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April 2013 VOLUME 47 NUMBER 7 Editor Errol Laborde Managing Editor Morgan Packard Art Director Eric Gernhauser Associate Editors Haley Adams and

Sarah Ravits Contributing Editor Liz Scott Monaghan Food Editor Dale Curry Dining Editor Jay Forman Wine and Spirits Editor Tim McNally Restaurant Reporter Robert Peyton Home and Garden Editor Bonnie Warren Interns Elizabeth Heideman and Caroline Malouse

SALES MANAGER Shannon Smith Senior Account Executive Jonée Daigle Ferrand Account Executives Erica Northcott Adams,

Maegan O’Brien Sales Assistant Erin Maher Azar Web/Production Manager Staci Woodward McCarty Production Designers Jenny Dascenzo Hronek, Sarah

George and Casey Hano Web Editor Haley Adams Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne President Alan Campell Executive VICE PRESIDENT/Editor-in-Chief Errol Laborde Executive Assistant Kristi Ferrante Distribution Manager Christian Coombs SUBSCRIPTIONS Erin Duhe

WYES DIAL 12 STAFF (504) 486-5511 Executive Editor Beth Arroyo Utterback Managing Editor Aislinn Hinyup Associate Editor Robin Cooper Art Director Jenny Dascenzo Hronek

NEW ORLEANS MAGAZINE Printed in USA A Publication of Renaissance Publishing 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123 Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 Subscription Hotline:

(504) 828-1380 ext. 251 or fax: (504) 828-1385

Online at www.MyNewOrleans.com

New Orleans Magazine (ISSN 0897 8174) is published monthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC., 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 8281380. Subscription rates: one year $19.95; Mexico, South America and Canada $48; Europe, Asia and Australia $75. An associate subscription to New Orleans Magazine is available by a contribution of $40 or more to WYES-TV/Channel 12, $10.00 of which is used to offset the cost of publication. Also available electronically, on CD-ROM and on-line. Periodicals postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New Orleans Magazine, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2012 New Orleans Magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark New Orleans and New Orleans Magazine are registered. New Orleans Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in New Orleans Magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the magazine managers or owners.

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FEATURES 86 EXPLORING THE FRENCH QUARTER Reasons to visit the French Quarter, including food, music, drinks and shopping by Brobson Lutz, M.D., Morgan Packard; Sarah Ravits; and Alex Rawls

98 Eat, Drink and Be FestivE … It’s April! Four festi-

EXPLORING THE FRENCH QUARTER PAGE

vals not to miss by Sue Strachan

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 10 12 127 128

Eat, Drink and be FestivE … It’s APRIL! PAGE

INSIDE “Pax Inter Brennans” speaking out Editorial, plus a Mike Luckovich cartoon JULIA STREET Questions and answers about our city Try This “Touring While Jogging” STREETCAR “Paul McIlhenny and the Back of Antoine’s”

THE BEAT 18 20 24 26 30 32 36 37

MARQUEE Entertainment calendar PERSONA Singer, actress and teacher, Wanda Rouzan newsbeat “Wheels Turning for Bike Share Network” Biz New Orleans becomes a player in mobile gaming newsbeat “New Urbanism: Overcoming an Overpass” Education Gov. Bobby Jindal’s educational policies HEALTH ”Overeating in the Big Easy” HEALTHBEAT The latest news in health from New Orleans and beyond 40 Crime Fighting ”Ray Nagin: The Examples He Set” 42 newsbeat “Steering a Future for Ferries

LOCAL COLOR

CHRONICLES PAGE

44 48 49 52 54 56 58

THE SCOOP “Gardening 101” music “Aaron Neville, Now and Forever” Read & Spin A look at the latest CDs and books CAST OF CHARACTERS “The Reverend Goat” MODINE’S NEW ORLEANS “To Hover or Not to Hover” Joie d’Eve “Across the Ages” CHRONICLES New Orleans musicians start young and learn fast. 60 HOME Eclectic home in the University District

THE MENU 66 table talk Jazz Fest restaurants 68 restaurant insider “Link’s Latest,Vega’s Sizzles and New on Freret Going Latin”

CONTENTS 4.13 VOL.47 NO.7

ON THE COVER Rediscovering the French Quarter Cheryl Gerber photograph; Tracee Dundas, stylist; Banana Republic - Canal Place, fashions; The Blow Dry Bar, hair & makeup; Samantha Bean & James Kemp, models 4

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70 FOOD “Crafty Crawfish Fare” 74 LAST CALL A Streetcar Named Loyola 76 DINING GUIDE

DIAL 12

D1 Chef John Besh moves beyond regional cooking and into the heart of kitchens across America. The new 26-part national series, produced by WYES-TV, features recipes from the Louisiana chef ’s latest award-winning cookbook, My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking. Tune in for the series premiere Sat., April 6 at 9:30 a.m.

IN SID E

Pax Inter Brennans

here were two events that occurred

in the middle of March in which new sovereigns were declared within their own universe. In Rome, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis; and in New Orleans Ted Brennan became the sole business owner of Brennan’s Restaurant. Of the two, Bergoglio probably had the easier time because he only had to face the conclave of Cardinals sitting beneath the canopy of Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment.” Brennan, on the other hand, had to face the judgment of lawyers. I will not attempt to explain the legal struggles of the last few years, even if I understood them. Nor do I want to trivialize the issues, many of which are due to the family’s success in so many directions. All I know is that the Brennans, all of them, no matter which side they are on, are masterful restaurateurs, and that life is better served when there is peace, or at least the absence of combat, between them. If temperatures are rising, let it be in the frying pan rather than the attorney’s office. It would be easier to explain the schisms of the Protestant reformation than to analyze the divisions within the Brennan family, but I do know this: For all that was to follow, the high holy grounds was Brennan’s in the French Quarter, where Irishman Owen Brennan started his first restaurant. All the rest would evolve from there, If sentenced to a lifetime of eating nowhere but at a Brennans-owned restaurant (including the one in Houston) I would be content. At all places the service is impeccable and the food is extraordinary. Ted Brennan, backed by his wife and offspring, now has a chance to be the main man in one of the nation’s most important restaurants located in a city known for great dining. As for the rest of the family, I hope that one day there are big group hug-ins at the courtyards of Brennan’s and Commander’s Palace. Let the champagne be flowing. We know the service will be great.

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On the web Head to the new and improved MyNewOrleans. com for fresh content added daily, including New Orleans events, blog posts and interviews. Want up-to-the-minute updates? Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/NewOrleansMagazine and on Twitter at @NewOrleansMag. If you want to share your thoughts from this issue, use the hashtag #NewOrleansMagazineApril to let us know what you think. We can’t wait to hear from you! Have a question about the new website? Email all comments to Web Editor Haley Adams at haley@myneworleans.com.

Exclusively Online: Award-Winning Daily Blogs Mondays:

The Editor’s Room: Editor-in-Chief Errol Laborde, three-time winner of the Alex Waller Award for print journalism, offers his take on the Big Easy, the state of Louisiana and the changing times. Named “Best Local Blog” by the Press Club of New Orleans. Tuesdays:

Morgan Packard, managing editor for New Orleans Magazine, and Annie Drummond, whom MyNewOrleans.com stole from Ohio, tagteam weekly columns on the different ways to enjoy life our city.

Wednesdays:

After Hours: Nightlife savant and New Orleans Press Club award-winner Ian McNulty gives us the scoop on what to do when the sun goes down. You know, when he can get out of bed to write about it. Also... Nola Newbie: MyNewOrleans.com’s new web editor, Haley Adams, chronicles her adventures as a New Orleans resident. Thursdays:

Haute Plates: Our very own gastronome, Robert Peyton, offers the real dish on local dining. Also … Happy Hour: The yang to Mr. Peyton’s yin, Tim McNally, acclaimed wine judge and food writer, expounds on wine, cocktails and other draughts. Fridays:

Joie d’Eve: Editor Eve Kidd Crawford, who has won awards from the Press Club of New Orleans and the Society of Professional Journalists, writes about what it means to be a family in New Orleans.

Visit MyNewOrleans.com to see photographs and articles, even before they hit the newsstands. Enjoy our archived articles, leave us a comment or sign up for our newsletter.

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S P E A K IN G O U T

Three Decades for a Quarter A festival’s anniversary

usiness owners in the F rench Q uarter were

furious. The year was 1983 and the neighborhood’s old streets were plowed up, making it either impossible or problematic for vehicles and pedestrians to pass their stores. Not even in the days when the French Quarter was a dusty frontier town with dirt roads had passage been so bad. Sure there would be a World’s Fair in the distance, ’84, and in preparation the streets were being redone, but the businesses were losing money now. The future could wait; the French Quarter had to survive the present. Mayor Dutch Morial was accustomed to adversity. On the second full day of his first term, May 3, 1978, heavy rains and an inadequate drainage system had caused the greatest urban flood that anyone could remember. Then, a few months later as Carnival approached, the police went on strike. Morial stood firm, Carnival parades in New Orleans were cancelled that year, but in the end Morial won. Being the city’s first black mayor had toughened him up for conflict, though he could also empathize with the plight of the business owners. The street work needed to continue but Morial made a promise: After the work was over the city, as an appeasement to the businesses, would organize a festival. Not only would it bring some pre-World’s Fair dollars to the French Quarter, but it also would encourage locals, many of who had written off the French Quarter as being for tourists, to revisit the neighborhood. Once the work was completed Morial turned on the resources of city government, including providing police and sanitation services, granting permits, building bandstands, collaring volunteers, directing traffic and making the streets pedestrian friendly. Morial was no slouch when it came to using power, and the office of the mayor of New Orleans is inherently powerful, but one factor City Hall couldn’t control was the weather. Sandra Dartus, who served as the festival’s first coordinator would later recall: “I spent that first weekend under cover in the square during the torrential downpour that prompted us to repeat the event the next weekend.” An optimist might call it an event so nice they did it twice; a realist might say that once more New Orleanians defied the weather, so much so that the early festi-

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val even included more substantial drops from the heavens as sky divers landed along the riverfront. That was 1984. This year the festival is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its organization. Now under the direction of French Quarter Festivals, Inc., the festival has grown beyond what even the big-thinking Morial might have imagined. It now bills itself as “Louisiana’s largest free music event.” Because it falls in the same month as Jazz Fest, there’s a temptation of thinking of the French Quarter event as a warm-up, but that doesn’t do it justice. While both events are spectacular there are some important differences: B There’s no admission price to the French Quarter Festival. B There is a heavy emphasis on local musicians. B While the Jazz Fest is about culture and heritage, the French Quarter Fest is about a neighborhood. Congratulations to all those who over the past three decades have contributed to the festival’s success. You have proved that even a rocky road can be made into a path for success.

AN ORIGINAL ©MIKE LUCKOVICH CARTOON FOR NEW ORLEANS MAGAZINE

JULIA STREET

W IT H P O Y D R A S THE PARROT

T H E P U R S U IT T O A N S W E R E T E R N A L Q U E STI O N S

The Lake Shore Beach Company ran the original Pontchartrain Beach, which opened in late June 1928 on recently reclaimed land across Bayou St. John from the Old Spanish Fort.

Dear Julia, Where was the original Pontchartrain Beach amusement park located? All I can remember is a scary streetcar ride along Canal Street to the end of the line. The roller coaster was called the “Wild Cat,” there was a German beer garden with an oompah band and my favorite: an ice cream stand built like an old-style crank ice cream churn. I do remember having lots of fun! I almost forgot – it was built on boardwalks. Beverly DeGeorge Cov i ng ton

The Wild Cat was a scenic railway that debuted at the original Pontchartrain Beach in early May 1929. Its train took about a minute to make the ride’s 3,560-foot circuit. The Lake Shore Beach Company ran the original 12

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Pontchartrain Beach, which opened in late June 1928 on recently reclaimed land across Bayou St. John from the Old Spanish Fort. During its first year of operation, Pontchartrain Beach was a bathing resort with only one ride – a little roller coaster called The Whip – but by its second season many new attractions, including the Wild Cat, had been added. Dear Julia, I just read your and Poydras’ column which appears in the New Orleans Magazine dated January 2013. When I read about the Pontchartrain Railroad, the first thing I thought was “I have to show this to Walter!” Your stories and answers take me into the past – forgetting the present – forgetting that my precious husband, Walter, passed away

over two years ago. Julia, this is a tough question! You will need Poydras to help you with this one. Back in the mid-1930s, when I was a very young child, I lived Uptown around Octavia and Laurel streets. Near Drobe’s Grocery, I used to find what we called “slugs.” They were about the size of a nickel. They seemed to be plentiful in that location. Did that phenomenon have anything to do with the streetcars or the tracks that ran along Laurel Street or, maybe, a factory nearby? Julia, I plan to write to you again. I have lots of questions for you and Poydras regarding my beloved New Orleans! A. O. Malley New Orlean s

Thank you for the sweet message. Slugs are blank little discs

Win a Court of Two Sisters Jazz Brunch or Lunch at the Rib Room Here is a chance to eat, drink and listen to music, and have your curiosity satiated all at once. Send Julia a question. If we use it, you’ll be eligible for a monthly drawing for one of two Jazz Brunch gift certificates for two at The Court of Two Sisters in the Vieux Carré. To take part, send your question to: Julia Street, c/o New Orleans Magazine, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005 or email: Errol@ MyNewOrleans.com. This month’s winners are: Mary Mangiaracina, Covington; and Sandra Spulecki, Fairhope, Ala.

of metal that are about the same diameter and thickness as coins. The thing about slugs is that, although they don’t easily fool people unless they’re in a hurry or the lighting is dim, machines were more easily duped. In the mid-1930s, when slot machines were quite prevalent, counterfeit coins were in high demand as tools for tricking gaming machines into giving something for nothing. I doubt the proximity of either the streetcar stop or the grocery would explain your finding slugs on a regular basis. On the other hand, if the grocery or another nearby building had gaming machines tucked away in a back room, that would explain it. Dear Julia, I grew up in the 9th Ward on Music Street, three blocks from St. Roch playground. I attended Our Lady Star of the Sea school and was baptized and confirmed

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at that church. Is the church still open? If so, what’s the schedule? In addition, as you know, New Orleans is a city of neighborhoods. I would like to know if you have any history on the following places of businesses, like who were the owners and when did they close. Tony’s Bar on the corner of Almonaster Avenue and Galvez Street; the Crown and Tiger theaters on Franklin Avenue; and the Famous Theater somewhere around St. Claude Avenue. The best “hard packed” ice cream I ever had was at a shop across from the Crown Theater on Franklin Avenue. If possible, can you find the name of the ice cream shop? George Dudenhefer N ew O rlean s

Sorry George, asking multiple questions costs extra. Please leave an envelope with $100 in it next to the “meteorite” in Audubon Park. I will send someone to

pick it up. Our Lady Star of the Sea remains an active Roman Catholic Church and is located at 1835 St. Roch Ave. For its Mass schedule, check the parish website at olss-no. com or call the parish office at 944-0166. The Crown Theater, which Louis E. Rosenbaum managed in the early 1950s, was located at 1441 Almonaster Ave. First opened as the Avenue Theater in ’29, the theater was renovated in ’39, reopening as the Best Theater. Renovated again 10 years later, it changed its name once more when, in ’49, it became the Avenue Theater. It burned on New Year’s Day ’55. About 1952, the ice cream shop at 1246 Almonaster Ave., near the Crown was run by Edward A Becker. By the mid’50s, the same address is listed as a retail store for Hayes Dairy Products, a Louisianaincorporated company that

liquidated in ’77. The Tiger Theater, which Karl M. Williams managed in the early 1950s, was located at 2939 Franklin Ave. It operated as the Tiger ’50 to ’73. Later renamed the Riget and the Grit, it closed in ’80. It still stands, vacant and abandoned. The Famous Theater, at 1538 Marigny St., had been built about 1913 and was an active theater until ’78. From ’56 to ’78, it was owned and operated by Rene Brunet Jr. Following its ’78 sale, the theater was sold to a new owner who turned it into a disco. Damaged, but not destroyed, by fire on March 15, ’92, the building demolished and replaced with a parking lot.

Dear Julia, When I was a pre-teen, my grandparents lived at 2816 Grand Route St. John at the corner of Crete Street. My parents, and the parents of several cousins, gathered there to

visit with “Granny” and “Paw Paw” on most Sundays. I have fond memories of attending the movies at the Bell Theater on Sunday afternoons, with my cousins while the adults played card games or just chatted about the events of the prior week. Can you tell me what happened to the Bell Theater? I don’t think it’s on Grand Route St. John any more. Did it succumb to the trend of the mall theaters with multiple screens and viewing rooms? Sandra Spulecki F a i rhope, A L

The Bell Theater was located at 2800 Grand Route St. John, just a few doors away from your grandparents’ house. The second of two Bell Theaters to operate at different locations in the same general area, the Bell on Grand Route St. John opened in 1922. It was destroyed by fire on Sept. 9, ’66 and wasn’t rebuilt.

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Dear Julia and Poydras, Can you tell me how the “Casino” in City Park (now “The Morning Call”) got its name? Was it a gambling establishment? Also, did Poydras ever fly over that area in the 1950s and ’60s to enjoy live outdoor orchestras? Was it the Louisiana Philharmonic or the Summer Pops? Those were truly our glory days. Mary Mangiaracina Covington

Shortly before World War I, park administrators made the decision to move the park’s existing administrative offices and shift City Park’s main amusement area from the City Park Avenue periphery to the park’s interior. Part of that plan called for the erection of what became known as the Casino building. (The word did not apply to gambling, which never occurred there, but to the Spanish phrase for “canteen” as in providing food.) The building opened

July 4, 1913. The architectural firm of Nolan and Torres designed the two-story building, the original purpose of which was to house a refreshment area on the ground floor and park administrative offices upstairs. Three years after the Casino opened, John F. Popp donated $7,500 for a new park bandstand to replace a 1902 structure he felt clashed with the nearby Peristyle’s New-Classical architectural style. Architect Emile Weil designed the new bandstand which was dedicated on July 4, ’17. Both the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Summer Pops were among the many orchestras to perform at the Popps Bandstand. Unfortunately, the free concerts fell out of fashion and ended in 1979. At the time, park officials blamed television for changing public taste and dwindling attendance at the formerly popular concerts.

