macaroni and cheese and fried duck wings in an orange-jalapeno glaze. Seafood lovers will go for the jumbo lump crab cake or the chef’s seafood court bouillon, an elegant combination of mussels, shrimp, fish and scallops in a light tomato stock, served with rice on the side. The shrimp and creamy grits are cooked perfectly, with a sauté of onions, celery, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes adding texture to the silky wine sauce. Fillet of trout is stuffed with crab, onions and peppers and drizzled with lemon beurre blanc. There’s an Angus New York strip with rosemary-garlic butter and a roasted pork tenderloin with peppercorn brandy sauce. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays, and the menu includes chicken and waffles and crab cake eggs Benedict. The cocktail menu includes bright frozen options like the Pretty in Pink made with gin, elderflower liqueur and bianco vermouth and a gin and tonic accented with pamplemousse (grapefruit) liqueur. Sylve brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to The Mill’s menu

P H OTO B Y C H E R YL G E R B E R

Chef Patrick Sylve serves shrimp and grits and more at The Mill.

of elevated Louisiana dishes. He started working in restaurants as an oyster shucker at 17, learning the skill from one of the owners of Visko’s, a seafood place in Gretna where his mother once worked. His career took him into hotel kitchens, where he was mentored by chefs and learned the business. He worked offshore for a dozen years, managing kitchens and traveling by helicopter between oil rigs. After Hurricane Katrina, his wife asked him to get a job on land and he went to work at the Astor Crowne Plaza. He’d been retired for three years until the pandemic changed his plans. As a chef who has long worked behind the scenes, the chance to work at The Mill in a smaller restaurant setting and meet his customers is welcome. “I’ve always found in this industry that the harder I work and the more open I kept myself, the more I’ve learned,” he says. “I didn’t plan on being a chef. When I was in the service I studied law enforcement, but culinary just kept calling. It’s what I love to do.”

? WHAT The Mill

WHERE

1051 Annunciation St., (504) 582-9544; themillnola.com

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

Fresh brew

Grits from The Mill

THE ELEGANT SHRIMP AND GRITS that chef Patrick Sylve prepares at The Mill are informed by a lifetime in the kitchen and by his family tree. Sylve has deep roots in Louisiana, with his Creole heritage going back generations in Plaquemines Parish. “We were always eating and cooking in my family — my mom was a huge influence on how I cook today,” says the 57-year-old chef, who came out of retirement to take over the kitchen at The Mill. “Creole culture with its French and Spanish influences is so diverse. I make seven kinds of gumbo, and my recipes go back to my grandparents and my great uncles.” The Mill, which is owned by local real estate investors Chris Prasad and Tango Nguyen, opened its dining room in the Cotton Mill building at 1051 Annunciation St. on the edge of the Warehouse District in June 2020. The space previously was home to Sac-a-Lait, Sun Ray Grill and other restaurants. The Mill started doing takeout a few months earlier in the pandemic, primarily feeding the building’s condo residents. The former cotton mill setting includes a spacious dining room capped by soaring ceilings, exposed brick walls and a bar set under illuminated cypress beams. A striking black-and-white mural commands attention on one wall and it’s the work of artist and server Greg Mitchell. There’s seating inside and out for roughly 120 people. “The menu was pared down in the beginning and we’re expanding it as time goes on,” says general manager Adam Robinson, who started in August as a server after being furloughed from a management job at Gianna. Robinson quickly became the manager of the 15-person restaurant

FORK CENTER

WHEN

Lunch Sat., dinner Mon. & Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun.

HOW

Dine-in and outdoor seating

CHECK IT OUT

A mix of Creole favorites, seafood and more in the Warehouse District

avowed coffee fanatics, and they have long dreamed of starting their own coffee brand. During the pandemic, the local couple managed to do just that. Now, it has grown into a new Mid-City restaurant. Up & Adam Eatz is preparing to open at 3903 Canal St. It will begin as a breakfast and lunch spot with a menu mixing traditional dishes, New Orleans staples and its own specialties. Naturally, coffee is central to the concept. Up & Adam Eatz is on the ground floor of an old Mid-City house that for many years was home to Canal Street Bistro, which closed during the pandemic. The name is a play on Adam’s early-riser gusto. “We want people to come here and get that up-and-at-’em feeling,” he says. Adam is a New Orleans native who grew up with an appreciation for the city’s coffee culture. He was working in restaurants before the pandemic hit and found himself out of

