St. Charles Avenue Magazine August 2022

AUGUS T 2022

COCKTAIL HOUR

FASHION

WELLNESS

NEW ORLEANS DEFINITIVE SOCIAL MAGAZINE S T. CHARLE S AVENUE MAG A ZINE

AUGUST 2022

STCHARLESAVENUE.COM

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SOCIE T Y

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CELEBR ATION

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S T YLE

Associate Publisher Kate Henry EDITORIAL

Editor Andy Myer Art Director Ali Sullivan Food & Dining Columnist Jyl Benson Web Editor Kelly Massicot Event Photo Coordinator Jeff Strout Contributing Writers Jyl Benson, Amy Gabriel, Megan Holt, Lindsay Mack, Stephen Maloney, Seale Paterson, Shelby Simon and Sue Strachan ADVERTISING

Vice President of Sales & Marketing Kate Henry Kate@myneworleans.com or 504-830-7216 Account Director Meggie Schmidt Senior Account Executives Brooke Genusa, Rachel Webber Account Executive Erin Chiartano Advertising Consultant Penn Iarocci

MARKETING

Coordinator Abbie Whatley PRODUCTION

Manager Rosa Balaguer Arostegui Designer Meghan Rooney CIRCULATION

Subscriptions Jessica Armand Distribution John Holzer ADMINISTRATION

Office Manager Mallary Wolfe Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne For subscription information call (504) 828-1380

A Publication of Renaissance Publishing, LLC 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123 Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 MyNewOrleans.com

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St. Charles Avenue is published monthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005, (504) 828-1380. Subscription rate: one year $17.95, no foreign subscriptions. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to St. Charles Avenue, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005.

Copyright © 2022 by Renaissance Publishing, LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher.

The trademark St. Charles Avenue is registered. St. Charles Avenue is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in St. Charles Avenue are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the magazine managers or owners.

ST. CHARLES AVENUE AUGUST 2022

Contents

VOLUME 27 ISSUE 3

Features

Standards

18 | Cocktail Hour

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| A Note from Andy

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| On the Web

Local watering holes serving up divine drinks and decor, expert tips for entertaining at home and no-fail recipes for your own celebrations.

6 | Arts Calendar 8 | Around Town

Recent news to add to

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your radar

10 | Fashion

Puttin' on the Aperol Spritz

12 | Design

Logan Killen Interiors / Sunday Shop

14 | What's Hot

Artful Barware 16 | Change Makers

Devin De Wulf, founder and executive director, Krewe of Red Beans

52 | Eat + Drink

Charcuterie

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Society

43 | Social Events

Philanthropic Events

50 | Snapshots

Quick looks at nonprofit events around town

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54 | Wellness

Truth or Myth?

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56 | With This Ring

You're Invited...

60 | Nostalgia

Alden Knitting Mills

64 | The Finishing Touch

Fleur Home

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A NOTE FROM ANDY

Full Steam Ahead

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e’ve arrived – the dog days of summer. For locals, August comes with a mix of “over it” and the frantic rush to fit in doctor’s appointments, last trips of the season and other to-dos before the school year starts and the summer ends. But, for us it’s been an exceptionally exciting several months and we’ve got news to share.

We’ve been working behind the scenes for some time now on an Avenue redesign. Much like our sister publication New Orleans Magazine did not long ago, we’ve polled friends and readers and listened to feedback about what you would like to see covered more consistently. And with that, we’re thrilled to bring you our first issue with a fresh layout and a good bit of new content.

Our philanthropic events coverage now has its own section (with even more parties), devoted to covering these important local fundraisers each month. You will find that we have also added a good bit more general lifestyle content – everything from fashion to wellness and more current information about local happenings and news. If you would like to see something covered that might be a good fit, please email aroundtown@myneworleans.com.

Avenue's mission is and will always continue to be shining a spotlight on the many incredible nonprofit organizations doing great work throughout New Orleans. We will continue to bring you familiar favorites as well. Be sure to check out this month’s Change Makers on Devin De Wulf, the founder and executive director of the Krewe of Red Beans and learn more about the amazing programs they offer.

Our team is thrilled to bring you this first new issue. We hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing your thoughts. Your opinions mean the world to us. We can’t wait to bring you even more as we continue to add new columns and feature content in the coming months!

On the Cover Local philanthropists Stephanie and husband and acclaimed artist/gallery owner Terrance Osborne enjoy the stunning setting at the new Chandelier Bar in the recently renovated Four Seasons Hotel.

Learn more about the Chandelier Bar and a host of other impressive local spots in this month's "Cocktail Hour" feaure on pg. 18.

Photograph by Sam Hanna

A Must Visit - Vue Orleans I was finally able to visit Vue Orleans, the spectacular 360-degree observation deck and interactive experience overlooking an incredible view of the Mississippi River. Located on top of the Four Seasons Hotel, the entrance is to the left and parking is available through the hotel or in nearby lots. I brought my 8-year-old daughter along and she thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I highly reccommend this as a fun and unique activity for locals and to suggest to friends visiting town.

- Andy

ANDY MYER, EDITOR

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ON THE WEB

AVENUE BLOGS

Shop Talk’s live video interviews are on summer break until the fall.

Look for weekly blog posts from Penn each Wednesday on myneworleans.com.

Andy will also begin posting content for a new blog spotlighting local creatives and culture bearers. Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for updates.

What local finds should we feature next? Email shoptalk@myneworleans.com.

Meet Penn BLOGGER FOR SHOP TALK Penn larocci is a born and raised New Orleanian. After graduating from Tulane University she lived in NYC for nine years working in sales and marketing at an investment bank. When she missed New Orleans more than she could stand, she moved back home, met her husband and started a family. She's now raising two rambunctious little boys and spending her free time on environmental sustainability projects.

Top Activewear Picks for Summer Even for the most faithful tennis players, the August heat can call it all into question. The sweating begins as you simply take your racquet out of the bag and sunscreen melts almost immediately after application. As our bodies and complexions adjust to the relentless humidity, our activewear must keep up too! The heavier UPF fabrics that work during cooler months are not going to cut it.

Sweaty wrists and sticky legs call for modern and innovative designs. In the past, tennis whites were all that was socially acceptable. Today there are moisture wicking fabrics and innovative designs that help keep everything in place and limit visible sweat-through. Fashion designers like Tory Burch and Stella McCartney have created lines dedicated to this sport. Tennis legends including Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova also have their own lines. There are a lot of options to explore and even push the boundaries of what you ever thought possible when it comes to the court.

Find links to Penn's Top Activewear Picks for Summer on myneworleans.com.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: @StCharlesAvenueMag / Facebook: @StCharlesAvenue

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CALENDAR

15 Adult Summer Camp Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp St., 504-539-9650, ogdenmuseum.org

13 The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s Tribute to Oretha Castle Haley The New Orleans Jazz Market, 1436 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, thenojo.com/jazz-market 17 Victory Belles Matinee Luncheon The National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., 504-528-1944, nationalww2museum.org 25 Virtual Book Club Discussion: Craft New Orleans Museum of Art, One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, 504-658-4100, noma.org

AUGUST

1 Tai Chi in the Sculpture Garden New Orleans Museum of Art, One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, 504-658-4100, noma.org 2 Stage Door Idol The National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., 504-528-1944, nationalww2museum.org 5 First Fridays at NOMA New Orleans Museum of Art, One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, 504-658-4100, noma.org

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9 Book Club: Curatorial Program with Mel Buchanan New Orleans Museum of Art, One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, 504-658-4100, noma.org 6 Opening Celebration: Remember Earth?

Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, cacno.org

7 Three Days Grace - Explosions Tour Fillmore New Orleans, 6 Canal St., 504-881-1555, @TheFilmoreNOLA

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27 Luke Bryan Smoothie King Center, 1501 Dave Dixon Dr, 504-587-3663, smoothiekingcenter.com

September

11 Hey Y’all Art Talk Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp St., 504-539-9650, ogdenmuseum.org

6 UB40 with The Original Wailers & Maxi Priest Saenger Theatre, 1111 Canal St., 504-525-1052, saengernola.com

12 The Band of Brothers 20th Anniversary Reunion The National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., 504-528-1944, nationalww2museum.org

20 Earth, Wind & Fire Saenger Theatre, 1111 Canal St., 504-525-1052, saengernola.com

12 How Did This Get Made? - Live!

Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, 1419 Basin St, 504-525-1052

25 Steve Martin and Martin Short Saenger Theatre, 1111 Canal St., 504-525-1052, saengernola.com

– Compiled by Stephen Maloney

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AROUND TOWN

Cottage Industry The latest book by acclaimed author Richard Campanella, The Cottage on Tchoupitoulas: A Historical Geography of Uptown New Orleans, explores the history of the recently restored Hales Cottage, located by Children’s Hospital, as well as the surrounding Uptown neighborhood. Published by the Preservation Resource Center and available there or at local bookstores. 923 Tchoupitoulas St., prcno.org, Instagram @prcnola

An Ice Cream Boone Lucy Boone Ice Cream is still going strong more than two years after popping up around town scooping delicious, custom ice cream made by Abby Boone (Lucy is her and husband Aaron’s daughter.)

Flavors change weekly based on what Abby can find at farmers’ markets and elsewhere.

Current favorites include key lime, passion fruit pavlova and cold brew, which is coffee, chocolate and caramel.

Right now, home is Port of Orleans Brewing Co., 4124 Tchoupitoulas St., Thurs.

5 p.m.-9 p.m. and Fri., Sat., Sun., Noon to 9 p.m. Be on the lookout for the ice cream to have its own parlor at Baronne and Constantinople streets, opening some time in September. Instagram @lucybooneicecream

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Summer So Chloe

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ind down the weekend at Uptown’s see-and-be-seen spot, The Chloe, at its Sunday Summer Series featuring DJs, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Aug. 7, Otto; Aug. 14, Kelly Green and Aug. 28, DJ G. Order a cocktail or some light bites and enjoy — Monday is still more than 12 hours away! 4125 St. Charles Ave., thechloenola.com, Instagram @thechloenola – By Sue Strachan

ST. CHARLES AVENUE AUGUST 2022

Do you have anything you would like to see highlighted?

Email information to: aroundtown@myneworleans.com

The Spanish South Hold the vin, as Louisiana’s Spanish history gets its own vintage moment when The Historic New Orleans Collection delves into the connections between the European country, Louisiana and the surrounding gulf region as part of its New Orleans Antiques Forum, “The Spanish South,” Aug. 4 -7.