Julia on TV

Look for the Julia Street question on “Steppin’ Out,” every Friday at 6:30 p.m. on WYES/Channel 12. The show features reviews, news and features about the New Orleans entertainment scene. Viewers who can answer Julia’s weekly question can call in for prizes. Tell ’em you read about the show in New Orleans Magazine.

THEBEAT MARQUEE

PERSONA

BIZ

EDUCATION

HEALTH

CRIME FIGHTING

NEWS

Wanda Rouzan will be performing with her band A Taste of New Orleans at this year’s French Quarter Festival. She will also be part of the ensemble in Vernel Bagneris presents the 35th Anniversary Show of One Mo’ Time on May 2.

PERSONA:

WANDA ROUZAN PAGE 20

GREG MILES PHOTOGRAPH

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T HE BE A T OUR

MARQUEE

T O P P I C K S O F T H E M O N T H’S E V E N T S BY

SARAH

RAVITS

A Delicate Butterfly

Grand Slams and Good Times

One of the most popular operas, Madame Butterfly, will be performed at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts on April 12 and 14, featuring an hour-long lecture beforehand. Conducted by Maestro Robert Lyall and featuring a talented cast of Maria Kanyova, Bryan Hymel, Margaret Thompson, Jake Gardner and other luminaries, the tale is a heartbreaking tragedy of a beautiful Japanese maiden who gives up her heart and heritage for an American sailor who betrays her. Information, NewOrleansOpera.org.

There are a lot of things in this city that are synonymous with springtime; of course, festivals dominate the month of April. But if your ears are still ringing from the music, refresh them with the glorious sounds of the crack of wooden bats – the New Orleans Zephyrs baseball team plays at Zephyr field in Metairie, an outdoor field that seats 10,000. The franchise’s entertainment has really amped it up in the past few years, and there are all kinds of theme nights and promotions, plus good deals on beer and hot dogs. The stadium even has a swimming pool that’s available for party rentals. Home games take place this month from April 12-19 and April 29-30. Information, ZephyrsBaseball.com.

Music in the square

The annual Wednesday at the Square series is now underway, featuring free evening concerts from 5-8 p.m. every Wednesday in Lafayette Square. The 12-week series kicked off last month with food and drink for sale to benefit the Young Leadership Council. This month, check out Irvin Mayfield & the Jazz Playhouse Revue with special guests Kermit Ruffins plus The New Orleans Jazz Institute’s Saturday Music School, April 3; The Mother Hips plus Jon Roniger, April 10; The Revivalists plus Disco Demolition Knights, April 17; and Eric McFadden with Bernie Worrell, Luther Dickenson, Eric Bolivar and Robert Mercurio plus the David Jordan Band, April 24. Information, z.

Through June 16. “Portrait of Faith: John Paul II in Life & Art;” New Orleans Museum of Art. Information, JPIIInNola.com

“Portrait of Faith: John Paul II in Life & Art;” through June 16

Jacks. Information, OneEyedJacks.net April 7 & 9. NCAA

Women’s Final Four; New Orleans Arena. Information, ncaa.com/womensfinal-four

April 3. Coyotes with Rotary Downs plus the Kid Carsons; One Eyed

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April 12 and 14. New Orleans Hornets home games; New Orleans Arena. Information, nba.com

April 12 and 14. New Orleans Opera Association presents Madame Butterfly; Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts. Information, NewOrleans Opera.org

Cowboy Rides Away Tour: George Strait, April 13

NCAA Women’s Final Four, April 7 & 9

April 11-14. French Quarter Festival; throughout downtown. Information, fqfi.org

SPOTLIGHT

INSTRUMENTS A COMIN’ The Tipitina’s Foundation supports New Orleans’ music communities and seeks to preserve Louisiana’s unique musical culture. The foundation supports childhood music education, professional development of adult musicians and the increased profile and viability of the state’s music as a cultural, economic and educational resource. Each year the Foundation hosts Instruments A Comin’, a fun benefit that raises money to get instruments into the hands of students. This year it takes place on April 29 at Tipitina’s Uptown with a starstudded lineup of musicians. The event is planned in large part by Bethany Paulsen and Emily Menard. Information, tipitinas.com.

Instruments A Comin’ Fundraiser. How has it evolved over the years? The

event has grown through the years – each year drawing a larger audience, raising more money and allowing us to reach more students in more schools. What is the goal of the Instrument’s a Comin’ party? The Instruments

A Comin’ event on April 29 is a fund-

raiser to support the Instruments A Comin’ program, which operates year-round. With funds raised from previous events, the Tipitina’s Foundation has provided more than $2.5 million worth of musical instruments to 75 New Orleans area schools. Funds raised at this year’s event through the benefit concert and silent auction will go directly towards getting more

instruments into area band programs. What is the entertainment going to be like?

The outdoor portion of the event begins at 6 p.m. with a Battle of the Bands between Instruments A Comin’ recipient schools on Napoleon Avenue in front of Tipitina’s and a silent auction. The indoor benefit concert begins at 8:30 p.m. with performances by Galactic, Anders

Osborne, Dumpstafunk, Honey Island Swamp Band and many more. The Battle of the Bands and admission to the Silent Auction Tent are free and open to the public. VIP tickets include access to the outdoor VIP lounge, balcony access during the benefit concert, food from local chefs and open bar. General Admission tickets are available for the benefit concert.

Instruments A Comin’ organizers Emily Menard (left) and Bethany Paulsen

How long has the Tipitina’s Foundation been around? The

Tipitina’s Foundation began in 1997 and was established as a 501(c)3 in 2003. This will be the foundation’s 12th annual

April 12-August 4.

“Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs;” New Orleans Museum of Art. Information, noma.org April 13. Cowboy Rides Away Tour: George Strait

and Martina McBride; New Orleans Arena. Information, GeorgeStrait.com

Tournament; TPC Louisiana (Avondale). Information, ZurichGolfClassic.com

April 20. Junior League Kitchen Tour; various locations. Information, jlno.org

April 26-28; May 2-5. New

April 22-28. Zurich Classic

of New Orleans Golf

Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; New Orleans Fair Grounds. Information, NoJazzFest.com

April 27. Dr. John plus the California Honeydrops in concert; Tipitina’s Uptown. Information, Tipitinas.com

April 27. The Meter Men; Republic. Information, RepublicNola.com April 30. Capital Cities in concert; House of Blues. Information, HouseOf Blues.com

Dr. John, April 27

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T HE BEA T

PERSONA

At a Glance Age: 65 Profession:

Steel or Barbara Freethy

Singer, actor, teacher (of theater arts at Audubon Charter School. She is retiring next month.) Born/raised: New Orleans (Grew up in the 7th Ward) Resides: Gentilly Family: Three sisters; one daughter and grandson Education: Xavier Prep; Xavier University; and Pennsylvania State University Favorite book: Books by Danielle

Favorite movie:

Gone with the Wind or Ben Hur Favorite TV shows: “Nashville” and “Smash” Favorite food: Stewed hen Favorite restaurant: Dooky Chase’s or Mandina’s Favorite music: New Orleans Favorite musician: Too hard; Wynton, Allen, Leroy, Alicia … Hobby: Reading and poker Favorite vacation spot: Florida

came naturally to us. We had a lot of groups – boys and girls – that came up during that time [the early 1960s]. The Dixie Cups, for example. Was anyone in particular a mentor to you as a performer? My older sister, Laura. She’s always been

there for me.

Wanda Rouzan BY SUE STRACHAN

s one of N ew O rleans ’ best known performers ,

it isn’t surprising that when you meet Wanda Rouzan in person or watch her perform that you receive a one-of-a-kind education in New Orleans music. With a career spanning more than 50 years, Rouzan has worked with a varied cast of talented New Orleanians – including Lee Dorsey, Vernel Bagneris, Ricky Graham and Becky Allen. She refers to her fellow performers often by a first-name basis: Wynton, for example. And, after speaking to her, you realize that there really isn’t one facet of New Orleans music that she hasn’t embraced or put her distinct Rouzan touch upon: jazz, R&B, gospel, even second-line, as she’s one of the few female grand marshals. Being schooled, in this sense, is a good thing (and it isn’t surprising to find out that she teaches theater arts when not performing). Here is where you can find Wanda Rouzan this month: French Quarter Festival: Wanda Rouzan and A Taste of New Orleans; New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Fri., April 26: The New Orleans R&B Diva Revue featuring The Dixie Cups, Jean Knight and Wanda Rouzan with the Brian Querzergue Band; and Thurs., May 2, part of the ensemble in Vernel Bagneris presents the 35th Anniversary Show of One Mo’ Time. How and when did you start performing? My two sisters – Laura and Barbara – and I grew up singing. We used to do it while sitting on the porch at home, around the neighborhood, in talent shows. Anytime they would slip us a microphone, because we did that harmony – you have to teach it now, but it 20

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Your nickname is Huckle-Buck …? When I was a little-bitty thing, my mother would send my sisters and I around to the corner to get a poor boy or something. We walked or rode bikes and Laura would have me sing for a huckle-buck or a snowball. It’s a frozen cup and I’ve loved them all my life. My mom would make them. You don’t get them now, so I make them. Tell me about The Rouzan Sisters (Laura, Wanda and Barbara). Laura was writing [music] a lot; she was in

college. I had just gotten into high school and we met Connie LaRocca, who owned Frisco Records and a chicken shack that was well known at the time. LaRocca had a couple other acts, such as Wardell Quezergue, who was doing the arranging for everyone. We recorded background for Frisco Records artists. We recorded “Men of War,” which was about the war in Vietnam, and it became No. 1 on the charts in New Orleans. We were learning about the business, Laura was writing and we recorded one of her tracks. The record was released after “Men of War,” but it had LaRocca’s record label on it. And that ended that part of our career. But we were still very visible. We were known throughout the region – went to Mississippi, Texas and all through Louisiana. Even went to Dallas to perform on a TV show. We played with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, who was a bandleader then. I also performed with Lee Dorsey, the real R&B – I came up during the R&B era. GREG MILES PHOTOGRAPH

How did you get involved with One Mo’ Time, which is celebrating it’s 35th anniversary this year. Vernal Bagneris, who’s

from New Orleans, called me to say he was going to put together a show of 1920s vaudeville, and would love for me to be part of it. It had become a hit at the Village Gate in New York City, and when it had moved to New York it needed a cast in New Orleans to replace it. I was in the second cast in New Orleans. But we also toured all over Europe, as did the New York cast. Such wonderful women, such as Juanita Brooks, were in the show and it all came about because of Vernel. How did you end up as a performer and as a teacher? I’m

a trained speech pathologist – it’s what I got my masters in at Penn State. I wound up coming back to work for some years, but all of a sudden I’m in plays and singing, touring the world and getting a reputation. Theater was always my first love, but my parents never really thought I could make a living in it. My parents sacrificed a lot for my sisters and I to go to college. Ultimately, I think because I love to teach, I knew that I was going to get some type of job doing that. What was it like to do the TV show, “Treme?” Doing

“Treme” was a challenge because I had to be on the set, sometimes starting at 5 a.m., then work late that night. But they worked with my schedule at school. What is your style of music?

My style is a combination of old New Orleans traditional jazz, then I take you into the R&B, adding in some spiritual and gospel and Mardi Gras. Who else can do that musically? Our people; and it’s what we bring – it’s the root of this country’s soul. So wherever I go, I spread the word. The greats that have come out of here, who everybody else copied … the Mick Jaggers and the British groups. 22

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You are one of the few female grand marshals. The grand

marshal leads the brass band that follows the jazz funeral. I have had the honor – and I say it’s an honor – to be grand marshal for Danny Barker and Blue Lu Barker, Teddy Riley, Ernie K-Doe and John Brunious. I was part of their going home by being the grand marshal. I’m one of the first female grand marshals – there are a few before me. Ellyna Tatum was a grand marshal. She was quite a character and worked the French Quarter. [Ed. note: Rouzan was honored as a grand marshal on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival poster in 1999.] While we all know you as a vocalist and performer, tell me about your favorite dramatic theater roles. My favorite role

is [the title role in] Medea – I loved doing that. I’ve been Kate in The Taming of the Shrew. So over the years I like to play those types of characters – the very, very dramatic. What’s next for Wanda Rouzan? I’m retiring from

Audubon Charter School in May, but still have a lot of loose ends. I’m going to my daughter’s graduation from Pepperdine in May, and it will be the first time I’ll miss performing at Tulane’s commencement, as it’s the same day. My grandnephew is graduating from Harvard University. He sings in one of the school’s a cappella groups. I’m going to Brazil to perform this summer. One of my goals post-retirement is to return going out on the road, bringing my style of New Orleans music. I’ve performed all over Europe and South America, but haven’t been to Africa. And I haven’t seen much of this country, which I’d like to do. Are you going to write a book about New Orleans and your life?

I need to write my book. I’ve started it. True confession: I love to fish; and when I retire from teaching, cooking school, here I come.

N EWSBEAT

Wheels Turning for Bike Share Network Driving in downtown New Orleans during the Super Bowl was certainly inconvenient, but the mega-event also provided an apt backdrop for a project that could make getting around the city easier than ever in the long run. Boosters for better bicycling in New Orleans used the run-up to the game to demonstrate a bike share system they want to develop in New Orleans. Hundreds of people took free pedals around town to test it out. “People were pumped that they could just hop on a bike and ride,” says Jamie Wine, executive director of Bike Easy, a nonprofit that advocates for bicycling around New Orleans. A bike share system is a fleet of specialized bicycles available to the public through a network of automated kiosks. Users pick up a bike at one station and drop it off at another near their destination, with visitors paying by the day to explore the city and residents having the option to pay a lower annual rate and access bikes anytime for errands or commuting. Such systems are in place around the world, where they’re widely praised 24

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as a convenient, healthy and lowcost way to get around densely populated areas. “We have a proof of concept, and this is a proven model,” Wine says, pointing to programs now operating in 23 cities across the United States and 100 cities in Europe. Last year, Bike Easy commissioned a feasibility study for a bicycle share system, which concluded that a small-scale system starting with 200 bikes and 20 kiosks could be built for about $1.5 million. “The thing about it is, these systems make money,” says Wine. “You subsidize them at first, but then they become selfsufficient in a few years. Plus they’re producing jobs for people who are running the system. There are all kinds of ways that this is a win-win.” City officials have expressed interest in the project. City Councilwoman Kristen Palmer, city Health Commissioner Dr. Karen DeSalvo and Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin all took part in the Super Bowl demonstration, which was supported by the Downtown Development District, Entergy, the Super Bowl Host Committee and B-cycle, a company that operates bike share systems around the country. Work is now underway on a plan for a New Orleans system, which Wine believes could be in place by 2014. – I an M c N u l ty

T HE BE A T

BIZ

Home of the Cosmic Colony

As mobile games soar, New Orleans becomes a player. B y K athy F inn

he year is 2 0 8 8 , and your spaceship has just

landed on the planet Mochwoi, which has an atmosphere similar to Earth’s but no intelligent life forms. The mission assigned to you by Galaxy Patrol: Investigate and colonize the planet. As you accept your new responsibilities you join a cadre of individuals who have come to enjoy playing “Cosmic Colony” on an iPhone, iPad or Android phone. If you live in New Orleans you also have the distinction of residing in the highly rated game’s hometown. “Cosmic Colony” is the first release by worldwide digital game designer Gameloft from its fledgling studio in New Orleans. In line with today’s most popular digital games, “Cosmic Colony” presents space-themed challenges to players of all ages. As they become space pioneers, the players participate with some 50 million other users who regularly play Gameloft games. The release of “Cosmic Colony” last fall was a landmark for the local studio, which opened in 2011 to much fanfare among state and local economic development officials. One of the largest mobile game publishers in the world, Gameloft operates from locations around the globe, and until it opened in New Orleans, its only U.S. location was in New York. Plopping a studio in New Orleans was a big deal from an economic developer’s standpoint, essentially putting the city on the digital gaming map via one of the foremost names in the business. Mobile gaming is one of the fastest-growing segments of the multibilliondollar video game industry. Both mobile and online gaming have steadily gobbled more of the retail gaming market in recent years, as users have shifted away from packaged games played on a PlayStation or Nintendo Wii and have instead shown a preference for gaming apps that they can download and play on a smartphone or tablet device. Mobile games today are the No. 1 category of sales at Apple Inc.’s App Store. According to the mobile analytics firm Flurry, tablet users spend two-thirds of their time on the devices playing games, while smartphone users dedicate almost 40 percent of their time to games. Such figures bode well for Gameloft, and by extension New Orleans, where Gameloft’s United States and Latin America production vice president says the company sees promise. “‘Cosmic Colony’ represents the first of many games that we anticipate launching in the upcoming years, and I foresee a lot of new and innovative projects being released from our New Orleans location,” Samir El Agili said in announcing the title’s release. In addition to working on an assortment of existing games in the Gameloft catalog, the company plans to continue developing local talent, he says. Gameloft tapped into help from Louisiana Economic Development’s FastStart training program to attract resumes for the few dozen jobs initially available in the New Orleans studio. The company expects to continue growing its 140-person local workforce, and economic developers say the rising demand for developers and designers will feed into a trend that’s helping to diversify the local economy in new directions. Michael Hecht, CEO of business development organization Greater New

