Gambit Digital Edition: November 17, 2020 by Gambit New Orleans

November 17-23, 2020 Volume 41 // Number 44

BULLETIN BOARD

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N OV E M B E R 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 0 2 0

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UPCOMING AUCTIONS GULF STATES REAL ESTATE

METAIRIE SHOPPING CENTER

AUCTION NOV. 20

AUCTION DEC. 10

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AUCTION NOV. 18

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PREVIOUS LISTING PRICE: $2,950,000 – MINIMUM BID: $1,675,000 • 72,000± SF total – 67,200 SF industrial space; 4,800 SF ofﬁce space; 2,400 SF storage • On-site rail & direct port access • 8 cranes – 5-ton to 15-ton • 12 (12x14) drive-in & 12 dock-high doors

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42.6± ACRES WITH LAND FOR EXPANSION, MFG BUILDINGS & OFFICE SPACE • 8 structures (82,300± SF total) • Barge slip & bulkhead on site • Expected to beneﬁt from river & bayou widening project • 25± miles from the Gulf of Mexico Mississippi Properties

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Hilco Real Estate, LLC, in cooperation with Paul Lynn, LA Broker, Lic. #76068-ACT & Paul A. Lynn & Associates, LLC, MS Broker, Lic. #21483.

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GRACE YOUR THANKSGIVING TABLE WITH

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Seasonal Centerpieces

CONTENTS

NOV. 17 — 23, 2020 VOLUME 41 || NUMBER 44 NEWS

OPENING GAMBIT

COMMENTARY

CLANCY DUBOS

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

PULLOUT

GUIDE TO GIVING GIFT GUIDE

LOCAL GIFTS

NEW ORLEANS GIFTS • LOCAL ARTISTS & DESIGNERS

FEATURES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

OLIVE WOOD S POON S

Perfect for Holiday and Every Day Cooking!

EAT + DRINK

GOING OUT

FILM

PUZZLES

EXCHANGE

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Lost in traslation In Jeffersion Parish NonEnglish speaking students are getting left behind.

STAFF L O C A L LY M A D E H A N D C R A F T E D J E W E L RY

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Editor | JOHN STANTON

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Political Editor | CLANCY DUBOS

(504) 483-3150 [sstein@gambitweekly.com]

Arts & Entertainment Editor | WILL COVIELLO

Senior Sales Representative

Staff Writers | JAKE CLAPP, KAYLEE POCHE,

JILL GIEGER

SARAH RAVITS

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Contributing Writers | IAN MCNULTY

PRODUCTION

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Gambit (ISSN 1089-3520) is published weekly by Capital City Press, LLC, 840 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130. (504) 4865900. We cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts even if accompanied by a SASE. All material published in Gambit is copyrighted: Copyright 2020 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Afterburn

Crime scene ZEITGEIST THEATRE & LOUNGE DEBUTS DRIVE-IN SCREENINGS with a crime movie double feature Tuesday, Nov. 17. In “Dreamland,” a man tries to save his family farm in dustbowl Texas by claiming the bounty for catching a murderer, but the situation gets complicated when he meets the killer. “Action U.S.A.” is a rediscovered guns-blazing, stunt-studded, B movie from the 1980s. Viewing is $15 per car, or $20 for both movies. Visit zeitgeistnola.org for information.

Thou collaborate with Emma Ruth Rundle on ‘Chambers’ album BY JAKE CLAPP FOR ITS 2019 EDITION , Roadburn, a Netherlands music festival dedicated to heavy and underground music, named Thou its artist-in-residence, giving the Louisiana-based sludge band several prominent sets across four days. Thou had a momentous 2018, with the dizzying release of three EPs — each exploring a unique aspect of their deafening sound — in lead up to “Magus,” the band’s titanic fifth full-length record, and capped by a 12-inch split with Olympia, Washington’s Ragana. As part of Thou’s residency, Roadburn artistic director Walter Hoeijmakers suggested the band include a collaborative set. The year before, Thou had teamed up with oppressive noise metal duo The Body for a praised performance, building off of several years of collaboration between the two bands. The new, 2019 collaborative set gave Thou a chance to work with Emma Ruth Rundle. The Louisville, Kentucky, singer-songwriter had for a while been on the short list of people Thou had wanted to work with, says vocalist Bryan Funck. The pieces had fallen into place with the Roadburn offer and it would be the incentive to write a set together, he says. Rundle, whose solo work tends toward heavy post-rock and dark folk and in the past has performed with the instrumental post-rock group Red Sparowes, also released a well-received solo record in 2018, “On Dark Horses.” The collaborative set at Roadburn, preceded by an early 2019 U.S. tour, was much-anticipated by people who follow the festival — and Roadburn attendees got an extra surprise when Thou pulled out a raucous set of Misfits covers and Rundle joined in for a couple of songs. That collaboration culminated in the full-length album “May Our Chambers Be Full,” released Oct. 30. The album is out on Sacred Bones Records as part of its Alliance Series, which features a few other interesting collaborative efforts, such as Uniform & The Body and Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky. “May Our Chambers Be Full” masterfully entwines Rundle and the members of Thou’s sensibilities. The seven-track album can be brutally majestic and humble; oppressive and then delicate; rewarding while spitting

Love one-acts

the listener out drained at the end of its 37-minutes. Funck’s rasped scream pushes and pulls with Rundle’s clean, emotive vocals, and the two know how to fade back for the other singer or find a balance for menacing effect. The lyrics, written by Rundle and Funck, tackle heavy subject matter: trauma, sorrow, isolation, existentialism. Funck says he approached writing from a broader place than he had in the past for a Thou record — each album tending to unwind a “thesis statement.” On “May Our Chambers Be Full,” Funck accesses a particular emotion, rather than a specific topic, he says, influenced by deep digging he was doing at the time into turn-ofthe-century expressionist dance and its pioneers, such as Mary Wigman and Isadora Duncan. The visual art accompanying “May Our Chambers Be Full” was created in collaboration with New Orleans photographer Craig Mulcahy, an old Thou friend, and was inspired by a photo of early 20th century German expressionist dancers — and intentionally divorced from its context, Funck says. “The faceless, genderless models are meant to emphasize this pervasive state of ambiguity and emotional vacillation,” the liner notes say. “The images falling somewhere between modern high fashion and classical Renaissance.” The members of Thou — Funck, drummer Tyler Coburn, bassist Mitch Wells, and guitarists Andy Gibbs, KC Stafford and Matthew Thudium — and Rundle found balance on “May Our Chambers Be Full” by digging into shared influences and a love for punk, grunge and heavy alternative rock. The track “Ancestral Recall” is “an easy marriage of our styles that was truly enhanced by everyone’s input during the arrangement process,”

P ROV I D E D P H OTO B Y C R A I G M U LC A H Y

Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle collaborated with New Orleans photographer Craig Mulcahy to create the visual art for ‘May Our Chambers Be Full.’

SOUTHERN REP KICKS OFF ITS FIRST VIRTUAL POP-UP PLAYS EVENT Wednesday, Nov. 18 with readings of a trio of 10-minute pieces and music by Bernard Pearce. Love is the night’s theme, and the dramas include Emma Schillage’s “Dreams Take Place in Outer Space,” “Wind Kill Factor” by Derek Snow and “The Day of the Parade” by Big Wright. Tickets are $8. Find the viewing link at southernrep.com.

Scully’s back Gibbs said in a press statement about the album’s first single when it was released. “When I first wrote the main two riffs (the first one being an homage to A Perfect Circle’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’), I didn’t know if it would fit the vibe we were pursuing because it didn’t sound ‘Thou-y’ enough nor did it sound like something Emma would normally put on a record. Ultimately, I realize how important that trait is; this record is all about exploring territory we wouldn’t usually explore with our own records.” Thou has a deep, noted admiration for grunge. The band has extensively covered Nirvana as well as several songs by Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. “Nobody who was part of this project really listens to or writes that much traditional metal,” Stafford recently told Gambit. “It’s heavy music that’s coming from a way different perspective in origin, I think.” Stafford, who joined Thou in 2018, wrote and sings on the track “Monolith,” a rumbling, propulsive description of crippling depression. While collaborating with Rundle, Stafford says, there was less pressure for Thou to “perform as the Louisiana sludge metal band.” The group could explore its interests and influences. “It’s an opportunity to get out of that pigeonhole and start pursuing music that’s more aligned with other interests,” Stafford says, “to grow in a variety of different directions.”

RYAN SCULLY’S SOLO ALBUM “NEW CONFUSION” IS NOT AS LOOSE AND RAUCOUS as his work with Morning 40 Federation or the Rough Seven band, but it is polished and more reflective. Scully releases the album on Louis Michot’s Nouveau Electric label, and there’s a live-streaming release performance from BJ’s Lounge Friday, Nov. 20. Find the link on the Facebook page of R.Scully and tengallontinfoilhat.

Horn summit DELFEAYO MARSALIS IS JOINED BY TRUMPETER AND COMPOSER TERENCE BLANCHARD for music and conversation on his “Delfeayo & Friends” happy hour concert series. Blanchard won a Grammy award for one of the songs in the 2018 Spike Lee film “BlacKkKlansman” and composed the score for Lee’s recent release “Da 5 Bloods.” The free event is available on Zoom at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Visit cacno.org for the link and information.