P H OTO B Y I A N M C N ULT Y/ T H E T I M E S - P I C AYU N E

Christopher Ford (left) and Adam Ford are opening Up & Adam Eatz.

a job. Christopher, his husband, was working from home. They decided to turn their long-term idea of starting a coffee brand into reality. “The pandemic was a time to reevaluate,” Christopher says. “If we’re going to live this dream, it’s time to put pen to paper and put it into action.” During the pandemic, they debuted their Up & Adam coffee brand with a blend called Morning Run. They’ve been selling bags of ground beans online and at pop-up events. When the Canal Street location opened up, they saw a way to take the brand to the next level with a home base and a restaurant. PAGE 47

“It’s a case of preparation meets opportunity,” Adam says. The breakfast menu starts with beignets with praline pecan sauce, “biscuit bites” filled with sausage and cheese, and a savory waffle with sausage and jalapeno jam. There also are omelets, breakfast sandwiches and egg plates, shrimp and grits, catfish and grits and chicken and waffles. At lunch, look for entree salads, burgers made from beef, turkey, black beans or falafel, seafood platters, club sandwiches and salmon rubbed with Up & Adam coffee. The small restaurant has flexibility across different rooms, including a private room in back. The side entrance leads to a walk-up coffee bar, for people who want a coffee to go. The restaurant has a full bar, and Adam says they plan to offer coffee-based cocktails. The restaurant will even have a “K-9 dine” menu for dogs, which will be available outside. Up & Adam Eats will open with initial hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Eventually, the Fords plan to expand to dinner service as well. — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Tito’s tavern THE OLD ST. CHARLES TAVERN

closed last summer as the pandemic shutdowns were ravaging local businesses. The space will soon be home to the second location for Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco. Chef and co-owner Juan Lock expects to open here around November. First though, the old restaurant at the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard is getting a major overhaul. The floor plan is being configured for a progression of dining rooms, with two downstairs and two upstairs, which can be used for events as well. A new bar will be the centerpiece downstairs. “We’ll have plenty of room there for pisco,” Lock says, referring to the Peruvian brandy. Lock and his wife Tatiana opened Tito’s in 2017, taking over the snug Magazine Street address that had previously been home to the lounge Ivy. The original spot will remain the same as they add the second location. Lock sees the new restaurant as a way to reach a clientele centered downtown. They had considered expanding before the pandemic. St. Charles Tavern was open 24 hours a day serving New Orleans staples and comfort food classics. It closed just about a year ago, with business shriveled in the pandemic. Tito’s serves a menu of Peruvian dishes showing the cuisine’s mix of the contemporary and tradition, and its blend of Asian, European and native Quechua influences. As the name implies, ceviche is the kitchen’s

EAT+DRINK

signature dish, served in an array of styles, alongside tiradito, a more elaborate presentation of raw fish. The second location will have a larger kitchen and Lock expects to expand his menu here too with more specialties from his homeland. — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Vote Chateau Golf & Country Club for