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Orleans Inc., says more digital media companies are landing in the economic growth it has seen in recent years. Historically a hub New Orleans because of attractive assets the city offers, including for the oil and gas industry, the city has easy access to an ample a lifestyle and culture that appeal to young people who work in supply of cheap natural gas that could help ensure prosperity in the the sector; low costs of living and doing business here; and rich energy sector, he says. Meanwhile, the local boom in digital media cash incentives offered by the state to digital media companies. shows no sign of slowing down. “Energy and digital media should Louisiana’s Digital Interactive Media and Software Development keep all of Louisiana well placed for the next decade,” Hecht says. Incentive program may be the strongest such program in the Gameloft’s “Cosmic Colony” game is available from both Apple’s App nation, offering bottom-line savings in the form of a 25 percent Store and Google Play. tax credit for qualified digital media production expenditures and a 35 percent credit for Louisiana resident labor expenditures. Louisiana tax credit program for digital media businesses has provided strong The incentive was originally envisioned as a way to incentives for companies to start or expand in the local area. Some of the area’s cultivate the video game industry in Louisiana, but in creative and digital media companies that operate in New Orleans include: 2009, the state expanded the definition of “digital interB Gameloft (mobile video game developer) active media” to make the program more effective for all B Turbosquid (on-line marketplace for 3D images) digital companies. B Bayou FX (visual effects studio) Hecht says the program meshes well with the local B Factory VFX (visual effects studio) business climate to create a compelling package for B Storyville (post production) companies looking to relocate or expand in Louisiana. B Maison Post (post production) He notes that digital game development also fits well B Du Monde (visual effects studio) with other types of businesses at home in New Orleans, B Susco Solutions (software development) including music production and recording, video proB Touch Studios (app designer) duction and the fast-growing film production business. B Orphmedia (digital media agency) Expansion of companies such as Gameloft into the B Receivables Exchange (electronic marketplace for trading accounts receivable) local market is part of what has placed the city high on B Carrollton Technology Partners (programming and web/app development) numerous rankings published by the national business B iSeatz (on-line travel and entertainment solutions) press, including an accolade Hecht recently touted from B Federated Sample (market research technology firm) employment website Bright.com. The website listed the B Bipolar Bear Productions (post house) Greater New Orleans area as No. 3 in the country for B Incendi (3D design house) technology job growth. B The Mothership FX (post house) Hecht says New Orleans is well-positioned to build on

Digital Business Growth

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N EWSBEAT

New Urbanism: Overcoming an Overpass The freeway overpass on North Claiborne Avenue has dominated the downtown landscape for so long it’s hard for some people to imagine the area without it, much less remember how that part of the city functioned before it was built. But as the idea of removing the aging overpass continues to make the rounds among planners and community advocates, an expert with unique experience in urban freeway removal shared his perspective. “This isn’t about tearing down a freeway, this is really about building communities and cities,” says Peter Park, former planning director for Denver and Milwaukee, where an overpass was removed beginning in 2002. “The reality is all freeways in American cities will come down. They’re not the Roman aqueducts. The question is what to do when they come down.” Park was in town for an event hosted by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), a Chicago-based group that advocates for walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. The Greater New Orleans Foundation supported the event. CNU earlier commissioned a report for the 30

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local Claiborne Corridor Improvement Coalition on the potential of removing the freeway stretch. That report concluded that doing so would “recover more than 50 acres of freeway-covered parking lots and empty lots near interchanges for public neutral ground, bike paths, transit corridors and sites for redevelopment.” CNU president John Norquist previously served as mayor of Milwaukee and championed the removal of a downtown elevated freeway there. He says people were initially shocked by the idea, and many assumed it would create traffic nightmares. “But now there’s almost no one who would advocate for putting it back,” Norquist said. In fact, Park explained, people can get to downtown destinations faster when traffic flow is plugged back into a city’s street network, rather than funneled to the limited access points of a freeway. “Freeways were originally not supposed to go through cities,” Park says. “That wasn’t part of the plan. It wasn’t a technical decision, it was a political one and it was a failure in every American city.” As discussions in New Orleans continue, Park stressed that inclusion has to be part of the plan. “There needs to be an emphasis on what is the process; how will people already there have a say?” he says. “It needs to be clear, and it needs to be fair.” – I an M c N u l ty

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T HE BEA T

EDUCATION

He’s Got Some Explainin’ To Do Could Gov. Bobby Jindal’s educational policies hurt his possible presidential run? BY DAWN RUTH

f G ov . B obby J indal plans to seek the R epublican

nomination for president in the next election cycle, he doesn’t have much time left to finalize his resume of accomplishments. The planning stages for such a campaign begin years before the party primaries actually start, and the 2016 general election isn’t that far away. Jindal’s second-term education reform efforts in Louisiana’s kindergar-

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ten through 12th grade schools have potential as national talking points in his favor, but if his lack of support for higher education continues, his opponents could attack any claims to success as an education governor. His critics also could shoot some poison darts in the area of kindergarten through 12th grade education. If there’s an exodus of good teachers in response to some of the more punitive aspects of his 2012 education legislation, which created tough evaluation and tenure measures, the wisdom of the law’s provisions could be a source of debate. An exodus of teachers seemed to be materializing recently when the Baton Rouge Advocate reported a 25 percent increase in teacher retirements since 2010. The state Department of Education, which often gives the appearance of being run primarily from the governor’s office, quickly moved to discredit the impression that teachers are leaving in response to Jindal’s reform package. The DOE said in a press release that the overall attrition of teachers in the past three years has remained steady at between 11 and 12 percent. The Teachers’ Retirement System responded with its own press release saying that the TRS and DOE numbers are not contradictory. The DOE’s numbers focus on teacher departures of all kinds, not only retirement-related departures. State Superintendent John White told several newspapers across the state that the DOE’s attrition numbers mostly reflect the fact that teachers deemed ineffectual by the new evaluation system are leaving. However, Susan Summers, a New Orleans teacher, blasted White’s comments in an Advocate opinion letter. She said she’s a national certified teacher with 25 years of experience, and she’s retiring because she can no longer endure White’s abuse of teachers. “The lies, the spin, the disrespect and vitriol against hard-working excellent teachers that spews from Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White’s mouth keep coming faster and faster,” she wrote. Also the voucher system that Jindal pushed through the Legislature last year could be used against him on the national stage. The program could get struck down by the state Supreme Court before it can produce any evidence that it works. A state judge has already declared the legislation unconstitutional because it uses money intended to support public schools to pay the tuition of eligible private and parochial school children. Conversely, if the voucher program survives the court challenge, but test scores don’t support the assumption that private and parochial schools J oseph D aniel F iedler illustration

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do a better job than public schools, Jindal won’t have bragging rights there, either. These pieces of signature legislation need to produce positive results before 2016, because any attempt on his part to take credit for the success of the charter schools in raising test scores in New Orleans could easily be discredited by historical fact. Former governors Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco, a Republican and Democrat, respectively, deserve that credit, along with hundreds of others. Jindal supports the concept of school autonomy, which drives charter schools’ success, but the hard work that went into laying the foundation for charter schools predates his election to governor. Jindal’s stature as a governor dedicated to educational quality is even more tenuous in higher education. State funding for community colleges and universities was cut $625 million – roughly 42 percent – between 2008 and ’12, according to figures provided by the Board of Regents, Louisiana’s coordinating board for higher education. These massive cuts coincide with Jindal’s election to the governor’s office. He and his party’s efforts to reduce government spending have resulted in repeated cuts to higher education and health care, because much of everything else funded by state government is constitutionally protected. The state has allowed colleges and universities to raise tuition to offset some of the reductions. Even with this additional revenue, however, institutions of higher learning have been operating with about $300 million less money than they did five years ago, a Board of Regents report shows. Moreover, rising costs for such budget items as utilities and insurance have led to even greater decreases in the revenue campuses have to spend for academic instruction. Most faculty haven’t received raises since Jindal took office, and their very positions could be at risk if the declines in state funding continue. Reductions of staff and administrative employees have already begun at Delgado Community College and Southern University at New Orleans and other campuses could follow suit any day. At Nunez Community College, state funding has been cut by $2.32 million since 2008, according to Louisiana Community and Technical College System figures. The college’s total “spendable” budget in ’08, including tuition and fees, was $7.47 million, but by last year that “spendable” budget had dropped to $5.62 million, for a total loss of $1.85 million in revenue. “We are bare bones right now,” said Nunez Community College Chancellor Thomas Warner. “If we take another cut, we may need to lay off employees as other colleges have done.” So far, colleges and universities have avoided shedding fulltime faculty, but in some cases they’re leaving anyway to take more secure positions. In February, the Advocate reported that Louisiana State University System President William Jenkins warned a group studying the university’s financial problems that LSU’s national status as a top tiered university is in jeopardy. Jenkins also said the university has lost several important researchers and other faculty recently, which has lowered grant income and driven the facultystudent ratio up to 23 to 1 from 19 to 1. National talk show hosts and editorial columnists toss out Jindal’s name frequently as a possible 2016 contender for president. However, raising the millions he would need for campaigning requires convincing donors and voters that he has what it takes to solve the country’s problems. If his educational policies in Louisiana prove to do more harm than good, he may have some explaining to do on the national stage. Editor’s Note: Dawn Ruth is a former education reporter for The TimesPicayune. She is now on the English faculty at Nunez Community College. 34

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T HE BEA T

HEALTH

Overeating in the Big Easy Misunderstanding what breaks our diets B Y B R O B S O N L U T Z , M.D.; A N D C H U C K O C H E LL O , J R ., M . D .

isitors

N ew

O rleans

should

loosen their belts and hold on tight, as they’re likely to leave our city stuffed. Those of us who call this lowland bit of paradise home know the score. We have had our own Creole branded cuisine for more than 200 years with roots in Africa and Haiti finely tuned by waves of immigrants from France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy and, more recently, Vietnam. In addition to some of the finest food in the world, we have a roving street vendor named after a vegetable, a minister known for eating at more than 700 restaurants and some of the most overweight people in the country. We revel in our food, both home-cooked and restaurant prepared. It is an expression of our culture; we put our traditions, hospitality, heart and soul into our food. It is why our Italian grandmothers still cook meatballs and spaghetti every Sunday and why chefs sneak out of the kitchen to glad-hand patrons. We cook for those we love, we eat for enjoyment and we indulge in everything those meals hold sacred. According to federal statistics, Louisiana has the secondhighest obesity rate in the country trailing only Mississippi probably because they have a better-funded state health department with more accurate statistics. But our weight problem is really a nationwide problem. According to a recent report “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2012,” 30 percent of adult Americans are obese, and that number is expected to double by 2030. Here at home, obesity is a major contributing factor to the “Louisiana trifecta” of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. It is all too easy to blame our excess weight on our world-renowned cuisine, but other superimposed factors are at play. Old photographs of various group meetings and street scenes such as folks walking on Canal Street document slim or at least normal weight New Orleanians through the 1960s. Collective waistlines begin to expand in the ’70s, and we were a fat city by ’80. So what happened? Folks back in our pre-obesity era ate the same traditional dishes we cherish today. Perhaps love for good food in Louisiana over the centuries primed our collective genes in some way that makes us no match for fast foods chemically programmed like crack cocaine. It is like a computer virus invaded the satiety center of our brains making fast food not a novelty, but a dependency bordering on addiction. The enemies are not our trademark foods, like boiled crawfish, shrimp remoulade, debris poor boys and oysters on the half-shell. The culprit is more a shift in non-Louisiana food that we consume and how we eat it. We have been taken hostage by substitute foods that come in paper wrappers and cardboard boxes cramped with excessive and addictive amounts of sugars, salt and fat. Granted, a popular fast-food fried chicken franchise did spawn locally, but most fast food we consume has no connection to our local delicacies. So how to combat this nationwide epidemic? Most health care profes-

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sionals recommend food intake of 2,000 and 2,500 calories for the normal adult depending on gender and physical activity level. A life of longevity and health is best anchored in food and drink moderation along with physical activity. It is about maintaining balance and doesn’t exclude an occasional pig-out. New Orleans has come together as a city and community with fresh initiatives and balanced strategies to fight our growing obesity epidemic. There can be moderation even in excess. Reverend Ray Cannata, featured in a WYES documentary, became locally famous for eating in 747 different New Orleans area restaurants before he stopped keeping count. Although he ate out most nights, Cannata cut out soft drinks and gave up his car to increase his activity levels. In addition to promoting eating and exercising in moderation, most physicians recommend NEIL WEBB ILLUSTRATION

HEALTHBEAT The John Ochsner Heart & Vascular Institute (JOHVI) at Ochsner Medical Center performed the Gulf South region’s first Total Artificial Heart implant. This device is the world’s first and only FDA-approved device. In an Ochsnergenerated press release, Hector Ventura M.D., Section Head, Heart Failure and Transplantation, Ochsner Medical Center, said, “We are extremely proud to be the first cardiovascular team in the Gulf South Region to offer this technology to patients suffering from end-stage heart failure. The work demonstrates our commitment to cutting-edge procedures and marks another significant milestone for our organiza-

tion.” During the nearly eight-hour surgery, a team of physicians, nurses and medical professionals worked together to remove the patient’s diseased heart and implant the Total Artificial Heart. The artificial heart contains two biocompatible pumping chambers with four valves; pumping chambers are connected to an external power supply called a “driver” by two small air tubes known as drivelines. The drivelines exit the patient’s abdominal wall just below the rib cage. Once implanted, it pumps blood to vital organs, helping patients become better transplant candidates. Because of its unique design, the Total Artificial Heart doesn’t require sensors, motors or electronics of any type inside the body.

The LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Nursing received the Louisiana State Nurses Association (LSNA) Nightingale Nursing School of the Year Award. Criteria include

comments from graduates, graduates’ employers, faculty, accreditation status, first-time passage rate on NCLEX-RN and innovations in education/teaching. LSUHSC’s School of Nursing is accredited until 2019 by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and is the only nursing school in the state within an academic health sciences center.

March of Dimes will host a 3-mile walk for charity at LaSalle Park in Metairie on April 20. The organization, which began in 1938 to combat polio, currently seeks to prevent

birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. The Louisiana Chapter awards grants to local organizations to meet the needs of babies and families in our communities. – S arah R a v its

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incorporating as much fresh produce and meat as possible into the daily diet. Several medical studies have linked community obesity to a lack of fresh food access. A champion of fresh food in our city is our beloved “Okra Man,” Arthur “Mr. Okra” Robinson, the city’s roving produce vendor who followed his father’s tradition of traveling around the neighborhoods selling fresh vegetables. Adults come running to that memorable baritone voice over his PA like kids chasing the ice cream truck. “I got okra and collards. I got apples and bananas.” Following Mr. Okra’s lead, the city of New Orleans and neighborhood community groups developed initiatives to expand fresh food access. Two years ago Mayor Mitch Landrieu launched the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative to expand access to healthy food at affordable prices, provide quality employment opportunities and serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. We have the Circle Food Market coming back to the 7th Ward and a new Whole Foods Market planned for the old Schwegmann’s location at Broad and Bienville streets. The Crescent City has expanded community-supported agriculture in recent years. The Hollygrove Market and Farm is a local community garden and produce market located at 8301 Olive St., and it’s open Tuesdays through Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. There are other city markets: Tuesdays Uptown at 200 Broadway Ave. and the river; Thursdays at 3700 Orleans Ave. and the bayou in Mid-City; and the granddaddy of them all, Saturdays at Magazine and Girod streets (CrescentCityFarmersMarket.org). Remember that the healthiest of foods are those messed with the least, and that the best life is a balanced life. Enjoy nights out with friends, but park the car for the weekend and go shank’s mare. Ride your bike to Jazz Fest and have a guilt-free stuffing of crawfish bread and beer. Bottom line: leave the junk food and both sweetened and unsweetened soft drinks in the store or fast food “crack house” to rot on the shelf.