The Spanish colonial empire encircled the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean during 1763 to 1803, leaving a lasting influence on arts, craft, architecture and culture, and “we’re bringing together experts and scholars from across the country to explore the decorative arts in Mexico, Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico and beyond,” says Amanda McFillen, THNOC director of public programs. THNOC Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St., hnoc.org, Instagram @visit_thnoc

THE CABILDO ARCADE. THE MARCH OF THE LIGHT FORMS, BETWEEN 1938 AND 1975; PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT BY CLARENCE JOHN LAUGHLIN (1905-1985); THE CLARENCE JOHN LAUGHLINE ARCHIVE AT THNOC, 1983.47.4.298

Cool Pampering While August’s heat and humidity is challenging, the Spyre Center provides a way to cool down and stay in shape. Start your Spyre Summer Saturdays with a live music yoga class or water aerobics, followed by a guided meditation, then a light lunch. Or try aqua yoga, available Fridays through August.

Spyre is the only place in town to offer it, according to general manager Jessica Schexnayder.

1772 Prytania St., spyrecenter. com, Instagram @spyre_nola

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FASHION

PUTTIN’ ON THE APEROL SPRITZ

By Amy Gabriel

Complement your cocktail with an exotic dharma ring featuring a center 2.77CT garnet stone encircled by a 14K solid gold alligator. Porter Lyons, 623 Royal St., 800-585-0348, porterlyons.com.

The sophisticated way to stash your essentials, the Kira fringe bag is beautifully crafted in hand-woven napa leather and pierced with a signature beveled double T. Twice as nice, remove the crossbody chain strap to turn it into a proper clutch. Tory Burch, 333 Canal St., 103A, 504-581-6623, toryburch.com.

Effortlessly chic, shimmer in style by slipping on a body-skimming AS

by DF mare knit dress in a luxe metallic gold stretch knit with front tie. Hemline French Quarter, 609 Chartres St., 504-592-0242, shophemline.com.

Take on the town one sophisticated step at a time in a pair of double band metallic embossed Linx Scaly metal heels. Swoon Boutique, 130 Harrison Ave., 504-5162770, swoonboutiquenola.com.

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Add a touch of elegance to your wrist with a 14k yellow gold paperclip style link bracelet, elevated by a toggle bar accented with two rows of round diamonds. Diamonds total .45ctw., 7.5" length. Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, 3301 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Ste. 110-B, 504-832-0000, lmfj.com.

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DESIGN

Jensen Killen and Katie Logan Leblanc

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Logan Killen Interiors/Sunday Shop

ensen Killen and Katie Logan Leblanc come from different professional backgrounds, but the longtime friends have managed to meld their interior design work together seamlessly. The duo formed Logan Killen after realizing their different paths had converged over time.

Katie studied graphic design, furniture design, and interior design at LSU before spending the better part of a decade at a New Orleans based architecture firm. Jensen grew up watching her contractor father work, exposing her to design at an early age. After graduation, Jensen worked in production design and event planning before uniting with Katie around 2012.

When approaching a project, the duo tends to be in harmony right from the start, with their separate backgrounds bringing different elements to the design.

“It’s a very layered approach,” Jensen said. “We’re always trying to blend antique pieces with more contemporary furnishings, as well as multiple layers of textiles and artwork so that the spaces feel really lived in and personal.”

The work that the Logan Killen team did on the Virgin Hotels project stands

out to Katie and Jensen as a great example of the heights their approach can allow them to achieve, but their favorite project hits a little closer to home.

“Our shared favorite project actually is Sunday Shop,” Katie said. “It truly is the best thing that we created together, and it is probably the most valuable insight into what our style is and where we would like to go.”

Jensen said the Sunday Shop is a great example of the Logan Killen team working on their own and just for themselves. Unsurprisingly then, the shop is filled with a great blend of artwork, custom furniture, and home accessories.

Taken together, it all stands as a testament to the benefits of teamwork, friendship, and a shared vision.

Katie said her partnership with Jensen feels incredibly intuitive, to the point where the pair are often in sync from the very start of a project.

“We’ll just walk into a room and we instinctively want it to be green or whatever that mood is that we feel like the room needs to be,” Katie said. “We’ll always agree on furniture layouts and stuff like that. We’ve just always been in sync.” – By Stephen Maloney

Sunday Shop, 2025 Magazine St., 504-342-2087, sundayshop.co.

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY JACQUELINE MARQUE

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WHAT'S HOT

ARTFUL BARWARE

By Amy Gabriel

Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Should the green fairies call, deliver accordingly with a stainless steel absinthe bar tool. Measuring 7” and prepped for you to partake, this timeless utensil won’t tarnish. Perch, 2844 Magazine St., 504-899-2122, perch-home.com.

Tip back a toddy and admire a bottom’s up bite from a textured alligator base glass mug from Arthur Court Designs. Chill in the refrigerator or freezer, or warm in the oven up to 350º degrees. Friend & Company, 7713 Maple St., 504-866-5433, friendandco. bridgecatalog.com.

No spill compares to the petite thrill of pairing your nightcap of choice with a cheers cocktail napkin from SFERRA, made of white hemstitched 100% linen and embellished with clink worthy, globally-inspired embroidered toasts. Sotre Collection, 3909 Magazine St., 504-304-9475, sotrecollection.com.

Tickle their tipple by serving your preferred aperitif from a hand-blown, blush pink-colored Estelle decanter made by glass artisans in Poland. 8.5” x 6.5”, capacity 26 oz. Jade, 324 Metairie Rd., 504-875-4420, jade.shoplightspeed.com.

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To stir with love. Swirling sips or adding a dollup of an upleveled ingredient will be très chic when using a set of Fez small teaspoons in gold and white. Lucy Rose, 3318 Magazine St., 504-895-0444; 600 Metairie Rd., 504-218-7368, shoplucyrose.com.

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CHANGE MAKERS

Devin De Wulf

Founder and Executive Director, Krewe of Red Beans

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nspired by New Orleans’ vibrant culture — and one of its signature dishes, red beans and rice — Devin De Wulf founded the Krewe of Red Beans in 2009. Now the organization puts on three beloved Lundi Gras day parades: the Red Beans Parade, with Black Masking Indians and a second-line feel; Feijao + Green Beans, which features a Brazilian vibe; and Dead Beans, which celebrates worldwide folkloric traditions around death, with a definite influence from Mexico’s Day of the Dead. They have quickly become fan favorites among Carnivalgoers.

In addition to these colorful, creative parades, the krewe also backs a whole host of charitable initiatives that help support New Orleans. The same spirit that inspires vibrant Carnival celebrations also informs the krewe’s good works.

Here’s what De Wulf has to say about the Krewe of Red Beans’ many community projects, as well as the exciting plans to launch a totally unique community center.

“Since COVID started, we created over $1 million of gig work opportunities and employed over 250 people, including musicians, Black Masking Indians, and Baby Dolls,” said De Wulf. “These are the people who make our city so special.”

Because New Orleans has faced a tough couple of years, this is a cool milestone for the organization, and it showcases the scope of their efforts to give back.

In addition, the Krewe of Red Beans has created a number of projects that support the city. For instance, Feed the Second Line, now its own nonprofit, began with the krewe.

They work to provide a stronger safety net for the city’s culture creators, as well as job opportunities. This means buying groceries for elder culture bearers, for instance, as well as creating gig-work opportunities.

Bean Coin, designed to support neighborhood bars during the COVID lockdown, raised thousands of dollars to help 14 local bars stay afloat when customers were socially isolating. And the colorful Hire A Mardi Gras Artist initiative turned houses into floats during the 2021 Carnival season, keeping that festive spirit alive during lockdown.

Recently the organization created an innovative solar initiative called Get Lit Stay Lit, which helps neighborhood restaurants get solar and batteries

installed. With this backup in place, restaurants can help those in their neighborhood following a power outage, especially the widespread outages from a hurricane like Ida. Because they have solar and battery power in place, the restaurants can turn into a “micro-grid” with ongoing power, allowing others to come in and cool off, charge up phones, and grab a meal. Plus, the restaurant doesn’t have to throw out all the food in their freezer. “We hope to get hundreds of these around our city (which in turn, could help create more jobs for culture bearers)”, said De Wulf.

These initiatives from De Wulf and company show no sign of slowing, and that momentum has resulted in the next big plan: a new space in the city to celebrate New Orleans culture. Art, music, and lots of glitter are all in the works.

Now, De Wulf and the Krewe of Red Beans are creating Beanlandia, a cultural community center located at 3300 Royal. With children’s programming, cultural events, and pop-ups, Beanlandia is set to become a unique multi-use community space in New Orleans. “We are excited to launch Beanlandia as one of the city’s most interesting art spaces (bean art!) and innovative social programming,” said De Wulf.

One of the main goals is getting more young people involved in Beanlandia right away, and the Krewe of Red Beans is working to create plenty of children and teen activities once they open their doors. A STEM program, chess club, soccer club, and running club are all in the works, as well as art projects (through beans of course).

The children’s programming is set to begin this fall.

As far as the official opening, Beanlandia is still in the permitting stage, with hopes to open in 2023. Beanlandia will also serve as a model of sustainable tourism, with profits supporting the Krewe’s many nonprofit initiatives, making it an innovative and effective way to help improve the city. “The center will also work on facing the challenges our community faces: climate, crime / violence, and social cohesion . . . I believe culture and art and children’s programming are the way!” said De Wulf. – By Lindsay Mack

“

Since COVID started, we created over $1 million of gig work opportunities and employed over 250 people, including musicians, Black Masking Indians, and Baby Dolls.

These are the people who make our city so special.

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PHOTO BY THERESA CASSAGNE

Get Involved Grassroots fundraising and community support help sustain the Krewe of Red Beans. Become a member of Beanlandia through monthly donations that back the creation of the community center. There’s also the option to sponsor a glitter bean with your name on it. You can help support New Orleans culture — one bean at a time. kreweofredbeans.org

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Cocktail Hour Local watering holes serving up divine drinks and decor, expert tips for entertaining at home and no-fail recipes for your own celebrations.

