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Spread Happiness .... with Flowers Flowers!!
JANUARY 11 — JANUARY 17, 2022 VOLUME 43 || NUMBER 2
CONTENTS
Jefferson Parish Schools Ramp up mental health support for students ....................................15
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NEWS Opening Gambit ...............................6 Commentary.....................................9 Clanc DuBos ....................................10
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FEATURES Arts & Entertainment ....................5 Eat + Drink....................................... 17 Music ................................................ 23 Film ................................................... 26
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5
Homecoming
New Orleans writer Jami Attenberg releases a memoir UNLIKE WITH HER FICTION BOOKS, if you keep up with Jami Attenberg on social media, you already know how her new memoir is going to end. No matter how many places she lives in throughout the U.S. or travels to across the world, you know it’s only a matter of time before — spoiler alert — she ends up living in the 9th Ward with her pug-beagle mix Sid. But while you may know where she is now, you may not know yet how she got there. “I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home,” which is being released by HarperCollins’ Ecco imprint on Tuesday, Jan. 11, chronicles that life-long journey and all its ups and downs. When Attenberg writes about the past, she does so with the kind of hindsight and self-awareness only possible after deep reflection over events in your life countless times over and from varying — conflicting, even — angles. She sums up the approach best when she writes, “But what if we let time pass, looking at an incident in the rearview mirror rather than at the moment of impact? We can wave goodbye to it, but still see it so clearly, captured in a pristine reflection … And then perhaps, we’ll be ready to tell a more fully realized version of the story.” Each chapter floats in and out of various memories and time periods, often telling multiple stories with a common thread you don’t realize until the end, with tangents and musings along the way. In that way, each chapter reads a bit like a mystery where the reader searches for the answer to the question “Why is she telling us this now?” before Attenberg reveals it herself. In one chapter, Attenberg examines how the loss of her grandmother, a woman she’s never met, has shaped her. In another, she talks about how once she experienced the freedom of making art and traveling to new places, she couldn’t stop. As the book goes on, she covers topics surrounding family, romantic and platonic relations, body image, loneliness and solitude, anxiety and assault, and she takes the reader along with her on some of her many travels. In an age where society is starting to examine its relationship with work and productivity, it’s clear writing is more than a job for
|
by Kaylee Poche
Jon Cleary’s ‘Fly on the Wall’ Sessions
IF YOU’VE EVER WONDERED HOW A MUSICIAN DECIDES on their set list, or
how a band works out a new song, Jon Cleary’s “Fly on the Wall” sessions might be your chance to get some answers. For three Tuesday nights in January, Cleary and his band, The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, are hosting “rehearsal” shows at the Maple Leaf, where music lovers can get a peek behind the curtain at the band working on new arrangements, revisiting old songs and re-working material. Cleary and The AMG will perform some new material at an upcoming show Jan. 21 at the Toulouse Theater. The next “Fly on the Wall” session takes place 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11, at the Maple Leaf. Tickets are $20 advance at mapleleafbar. com; $25 at the door.
Attenberg, who has written seven novels. Discussion on writing is the through line of the book and the act appears to be the through line of her life. It’s where she feels safe and free. She describes reading as not just inspiration but “nutrition” for her and says books gave her a “reason to live” when she was at her lowest point. Some of the best parts of the book are Attenberg’s reflections on womanhood. When writing about the first time she wore a bikini, she gives an apt observation on anxiety when she says, “Can you imagine viewing everything in your life through two sets of eyes? Yet surely, I have viewed myself through thousands of sets of eyes in my life. Without even knowing it.” The last few chapters are some of the most personal in the memoir as she describes her experiences with harassment and physical and sexual assault. They are experiences that came up during the hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and she resents having to think about them at all. In her personal experience and with Kavanaugh, “The word reputation rarely works on behalf of women,” she concludes. While much of the book takes place in other cities and abroad, Attenberg writes about New Orleans
P H O T O B Y J O N AT H A N T R AV I E S A
Jami Attenberg’s memoir, “I Came All This Way to Meet You,” comes out Tuesday, Jan. 11. in a few parts — about participating in a second line at The End of the World on the Mississippi River and deciding she’d move to the city one day and about showing her friend around the Lakefront Airport. She’s humble when it comes to writing about the city. When Attenberg wrote her 2019 novel, “All This Could Be Yours,” she was nervous about setting it in New Orleans, telling Gambit “I did not want to screw it up.” In “I Came All This Way,” she writes, “There is always the sense with New Orleans that I am just getting started here. That it will take me forever to understand the layers of it all. But this is the way I feel about my life. The minute I think I know everything is when I’ll be dead wrong.” Anne Gisleson moderates a conversation with Attenberg at Anna’s with Blue Cypress Books on Jan. 25, and Katy Simpson Smith moderates an event with her at Octavia Books on Feb. 2.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Jon Cleary performs at the Maple Leaf Bar on Jan. 11.
Tank and the Bangas with the LPO
A TANK AND THE BANGAS LIVE SHOW IS ALREADY A BLAST — and now imag-
ine the band with the full Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra backing them. And then add in PJ Morton. Tank and the Bangas perform with the LPO and special guest Morton at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, at the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets start at $25 at lpomusic.com. PAGE 25
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Southern Nights They Feel So Good, It’s Frightening Wish I Could Stop This World From Fighting
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Ruby Bridges, civil rights icon
and activist, has been named Humanist of the Year 2022 by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The award recognizes a person who “has made invaluable and lasting contributions to Louisiana’s cultural landscape,” LEH said. Bridges was just 6 years old when she, Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost and Gail Etienne desegregated New Orleans public schools in 1960. Bridges has become an author and speaker, and she established a foundation in 1999 to promote equality.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell fired
Peter Bowen, a deputy chief administrative officer, after he was arrested in December for allegedly driving drunk in the French Quarter and threatening the police officers at the scene. He had been suspended without pay since his arrest. Cantrell made the right decision to fire Bowen, but she still deserves a thumbs down for hiring the former Sonder executive to oversee short-term rental regulations in the first place.
The Louisiana Public Service Commission has awarded
$220,000 worth of contracts to consultant Scott McQuaig for legal and policy research despite McQuaig having a suspended law license, the Louisiana Illuminator reported last week. No law license? No problem! McQuaig has close ties to Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, a Metairie Republican who voted to approve the contracts to McQuaig.
THE COUNT
THE NUMBER OF ORGAN DONORS WHO PROVIDED 763 ORGANS TO THOSE WAITING ON TRANSPLANTS IN 2021.
P H O T O B Y D AV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E
Lee surrenders again as New Orleans renames boulevard for Allen Toussaint THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL VOTED UNANIMOUSLY Jan. 6 to
rename Robert E. Lee Boulevard for Allen Toussaint. The change will go into effect Feb. 1 for the four and a half mile street running through Lakeview and Gentilly. The push to rename several public spaces and city streets that honor Confederates and other white supremacists had been a discussion topic for years. The effort to honor Toussaint launched in 2015 after the legendary musician died while on tour in Spain at the age of 77 and fans circulated a petition. Nationwide protests against white supremacy and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 death spurred the Council into further action. Council members formed the Street Renaming Commission, a collective that worked with historians, musicians, scholars and residents to figure out who to honor instead of white supremacists. “This process was very thoughtful and in-depth,” said Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer.