Hi, my name is Charles and I’m an overeater. With all due respect to the 12-steppers, I’m just an occasional overeater like anyone proud to call New Orleans home. Recall that last visit to Irene’s, and I’m salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs. My initial enabler was my Italian grandmother Ann, who makes the finest meatballs and spaghetti on both sides of the Mississippi River. I further experimented with the fine art of overeating while in medical school here. After a medical residency in North Carolina, I came back to perfect my craft. Local food flows through my veins. My long-deceased great-uncle farmed on the Westbank and sold produce in the French Market. It is there where he is thought to have met a young Tennessee Williams, who apparently took a shining to him. According to famed Tennessee Williams scholar Kenneth Holditch, my great-uncle was the likely inspiration for the often referenced but never on stage Peter Ochello in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I revel in the opportunity to reside in America’s greatest city, sidewalk side of course. A place of paradoxes, one of problems mixed in pleasures, a recipe perfected yet never penned. A lonely island of culture and a continual reminder that great things in the arms of so many watchful patron saints of our great city will not fade. – Charles Ochello Jr., M.D. Dr. Ochello is a graduate of the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and a board-certified Emergency Physician. He also serves as an Airway Management Physician for the New Orleans Saints and most recently for Super Bowl XLVII. 38

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T HE BEA T

CRIME FIGHTING

Ray Nagin: The Examples He Set B Y A LL E N J O H N S O N J R .

wenty - two citi z ens served on the grand jury that

deliberated the fate of former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Only one, the grand jury foreman, now stands before U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle Jr. The foreman is an older, white-haired man, wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He is unassuming, perhaps retired. Because grand jury proceedings are secret, he isn’t named in court or public court documents. Two federal prosecutors stand nearby, appropriately solemn. A gaggle of reporters sit in the back of the otherwise near-empty courtroom. Someone gives the judge a handful of papers. The room is suddenly quiet. The indictment of former Mayor Nagin (2002-’10) – has long been anticipated, owing to a string of guilty pleas from businessmen and city contractors. Now that the moment is here, it’s suddenly hard to fathom. “I have been handed a grand jury return on an indictment today signed by 22 grand jurors and signed by the foreperson,” Lemelle says. “They are true and correct?” “Yes sir,” the foreman says. His right hand trembles. Judge Lemelle reads a summary of the 21-count indictment against Nagin, including charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, bribery and filing false tax returns. The hearing ends. Reporters run for their phones. Clarence Ray Nagin, 56, who was the city’s chief executive through Hurricane Katrina, and who won back-to-back elections for mayor – the only public office he ever sought – now faces decades in prison. In a sense, Nagin, who once flirted with a run for Governor of Louisiana, has

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lost his first and most important “election.” Federal law requires that grand juries in Louisiana be comprised of 16 to 23 registered voters in the state. There were 22 voters on the Nagin grand jury – roughly two more jurors than the average panel for the 13-parish Eastern District of Louisiana at New Orleans, according to federal court statistics for 2001-’11. “A grand jury may indict only if at least 12 jurors concur,” according to Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute (law.cornell. edu). All 22 signed the former mayor’s indictment, charging him with taking cash bribes, trips to Hawaii and Jamaica and accepting truckloads of granite for a family business. Nagin pleaded not guilty to each of the 21 felony counts in the sweeping indictment. His two sons were implicated but not charged. Trial was set for April 30. B

So, what does the indictment of a former mayor have to do with joint city and federal efforts to reform the New Orleans Police Department, and the New Orleans Police Department’s efforts to fight the city’s chronic violent crime problem? AP/MATTHEW HINTON PHOTOGRAPH

The answer is: plenty. The Nagin years provide benchmarks for the rollback of police reforms and failed efforts at crime control. Nagin took office in 2002, after defeating “reform” Police Chief Richard Pennington in a run-off election for mayor. Nagin’s supporters included police groups opposed to Pennington’s reforms. Nagin rewarded the groups by reaching into the department and appointing consecutive chiefs from within the ranks of a force with a historical reputation for corruption and the use of excessive force. Nagin convinced the U.S. Department of Justice to end its nineyear supervision of the NOPD during his first term. Rollbacks of the hard-won reforms of the Pennington Era – including strict supervision of paid details – soon followed, along with federal probes of the police beating death of Raymond Robair, the post-Katrina burning death of Henry Glover and the police mass shootings of unarmed blacks at Danziger Bridge the week after the storm. Aside from the allegation that Nagin’s corruption of his office pre-dated the hurricane and continued until he left office, one particular date stands out in the 23-page indictment. According to the federal indictment, Jan. 11, 2007, Nagin approved a city ordinance that allowed city property to be sold to a “major retail corporation,” the indictment states. “At the same time, defendant C. Ray Nagin solicited the same major retail cooperation for a business arrangement that would personally benefit him and his family-owned granite business, Stone Age LLC.” Jan. 11 is the same day that thousands of angry citizens marched on City Hall demanding an end to violent crime – nearly six months after Gov. Kathleen Blanco had rushed 300 National Guard troops and 60 State Police troopers to the city at request of Nagin and Police Chief Warren Riley. Demonstrators called for the resignations of the mayor, the chief of police and the district attorney. One man waved a huge white flag with blood-red letters: “S.O.S.” Every day citizens recalled horrific losses of loved ones to cold-blooded killings. The crowd refused to allow the mayor or any other elected official to address the rally. Forced to listen, Nagin stood quietly. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands, as if in prayer. Afterwards, he and the city council held an ad hoc press conference on the second-floor of City Hall. A contrite Nagin promised reporters to stop blaming others for the city’s problems. He promised to focus on ending the city’s notorious violent reputation once and for all: “As mayor of the city of New Orleans, I am not going to talk about any other entity, whether it be the State or the Federal Government. My pledge to the citizens of New Orleans, from this day forward, is that everything that I do – going forward as your mayor – will be totally and solely focused on making sure that murders become a thing of the past in our city.” Nagin, like anyone accused of a crime, is entitled to the presumption of innocence. At the same time, the public, of course, is entitled to full explanation of the former mayor’s public services on that busy January day at City Hall. Who got the best deal from the businessman-turnedmayor: the crime weary public or his family granite business? Most conversations about the NOPD post-Nagin tend to center around the overdue federal consent decree at federal court. Unfortunately there’s been too little mention of the role elected officials can play in creating both a safer city by reforming NOPD. National Guard Col. Mickey Evans published a recommendation for future New Orleans mayors in his 1994 study of NOPD that still rings true today. “Set the example in personal conduct, professional ethics and standards of conduct,” Evans wrote in his. “Set the example for all police officers and other city employees.” myneworleans.com

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N EWSBEAT

Steering a Future for Ferries Boats have shuttled people across the Mississippi River since the very founding of New Orleans, and they play a role in the metro area’s modern transportation network. Now, however, local officials are looking for new ways to fund these ferries to keep the service alive. There is concern that ending ferry service would shift more traffic onto the Crescent City Connection bridges and also harm economic development, especially in Algiers where the easy ferry connection to downtown New Orleans contributes a great deal to the neighborhood’s lifestyle. The threat to ferry service stems from changes to the administration of the Crescent City Connection. Tolls from eastbound bridge traffic have long subsidized the ferries, including the Canal Street/Algiers ferry, the Chalmette/Lower Algiers Ferry and the Gretna/New Orleans ferry. But newly enacted legislation prohibits bridge tolls from funding the ferries any longer. Together, these three ferry lines annually carry about 1.2 million pedestrians (mostly on the Canal/ Algiers line) and 675,000 vehicles (mostly on the Chalmette/Lower Algiers line). But fares, now col42

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lected only on vehicles, come nowhere near funding their operation or upkeep. Rhett Desselle, assistant secretary of operations for the state Department of Transportation and Development says the state will fund the Chalmette/Lower Algiers Ferry because it serves an area that would otherwise need a bridge. Funding for the other two lines is unclear, but the issue is now in the hands of the Regional Planning Commission (RPC), a multi-parish agency that handles transportation and economic development. The RPC “is responsible for directing the path forward for local ferry service,” says Desselle. Earlier this year the group’s board agreed to form a special committee to make recommendations. “I’m going to be on the optimistic side and say there is a deal to be found here,” says RPC executive director Walter Brooks. Some options already discussed include transferring the ferries from state to local control, raising fares and seeking private management for the service. Last year the state’s request for proposals for private operators brought no response. But New Orleans City Council Vice President Jackie Clarkson believes investors will have greater confidence in a process guided by the RPC than by local government, and that a new request could net more interest. – I an M c N u l ty

LOCALCOLOR THE SCOOP

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JOIE D’EVE

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Gardening 101 Make 2013 the year you discovered your green thumb. By Haley Adams

udging by the huge tree roots that

take over the sidewalks of some New Orleans streets, it looks like it would be easy to get something to grow in the Crescent City. But there’s more to planting a garden than putting a seed in the ground and watering it a few times. We talked to local experts to put together this step-by-step guide to help you grow a beautiful garden. Step 1: Prime the garden. Decide where you want to plant, and remember to start small. You shouldn’t try to turn your whole backyard into a garden in one day, recommends Kenny Rabalais, who co-owns The Plant Gallery (9401 Airline Highway, 4888887, ThePlantGallery.com) with his wife, Jennifer. “Slice it into a pie and do pieces of it so you can see your success as you go,” he says. “It will make you really want to push to finish it and not be so overwhelmed.” Once you’ve settled on a location, you need to test your soil. Take a soil sample to a local garden center, or send the sample to the Louisiana State University AgCenter, where it will be analyzed in a lab then sent back to you within seven to 10 days with a report about the state of your soil. You can pick up a box to send your soil to the LSU AgCenter at local garden stores or at the Orleans Parish extension office in room BW15 in City Hall (1300 Perdido St., 658-2900). For more information on the process, visit LSUAgCenter.com. Another thing to check before you start planting is drainage. New Orleans is known for retaining water, so it’s important to make sure your garden isn’t doing the same thing. “Drainage is key because plants like oxygen,” says Andrew Loyd, the Orleans Parish Assistant Cooperative Extension Agent for the LSU AgCenter. “If there’s water sitting there, the roots aren’t going to grow and with the anaerobic conditions, they’ll die.” To make sure your garden is going to

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Kenny Rabalais, co-owner, The Plant Gallery,

Lesley Hidalgo photograph, Bottom

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Melinda Taylor, a horticulturalist and color expert at the New Orleans Botanical Garden. Torenias, cat’s whiskers, gomphrenas and ornamental sweet potato are also good options, as well as marigolds and vincas. When you’re ready to buy plants, go for transplants instead of seeds because there’s a better chance of success with transplants, Pollard says. Beginner gardeners can use seeds, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong, and seeds require more time and patience. The best way to try a seed is to start it in a container then transplant to your garden. (Pollard adds that

Step 3: Think about your level of commitment. One of

the last factors to think about before you start planting is how much effort you’re going to commit to the garden. “There’s no such thing as no maintenance,” Rabalais says. He adds that any living thing requires maintenance, especially in New Orleans’ hot summers. “We could either have two weeks of rain or two weeks of drought,” he says. “If you plant something right Popular warm-season plants include (clockwise from in the beginning of a drought top left): angelonias, torenias, cat’s whiskers, mariand you don’t water it, then golds and ornamental sweet potato. it’s not going to live.” Be realistic with yourself. some plants require direct seeding, so make sure you check the You will have to commit some time to watering. Lydia Pollard, label on the seed packet.) a member of the board of Master Gardeners of Greater New Step 5: Plant and water. Once you’re ready to put your plants in Orleans, and the manager of the ARC Project’s Uptown greenthe ground, make sure you give them enough space. The most house, says it’s important for gardeners to keep checking their important factor is how big the plant is going to get, so it’s imporplants and to use their best judgment when it comes to watering. tant to read the label or to double check with an employee at the “You can’t water on a schedule because it depends on if it has garden center before you buy. “A lot of times, people will plant rained,” Pollard says. She recommends sticking a finger deep plants really close together because they want instant satisfacinto the soil to examine the moisture. Step 4: Decide what you want. Once you know you have good tion,” Loyd says. “That’s why they run into problems. You want a soil and drainage, and you have an idea of the sun on your garplant for the future and you just have to be patient.” Step 6: Don’t stress out. If you run into any problems while gardenden, you’re ready for the plant store. Make a plan for what you ing or notice anything weird about your plants, don’t be afraid to want your garden to look like. What colors do you want? What go to a local garden store for help, and always read the directions kinds of plants do you want? Remember that a plant is only when buying plants or fertilizer. Understanding how plants work going to do well if you buy it for the right amount of sun. Make and putting effort into your new garden could make you discover sure you’re looking at plants for your sun situation, and then the green thumb you never knew you had. “People will often plant choose the ones you want. things in the wrong spots and then their plants don’t do well and For color, Loyd suggests grouping certain colors together. This they automatically think they have a black thumb,” Loyd says. “But is when you can get creative and think of colors that work well if people just read labels and read together or the colors that you want to look about the plants and understand at every day. Local Resources for Beginning Gardeners the biology of the plants, everyAs far as specific plants, angelonias LSU AgCenter, LSUAgCenter.com body has a green thumb.” are a popular warm-season plant, says Master Gardeners of Greater New Orleans, mggno.com 46

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C l o ckw i s e f r o m t o p l e f t : r o t a r y g a r d e n s . c o m , w h a t g r o w s t h e r e . c o m , v a n i llas e v e n . c o m , t h e f l o w e r sa v e n u e . c o m , m suca r e s . c o m

drain, add more soil to make a mound – “essentially a raised bed,” Loyd says – so the water will drain off. While testing the soil and dealing with drainage isn’t the most exciting part of gardening, Rabalais says it’s crucial. He compares it to painting a house. “If the paint’s falling off the house, and you hurry up and paint it, then the paint’s not going to last,” Rabalais says. “But if you sand it and prime it, your paint’s going to last. Don’t buy a great plant unless you prime the garden.” Step 2: Survey your sun situation. Before you run out to the garden store, you also have to observe the amount of sun your future garden gets. Take some time to examine the amount of sunlight. Look at the spot in the morning, in the middle of the day and in the evening. Whether the spot gets a lot of sun or sits in the shade will determine the types of plants you should buy. And not knowing what kind of sun your plants are going to get could ruin your garden – not to mention your mood.

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MUSIC

Aaron Neville, Now and Forever B Y J AS O N B E R R Y

h i r t y y e a r s f r o m n o w , w i t h t h e G u lf h a v i n g

swallowed the southern parishes, from their homes on concrete stilts New Orleanians will catch the Canal Street gondola under silver pepper stars to an audio loop with Aaron Neville’s gorgeous reach. “With your eyes so big and shiny You can see the whole damn land Yellow moon, can you tell me If the girl’s with another man?” That voice, the singer’s tale in cameo, is destined for longevity. How many vocalists today lay claim to truly cosmic reach? Streisand? Sure. Paul Simon? Duh. Linda Ronstadt? Absolutely. How about Billy Joel? Nah. Norah Jones! Maybe. Whitney Houston? Um, well ... All right then: Aretha Franklin? Yes. And would everyone please stand for Dr. John? Every singer has a different purchase on the simple force of beauty. The poetics of a given voice surround a song, teasing out the lines that last in the memory as if by some magical implantation. Neville is there by virtue of astonishing range and how his voice colors words in the rise of octaves unto a floating falsetto, like a cloud changing shape in the sky. The voice in its altitude gives 48

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new meaning to the words sung. Think of Al Green in his prime, the sinuous, cat-on-a-high wire quality, dancing high above instrumentation on “So In Love With You.” Aaron Neville has a longer, more varied journey as a vocalist, much of which has been shaped by his love of gospel. The high notes are his mainstay. His take on “The Mouseketeer Song” summons a tenderness to make the hearts of many a baby boomer melt. But his CD Believe, a classic, taps spirituality from varied wellsprings. A childhood in pews of the Catholic Church shapes “Ave Maria.” His version of Hank Williams’ “I Saw The Light” turns on sharp lilts: “Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night,” he sings in a tenor baritone at medium tempo, then up like an angel: “Praise the Lord, I saw the light!” The power of his falsetto pulls from a deep spirituality. In past interviews Neville has been blunt A P / Al e x A . M e n e n d e z P HOTOGRAH

CD Jason Marsalis, the youngest of the Marsalis clan, joins his band, the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet, for his latest album, In a World of Mallets. What sets this album apart from Marsalis’ two previous albums from Basin Street Records is his use of the vibraphone. Marsalis also plays a few other instruments on the album, including the marimba, xylophone and tubular bells. While the talented percussionist dedicates In a World of Mallets to the New York jazz scene, Marsalis’ New Orleans roots are still reflected throughout the album. HISTORY While a lot of people like to delve into their family’s heritage, Dr. Christopher Everette Cenac Sr., goes beyond the usual research project with his book Eyes of An Eagle: Jean-Pierre Cenac, Patriarch: An Illustrated History of Early HoumaTerrebonne. The book follows Jean-Pierre Cenac, the writer’s great-grandfather, who moved to Louisiana from France. Cenac mixes fiction with non-fiction, as the oddnumbered chapters are fiction to give JeanPierre Cenac a “human dimension,” while the even-numbered chapters are based on documents and research. HISTORY The whole world was affected by World War II, but it didn’t just influence the human world. As illustrated in Loyal Forces: The American Animals of World War II, animals including dogs, horses, mules and pigeons had a supporting role in the war. Toni M. Kiser, the assistant director of collections and exhibits at the National World War II Museum, collaborated with Lindsey F. Barnes, the museum’s senior archivist, to compile this book full of photos and detailed explanations of how animals were used in the war. COOKBOoK As the writer of the Advocate’s “Fresh Ideas” column and the author of the food blog Clearly Delicious, Helana Brigman has plenty of knowledge of Louisiana cuisine to pack into a cookbook. The Fresh Table: Cooking in Louisiana All Year Round is filled with recipes using fresh Louisiana ingredients. The book is broken into seasons, so readers can plan meals based on what produce is in at the time.

Please send submissions for consideration, attention: Haley Adams, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. myneworleans.com

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about his battle with a smack addiction and the St. Jude novenas he made in getting clean. On Believe, you get a sense of that past’s dark grip in his take of Bob Dylan’s composition, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” The guitar lines throb like some malevolent force coming fast behind – an evil spirit stalking you: “You might be a rock ‘n’ roll addict Prancin’ on the stage You might have drugs at your command Women in a cage You may be a businessman Or some high degree thief ... But you’re gonna have to serve somebody … ” And then the reach, the soaring voice trailing a message raw and hard: “Yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody!” In the new CD My True Story, Neville pays homage to the Doo Wop music of his adolescence in the 1950s, the lush harmonies of groups like the Orioles, Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, the Platters and the Moonglows singing “Sincerely” – if all of this draws a blank on Generation X readers, find The Doo Wop Box on Rounder (you’ll thank me). The midcentury hits that Neville covers on the new CD range from a mellow crooning on “Gypsy Woman” and a rhapsodic flow on “Be My Baby” to the ever-tender “Tears on My Pillow.” But in contrast to the high-octave harmonics of classic Doo Wop groups, who blended their voices with racing polyrhythms and rocking backbeats, the arrangements on My True Story lean to the spare side, and wisely so. Dispensing with the tempo-charged choral refrains leaves a wider space and room for Neville’s voice to roam. It is hard to imagine he’s 72 years old, his voice sounds so young; but hitting the high notes is an aerobics feat for any singer

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“Me and [Allen] Toussaint would ride around with a tape recorder and one day we pulled up to a big semi truck. The motor was going ‘rumble rumble rumble’ with a nice beat, you know, and Toussaint recorded that beat.” – Aaron Neville, Up From the Cradle of Jazz

in that age zone, even with chops like a Neville. The gem of this CD is “Little Bitty Pretty One,” a 1957 Bobby Day composition that Thurston Harris sang so well it was covered again and again by, inter alia, Clyde McPhatter, the Jackson Five, Huey Lewis and the News and the Doobie Brothers. It opens with a melody of scat singing and then the lines: “Oh, little bitty pretty one, Come on and talk to me, Let me grab you lovely one Come sit down on my knee.” The nimble bounce in Neville’s voice puts a different patina on this one, a surface with all the sweetness one associates with those timeless lyrics from an era when love songs carried grand cargo as sensations of the heart, the lyrics rocking a message of love more than sex, and the erotic joys of dancing to rhythms spinning something new and hot. I keep wondering if the old adage that everyone remains loyal to music of their youth will apply to rap and hip-hop. Do I hear younger readers groan? It is a surpassing pleasure to hear Neville rewrite pages of his past, singing anew the standards on which he grew up. Yet I couldn’t help but think that an even more pared-down Aaron Neville classic is yet to come. Put this man in a studio, let that gorgeous voice go a capella and sing what it will. If he wants a piano, why not? This guy is one golden spirit.