Garden party MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER MAHMOUD CHOUKI PLAYS GUITAR AND OTHER STRINGED INSTRUMENTS and fuses jazz, classical and traditional sounds from Europe and the Middle East. He’s joined by jazz/funk bassist Noah Young for a performance in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Food is available from Cafe NOMA. Tickets are available at noma.org.

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N ov e mb e r 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 0 2 0

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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OPENING GAMBIT N E W

OR L E A N S

N E W S

V I E W S

A swinger, a Christian rock band and the Corona Virus walk into a bar ...

# The Count

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down

1 MILLION

New Orleans Public Library staff spent Saturday, Nov. 7,

The number of meals that have been served to area residents dealing with food insecurities during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to Chef’s Brigade.

giving out brand-new winter coats and books to kids at the Central City Library. The library gave away 186 free coats to 81 families through a partnership with national nonprofit Operation Warm, which provides new winter coats to kids. Around 39% of New Orleans children live in poverty, and a new winter coat can be a financial strain for some families with growing kids. P H OTO B Y R U S T Y C O S TA N Z A

An NOPD officer wears his body camera during a training session.

HIV testing rates in New Orleans are way down in 2020 in comparison to previous years The Lens reported, noting the coronavirus pandemic has impacted HIV detection and treatment efforts across the state. According to The Lens, community health clinic CrescentCare, which grew out of the NO/AIDS Task Force, has conducted only slightly more than 10% of its annual average number of tests. The pandemic has made it difficult to do community outreach and mobile testing.

Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield

pleaded guilty last week to defrauding the New Orleans Public Library Foundation of $1.3 million while serving on the foundation’s board. Between August 2011 and January 2013, Ronald Markham and Mayfield, who founded the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, used the money to subsidize both of their $100,000 salaries and buy a 24-karat, gold-plated trumpet.

LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE EXAMINES POLICE USAGE OF BODY CAMERAS AND RULES THAT DEPARTMENTS CAN INVESTIGATE THEIR OWN MISCONDUCT MEMBERS OF THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE’S POLICE REFORM TASK FORCE on Nov. 10 began debating whether officers should be allowed

to turn off body cameras at their own discretion. They also suggested that State Police bring in a third party to investigate alleged misconduct. Lawmakers were joined by newly appointed State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis in his first appearance since his appointment by Gov. John Bel Edwards on Oct. 30.The Illuminator’s Wesley Muller reported that troopers are supposed to turn their cameras on when engaging in “any incident or encounter with the public,” per the state’s police policy. But troopers may turn cameras off in circumstances such as speaking to a supervisor for guidance, to a victim of crime or during a “task that might warrant privacy for either the trooper or someone in the vicinity,” Davis told the 25-member task force. Sen. Cleo Fields, a Baton Rouge Democrat, conceptualized the task force amid nationwide protests over of the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. State Rep. Edmond Jordan, also a Baton Rouge Democrat, suggested that it is appropriate to scrutinize police supervisors who give permission to officers to shut off their cameras. Another member of the task force, New Orleans Police Capt. Michael Glasser, said it was expensive and “impractical” to have cameras rolling at all times. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice recommends local police agencies adopt body camera policies that require officers to have the cameras on at all times — with limited exceptions, such as when speaking to crime witnesses who have requested to not be recorded. Jordan asked Davis at the meeting why police should be allowed to investigate their own colleagues for serious incidents alleging misconduct or during incidents when troopers are accused of wrongly shooting someone. Jordan pointed out that State Police oftentimes does not bring in a third party to investigate but instead assigns inquiries to its internal affairs division. The task force is currently concerned about a high-profile case involving a State Police investigation over the killing of Ronald

Because of the meal assistance program, loss of employment hours have also been somewhat mitigated as the program has contributed to re-hiring, retaining or adding hours to nearly 400 positions — both full and part-time. According to a recent analysis, revenue at restaurants has gone down by 30 to 90% — which has made the program critical for income to keep doors open and people employed. But organizers note that even as the city’s restaurants continue to reopen, the food service industry is nowhere near where it needs to be to continue to survive without income from this program.

C’est What

? What do you think of Dixie Beer’s new name, Faubourg Brewing?

43.2%

5.3%

I LIKE IT!

AFTER A 12-PACK, WHO CARES ABOUT NAMES?

10.3%

FAUGETABOUTIT. THEY SHOULD HAVE PICKED ANOTHER NAME

41.2%

THEY SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH DIXIE

Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com

OPENING GAMBIT

Lori Jupiter Wins Orleans Parish Civil District Court seat as runoff opponent exists race Lori Jupiter was set to square off in a judicial runoff for a seat in Civil District Court when her opponent, Mike Hall, dropped out of the race on Nov. 12. Jupiter will now join a bloc of Black New Orleans women who won judgeships in the Nov. 3 election. The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate’s John Simerman reported that Jupiter has spent the bulk of her career in the French Quarter helping craft

opinions in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal. She is a mother of five, a yoga instructor and a certified doula who helps mothers through childbirth. Read more on NOLA.com

Judge rules 2003 law behind Republican-led effort to end coronavirus restrictions is unconstitutional A Baton Rouge judge on Nov. 12 ruled a law used by House Republican lawmakers to order Gov. John Bel Edwards to revoke his coronavirus restrictions is unconstitutional, dealing another blow to conservatives who have sought for months to loosen the restrictions.   Judge William Morvant of the 19th Judicial District sided with Edwards in a Zoom court hearing, rejecting the latest in an ongoing series of tactics used by Republican House members to revoke the coronavirus restrictions. Sixty-five of 68 GOP legislators in October used an obscure law passed in 2003 during the SARS pandemic to send a petition to Edwards that directed him to cancel his restrictions, which have been put in place to curb the spread of the virus and save lives in a state

MASK NOW so we can

that became a hot spot early on. Morvant ruled that the law relied upon by the House members violates the Louisiana Constitution because it does not involve both chambers of the Legislature. The House acted alone in seeking to overturn the governor’s emergency orders. The TimesPicayune | The New Orleans Advocate’s Sam Karlin also reported that the petition would have revoked all restrictions for just seven days. The petition gained a majority of signatures in the House in the waning days of a special legislative session as GOP lawmakers sought to force Edwards to negotiate on loosening the restrictions — including limits on attendance at high school football games, a focal point. Edwards’ restrictions have survived other challenges in state and federal courts. Attorney General Jeff Landry, who represented the House members seeking to overturn Edwards’ orders, promised to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. Edwards, for his part, called the ruling a “victory for public health” and added that the United States is currently in the midst of a “frightening surge” in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Read more about the case on NOLA.com

NOPD admits using facial recognition after years of denial The New Orleans Police Department confirmed that it has been using facial recognition for investigations despite an ongoing denial of doing so — until now. The Lens’ Michael Isaac Stein reported on Nov. 12 that the department has repeatedly claimed it didn’t own facial recognition software but admitted it has been “granted access to technology through state and federal partners.” A spokesperson, Kenneth Jones, declined to provide Stein with a list of partners but indicated that the FBI was on that list. “Under two separate mayoral administrations, city officials responded to questions about facial recognition by saying that the city didn’t own any software itself, or by talking specifically about the Real Time Crime Center,” according to the Lens, adding that the RTCC is the video surveillance hub that has a policy against facial recognition. The RTCC is part of the city’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and its policies don’t apply to NOPD. Read more at The Lens: thelensnola.org

‘Tis the season for parties and celebrations. With the holidays upon us, let’s work together so we can get back to the life we love in Louisiana. Wear a mask now to protect yourself, your family and neighbors—so we can party later! Learn more about ways to protect

01MK7441 09/20

yourself at bcbsla.com/covid19

later!

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N ov e mb e r 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 0 2 0

Greene, a Black man who died in troopers’ custody in 2019. Officers initially told Greene’s family that he died on impact when his vehicle crashed during a pursuit. But a civil rights attorney for Greene’s family says body camera footage taken at the scene shows Greene was still alive following the crash and was then choked and beaten by troopers. The task force members are considering authorizing the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and parish sheriffs to investigate when troopers are accused of wrongdoing. Read more at The Louisiana Illuminator: lailluminator.com

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New Orleans quickly ranked as one of the earliest areas to experience massive spikes in cases and deaths. Within days it became clear that if something drastic weren’t done immediately, the deadly virus would overwhelm us. In that moment, Mayor LaToya Cantrell stepped up. Ours was one of the first major American cities to see a full lockdown. The mayor also used her bully pulpit to educate citizens about what we needed to do to “bend the curve” and survive the pandemic: wear a mask, stay home, socially distance if you must leave, wash your hands. New P H OTO B Y S O P H I A G ER M ER / T H E T I M E S P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W OR L E A N S A DVO C AT E Orleanians answered the call, earning Cantrell A sign in Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar widespread praise for telling drinkers to not crowd the bar. her approach to the crisis. The city’s numbers, compared supposed to mend it would be to those of the rest of the state and laughable in other circumstances. nation, bear that out. In other parts of town, the city has Meanwhile, Cantrell found creative finally decided to allow limited indoor ways to leverage federal funding bar service and some live music, but and other resources, notably the that news comes as a massive secCOVID-19 Meal Assistance Program, ond wave of infections sweeps the which partnered with private restau- nation. It seems inevitable that bars rants to set up a meal prep and will close once again. delivery system for the sick, elderly It’s time for the city and the state and other vulnerable populations, to take urgent action to save local while also providing jobs to bars, starting with pushing back restaurant workers. deadlines for payment of a host of Since then, perhaps in response to taxes and fees that will start coming criticism from the business commudue in January. From property taxes nity, the mayor seems to have turned to liquor licenses to sanitation fees, much of her attention to propping up many bar owners simply don’t have the tourism industry. She took modthe money to pay — and won’t for the erate measures to reopen restauforeseeable future. To its credit, the rants, declared the city re-opened city has extended local liquor license to visitors, and has stopped short of renewal deadlines this year, but enforcing masking and public gatherbusinesses need certainty as the new ing rules in tourist-heavy areas such year approaches. We urge the city to as the French Quarter. grant more extensions. Case in point: On Nov. 8, police Local bars are mainstays in many effectively provided security to a New Orleans neighborhoods. These large, illegal Christian concert in the are our places of worship in which we Quarter rather than shut it down commune on Saints Sundays, debate and levy the harsh fines threatened who has the best seafood boil and against local brass bands for playing other great issues of the day, and on street corners. Days later, the refill our souls with live music and felcity applied stickers to Bourbon lowship. Local restaurants and bars, Street to encourage social disalong with their workers, need help. tancing amongst revelers already The city and the state should give refusing to mask up — a Band-Aid them a break — before more of them so undersized for the wound it’s reach the breaking point.