Last year, the Council also voted unanimously to rename the former Jefferson Davis Parkway for Norman C. Francis, the former president of Xavier University, and several other parks and streets have since been renamed. The new ordinance notes Toussaint’s wide-ranging accomplishments, including his contributions to the local and international music scene and a presidential medal of honor. “He has been instrumental in changing the sound of New Orleans music and has influenced musicians across the world,” said Councilmember Jared Brossett, who authored the ordinance, adding Toussaint “encompasses everything that is naturally New Orleans.” Mark Raymond Jr., vice-chair of the New Orleans City Council Street Renaming Commission, said, “Toussaint celebrated life with his voice and his masterful piano playing that invited all of us to celebrate with him. This is the type of person our streets should be remembering and recalling with a nod to his everlasting beat.” — SARAH RAVITS PAGE 7
This is an all-time high and an increase of 15% from 2020, according to the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, an independent nonprofit organ and tissue recovery agency. There were also 479 people who donated tissue last year for use in procedures such as heart valve transplants for children born with congenital heart defects, skin grafts for burn victims and a variety of orthopedic rehabilitation surgeries. One tissue donor can provide life-saving grafts for up to 75 individuals.
C’EST W H AT
?
Should the city reinstate a mask mandate?
26.7%
50%
YES. WE NEED TO DO MORE TO GET THIS WAVE UNDER CONTROL.
NO. THE VACCINE IS HERE AND WE’RE DONE WITH MASK RULES.
23.3%
I NEVER STOPPED WEARING MY MASK.
Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com
PAGE 6
Covid ruins Rio’s Carnival street parties
AS COVID-19 CASELOADS SKYROCKET ACROSS THE GLOBE , another bac-
chanalian hotspot, Rio de Janeiro, announced Jan. 5 that it would be halting street parties and other seasonal celebrations. Like New Orleans, Rio draws in millions of international visitors during its Carnival season. According to The New York Times, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said, “there won’t be street carnivals in the tradition of the past” this year. He clarified that the city’s biggest official parade, however, will go on with restrictions. Residents who were eager to put on performances in elaborate costumes and welcome visitors to celebrate after a particularly troubling year, expressed disappointment. New Orleans city and state officials, meanwhile, have not called on parades or parties to cancel — though they have said for
weeks that they are continuing to monitor the number of cases and hospitalizations before making more decisions. The U.S. is gripped in a fifth wave of Covid with record-high numbers of cases that have exponentially grown over the past few weeks. New Orleans case growth has echoed national trends. However, hospitalization numbers — a key factor of officials’ decision making — have not yet hit a threshold. Gov. John Bel Edwards said that if hospitals and emergency rooms lose the capacity to deliver life-saving care, he may consider further restrictions or bringing back a mask mandate. Currently, face coverings are not required, though they are strongly recommended, especially indoors. Meanwhile, New Orleans has a vaccine requirement to get into indoor venues including bars and restaurants. Back in November, as cases were declining and vaccination rates
improving, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s director of communications Beau Tidwell said, “Mardi Gras is happening, barring some completely catastrophic change in the numbers.” City officials have continued to urge all residents and visitors to receive the vaccine and booster shots if eligible. But shortly after that announcement, South African health officials first identified the omicron variant which has since spread like wildfire across international boundaries. New Orleans — like the rest of the country — has also seen a swelling demand for rapid tests, which have been in short supply at drug stores while its community test sites, which have longer wait times for results, re-opened after closing for the holidays. Meanwhile, the federal government under President Joe Biden has been struggling to ramp up its testing capacity, won’t pay people to stay home when they are sick, and like the previous administration has largely left pandemic
response in the hands of municipalities and state governments. As The Len’s Marta Jewson pointed out on Twitter, caseloads are so high now in New Orleans that the health department’s dashboard, which was only configured to track statistics up to a certain number of digits, appears to have been overwhelmed. City health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno, who is slated to reign as a monarch in the satirical Krewe du Vieux next month, indicated last month that if hospitals become overwhelmed as they have in the past, “the likelihood that the city will issue event permits is probably also low.” But on Jan. 6, the official start of Carnival season, Mayor LaToya Cantrell welcomed revelers. “Without a doubt, we will have Mardi Gras,” she said. She was met by a round of applause from krewe leaders and others; meanwhile Covid infections in Louisiana hit another daily high. — SARAH RAVITS
Childhood comes and goes in a blink. We’re here through the stages of your life, with the strength of the cross, the protection of the shield. The Right Card. The Right Care.
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Cantrell’s old messes spill over into 2022 THE DAWN OF A NEW YEAR TRADITIONALLY USHERS IN THE PROMISE OF NEW BEGINNINGS, of
turning the page on the past year’s mistakes. Reality, of course, is significantly messier and cares not for humanity’s obsession with imbuing certain days of the year with otherworldly attributes. Still, it doesn’t hurt to start the year off on a good note. Which makes the state of play at City Hall all the more depressing. Rather than cast off the old as she prepared to begin her second term in office, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her administration continue to drag the core problems of 2021 into 2022. Some of that is unavoidable, but much of it is not. Take, for example, Peter Bowen. Until last week, Bowen — a former executive at short-term rental giant Sonder — served as the deputy chief administrative officer overseeing short-term rentals in the city. Bowen was fired Jan. 4 after police arrested him in December for DUI and accused him of threatening to retaliate against officers for his arrest. Bowen allegedly dared cops to call Police Chief Shaun Ferguson. The problem is not that Bowen was fired. Hiring him in the first place was the real mistake. And it shouldn’t have taken his alleged DUI and bullying of cops to get rid of him. The minute Cantrell hired him, Bowen became one of the administration’s most controversial figures. If the inappropriateness of hiring Bowen weren’t apparent to the mayor on its face, it should have been disqualifying that he took the job while maintaining a significant financial stake in Sonder. Bowen also had a combative relationship with the City Council. During public hearings, council members’ repeatedly expressed frustration with him, most notably outgoing/former Council member Kristin Gisleson Palmer. Palmer wrote the city’s latest STR
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P H O T O B Y D A N I E L E R AT H
Peter Bowen in 2019 ordinance, and she rightly complained about City Hall’s lack of enforcement. Privately, council members and political insiders said Bowen treated the council as little more than an annoying formality he had to deal with — and not as citizens’ elected representatives tasked with overseeing his work. The bar for being fired from a job as important as Bowen’s shouldn’t be suddenly becoming a political liability or embarrassment. While we’re glad to see the mayor cleaning up this mess, the truth is she created the mess by hiring Bowen. Speaking of messes, spotty trash collection remains a problem for the mayor in 2022. Just days after announcing that curbside recycling would resume in parts of the city, the administration abruptly reversed course after hundreds of people complained about missed trash pickups. The about-face is reminiscent of the ever-shifting deadlines and misinformation about trash pickup that city officials churned out in the weeks after Hurricane Ida. As with Bowen, the nagging trash pickup problem has less to do with the latest delay in the return of curbside recycling. Rather, it’s the fact that once again, the administration has waited until a festering problem became so unbearable that City Hall had no choice but to take action. Taking care of problems as they arise would be a great New Year’s resolution for the returning administration.