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ev. Goat pushes his frame against a hard wind

as he turns into his front yard and up the steps to his home on Oak Street. As he climbs the steps, Goat says doctors at Touro found a tumor on his adrenal gland, and it’s causing him “a helluva lot of pain and sickness. Doctors say it may be nothing or I may have six months or so to live. I’ll find out shortly. But what the hell, I’m comfortable with whatever way it turns out.” The wiry little “renegade Cherokee Indian” (as he describes himself) is an unmistakable sight and one to behold around the neighborhood of Oak Street and South Carrollton Avenue, dressed in black pants and shirt, purple vest, emblazoned black chukka boots and topped off with a white cowboy hat adorned with a large medallion and feathers sticking out pointing every which way. This eclectic whirlwind of color, clothing, musings and background is perfectly suited for his abode, the innards of which could easily be described as “Early American Explosion”: animal pelts, a Texas longhorn hide as a bed covering, candles on the floor, geegaws of every stripe, cobwebs here, cob-

The Reverend Goat The cause continues. B Y G E O R G E G U R T N E R

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webs there and all blanketed under a sweet pall of an aroma from a nether world. And, alas, a lamp that blows out a light bulb as Goat turns it on: “Goddammit,” he says, “It says right there on the package, ‘good for a year and a half.’ I haven’t had that f___ing bulb in there for 10 minutes. But what the hell do you expect for a dollar!” For some reason, the zebra-striped bed covering set the Goat just bought on Oak Street seems a perfect fit for all of the above. But if you think Goat is angry over the light bulb, you soon realize it’s only the raison d’être, an entre of mood, to his higher passion for the very reason of his being, his life’s work, the reason he feels he must go on past six months … despite what he says about “being comfortable with any outcome” about the growth inside his body. The 68-year-old Rev. Goat, born David Lee Carson, has a bone to pick with the government of the United States of America. It is yet another pain that gnaws inside him more than any tumor. All of the other things in his life – the Grammy acknowledgement for a song he wrote for Dr. John (“City That Care Forgot”); an album on which he wrote and sang such “classics” as “Captain Kirk & Custer” and “Wham Bam Medicine Man”; Native American Music awards; speaking engagements; and paling around with the likes of Michael J. Pollard, the actor who played C.W. Moss in the movie Bonnie and Clyde – are mere failing images compared to his beef with Uncle Sam. That beef, he says, is the reason he ran for president in 1992 as the “Blues Party” candidate and picked up 100,000 votes. “My slogan was, ‘We want our money back,’” Rev. Goat says. Failing in his bid for the White House, the then-David Lee Carson trekked to New Orleans “on a vision” in Dallas. “When I arrived in New Orleans in 1994 is when things really started happening,” says Goat. He was ordained a “reverend” and given the name “Goat” from his mantra, “Go On And Try.” “The government broke F RAN K METHE P HOTOGRA P H

every treaty they ever had with the Indians,” Goat says, his eyes glowering in anger and then tears. “We need land, take it from the Indians. I’m talking every f___ing treaty the government ever signed was broken. Then they come up with this crap about ‘tribal cards,’ they tell us they have the right to say who is Cherokee and who is not, and whether we can even be called Cherokee. Know who came up with those kind of cards? Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan.” He continues, “Well, I’m not going to stand for it. I’ve devoted my life to abolishing those damned tribal cards. In the past when the government issued them, we burned them. Now I want to see them gone. We have a lot of people behind us, interested in this.” Goat points to a poster of the late “Tootie” Montana, the iconic Mardi Gras Indian chief for five decades who was known as “Chief of Chiefs” and who started making his own costumes when he was 10 years old. The poster is hanging lopsidedly high up in a corner where two walls meet. Goat is taking a pill for the pain in his belly and lifts his glass of water up as a toast to Chief Montana. “I was the first man to offer to share a pipe, an ancient American Indian, with a black man,” Goat says. “There was a lot of backlash. I even got death threats. I didn’t care about those threats. In 1994 Chief Montana had a vision of bringing together many tribes to celebrate their shared vision. I led the organizational effort to make this vision a reality at Congo Square in Louis Armstrong Park.” He continues, “The gathering was called ‘Sacred Medicine Circle at High Noon.’ It was held on Aug. 20, 1994. History shows that the black Indian tribes and the red Indian tribes have an incredible lengthy shared history. Many prophecies have shown the coming together of the African polyrhythms and the Native American powwow like bringing together people across tribal lines to celebrate unity and healing. However, the event was considered controversial for bringing up a history that isn’t much talked about in the Deep South. The event was attended by many tribes, including Lakota, Choctaw, Cherokee and many others …” Goat stops to take a telephone call from his 50-year-old daughter who lives in northern California and is on her way to Afghanistan as a missionary. She is a teacher there. As he hangs up the telephone, his eyes again fill with tears. He tells of how much he misses each of his four children. But shortly his attention returns to the vision of unity among all Indians. “Every Aug. 27 we bring everyone together and I bring up the issues of unity. This is how it has been since the beginning, when we asked for a sign from the Buffalo Nation to show that this was good medicine. The sign was that the next day a white buffalo was born. That was our sign.” He continues, “It will happen again this coming Aug. 27, just like all the others, we’ll meet at the Backstreet Museum then parade to the original church known as the ‘Church of the Unknown Slave’ (St. Augustine Church). Just at the slaves came out of that church so long ago, already drumming … that was the original second-line. From there the black Indians will dance over to Congo Square to jam with the Indians. It’s the same every year. It’s a beautiful and meaningful ceremony. It’s what moves me from day to day.” Goat takes another phone call, something about picking up Dr. John at the airport. Nothing is settled on that score; it’s one of those “I’ll call you back” type of non-conversations. He reaches into a pile of pelts in a box against the wall and pulls a stringed jawbone musical instrument from the once-live wrappings. He coaxes some soft lyrics from the strings, then quickly wraps it and returns it to the box. He says he’s waiting for a call from somebody else, though he never says who it is. Then without another word, Rev. Goat, the man who has taken on the federal government, closes his eyes and quickly winces. The nausea and the pain are still there. myneworleans.com

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M O D I N E’S N EW O RLEAN S

To Hover or Not To Hover? B Y M O D I N E G U N C H

this

country

got

Republicans

and

Democrats, Catholics and atheists, Saints and Falcons – and we got sitters and hoverers. (If you happen to be a man, you might not want to read no further. Maybe go watch some baseball. This is kind of between us ladies.) Ladies, you know how when you got to make a quick trip to the powder room and you get in the stall, you got a choice. You can plunk down and sit on who-knows-howmany invisible germs, or bend and lock your knees and suspend your hiney a couple inches above the seat. You are either a sitter or a hoverer. My mama brought me up to be a hoverer. She also taught me to be a foot-flusher, even though it ain’t easy to lean back, especially in high heels, and push the flusher with my foot instead of my hand. Unless I’m on one of them self-flushing toilets – the kind that got a little electric eye watching your behind and as soon as you move, it flushes. I am sure whoever invented that toilet thought it was a great idea, but there you are, trying to pull all your different layers back on, and it keeps flushing at you. Like it’s telling you to move along; you’re done here. Besides, just what does that electric eye see? And does it record it and post it on the Internet? I wonder about that. Who comes up with ladies’ room appliances, anyway? And do they ever ask the ladies? What about them toilet paper rolls the size of a truck tire? How much toilet paper do they think we need? I am all for tidy, but this is ridiculous. And they got no perforations in these giant rolls, so there you are, leaning sideways, trying to yank off enough paper and you pull so hard, half the time the side of the dispenser falls off, followed by the entire roll. Now, I read that they’re coming out with an electronic toilet paper dispenser that you just have to put your hand under and the toilet paper – as much as the restroom owner thinks you need – will fall into your hand. And if the power fails, don’t worry. They thought of that. You simply have to “pull and push” a knob on the front to make it work. Pull and push. At once. While hovering in high heels. I tell you what I think is next. You know those blow dryers for your hands that they got instead of paper towels? I bet pretty soon they’re going to install other blow dryers, right in the stall, to replace toilet paper. So I carry a little packet of Kleenex in my purse at all times. You just never know. And the whole time you’re doing the sitting or hovering and yanking and flushing, you’re clenching your purse strap in your teeth. They used to have purse hooks inside stall doors, but somebody started a rumor that purse snatchers were sneaking into ladies’ rooms, reaching over the stall doors and grabbing purses off the hooks while the purse owners were caught with their pants down. I don’t know if it was true, but ever since then there ain’t no purse hooks on the inside of stall doors and you got no other choice but to dangle your purse from your teeth because you sure don’t want to risk putting it on the floor. 54

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Of course, before you get in the ladies’ room, first you got to find it. Which ain’t that easy if you’re in one of them places where they label the restrooms with something besides women and men. Innies and outies; gulls and bouys; Adams and Eves; pointers and setters. Usually it’s obvious, but sometimes you have to think for a minute. Last week my gentleman friend Lust and me got all dressed up and went to his brother’s 25th wedding anniversary party at this cute little German restaurant across the lake. They got an oom-pah-pah band and a lot of beer, and more beer. Pretty soon I had an urgent need to find the restroom. So I come to two doors, marked “Herron” and “Damin.” I assume “Herron” means “Hers,” and I rush in there and into a stall. (There is no waiting line – that should have clued me in right there, but nooo.) After I’m done, I reach for the gigantic toilet paper roll and it gives me a fight and would have tumbled into my lap, but since I ain’t got no lap while hovering, it rolls under the door and keeps going, while I’m holding one end of the paper in my hand. And then I hear a man’s voice. And another. And splashing. And I peek through the jalousies on this stall door and look at a row of guys with their backs to me. (“Herron,” I find out later, means “gentlemen” in German.) Anyway, I quick pull up my drawers, and turn around to flush before I make a run for it. Meanwhile, one of the men notices the roll and the path of paper leading to my stall, and says “Lose something, dude?” and rolls it back. I happen to have my back turned, standing on one foot while I flush with the other, when that thing barrels in. It smacks right into the foot I’m standing on. I lose my balance and fall over backwards, knock open the stall door and land on my back on the floor, with my purse strap still in my teeth. Well. Everybody is a perfect gentleman and zips up real fast and helps me up and asks if I am OK. And I am. Except mentally. You don’t forget something like that. Not ever. I am a changed woman. I am now a sitter. I will never hover again. L ORI OSIE C K I I L L USTRATION

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APRIL 2012

J OIE D’ E V E

BLOGS FROM THE NEW NEW ORLEANS

Across the Ages B Y E V E K i d d C r a w f or d

ost of the time, I barely even think about the

large age gap between my two daughters – it just is what it is. Earlier this week, though, I found myself in the office hooked up to a breast pump to ensure that Georgia would have enough food for the next day while simultaneously making change for a co-worker of mine who was buying Girl Scout cookies from Ruby. I felt distinctly spread too thin. All of my friends who have more than one kid had their kids close together, intensifying the misery of the early days, no doubt, but also condensing it rather than dragging it out the way I have. For instance, a friend of mine had two in diapers at once, but because her son and daughter are just 14 months apart, she only had a total of three years of diapers. I will have four years of changing diapers behind me before I’m done – two with Ruby, two with Georgia, with no overlap. (Oh, God, am I being wildly optimistic here? They potty-train at 2, don’t they? See? I have forgotten so much that I have to re-learn it, another reason it’s inefficient to space kids so far apart.) Also, kids closer in age have similar interests; if my kids were just 14 months apart, I could plop them both in front of “Yo Gabba Gabba” at least long enough to take a shower. But with five-and-a-half years separating them, Ruby wants to watch bratty kids saying bratty things on the Disney channel while Georgia wants to crawl around the living room cramming various choke-able objects in her mouth, and that combination doesn’t give me much down time at all. Their schedules don’t mesh either. Ruby has ballet and parties and school and Scouts – and Georgia, whether it’s naptime or lunchtime or bedtime for her in an ideal baby world, is dragged along for the ride. Ruby has to make sacrifices, too. She wasn’t able to get as close as she wanted to at a lot of the parades because I had to keep the baby way back from the bands and the various objects being lobbed from floats, and we’ve had to leave a couple of school programs early because Georgia wouldn’t stop yelling. Generally, though, there are a lot of good things about having one in diapers and one old enough to use the bathroom alone, flush, wash her hands and then

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neurotically slather them in hand sanitizer to “kill any extra germs.” One of the very best things is watching Ruby take care of Georgia. Although it’s not like I’d ever let Ruby be in charge while I ran out to grab a drink or catch a show, I do frequently trust her to entertain the baby (safely ensconced in her Exersaucer) while I start a load of laundry or microwave a plate of chicken nuggets, and listening to Georgia laugh at Ruby’s antics warms every part of my heart. And the other day, Ruby accidentally slid off the sofa with Georgia on her lap and landed extra-hard on her elbow because she was trying to cushion Georgia from the fall. “I’m OK, Mommy,” she said when I rushed over. “I was just worried about Georgie. I would much rather me get hurt than her get hurt.” Scenes like that make me wonder how I could ever have even considered that my family would be complete without Georgia in it. But Ruby is also a normal kid who gets jealous sometimes – and that’s better, too, because she can verbalize it instead of whatever kind of acting out she’d do if she were 2 and jealous (although how I’d distinguish that from normal 2-year-old asshole behavior, I’m not sure). Overall, like I said, I mostly see their age spread as a simple fact: like anything, there are pros and cons. And as for selling a box of Thin Mints and a box of Samoas while hooked up to a breast pump – well, all moms have to multitask, and everyone knows cookies and milk are a natural combination! Excerpted from Eve Kidd Crawford’s blog, Joie d’Eve, which appears each Friday on MyNewOrleans.com. For comments: info@neworleansmagazine.com.

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APRIL 2013

L OCAL C O L O R

C H R O N I C LES

Warren Easton band rehearsal, circa 1961

Strike Up the Band From society orchestras to brass bands, New Orleans musicians start young and learn fast.