CLANCY DUBOS

Yes, Jeff Landry really is that dumb

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FOUR YEARS AGO I RECALLED IN THIS SPACE Gov. Earl K.

Long’s masterful putdown of then-state Attorney General Jack Gremillion — “If you want to hide something from him, put it in a law book.” I jokingly speculated that the same might be said of current Louisiana AG Jeff Landry. Now, after watching Landry lose yet another court fight against Gov. John Bel Edwards, I’m beginning to wonder if the joke is on us — Landry clearly has no grasp P H OTO BY H I L A RY S C H E I N U K / of the law. And yes, he T H E A DVO C AT E really might be as dumb Louisiana’s court jester, Attorney General as he appears. Jeff Landry Bless his heart. Landry’s latest courtto join (read: interrupt) the Zoom room defeat occurred on Nov. 12 in hearing convened by Judge Morvant Baton Rouge, where Judge William on Nov. 12. Morvant declared unconstitutional At one point during the proceeda 2003 state law that 65 Republican ings, Morvant lamented the constant House members relied on to try to interruptions, prompting Landry overturn one of Edwards’ emergency declarations amid the spiking to tweet, “I didn’t know the public COVID-19 pandemic. had no right to view it’s Courts! That Landry lost in court — again (sic) Seems a bit problematic in a — should come as no surprise; he Democratic institution.” has run up an impressive string of That’s not the only thing Landry courtroom defeats. Several weeks didn’t know. Apparently he’s not ago a judge in St. Martin Parish aware that judges, too, can join (Landry’s political backyard) sumTwitter — and that it might be marily rejected the AG’s attempt to a tad “problematic” for a lawyer bar local and state election officials to live-tweet insults at a judge from accepting private, nonprofit during proceedings. funds to help them run elections Unfazed by Landry’s antics, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic. clearly unimpressed with the AG’s Immediately after losing the St. arguments, Morvant declared the Martin case, Landry insulted the 2003 law unconstitutional, noting presiding judge (and may have viothat it takes both legislative chamlated the Code of Professionalism bers (not one acting alone) to overand the Rules of Professional ride a governor. Conduct) by speculating that After the ruling, a clearly unhinged Judge Lewis Pitman “was a little Landry tweeted that Republican confused” because issues like those Senate President Page Cortez, who raised by the AG “can sometimes questioned the law’s constitutionbecome complicated.” ality from the get-go, could have Nobody likes to lose, but even “cured the problem by simply supfreshmen law students know that the porting a Senate Petition like rules of ethics and professionalism the House.” frown upon lawyers publicly dissing Not content to offend both the judges. Plus, it’s just plain stupid for a judge and the Senate president, lawyer to behave that way. Landry issued a statement declaring, Lest you think that was a one-off, “This turns Louisiana into a dictatorLandry outdid himself in the legal ship under King Edwards.” dispute over Edwards’ emergency A dictatorship ruled by a king? orders. First he tried to pack the Well, if that’s the case, at least we court, in a manner of speaking, know who the court jester is. by recruiting hundreds of citizens

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What a delicious question! The doberge cake as we know it was created by New Orleans baker Beulah Ledner, who based it on the Hungarian dobos torte, also called dobosh. Like doberge, the Hungarian dessert includes sponge cake layered with chocolate or lemonflavored buttercream. Ledner was a New Orleanian of German descent born into a family of bakers. She first entered the baking business in the 1930s, although by accident. A mother of two (her son was nationally-known architect Albert Ledner), she said she began baking pies for her friends in the kitchen of the home she shared with her husband Charles. “I never intended to go into business,” she said in a 1980 Times-Picayune/States-Item interview. “Then friends started asking me to make lemon pies for their friends and the next thing I knew, I was in business. It was 1932.” One of her early specialties was the dobos torte, which she gave a French-sounding name, doberge. Ledner moved her baking operation to her parents’ house at Lowerline and Oak streets, where she also served guests in a tea room she operated in the home’s

P H OTO B Y I A N M C N U LT Y / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Seven layer sweet potato doberge cake is one of the desserts at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse in the French Quarter. The doberge cake was created by New Orleans baker Beulah Ledner.

basement. She later opened bigger bakeries at 928 Canal St. and 2721 S. Claiborne Ave. In 1946, after suffering a heart attack, Ledner sold her bakery as well as the doberge name and recipe to Joe Gambino’s Bakery. She couldn’t stay out of the kitchen, however, and reopened her bakery in a former grocery store building on Metairie Road. A non-compete clause in the sale to Gambino’s kept her from operating in New Orleans. In 1970, when she was 75 years old, Ledner opened a new bakery on Hessmer Avenue in Metairie. She ran it until she was 87, when she sold it to chef Jean-Luc Albin, whose business, Maurice French Pastries, still operates there. Ledner retired from the bakery business in 1981 and died in 1988. She was 94.

BLAKEVIEW DEVELOPERS OF THE FOUR SEASONS HOTEL, currently under construction in the World Trade Center, recently announced that award-winning chef Alon Shaya and his wife Emily are developing a restaurant in the hotel. We’re reminded of a previous attraction inside the Canal Street building, which was known not so much for its food as for its drinks: the Top of the Mart cocktail lounge. Located at the top of the 33-story building, the revolving lounge was best known for its spectacular views of the city. The lounge moved clockwise 3 feet per minute, making a complete revolution in 90 minutes. When the lounge opened in 1965, the building was known as the International Trade Mart. The building was renamed the World Trade Center in 1968 but lounge owners Jed Stedman and Dick Hoose kept the name Top of the Mart. A signature drink was the “Top of the Mart-Tini.” Many New Orleanians have memories of prom nights, dates and even marriage proposals in the lounge, which also featured nightly live entertainment. In 2001, the lounge changed hands and later reopened as Club 360. In 2002, a $1 million renovation plan was announced but later scuttled by Hurricane Katrina. The World Trade Center closed in 2011 and is scheduled to reopen as the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New Orleans early next year.

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For immigrant students, COVID is making an already broken system impossible to navigate WITH ITS OLD SYSTEM OVERWHELMED BY SKYROCKETING NUMBERS of

immigrant children needing to learn English, Jefferson Parish public school officials launched a new program they hoped would ease the strain on the school system and help better integrate students into the school system. The plan was relatively simple: establish “Newcomer Classes” for non-English speaking middle and high school aged students — who make up the bulk of the system’s immigrant kids — where a teacher will teach them conversational English and shortened versions of children’s classics like “Pippi Longstocking” and “The Prince and the Pauper.”

The classes only last a single year, at which time students would be pushed into the general school population and voila — speaking, reading and understanding enough of the English language to keep up with native English speakers. Even under the most favorable conditions it is an extraordinarily ambitious system, built on a seemingly dubious idea that after a single year of instruction in English, a 12-year-old immigrant could enter the 7th grade and successfully write multi-paragraph comparative essays and read English language classics like “Call of the Wild,” a 232-page novel about sled dogs in the late 19th century.