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the name of music icon Allen Toussaint on the boulevard currently named for the Confederacy’s top military defender of American slavery, Robert E. Lee. Lee led a large army in our nation’s bloodiest war, an insurrection launched to defend slavery in Southern states and expand it to new Western states. The Civil War and its aftermath still divide our nation. Lee’s blood-stained legacy stands in stark contrast to that of Toussaint, whose unforgettable music and warm persona united people of all races, creeds and political persuasions. Anything less than a unanimous vote would have constituted an affront to Toussaint’s memory — and to his family. Besides, Lee’s name was not the original moniker of the boulevard that abuts City Park, Lakeview, and several other neighborhoods. That street was originally named Hibernia Avenue in honor of the thousands of Irish laborers who died digging the New Basin Canal. Around 1960, amid the modern civil rights movement, Hibernia Avenue was renamed Robert E. Lee Boulevard, no doubt as a message of white resistance. As a history major at UNO, I studied under the late Stephen Ambrose, who was a military historian and the official biographer of Dwight Eisenhower. Ambrose understood well — and often documented in his books — the human cost of war. I also studied under the late Joseph Logsdon, who taught Civil War and civil rights history. Logsdon was particularly interested in New Orleans’ role in our nation’s long, and too often bloody, civil rights movement. He often noted the fallacy and shallowness of the so-called “Lost Cause” view of the Confederacy. I have thought of Ambrose and Logsdon often during our city’s debate on renaming streets that honor Confederates, slavers and
P H O T O B Y K AT H L E E N F LY N N / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E
On Thursday, City Council unanimously voted to rename Robert E. Lee Boulevard for Allen Toussaint. white supremacists. I think they would agree with me when I say that Robert E. Lee is perhaps the most overly — and undeservedly — romanticized figure in American history. Here’s why: Lee owned slaves and treated them harshly. He led a failed insurrection against the nation he swore to defend. Worst of all, he caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. Those are indisputable, historical facts, and there’s nothing “noble” about any of them. That’s why Lee doesn’t deserve streets or statues honoring him. What’s more, removing his name and likeness does not rewrite history; it honors history — and truth — by dispelling fallacious myths. It’s wonderfully coincidental that the vote to remove Lee’s name from a major boulevard occurred in the same week that Gov. John Bel Edwards posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the Black Creole who bravely challenged Louisiana’s racial segregation laws in 1892 and was arrested for his act of civil disobedience. Plessy’s arrest led to what is arguably the worst U.S. Supreme Court decision in history, Plessy v. Ferguson. Those two events underscore an important truth: Streets, statues and myths aren’t history. History is history. And when what passes for history is proven to be untrue or unjust, it must be corrected.
11
@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake,
A sign outside St. Dominic Church in Lakeview refers to a Blessed John of Vercelli National Shrine. What can you tell me about its history? Is there a connection between him and New Orleans?
GET READY FOR
PLAYOFFS
Dear reader,
FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS, ST. DOMINIC CATHOLIC CHURCH and its school
have been overseen by the religious order known as the Dominicans, or Order of Preachers, which leads us to Blessed John of Vercelli. Born as John Garbella in Vercelli, Italy, he was Master General of the Dominican order from 1264 to 1283. In 1274, he founded the religious organization known as the Holy Name Society. He was declared Blessed by Pope Pius X in 1903, putting him one step away from sainthood. In 1956, according to The TimesPicayune, the local chapter of the Holy Name Society kicked off a campaign to raise $25,000 to build a shrine to Blessed John of Vercelli. It would be in the “new” St. Dominic Church, then being built on Harrison Avenue. Plans called for the shrine to be dedicated in May 1961, when the
PHOTO BY G.E. ARNOLD / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E A R C H I V E
A public shrine is dedicated to Blessed John of Vercelli, founder of Holy Name Society. current church was dedicated. However, shipping delays postponed the shrine’s completion until November 1962. The shrine’s altar (located to the left of the church’s main altar) is made of black Italian marble. Blessed John of Vercelli is depicted in a life-sized statue by Italian sculptor Orlando Orlandini. According to a 1961 TimesPicayune article, the names of donors for the shrine were sealed in a stainless steel tube and deposited in the altar when it was completed.
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BL AKEVIE W THIS MONTH MARKS THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY of a New Orleans lakefront landmark: the Mardi Gras Fountain. It was dedicated on Twelfth Night — Jan. 6, 1962. Like so many Carnival innovations, the fountain was the brainchild of Blaine Kern. In a 2012 article for Arthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide, Kern explained that the idea for the fountain sprang from his travels to Europe in the 1950s. “Everywhere I went in Europe, there was a fountain with great sculptures and beautiful works of art,” Kern said. The float builder took his idea for a New Orleans attraction to his friend, Orleans Levee Board president (and future U.S. Attorney) Gerald Gallinghouse. Gallinghouse convinced his fellow Levee Board members to fund the project on Lakeshore Drive between Canal Boulevard and Marconi Drive. The original fountain included more than 60 ceramic tile plaques displaying the crests of the city’s Carnival krewes. Familiar names such as Rex, Comus, Proteus, Hermes and Zulu are included, along with several ball organizations and krewes which are now defunct (such as Moslem, Hera and Omardz). The fountain’s waters shot 30 feet into the air and at night were illuminated in shades of purple, green and gold. In 2005, shortly before Hurricane Katrina, the Levee Board spent $2.5 million to repair the fountain and surrounding area. Plaques were added for krewes established since 1962. In 2013, another renovation repaired damage from Katrina, added more new plaques and upgraded the fountain’s lighting and mechanical systems.
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mental health
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BEING
seenIN THE
struggle
Getting mental health care in the age of disaster BY DOMONIQUE TOLLIVER AS CRISTO DULOM WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR of his rental home in New Orleans the week following Hurricane Ida, he realized the place he once viewed as a sanctuary was gone. After evacuating to Shreveport for the storm, Dulom discovered Ida had blown shingles off his roof, allowing water to seep into the home and damage his couch, dining room table and entertainment console. Dulom says he and his fiancé had a day to move their belongings out of their home as construction workers ripped up the wood floor, which had buckled from being drenched. Dulom has relied on family and friends for support in the aftermath of the storm, but he says he still felt the damage was too much to deal with on top of the already stressful COVID19 pandemic. “I lost both my personal home and my childhood. I had to move out of them in the span of two weeks. It’s something I will never forget,” he says. It took Dulom three weeks to move back home permanently, in large part due to the citywide blackout that crippled New Orleans during the stifling heat. “You were gonna get a heat stroke if you wore a mask during the construction. The A/C and electrical are not on in the house, and it’s really hot,” he says. “I just hoped my vaccine worked, and Covid wasn’t the biggest concern that time because we were looking at our home destroyed in front of us.” Dulom says the pressure of the pandemic, hurricane and every-
PROVIDED PHOTO
Miles Boone (left), Tamla Boone and Betty Marsh (right) pose for a photo during a family gathering on November 25, 2021, in New Orleans. Miles Boone said he has struggled the past few months finding a therapist he connects with as a Black man. day life exacerbated his stress to a point he could not handle alone and that getting help from mental health professionals was necessary. Getting good mental health care has long been a challenge in New Orleans and other parts of the region. As long standing stigmas surrounding the issue have begun to recede, the number of doctors available to provide care hasn’t kept pace with demand. So when disaster hits the area — or as in the case of the pandemic, settles in for a an extended stay — it can stress the system to its limits. Charles Figley is a professor at Tulane University who specializes in trauma psychology and psychoneuroimmunology, the study of the interactions between the human brain, nervous system and immune system. Figley says after a hurricane, the brain needs to get out of survival mode and recover from the traumatic event — and it takes time. “Hurricanes are an explosion in effect, but then, the fallout takes a while to settle,” Figley says. Adrianne Strachan, a provisional licensed professional counselor supervisor at Geaux Talk, says trauma can have a severe impact on a person’s mental health if it is bothering them and is not being addressed. Geaux Talk is a Louisiana Public Health
Institute program focused on improving young people’s access to health services. Dulom says that while Hurricane Ida is in the past for some, he is still dealing with the effects of the storm’s physical damage. “I am still picking drywall and dust out of my guitar. There’s still those remnants of this still coming up in December, and we moved into our new house in October,” Dulom says. Dulom, who is also a senior at Loyola University New Orleans, says he had to drop an entire semester of college due to stress and will be attending an outpatient therapy program to help with his mental health. “I was definitely less incentivized to go to class with the stress of things. It felt weird to go to
Access to mental health has
socioeconomic boundaries.