Pickled THE FORMER HOME OF MAUREPAS FOODS, a once-pioneering Bywater

restaurant, has sat empty for six years. Soon, it will be home to two restaurants in one. The nearby restaurant Sneaky Pickle is moving in, and at lunch it will serve its casual, counter-service menu of largely vegan dishes. In the evenings, the same restaurant space will be known as Bar Brine, a more ambitious concept with table service and a different, larger dinner menu and cocktail program. Ben Tabor, chef and founder of Sneaky Pickle, recently purchased the property at 3200 Burgundy St. along with members of his family. The move will double the size of the original Sneaky Pickle, which Tabor developed in a small storefront at 4017 St. Claude Ave. The chef said the dual concept is intended to expand what he can do. Bar Brine will start with the same principles and “vegetable-forward” menu as Sneaky Pickle while broadening the range with more local meat and fish and larger, shareable dishes. Tabor calls Bar Brine’s style casual fine dining. Renovations are now underway for the new restaurant, and Tabor expects to open in early August. The new Bar Brine will take longer to develop and is slated to debut in the fall. The restaurant’s ownership and management team is growing with the expansion. Tabor’s partner Olivia Clarkson is now an owner, and she will run front-of-the-house operations. The chef’s brother, Luke Tabor, and his wife Michele Fryer are joining the team to develop the cocktail program. The couple previously ran the Providence, Rhode Island cocktail lounge Far West. Tabor opened Sneaky Pickle in 2014 and built a following for a versatile menu that uses local ingredients in creative ways at affordable prices. Much of the menu is vegan — with smoked tempeh Reubens, Buffalo-style cauliflower and beet flatbread — though there also is a burger made with locally-sourced beef, pan-seared red snapper and a burrata cheese toast. Most dishes are under $15. Chef/owner Michael Doyle opened Maurepas Foods in 2012. He brought a casual approach to farm-to-table dining, then mostly found in upscale restaurants, but it closed by 2015. — IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

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EAT+DRINK

Tyler Correa and Luci Winsberg Co-founders, Fish Hawk

DINE IN or PICK UP

CHEF LUCI WINSBERG AND TYLER CORREA MET IN COLLEGE at the

University of California at Santa Cruz. After graduating, they traveled in South America and then settled in New Orleans, her hometown. Winsberg began her culinary career under chef Sue Zemanick at Gautreau’s. When Zemanick opened Zasu, Winsberg became its sous chef and Correa left the software industry to manage the bar. During the pandemic, Winsberg and Correa left to found Fish Hawk, a pop-up that serves hot food at bars and offers prepared items, raw fish and ready-to-cook items at the Coffee Science farmers market on Sundays. They’re working on opening a restaurant that also sells fresh fish. Fish Hawk pops up on Wednesdays at Miel Brewery & Taproom, on Fridays at Pal’s Lounge and it will be offering hot food at an art market at Coffee Science on Saturday, July 31.

How did you go from working at Zasu to opening Fish Hawk? LUCI WINSBERG: We had been playing with the idea of opening our own thing for about a year. During the pandemic we started thinking about different concepts and the way restaurants were changing their format and doing a market, or opening up their space to be more dynamic. We started thinking about what the city needed and what we could bring to it. I have always thought we needed a good fish market. We have places in Bucktown and Westwego — and we go there all the time — but we wanted someplace in town where people can get restaurant-quality fish at reasonable prices, then to open a seafood restaurant attached to it.

What kind of food do you serve at the hot food pop-ups? TYLER CORREA: We debuted with spicy coconut fried shrimp, which took off. That and our snapper

MON, WED, THURS & SUN 11AM-10PM FRI & SAT 11AM-11PM

2315 ST. CLAUDE AVE Reuben have been our two big sellers. We try to bring less bar food to the table. We’ll do a flounder fillet on top of vegetables. W: I wouldn’t necessarily (have done) a fried coconut shrimp thing at Zasu. The difference is I wouldn’t be serving it with mango-habanero aioli dipping sauce. The food that sells well at bars is different. We try to cater to the crowd that’s gonna be at the bar. We do more fried food — people like fried food, and so do I — I think we do it well, and we’re using fresh stuff. Every week we sit down and do a different menu. We usually have two to four options. (Chef) Gina (Mazzitelli) and I sit down and look at cookbooks. We want to show people the variety of things we can do. It might be Italian, or Frenchinspired or Asian-inspired. C: The cool thing about the response (to bar pop-ups) we’ve been getting is people saying it’s refreshing that it’s not just burgers as an option. I think a lot of people in New Orleans have great taste. Miel brings out an eclectic crowd. To be able to have fresh things, fresh vegetables, bright citrusy salads — people are psyched. There are a lot of people in the pop-up scene that expect to be able to go to a bar and have dinner. W: people are excited that we’re doing fresh fish. I feel like, creatively, we can do what we want. We can do things as spicy as we want. The crowds at the bars are young and experimental with their food. At Pal’s, people know we’re going to be there and come there for us.

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y F I S H H AW K

Tyler Correa and Luci Winsberg started Fish Hawk.