It was a near impossible transition to begin with, even with some accommodations provided to students and some bilingual support staff coming in and out of their classrooms. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit locally in March, causing the whole K-12 school system to come to a screeching halt almost immediately and, for immigrant students, laying bare the system flaws in how the Parish has approached their education. “Like most things, the pandemic, COVID, has taken inequities that we already had, and then added new ones on top of that and exacerbated the ones that were already there,” says Taylor Castillo, program

director of Our Voice Nuestra Voz, a group that organizes immigrant parents in New Orleans. As the pandemic persisted, students missed months of classes, and full days of in-person instruction were replaced with Google Classroom assignments and a written packet parents picked up from their child’s school. For English Language Learner students (or ELLs as they are referred to), this was a far cry from the individualized support most students need when learning a new language. In Jefferson Parish, many students didn’t already have access to internet and a laptop at home, making virtual instruction impossible until they received Chromebooks from the school district and internet access. This was the case for many local immigrant families, and for some parents, students and

1,060 students

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EMERGING ON THE 2020 ELPT teachers, the technology learning curve was steep even once they got devices. The result are thousands of children in Jefferson Parish and across the state who are at risk of falling further and further behind — not through

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COVER STORY some fault of their own but those of a system ill equipped to help them to begin with, activists like Castillo say. “Things like language access and equity, the school community and equity, the lack of treating parents as equal stakeholders, that all still exists. But now on top of that, you have tech access as another issue,” Castillo says. Over the last decade, the face of Jefferson Parish has changed dramatically, and so has the face of its public school system, the largest in the state. As the number of native Spanish speakers in the area has grown, the school district has struggled to keep up. Roughly 16%, or 8,131 of its 49,736 students, are currently classified as English Language Learners, meaning they are not fluent in English, according to Karina Castillo (unrelated to Our Voice Nuestra Voz’s Castillo), who heads the school district’s program for non-native English language students. That number has risen significantly, even since she started in the role six years ago. For instance, in the 2014-15 school year, the school system had 5,653 English learners, and the following year that population grew by just over 1,000. In comparison, a decade ago, in the 2010-11 school year, there were just 3,691 English learners. This school year was the first since 2009-10 where the number of students in the district decreased, from 9,025 last school year to 8,131, possibly due to the pandemic. One reason for the increase was the at least 66,000 “unaccompanied minors” who crossed the U.S. border in

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late 2013 and 2014 without a parent or guardian in hopes of escaping violence — often gang related — in Central America. The U.S. government held some of those children in detention centers, but let tens of thousands live with relatives who were already in the U.S. In the New Orleans area, many of these children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, among other places, went to

live with family already here. Prior to that, Hurricane Katrina led to a major demographic shift in metro New Orleans, especially in Jefferson Parish. In the aftermath of the storm, around 100,000 Hispanic people came to the New Orleans area in the following months, many to work jobs rebuilding the city, though not all stayed here long-term. And some local Central Americans have roots dating much further back to the early 1900s. “I would say that they were inundated with ELLs to the point that some schools became over a quarter, some even over half as English learning students,” says John DePriest, who teaches at the Tulane Center for Global Education and teaches ESL certification classes for teachers. “So this was an influx that was fairly unexpected and I think caught Jefferson Parish schools off guard. I think it’s fair to say that they were unprepared to meet the needs of those new students,” DePriest adds. Parish officials were clearly aware of the problems facing the school system and began taking steps to adapt to the Parish’s changing demographics. Those efforts culminated in the new system handling English language learners, which launched in the 2019-20 school year. One of the biggest changes was the districtwide implementation of Newcomer Classes. There are now 20 Newcomer Classes at nine middle schools and 25 Newcomer Classes at eight

high schools across the parish, according to the district. In Newcomer Classes, teachers work closely with the students, trying to achieve several goals at the same time. The teachers teach the students conversational English, adjusting grade level content in a way they can understand and helping them acclimate to life and education in a new country. In addition, Newcomer teachers also work with students who have had interruptions or gaps in their education, maybe because they were working or because of violence or war in their home countries. But once that year is up, the vast majority of students in Newcomer Classes — around 90%, according to Karina Castillo — are then put into regular classes, where gradelevel content is taught in English by teachers who often only speak English and are not specifically certified to teach English learners. In some cases, half of the students in a regular education class are English learners, and in many instances, at least five of those students are considered “emerging,” meaning they speak little to no English at all. In February, 1,060 students in the parish scored “emerging,” the lowest category on the annual English language placement test, which measures reading, writing, speaking and listening fluency, according to data provided by the district. That’s 13% of the total English learners in the parish. Teachers have other staff at the school — English as a second language teachers,

paraprofessionals and coaches — to help them plan lessons and develop strategies to teach English learners while also teaching the rest of their students. But often this staff is not present in every classroom for the whole day, leaving much time during the day where some teachers are unable to communicate with some of their students. Districtwide, there are 74 ESL coaches, 241 ESL paraprofessionals who are bilingual and specifically trained to assist students in both English language and ESL classrooms, 70 ESL teachers and 45 Newcomer teachers. That’s a ratio of about one certified ESL staff member for every 19 English learners in the district, and teachers and school employees throughout the district say this isn’t nearly enough to meet the needs of all students learning English for the first time. Anamaria Uribe, an ESL coach at John James Audubon Elementary in Kenner, says this strategy of having English learners in classes with native English speakers is not new and is in place in school districts around the country. She sees benefits to having diverse classrooms with students at a range of education levels and says strategies for teaching English learners — such as repetition, use of visuals and introducing vocabulary before a lesson — can help all students. However, she says, the school system’s rollout of the program has been “brutal” and “traumatic” for both students and teachers because schools do not have enough ESL staff members for someone to

COVER STORY

9025

Enrollment of English learners

8174

8131

7567

3818

4212

2011-2012

2012-2013

7406 4723

5653

6392

3705

Elementary and Helen Cox High in Harvey. She says she sees more students coming into the counseling office at the high school than she does at the elementary school, in part because they are having difficulties with the transition out of the Newcomer Class and into regular classes. “It’s crazy. Would you learn Japanese in one year?” Chatelain says. “Can you learn another language in one year and have those core subjects just be thrown at you? These poor babies are super frustrated … In my opinion, it does not work. “If you have a student that is an honor student coming from their country coming over here, and all of a sudden getting Ds and Fs, they really get upset about that. And it’s

understandable. So you have to try to talk to them, ‘You’re learning another language,’ and try to help them feel better. But it’s very rough.” Before the changes to the ESL program last year, some schools in the parish had a Newcomer-style program, but now the classes are a districtwide policy, with a specific curriculum and a pretty firm one-year time limit. However, when the pandemic hit in the first year of the rollout of the new policy, the system fell apart. Like other students, English learners were largely left without classes as the Parish struggled to figure how to conduct distance learning. Although some teachers still assigned work and tried to use Power Point presentations, it was

an impossible situation and meant students missed not only months of class but more importantly crucial months of the only year they had in a class dedicated to learning English. Missing class opened up a “potential for regression in language,” according to Karina Castillo. Even when virtual learning was established, it hasn’t worked as well as anyone would hope. Uribe, an ESL coach who has worked in the education system for decades, has been juggling all of these tasks virtually as she works from home. Because she is 65 years old and has diabetes and high blood pressure, she is at a greater risk of contracting a more serious case of COVID19. She affectionately refers to herself as a “cyber coach.”

2020-2021

2019-2020

2018-2019

2017-2018

2016-2017

2015-2016

2014-2015

2013-2014

3691

2010-2011

2009-2010

2008-2009

3643

“It is not easy to observe those little details that you need to see in order to make the children improve in their (language) acquisition in the writing process, for example,” Uribe says, which is why she works closely with teachers to make sure she can effectively evaluate the English learners virtually. Chatelain says the multitasking teachers have to do with the current system of both in-person and virtual learning may put English language students, who need more one-on-one assistance, at a disadvantage. “With this virtual it’s even worse, because they have kids sitting in the classroom, then they have the virtual,” Chatelain says. “So it’s that tension of having to tend to PAGE 17

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constantly be present with the teacher in the classroom. Uribe estimates her school has about 121 English learners, four ESL paraprofessionals, two ESL coaches and one ESL teacher. With the students split into different classes from kindergarten through eighth grade, teachers are often left alone with several students who don’t speak English. “There’s no way that every teacher at every time has a bilingual assistant or an assistant to help the children in the ESL acquisition process,” Uribe says. “As much as we try to cover, sometimes it’s not possible. So (in the) meantime, those children suffer, and those teachers, too ... I know very responsible teachers in my school. They want the children to succeed. They want the children to not suffer while they acquire the language. But the communication is impossible.” Uribe says while the intention of the program might be to have students receive the same instruction and resources as their native English-speaking peers by having them stay in the same classroom and not be pulled out by ESL staff, she believes the current rollout is having the opposite effect. “It is contradictory for me because they say that [the students] have to be spread out to not be discriminated (against). But I believe that at the end, without the help, they get more discriminated (against) than with the help,” Uribe says. Dalia Chatelain is a bilingual counselor who works with students at both Terrytown

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discounted internet access available to students from low-income families. But the service still costs $9.95 a month and is available CLASSIFIED AS only to families who qualify for a government assistance program, like the National School Lunch Program, food stamps or public housing. While the National School Lunch Program is available to undocumented immigrants who qualify, food stamps organizer for Our Voice are not, further complicating Nuestra Voz. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oftentimes, technology access for some parents are learning along local immigrant families. And with their children as opposed even if they do qualify, there to being able to teach their is a stigma for some around children the language, which accepting any type of govmakes it incredibly difficult.â&#x20AC;? ernment assistance at all, Karina Castillo says every according to DePriest, the student in the school system Tulane professor. doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a Chromebook â&#x20AC;&#x153;There could be a lot of yet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the district is still waiting reasons why a migrant family for more laptops to come in â&#x20AC;&#x201D; might be reticent about but every student participating accepting public aid, particin virtual school has a device. ularly in an age where being The school system also perceived as a public charge partnered with Cox to have could potentially be cause for

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deportation,â&#x20AC;? DePriest says. Even supporters of the system acknowledge the obvious â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that the last eight months have been extremely challenging for English language students, but they argue itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critical to continue pushing students to move forward in the education system. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a difficult transition in general,â&#x20AC;? Karina Castillo says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we are seeing, though, is that kids are ready to transition. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to stifle students, we definitely want to give them those high expectations â&#x20AC;Ś and staying in a Newcomer Classroom does not give kids those opportunities. So it is a challenge.â&#x20AC;? But part of the new push to get students out of the Newcomer Classes quickly, particularly at the high school level, is graduation requirements. The Newcomer Classes only count as elective credits, and once those elective credit requirements are filled, students are no longer earning the class credits they need for graduation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the luxury of time,â&#x20AC;? Karina Castillo says. But Chatelain says many

COVER STORY students are getting low grades and arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t passing the standardized tests at the end of the year needed to move onto the next grade. She says she believes more students will become so overwhelmed by the transition that they drop out altogether. Already, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seen an increase of students coming into the counseling office with anxiety and depression, she says. According to the district, the graduation rate for English learners is just 40%, compared to an overall rate of 72% for all students during the 2018-19 school year. Former Jefferson Parish superintendent Cade Brumley, who is now the state superintendent, called the school systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graduation rate â&#x20AC;&#x153;abysmalâ&#x20AC;? in an interview last year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How do you graduate them when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not understanding anything?â&#x20AC;? Chatelain says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because they know theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be pushed in right away, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like they can do that kind of stuff, so they drop out.â&#x20AC;?