13
class and be in an environment that was supposed to be ‘normal’ when nothing else in my life felt normal,” Dulom says. During the pandemic, more people are seeking out mental health care but there aren’t enough mental health professionals to meet that demand. This is not a new struggle for Black New Orleanians, however. It’s common for people seeking out mental health care to want to talk to someone with whom they feel comfortable and can relate, so many Black people seeking out therapy prefer to receive services from a Black mental health professional. There are a different set of experiences that Black people have which can shape how they respond to situations or relationships. Talking to someone who already understands — and most importantly has lived — the universal experiences Black people in the United States encounter is important because it can help Black patients feel seen and makes them less likely to have to overexplain their experiences to their therapist. But it can be grueling for Black people to find mental health help when there are few people in the mental health industry who are Black and can understand their experience with empathy and not sympathy. According to the
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mental health
American Psychological Association, in 2019, Black professionals made up only 3% of the psychology workforce nationally. Loyola graduate student Miles Boone says he’s contacted several Black therapists but hasn’t heard anything back. “Sometimes I’m afraid to go to therapy because I know that my presence just scares some people. I’ve been in counseling in different parts of my life, and I’ve never had an African American therapist. I feel like some other people aren’t going through all the things that I’m going through that make my life unique and that make my experience unique,” Boone says. Boone says when he feels like he needs therapy and then he doesn’t have access to it, it makes him feel crazy. “It makes me feel like no one cares what you’re going through. I think that’s when the stigmas really start to ring loud. I feel like I have, at this point, done all that I know how to do to try to get help, and all that I can do is wait sometimes,” he says. At Geaux Talk, Strachan says she had to hire more staff to help with her incoming clients during the pandemic.
PROVIDED PHOTO
“I ended up having to hire more and more people. I eventually realized that I’m never gonna meet the demand and I did not want to compromise the care we were giving by hiring too many people. I choose people for my staff that I would be comfortable going to myself,” Strachan says. For Black Americans, the mental health system is strained on both ends. Black therapists and counselors like Strachan struggle to keep up with the demand while taking care of themselves. Black people looking for care may find a professional they feel comfortable with but may encounter financial hurdles when trying to get care from that person. Access to mental health has socioeconomic boundaries. Minoritized communities in the United States are less likely to find affordable physical health care for their family, let alone find a therapist who accepts your insurance for mental health care. The cost of seeing a mental health professional adds up and can become more of a financial burden for some families, even if they are seeing improvements in their mental health. And for many,
Cristo Dolum (left) and Tatum Nesbett enjoy their new home in New Orleans on October 2, 2021 after their previous rental home was destroyed during Hurricane Ida. Dolum said he has leaned on his family and friends while he works on his mental health.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Charles Figley
the pandemic has exacerbated that financial toll. Financial struggles can add to the stressors and anxiety they may already have. Strachan says multiple instances of trauma can affect a person at one time. “The anxiety from Covid is about the fear of getting sick and also giving it to others,” Strachan says. “When Ida happened, people had the stress of a hurricane and evacuation to deal with on top of that. It was already stressful evacuating because you’re around your family a lot more than normal and adding Covid to that can cause more anxiety.” According to Figley, as a disaster passes, five questions go through our minds: What happened to me? Why did it happen? Why did I act the way I did at the time? Why have I acted the way I have since that time? And am I prepared if it happens again? “We think back on storms and remember how much better off we are now,” Figley says. “There is nothing like a highly stressful traumatic event to enable someone to recognize that they’re very fortunate.” However, Figley says the memories stored from traumatic events will not vanish. “Those bad memories are replaced by just memories,” he says. “More time goes by, the less frequently the person will think about it. Most people will be able to say I’m here, I’ve survived so I need to move on.” Dulom says trying to move on from Ida while in a pandemic continues to take a toll on his mental health, especially when he compares himself now to how he was before the pandemic.
“It’s a huge shift from what I was used to,” Dulom says. “I don’t have the capacity for what I was used to before the pandemic. From a mental health perspective, trying to reach for those good ole days hurts so much because I know I’m capable of so much more, but these circumstances are not conducive for success.” Figley says access to mental health care can help people heal from natural disasters and other traumatic events. “At the very least, we need to be able to talk to someone who understands us, who is familiar with the same neighborhoods, who is someone who can get it,” he says. “That’s really critical.” According to Strachan, the long-term stress of the pandemic requires a variety of coping mechanisms. “You can have an emergency tool kit of different coping skills that you can utilize throughout the process,” she says. “One day going for a run may help, but the next day it may not. You just have to keep your tools in rotation and keep trying to switch it up.”
“When Ida happened, people had the stress of a hurricane and evacuation to deal with on top of that. It was already stressful evacuating because you’re around your family a lot more than normal and adding Covid to that can cause more anxiety.” —ADRIANNE STR ACHAN
a provisional licensed professional counselor supervisor at Geaux Talk Meanwhile, Dulom says he’s seeking mental health care and working through the post-Ida and mid-pandemic transitions the best he can. “With the pandemic we are reaching to get back to normal and the reality is, that version of normal pre-pandemic is just not in the cards for us anymore,” Dulom says.
mental health | THE G AMBIT INTERVIE W
JEFFERSON PARISH CHIEF OF SCHOOLS
By Vaishnavi Kumbala | JRNOLA BETWEEN THE PANDEMIC AND HURRICANE IDA, students across Louisiana have been battling unprecedented levels of stress and mental health issues. Jefferson Parish Chief of Schools Ajit “AJ” Pethe sat down with Gambit to share insight into the state of mental health resources available to the district’s roughly 50,000 students. More information about the resources is listed in the full transcript online. The following has been edited for brevity:
What does your role as the Chief of Schools involve? AJ PETHE: One of the things I do is serve as the second in command in the district after [Superintendent James Gray.] I also oversee the Student Support Unit. One of the main responsibilities is health and related services.
What do those health responsibilities encompass? AP: The health area has a couple of things. One is the medical side of it. The other side is the behavioral mental health support. This year has been especially challenging with [Hurricane Ida] impacting us, and we also continue to be in Covid. As a district, we already had 123 social workers in place, and we’re able to contract for 10 additional social workers with Children’s Hospital. So this contract allows us to provide additional support to our students.