S.J. Peters band, 1931

B Y C A R O LY N K O L B a ck S t e w a r t r e c a ll s t h e b e g i n n i n g o f h i s m u s i c

education in Orleans Parish Public Schools: He was handed a “Tonette” in fourth grade. “It was a hard, plastic recorder. They would give them out at the beginning of the year – they had been boiled and sterilized but they still had teeth marks on them.” Ken Kolb had the same experience at De La Salle School: “I still remember: you had to put your fingers on the right place to play a tune – one, two, three, two, one, one, one …” Stewart traded in his Tonette for a clarinet at McMain Junior High School. He had a memorable band instructor. “Matthew Lewis Longuefosse had long black hair. When he was conducting he’d bend forward and his hair would come in front of his face, and then he’d toss his head and it would fly back.” McMain also had an orchestra, taught by Carl Kirst, who played regularly in city nightspots, as did his brothers Gordon and Albert. “Sometimes they combined the band and orchestra. It was like a symphony, a huge number of wind instruments and strings, too,” says Stewart. New Orleans music educators were often professional performers. Society band leader René Louapre spent more than 30 years as a music educator in New Orleans public schools, including service as Supervisor of Instrumental Music – all while he was building an orchestra with a schedule of 40 Carnival balls a season. In his 2006 book, Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance, the late Mick Burns interviewed several working local

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Check It Out

A lot of information on music in local schools is in the Orleans Parish School Board Records, housed since 1983 in Louisiana and Special Collections at the Earl K. Long Library of the University of New Orleans. Material includes board minutes back to 1841, photographs, curriculum guides, budgets and building details, all in 1,600 linear feet of material. Al Kennedy, who has done extensive research in the collection for his book Chord Changes on the Chalkboard: How Public School Teachers Shaped Jazz and the Music of New Orleans, currently teaches a University of New Orleans course entitled “Public Education in New Orleans: 1841 to Post Katrina.” P h o t o g r a p h s C o u r t e s y O r l e a n s P a r i s h Sc h o o l B o a r d A r c h i v e s , Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans

musicians who traced their musical skills to their school days. Philip Frazier III (known as “Tuba Phil” on “Treme”) took up the trombone in grammar school, but at Joseph S. Clark High School switched to tuba under band director David Harris. With his brother Keith and his classmates, including Kermit Ruffins, he began the Rebirth Brass Band. Historian Al Kennedy carefully researched music instructors and charted their students and their influence. Clyde Kerr Sr., was at Booker T. Washington High School, Xavier Prep and Priestley Junior High School in a 30-year career that produced both working musicians and other music educators. Kerr also fielded an orchestra himself, and his son, Clyde Kerr Jr., was a music teacher at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he taught Irvin Mayfield, Nicholas Payton and Jason Marsalis as pupils. Wynton, Branford and Delfeayo Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr., were NOCCA students who trained under Dr. Bert Breaud. Even in days when schools were racially segregated, music could cross boundaries. Legendary Jesuit High School music director Michael Cupero, who wrote Jesuit’s alma mater in 1931, privately taught black musician Lionel Ferbos. Ferbos is still playing at age 101. Arthur Hardy, best known today for his Mardi Gras Guide, marched in his first parade for the Krewe of Thoth as a 12-yearold student at Beauregard Junior High School (now Thurgood Marshall School). He had more marching ahead at Warren Easton High School, where he parlayed his trombone skill into the front row (“right behind those Easton Eagles girls with their big purple letters on their white sweaters”) and became captain. With only his public school music training, Hardy would go on to get a music degree from Loyola University and launch a career in school music, beginning at Beauregard where he started and including 16 years as music director at Brother Martin High School. In his years in school music, Hardy and his students took part in contests and judging set up by the Louisiana Music Educators Association. “Our bands consistently got superior ratings in junior high and in high school,” he says. Hardy served for two years as state president of the group, which still rates young musicians and hosts competitions for places in All-State ensembles: Women’s Chorale, Mixed Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Orchestra, Concert Band and Symphonic Band. The earliest newspaper mention of a New Orleans school band parading was the St. Joseph’s School Band, playing for the Phoenix Fire Company in the March 4, 1872, annual Volunteer Fireman’s parade. “Every brass band in the city was engaged weeks in advance” according to the next day’s Daily Picayune. Now, that early brass band has some new young followers. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation has instituted an annual contest, “Class Got Brass?” Foundation Director of Programs Scott Aiges explains that the “cultural Olympiad” was designed to “keep the focus on the school system” and “focus on the most iconic part of New Orleans culture, the second-line parades and brass bands.” “All of us in the nonprofit world who are creating these new music programs are still just trying to replace what’s been lost at the school level,” Aiges says, noting the foundation’s use of school stages at festivals and their Heritage School of Music, plus youth programs from the National Park Service, Irvin Mayfield and Delfeayo Marsalis. “Class Got Brass?” had 17 entrants last year. KIPP McDonogh 15 took the top prize of $10,000. O. Perry Walker High School won second place and $6,000. McDonogh 35 High School took third place, winning $4,000. All schools received at least $750. And the beat goes on. myneworleans.com

APRIL 2013

L OCAL C O L O R

HOME

Feeling Eclectic This University District home reflects different styles. B Y B O N N I E WA R R E N

p hotogr a p h e d

c H E R YL

GERBER

n t h e d e s i g n w o r l d , “ e cl e c t i c ” e m b r a c e s i n d i v i d u a l e l e m e n t s f r o m

a variety of sources, systems or styles. “To me, eclectic style means that it knows no time period,” says Penny Francis, owner of Eclectic Home on Oak Street. “I believe the best interior design looks as though it has evolved over time.” In the University District home Penny shares with Octave J. “Todd” Francis III, her investor and financier husband who’s the CEO of FFC Capital Markets, you’ll see a perfect example of eclectic

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Facing page: Penny calls the front sun porch her sitting room; the cheerful space has sheer fabric drapes that cover the large windows to provide privacy while still embracing the view of palm trees and the huge oak in the yard. This page: The living room is wrapped in a soft neutral color as a backdrop for the eclectic furnishings. Inset: Located on a tree-lined boulevard in the University District, the home features stately Corinthian columns and lush landscaping.

style. “Here I have executed my fondness of furnishings from all periods,” she says. She admires traditional furnishings with modern finishes as presented in their living and dining rooms. The entire home showcases the best of both worlds, employing Penny’s love for modern and traditional, including Louis IV chairs, a Ligne Roset chaise and an Eames molded lounge chair. Located on a broad, tree-lined boulevard surrounded by grand homes, the couple’s home is full of interesting spaces. “When we purchased the property in 1998, we made a conscious decision myneworleans.com

APRIL 2013

not to tear down walls,” Penny says. “We actually liked that we had lots of rooms, thus allowing for intimate spaces that fill all of our needs. For example, we each have home offices and instead of one eating area, we like having a more formal dining room and a separate informal, yet high-style, breakfast room. The one large space is our family room on the first level.” Once you enter the Francis home there’s a unique feeling of being in a fashionable show house, especially with the introduction of a handsome all-neutral-colored sun porch-sitting room right inside the front door. While the adjoining living room isn’t large, it offers an interesting variety of furniture styles, and then just a step away, the dining room seems to have a formal presentation – until you check out the neoclassical painted chairs. “Yes, the three front rooms of the house are a perfect introduction to my eclectic style,” Penny says. “And did you notice the unusual bronze chandelier in the dining room that’s in direct contrast with the crystal chandelier hanging in the sitting room?” The utilitarian kitchen even offers an important design statement with its oversized drum-shaped, hammered aluminum light fixture. “Sometimes it’s good to be daring,” Penny says. Regarding the modern chandelier in the breakfast room, she says, “Isn’t it fun?” Also on the second level is Penny’s uncluttered office, where she places the couch and daybed at unconventional angles, defying the often-used “push everything to the wall” anthem seen in most homes. The quiet back of the house has bedrooms for the couple’s daughters: Casi, a graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design who turns 25 this month and works with her mother as an interior designer, and Camryn, 12, a sixth-grade honor student at Ursuline Academy. Casi was given carte blanche to design her own bedroom and it’s easy to see she subscribes to her mother’s eclectic design sense. Todd especially likes the large family room on the first floor of the home. “It’s my favorite space in the house,” he says, showing us how he slides an opaque screen back for access to his adjoining office. Completing the show house quality of the residence is the master suite that opens onto a charming patio. “Our bedroom has a cocoon-like feeling that I love,” Penny says. “It’s where we retreat to at the end of a long day,” adds Todd. 62

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Facing page, top: The large dining room table is surrounded by eight neoclassical painted chairs that offer contrast and style. Bottom left: Casi, Camryn (front row), Octave J. “Todd” and Penny Francis. Bottom right: A mirror wall gives depth to the master suite that opens onto a lush courtyard. This page, top: Penny created the illusion of a higher than 8-foot ceiling in the large family room by adding high-tech low voltage lighting; once again the space

reflects the high-style impact of selecting eclectic furnishing and accessories. Bottom left: A recent graduate of Savannah College of Art & Design, Casi was in charge of designing her bedroom; it’s a romantic space with an eclectic flair that brilliantly mixes patterns and textures. Bottom right: Camryn’s bedroom proves that a small bedroom can still make a strong design statement, especially when a unique French lantern hangs from the ceiling. myneworleans.com

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THEMENU TABLE TALK

RESTAURANT INSIDER

FOOD

LAST CALL

DINING LISTINGS TABLE TALK:

The Front of the Line PAGE 66

Bennachin’s chef Fanta Tambajang

Jeffery Johnston Photograph

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APRIL 2013

T HE M EN U

T A B L E T A L K

The Front of the Line Jazz Fest restaurants BY JAY FORMAN

Bennachin’s Jama-Jama

or many festivalgoers, Jazz Fest is as much

about food as it is about music. No trip to the Fair Grounds is complete without the ritual of hunting and foraging for something new to share whilst your friends hold down the fort or a patch of grass, as it were. Like what happens backstage at the big tents, feeding the fest is a tough act to pull off and takes a lot of planning, careful execution and (with regard to rain) a little bit of luck. There are, however, a handful of restaurants that are up for tackling that task, and here’s a look at a few. Jazz Fest organizers take pains to include a wide variety of foods, with the caveat that they share fundamental DNA with our regional cuisine. This principal is particularly well represented with Bennachin’s booth at Congo Square, which serves up Jama-Jama (seasoned, sautéed spinach), Fried Plantains and Poulet Fricassee, aka “Chicken on a Stick.” “A lot of West African food is very similar to New Orleans food,” explains Sally Tambajang, who works with her mother, Fanta, at this family-owned restaurant. For example their namesake dish, Bennachin, is a close relation to jambalaya, made with a tomato and rice base but dressed up with cubed beef in lieu of sausage or shrimp (a vegetarian version with carrots in place of meat is offered as well). “We also have Soup-ah-Kanja which is an okra-based soup very similar to gumbo,” Tambajang says. Bennachin’s menu is drawn from the cuisine of both Gambia and Cameroon. In their cozy dining room on the quiet back-end of Royal Street close to Esplanade Avenue, you can relax with lunch specials like the Jama-Jama with

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Fried Plantains and Coconut Rice, which pairs well with a glass of Gingeroo, a bracingly sharp drink made from freshly pressed raw ginger. While the Jama-Jama and Fried Plantains are prepared on site at the Fair Grounds, much of the prep for their Poulet Fricasee is done at the restaurant (“It takes a long time to skewer all that chicken,” Sally points out). Lunch specials are reasonably priced, but to explore deeper it’s best to dive into the more exotic list of full-on entrées. The Galley on Metairie Road is a neighborhood seafood joint that also turns out the festival favorite Soft-Shell Crab Poor Boy. Along with being one of the most popular booths, it’s also one of the most complicated to orchestrate. “Takes me to pick the hard stuff, right?” says Vicki Patania, who owns the Galley, along with her husband Dennis. “It ain’t like doing red beans and rice.” Soft-shells are available in two seasons – the fall run and the spring run. Jazz Fest takes place right as the spring run is starting, so there’s a mass scramble for the crustaceans just as the gates are getting ready to open. “You and every other restaurant in the

Foodspotting.com Photograph

Fest Feasts

city wants those crabs,” Vicki says. “You gotta pay the premium price, Bennachin trust me.” 1212 Royal St. They buy enough crabs to get 522-1230 them through seven days of good BennachinRestaurant.com weather, but as we all know a spring Lunch and dinner daily storm can quickly dampen festival The Galley attendance. A rained-out day can 2535 Metairie Road put the hurt on a perishable stock Metairie of seafood that’s more expensive 832-0955 than steak. Lunch and dinner, Tues.-Sat. At their restaurant location in the Vucinovich’s heart of Old Metairie, The Galley is a 4510 Michoud Blvd. bustling, high-energy spot whose air 254-5246 is scented with crab boil and whose Lunch Mon.-Fri. menu sprawls well beyond the boiled crabs, crawfish and shrimp, all of which are reason alone to go. There are seafood dinners, poor boys and full-on entrées. Your fries can be swapped out with an array of alternative sides, such as mac and cheese, grits or even broccoli if – God forbid – one feels the need to eat healthy. Fried, grilled, blackened – they do it all at the Galley. “If you can’t find something to eat here, honey, there’s something wrong with you,” Vicki says. Vucinovich’s, a seafood outpost in New Orleans East at the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Michoud Boulevard, serves up some of the bedrock items of the festival – Shrimp and Oyster Poor Boys, Fried Oyster Salad and their signature Stuffed Artichoke. “We start out from scratch with those artichokes,” says owner Rusty Vucinovich, who grew up working in this restaurant that his father built. “We make our own bread crumbs from Leidenheimer French bread, then we add seasonings along with garlic, Italian cheese and extra-virgin olive oil. Then we stuff ’em and steam ’em.” As soon as the annual contract gets signed, he and his crew get to work stuffing. They sell about 2,000 artichokes over the course of the festival. To stage his prep for the Shrimp Poor Boy, Vucinovich buys his white Gulf shrimp during the height of the fall season and puts them away in cold storage to guarantee he has what he needs come spring. Vucinovich got started with the festival back in 1984. Organizers needed someone to fill in for the oyster poor boy slot, and Vucinovich tried out. “They saw what I could do with oysters and then saw the ‘-vich’ in my last name and figured I knew my stuff,” is Rusty’s guess. He beat out about 30 other resAlways there taurants to get the contract, and Other festival favorites availhis presence has expanded at able year round include the Fish the fairgrounds ever since. Tacos from Taqueria Corona, The drive out east is worth it above, deep-fried and dressed with for the oyster poor boy alone, cabbage and a spicy tarter-style but they also offer plate lunchsauce, along with Jamila Café’s es and the shell-paved parkGrilled Lamb Sausage. Crawfish ing lot is always packed with Bisque from Lil Dizzy’s Café pickup trucks come lunchtime rounds out some of the savory – a testament to the quality of dishes that never go out of style their goods. Their muffuletta is and are within easy reach, regarda winner as well. less of the season. myneworleans.com

APRIL 2013

T HE M E N U

R E S T A U R A N T IN SID ER

Link’s Latest, Vega’s Sizzles and New on Freret Going Latin BY ROBERT PEYTON

have been writing this column long enough that

I’m starting to run out of ideas for clever opening sentences tied to a specific month. What is that you say? I have never had a clever idea for an opening sentence yet, so why break the streak, and also I’m ugly and I smell of expired yogurt. Well, friend, I’m as God made me. And that’s not expired yogurt, it’s expired Greek yogurt, which my infant daughter vigorously distributed through our home recently in a fit of pique. But enough about my appearance and odor; there’s restaurant news to which you should attend. To wit: Chefs Donald Link, Stephen Stryjewski and Ryan Prewitt are opening Peche Seafood Grill (800 Magazine St.) this month at the corner of Julia and Magazine streets in the Warehouse District. The restaurant will focus, as per the name, on seafood – and locally caught seafood at that. The angle here is that much of the cooking will be done over a wood fire. The chefs drew inspiration for the technique from trips to Spain and Uruguay, though one assumes that living in South Louisiana they’ve grilled a freshly caught fish or two over a fire made closer to home once or twice as well. Prewitt will run the kitchen, and the menu will also include steaks, slow-

Wayfare Deli

One imagines that opening a restaurant in New Orleans these days is, at least in part, about where on Freret Street to put it. Wayfare Deli (4510 Freret St., 309-0069) joins Ancora, High Hat Cafe and Sarita’s in the riverside stretch of Freret Street between Napoleon Avenue and Valence Street. True to the “deli” in the name, the stars of Wayfare’s menu are sandwiches, but with the exception of a Reuben done fairly straight these aren’t your standard deli options. Roast turkey is served with a salsa verde aioli, white cheddar and heirloom tomatoes on a carraway bread. The Knuckle Sandwich – a nod to the restaurant’s former life as a boxing gym – is cold roast beef with shoestring potatoes, arugula and a horseradish sauce on a bun made with pretzel dough. Toasted fennel sausage comes as a round patty topped with peperonata, sharp provolone cheese and a fried egg on a ciabatta bun. The house salad consists of the restaurant’s own mozzarella, tomato, kalamata olives and blood orange. There is also a daily soup, and of course it wouldn’t be a restaurant on Freret Street if the proprietors weren’t curing their own meats and sausages. Wayfare is open daily, starting at 11 a.m. and closing late. 68

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Peche Seafood Grill’s Donald Link (seated) Stephen Stryjewski and Ryan Prewitt

cooked lamb and locally raised vegetables, with an oyster bar to round things out. Although the restaurant doesn’t, as of this writing, have a phone number, you can likely get in touch by calling Cochon at 588-2123.

Mike’s on the Avenue ended its second run in the Lafayette Hotel at the close of 2012. It has been replaced by Desi Vega’s Desi Vega’s Steakhouse Steakhouse (628 St. by lobster and veal chops Charles Ave., 523at night. 7600, DesiVegaSteaks. Desi Vega’s Steakhouse com), a second restaurant is the second venture by from the folks who own partners Paul Varisco, Mr. John’s Steakhouse. Rodney Salvaggio and The new operation is very Desi Vega, the latter of similar, though without whom has a long hismost of the Italian dishes tory of restaurant serthat distinguish Mr. John’s vice at places such as from other purveyors of Commander’s Palace and sizzling beef. The menu is Emeril’s Delmonico. steakhouse standard, in Mr. John’s is only other words, which isn’t open for lunch on Friday, a bad thing when done but Desi Vega’s serves properly. At Desi Vega’s, lunch Mondays through the New York strip, ribFridays from 10:30 eye, porterhouse and a.m. to 2 p.m., and dincowboy steaks are USDA ner Tuesdays through prime. The lunch and dinSaturdays from 5:30 p.m. ner menus differ in that to 9:30 p.m. The bar is sandwiches appear during open until midnight. the day and are replaced Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email rdpeyton@gmail.com

SARA ESSE X B RA D LEY P HOTOGRA P HS , t o p a n d l e f t

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APRIL 2013

T HE M EN U

FOOD Easy Crawfish Bread

tails make a gourmet dish for breakfast or brunch. It is Jazz Fest month, and I’ve found some shortcuts to favorite crawfish dishes served out there on the track. For the last few years, bread-making options at the grocery store have amazed me – frozen biscuits as fluffy as your mother’s and refrigerated pie crust as crusty as homemade. They are wonderful time savers to say the least. For example, crawfish bread is a snap when using frozen bread dough. What usually takes two risings to make can be done simply with this modern wonder. Just roll it out and fill it with crawfish, cheese and some onions and it’s ready to bake. Delicious! Another yummy treat is crawfish pies, made simply with circles of refrigerated pie crusts stuffed with an easy crawfish mixture and baked. This makes a wonderful appetizer. My daughter got a great idea from a Food Network show using the potatoes from a crawfish boil to make amazing appetizers. You simply smash the highly seasoned potatoes to flatten them, add Parmesan cheese and bake until crisp, then top with sour cream and chives. Now, that’s creative. We are always looking for appetizers here in party town, and these three are high on my list.