383-HEAT 4 3 2 8

What about the fishmonger side of Fish Hawk? W: We got into Coffee Science early on. I think October was our first market. It was a beautiful community-making experience. We serve smoked trout dip, (ready-to-cook) dill-cured salmon and pastrami smoked salmon — all of which I smoke in house. I cure things myself. We were doing (ready-to-cook) stuffed flounder in season with different stuffings. Stuffed branzino. We also bring fresh fillets as well. We buy all whole fish from purveyors in the city. We try to keep it as local and as fresh as possible. We butcher them in house. Gina and I are pretty skilled at fish butchery from working with Sue. C: I can’t believe the lists we get from our purveyors of all this incredible fish that’s going to restaurants. They’re texting us about all this incredible seafood. It’s not hitting shelves. It’s going to restaurants. We want to peel back the curtain and give people the opportunity to get this Gulf fish. It’s really nice stuff. We also sell our smoked trout dip and salmon at Bellegarde Bakery and Piece of Meat, since they’re doing the grocery thing. Piece of Meat is good example of what we’re trying to do, or St. James Cheese Co. We’re trying to do the fish version. — WILL COVIELLO For more information and a pop-up schedule, visit fishhawknola.com.

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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 WO 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.

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11 to $20 $$$ — $21 or more

Notice: Due to COVID-19, dining at restaurants is impacted. Information is subject to change. Contact the restaurant to confirm service options.

CARROLLTON Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ 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. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. Lunch and dinner daily. $

FAUBOURG MARIGNY Kebab — 2315 St. Claude Ave., (504) 3834328; 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. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. $

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in traditional and contemporary Creole dishes, po-boys and more. Char-grilled oysters are topped with Parmesan, herbs and butter. Reservations recommended. Takeout available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

GENTILLY NOLA Crawfish King Seafood & Barbecue — 5321 Franklin Ave., (504) 571-5038 ; crawfishking.com — The restaurant specializes in boiled seafood and barbecue. The Gentilly Reuben features house-smoked brisket pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and house sauce on marbled rye. No reservations. Takeout and outdoor seating available. Lunch and early dinner Wed.-Sun. $$

HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.

com — This bar and music spot offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; theospizza.com — There is a wide variety of specialty pies and toppings to build your own pizza. The menu also includes salads and sandwiches. Curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $

LAKEVIEW The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 2842898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood and more. The Blue Crab platter has fried shrimp, oysters, catfish and crab claws and either fried stuffed crab or soft-shell crab. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew.com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $

METAIRIE Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant.com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in cream sauce. Curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop.com — The Seafood Platter comes with fried catfish, shrimp, oysters and crab balls and is accompanied by fries and choice of side. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 888-2010; koshercajun.com — This New York-style deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available. Lunch Sun.Thu., dinner Mon.-Thu. $ Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing — 2035 Metairie Road, Metairie, (504) 832-8032; 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. Lunch Tue.-Sat., dinner Tue.-Sun. $

MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Window and curbside pickup. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar — 231 N. Carrollton Ave., Suite C, (504) 6093871; brownbutterrestaurant.com — Sample items include smoked brisket served with smoked apple 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. Dine-in, takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Wed.Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — The neighborhood pizza joint serves New York-style pies, plus calzones, sandwiches and salads. Signature shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onion on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Dine-in, takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes New Orleans favorites such as red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as grilled or fried seafood plates, po-boys, raw or char-grilled oysters, pasta, salads and more. Dine-in and takeout available. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Nonna Mia — 3125 Esplanade Ave., (504) 948-1717; nonnamianola.com — A Divine Portobello appetizer features chicken breast, spinach in red pepper sauce and crostini. The menu includes salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and more. Curbside pickup and delivery are available. Dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

NORTHSHORE Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

UPTOWN CR Coffee Shop — 3618 Magazine St., (504) 354-9422; crcoffeenola.com — The selection includes Coast Roast coffees made with beans roasted in antique roasters, and the sweet vanilla cream cold brew is a signature item. There also are pastries and snacks. Indoor and outdoor seating, online ordering and delivery available. Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. $ Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — The menu includes fried seafood platters, salads, sandwiches and red beans and rice. Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishes, sandwiches, baked goods and more. Takeout available. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — The Peruvian menu includes a version of the traditional dish lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Dine-in, outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes. Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$ NOLA Caye — 898 Baronne St., (504) 302-1302; nolacaye.com — The menu features Caribbean-inspired dishes and Gulf seafood. Seared ahi tuna is served with mango, avocado, mixed greens, citrus vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Takeout, delivery and outdoor seating available. D daily, brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