What impact have you seen Hurricane Ida and the pandemic have on the mental health of students in Jefferson Parish? AP: It really impacts every student differently. But what we’ve noticed overall is kids are dealing with normal school life … so there’s a bit of a stress in that. Then there was the hurricane, so some people had various damages to home,
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Ajit “AJ” Pethe
some had significant damage to their homes. But still, most people either had to evacuate or stayed home, and then didn’t have power or were working on generator power and didn’t have internet access. So that was part of the issue, too. That added stress to both students and our staff. Then on top of that, we’re still in the midst of Covid. All those things coming together has just increased our stress level for everyone … if you think about what’s normal routine for kids — which is being in school, seeing your friends, seeing your teachers, being able to interact socially — when that’s interrupted, that automatically causes a level of stress. The hurricane really contributed to that because you had students scattered all over — some evacuated from the state, others stayed within state, others stayed in their homes — but it affects your normal day-to-day routines. And Covid, in some ways, does that as well.
As a student, I felt that not everyone knows the full range of mental health resources available. How does the school district plan to bring more awareness to the resources? AP: You’re right on point: Not everyone knows all the support that we provide. And that’s something we do for our students, but then we also have some programs in place, one of which is called Leader In Me. Leader In Me not only focuses on mental health but also really focuses on how you become a leader as a student within the school system. That’s really going to help you — not only in school but then also in life later on. Leader in Me was started at pre-K through eighth (grade) schools. But then we’ve added it to (high schools). This is the first high school in Jefferson Parish. And it really helps with learning to prioritize resolving conflict. Second Step is a program for pre-K through fifth grade schools. That’s a curriculum, and it really supports empathy, as well as learning skills and conflict resolution. For sixth grade students, we have something called Rethink Ed, and that supports students coping with grief and loss, hopelessness and resiliency. The last thing we have is called Conscious Discipline, and that’s for pre-K through fifth grade schools. It’s building class family, learning, empathy, focus skills for learning.
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PROVIDED PHOTO
Ajit “A.J.” Pethe is chief of schools for the Jefferson Parish Schools.
Parishwide, how is JP Schools planning to add more opportunities for students to socialize, especially since lunchtime has been shortened? AP: One of the things in a classroom setting is that there are always opportunities to engage, and they’re through what you’re learning in the classroom. I’m sure you’ve participated in different situations where you’re debating or having conversations with your colleagues … we will continue to take feedback from stakeholder groups and modify if necessary and go back during the summer as we think about next year’s planning.
Some of these programs that you mentioned in middle and elementary schools, not many people may have heard of them yet. Why do you think that is? AP: Yeah, it could be the terminology, too. At the elementary
level, it can look like a social worker going into a particular class, or it could be at some other point that’s agreed upon by the teacher and the social worker. They’ll present lessons in that class to talk about different things. But the kids wouldn’t walk away saying, ‘Oh, we did Second Step.’ They know they engaged in some activity with a mental health provider, our social workers, but they may not have that name associated with it.
Has there been evidence showing that these programs have boosted student outcomes and mental health? AP: Yes. When we implement programs like these, we call them research-based programs. There’s research across the country, and they’ve collected the data to show when you implement these correctly, these are the benefits from the programs. Our next step is to then apply that to Jefferson Parish and be specific about what that looks like in Jefferson Parish.
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A new Le Chat Noir is now open on St. Charles Avenue IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE THAT CHEF SETH TEMPLE is cooking in the space
that used to be the stage at Le Chat Noir, the former cabaret theater at 715 St. Charles Ave. Temple’s artful food commands the spotlight, the star of the show that went curtains up in early December. Temple is an alchemist as much as he is a chef, coaxing big flavors out of farm-fresh ingredients. What he does with hakurei turnips is brilliantly simple — a sauté of the small, crunchy vegetable, greens attached, in a miso-fueled umami sauce studded with candied Meyerquats and fronds of bronze fennel. Twirl the turnips like linguine, being sure to get the hybrid citrus in every bite, and the depth of clean flavor is worth a standing ovation. Temple’s menu is about 70% locally sourced, and at least half of the dishes are vegan or vegetarian. A wood-fire oven is a focal point of the open kitchen. The Lake Charles native attended the John Folse Culinary Institute where he earned a scholarship to the elite Institut Paul Bocuse in France. Back in New Orleans, he worked locally in kitchens including Kenton’s and Couvant before cooking at the Michelin-starred restaurant Lyle’s in London. “Working at Lyle’s really changed my perception of ingredients and how I like to eat,” Temple says. Temple is a fan of Dan Barber’s focus on vegetables at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Hudson Valley, New York, a style that his own cooking brings to mind. As the global supply chain continues to groan under the weight of the pandemic, sourcing regionally and locally makes more sense than ever. The chef has connections with local purveyors such as Mushroom Maggie’s Farm in West Feliciana Parish. He works closely with JV Foods, a Kenner-based food distribution company that sources from producers like Two Dog Farms in Flora, Mississippi, and Matt Ranatza Farms and Saxon Becnel & Sons citrus, both in Belle Chase. Oysters featured at the raw bar are
|
by Beth D’Addono
harvested primarily from Louisiana and Alabama Gulf waters, with suppliers like Bright Side Oysters out of Grand Isle farming the bivalves sustainably. The chef and his team regularly break down whole animals, including heritage pork that arrives two to three times a month from a fifth-generation farmer in Baton Rouge. The menu’s large plates include wagyu steak with crispy fingerling potatoes and brown butter, and roast pork served with celeriac, fennel and apple butter. Crab fat agnolotti features tender pasta stuffed with scallop and crab mousseline and topped with poached oysters in an Herbsaint cream sauce. Despite the Michelin pedigree, Temple favors approachability. The sommelier is Kevin Wardell, who moved to New Orleans a few months ago from Healdsburg, California, with his wife and son. The couple ran a popular wine bar called Bergamot Alley before taking the business online. Wardell has filled the affordable wine list with small, boutique producers and lesser-known grape varietals. Wardell knows his way around Old World and Italian wines. The selection of wines by the glass trots the globe, including a minerally white from Santorini, Greece, and a fruit-forward cabernet franc from the Bourgueil area of the Loire Valley. The restaurant’s cocktail program spans classics like a Sazerac and a gin-based Ford’s cocktail, along with originals like the Siesta made with tequila, a bitter aperitif, grapefruit and lime. Like so many restaurants that opened this year, Le Chat Noir had a few stops and starts. “Hurricane Ida was the most recent delay,” says partner James Reuter, a 33-year-old restaurateur who owns Bearcat Cafes in Uptown and the CBD. “We opened at the worst
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King Cake Breakdown
THE MINIATURE PORCELAIN PORTA-POTTIES WERE STUCK AT SEA for a month,
PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER
Le Chat Noir Chef Seth Temple serves crab fat agnolotti and anchovies with foccacia. time for restaurants, the month of December, but we didn’t want to wait anymore.” Gene Todaro, the building’s owner, also is a partner. Todaro ran his restaurant, Marcello’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, in the space before he relocated it to Covington. Reuter and Temple ran a dinner series out of Bearcat in the CBD, fine-tuning the menu while the Le Chat Noir space was being renovated. Behind the large windows overlooking St. Charles Avenue, there’s a front bar and oyster bar and a smattering of high-top tables. The floor of the bar area is the original black and white tile. The restaurant is currently open for dinner, and plans are in the works to serve lunch and add happy hour. Temple’s food, while rooted in locally raised and grown product, is not trying to reinvent traditional New Orleans dishes. “New Orleanians love their fried and smothered dishes,” he says. “We are just taking a different approach.”
? WHAT
Le Chat Noir
WHERE
715 St. Charles Ave., (504) 381-0045; lechatnoirnola.com
WHEN
Dinner Tue.-Sat.