WRITTEN BY JYL BENSON

G

ood, bad, or otherwise, as the birthplace of the cocktail, drinking culture is tightly woven into the social fabric of everyday life in New Orleans, where Prohibition was greeted with a chuckle. New Orleans' bars and lounges are as numerous and diverse as the people who populate them and the reasons for their patronage.

That patronage comes at a cost.

When heading out for a drink we are satisfying a craving to escape, seeking a vibe that will inspire us, thinking about the ‘gram, and Gramp’s neighborhood gin mill will not suffice. We want a dreamy atmosphere, a specific sense of place, comfort that compels us to hang out, and craft cocktails and mocktails (because teetotalers and the sober curious have whims, too) made with fresh juices and whimsical garnishes served in aesthetically pleasing vessels that make us feel glamorous as we lift them to our lips. We are building fantasies and the places we choose are the stages for our performance art.

Robert LeBlanc, founder and creative director of the boutique hospitality firm LeBlanc+Smith, the force behind Sylvain, The Chloe, The Will & The Way, Barrel Proof and Anna’s, said society's social media obsession is changing the concepts for how hotels, restaurants and bars are developed.

“The bar has been raised over the years in hospitality to create spaces that are curated very intelligently and for a specific audience and to have aesthetics that are memorable," explains LeBlanc. “Insta is a factor in all stages of hospitality development. During the initial ideation phase, Insta is a source of inspiration and for the collection

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY SAM HANNA

of ideas. It’s the best digital mood board.

During the actual development and construction phase, Insta can be used to begin to build community by keeping people abreast of development updates with great ‘see it here first, behind-the-scenes content.

Upon opening, the platform can be used to draw people into a space and establish its brand in a detailed and layered way. It does not hurt that we have distinct spaces and beautiful Instagram-able cocktails.”

None of the places represented in our exploration of New Orleans’ contemporary cocktail culture has a dress code, per se, but they all have a special air about them that will leave you feeling awkward in shorts and flip flops, so step it up a bit.

You want to look good for the ‘gram.

Charm Offensive

2 ounces (60 ml) Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller #2 or Single Barrel Select whiskey ½ ounce (15 ml) Giffard crème de pêche liqueur 21 drops Bitter Truth celery bitters 10 drops Bittermens Hellfire habanero shrub 3 drops Saline Solution Mint sprig, for garnish Combine all the ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir to chill. Strain into a chilled double old-fashioned glass filled with ice, garnish with the mint sprig and serve.

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Columns Hotel 3811 St. Charles Ave, 504-899-9308, thecolumns.com

PHOTO BY ARNAUD MONTAGARD

Following a comprehensive renovation and restoration by hotelier Jayson Seidman that managed to keep a wisp of the vague air of funkiness that endears it to locals, Columns Hotel is once again a primo spot for watching the world pass down St. Charles Avenue. Originally built in 1883 in a Thomas Sully design, through Seidman’s careful work many of the building’s original architectural details were preserved and restored—including the dramatic mahogany stairwell that rises to meet a domed stained-glass skylight with an elaborate sunburst motif. The cheesy baby blue, stackable banquet chairs and Maw Maw’s ornately sashed drapes have been banished from the double parlor. In their place are bare windows that reveal the gardens beyond to imbibers relaxing upon clubby leather sofas and cushy armchairs clustered into conversational groupings. The Victorian Lounge itself, once dark, dank, dated, and dreary, has kept its sense of history while welcoming a fresh, sexy lighting package, blessedly bare windows, and radically improved seating. The bloom has returned to the rose.

On Beverage Director Carlos Quinonez’ cocktail menu you will find the expected classics — Sazerac, Pimm’s Cup, Gold Rush, Rattlesnake—as well as house creations and a selection of reserve cocktails—the Baller Highball (18 St. George Baller single malt, lemon, sparkling water), Boulevardier (20 1757 Vermouth di Ttorino, Willett Family Estate rye, Campari) and the Oaxaca Old Fashioned (25 Penta Reposado, Los Vecinos Tobala, mole bitters, orange). A food menu created by Chef Mike Stolzfus of Coquette and executed by Executive Chef Paul Terrebonne is inventive yet approachable.

Sipping on the deep veranda, seeing the rumbling streetcar making its way under a canopy of oaks fulfills the city’s graceful moonlight and magnolias vision of languorous beauty.

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New Orleans Drinks & How to Mix ‘Em All recipes excerpted from Cure: New Orleans Cocktails and How to Mix ‘Em from the Award-Winning Bar by Neal Bodenheimer Each recipe makes one cocktail

Straight out of college in Austin, Texas, Neal Bodenheimer began his bartending career in New York, working first at Atlantic Grill and later with Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality. Following Hurricane Katrina, he returned home to New Orleans where he ignited a renaissance in the city’s cocktail culture. A James Beard Award winner and consummate source of hometown pride, Bodenheimer has penned Cure: New Orleans Cocktails and How to Mix ‘Em from the Award-Winning Bar (Abrams, 2022) with Emily Timberlake and photography

by Denny Culbert. Gorgeous and indispensable to the at-home cocktail enthusiast, the book drops October 25, just time to tidy up every imbiber on your holiday gift list.

Not just a collection of 100 recipes chosen to represent New Orleans’ past, present, and future, Cure is a love letter to our vibrant city and the cast of characters that have had a hand in crafting its singular sense of place. The book features interviews with local figures such as Ian Neville, musician and New Orleans funk royalty, and Pableaux Johnson, a writer and photographer who builds community through weekly Monday red beans and rice dinners, plus a few tips on how to survive your first Mardi Gras. Along the way, the reader consumes the rich history and complexity of New Orleans and the libations it inspired, as well as the techniques and practices the team at Cure has perfected in their mission to craft new inventions rather than relying on the tried and true. That said Cure painstakingly explores the classics every self-respecting drinker should have in their wheelhouse, especially if you’re a New Orleanian: the Sazerac, Julep, Vieux Carré, Ramos Gin Fizz, Cocktail à la Louisiane and French 75. Important New Orleans chefs have contributed straightforward recipes for snacks with local flavor, perfect for pairing with these cocktails.

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The Chandelier Bar 2 Canal St. (in The Four Seasons Hotel), 504-434-5100, fourseasons.com/neworleans/ dining/lounges/chandelier-bar/ If Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe were seeking cocktails in New Orleans this would be their hangout. Taking its name from a massive custom chandelier bedecked with 15,000 shimmering Bohemian crystals (do not kill your buzz contemplating cleaning it), this stunner oozes glamour. The impact is particularly effective by night when moody lighting and deep, plush armchairs invite the drinker to linger over tasteful live music.

The 85-seat space is subdivided by contemporary shutter screens of oak, iron, and curated works from local and international artists to create intimate gathering spaces.

The bar turns out excellent takes on the classics as well as house inventions “meant to transport guests through creative storytelling and art,” according to Bar Manager Hadi Ktiri. Ktiri's specialty libations include the Chandelier Martini (blend of dry and aromatic gins, extra dry vermouth, citrus bitters and herbal mist with a bounty of accompaniments) and two zero proof selections: Jazzland (spiced citrus tea, pomegranate, hibiscus and Polynesian Kiss bitters) and Nada Colada (coconut, pineapple, lime, orange). Caviar service rounds out the swank.

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The Gilded Perch 7004 St Charles Ave. (in the Parkview Historic Hotel), 504-861-7564, parkviewguesthouse.com

The Paradise Lounge at Hotel St. Vincent 1507 Magazine St. (Hotel St. Vincent), 504-350-2450, saintvincentnola.com Following a massive overhaul, when it opened last year Hotel St. Vincent bore not a trace of the sad, hulking orphanage it was when it opened in 1861. The property is now a luxurious oasis with two memorable restaurants and several bars, including The Paradise Lounge, the hotel’s vibrant, sun-drenched lobby bar that blurs the line between indoors and out. A mural of tropical leaves and Birds of Paradise scrolls the walls and the intricate tile floors invite the clickety-clack of ladies’ heels. Conical wicker swag lamps hover over the ornate bar and lush foliage in both the indoor and outdoor spaces transport the drinker to historic Indochina. The cocktail menu drifts pleasantly from light spritzers (Roman Highball - Montenegro, lime, ginger, sparkling water, Angostura bitters) to house creations (Scarlatta - Hendrick’s gin, beet infused vodka, rose cordial, lemon, mint, and Polynesian Kiss bitters) and a variety of martinis. Happy Hour is offered Monday – Friday from 3-5 p.m. with half off Spritz and $2 off beer, wine and cocktails.

The Parkview Historic Hotel overlooking Audubon Park

was erected in 1884 as an exclusive guest house to serve those visiting New Orleans’ newly subdivided plantation lands to the west of the French Quarter. In 2009, Liz and Terry Creel bought the old guesthouse and restored it to highlight their collections of 19th century New Orleans antiques and artwork. In early June, the Creels converted one of the building’s old libraries/parlors into The Gilded Perch, a diminutive, jewel box of a space loaded with wonderful details: a stunning mural by Anne Smith Reeves and intricate woodwork by Chip Mortensen. The top of the bar is of white marble from a tear down at Charity Hospital where the Creels met while he was an E.R. doctor and she a social worker. All of this is overseen by Kipling, a grand, beloved taxidermized peacock (died of natural causes on the Creels’ farm) on a gilded perch.

Seating spills out beyond the tiny bar into the comfortable parlors and onto the front porch overlooking the avenue and the park. The gorgeous little speakeasy serves wine and seasonal craft cocktails as well as interpretations on the classics. Try the Intergalactic Empress (Empress gin, yuzu, Nola Craft Culture edible glitter) and The Raspberry Honeypot (Chambord, vodka, sparkling wine, local honey). A Happy Hour is planned for the near future.

Check the website and Instragram.

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cure 4905 Freret St., 504-302-2357, curenola.com

Alexa Pulitzer 504-945-4843, alexapulitzer.com Artist, designer, and New Orleanian Alexa Pulitzer is highly sought after for her memorable custom stationary and private label collections for exclusive brands. She has also been twice named to The Salonniere 100 list of fête-fabulous hosts who entertain with such remarkable flair that their party invitations are among the most coveted in the country.

I entertain for different reasons, Pulitzer said. “I take pride in always inviting different people. I may host to introduce people who are new to New Orleans. I craft events based on who I am inviting.”

“I almost always have live music. I always work with a mixologist to create a specialty cocktail or two, and I always work with a chef, and I match the chef to the event,” Pulitzer said. “I want interesting foods that are also healthy. There is no etouffee on my buffet!”