WEST BANK Asia — Boomtown Casino & Hotel, 4132 Peters Road, Harvey, (504) 364- 8812; boomtownneworleans.com — Restaurateur Tri La’s menu serves Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. The Lau Hot Pot for two comes with choice of scallops, snow crab or shrimp. Reservations accepted. Dinner Fri.-Sun. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca, made with breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings. Curbside pickup available. Dinner Wed.Sat. Cash only. $$$ Specialty Italian Bistro — 2330 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna, (504) 391-1090; specialtyitalianbistro.com — The menu combines Old World Italian favorites and pizza. Paneed chicken piccata is topped with lemon-caper piccata sauce served with angel hair pasta, salad and garlic cheese bread. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

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OUT EAT

Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — Chef Frank Catalanotto is the namesake “nephew” who ran the kitchen at his late uncle Tony Angello’s restaurant. The Creole-Italian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant or chicken parmigiana, and Mama’s Eggplant with red gravy and Romano cheese. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 885-4572; shortstoppoboysno.com — The menu includes more than 30 po-boys along with other Louisiana staples. Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $

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MUSIC

MUSIC LINEUP

FRIDAY

BY JAKE CLAPP

4:30 Abita Blues Band 5:30 The Chitlins 7:00 Big Al and the Heavyweights 9:00 Jimmy Hall Band

SATURDAY

SEPT. 24–25, 2021 CASSIDY PARK BOGALUSA, LA

1:00 Looka Here 3:30 Laurie Morvan Band 5:30 Walter “Wolfman” Washington 7:00 Jonathan Boogie Long 9:00 Eric Gales

www.bogalusablues.com

www.louisianatravel.com

2021 Festival Tickets and Camping Now Available at www.bogalusablues.com/tickets | Children 10 and under are free! The Bogalusa Blues & Heritage Festival is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible

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with music, Jessie Antonick says. A musician will record something “new” and, depending on how well funded they are or how much free time they might have, it can be a while before the next project is released. Antonick last week released her new album, “VAR!,” the second release as her project Pony Hunt. It’s the follow up to her 2016 album “Heart Creak.” “It took a long time,” Antonick says. “I’ve recently been really thinking about how much this body of work represents this period of time in my life and how almost in certain ways I don’t fully feel like that person anymore. But it’s still part of me, and I’m so ready to start the next thing.” For Antonick, “VAR!” will always remind her of life in New Orleans. She still calls the city home — while she relocated to Portland, Oregon, during the pandemic to be closer to family and plans to return — but the album came together while Antonick was still new to New Orleans and being “fully saturated” in the music community. The 10-track “VAR!” is filled with patient indie folk tunes given a sweet sway influenced by the doo-wop Antonick fell in love with as a child. Psychedelic touches give the music a cosmic effect, as if Antonick is beaming her songs back to Earth in missives from exploring deep space. Throughout, Antonick writes about the ways life is constantly changing, both in large and small ways, and how we’re always trying to understand our new selves amid those changes. She also explores gender identity, societal pressures and the search for emotional connections. “I think what I write about almost all the time are these moments of investigation or exploration or confusion of an emotional state,” Antonick says. “And within that, there’s always some kind of change that’s happening, right? Change brings on these moments of like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on? All right, I have to explore this thing. I have to think about that thing.’ ” On the track “Stardust,” Antonick sings about her exploration of her queer identity and the emotions that come from fighting back against gender norms and pressures. But the track ends in affirmation as she repeats “Rise from the water as you are.” It’s a reminder to “be my authentic self, regardless of any kind of

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y P O N Y H U N T

Jessie Antonick released ‘VAR!,’ her second Pony Hunt album, last week.