Crafty Crawfish Fare There’s no reason to throw away leftovers. BY DALE CURRY

ife is good when the weather is beautiful

and you’re boiling crawfish. Flowers are blooming, and the beer is cold. What a life we have here in New Orleans at this time of year! There is only one problem, and that’s what to do with the leftover crawfish. Now I know a few hungry head-suckers who will polish them all off no matter how many there are, but I’ve also been left with several hundred boiled critters hanging around that I didn’t want to peel. There is a solution, and that’s inviting those who help peel to come back for seconds – another dish made from the yield. I love making crawfish omelets the next morning when we have out-oftown guests. A little cheese, a few herbs and a handful of crawfish

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myneworleans.com

Easy Crawfish Bread 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter plus 1 Tablespoon, melted 1 bunch green onions, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails with fat

1 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning Salt and pepper 2 11-ounce refrigerated pack aged crusty French loaves 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided 1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese, divided

Melt 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter in a medium skillet and sauté onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and seasonings, and sauté about 5 minutes more. Set aside. Keep dough in refrigerator until ready to use. Roll out first dough into a rectangle on a floured surface. With a floured rolling pin, flatten to about 1/4-inch thick. Place half the crawfish mixture down the center of the dough and sprinkle on half the cheeses. Roll up sides and mash together. Seal the ends with your fingers. Turn the roll onto a greased baking sheet, seam down. Repeat with other dough. Brush both with 1 Tablespoon melted butter and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until brown on top. Or, place under the broiler for the last couple of minutes to brown. Let crawfish bread set for 10 minutes before serving. Slice into 2-inch pieces to serve. Serves 6 to 8.

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Appetizer Crawfish Pies 4 Tablespoons butter, divided 1 bunch (6 to 8) green onions, chopped, white and green parts divided 1 medium bell pepper, chopped 3 large cloves garlic, minced 2 Tablespoons tomato paste 2 Tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/3 cups water 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 Tablespoon sugar 1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails with fat 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 2-3 store-bought refrigerated pie crusts*

Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Sauté white onions and bell pepper until transparent. Add green onion tops and garlic, and sauté 1 minute more. Stir in tomato paste and remove from heat.

Mix cornstarch with water. Stir into mixture along with salt and peppers, sugar and parsley. Add crawfish, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. When ready to bake pies, remove crusts from refrigerator and, using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut into circles. Roll out circles to 4 1/2 to 5 inches in diameter. You should have about 25 to 30 circles. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 heaping Tablespoon of crawfish mixture on one side of each pastry, leaving at least a 1/2inch edge. Fold over pastry and crimp edges together with a fork. Place on a greased baking sheet and brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown, or brown under broiler in the last few minutes. Makes about 25 to 30 partysize appetizers. *Two pie crusts are enough if you roll out and use the scraps from the first cutting. Otherwise,

use 3 for better consistency.

Spicy Potato Flats 12 small red potatoes leftover from a crawfish boil Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese Sour cream Chives or green onion tops

Reheat potatoes in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. With the bottom of a heavy glass, mash them until flattened, about 1/2-inch thick. Place on a greased baking pan sprayed with all-purpose cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spray tops of potatoes. Bake on top rack of a 450-degree oven until slightly browned on top. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan and continue to bake until brown and toasty on top. Or place under the broiler in the last few minutes to make them crispy. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives or green onion tops. Serves 6.

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THE MENU

LAST CALL

Nostalgia Updated and Savored BY TIM MCNALLY

ne of the most popular features of this

magazine, besides this one, of course, is the Julia Street column where questions are asked and answers are provided about all matters New Orleans. Those of us madly in love with this town, or at any given moment just mad at it, are happy to know about times past in this most fascinating place. We don’t just like nostalgia; we revel in it. And we keep reinventing it. The (re)birth of the Loyola streetcar line is an example of our desire to move forward while respecting the past. It even sloshes over into our drinking selections. New is good and pleasurable, but what is the beverage based on? With the new streetcar line comes a new drink, “A Streetcar Named Loyola,” from a rebirthed place, the Hyatt Hotel, in a bar named after an historic Canal Street movie house, Vitascope Hall.

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A Streetcar Named Loyola 1 1/2 ounces Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka 1/2 ounce white ginger syrup 1/2 ounce lemon juice 1/4 ounce St. Germain Ginger ale Peychaud’s Bitters Rosemary sprig for garnish

Build in a rocks glass fill with ice. Top with ginger ale. Garnish with 8 drops of Peychaud’s Bitters and a sprig of rosemary. Thank you to the bar staff at Vitascope Hall located in the Hyatt Regency Hotel located right on the Loyola Streetcar line. SARA ESSE X B RA D LEY P HOTOGRA P H

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$= Average entrée price of $5-$10; $$=$1115; $$$=$16-20; $$$$=$21-25; $$$$$=$25 and up.

5 Fifty 5 Restaurant Marriott Hotel, 555 Canal St., 553-5555, French Quarter, 555Canal. com. B, L, D daily. This restaurant offers innovative American fare such as lobster macaroni and cheese, seasonal Gulf fish with crab and mâche salad with boudin. Many of the dishes receive an additional touch from their woodburning oven. $$$$

7 on Fulton 701 Fulton St., 525-7555, CBD/ Warehouse, 7onFulton.com. B, L, D daily. Upscale and contemporary dining destination in the Warehouse District. $$$$

13 Restaurant and Bar 517 Frenchmen St., 942-1345, Faubourg Marigny, 13Monaghan. com. B, L, D daily. Open until 4 a.m. Late-night deli catering to hungry club-hoppers along Frenchmen Street. Bar and excellent jukebox make this a good place to refuel. $

DINING GUIDE Andrea’s Restaurant 3100 19th St., 8348583, Metairie, AndreasRestaurant.com. L Mon-Fri, D daily, Br Sun. Indulge in osso buco and homemade pastas in a setting that’s both elegant and intimate; off-premise catering. New Orleans Magazine Honor Roll honoree 2009. $$$ Antoine’s 713 St. Louis St., 581-4422,

“Partailles” – something larger than an appetizer but smaller than an entrée. $$$

Basil Leaf Restaurant 1438 S. Carrollton Ave., 862-9001, Uptown, BasilLeafThai.com. L Mon-Sat, D daily. Thai food and sushi bar with a contemporary spin is served in this date-friendly establishment; private rooms available. $$

Boucherie 8115 Jeannette St., 862-5514, Riverbend, Boucherie-Nola.com. L, D Tue-Sat. Serving contemporary Southern food with an international angle, Chef Nathaniel Zimet offes excellent ingredients, presented simply. New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Restaurant 2009. $$

French Quarter, Antoines.com. L Mon-Sat, D Mon-Sat, Br Sun. This pinnacle of haute cuisine and birthplace of Oysters Rockefeller is New Orleans’ oldest restaurant. (Every item is á la carte, with an $11 minimum.) Private dining rooms are available. $$$$$

Bayona 430 Dauphine St., 525-4455, French

Arnaud’s 813 Bienville St., 523-5433, French Quarter, Arnauds.com. D daily, Br Sun. Waiters in tuxedos prepare Café Brulot tableside at this storied Creole grande dame in the French Quarter; live jazz during Sun. brunch. $$$$$

The Beach House 2401 N. Woodlawn St., 456-7470, Metairie. L Wed-Fri, D daily. Gumbo, steaks, lobsters, burgers and seafood are accompanied by live music each and every night. $$$

Audubon Clubhouse 6500 Magazine St.,

Besh Steak Harrah’s Casino, 8 Canal

892-5837, Abita Springs, AbitaBrewPub.com. L, D Tue-Sun. Famous for its Purple Haze and Turbodog brews, Abita serves up better-thanexpected pub food in their namesake eatery. “Tasteful” tours available for visitors. $$

212-5282, Uptown. B, L Tue-Sat. Brunch Sun. Closed Mon. Nested among the oaks in Audubon Park, the beautifully-situated Clubhouse is open to the public and features a kid-friendly menu with New Orleans tweaks and a casually upscale sandwich and salad menu for adults. $$

Acme Oyster House 724 Iberville St., 522-

August Moon 3635 Prytania St., 899-5129,

Abita Brew Pub 72011 Holly St., (985)

space, renovated largely by Laurentino himself, is charming. $

Quarter, Bayona.com. L Wed-Sat, D Mon-Sat. Chef Susan Spicer’s nationally acclaimed cuisine is served in this 200-year-old cottage. Ask for a seat on the romantic patio, weatherpermitting. $$$$$

St., 533-6111, CBD/Warehouse District, HarrahsNewOrleans.com. D daily. Acclaimed Chef John Besh reinterprets the classic steakhouse with his signature contemporary Louisiana flair. New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year 2007. $$$$$

Bistro Daisy 5831 Magazine St., 899-6987,

5973, French Quarter; 3000 Veterans Blvd., 309-4056, Metairie; 1202 N. Highway 190, (985) 246-6155, Covington; AcmeOyster.com. L, D daily. Known as one of the best places to eat oysters. $$

899-5122, Uptown, MoonNola.com. L, D MonFri, D Sat. Lots of vegetarian offerings and reasonable prices make this dependable Chinese/ Vietnamese place a popular choice for students and locals. Take-out and delivery available. $

Uptown, BistroDaisy.com. D, Tue-Sat. Chef Anton Schulte and his wife Diane’s bistro, named in honor of their daughter, serves creative and contemporary bistro fare in a romantic setting along Magazine Street. The signature Daisy Salad is a favorite. $$$$

Aloha Sushi 1051 Annunciation St., 566-

Austin’s 5101 W. Esplanade Ave., 888-5533,

Blue Plate Café 1330 Prytania St., 309-

0021, Warehouse District, SunRayGrill.com. L, D Mon-Sun. A large list of rolls, hot rice bowls, Asian-inspired soups, salads, cocktails and more. Visit daily between 11-6:30 p.m. for Sake Hour: half-priced sake and three rolls for the price of two. $$

A Mano 870 Tchoupitoulas St., 508-9280, Warehouse District, AManoNola.com. L Fri, D Mon-Sat. A Mano is Adolfo Garcia’s take on authentic regional Italian cuisine. Executive chef Joshua Smith handles day-to-day duties at this Warehouse District spot. “A mano” means “by hand” in Italian; fitting for a restaurant where much of the pasta and charcuterie are made in-house. $$

Ancora 4508 Freret St., 324-1636, Uptown, AncoraPizza.com. L Fri-Sat, D Mon-Sat. Authentic Neapolitan-style pizza fired in an oven imported from Naples keeps pizza connoisseurs coming back to this Freret Street hot-spot. The housemade charcuterie makes it a double-winner. $$

Metairie, AustinsNo.com. D Mon-Sat. Mr. Ed’s newest upscale bistro serves contemporary Creole fare, including seafood and steaks. $$$

The Avenue Pub 1732 St. Charles Ave., 586-9243, Uptown, TheAvenuePub.com. L, D daily (kitchen open 24 hours a day). With more than 47 rotating draft beers, this pub also offers food including a cheese plate from St. James, a crab cake sandwich and the “Pub Burger.” $ Bacchanal Fine Wines and Spirits 600 Poland Ave., 948-9111, Bywater, BacchanalWine.com. L, D daily. The pop-up that started it all, this ongoing backyard music and food fest in the heart of Bywater carries the funky flame. Best of all, the front of house is a wine shop. $$

Barcelona Tapas 720 Dublin St., 8619696, Riverbend, LetsEat.at/BarcelonaTapas. D Tue-Sun. Barcelona Tapas is chef-owner Xavier Laurentino’s homage to the small-plates restaurants he knew from his hometown of Barcelona. The tapas are authentic, and the

Brennan’s 417 Royal St., 525-9711, French Quarter, BrennansNewOrleans.com. Br, L, D daily. The institution that turned breakfast into a celebration and introduced bananas Foster to the world is one of the city’s most storied destinations. Enjoy a brandy milk punch in the courtyard while you’re there. $$$$$

Brigtsen’s 723 Dante St., 861-7610, Uptown, Brigtsens.com. D Tue-Sat. Chef Frank Brigtsen’s nationally-famous Creole cuisine makes this cozy Riverbend cottage a true foodie destination. $$$$$ Broken Egg Cafe 200 Girod St., (985) 231-7125, Mandeville. B, Br, L daily. Breakfastcentric café in turn-of-the-century home offers a sprawling assortment of delicious items both healthy and decadent. $$

Brooklyn Pizzeria 4301 Veterans Blvd., 833-1288, Metairie, EatBrooklyn.net. L, D daily (Drive thru/take out). Pie shop on Vets specializes in New York-style thin crust. The pizza is the reason to come, but sandwiches and salads are offered as well. $ Broussard’s 819 Conti St., 581-3866, French

9500, Uptown. B, L Mon-Fri, B Sat. Breakfasts and lunches are the hallmarks of this neighborhood spot. The Ignatius sandwich comes equipped with 10 inches of paradise. Breakfast is served all day on Sat. $

Quarter, Broussards.com. D daily. Chef-owner Gunter Preuss brings his pedigree and years of experience to the table in offering up some of the city’s best Creole cuisine in an opulent French Quarter setting. New Orleans Magazine Honor Roll honoree 2006. $$$$$

The Bombay Club Prince Conti Hotel,

Byblos 1501 Metairie Road, 834-9773,

830 Conti St., 586-0972, French Quarter, TheBombayClub.com. D Mon-Sun. Popular martini bar appointed with plush British décor features live music during the week and late dinner and drinks on weekends. Nouveau Creole menu includes items such as Bombay drum. $$$$

Metairie; 3218 Magazine St., 894-1233, Uptown; 3301 Veterans Memorial Blvd., 8307333 Metairie; 29 McAlister Drive, Tulane University; ByblosRestaurants.com. L, D daily. Upscale Middle Eastern cuisine featuring traditional seafood, lamb and vegetarian options. $$

Bon Ton Cafe 401 Magazine St., 524-3386, CBD/Warehouse District, TheBonTonCafe.com. L, D Mon-Fri. A local favorite for the old-school business lunch crowd, it specializes in local seafood and Cajun dishes. $$$$

Bouche 840 Tchoupitoulas St., 267-7485, Warehouse District, BoucheNola.com. L, D Tue-Sat. Bouche is a mix of lounge, cigar bar and restaurant with an open kitchen serving largely Southern food in portions Bouche calls

Café Adelaide Loews New Orleans Hotel, 300 Poydras St., 595-3305, CBD/Warehouse District, CafeAdelaide.com. B Mon-Sun, L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sun. This offering from the Commander’s Palace family of restaurants has become a power-lunch favorite for businessmen and politicos. Also features the Swizzle Stick Bar. $$$$ Café Burnside Houmas House Plantation, 40136 Highway 942, (225) 473-9380, Darrow, HoumasHouse.com. L daily, Br Sun. Historic

A South of Bourbon Spot you don’t want to miss 310 Chartres St., 552-4095, SoBouNola.com

If you read about a place that serves Louisiana inspired street-food, that combines Cajun and Caribbean influences, you might be intrigued. If you heard that every mouthful is a deeply delicious experience, you might want to go. If you realized the incredible food is matched with a highly innovative program of handcrafted cocktails that deliver as much on taste as the food, you would realize this was a “don’t miss” destination. That sums up SoBu: the new restaurant in the W Hotel French Quarter by the Commander’s Palace Group; and we didn’t even mention the self-serve beer and wine or the Chef’s Table. – M irella cameran 76

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plantation’s casual dining option features dishes such as seafood pasta, fried catfish, crawfish and shrimp, gumbo and red beans and rice. $$

Café Degas 3127 Esplanade Ave., 945-5635, Mid-City, CafeDegas.com. L Wed-Sat, D WedSun, Br Sun. Light French bistro food including salads and quiche make this indoor/outdoor boîte a Faubourg St. John favorite. $$$

Café du Monde 800 Decatur St., 525-0454, French Quarter; One Poydras Suite 27, 5870841, New Orleans; 3301 Veterans Blvd., Suite 104, 834-8694, Metairie; 1401 West Esplanade, Suite 100, 468-3588, Kenner; 4700 Veterans Blvd., 888-9770, Metairie; 1814 N. Causeway Approach, Suite 1, (985) 951-7474, Mandeville; CafeDuMonde.com. This New Orleans institution has been serving fresh café au lait, rich hot chocolate and positively addictive beignets since 1862 in the French Market 24/7. $ Café Equator 2920 Severn Ave., 888-4772, Metairie, cadeequator.com. L, D Mon-Sun. Very good Thai food across the street from Lakeside Mall. Offers a quiet and oftoverlooked dining option in a crowded part of town. $$

Café Freret 7329 Freret St., 861-7890, Uptown, CafeFreret.com. B, L, D Fri-Wed. Convenient location near Tulane and Loyola universities makes this a place for students (and dogs) to indulge in decadent breakfasts, casual lunches and tasty dinners – and their “A la Collar” menu. $$

Café at Gambino’s 4821 Veteran’s Memorial Blvd., 885-3620, Metairie, Gambinos.com. L Mon-Fri. Café nested in Gambino’s Bakery is a favorite local lunch spot featuring muffelattas, salads and soups. Afterward, pick up some Italian cookies to

take back to the office. $

Café Giovanni 117 Decatur St., 529-2154, Downtown, CafeGiovanni.com. D Mon-Sun. Live opera singers three nights a week round out the atmosphere at this contemporary Italian dining destination. The menu offers a selection of Italian specialties tweaked with a Creole influence and their Belli Baci happy hour adds to the atmosphere. $$$$

Café Luna 802 Nashville Ave., 269-2444, Uptown. B, L daily. Charismatic coffee shop in a converted house offers a range of panini, caffeinated favorites and free WiFi. The front porch is a prime spot for people-watching along adjacent Magazine Street. $ Café Maspero 601 Decatur St., 523-6250, French Quarter. L, D daily. Tourists line up for their generous portions of seafood and large deli sandwiches. $