HOW
Dine-in
CHECK IT OUT
Refined fare in a renewed St. Charles Avenue spot
and that was only the beginning of the trouble. The thimble-sized trinkets were bound for Haydel’s Bakery, which commissions new porcelain collectibles to accompany its king cakes each Carnival season. The Jefferson Highway bakery annually debuts the new editions on Jan. 6, Kings’ Day, a.k.a. Twelfth Night, the official start of Carnival. For 2022, Haydel’s has two designs. One represents Gallier Hall, where many Mardi Gras parades traditionally stop for a ceremonial toast; the other depicts a yellow portable toilet, an inelegant but indisputably essential part of the outdoor celebrations. “Last year’s Mardi Gras was so crappy, we just thought we’d laugh at it a bit,” says proprietor Dave Haydel.
P H O T O P R O V I D E D B Y H AY D E L’ S B A K E R Y
Haydel’s Bakery provides a miniature porcelain porta-potty or Gallier Hall with its 2022 king cakes. It turns out some crappiness continues this Carnival, at least in the king cake realm. Chalk it up to the matrix of supply shortages, price hikes and the impact of the omicron surge on staffing. It’s all bringing an edge of uncertainty and added stress across the king cake business just as the season for the traditional treats begins. Haydel’s delivery was snarled by the supply chain issues that have beset so much of the economy, even though, anticipating delays, the bakery placed its order two months earlier than usual. The shipment of some 72,000 figures made it from a producer in PAGE 18
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China only to meet a port backlog in Los Angeles that dragged on four weeks. Once the ship docked, the delay extended nine days further awaiting workers to unload it and then another four days awaiting trucking for the final leg to Louisiana. The upshot: Haydel’s will kick off Carnival with only the standard plastic baby dolls joining its king cakes. The collectibles are expected early this week. “It’s been craziness upon craziness,” Haydel says. “But what can you do? At least we will still have king cake.” Indeed, no one is predicting a lack of king cakes this year, but many in the business are wary of what unforeseen snags they’ll have to maneuver next. The start of Carnival unleashes a typically torrential demand from customers with specific, often highly personal expectations for king cake season. Preparing for it already has entailed far greater effort and expense than normal behind the scenes. Perhaps the most vexing factor on the eve of Carnival season are staffing levels that can now change day to day as employees report Covid exposures in the ongoing surge. At Maurice French Pastries in Metairie, owner Jean-Luc Albin started a day of king cake preparation last week at 2 a.m. and worked until 5 p.m. to try to meet pre-orders and shipping requests. That’s because four of the bakery’s six production staff were out after positive Covid test results. Albin, who recently turned 70, is taking it in stride. “It’s bad but you just have to deal with it,” he says. “My people will be back eventually, it’s just bad timing that they’re out when Carnival is starting.” Carnival season is a crucial span for many local bakeries. King cake sales are the primary source of revenue for some, while many others rely on what they ring in during Mardi Gras to sustain them through slow summers. “We’re making it happen, but everything is that much harder to get,” says John Caluda, whose Harahan-based Caluda’s King Cakes supplies many local retailers. Everything costs more too, from packaging to staff wages, he says. Bakers are cautious about how much of that they pass on to customers. Caluda estimates he’s spending 30% to 40% more for some ingredients, while his prices have only risen by $1 to $2 for the most popular mid-sized cakes.
Keeping inventories up at Hi-Do Bakery has meant cobbling together ingredients from a patchwork of different suppliers, says Kim Do, who helps run the shop her parents Huyen and Ha Do founded in Terrytown. But limits imposed by some vendors have left them nervous about keeping well stocked through a long Carnival season, which this year lasts more than seven weeks. “It’s been across the board, oil, flour, even yeast,” Do says. “My parents are particular about the ingredients they use, and it’s been hard to find enough of what we usually get. It’s the same everywhere you go. Everyone has these shortages.” But even with prices up and supplies constrained across the food industry, there are signs that things could be looking up for king cake makers. The tightest pressure on supply networks came around the peak-demand time of Thanksgiving and Christmas. But Carnival revs up in Louisiana as other places are winding down from the holidays. That has Gambino’s Bakery president Vincent Scelfo optimistic about the season ahead. “It’s a slow time of year everywhere else, so things tend to open up, from supplies to shipping,” he says. One example is cream cheese, a key ingredient for the “filled” king cakes that Gambino’s and many other bakeries produce. In December, cream cheese shortages made national headlines, and cheesecake makers and bagel shops scrambled to stock up. But Scelfo says supplies have resumed. “If we had to milk our own cows and make our own cream cheese we were prepared to do that, but fortunately things have settled down,” he says. While the pandemic scrubbed parades and large parties from last year’s Mardi Gras calendar, king cake sales remained strong, with many people doubling down on the tradition as one remaining emblem of the celebration. This year, with all indications pointing to resumed parades, Scelfo says the resolve to get back to normal is palpable when people visit the bakery. “King cake is an essential part of Mardi Gras. We’ve got to make it happen one way or another,” he says. — IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
Bronwen Wyatt
OF THE
WEEK
Baker
by Will Coviello BRONWEN WYATT ORIGINALLY CAME TO NEW ORLEANS to attend Tulane
University. Following Hurricane Katrina, she entered the restaurant industry as a prep cook at her brother’s restaurant in Maine. After working in San Francisco, she returned to New Orleans to be the pastry chef at La Petite Grocery and later worked at Shaya, Willa Jean, Bacchanal and Elysian Bar. During the pandemic, she launched her cake business, Bayou Saint Cake, which specializes in flower-decorated layer cakes and offers king cakes during Carnival. Last week, she moved her business into the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, where she’ll collaborate with other chefs, teach classes and more. Find information about her bakery at bayousaintcake.minimartapp. com or on Instagram, @bayousaintcake.
How did you start Bayou Saint Cake? BRONWEN WYATT: Early in the pandemic at Elysian Bar, we were doing take-home dinners. Everyone was trying to figure out some way to pivot and still make money. For those dinners, I was doing whole take-home cakes as a family-style dessert option. I still have a wonderful relationship with (Bacchanal and Elysian Bar), but I did get furloughed. At that point, I randomly started making cakes and selling them through Instagram, and it took off from there. People reached out to ask if they could still get cakes. The ones I was doing at that point were single layer cakes with a garnish. It would be like single layer devil’s food cake with a ganache and caramel on top. Bacchanal has a really incredible garden. The gardener was giving me flowers to decorate with. That’s how that got started. I get flowers from all over. I still work with the Bacchanal gardener, because she has an incredible home garden. Her name is Jo LaRocca. I also get flowers from Molly Fay Flower Farm, Baby T-Rex Farms and Nightshade Farm and Flowers. Those are all local growers. They’re all organic, unsprayed, so I get my edible flowers from them.
What types of cake do you make?