fear or insecurity I might be feeling,” Antonick told It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine in a track breakdown. “There’s a lot of things happening — in our society, in our family cultures, everywhere — that have habits of pulling us away from our authenticity,” she said last week. “I feel like I’m always trying to unpack that. I think that’s part of what ‘Stardust’ is about, unpacking all of the shit that’s covering you up.” Movement has always been a part of Antonick’s life, the 36-yearold singer and guitarist says. She was born in California, grew up in Chicago, and returned west to Oakland in her early 20s, living on sailboats while building and repairing sails. In 2014, after visiting New Orleans, she started making frequent trips in her 1978 Chevy van back and forth before deciding to make the move permanent in 2015. Antonick wrote most of the songs on “VAR!” in New Orleans, but a couple have their origins on the West Coast and Chicago. The only non-original is a spin on Paul Burch’s “Last of My Kind.” “VAR!” was recorded by Antonick, Duff Thompson, Sam Doores and Adam Keil in an old house in the Holy Cross neighborhood. Thompson and Doores play guitar and drums on the album, and bassists Julie Schexnayder and Dan Cutler, lap steel player Steph Green, cellist free feral and others appear on the album. This is the first release on Wing and Wing, a new record label started by Antonick and Lindsey Baker, Guts Club musician, publicist and Gasa Gasa booker. They plan to focus on giving space to art and music by LGBTQ folk, women, people of color and other communities in New Orleans and beyond. Pony Hunt’s “VAR!” can be found at ponyhunt.bandcamp.com and wingandwing.com.

‘Behind Every Beautiful Thing’ opens THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER OPENS “BEHIND EVERY BEAUTIFUL THING: ENCOUNTERING BODIES, Wrestlin the Human Condition,” an open-call show featuring 36 artists’ work about themes of health, healing and illness. An opening event featuring music by Felice Gee, food, drinks and more is 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 31. The show runs through Sept. 26. Visit cacno.org for information.

Friday Nite Fever with DJ Soul Sister DJ SOUL SISTER HOSTS A DANCE PARTY AT 10 P.M. FRIDAY, July 30, at the Hi-Ho Lounge. The lounge’s dance floor and back patio are open. Tickets are $10 and are available on eventbrite.com or at the door. For more events with DJ Soul Sister, visit djsoulsister.com.

Trumpet Mafia ASHLIN PARKER LEADS THE TRUMPET MAFIA in a live show from the balcony of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 27. The show also streams on the museum’s social media page, facebook.com/nolajazzmuseum/live.

Rosa Blanca Wine & Music Festival THE FESTIVAL AT LAFRENIERE PARK IN METAIRIE IS ALL ABOUT CELEBRATING OLD SCHOOL R&B, hip-hop, reggae and jazz, while enjoying food and drink from local caterers and food trucks — all while wearing nothing but white. R&B singers Kelly Price and Chante Moore will headline. Price started her career in the ’90s as a background singer for Mariah Carey and went on to put out several hit singles including “Friend of Mine” and “You Should’ve Told Me” and earn several Grammy nominations. Moore’s hits include “Bitter” and “Real One.” The fest is from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 31. More information can be found on eventbrite.com.

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ney while squatting in abandoned buildings, storage units and tiny apartments. Over the years they honed their musical talents in cities including Portland and Los Angeles and developed a signature blend of punk, metal, Americana and what they call “gutterbilly.” Appropriately, the group is stopping by the Lower Decatur Street hotspot Santos on Sunday, Aug. 1. Local acoustic artist Laura Jean No Man Band also performs at this all-ages show. Music starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 at santosbar.com

7 IN SEVEN

PAGE 5

Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington WALTER “WOLFMAN” WASHINGTON PLAYS A FREE SHOW AT TIPITINA’S ON FRIDAY, July 30. The River Benders open at 10 p.m. Visit tipitinas.com for details.

Marc Broussard GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER MARC BROUSSARD, was born in Cajun country, but he plays a mix of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk and more. He’s on a tour that stops at Southport Hall at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Find tickets at southporthall.com.