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both groups. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think our ELL kids are getting the services that they need because of all that.â&#x20AC;? In fact, some of these students had just entered Jefferson Parish schools in January when schools closed in March. Karina Castillo says the district made exceptions for some students, giving them one additional semester in the Newcomer Classes, based on how they scored on a test in the beginning of the year. Though once this semester ends, almost all of these children will enter grade-level classes. Virtual schooling has also meant families across the board have had to play a larger role in their childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education. But this is especially difficult for immigrant parents, who may not speak English themselves. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Especially for English language learners, parents are sending their kids to schools specifically to gain the skills or the language that they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily have,â&#x20AC;? says Grace Ambrossi, a community

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Gifting LOCAL

This holiday season spend your money where your home is. Hand Grenade mix party pak

$33, with 5 shot glasses, from Tropical Isle (1-800-ISLE-MIX or 1-800-475-3649; tropicalisle.com). PHOTO PROVIDED BY TROPICAL ISLE

9 oz. hand poured soy candles

$25 each, variety of fragrances, from NOLA’s Finest Pet Care (501-410-6326; nolasfinestpets.com). PHOTOS PROVIDED BY NOLA’S FINEST PET CARE

Oyster & shrimp grill pans $35.99-$45.99 from MJ’s of Metairie (1513 Metairie Rd., 504-835-6099; mjsofmetairie.com). PHOTO PROVIDED BY MJ’S OF METAIRIE

Western Son ginger beer mule value pack

$19.99 (including 1.75 original vodka), from Dorignac’s (710 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Metairie; 504-8348216; dorignacs.com). PHOTO PROVIDED BY WESTERN SON

Gift cards

Buy a $100 gift card and get a $20 gift card free for a limited time from Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco (5015 Magazine St., 504-267-7612 or 504-952-0569; titoscevichepisco.com) PHOTO PROVIDED BY TITO’S CEVICHE & PISCO

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A la Cartel Tacos Del Cartel opens in Metairie BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O CHEF JULIO MACHADO’S ROAD to opening Tacos Del Cartel in Metairie is a bona fide immigrant success story with its own unique twists and turns. For a decade, Machado ran a gastronomic consulting business in his native Venezuela and was hired by companies throughout South America and Europe to work on product development. His expertise as a chef earned him three invitations to be a judge at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis. He came to New Orleans three years ago, while seeking political asylum from his country’s existing dictatorial regime. The only restaurant job he could get was washing dishes at Lakeview Harbor, a casual burger joint, and he took it. “My English wasn’t so good,” says Machado, 36, who has cousins and siblings in New Orleans. Lakeview Harbor owner Shawn Toups noticed his talents, befriended him and added prep to his job description. But with typical entrepreneurial pluck, Machado had bigger goals. “I was walking my dog and I saw Brasa on Metairie Road, exactly the kind of steakhouse I’ve worked in before,” he says. He messaged Brasa owner Edgar Caro via Instagram to introduce himself and was invited to come in for an interview. Machado landed a position as sous chef. “He gave me a chance,” Machado says. Caro and his partner chef Antonio Mata saw Machado’s potential. Before long, they moved him to the chef de cuisine position at another of their restaurants, Zocalo, also on Metairie Road. There Machado developed his chops for California-style Mexican dishes. Good restaurateurs know that the ultimate win is seeing their chefs go on to succeed on their own. Machado became a restaurateur on Nov. 6, the day he opened Tacos Del

Cartel with his friend and business partner Danny Cruz, who is from Honduras. Cruz is in the concrete and construction business and has been able to keep working during the pandemic. “Danny made it possible because he trusted me and invested in the restaurant,” Machado says. “He believed in me, and I’m so thankful.” From the start, Machado wanted his menu to reflect the taqueria research he’d done in southern California, with its emphasis on fresh ingredients and (slightly) healthier preparation — i.e. there isn’t lard in every dish. He grills meats over charcoal for extra smoke and sear. Birria tacos are a house specialty, and beef short ribs are braised for 12 hours for fall-off-the-bone tender meat. The beef is shredded with fat carefully removed. The mix is then dipped back into the broth and stuffed into crisp Mawi corn tortillas with Chihuahua cheese. With his old boss’ blessing, a version of Lakeview Harbor’s fried mushroom appetizer has been adapted into a vegetarian taco stuffed with crispy fried mushrooms, house-made mayonnaise and pico de gallo. Vegans will love the chili-rubbed fried tofu tostado. Other taco fillings include el pastor — the classic marinated pork with pineapple style taco beloved throughout Mexico — and guacamole; carnitas (braised pork) topped with onions, cilantro and chicharrons (cracklings); and carne asada (using flank steak) and braised brisket versions. Deep fried catfish and shrimp make up two seafood options. For appetizers, there’s queso dip with or without chorizo, a black bean and sofrito dip and smoky charro pinto beans. There are four house salsas including traditional salsa verde; one combining morita and serrano chiles; another with jalapenos, onions and lime; and a salsa de arbol, radiating sweetness and heat from charred pineapple and chilies.

Sweet spot SUCRE MACARONS WILL BE BACK SOON,

and so will the brand’s gelato and, for Carnival time, its popular king cake. The once-prominent New Orleans dessert emporium abruptly shut down in 2019. Now it has a new owner who is preparing Sucre for a fresh start. Ayesha Motwani bought Sucre’s name and recipes, and she is now in the process of renovating Sucre’s original location at 3025 Magazine St. She expects to open soon after Thanksgiving.

P H OTO B Y C H R I S G R A N G ER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W OR L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Sucre on Magazine Street will reopen under new ownership. P H OTO B Y C H ER Y L G ER B ER

Julio Machado opened Tacos Del Cartel.

Interior designer Jacquelyn Lindsey of JL Studio transformed the former po-boy and seafood shop into a Dayof-the-Dead-meets-disco interior, complete with glittering chandeliers, pink neon, a backlit bar flanked by party skeletons and a ceiling strewn with pink silk roses. The restaurant is compact, with tables for 28 and six seats at the bar, and reservations are suggested. The location on David Drive is near the I-10 and has a drive-through window, which the partners opened two weeks before they opened the dining room, quickly serving takeout to an average of 400 customers a day, Machado says. “I appreciate the support,” says the chef. “The people in New Orleans are the best people I’ve ever met in my life.”

? What Tacos Del Cartel 2901 David Drive, Metairie, (504) 381-5063 tacosdelcartel.com

When lunch and dinner daily

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

How Dine-in, drive-through pickup and delivery

Check it out A Venezuelan chef’s take on California-style Mexican dishes

“Everybody can expect the same taste and quality, the same level of precision and seasonal flavors,” Motwani says. The executive chef for this new Sucre is Ashley McMillan. She was executive sous chef at Sucre for three years before the old brand’s closure, and later worked as executive pastry chef at the Ritz-Carlton. What’s different about this new Sucre is important too though. “It’s the same name and the same recipes, but a new company, new ownership and a new vibe,” Motwani said. Sucre got its start in 2006 and was an early success story as the New Orleans food scene revamped after Hurricane Katrina. It expanded to three shops and its sweets were sold nationally online and at retail outlets across the area. By 2016, though, Sucre co-founder Joel Dondis left his management role in the company. In 2018, co-founder Tariq Hanna, who was the face of the brand for years, left Sucre under what later was revealed to be a raft of sexual harassment accusations. In June 2019, the business closed and filed for bankruptcy. Motwani is married to Aaron Motwani, the local businessman who owns Willie’s Chicken Shack. She said Sucre is her own venture. It’s her first foray into the restaurant business. The Magazine Street shop is being PAGE 23

21 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N ov e mb e r 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 0 2 0

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NOVEMBER 13

ISSUE DATE

NOVEMBER 24

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in this issue and will be included in our Drink Facebook Gallery.