W: I try to use the highest quality ingredients I can where it matters most. For any cake that has an olive oil in it, I use Texas Olive Oil Ranch — that’s a regional company. I use Valrhona Chocolate. I use 98% local produce. The menu is driven seasonally. For a recent wedding cake, I did Meyer lemon curd with candied kumquats and a vanilla bean buttercream. I’ll do a Valrhona chocolate cake with chocolate tahini mousse and maple buttercream. The menu changes quite a bit. There is always an option like a dealer’s choice, which is whatever cake I feel like making that week based on what’s on the market, or what ingredients I have that are cool. Beyond that there are three or four different flavors. So, it’s a small menu. My current menu doesn’t really have anything that’s super traditional. I think there are so many amazing bakers around town that are doing more traditional flavors. I love working with whole grain flowers. I have a chiffon that has a grain flower that was milled at Barton Springs Mill in Texas. I love working with buckwheat and rye. I love working with slightly more unusual citrus. I’ll get calamondins, kumquats and Meyerquats. I top some cakes with candied or fresh fruit. As of late, I have been only doing cakes off the menu. I used to do quite a bit of custom cakes, but the truth is that I wasn’t really charging enough for them, because they can be really time consuming. I have paused that at least though Mardi Gras, so I can get king cake season behind me. (My king cakes) are pretty fancy. Last year, I did a classic cinnamon cake with cream cheese frosting. I don’t think I am going to do that again this year. I think there are a lot of excellent places to get that style of king cake. I am going to focus on more unusual flavors. I
PHOTO BY SAR AH BECKER
(did) a limited drop for Twelfth Night and start kicking into high gear (this) week.
What are your plans at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum?
W: We’re in the former Toups South space. I am going to be sharing it with Luncheon Catering — they also do pop-ups. And we’re joining chef Dee Lavigne, who does classes out of there. It won’t be a traditional restaurant. It will be a collaboration. We’re going to be teaching classes. We had planned a big party for Jan. 6, but we postponed it because of Covid. People will be able to come to the museum and get slices of cake and interact with us. The slices will be once a week — we’ll do a happy hour. I will continue with regular cake pickups, but people will come to the museum to pick them up. Through the first half of 2022, once a month the museum is going to host a whiskey maker — American Whiskey Saturday — and I’ll do cakes and desserts that can be paired with them, and people can come to the museum and try that and have cake and snacks from Luncheon. I want to teach some king cake classes. I haven’t figured out if they’ll be virtual or if in February we’ll be comfortable doing an in-person class.
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C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S A T W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.
CBD
Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; juansflyingburrito. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$
CARROLLTON
Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description. Delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$
CITYWIDE
Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. Lunch and dinner daily. $
FRENCH QUARTER
Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 5860300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in Creole dishes, po-boys char-grilled oysters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
JEFFERSON/RIVER RIDGE
The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern. com — This bar and music spot serves burgers, sandwiches and lunch specials. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; theospizza.com — Choose from specialty pies, salads, sandwiches and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $
LAKEVIEW
The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504)
TAKEOUT and DELIVERY
$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up
284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood, shrimp and grits and more. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew. com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Delivery are available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $
METAIRIE
Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant.com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop.com — The seafood platter includes fried catfish, shrimp, oysters, crab balls fries and a side. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 8882010; koshercajun.com — New York-style deli sandwiches feature corned beef, pastrami and more. Lunch Sun.-Thu., dinner Mon.-Thu. $ Martin Wine Cellar — 714 Elmeer Ave., Metairie, (504) 896-7350; martinwine.com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch daily. $$ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — The Creole-Italian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant and chicken parmigiana. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 8854572; shortstoppoboysno.com — Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $
MID-CITY/TREME
Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — Try house-made gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; juansflyingburrito. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — Shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onions on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as seafood plates, po-boys, char-grilled oysters and more. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza.com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $
NORTHSHORE
The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; thebluecrabnola.com — See Lakeview section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch Fri.-Sat., dinner Wed.-Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $
UPTOWN
Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is served with shrimp, crabmeat, vegetables and potatoes. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 5538 Magazine St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito. com — The Flying Burrito includes steak,
shrimp, chicken, cheddar-jack cheese, black beans, yellow rice, salsa la fonda, guacamole and sour cream. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Martin Wine Cellar — 3827 Baronne St., (504) 894-7444; martinwine.com — Sena salad includes pulled roasted chicken, golden raisins, blue cheese, pecans and field greens tossed with Tabasco pepperjelly vinaigrette. No reservations. Lunch daily. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco. com — Peruvian lomo saltado features beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and is served with fried potatoes and rice. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$
WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$ The Mill — 1051 Annunciation St., (504) 582-9544; themillnola.com — Short ribs are braised with red wine and served with risotto. Reservations accepted. Dinner Thu.-Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$
WEST BANK
Asia — Boomtown Casino & Hotel, 4132 Peters Road, Harvey, (504) 364- 8812; boomtownneworleans.com — The menu of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes includes a Lau Hot Pot with a choice of scallops, snow crab or shrimp. Reservations accepted. Dinner Fri.-Sun. $$ 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. Dinner Wed.Sat. Cash only. $$$
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THE DANNY BARKER BANJO & GUITAR FESTIVAL , the
annual celebration of the New Orleans musician and preservationist, was set to return this week with in-person events following a virtual 2021 festival. But the recent surge in COVID-19 cases has prompted organizers to shift the festival’s slate of concerts and seminars to March. Still, there’s one tradition still on the books for this week: Snug Harbor will host the annual tribute concert to Barker on Thursday, Jan. 13, his birthday. Barker and his band, Danny Barker’s Jazz Hounds, played Snug Harbor regularly in the years before he died on March 13, 1994. The 8th annual Barker birthday tribute concert will feature bandleader Detroit Brooks on banjo, Don Vappie on banjo and guitar, clarinetist Dr. Michael White, trumpeter Gregg Stafford, trombonist Freddie Lonzo, pianist Steve Pistorius, bassist Mitchell Player, drummer Herman LeBeaux and vocalist Jolynda Kiki Chapman. Performances are planned for 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the Frenchmen Street club. “There’s a lot of people that love Danny Barker, and we’re honoring Danny, so we have a true following,” says Brooks, who is also the founder and executive producer for the annual festival. “The musicians that I have are guys that were mentored by Danny.” Born Jan. 13, 1909, Barker grew up playing banjo and guitar in New Orleans, and in 1930, moved to New York with his wife, the singer Blue Lu Barker. Danny Barker played guitar in Cab Calloway’s band and recorded and performed with musicians like Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Jelly Roll Morton. Among his recordings are the songs “Don’t You Feel My Leg” with Blue Lu Barker and “Palm Court Strut.” Barker returned to New Orleans in the 1960s, and along with leading his own bands, he became a curator for the New Orleans Jazz Museum in 1965. He also started
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the Fairview Baptist Church Christian Band in 1970, passing on brass band traditions to numerous New Orleans musicians, like Stafford, White, drummer Herlin Riley and trombonist Lucien Barbarin. Barker in 1986 published an autobiography, “A Life in Jazz,” which was reprinted in 2016 by The Historic New Orleans Collection. At Thursday’s tribute concert, the band will play songs from Barker’s repertoire along with some New Orleans traditionals, Brooks says. “Danny Barker was a great influence to most of the musicians that are playing in New Orleans today, and abroad also,” Brooks says. “We’re trying to keep that alive and try to reach out and grab some of the younger generational that really don’t know what it’s about.” Tickets for the tribute performance are $35 for the 8 p.m. concert and $30 for the 10 p.m. at snugjazz. com. The 2022 Danny Barker Banjo & Guitar Festival will take place March 16-19 with concerts, master classes, panel discussions and film screenings at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and other venues. Find more information at dannybarkerfestival.com.