When planning a salon for 70 for the launch of her best friend Kirsha Kaechele’s book Eat the Problem, a tome exploring the possibility that killing and consuming invasive species offers a more sustainable and ethical solution to nutritional needs than current industrial farming practice, Pulitzer turned to Chef Brian Landry (Jack Rose), an enthusiastic hunter and fisher. Together they planned an invasive species menu of Apple Snail Escargot, Nutria Bolognese, and Wild Boar Chops with Sultana Beurre Blanc Over Polenta, the ingredients for which Landry foraged or hunted. For the bar she worked with celebrity mixologist Star Hodgson who created the Invasive Garden Coolers with invasive weeds from Pulitzer’s garden – Tequila Mockingbird (with burdock dandelion) and

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The Cat’s Meow (including cat’s claw vine).

“I host two types of events,” Pulitzer said, “a seated dinner or a salon. For smaller dinners I use my dining room. For larger seated dinners I rent tables and chairs and set one long table in my center hall. I curate who sits where with place cards and I never seat couples together.”

“For me, a salon always involves a live show. I built a large stage outside in my garden during the pandemic and I have a music room inside. For a salon I never seat guests. I want them to mingle. Flow is extremely important. A host must identify where people are going to condense so I open all my doors to the outside so there are many ways in and out.”

“When I host a salon, I typically serve buffet style on my 12-foot kitchen island with a specialty cocktail or two with plates, napkins, and cutlery next to it. For large events of 200 plus people I need to rent cutlery and dishes but, otherwise, I enjoy using an assortment of plates, pressed napkins, and cutlery from my personal stock.”

“I always do my own flowers. I grow Palms, Elephant Ears, Philodendron, Gardenias. Before an event I simply harvest from my garden. I may spray paint them. I might wrap a cutting board with a banana leaf from which I will arrange cheeses.”

A stationer, Pulitzer often creates a logo for an event for use on invitations, cups and napkins.

“I never use glass for a salon. I serve from plastic cups with a custom design. I have an outdoor pool and glass is not a good idea in that setting.”

In 2008, Matthew Kohnke spied a magnificent Edwardian former horse-and-buggy fire station, circa 1903, masquerading under the grime of a rundown electrician’s shop badly blasted by Katrina. The lusterless gem sat on a rundown stretch of the generally rundown Freret commercial corridor. Kohnke shared his finding with childhood friend, Neal Bodenheimer, who bought the building with the fulfilled intention of showcasing its inherent historical gifts. Together the lifelong friends designed Cure and opened in 2009, reigniting the Freret neighborhood in a resurgence that continues today and sparking New Orleans’ cocktail renaissance.

“The building is a character in itself” Bodenheimer said. “It's just as much a part of the hospitality as the people that fill it today.”

Over a decade in Cure still feels like a tantalizing secret.

The evergreen, romantic cocktail bar is set with candle-lit tables and patrons can get in on the impressive bartending action from front row seats at the bar.

A tropical courtyard carries the vibe outside. Bodeneheimer’s cocktail menu presents reinvented classics while breathing new life into forgotten formulas.

The Reserve/Baller cocktails are worth the splurge. Check out the 1980s martini, made with genuine vintage Plymouth Gin from the New Wave decade.

Summer Romance

1½ ounces (45 ml) Plymouth gin ½ ounce (15 ml) Boomsma Cloosterbitter liqueur ½ ounce (15 ml) Montanaro bianco vermouth 7 drops Bar Keep apple bitters Lemon peel, for garnish Combine all the ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir to chill. Stir a bit longer than you might normally—this drink benefits from the extra dilution. Strain into a chilled double old-fashioned glass filled with ice, garnish with the lemon peel and serve.

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We Owe it All to Peychaud Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary from the French colony of Saint Domingue prescribed and dispensed his patented concoction, Peychaud’s Bitters, from his home/shop on Toulouse Street in the early 19th century. He then then used the aromatic bitters, which were based on an old family recipe, as the foundation for his famous Sazerac, now the official cocktail of New Orleans. Lore dictates he served his libation in in the large end of an egg cup, called a “coquetier” in French, and that Americans bastardized into "cocktail." However, the word “cocktail” predates Peychaud by decades, first appearing in print in 1803, and first defined in print in 1806 as "a mixture of spirits of any kind, water, sugar and bitters, vulgarly called a bittered sling."

Ojen Cocktail

2 ounces (60 ml) Ojen 14 drops Peychaud’s bitters, plus 7 drops for garnish Fill a chilled double-old fashioned glass with crushed ice.

Pour the Ojen over the ice, add 14 drops of bitters, then stir or swizzle to agitate. Add more crushed ice to fill the glass, then stir or swizzle again. Add more crushed ice so it mounds over the rim of the glass, garnish with the remaining 7 drops of bitters, and serve.

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PHOTO BY KEVIN O'MARA

St. Charles Punch

Cane & Table 1113 Decatur St, 504-581-1112, caneandtablenola.com Matthew Kohnke and Neal Bodenheimer teamed up on the original design for Cane & Table in 2013, transforming the 300-year-old structure built by the Ursuline nuns that devolved into a probable whorehouse (was once the Decatur Inn, the heart of a bygone red light district) into the highly atmospheric, perfectly imperfect pro-tiki bar it is today. Atmospherically, there’s an Old Havana vibe, sans the cigar smoke.

With lofty ceilings, chandeliers, and peeling plaster walls, the barroom looks colonial. It segues into a hushed, leafy tropical courtyard. The celebration of New Orleans’ historic connection to the Caribbean plays on the tropical drinks that preceded the tiki movement launched by Don the Beachcomber. The drink menu ranges from familiar Piña Coladas to less-known creations such as Bombos. The Rare Finds section of the cocktail menu hits the high notes. Chef Alfredo “Fredo” Nogueria, a New Orleans native of Cuban descent, keeps the culinary menu tied to its sense of place with offerings like Coctel de Camarones, crab croquetas, empanadas, and beef pepper pot.

1 ounce (30 ml) Infantado ruby port 1 ounce (30 ml) Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac ¾ ounce (22.5 ml) fresh lemon juice ¾ ounce (22.5 ml) LemonOrange Oleo Simple Syrup or Cocktail & Sons Oleo Saccharum syrup 14 drops Angostura bitters Dehydrated lemon wheel (or fresh if dried is unavailable), for garnish. Combine all the ingredients except the garnish in a shaker without ice, dry-shake, then double-strain into a double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the lemon wheel and serve.

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Saba’s Lounge 5757 Magazine Street Suite B, eatwithsaba.com

PHOTO BY EMILY FERRETTI

Just weeks ago, Alon and Emily Shaya’s Pomegranate Hospitality unveiled Saba’s Lounge adjacent to the group’s flagship Israeli, restaurant, Saba. The new, sun-splashed space overlooks a lively stretch of Magazine Street just blocks from Audubon Park.

On offer are Israeli-inspired cocktails and a list of curated unique and natural wines, alongside a menu of Saba’s signature salatim, hummus, wood-fired pita and desserts. Beverage highlights include special large-format classic cocktails such as Negroni, Old Fashioned, and Sazerac — served in a beautiful, hand-selected decanter meant to be a shared. Sexy, but still proper enough to bring your parents.

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Kit Wohl

Jewel of the South

Kit Wohl, the doyenne of media relations and special events as CEO of her creative agency, Wohl & Co., launched New Orleans New Year’s Eve celebrations at Jax Brewery in 1984, numerous premieres and grand openings. Her clients include Popeyes, The Ritz-Carlton, Warner Bros, Smoothie King and Canal Place. She has authored and produced 16 published cookbooks including Secrets of a Tastemaker: Al Copeland, the Cookbook and Recipes and Spicy Delicious Memories to be released on September 13.

“My late client Al Copeland’s yacht, The Cajun Princess, was a floating hospitality suite. The upper deck was 100 feet long, and crowd-perfect flat. The salon below was set up as a lounge and dining area. The large galley was always staffed with chefs. Dockside, red and white circus tents were erected at the boat ramps, and chefs, servers, and musicians were brought in for entertainment. Of course, the food was pure New Orleans and shipments of fresh chicken, shrimp, and crawfish arrived daily no matter where in the world we happened to be.

“While food and drink were plentiful and the setting luxurious, formality was not part of the vibe on The Cajun Princess. When we learned that a casual dinner invitation that had been extended to the Italian powerboat racing team (against which Al was to race his powerboat the next day) meant entertaining Princess Caroline of Monaco with her husband, Italian industrialist and powerboat racer, the late Stefano Casiraghi, we threw ourselves on the mercy of the food and beverage director of the hotel where we were docked. They were gracious enough to loan proper table settings to us.

“Fear of the inevitable and uncontrollable is what drives me as a hostess.”

1026 St. Louis St., 504-265-8816, jewelnola.com James Beard Award winner Chris Hannah’s elegant tavern—with historic finishes, details and footprint intact—is tucked into an 1835 Creole cottage on a ragged edge of the French Quarter. The main entry is accessed through a passageway to a lush, verdant courtyard that opens to reveal the antique bar that sets the vibe for the place. Jewel is named for a restaurant run by Joseph Santini, inventor of the Brandy Crusta, the first cocktail to incorporate fresh citrus juice. The menu of contemporary craft and classic cocktails in this soothing spot changes monthly, but always features Hannah’s muse—the house’s signature Brandy Crusta, a refreshing, old school blend of Cognac and citrus, garnished with lemon peel and presented in a sugared rim glass. Hannah has given new life to the largely forgotten but influential libation. If hunger strikes there is caviar, Wagyu and foie gras to take the edge off. Thirsty history/architecture buff? This one’s for you.

Tips for entertaining: • Stretch out on the sofa and close your eyes. Envision the event as if you are a guest. Begin with transportation dropping you off. Entry, greet host, find bar, etc.

• Rent a food warmer • Move the event out of doors, weather allowing.

• Empty the living room or den of furniture and stage outside with carpets, sofas, end tables and coffee tables with lamps.

• Pre event: Clean all carpets and rugs several days before your event so they are completely dry.

• Have handy: extension cords, light bulbs, portable light fixture, toilet paper, paper products, to-go containers, broom, mop, and dustpan, first aid supplies.

• Make a traffic plan for guest/service movements.