R AT E S STA R T AT $ 175

Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

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Wayne Baquet has run, including the last, Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Dizzyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe in Treme. In the realm of New Orleans cuisine, Baquet himself has been just as constant a presence, serving as proprietor at a succession of restaurants, a perennial food vendor at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the steward of one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest-running Black restaurant family legacies. But now, change has come. After months of speculation, Baquet confirmed he will not reopen Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Dizzyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and has decided to retire. Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own decision to leave the business, however, signals the end of something much older and more far-reaching than any one restaurant, a story of New Orleans food and family going back to the 1940s. At 73, Baquet considers the health risks of the pandemic too great to reopen the restaurant himself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I understand people will be upset, my family has been doing this for a long time,â&#x20AC;? Baquet says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I was 15 or 20 years younger, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be up for the fight and out there doing it, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the situation right now.â&#x20AC;? Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Dizzyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has been closed since the pandemic hit here in March. Baquet has kept the kitchen going with some contract work for community feeding efforts, but now that those jobs have been fulfilled he says it is time to move on. Paper now covers the restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glass door facing Esplanade Avenue but people still peer in the windows and knock, hoping to find the usual spread of fried chicken, red beans, stuffed peppers and that Creole gumbo on offer. New Orleans people have been eating Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own versions of these Creole standards for generations. The Baquet family restaurant story goes back to 1947, when Wayne Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great aunt Ada Baquet Gross opened Paul Gross Chicken Coop on Bienville and North Roman streets. It was a 24-hour operation with chicken fried to order in cast iron skillets, beer, the rare amenity of air conditioning and, during segregation, something more rare still: a restaurant run by Black people and open to Black customers. Wayne Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father Edward Baquet carried the story through the next generation when he opened Eddieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in 1966. He was working for the Postal Service at the time but sold his home and drew on his pension to buy a neighborhood bar on Law Street off Elysian Fields Avenue.

Wayneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world

Eddieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s started out as mostly a bar with food. A cigar box served as cash register. The family lived in rooms behind the bar, and worked in shifts measured not by hours, but by open-to-close duties. Wayne Baquet left the business for a while but was lured back by his brother Eddie Jr. He saw its potential with fresh eyes. The family expanded the dining room and revamped the menu. By the mid-1970s, the little neighborhood restaurant had a following far beyond its neighborhood. Bill Cosby (then a beloved comedian) praised Eddieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as his favorite place to eat during an appearance on â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Tonight Show.â&#x20AC;? In 1977, the local restaurant critic Richard Collin, writing for the States-Item, called out its â&#x20AC;&#x153;brilliant and imaginative kitchen.â&#x20AC;? More iterations of Eddieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s would follow, including locations in the Krauss Department Store on Canal Street and the Lake Forest Plaza mall in New Orleans East. Through the years, the family would develop Eddie Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant on North Claiborne Avenue, Cafe Baquet on Washington Avenue and Zacharyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Oak Street. When Zacharyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closed in 2004, it appeared at the timeâ&#x20AC;Żto be Wayne Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s swan song. Instead, he opened Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Dizzyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less than a year later, marking a new start. That may explain why some of Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends question if heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really retiring now. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;oh, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be back,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; but not this time,â&#x20AC;? said Baquet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is it.â&#x20AC;? Coronavirus has thus far spared his own family, though Baquet said it has afflicted many of his customers, including some who lost their lives. Still, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hopeful another owner can take over. With expanded outdoor seating, he said, the Treme cafe could prosper. Its future as a Jazz Fest vendor remains an open question, Baquet says. Since the days of Eddieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, which closed in 1996, his family has branched into other fields. His brother Dean Baquet is executive editor of the New York Times. Baquetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own children have similarly pursued careers outside the restaurant world. His son Wayne Baquet Jr. is CEO of Imperial Trading, the grocery distributor owned by John Georges, who also owns Gambit. That also means the restaurant wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pass down to the next generation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very blessed in the sense that my son and daughter are doing very well,â&#x20AC;? Baquet said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making more money than me. My older grandchildren are doing the same thing.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE | THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

overhauled with new equipment and furnishings. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE | THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

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PAGE 21

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Colleen AllertonHollier BAKER COLLEEN ALLERTON-HOLLIER HAS WORKED IN THE PSYCHOLOGY FIELD,

performed improv comedy at local clubs and runs a culinary pop-up and catering business, Luncheon. If that wasn’t enough, Allerton-Hollier also teaches a demonstration (and limited hands-on) pie-baking class at Southern Food & Beverage Museum at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 19-20, which includes samples and wine, and a cookie class on Monday, Nov. 23.

How did you get interested in baking? COLLEEN ALLERTON-HOLLIER: I was born and raised in New Orleans, but there wasn’t anything moving about baking or cooking from my family. When I was young, my dad and I baked brownies out of a Duncan Hines box once a week. We just liked it. But the Food Network was a thing. Emeril (Lagasse) was on TV, and Ina (Garten), Giada (De Laurentiis), all the big names now had just started. I learned to cook and bake from them. I’d come home and watch the Food Network every day. Instead of box brownies, I was like, “We can make brownies for real,” and my dad would go buy the ingredients. I went to LSU and got a degree and worked in the psychology field for a couple years, but I didn’t like sitting down all day. My friend was like, “Come make king cakes at Domenica.” It kicked my ass, but it was so much fun. After a year or so there, I was moved up by Kelly Fields to be her right hand at other restaurants. I was put at Johnny Sanchez and Borgne to do menu creation and production. It sounded incredible at the time. I thought, “I am going to be really creative.” I am proud that I got to put my own desserts on the menu with her supervision and blessing. But I was also the production person, so whatever I wanted to do, I had to do. You have to get fast and used to knocking out desserts. I would work 17-18 hour days during the holidays. I got married in 2017 and quit my job to go to Europe. When I came back, I got back in touch with Christina Balzebre, who was operating Levee Baking Co. as a popup then.

P H OTO B Y S A R A B E C K ER

She said come bake, and it was best I ever felt at being underemployed. I worried about every dime I wasn’t making, but it was coming back to baking in the most spiritually lovely sense. I learned so much from slowing down. The amount of volume I was doing previously stood in the way of fundamental understanding.

What do you cover in your classes? A: Pie is the first one. I try to break down what are the big holiday pies before Thanksgiving. We’ll do eggnog chess pie. I’ll teach how to make pie dough that’s nice and flaky. It’s all butter. We’re going to do apple galettes with brown butter caramel. It’s easily tailored to having a smaller Thanksgiving crowd. We have a cookie class which is holiday cookie stuff and learning how to make gifts. We’ll do a few gluten-free things. We’ll do a holiday cake class with sticky toffee pudding cake. We’ll do heavenly hash, which is something my family made. Then we have French Christmas. We’ll do buche de noel. Everywhere you go in France they have chocolate bars with nuts and dried fruits. It’s one-upping white chocolate bark with peppermint.

What do you try to teach people about baking? A: I have soap box moments. There are things that matter in baking, and they’re not necessarily the things that you think. It bums me out when people are like, “I don’t like baking because I hate measuring stuff and I don’t like following directions.” OK, heard that. But it’s also important that you get these little things down — time, temperature and technique, and then you can go be creative. Ingredients matter. Using good eggs matters. These little things become good habits that you can master, and then moving forward, you can look at a recipe differently. — WILL COVIELLO Find cooking class tickets at natfab.org

Send us a photo or video of YOUR 2020 holiday lights display to enter to win limited edition holiday knitwear from Miller Lite and Gambit. VISIT BESTOFNEWORLEANS.COM/LITE FOR MORE INFORMATION All qualified submissions must include a Miller Lite logo. Our favorite photos will be selected each week to win a Miller Lite knitwear prize pack and will be printed in Gambit.

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N ov e mb e r 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 0 2 0

3-COURSE INTERVIEW

OUT EAT TO

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N ov ember 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 02 0

Contact Will Coviello wcoviello@gambitweekly.com 504-483-3106 | FAX: 504-483-3159

CARROLLTON

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 NewÂ Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: emailÂ willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

Notice: Due to COVID-19, dining at restaurants is impacted, with limited indoor seating and other recommended restrictions. All information is subject to change. Contact the restaurant to confirm service options.

BYWATER Luna Libre â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3600 St. Claude Ave., (504) 237-1284 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Roasted chicken enchiladas verde are filled with cheese, hand-rolled and served with special house-made cheese dip. The menu combines Tex-Mex and dishes from Louisiana and Arkansas. Curbside pickup is available. B Sat-Sun, D Wed-Sun. $

CBD 14 Parishes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave.; 14parishes.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jamaican-style jerk chicken is served with two sides such as plantains, jasmine rice, cabbage or rice and peas. Delivery available. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D daily. $$

B â&#x20AC;&#x201D; breakfast L â&#x20AC;&#x201D; lunch D â&#x20AC;&#x201D; dinner late â&#x20AC;&#x201D; late 24H â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 24 hours

pork, chilies, ricotta, mozzarella, collard greens and red sauce. Delivery available. L and D daily. $$ Willie Maeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave.; williemaesnola.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Creole soul food restaurant is known for its fried chicken, red beans and more. Takeout available. L and D Mon-Sat. $

$ â&#x20AC;&#x201D; average dinner entrĂŠe under $10 $$ â&#x20AC;&#x201D; $11 to $20 $$$ â&#x20AC;&#x201D; $21 or more

Eat Well â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave.; pythianmarket.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Phoritto is a spinach tortilla filled with brisket, chicken or tofu, plus bean sprouts, jalapenos, onions and basil and is served with a cup of broth. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D daily. $ Kais â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (941) 481-9599; pythianmarket.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A Sunshine bowl includes salmon, corn, mango, green onions, edamame, pickled ginger, ponzu spicy mayonnaise, cilantro, masago and nori strips. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D daily. $$ La Cocinita â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (504) 309-5344; lacochinitafoodtruck. com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; La Llanera is an arepa stuffed with carne asada, guasacasa, pico de gallo, grilled queso fresco and salsa verde. Curbside pickup and delivery available. B, L and D daily. $ Meribo Pizza â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pythian Market, 234 Loyola Ave., (504) 481-9599; meribopizza.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A Meridionale pie is topped with pulled