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This is more than just sweating away extra pounds. More than just results in the mirror. The Transformation Challenge is an eight-week program designed to transform our members from the inside out and kick-start their journey to more energy, more strength and More Life. JOIN NOW TO GET ENROLLED IN THE TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGE WITH OUR COMPLIMENTS. RUNS JAN 31-MARCH 27 OTF Mid-City | Uptown | Downtown | Metairie 844-OTF-NOLA (844-683-6652) *At participating studios only. Participation in Transformation Challenge (TC) requires registration and an Orangetheory membership or package. Register for TC from 01/01/22 through 1/31/22. TC runs from 1/31/22 through 3/27/22. Must take minimum three (3) sessions per week for 6 of the 8-week event duration. Participants may work out at any studio in the U.S. No more than one (1) session per day.
PAGE 5
Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans
LAST MONTH, CLARINETIST DOREEN KETCHENS MADE IT TO THE FRONT PAGE of Reddit in a video of
her and her band killing it in a rendition of “House of the Rising Sun.” New Orleanians already know about Ketchens’ musical prowess — she and her band have been playing on Royal Street for years. But if you don’t know, you can catch Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans performing at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, from the balcony of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. People in the area can listen from the sidewalk, or you can catch the livestream from anywhere at facebook.com/ nolajazzmuseum/live.
Junction Trio
THE BOSTON-BASED TRIO of Violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Jay Campbell and pianist Conrad Tao performs works by John Zorn, Maurice Ravel and Robert Schumann. The performance is presented by Friends of Music at Tulane University’s Dixon Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11. Tickets $35 on Eventbrite.com. Find information at friends-ofmusic.org.
Nigel Hall Band
NIGEL HALL BLENDS SOUL, FUNK AND R&B and last year released
“Spiritual,” which has a relaxed and intimate feel as he sings about love and relationships and speaks his mind in talking over some tracks. He performs at 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, at Toulouse Theatre. Tickets $18 at toulousetheatre.com.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration
THE OGDEN MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN ART COMMEMORATES MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY with special
programming and free admission on Monday, Jan. 17. Students from Xavier University perform “A Tribute to Coretta Scott King” at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. There’s a panel on social justice activism in New Orleans at 3 p.m. Kids can take home art activity bags with work related to Dr. King, Freedom Riders and Prospct.5 expos. The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit ogdenmuseum.org for details.
Boudreaux Family Affair BIG CHIEF MONK BOUDREAUX IS JOINED BY his son Joseph
Boudreaux Jr. and grandson J’wan Boudreaux, who have performed with the Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa, in this previously postponed showcase. The show is at 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, at Toulouse Theatre. Tickets are $20 on toulousetheatre.com
Radiators Reunion
THE RADIATORS ANNUAL REUNION SERIES AT TIPITINA’S IS OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT, but the tacked on
Raw Oyster Cult show isn’t. Reunion openers include Dave Jordan with Rurik Nunan on Thursday, Jan. 13, Big Daddy O on Friday, Jan. 14, and Billy Iuso on Saturday, Jan. 15. Radiators Dave Malone and Camile Baudoin’s Raw Oyster Cult performs Sunday, Jan. 16. Visit tipitinas.com for information.
Terence Higgins
DRUMMER AND SWAMPGREASE FOUNDER TERENCE HIGGINS grew
up in New Orleans, steeped in the rhythms of second lines and the city’s mix of jazz, funk and R&B. He performs at 7 p.m. & 10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at Maple Leaf Bar. Tickets $15 in advance on mapleleafbar.com, or $20 at the door.
Colin Davis and Night People Album Release
DRUMMER AND SINGER COLIN DAVIS AND NIGHT PEOPLE play a mix of
New Orleans-style funk, soul and R&B. The band celebrates the release of “Pathways,” an EP of originals and covers including a tune by Willie Tee recorded at Esplanade Studios. The show is at 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, at dba. Tickets are $15 on eventbrite.com.
Pancakes and Booze Art Show
THE POP-UP ART EVENT FEATURES WORK BY MORE THAN 75 ARTISTS,
DJs providing music, live body painting, a bar and unlimited pancakes at The Howlin’ Wolf. Doors open at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15. Tickets $10-$15 via pancakesandbooze.com.
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FILM
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was a kid, he would scour his family VHS collection to pick out movies like “The Neverending Story” or “The Little Mermaid.” “I would watch the same films hundreds and hundreds of times,” Zeitlin says. Now Zeitlin — who made feature films “Wendy” and the twice-Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild” — gets to do a version of his childhood VHS screenings on a big scale, open to the public. Zeitlin and a collective of local filmmakers officially launched their weekly film series Wildwood at Prytania Theatres at Canal Place on Jan 6. Screenings will be $7.50 every Thursday, with moviegoers encouraged to buy food and drink. The series will act as a kind of cinematic chain letter — a dialogue between filmmakers from across the world, with many of the featured filmmakers choosing subsequent screenings. Wildwood also will feature in-person discussions with some of the filmmakers. “We’re gonna screen films that have been huge inspirations for our own work,” Zeitlin says. “Or just films that we think everyone should see and would enjoy, but possibly haven’t yet.” Wildwood is partially a response to the pandemic, born out of Zeitlin’s experience of sitting in empty theaters after the ban was lifted. The pandemic era saw moviegoing stop dead in its tracks, but Zeitlin sees this moment as the cinematic experience getting its footing back. “A lot of films that came out right on the eve of the pandemic just didn’t get to see the kind of life that they would if it hadn’t happened,” Zeitlin says. The series features what Zeitlin describes as, “daring films … that move, inspire and challenge the nature of what a film can be,” paired with once-a-month screenings of films that “detour out for the kitschy, the culty, the dance-along, sing-along, drink-along favorites … that are equal parts film and fete.” Before the Jan. 6 launch, Wildwood’s first unofficial showing was Jessica Bashir’s “Faya Dayi,” a docu-fiction about Ethiopia’s relationship with khat, a leaf that
PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E
Director Benh Zeitlin poses during the red carpet event for the film “Wendy” at the Orpheum Theater in 2020. acts as a stimulant when chewed. They also showed “Truth or Dare,” a raw glimpse into Madonna’s 1990 “Blonde Ambition” tour, and “The Night of Kings,” Philippe Lacôte’s magical realist film about a young man who arrives at an Ivory Coast prison, where he discovers that his life depends on his storytelling skills. “I really wanted to bring this film up first,” Zeitlin said about “The Night of Kings,” the official Wildwood debut film. “Because it says a lot about what Wildwood’s about: challenging what a film is, but at the same time a visceral experience for audiences.” On Jan. 13, Wildwood will feature the Senegalese Bonnie and Clydelike 1973 film “Touki Bouki.” The 1982 erotic horror film “Cat People,” which was filmed in New Orleans, screens on Jan. 20, and director Paul Schrader will participate in a discussion. This month’s “party film” will be the 1996 cult classic “The Craft” on Jan 27. More information will be available on Wildwood’s Instagram account, @wildwood.cinema. While Zeitlin is excited to roll out Wildwood’s programming, he’s mostly just happy to help bring back the tradition of theatergoing. “It’s a different feeling to watch a movie in a room with people,” Zeitlin says. “It’s important to give a film the kind of focus that the art deserves.”
SAKE ON SUNDAY
A GAMBIT COMMUNIT Y EVENT FO R S U PP O R T I N G M E M B E R S Join Gambit for a special sneak preview of the Wetlands Sake taproom. Guests will receive a complimentary Wetlands Sake drink and will learn the story behind Louisiana’s first sake brewery. To become a Gambit Community Supporter member and register to attend this invite-only event visit
bestofneworleans.com/member
WETLANDS SAKE BREWERY 634 Orange St, New Orleans, LA 70130 SUNDAY, JAN 16 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.