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PHOTO BY RANDY SCHMIDT

Bar Marilou 544 Carondelet St. (in Maison de la Luz), 504-814-7711, barmarilou.com

Peychaud’s

The latest from the expert team behind Cure is situated in the former home of Antoine Amédée Peychaud, the alchemist from the French colony of Saint Domingue who prescribed and dispensed his patented concoction, Peychaud’s Bitters, then used the bitters as the foundation for his famous Sazerac, the official cocktail of New Orleans.

Legendary drinker and playwright Tennessee Williams also lived and wrote here so the spirits are thrumming in every way.

Located steps from raunchy Bourbon Street, this diminutive spot with a tropical courtyard and fountain is a world away. Much of the seating is outdoors, so dress appropriately. Nick Jarrett is the man behind the masterfully executed libations.

PHOTO BY BRNDHOUSE

727 Toulouse St. (in the Hotel Maison de Ville complex), maisondeville.com

To access Bar Marilou, a former law library in a 1908 building that was once an annex for Gallier Hall, patrons may enter through the lobby of Maison de la Luz, or sneak in through the tropical garden. Guests of the Maison can enjoy private entrance through a secret bookcase. Bloodred bookshelves, tiger print carpet and barstools, a persimmon ceiling, touches of gold and ambient lighting enliven the salon-like interior of the first U.S. collaboration from Paris-based Quixotic Projects. The fanciful, magpie interiors were dreamed up by Los Angeles designer Pamela Shamshiri who drew inspiration from Gertrude Stein’s literary salons in her Paris apartment.

The seasonal cocktail menu is inspired by the French West Indies, Paris and New Orleans with highlights of uncommon vermouths, sherries and amaros in aperitifs and other low-alcohol cocktails. To beat the scorching heat, consider The Gallic Spritz (Pineau des Charentes, grappa, green olives). Traditional cocktails are available upon request, just not on the menu. The food menu is limited, though outstanding: caviar, picturesque Pommes Marilou and artisan ice cream. Aperitif Hour is offered daily from 4-6 p.m. with drinks ranging from $7-$11; La Luz (split bottle of La Quita manzanilla sherry served with almonds & olives) for $35; $12 salt cod fritters with lemon aioli; and an Ossetra caviar canape for $18.

The Peacock Room 501 Tchoupitoulas St. (in the Hotel Fontenot), 504-324-3073, peacockroomnola.com

PHOTO BY GIANT NOISE

As bright and showy as its name implies, The Peacock Room in the Central Business District is a study in opulence and maximalism. Lush foliage, shimmering light fixtures, vivid shades of cobalt, teal, mauve, chartreuse and gold, and rich patterns and textures co-mingle under a gold coffered ceiling to create a sensual vibe throughout this sprawling space. An eclectic variety of velvet covered banquettes and deep armchairs occupy one room, leather sofas and tables grouped for conversation, another. Jordan Deis heads up the bar program with an extensive list of options—Classic, Zero Proof and Pride of the Flock with creations like Sackcloth and Ashes (Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch, Suntory Toki Whisky, Amaro Montenegro, Tamari). High Tea Punch for 2, a shareable bour-

bon punch, changes weekly and is served in a lovely old fashioned floral tea set that seems just right in this luxe, slightly kooky (in the best way), environment. There is a menu of shareables from Executive Chef Chris Lusk. An Early Birds happy hour is offered on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and features $7 Cocchi Rosa & Club Soda, Alma de Trabanco & Tonic, La Cigarrera, Manzanilla Sherry & Sprite; Contratto Apertif Spritz for $8; and Pick Any 3 Cocktails for $12. Live music is frequent, check the website under “Events.”

Carnival Time

1½ ounces (45 ml) Avuá Prata cachaça 1 ounce (30 ml) fresh lime juice ½ ounce (15 ml) Ginger Syrup ½ ounce (15 ml) green Chartreuse ¼ ounce (7.5 ml) Simple Syrup ½ ounce (15 ml) Tempranillo, or another medium to full-bodied red wine, to top Lime peel, for garnish Combine all the ingredients except the Tempranillo and garnish in a shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled.

Double-strain into a double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice, then slowly float the Tempranillo on top of the drink.

Garnish with the lime peel and serve.

Destiny Pinson Doris Ione offers private and group floral design classes, as well as weekly/ bi-weekly and monthly floral delivery subscriptions. Appointment only, 504-338-9168, dorisione.com Destiny Pinson is the creative force behind Doris Ione, a New Orleans-based boutique floral and lifestyle studio.

“We are in love with intimate weddings and events, floral workshops, all things vintage, and creating and capturing beautiful, moments,” Pinson said.

Tips for making floral arrangements: • Use your own containers, it already goes with your aesthetic and can really help an arrangement of flowers from the grocery store look extra special.

• When it comes to buying flowers from your favorite grocery store, it’s a good idea to pick a few different bunches to create variety. To add a special touch to your arrangements, you can forage from your yard, any clippings of greenery or small blooms will work well. If you don’t have any plants to clip from, I suggest purchasing some that you can grow and have as a small cutting garden whether they are in pots or planted in your yard, both greenery and flowers.

• Invest in a good pair of clippers, it makes all the difference in cutting the stems.

• Cut stems at an angle to allow them to have more surface area to drink more water.

• Use chicken wire as a grid by cutting a piece and wadding it up into a ball shape to fit inside your container.

Make sure the wire ball you have made fits snugly into the vase. This will allow you to insert stems and have them stay where you want them.

• If your vase is clear and you do not want the look of chicken wire, you can always make the bouquet in your hands and tie with a small clear hair band, which will not be very noticeable.

• You can also tape the top of the vase with a grid of clear tape or use a floral frog at the bottom of the container.

• When choosing your flowers, make sure to include some longer lasting varieties so you can

keep the long-lasting flowers and just replace the more delicate blooms as needed, getting more life out of the arrangement.

• Refresh the water and give the stems a fresh cut every couple of days.

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The Elysian Bar The Elysian Bar (in Hotel Peter and Paul), 2317 Burgundy St., 504-356-6769, theelysianbar.com Last year the Provence-inspired Elysian Bar snagged a coveted nod on Esquire Magazine’s influential list of “Best Bars in America.” Though the actual bar is a tiny, glorious space with very limited seating, it services all of the gathering places in the former Rectory at The Hotel Peter and Paul: two elegant parlors (cozily warmed by fireplaces in winter), a glass atrium brimming with lush foliage, and a lavish outdoor courtyard ringed by the former church’s bell towers.

The bar takes its name not just from the boulevard cleaving the Marigny neighborhood and the Marigny Triangle: in classical mythology, the Elysian Fields were paradise—the blissful destination of the righteous after death. It is a fitting moniker for a bar housed in a former Catholic Church.

The cocktail menu visits the classics (Roffignac, Pimm’s Royale, The Grasshopper) as well as craft creations with a particular focus on heat-busting spritzes and other European-style, low ABV sips. Try Fletcher’s Paradise, a heady Madeira-and-Cognac punch with pineapple and cardamom.

The bar welcomes Fridays with Aperitivo Hour from 11 a.m.

– 3 p.m. with $5 Aperol and Campari spritzes. A menu with French influence is served daily for brunch and dinner.

Martine Chaisson Martine Chaisson Gallery, 504-302-7942, martinechaissongallery.com Martine Chaisson opened her eponymous gallery in the Warehouse District over twelve years ago. The Martine Chaisson Gallery represents emerging and established artists, providing a variety of original contemporary art including painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. In addition to working with private clients, Chaisson provides art advisory services for corporate clients throughout the South.

Her collaboration with artist and friend Adrien Broom has blossomed into an annual fall photoshoot that combines artistic sets with classic portraiture in the Gallery's 1852 ballroom space.

She is accustomed to entertaining in grand style but keeps things intimate when entertaining at home.

“For dinner parties I like to keep the guest count to 8 or less, including my husband and myself. I like to place a mini bar near where we are dining.

I usually use an antique game table.

This keeps people from hovering in the kitchen while I’m running around trying to finish dinner. The bar has a small ice bucket with a white wine and next to it a decanted red. My husband makes the best martinis so that is our usual offer to start the night. I’ll have the shaker chilling in the ice bucket with the white wine and next to it have cocktail onions, olives, and lemon rinds pre-cut. If those options are not to our guests' liking, we usually just pop back in the kitchen and make them their drink of choice.”

The Sazerac Bar 130 Roosevelt Way (in the Roosevelt Hotel), 504-648-1200, therooseveltneworleans.com/dining/the-sazerac-bar The original Sazerac Bar opened early in the days after Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

To step in is to venture back to the glamour of the Art Deco period when Seymour Weiss had it built in 1938. Named for the classic, potent pre-Civil War cocktail that is synonymous with New Orleans, the space is adorned by a stunning collection of impeccably restored murals by Paul Niñas, (each depicting a different area of the city in that era) flanking an equally impeccable 50-foot African walnut bar and walls of the same wood, all fashioned from one tree. Deep gator-embossed leather armchairs and plush banquette seating make it difficult to leave. The Ascot Cup at the center of the bar was forged from 80 pounds of sterling silver in 1878 and purchased by Weiss in 1938 from Tiffany & Co. The sterling silver water cooler was given as the trophy for a steamboat race between the “Robert E. Lee” and the “Natchez” in 1884 during a cotton exposition in New Orleans and Weiss just had to have that, too.

The environment compels you to sit a little straighter and walk a bit taller, lest the spirit of Huey P. Long stroll in and catch you slouching in the spot where he enjoyed many a Ramos Gin Fizz.

The classic cocktail menu features top-notch takes on the timeless — Sazerac, Gin Fizz, French 75, Vodka Rickey. A refreshing summer craft cocktail menu is currently on offer.

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The Chloe 4125 St. Charles Ave., 504-541-5500, thecholenola.com

Gunshop Fizz

2 ounces (60 ml) Peychaud’s bitters 3 grapefruit peels 3 orange peels 2 strawberries, hulled 4 slices cucumber, including 1 for garnish 1 ounce (30 ml) fresh lemon juice 1 ounce (30 ml) Simple Syrup Sanbitter, for topping Combine the Peychaud’s, grapefruit peels, orange peels, strawberries, and 3 of the cucumber slices in the tin of a shaker and muddle. Allow to soak for 2 minutes, then add the lemon juice and simple syrup and shake until chilled.