Freilich Does Dylan FOR THE SCATTERJAZZ’S LAST SIDEPORCH CONCERT BEFORE TAKING A HIATUS, guitarist Jonathan Freilich is teaming up with Jimbo Walsh and Dave Cappello to re-interpret the songs of Bob Dylan. It’s a project that hasn’t performed since around 2004, says Scatterjazz organizer Andy Durta. Freilich, Walsh and Cappello play at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 27. Admission is free, and more information can be found at scatterjazz.com.

Otra AFRO-CUBAN GROOVES PROPEL THE LATIN SOUNDS OF OTRA. The band performs at 10 p.m. Saturday, July 31, at Carnaval Lounge. Find tickets on eventbrite.com.

Brew Together FAUBOURG BREWERY HOSTS A FUNDRAISER FOR THE MADE IN NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION (MINO), which provides support to aspiring chefs of color. Chef Byron Bradley of 2 Brothers 1 Love catering prepares a five-course meal that will be served family style, paired with Faubourg beers. There’s a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m with music by Don Vappie. Tables for six people are $450 (individual tickets are not available). Visit faubourgbrewery. com for tickets.

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Sultry Sunday LOCAL BURLESQUE ICON TRIXIE MINX WILL TEASE AUDIENCES WITH HER TWIRLING, tassles and more at her regular early evening gig at Howlin’ Wolf. A front row VIP table includes four seats and table service and costs $100. Second row seating is $20 and general admission is $15. The show starts at 5:30 on Sunday, Aug. 1. Information and tickets can be found at thehowlinwolf.com.

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G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > J u ly 27 - Au g u st 2 > 2 02 1

FILM

Strange tales BY WILL COVIELLO MERMAIDS ARE BEGUILING MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES in many

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cultures. In Shahad Ameen’s fable-like debut feature film, “Scales,” they’re both powerful and vulnerable figures who live largely hidden in the waters near a small fishing village. While the mermaids are mysterious figures, the traditions of the town are harrowing. The film is black and white, and it opens with a scene on the beach at night. Villagers wait at the water’s edge, and drumming and chanting begins some sort of ceremony. The scene is shrouded in darkness save for a few torches and their reflections on the water. Men holding babies or leading young girls wade into the water and drop them beneath the waves. Only Muthanah cannot bear it, and he turns back and dives under to rescue his daughter Hayat. Sparing the girl’s life is a curse on her and the village. The people live by a tradition in which each family must sacrifice a daughter to the sea. There’s very little for the fishermen to catch. The already rugged environment dries up, leaving the dusty city to suffer years of deprivation, and Hayat is blamed for the misfortunes of the town. Hayat lives as a pariah, and her family also continues to share the burden. Much of the film takes place when she is about 12 years old, as her parents struggle over whether to produce a daughter to sacrifice. Hayat is sent to live with the young boys who are learning to fish. They live behind barbed wire fences, which emphasizes the town’s separate treatments by gender. The youth mend nets and apprentice to work on the boat, which stays at sea for days at a time trying to find anything to feed the townspeople. The men see her as bad luck, though the captain, Amer, insists on keeping her aboard. A patch of skin on Hayat’s foot transforms into scales, and when it begins to spread, she is careful to hide it from view. Ameen grew up in Saudi Arabia, and “Scales” was the nation’s official submission for Academy Award consideration for 2021 awards. It was filmed on the coast in Oman, and it’s in Arabic with English subtitles.

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y VA R I A N C E F I L M S

At 75 minutes, “Scales” is short for a feature. It also explores ideas and imagery similar to Ameen’s 2013 short film, “Eye & Mermaid,” in which a young girl discovers that a group of men including her father have caught a mermaid. Ameen says she is inspired by the story of Atargatis. There are different accounts of the goddess, but she was viewed as a symbol of fertility and the life of the seas. In some stories, she threw herself in the ocean, trying to turn herself into a fish. But the gods deemed her too beautiful for that fate and intervened to save her beauty, leaving her half woman, half sea creature. The story in “Scales” is communicated more through its stark imagery than its spare dialogue. Ameen contrasts the rugged, barren landscape with the lush and inviting water. That may be intended to highlight the realms controlled by men and women. The village is a misogynist society in microcosm, and Ameen has talked about how women are treated in her native Saudi Arabia. Hayat is played by the young Saudi actress Basima Hajjar. She brings a wide-eyed, patience to a world of cruelty. As an outcast, she is a witness, but also something more. “Scales” is about sacrifice, and the townspeople may have given up more than they understand. “Scales” opens July 30 at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge.