Mikimoto â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Takeout and delivery available. L Sun-Fri, D daily. $$ Pyramids Cafe â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3151 Calhoun St., (504) 861-9602 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Diners will find Mediterranean cuisine featuring such favorites as shawarma prepared on a rotisserie. Takeout and delivery available. L, D daily. $$

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Citywide; breauxmart.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The deli counterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. L, D daily. $

FAUBOURG MARIGNY Carnaval â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 2227 St. Claude Ave., (504) 265-8855; carnavallounge.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The music clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cozinha de Carnaval kitchen serves Brazilian street food. Frango is chicken cooked with thyme, rosemary and cumin and served with rosemary-garlic aioli. No reservations. Takeout available. D Sat-Mon. $ Kebab â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 2315 St. Claude Ave., (504) 3834328; kebabnola.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The sandwich shop offers doner kebabs and Belgian fries. A falafel sandwich comes with pickled cucumbers, arugula, spinach, red onions, beets, hummus and Spanish garlic sauce. No reservations. Takeout and delivery available Thu-Mon. $

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The menu features Gulf seafood in traditional and contemporary Creole dishes, po-boys and more. Reservations recommended. Takeout available. B, L and D daily. $$

HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; This bar and music spot offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D daily. $ Theoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Neighborhood Pizza â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; theospizza.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 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. L, D Tue-Sat. $

LAKEVIEW Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; This cafe offers gourmet coffees, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheeses. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. B, L daily. $ Lotus Bistro â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 203 W. Harrison Ave., (504) 533-9879; lotusbistronola.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A Mineko Iwasaki roll includes spicy snow crab, tuna, avocado and cucumber topped with salmon, chefâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sauce, masago, green onion and tempura crunchy flakes. The menu also includes bento box lunches, teriyaki dishes, fried rice and more. Takeout and delivery are available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$

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METAIRIE

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. L, D 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

Green beans come with rice and gravy. No reservations. L Mon-Fri. $$

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

UPTOWN Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with a chocolate drizzle. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishes, sandwiches, baked goods and more. Takeout available. $$ 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 a splash of pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Dine-in, outdoor seating and delivery available. L and D 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. Reserva-

OUT TO EAT tions required. D Thu-Sun. $$$ Carmo — 527 Julia St., (504) 875-4132; cafecarmo.com — Carmo salad includes smoked ham, avocado, pineapple, almonds, cashews, raisins, cucumber, green pepper, rice, lettuce, cilantro and citrus mango vinaigrette. The menu includes dishes inspired by many tropical cuisines. Takeout and delivery are available. Mon-Sat. $$ NOLA Caye — 898 Baronne St., (504) 3021302; 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. Reservations accepted. Takeout, delivery and outdoor seating available. D daily, brunch Sat-Sun. $$$ Provisions Grab-n-Go Marketplace — Higgins Hotel, 500 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higgingshotelnola.com — The coffeeshop serves salads, sandwiches, pastries and more. Takeout available. $

WEST BANK Mosca’s — 4137 Hwy. 90 W., 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. D Wed-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Specialty Italian Bistro — 2330 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna, (504) 391-1090; specialtyitalianbistro.com — The menu combines Old World Italian favorites and pizza. Paneed chicken piccata is topped with lemon-caper piccata sauce served with angel hair pasta, salad and garlic cheese bread. Takeout and delivery available. Service daily. $$

PRESENTS THE

2020

Holiday

PET PHOTO

CONTEST

Send your favorite pet photo to vip@gambitweekly.com for the chance to have your pet published in the Dec. 15 Pets issue inside Gambit.

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER WILL ALSO WIN A PRIZE PACKAGE FROM METAIRIE SMALL ANIMAL HOSPITAL.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES:

DECEMBER 4 Guidelines and Photo Protocol

Photo files must be hi-res and not exceed 5mb. Please submit only (1) photo per family. For complete contest rules, please visit bestofneworleans.com/petphoto.

PICK UP DELIVERY WEDNESDAY - MONDAY

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Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant. com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s specialties include speckled trout royale topped with lump crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in cream sauce. Curbside pickup and delivery are available. L, D daily, brunch Sun. $$$ 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. L Sun-Thu, D 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. L Tue-Sat, D Tue-Sun. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

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. L and D Wed-Sat, brunch Sat-Sun. $$ Doson Noodle House — 135 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 309-7283; facebook.com/dosonnoodlehouse — Bun thit is Vietnamese-style grilled pork with cucumber, onions, lettuce, mint, cilantro and fish sauce served over rice or vermicelli. The menu includes pho, spring rolls and more. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. $$ Five Happiness — 3511 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 482-3935; fivehappiness.com — The large menu of Chinese dishes includes wonton soup, sizzling seafood combinations served on a hot plate, sizzling Go-Ba and lo mein dishes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic, scallions and olive oil. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$ Nonna Mia — 3125 Esplanade Ave., (504) 948-1717; nonnamianola.com — A Divine Portobello appetizer includes chicken breast, spinach in creamy red pepper sauce and crostini. The menu also includes salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and more. Curbside pickup and delivery are available. Service daily. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Willie Mae’s Scotch House — 2401 St. Ann St., (504) 822-9503; williemaesnola. com — This neighborhood restaurant is known for its wet-battered fried chicken.

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > N ov e mb e r 1 7 - 2 3 > 2 02 0

WORDS

BY WILL COVIELLO

RACE TO THE RESCUE ONLINE AUCTION

THE ANNUAL WORDS & MUSIC FESTIVAL typically draws

on local culture and current literary topics, often with visiting international writers. This year’s event is virtual and runs Nov. 19-22. The lineup features many current and former local authors with notable recent books, such as Sarah Broom and Maurice Carlos Ruffin. There also are workshops and seminars on writing, editing and more. Formerly organized by the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society, Words & Music is now run by One Book One New Orleans, which each year chooses a book and encourages locals to engage in public discourse around it. In 2020, One Book selected “New Orleans Griot: The Tom Dent Reader,” edited by Kalamu ya Salaam. Dent was a prolific writer, activist and former director of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Besides poetry and essays, he also was interested in drama and active with Free Southern Theater. His 1968 one-act play “Ritual Murder” explored the killing of a young Black man by an acquaintance, arguing that society too often ignored the deaths of Black men. There’s a panel discussion about Dent’s work at 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, followed by a workshop about his poetry led by Skye Jackson. No Dream Deferred theater company presents a reading of “Ritual Murder” at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Sarah Broom won the 2019 National Book Award for “The Yellow House,” based on her life growing up in New Orleans East. She participates in a panel about contemporary approaches to memoir writing at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. It’s moderated by Robert Feiseler, author of the 2018 book “Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation,” which won the Louisiana Literary Award earlier this year. Maurice Carlos Ruffin also grew up in New Orleans East. His 2019 novel “We Cast a Shadow” was a finalist for numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award. He’s currently a writer-in-residence at the University of Mississippi. He moderates a panel on justice and inclusiveness in magazines with Eliza Borne, editor of the Oxford American, Lovey Cooper, managing editor of Scalawag, and Josina Guess, managing editor of Bitter Southerner. The discussion is at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. The festival’s keynote reading is shared by a couple. Jarvis DeBerry is a

NOLA DOGS

BIDDING IS NOW OPEN Auction ends November 28 at 4pm. Help support animal rescue in South Louisiana. All proceeds are donated to no kill nonprofit rescue organizations. Auction items may be viewed on site (outdoors) at 4432 Magazine Street on November 28 from 10am-4pm. Register and bid at nolagirl.org/events P H OTO B Y M A X B E C H ERER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W OR L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Sarah M. Broom, author of “The Yellow House,” appears at Words & Music.

longtime columnist for The TimesPicayune, and “I Feel to Believe” is a collection of his work. Kelly HarrisDeBerry recently released the poetry collection “Freedom Knows My Name.” They’ll read from their work and be interviewed by former Gambit and Times-Picayune reporter Megan Braden-Perry at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. The festival also includes books for young readers. There’s a panel on “A Long Way from the Strawberry Patch: The Life of Leah Chase,” a fictional take on Chase’s life for young adult age groups. Edgar “Dooky” Chase IV will participate. It’s at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Tyehimba Jess won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for “Olio.” He headlines a reading at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. It also includes Texas poet Lupe Mendez, Detroit poet Justin Rogers, New Orleanian and Tulane professor Karisma Price and Jane “SpokenWord” Grenier. Several panel discussions address music, and there are performances by Robin Barnes and Helen Gillet. Tulane archivist and WWOZ host Melissa Weber, aka DJ Soul Sister, moderates the panel “Writing Music,” with Tony Bolden, who has written about funk, Kyle DeCoste, who co-wrote a book about brass bands, and Joel Dinerstein, who’s written about jazz (11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20). David G. Spellman released the photo book “When Not Performing: New Orleans Musicians.” He leads a discussion with John Boutte, Don Vappie, John Rankin and Hellen Gillet at 2:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Visit wordsandmusic.org for details and links.

Bonfolk Socks

NOLA Board

Plage By French Artist Marc Clauzade La Boulangerie Baguettes for a Year Rachel Adamiak Necklace

Vincent’s Restaurant Gift Certiﬁcate

Audubon Zoo Family Pass Audubon Golf Course Round of Golf for 4

Le Creuset 9 ½ qt Oval Dutch Oven

2020 Jazzfest Framed Poster

NOLA Girl Charitable Giving is a 501(c)(3) nonproﬁt organization.