Double-strain into a collins glass filled with ice, top with the Sanbitter, garnish with the remaining cucumber slice and serve.

With The Chloe, his first hotel project, Robert LeBlanc of LeBlanc+Smith has created a microcosm of Uptown New Orleans culture within an Uptown hotel, restaurant, bar and, of sorts, club. LeBlanc and designer Sara Ruffin Costello’s shared vision for the 1891 Victorian Thomas Sully mansion came to fruition in October 2020.

The wrought iron gates, expansive brick patio and a front porch featuring original tiles from the 1860s are familiar to those who live in the neighborhood as is the heavy tropical foliage surrounding the pool, which is open to locals for a daily fee. The hotel offers an abundance of cultural programming—live music, DJ sets, discussions—to further compel locals to show up.

Indoors and out LeBlanc and Costello’s vision merges the historic with the contemporary in a seamless fashion while wresting every bit of available space to fabricate nooks and intimate gathering places as one moves a serpentine path through the property, continuously imparting a thrilling feeling of discovery. Inside, moody hues and abundant natural light offset architectural details. By night, carefully chosen dim fixtures and lamps offer sensual illumination. Culinary and cocktail services are available in all communal spaces. The “restaurant” is anywhere you want it to be, and features Chef Todd Pulsinelli’s modern takes on familiar classics: a muffaletta egg roll, gumbo z’herbes agnolotti, and shrimp etouffee dumplings. Bar Director Autumn Weimer’s sophisticated craft cocktail menu is served from the poolside bar shaded by tropical palmettos as well as from an indoor jewel box lounge carved from a former library. It features an egret mural and is accessed from the lobby/ salon. A disguised doorway in the lounge leads to a private dining room for intimate gatherings.

The bar itself is mahogany, custom built by local woodworker Ron Lee. Happy Hour daily 3:00-5:30 pm. If you dig Mezcal visit any Monday from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. when a variety of smoky sippers are offered from the Pool Bar with 25% off all flights and discounts on highballs and frozen Mezcal drinks.

PHOTO BY BRITTANY CONERLY

SPONSORED

Kathie Carnahan & Sarah Pottharst Girolami FOUNDING PARTNER & MANAGING PARTNER, THE CARNAHAN GROUP

F

ounded by Kathie Livaudais Carnahan, a Certified Educational Planner with 25+ years of experience, The Carnahan Group developed an established reputation of guiding students through the educational admission and placement process. Headquartered in Louisiana with satellite offices nationally, Sarah Pottharst Girolami manages the powerhouse team of seasoned experts who advise students through the range of college, transfer, graduate and boarding school admissions.

The group assists students in defining their specific interests and goals while capitalizing on students’ unique strengths in curating lists of specific educational matches. Kathie, Sarah and their team maintain strong involvement within the educational consulting community through organizations such IECA, AICEP, SACAC, and NACAC.

304 Arabella Street, New Orleans 504-269-6449 | carnahan-group.com

Lindsey Benoit OWNER, ABOUT FACE OF NEW ORLEANS

A

passion for teaching and taking care of others led Lindsey Benoit, a former educator of 11 years, to pursue a career in cosmetics and skincare. After her sister-inlaw opened About Face of Mandeville in 2006, Lindsey found herself looking for a career change that would lead her to franchise the About Face of Metairie location. What seemed like a nonlinear career path has proven to be incredibly meaningful.

Taking care of those who are coming in and helping them feel their most beautiful, best self makes what I do worth it,” says Lindsey.

“Our clients are not just clients, they become our friends, even our extended family.”

701 Metairie Road, #1B 106, Metairie 504-304-1556 | aboutfacenola.com 40 |

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SPONSORED

Kate Novak ET/P & FOUNDER, NOLA LEARNING SUPPORT AND CONSULTING, L3C

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s one of three Educational Therapists in Louisiana, Kate advocates and provides intervention for students with mild/moderate learning differences and specifically dyslexia.

With the generous help of The Goldring Family Foundation, Kate has been able to develop a program to offer free services to students with learning differences. Kate has spacious offices uptown on Oak Street, where she and her husband also offer independent school consulting specializing in day and boarding school placement. For more information, visit nolalearningsupport.com.

Kate is passionate about the culture of our city. She is committed to helping children receive the intervention they deserve in order to live more fulfilling lives.

8131 Oak Street #100, New Orleans nolalearningsupport.com

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SPONSORED

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

SOCIETY 44 | Founders Ball III

46 | Sugarplum Ball

45 | Lark in the Park

47 | Paint the Town Green Gala

Benefiting the Louisiana Museum Foundation

Benefiting Friends of City Park

Benefiting Children's Hospital New Orleans

48 | Notre Dame Seminary Gala

Benefiting Notre Dame Seminary

49 | Love Your City Awards Gala Benefiting Village de l'Est

Benefiting Raintree's Children & Family Services

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

Founders Ball III Benefiting the Louisiana Museum Foundation, the event raised more than $1 million on behalf of their new Rex exhibition and ongoing work.

T

he Founders Ball III opened Rex: The 150th 1 Anniversary of the School of Design, an exhibition of the Louisiana State Museum (LSM) and the office of Lt. Governor William H. “Billy” Nungesser, funded by 1the Louisiana Museum Foundation (LMF) through generous community support.

The gala honored the Rex Organization for 150 years of Carnival leadership, as well as their commitment to New Orleans and the public good.

The Founders Ball III Honorary Co-Chairs, who are all former Kings of Carnival, were recognized. The Founders Ball III Co-Chairs were also recognized: Mr. Christian T. Brown, Mr. J. Storey Charbonnet, Mr. William H. Hines and Mr. R. Hunter Pierson Jr. The Founders Ball III Steering Committee were also recognized: Mr. Murray A. Calhoun, Mr. Benjamin A. Dupuy, Mr. T. Semmes Favrot and Mr. Philip N. Hodges.

Mark Romig served as Master of Ceremonies. Karl Hoefer, First Horizon Regional President for Louisiana and Texas, 2 said a few words on behalf of title sponsor First Horizon. Mr. Erik F. Johnsen, the oldest living former Rex and Founders Ball III His Majesty’s Court Underwriting sponsor, also provided remarks. LMF President Melissa Douglass Steiner presented the Rex Organization with a proclamation from the LMF Board of Trustees, which James Reiss, a Rex Official, accepted on the organization’s behalf. Reiss then presented proclamations from the Rex Organization to the LSM, accepted by Lt. Governor Nungesser, the LMF, accepted by Executive Director Susan Maclay, and Wayne Phillips, LSM Exhibition Curator, accepted on his own behalf. Lt. Governor Nungessor provided closing remarks and presented the Rex Organization with his proclamation and a U.S. flag and Louisiana State flag that had flown over the Louisiana State Capitol.

Funds raised for the LMF covered the exhibition, conservation and acquisition of numerous rare Rex-related objects, educational programming and capital improvements. The exhibition was co-curated by Wayne Phillips, the LSM’s Textiles, Costumes and Carnival Collections Coordinator, and Dr. Stephen Hales, the historian and archivist of the Rex Organization. – By Shelby Simon 1. Christy Brown, Anne Lynne and Storey Charbonnet, Cathy and Hunter Pierson, Mary and Bill Hines 2. Tony Adams, James Reiss, Karl Hoefer, Martin de Laurel and Ben Dupuy 3. Rex Kings 4. Ralph Brennan, Richard Freeman and Sarah Freeman 5. Philip Hodges, Murray Calhoun and Semmes Favrot 6. Melissa and Jerry Steiner

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

Lark in the Park Benefiting Friends of City Park, a festive gala welcomed more than 800 guests to celebrate the 40th anniversary.

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ach March, guests gather for Lark in the Park, featuring live music, dishes from New Orleans’ top chefs, specialty cocktails and springtime glamor under City Park’s live oaks.

Event co-chairs were Deb Elam and Cary Grant, Mark Romig and David Briggs, Blair Broussard and Shon Cowan Baker, Ph.D and Friends of City Park President.

Destiny Pinson of Doris Ione Florals selected bold tropical florals to accent the step and repeat for guest photos. The VIP Party featured colorful centerpieces to celebrate the beginning of spring, and Distressed Rentals provided several luxurious seating areas for the private lounge. Bubble Lady Linda created whimsical oversized bubbles upon entry, and the Electric Yat Quartet provided music.

Ambient aerialist performers and stilt walkers from YellowBox Circus dressed in park-inspired foliage costumes wandered throughout.

The 12-piece party band Jessie’s Girls stole the show and kept guests dancing all night.

In a surprise performance, the St. Augustine High School’s Marching 100 celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Lark with a march through the pavilion and gardens, waving commemorative Second Line handkerchiefs. Poured Bayeaux provided a champagne cart. Other vendors included tents from Larkin Event Tents LLC, decor by Luminous Events and Element, a photo booth from Funtastic Fotos, a balloon arch

by The Balloon Lady LLC, lighting by Calfee Productions and Light Dat LLC and photography sponsored by Mateo & Company.

The auction featured an array of coveted prizes, and Bryan Subaru hosted a car raffle of a 2022 Subaru Outback Premium.

Capital One and Bryan Subaru served as Presenting Sponsors. – By Shelby Simon 1. Jay Batt, Cara Lambright, David Briggs and Mark Romig 2. John Lapworth, Marleen Coburn, Jessica Brandt and Sal Randazzo 3.

Shon Cowan Baker, Vincent Palumbo and Jackie Palumbo 4. Dr. Peter DeBlieux and Karen DeBlieux 5. Elliot Hutchinson and Damon Carraby 6. Terri Soullier and Marshall Soullier

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

Sugarplum Ball Benefiting Children's Hospital New Orleans, nearly 1,200 patrons gathered to raise $1 million.

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he $1 million raised from the Sugarplum Ball will help Children’s Hospital New Orleans expand vital programs and services, advance technology, innovate care delivery and fund life-saving projects.

A patron party hosted 400 in the hour before the ball, with catering by Ralph Brennan Catering and Events and music by The NOLA Dukes.

The whimsical gala featured a Wizard of Oz theme. Costumed characters, including Dorothy, the Wicked Witch and Glinda the Good Witch greeted guests on the Yellow Brick Road, which transported gala-goers to the Emerald City inside the Mardi Gras World ballroom.