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TORCH-BEARERS By Frank A. Longo

65 Prefix with athlete 66 Imitator 67 Opponent 68 Peace activist Yoko 69 What this puzzle’s featured athletes did in the years indicated 74 “As I see it,” to texters 75 O’er and o’er 76 Stared at 77 NHLer Bobby 78 “It comes — surprise ...” 79 It’s hit in a fiesta 81 Lavish dance 82 “Up in Smoke” persona 84 Phoenix Suns point guard who was the

2005 and 2006 NBA MVP [2010] 86 Not on time 88 Pope’s crown 92 Trial excuse 93 1950s-’60s champion decathlete [1984] 96 Here, in Paris 99 Icelandic literary saga 101 Some jazz combos 102 Solder metal 103 Alpine skier voted Canada’s female athlete of the 20th century [2010] 108 Salad endive 111 Go places 112 Monte — 115 Physically fit 116 All by oneself 118 Hockey player voted Canada’s male athlete of the 20th century [2010] 123 Windshield condensation clearer 124 Major South Korean airline 125 Twinkie filling 126 Suffix with Japan 127 Award for Mel Brooks 128 Hankered 129 Braga of film

33 Thing at the end of a foot 35 To no — (in vain) 38 Reduced by 39 “Botch- —” (1952 hit) 43 “Notorious” screenwriter Ben 44 Ex-Rocket Ming 45 Without instrumental backup 47 Stay a while 48 Large bay window 49 Porker 52 Artist Chagall 53 Some horror film helpers 54 Mortise insert 55 Maine city 57 Singer Gwen 58 Jogging gait 60 Actress Tara 62 Radar spots 63 Ceiling 64 Make up for 66 — nitrite (vasodilator) 67 Game similar to baccarat 70 Ritz or Hilton 71 “You bet!” 72 Social circle 73 Singer Bobby 80 Director DuVernay 81 Back of a 45

82 Suffix with prank or mob 83 Ordinal suffix 85 Scottish port on the North Sea 87 Sternward 89 Concerning 90 Muddy up 91 Diarist Frank 93 Skedaddled 94 Voicer of Olaf in “Frozen” 95 Award for Mel Brooks 96 Not outdoors 97 Brings about 98 Wages 100 Nov. follower 104 251, to Ovid 105 Matzo’s lack 106 Arrive at 107 Wipe clean 109 Baldwin and Waugh 110 Back in style 113 “You ain’t —!” (“Amen!”) 114 Put — act 117 Uninteresting 119 Arizona-toKansas dir. 120 Buddhist sect 121 Chiang — -shek 122 Singing Sumac

DOWN 1 Sorority letter 2 Musical gift 3 Meyers of TV 4 Sri — 5 Wrap over the shoulders 6 Financial backer 7 Joke around 8 Lacks entity 9 What fur is 10 Per — (by the year) 11 Flawlessly 12 — tai 13 Slept in tents 14 Top players 15 Helping theorem 16 Writer Alice B. — 17 Not in private 18 Water nymph 22 Placed 24 Like a — sunshine 28 VCR format 30 — -Cola 31 “I smell —!” 32 Little children

ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P 2

PUZZLES

34 “The Greatest” boxer [1996] 36 Spanish gold 37 Alley Oop’s girlfriend 40 “Please reply” abbr. 41 Barrett of Pink Floyd 42 Australian sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters [2000] 46 Fabled man? 50 Confounded 51 Tiny division of a min. 52 First female figure skater to land a triple axel in competition [1998] 56 Sportscaster Bob 59 Nearly dried-up sea 61 Shot glass 62 Uninteresting

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Bell sounds 6 Headwear for the slopes 12 Dinner, e.g. 16 Truckload 19 Politico Palin 20 14th-century sculptor Andrea 21 Impala, e.g. 23 Pairs figure skater who won 10 consecutive world titles [2014] 25 Frozen cube producer 26 Figure skater Michelle 27 “Hack My Life” channel 29 Pooh creator 30 Stimulus for a reaction

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