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NEWSPAPER MAGNATE WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST

kept his own zoo full of exotic animals on the estate of his Hearst Castle north of Los Angeles. Screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and Hearst mistress Marion Davies stroll the grounds at night with giraffes and elephants in the background in David Fincher’s lush drama “Mank.” But it’s Hearst’s cage full of screeching monkeys that draws attention. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay for “Citizen Kane” with its driving force, director and star Orson Welles. They shared an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the 1941 film. “Mank” is set at the beginning of production of that classic film, as Mankiewicz, hobbled by a car accident and a drinking problem, labors to write the script for Welles in 60 days. But “Mank” is not a film about a struggling writer or how “Citizen Kane” was made. Much of the action takes place in flashbacks to the early 1930s and a booming era for Hollywood. Mankiewicz was a New York theater writer who moved to Los Angeles to cash in on screenwriting gigs. Despite the Great Depression, he amassed gambling debts in thousands of dollars, drank too much and lived on the coattails of the super rich, including Hearst, who is thought to have been one of the inspirations for Charles Foster Kane, the tycoon in “Citizen Kane.” Mankiewicz is given to speaking his mind, and the more he drinks, the more daring he becomes. Perhaps that tart banter is why Hearst entertains his company. Hearst is surrounded by toadying studio types and socialites, which makes Mankiewicz’s candor refreshing. At a circus-themed party at the Castle, all the guests attend in lavish costume dress except Mankiewicz, who is only too happy to grab the spotlight with a cutting speech. While the Champagne flows at Hearst’s tables, the Depression has the streets full of people in need. In 1934, another writer shook up California. Upton Sinclair ran for governor on an anti-poverty platform, and in the film, that’s got Hearst and other wealthy businessmen railing about socialism. Mankiewicz is sympathetic to his fellow writer, as well

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as the legions of people out of work and hungry. In what seems like a contemporary reference, one of the film studios makes a “fake news” documentary to influence the election. Mankiewicz realizes actors are playing the hobos riding trains to California to benefit from a Sinclair administration. It’s an effective media manipulation, using the studio’s resources and talents. Studio executives also seem like gifted actors, as they blame the hardships of the Depression for cut wages while actually reaping profits. Yellow journalism built fortunes for some media magnates of the era, reflected in “Mank” and “Citizen Kane.” Fincher’s movie is full or parallels and references to Welles’ masterpiece, but it’s more of an atmospheric film. It’s stylized in black and white and mimics elements of old Hollywood classics. Amanda Seyfried lends beguiling charm to starlet Davies. Her Brooklyn accent is hilariously out of place in some of her movies, like a Western in which Hearst has an interest. Gary Oldman is masterful as the complicated Mankiewicz, a drunken raconteur who slurs his speech and in heated moments becomes his own worst enemy, needling his patrons and sharing his insights. Fincher often focuses on power, including in politics, at the studios and at the command of Hearst’s immense wealth. Mankiewicz enjoys the trappings of his life, feels entitled to be rewarded for his talents, and also bristles at being pressured by others. “Mank” is a rich dip into the grand visions of old Hollywood, especially when it shows that the picture is more complicated than it seems. “Mank” opens at The Broad Theater Nov. 20.

MILLIE

Kennel #45615500

Millee is a 5-year-old Pitbull terrier mix who came to us after

her finder could no longer take care of her. This sweet girl was living as a stray before her Good Samaritan came along, but by her demeanor you would never know! This sweet, snuggly girl will melt your heart from the first time you look at her. She seems to be housetrained, possibly knows sit and walks pretty well on a leash, so if you are looking for the perfect dog, look no further.

Looking for MICHELLE natural daughter of LINDA JOHNSON born in 1970s or early ‘80s VERY IMPORTANT inheritance rights involved. Please contact Faun Fenderson attorney at 504-528-9500 ext 318 or faun@faunfenderson.com. Thali Llama LLC d.b.a Plume Algiers is applying to the Office of Alcohol & Tobacco Control of the State of Louisiana for a permit to sell beverages of high and low alcohol content at retail in the Parish of Orleans at the following address: 1113 Teche Street New Orleans, LA 70114 Members: Merritt Coscia and Tyler Stuart . Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Shela Jones Dunn a/k/a Shelia Jones-Dunn. Please contact Atty. C. Hunter King at 504-460-0168.

SNOW

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Alana Doreen Dixson and Adrienne Denise Dixson. Please contact Atty. Christopher H. King at 504-812-7884. Kennel #44439079

Snow is an 8-year-old Domestic Shorthair mix who is looking

for a home to call her own during this senior pet month. As one of the older residents, Snow often finds herself watching all of the other cats find homes as she sits there waiting, but don’t worry. Snow knows her day is coming; she just needs to find the perfect match! If you are looking for a quieter, more reserved cat with a lot of love left to give, Snow is your girl.

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.

New Tokyo Sushi House LLC applying to the alcohol retail permit to sell beverage of high and low alcohol content at retail in the parish of Jefferson at the following address :5100 Lapalco Blvd #6 Marrero Louisiana 70072 members:hongyun qiu.

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GOOD THINGS

By Frank A. Longo

65 Pol with a six-yr. term 66 â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Death in the Familyâ&#x20AC;? author James 67 With 9-Down, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Paper Moonâ&#x20AC;? child actress 70 Utahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Canyon 71 â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;&#x201D; girl!â&#x20AC;? 72 Pro-firearm org. 73 Rules established by legal precedent 75 Long Russian river 76 Fewer 77 The attorney general heads it 82 Glossy proof, for short 83 110-Acrossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; high home 84 Ear-splitting 87 Helper: Abbr.

88 19th-century anti-alcohol fraternal society 94 Result in 96 Really bother 97 U.S. Army soldiers 98 Beatles song on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;White Albumâ&#x20AC;? 105 Dog restraint 107 Strike caller 108 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Coyote Uglyâ&#x20AC;? actress Piper 110 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baldâ&#x20AC;? bird 114 Very, in music scores 115 Christian set featured in this puzzle 119 Cerebrumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s place 120 Helped criminally 121 Creates 122 Matches up, as sets of files 123 Have 124 Really should DOWN 1 Stop sleeping 2 Stuntman Knievel 3 Whoppers 4 In the â&#x20AC;&#x201D; luxury 5 Working overtime, e.g. 6 Centuries on end 7 Bit of work 8 Lyricist Sammy 9 See 67-Across 10 Mob group 11 Restaurant offerings 12 Love-in- â&#x20AC;&#x201D; (plant with feathery foliage) 13 Louse-to-be 14 Lah-di- â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 15 1972 Jack Lemmon film 16 Sidesplitter 17 Drug banned for Olympians, for short 18 Minor fight 19 Words on an F paper, maybe 24 Opening for a letter-shaped bolt 28 â&#x20AC;&#x153;My, my, old chap!â&#x20AC;? 30 Suffix with prop31 Ky. neighbor 33 Young guy, in hip-hop 34 Doc studying laryngitis 35 Wyo. neighbor 36 Hip â&#x20AC;&#x2122;60s teen

37 Programs running in web browsers 39 Hanna-Barbera bear 42 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Live PDâ&#x20AC;? network 43 Inmate 44 Two-time Wimbledon winner Lew 45 Improvise 46 Allude (to) 48 Committing to a fiduciary 49 Officers in training 50 Doglike scavengers 53 Prefix with afternoon 55 Really bother 56 Muscle jerk 57 One-on-one student 58 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stop that, silly goose!â&#x20AC;? 59 Pool triangles 60 Yummy tidbit 61 Actress Bullock 62 Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t differ 68 Wrist-to-elbow bones 69 San â&#x20AC;&#x201D;, California 71 Tinfoil giant 73 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; -Magnon 74 Klingon officer of TV 78 Reviewer of paintings 79 Be suitable 80 Army wheels

81 For later use 85 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; -fi film 86 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of courseâ&#x20AC;? 88 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of courseâ&#x20AC;? 89 Coll. in Columbus 90 Neighbor of TVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Homer 91 Brunch fruit 92 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; -wee Herman 93 A Gabor 95 Chefsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tie-ons 98 Makes easier, with â&#x20AC;&#x153;downâ&#x20AC;? 99 University in Atlanta 100 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sounds like â&#x20AC;&#x201D;!â&#x20AC;? 101 Sword types 102 Birdsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; refuges 103 Isle of Minos 104 Roof edges 106 Detested 109 Cots, e.g. 111 Holster fillers 112 Riga native, old-style 113 Rival of Petro-Canada 115 Spying tool 116 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Westworldâ&#x20AC;? network 117 Actor Diesel 118 Suffix with serpent

ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PUZZLE: P 30

PUZZLES

32 What the Union was for earth, in a Lincoln message 35 â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think,â&#x20AC;? to texters 38 Really bother 40 TV studio alert 41 Gave the Red Cross some funds, e.g. 47 Something to scratch 51 Old politico Stevenson 52 Chuck Berryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Johnny B. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;? 53 Coral reef eel 54 Courage 61 Beach grit 63 â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Simpsonsâ&#x20AC;? store clerk 64 Bitter-ender

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know yetâ&#x20AC;? 8 Order 15 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amo, amas, I love â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;? 20 Plane pilot 21 Result of iron deficiency, to a Brit 22 â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Love Lucyâ&#x20AC;? actress Vivian 23 Staying loyal despite adversity 25 Poet Lorde 26 The sun, in Spanish 27 Slimy slow movers 28 Actor Rex or singer James 29 Swing wildly, as oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arms

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