Food and drinks were provided by 36 caterers, including Acme Oyster House, Drago’s, Galatoire’s Restaurant, Haydel’s Bakery, Vincent’s Italian Cuisine and more.

KARMA provided music throughout the event.

114 auction items included box seats at the Kentucky Derby, donated by Churchill Downs, jewelry from Diamonds Direct, Ramsey’s Diamond Jewelers, Aucoin Hart Jewelers and Valobra Jewelry and Antiques, a weeklong stay in Grayton Beach, Florida and memberships to Thoth, Tucks and Orpheus. In addition, the hospital raffled a 2022 Mercedes A220, donated by Ray Brand Auto Group.

Sara Feirn and Marye Nickens served as event co-chairs. LEMOINE served as the presenting sponsor, accompanied by major sponsors Bernhard, McDonnel Construction Services, First Horizon, Lillibridge, LSU Health New Orleans and the Ray and Jessica Brandt Family Foundation. – By Shelby Simon

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1. Jeff Goldring, Walton Goldring, Allison Brouk and Jonathan Brouk 2. John Nickens IV and Greg Feirn 3.

Lisa Labat, Angel Beery and Lindsey Casey 4. William Lemoine and Candace Lemoine 5. Marye Nickens and Sarah Feirn 6. Adam Boehler and Taylor Beery 3

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

Paint the Town Green Gala Benefiting Raintree, 300 patrons reunited for a record-setting fundraiser and their first in-person gala since the pandemic began.

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aintree Children and Family Services’ Paint the Town Green Gala hosted their annual celebration for donors and supporters to help the organization continue its mission to provide needed services to at-risk children and youth and provide opportunities for growth via three core programs: Raintree’s Therapeutic Group Home, Therapeutic Foster Care program and Early Steps program. This was the organization’s first in-person event since before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, and more than $231,000 made this the highest total fundraised from this event.

The honoree this year was Lana Duke. Angel Wings Foundation served as the presenting sponsor, with Cindy Paulin representing. Other major sponsors were Atmos Energy, Monroe Vos Consulting and Eustis Mortgage.

The event took place on St. Patrick’s Day, so the City Park oak trees were illuminated in green lights that led up to the Arbor Room, aglow with gold lights hanging from the awnings. Each table featured white and gold decor with a white azalea tree as the centerpiece, which were auctioned off at the end of the night to directly benefit the children of Raintree.

Food and beverages were provided by Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, 12 Seasons Catering, La Louisiane Bakery, Chateau Country Club, Perrone and Sons, Palace Cafe, Haydel’s, Antoine’s, Drago’s, Urban South Brewery and Lana Duke Consulting. The Y’at Pack provided musical entertainment. An auction featured artwork, sports memorabilia, jewelry, and dining experiences.

Rebecca Gardner and Olivia Ventola served as Gala Co-Chairs. – By Shelby Simon 1. Angela Lacour, Olivia Ventola, Rebecca Gardner and Eugenie Guillot 2. Cindy Paulin, Lana Duke, Kate DeKay and Kenny Malter 3. Katina Spera, Beckie Daniels, Rhonda Sharkawy and Lisa Eymand 4. Jean LeBourgeois, Neely Loring and Angie Tocco 5. LaShawna Schofield, Meredith Barousse and Alden Howard 6. Mark Romig, Natsha Wilson, Sonia Shoemaker and Melissa Warren

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

Notre Dame Seminary Gala Benefiting the Notre Dame Seminary, 550 patrons enjoyed a night of dining, music and mingling.

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he Notre Dame Seminary welcomed approximately 550 patrons to a gala on the grounds on Saturday, March 12.

The Honorary Chair Couple were Tim and Beverly Napier. Chair of Peter Sponsors included: The Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph C. Canizaro, Louisiana State Council Knights of Columbus, David and Mary Beth Metz and New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries.

Event Chairs were Tim and Lisa Thriffiley and Frank and Rhonda Tusa. Auction Chairs were Steve and Luly Cali and Deacon Robert and Pam Pendzimaz.

Guests enjoyed cocktails and a buffet dinner, a champagne fountain flowing all evening and a decked out dessert room, which included sweets from Nothing Bundt Cakes, Haydel’s Bakery, La Louisiana Bakery, Angelo Brocato, Cuban Flan Queen and more, plus a candy bar with bags for guests to fill with assorted candy.

A live auction included a football autographed by the 2019 LSU College National Championship Team, a Drew Brees autographed jersey, a one-night stay for two at the Windsor Court Hotel, a vintage Rondette 14K gold and diamond necklace and a handmade rosary from Ambrose Gardens. There was also a silent auction and raffles from Drago’s and Boudreaux’s Jewelers.

Musical entertainment included a choral performance by the Seminary Schola choir and Seminarian musicians. – By Shelby Simon

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1. Archbishop Gregory Aymond, Rhonda Tusa, Lisa Thriffiley and Rev. Colm Cahill 2. Darlene Seay, Rev. Kevin Seay and Davie Seay 3. Erin Plauche, Mary Beth Mettz, Kay Alpaugh and Susan Ives 4. Caroline Thriffiley and Rev. Ajani Gibson 5. Greg LaCour and Yvette LaCour 6. Scott Cabes and Jill Cabes

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PHILANTHROPIC EVENTS

Love Your City Awards Gala Presented by LifeCity benefiting Village de l’Est, the program bestowed 13 impact awards and raised $10,000 towards an environmental infrastructure project to prevent flooding.

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he tenth edition of the Love Your City Awards Gala, presented by LifeCity and sponsored by Batture, promoted New Orleans’ culture and celebrated influential leaders while also addressing our community’s most pressing social and environmental needs.

Proceeds from the event will support the Veggi Co-op in Village de l’Est to benefit from a Green Infrastructure project that addresses flooding and allows year-long food and flower production. $10,000 was raised to fulfill the goal of preventing 8,000 square feet from flooding this year.

13 impact awards were given to local impact leaders in categories that represent important areas of community needs. The recognized organizations and their impact awards were: Ubuntu ConstructoTech & Urban Resilience for Water Management, XULAGreen Xavier University for Built Environment, Solar Alternatives for Energy, Happy Raptor Distilling for Equity, Sprout NOLA for Zero Waste, Green Coast Enterprises for Transportation, HEY Coffee Co. for Health Food Access, Online Optimism for Health, DragonFly Cafe for Education Award, New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for Best in Show, Turning Tables for Youth Pick and the Ashé Cultural Arts Center for Local Culture and People’s Choice, the latter of which was determined from more than 38,565 votes.

150 attendees gathered both in-person and online for the hybrid event, which included a watch party at Faubourg Brewing Co. with picnic eats and beer in its expansive outdoor space. A special message by Governor John Bel Edwards aired as part of the event. – By Shelby Simon

1. Energy award recipient Solar Alternatives team and LifeCity CEO Liz Shephard 2. Education award recipient Dragonfly Cafe and LifeCity CEO Liz Shephard 3. Best in Show award recipient Ernest Memorial Convention Center team and LifeCity CEO Liz Shephard 4. Health Food Access award recipient Hey Coffee Co. and LifeCity CEO Liz Shephard 5. Youth Pick award recipient Turning Tables with LifeCity CEO Liz Shephard 6. Health award recipient Online Optimism and LifeCity CEO Liz Shephard

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SNAPSHOTS Look for this button on stcharlesavenue.com to see more Snapshots from these events, and to learn how your event can be included

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EIGHT O’CLOCKS DANCE DESSERT PARTY WHEN: Saturday, March 19 WHERE: Home of Dr. and Mrs. Scott Habetz on State St. WHAT: Prior to the Eight O’Clocks Dance, themed Light Up the Night this year, committee members’ and chaperones’ daughters enjoyed a dessert party.

1. Molly Gorman, Cooper Rubin and Sydney Able 2. Eileen Dugan, Haylie Walsh and Julia Mahfouz 3. Foster Woods and Ellie Habetz

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ZOO-TO-DO FOR KIDS WHEN: Friday, April 29 WHERE: Audubon Zoo WHAT: The Audubon Zoo transformed into a magical playland with unforgettable animal experiences, live entertainment, games, crafts, and more for the 33rd Annual Zoo-To-Do for Kids presented by Children’s Hospital New Orleans.

1. Pierce Starr, Carol Starr and Ron Forman 2. Laura Wilt, Jonathan Wilt and Liz Hefler 3. Allison Tiller, Irene Lutkewitte and Katherine Raymond

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UNIVERSITY OF HOLY CROSS “SPES UNICA” (ONE HOPE) AWARD CEREMONY DINNER WHEN: April 21 WHERE: Higgins Hotel WHAT: UHC President Dr. Stanton McNeely III presented Sr. Ann Lacour with the highly-acclaimed “Spes Unica” plaque for her qualities that embody the university’s mission and her significant contributions to the New Orleans community.

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COCKTAILS FOR KID SMART WHEN: March 10 WHERE: The Shop At The CAC WHAT: The benefit party supports arts education in New Orleans schools.

1. Bryan and Rachel Bailey 2. Elise Gallinot Goldman, Krystal Hardy Allen, Suzanne Dumez and Stephanie Goliwas Huger 3. Kevyn Miller, PJ Morton and Nancia Sterling

1.Todd Matherne, Sr. Ann Lacour, Dr. Stanton McNeely III and Stephanie McNeely 2. Joe Caruso and Erin Caruso 3. Sr. Kateri Battaglia, Rachel Kirschman and Arnold Kirschman

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EAT + DRINK

Start by choosing the foundation: a wooden or marble board, a platter, tray, or, in a pinch, a simple round plate. If you are using a marble vessel you may wish to line it with waxed or parchment paper to avoid staining from the oils in the meats and cheeses.

Cheeses Offer assorted flavors and textures in your presentation. Any combination of aged, firm, soft, crumbly, or creamy cheeses should suffice. You can also include a variety of types of milk, which all offer varied flavors and textures as well.

Consider a mix of Manchego, aged Cheddar and a triple-crème Brie, such as Saint Andre.

Wine Pairing A Sancerre from J. de Villebois is an excellent universal choice. It smells of green apple and peach. There are touches of candied fruit on the plate, but there is a nervy steel acidity there as well to cut through the richness of the meats and cheeses.

Our Expert Benjamin Tanet of Chez Nous started working at Chez Nous while in college, then bought the business in 1981. While keeping the concept as one of the city’s original gourmet-to-go options, he has grown it further into a full-service catering operation, allowing him to flex his creative muscle. Chez Nous, 4739 Magazine St., gotocheznous.com.

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Meats Consider a combination of Prosciutto, Salami and Chorizo. For local flare, work in artisan Andouille, such as that from Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse (wjsmokehouse.com).

Fruits Fresh and seasonal is best, but dried will work too. Consider figs, persimmon, grapes, blueberries, strawberries and apricots.

Charcuterie

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French culinary term that once referred to preserved meat products, usually pork, the preparation for which arose from the necessity to extend its shelf life, pre-refrigeration. A more contemporary interpretation conjures wooden boards bearing lavish arranged displays of smoked or cured meats as well as tempting accompaniments—cheese, fruit, pickled and fresh vegetables, crackers, toast, artisan bread, nuts, honey, and jams, dips, mustards, or sauces. As the centerpiece of a gathering, a well-appointed charcuterie board will bring people together to sample different pairings of artfully presented foods. – By Jyl Benson

ST. CHARLES AVENUE AUGUST 2022

Seasonal Produce Fresh is imperative.

Consider radishes, cherry tomatoes and sliced multi-colored baby carrots (use actual baby carrots, not those packaged things that look like nubs).

Bread/Crackers Consider Crostini, Focaccia and artisan varieties.

Extras A combination of sweet and savory is ideal, think caramelized pecans, kalamata olives, bleu cheesestuffed olives, sweet baby pickles or cornichons and pickled mushrooms.

Also work in your favorite mustards and jams.

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WELLNESS

Fascia Rolling Fascia is your connective tissue that runs throughout your body, holding it together. ‘Rolling out’ the fascia either with small facial rollers or large all-body foam ones, is an effective release of tension. Verdict: Yes! Laissez rouler!

Juicing Juicing delivers all the sugar without any of the healthy fiber and there is no data that it can remove toxins. Verdict: Eat healthy whole foods instead.

CBD Oil, Gummies, Chocolates Even Harvard health experts agree that cannabidiol is effective in studies at reducing pain, decreasing anxiety and helping with sleep. Verdict: Yes! Just make sure that it does not contain even a small amount of the high-inducing ‘THC’.

Matcha Keep slurping those emerald lattes, packed with antioxidants. This green giant is proven to protect against serious health issues like high blood pressure and heart disease. Verdict: A cup a day!

Truth or Myth?

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rewing matcha? Taking Sound Baths? When it comes to wellness, there are so many ‘health’ trends to choose from at the moment, how do you know which ones work and what ‘work’ even means? The options are overwhelming to say the least. We thought it was time to do the research for you and sort truth from fiction. – By Mirella Cameran

Give Up Gluten If you don’t have an allergy, giving up gluten can result in eating foods higher in fat and sugar while missing out on nutrients and vitamins like iron, folate and fiber.

Verdict: This isn’t a shortcut, keep reading the labels.

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Intermittent Fasting Focusing on when you eat not what you eat, intermittent fasting pushes the body into metabolic switching, which burns stored fat. It can also be effective at restricting calorie intake. Verdict: Worth a try.

Sleep Hygiene Whether you use an Oura ring to monitor your sleep habits or the SleepTown app to coach you into better sleeping patterns, experts agree that 35% of adults need more sleep and even a power nap will help. Verdict: Absolutely, get your ZZs.

Sound Healing Psycho acoustics is the idea of using sound to stimulate responses in the brain, to reduce anxiety or promote happiness. While we all know the power of sound to affect our mood, prescriptive soundscapes are some way off. Verdict: Just listen to your favorite artist!

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WITH THIS RING

“You’re Invited…”

Wedding suites sure to leave a lasting impression

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hen couples decide to spend the rest of their lives together, one of the first big steps they take is planning a wedding.

The invitation is often the first thing that their guests receive with details about the upcoming celebration. Margaret Jones, owner and operator of Scriptura, has been creating memorable invitation suites for New Orleans weddings since 1995.

First, some basic vocabulary, for those of us who may not know the term “invitation suite”: A typical wedding suite includes the wedding invitation, inner envelope, outer envelope, reply card and reply envelope. Frequently there

is also an additional insert card with a schedule of events and wedding website.

Contrary to what one might expect, Margaret encourages couples to start designing their invitation suite after finalizing all wedding and reception details. “The best invitations relate to the style and location of the ceremony and reception,” she advises. “For example, a wedding at Hotel Peter and Paul can carry off an invitation with richer, deeper colors than a more restrained event at the New Orleans Country Club.”

These deep, rich colors were on display in the invitation to Sevi Hunter and Shed Heaton’s wedding, with an elegant dark blue paper complemented

Submit your wedding to AveWeddings@MyNewOrleans.com

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perfectly by gold lettering. The envelope liner featured a picture of the deconsecrated church at Hotel Peter and Paul.

This illustrative envelope liner is one of the many popular trends Margaret has recently noticed in invitation suites, along with color layering with tone on tone inserts. While encouraging couples to try new design trends, she cautions them against being trendy with language, advising them to

lean into traditional wording rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

At times, both the wording and the design itself lean toward the traditional, as was the case when Ainsley Beeman married Clayton Kenworthy.

The timeless pink and green tones they chose also spoke to the ceremony’s location at Longue Vue House and Gardens, once again emphasizing the connection between the venue and the invitation suite.

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However, sometimes it’s not the location that informs decisions about the invitation suite, but rather a particular interest of the couple. Anne Brown and Will Reily knew they wanted to incorporate Anne’s love of birds into their special day, so Margaret’s design displayed different birds on each piece of the suite.

The nature-themed suite paired beautifully with Anne and Will’s wedding website, which had several photos of the couple outdoors. This pairing speaks to Margaret’s observation that, while the interaction between the invitation suite and the wedding website is limited, “certain colors or

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motifs will likely be consistent. The platforms are quite different, but the intention is the same—to convey information clearly while keeping the guests’ comfort in the forefront.” Wedding websites are a great place to list the registry, attire, things to do, and more!

The website helps couples convey necessary—but wordy!—details, ensuring that the invitation suite looks clean and uncluttered. Whether traditional or trendy, each suite ultimately reflects the unique couple that chose it. Margaret enthuses, “it is fun to hear their stories and bring a bit of their personalities into the invitation suite.” – By Megan Holt

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NOSTALGIA

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Alden Knitting Mills

he Alden Knitting Mills hosiery company incorporated in January disease spreading. Alden Mills was given the order to produce 50,000 knitted 1891, and was welcomed into “the field of useful manufacturing pipe sleeves at the rate of 3,000-4,000 a day, which would be distributed to city industries” in New Orleans by local newspapers. Founded by Asahol residents. This was not the last time Alden Mills would be contracted by the (A.W.) McLellan with a few thousand dollars, the government; during WWI and WWII, the War Department firm started out in a small mill on Julia St. near Camp and bought millions of pairs of light wool socks for servicemen.

Post Alden Mills, 511 Marigny was found quick success. After winning a prize in the hosiery Eventually, Alden Mills moved much of their manufacsold to the Sazerac Co. in 1955.

Also used as work space by Godindustry division at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in turing out of the city, increasing production at the Meridian chaux’s into the 1980s and bought Chicago in 1893, they started work on their new mill. mill and building a new mill in Independence, LA in 1954-55.

by Julian Doerr Mutter in 1992, In 1895, Alden Mills purchased two lots at Marigny and During that same time, they started selling off parts of the it served as the Doeer Furniture Decatur Streets for $7000 and was quickly granted a buildMarigny/Decatur property. A year later, the administrative warehouse until 1994. The building permit. With their business continuing to grow, the offices moved to the Queen and Crescent Building at 344 Camp ing was converted to apartments McLellans built a two-story addition in 1904 in order to St. while continuing to sell off parts of the industrial property. and opened to residents in 2013. increase capacity and production. Five years later, they The company continued to make socks, focusing built a second plant in Meridian, Mississippi. By 1920, mostly on industrial work socks (called My-T-Tuff ), but they had increased the Marigny and Decatur property holdings by an addialso moving into the world of colorful and patterned men’s leisure socks in tional seven lots and added more buildings. the 1950s. Despite national and international distribution and financial sucIn 1905, as yellow fever plagued New Orleans, the city decreed that all water cesses, the corporation liquidated in 1967 after a few deaths in the McLellan cistern pipes should be covered by cloth to prevent mosquito breeding and family. – By Seale Paterson

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IMAGE BY CHARLES L. FRANCK PHOTOGRAPHERS C 1954. PROVIDED COURTESY OF THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION, CHARLES L. FRANCK / FRANCK BERTACCI PHOTOGRAPHERS COLLECTION, 1979.325.2996

SPONSORED

HOLIDAY PARTY PLANNING Kim Starr Wise Floral Events 437 Philip St., New Orleans (504) 315-5607 Kimstarrwise.com

Whether it’s a holiday party or a winter wedding, Kim Starr Wise Floral Events uses the utmost care and attention to detail to create distinctive floral designs that make any occasion unforgettable. Big events aren’t the only opportunity to surround yourself with beautiful flowers – Visit The Flower Shop by Kim Starr Wise on Magazine Street to pick up fresh arrangements, eclectic candles and gifts, or make your own bouquet at their flower bar!

Briquette

701 S. Peters St., New Orleans (504) 302-7496 Briquette-nola.com Impress your guests with a lively holiday soirée at Briquette. The contemporary yet casual interior can accommodate seated dinners for up to 240 guests, up to 400 reception-style or a smaller cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres at their inviting bar area. Every menu is hand-crafted for your special event. A recipient of the 2022 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, guests can enjoy the holidays with a diverse selection of fine wine.

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PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Ace and the Louisiana Open Housing Act, which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. For more information, call the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-273-5718.

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PREMIER

P RO P E RT I E S

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THE FINISHING TOUCH

Last Look

A final mirror check before hitting the town never felt more glamorous Fleur x Chairish's limited edition Carnival Mystic Rectangle Mirror is handpainted by talented local artist E. Lee Jahncke Mead. The faux tortoise shell finish mixes seamlessly with most decors and works perfectly in an entryway, powder or dressing room. You'll never miss food in your teeth before heading out the door with a mirror this fun to remind you to catch one last glimpse. Available through Fleur Home, fleurhome.com.

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