Café Minh 4139 Canal St., 482-6266, MidCity, CafeMinh.com. L Mon-Fri., D Mon-Sat. Closed Sun. Chef Minh Bui brings his fusion-y touch with Vietnamese cuisine to this corner location. French accents and a contemporary flair make this one of the more notable crosscultural venues in town. $$

Café Negril 606 Frenchmen St., 944-4744, Marigny. D daily. Frenchman Street music club draws locals in with their lineup of live Reggae and blues. Tacos and BBQ in back are a plus for late-night revelers. $ Café Nino 1510 S. Carrollton Ave., 8659200, Carrollton. L, D daily. Non-descript exterior belies old-school Italian hideaway serving up red-sauce classics like lasagna, along with some of the more under-the-radar New York-style thin crust pizza in town. $$

Café Opera 541 Bourbon St., 648-2331, Inside Four Points by Sheraton, French Quarter. B, L daily, D Thurs-Sat. Chef Philippe

Andreani serves Creole and Continental classics on the site of the old French Opera House. Choices include crabmeat beignets with corn maque choux as well as fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade. Validated parking is offered for dine-in. $$$

Cake Café 2440 Chartres St., 943-0010, Marigny, NolaCakes.com. B, L daily. The name may read cakes but this café offers a whole lot more, including fresh baked goods and a full breakfast menu along with sandwiches. A popular place to while away a slow New Orleans morning with a coffee and a slice. $

Camellia Grill 626 S. Carrollton Ave., 3092679, Uptown; 540 Chartres St., 533-6250, Downtown. B, L, D daily, until 1 a.m. Sun-Thu and 3 a.m. Fri-Sat. The venerable diner has reopened following an extensive renovation and change in ownership (in 2006). Patrons can rest assured that its essential character has remained intact and many of the original waiters have returned. The new downtown location has a liquor license and credit cards are now accepted. $

Capdeville 520 Capdeville St., 371-5161, French Quarter, CapdevilleNola.com. L, D Mon-Sat. Capdeville is an upscale bar-bistro with a short but interesting menu of food that’s a mix of comfort and ambition. Burgers are on offer, but so are fried red beans and rice – a take on calas or Italian arancini. $$ Carmo 527 Julia St., 875-4132, Warehouse District, CafeCarmo.com. L Mon-Sat., D TueSat. Caribbean-inspired fare offers a creative array of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free fare in a sleek location on Julia Street. One of the few places in the city where healthy dining is celebrated rather than accommodated. $$

Carmelo Ristorante 1901 Highway 190, (985) 624-4844, Mandeville,

RistoranteCarmelo.com. L Fri-Sun, D MonSat. Italian trattoria serves old-world classics. Private rooms available. $$

Casamento’s 4330 Magazine St., 895-9761, Uptown, CasamentosRestaurant.com. L TueSat, D Thu-Sat. The family-owned restaurant has shucked oysters and fried seafood since 1919; closed during summer and for all major holidays. $$ CC’s Community Coffee House Multiple locations in New Orleans, Metairie and Northshore, CCsCoffee.com. Coffeehouse specializing in coffee, espresso drinks and pastries. $

Chateau du Lac 2037 Metairie Road, 831-3773, Old Metairie, ChateauduLacBistro. com. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sat. This casual French bistro offers up classic dishes such as escargot, coq au vin and blanquette de veau. A Provençal-inspired atmosphere and French wine round out the appeal. $$$$

Checkered Parrot 132 Royal St., 592-1270, French Quarter, CheckeredParrot.com. B, L, D Mon-Sun. The Checkered Parrot is an upscale sports bar with a large menu, featuring nachos, fajitas, wings in seven flavors, wraps and burgers, and an outdoor patio. $$ Chiba 8312 Oak St., 826-9119, Carrollton, chiba-nola.com. L Thurs-Sat, D Mon-Sat. Contemporary restaurant on Oak Street features an extensive list of special rolls, steamed buns and fusion-y fare to go along with typical Japanese options. Late night hours are a plus. $$$ Chophouse New Orleans 322 Magazine St., 522-7902, CBD, ChophouseNola.com. D daily. In addition to USDA prime grade aged steaks prepared under a broiler that reaches 1,700 degrees, Chophouse offers lobster,

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T HE M E N U redfish and classic steakhouse sides. $$$

Clancy’s 6100 Annunciation St., 895-1111, Uptown, ClancysNewOrleans.com. L Thu-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Their Creole-inspired menu has been a favorite of locals for years. $$$

Cochon 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 588-2123, CBD/Warehouse District, CochonRestaurant. com. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Chefs Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski showcase Cajun and Southern cuisine at this Warehouse District hot spot. Boudin and other pork dishes reign supreme here, along with Louisiana seafood and real moonshine from the bar. New Orleans Magazine named Link Chef of the Year 2009. Reservations strongly recommended. $$ Commander’s Palace 1403 Washington Ave., 899-8221, Uptown, CommandersPalace. com. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sun, Br Sat-Sun. The Grande Dame in the Garden District is going strong under the auspices of Chef Tory McPhail. The turtle soup might be the best in the city, and its weekend Jazz Brunch is a great deal. $$$$

Cooter Brown’s 509 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-9104, Uptown, CooterBrowns.com. L, D daily. Riverbend-area sports bar serves up the city’s largest selection of beers along with great bar food. The cheese fries are a rite of passage, and the Radiator’s Special poor boy makes for a great late-night meal. $

Copeland’s 701 Veterans Blvd., 831-3437, Metairie; 1001 S. Clearview Parkway, 6207800, Jefferson; 1319 West Esplanade Ave., 617-9146, Kenner; 1700 Lapalco Blvd., 364-1575, Harvey; 680 N. Highway 190, (985) 809-9659, Covington; 1337 Gause Blvd., (985) 643-0001, Slidell; CopelandsofNewOrleans.com. L, D daily, Br Sun. Al Copeland’s namesake chain includes favorites such as Shrimp Ducky. Popular for lunch. $$ Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro 4517 Veterans Blvd., 454-7620, Metairie; 2001 St. Charles Ave., 593-9955, Garden District; CopelandsCheesecakeBistro.com. L, D daily. Dessert fans flock to this sweet-centric Copeland establishment which also offers extensive lunch and dinner menus. $$$

Coquette 2800 Magazine St., 265-0421, Uptown, Coquette-Nola.com. Br Sun, L WedSat, D Mon-Sat. A bistro located at the corner of Washington and Magazine streets. The food is French in inspiration and technique, with added imagination from chef Michael Stoltzfus (New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Chef 2009). $$$

Corky’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant 4243 Veterans Blvd., 887-5000, Metairie, CorkysBarBQ.com. L, D daily. Memphis-based

DINING GUIDE barbecue chain offers good hickory-smoked ribs, pork and beef in a family setting with catering service available. $

Court of Two Sisters 613 Royal St., 5227261, French Quarter, CourtOfTwoSisters. com. Br, D daily. The historic environs make for a memorable outdoor dining experience. The famous daily Jazz Brunch buffet and classic Creole dishes sweeten the deal. $$$$$ Crabby Jack’s 428 Jefferson Highway, 8332722, Jefferson. L Mon-Sat. Lunch outpost of Jacques-Imo’s chef and owner Jack Leonardi. Famous for its fried seafood and poor boys including fried green tomatoes and roasted duck. $ The Creole Grille 5241 Veterans Blvd., 889-7992, Metairie, TheCreoleGrille.com. L, D Mon-Sat. This quaint, upscale restaurant offers a variety of classic New Orleans cuisine, fresh fish and homemade soups and salads with early bird and daily chef specials. $$

Crépes a la Carte 1039 Broadway St., 866-236, Uptown, CrepeCaterer.com. B, L, D daily. Open late. An extensive menu of tasty crêpes, both savory and sweet, make this a great spot for a quick bite for college students and locals. $

Crescent City Brewhouse 527 Decatur St., 522-0571, French Quarter, CrescentCityBrehouse.com. L Fri-Sun, D daily. Contemporary brewpub features an eclectic menu complimenting its freshly-brewed wares. Live jazz and good location make it a fun place to meet up. $$$ Crescent City Steakhouse 1001 N. Broad St., 821-3271, Mid-City, CrescentCitySteaks. com. L Tue-Fri & Sun, D Tue-Sun. One of the classic New Orleans steakhouses, it’s a throwback in every sense of the term. Steaks, sides and drinks are what you get at Crescent City. New Orleans Magazine’s Steakhouse of the Year 2009 and Honor Roll honoree 2007. $$$$

Criollo 214 Royal St., Hotel Monteleone, 681-4444, French Quarter, HotelMonteleone. com/Criollo/. B, L, D daily. Next to the famous Carousel Bar in the historic Monteleone Hotel, Criollo represents an amalgam of the various cultures reflected in Louisiana cooking and cuisine, often with a slight contemporary twist. $$$

The Crystal Room Le Pavillon Hotel, 833 Poydras St., 581-3111, CBD/Warehouse District, LePavillon.com. L, D daily, Br Sun. Franco-American cuisine with Louisiana influences is served in the environs of the Le Pavillon Hotel. The Southern-style breakfast features its decadent Bananas Foster Waffle “Le Pavillon.” $$$

Dakota 629 N. Highway 190, (985) 8923712, Covington, RestaurantCuvee.com/ Dakota. L Tue-Fri, D Tue-Sat. A sophisticated dining experience with generous portions. $$$$$ The Delachaise 3442 St. Charles Ave., 8950858, Uptown, TheDelachaise.com. L Fri-Sat, D daily. Elegant bar food fit for the wine connoisseur; kitchen open late. $$

Dick and Jenny’s 4501 Tchoupitoulas St., 894-9880, Uptown, DickAndJennys.com. L Tue-Fri, D Mon-Sat. A funky cottage serving Louisiana comfort food with flashes of innovation. $$$$

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House 144 Bourbon St., 522-0111, French Quarter, BourbonHouse.com. B, L, D daily. Classic Creole dishes such as redfish on the halfshell and baked oysters are served with classic Brennan’s style at this French Quarter outpost. Its extensive bourbon menu will please aficionados. $$$$ Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse 716 Iberville St., 522-2467, French Quarter, DickieBrennansSteakhouse.com. L Fri, D daily. Nationally recognized steakhouse serves USDA Prime steaks and local seafood in a New Orleans setting with the usual Brennan’s family flair. $$$$$

Domenica The Roosevelt Hotel, 123 Baronne St., 648-6020, CBD, DomenicaRestaurant. com. L, D daily. Executive Chef Alon Shaya serves authentic, regional Italian cuisine in John Besh’s sophisticated new restaurant. The menu of thin, lightly topped pizzas, artisanal salumi and cheese, and a carefully chosen selection of antipasti, pasta and entrées, feature locally raised products, some from Besh’s Northshore farm. $$$$ Domilise’s 5240 Annunciation St., 8999126, Uptown. L, D Mon-Sat. Local institution and rite-of-passage for those wanting an initiation to the real New Orleans. Wonderful poor boys and a unique atmosphere make this a one-of-a-kind place. $

Dong Phuong 14207 Chef Menteur Highway, 254-0296, N.O. East. L Wed-Mon. Vietnamese bakery and restaurant in the community of Versailles makes great banh mi sandwiches and interesting baked goods both savory and sweet. Unbeatable prices. $

Drago’s 3232 N. Arnoult Road, 888-9254, Metairie; Hilton Riverside Hotel, 2 Poydras St., 584-3911, CBD/Warehouse District; DragosRestaurant.com. L, D Mon-Sat. This famous seafooder specializes in charbroiled oysters, a dish they invented. Raucous but good-natured atmosphere makes this a fun place to visit. Great deals on fresh lobster as well. $$$$

Enjoy A 140-year-old Coffee Tradition

3325 Severn Ave., Metairie, 885-4068; City Park Casino; MorningCallCoffeeStand.com

With all the new coffee concoctions available today if you’ve been a coffee house since 1870 and you’re still going strong, chances are you’re doing something right. That is certainly the case at Morning Call. In fact, they insist on doing things the time-honored way: the French-drip method for coffee; coffee and milk heated and poured separately to the perfect ratio; using a pot with exactly the right diameter for pouring; and of course, hand-rolled beignets. Described as “one of the greatest coffee houses” in the world, it’s even easier to enjoy the Morning Call experience with two locations: Lakeside and City Park. – M irella cameran 78

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Dry Dock Cafe & Bar 133 Delaronde St., 361-8240, Algiers, TheDryDockCafe.com. Br Sun, L, D daily. Fancier daily specials have been added to the menu of this casual neighborhood seafood joint in historic Algiers Point near the ferry landing. Burgers, sandwiches and fried seafood are the staples. $$

El Gato Negro 81 French Market Place, 525-9752, French Quarter, ElGatoNegroNola. com. B Sat-Sun, L, D daily. Popular spot near the Frenchmen Street clubs serves up authentic Central Mexican cuisine along with handmuddled mojitos and margaritas made with fresh-squeezed juice. A weekend breakfast menu is an additional plus. $$ Elizabeth’s 601 Gallier St., 944-9272, Bywater, Elizabeths-Restaurant.com. B, L TueFri, D Tue-Sat, Br Sat-Sun. This eclectic local restaurant draws rave reviews for its Praline Bacon and distinctive Southern-inspired brunch specials. $$$

Emeril’s 800 Tchoupitoulas St., 528-9393, CBD/Warehouse District, Emerils.com. L Mon-Fri, D daily. The flagship of superstar chef Emeril Lagasse’s culinary empire, this Warehouse District landmark attracts pilgrims from all over the world. $$$$$

Fat Hen Grocery 7457 St. Charles Ave., 266-2921, Riverbend, FatHenGrill.com. B, L, D daily. Breakfast gets re-imagined and dressed up at this diner headed by Chef Shane Pritchett, formerly of Emeril’s Delmonico. The house special is the Womlette, an omelet baked on a waffle. $$ Feelings Cafe 2600 Chartres St., 9452222, Faubourg Marigny, FeelingsCafe.com. D Thu-Sun, Br Sun. Romantic ambiance and skillfully created dishes, such as veal d’aunoy, make dining here on the patio a memorable experience. A piano bar on Fridays adds to the atmosphere. $$$$ Fellini’s Café 900 N. Carrollton Ave., 4882155, Mid-City, FellinisNewOrleans.com. L, D daily. With décor inspired by its namesake Italian filmmaker, this casual indoor/outdoor spot on Carrollton Avenue serves large portions of reasonably-priced Mediterranean specialties such as pizza, pastas and hummus. $ Fiesta Latina 1924 Airline Drive, 469-5792, Kenner, FiestaLatinaRestaurant.com. B, L, D Tue-Sun. A big-screen TV normally shows a soccer match or MTV Latino at this home for authentic Central American food. Tacos include a charred carne asada. $$

Five Happiness 3605 S. Carrollton Ave., 482-3935, Mid-City, FiveHappiness.com. L, D Mon-Sun. This longtime Chinese favorite offers up an extensive menu including its beloved mu shu pork and house baked duck. It’s a popular choice for families as well. $$

Flaming Torch 737 Octavia St., 895-0900, Uptown, FlamingTorchNola.com. L, D daily, Br Sat-Sun. French classics including a tasty onion soup make this a nice place for a slightly upscale lunch while shopping along Magazine Street. $$ Frank’s 933 Decatur St., 525-1602, French Quarter, FranksRestaurantNewOrleans.com. L, D daily. Locally inspired Italian sandwiches such as muffulettas and Genoa salami poor boys are served here in the heart of the French Quarter. $$$

Davis Parkway, Suite 100, 301-3709, MidCity, GraciousBakery.com. B, L Mon-Sat. Boutique bakery in the ground floor of the new Woodward Building offers small-batch coffee, baked goods, individual desserts and sandwiches on breads made in-house. Catering options are available as well. $

The Green Goddess 307 Exchange Alley,

Galatoire’s 209 Bourbon St., 525-2021, French Quarter, Galatoires.com. L, D Tue-Sun. Friday lunches are a New Orleans tradition at this world-famous French-Creole grand dame. Tradition counts for everything here, and the crabmeat Sardou is delicious. Note: Jackets required for dinner and all day Sun. $$$$$

301-3347, French Quarter, GreenGoddessNola. com. Br, L daily, D Thu-Sun. Located in a tiny space, the Green Goddess is one of the most imaginative restaurants in New Orleans. The menu is constantly changing, and chefs Chris DeBarr (New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Chef 2006) and Paul Artigues always have ample vegetarian options. Combine all of that with a fantastic selection of drinks, wine and beer, and it’s the total (albeit small) package. $$

The Galley Seafood Restaurant 2535

The Grill Room Windsor Court Hotel,

Metairie Road, 832-0955, Metairie. L, D TueSat. A great local place for seafood, both fried and boiled. Famous for its softshell crab poor boy, a Jazz Fest favorite. $$

Gautreau’s 1728 Soniat St., 899-7397, Uptown, GautreausRestaurant.com. D, Mon-Sat. Upscale destination serves refined interpretations of classics along with contemporary creations in a clubby setting nested deep within a residential neighborhood. New Orleans Magazine named Sue Zemanick Chef of the Year 2008. $$$$$ Gott Gourmet Café 3100 Magazine St., 522-7902, Uptown, GottGourmetCafe.com. L, Tue-Fri, D, Tue-Sun. Upscale-casual restaurant serves a variety of specialty sandwiches, salads and wraps, like the Chicago-style hot dog and the St. Paddy’s Day Massacre – Chef Gotter’s take on the Rueben. $$

Gracious Bakery + Café 1000 S. Jeff

300 Gravier St., 522-1994, CBD/Warehouse District, GrillRoomNewOrleans.com. B, L, D daily, Br Sun. Jazz Brunch on Sunday with live music. Featuring modern American cuisine with a distinctive New Orleans flair, the adjacent Polo Club Lounge offers live music nightly. $$$$$

GW Fins 808 Bienville St., 581-FINS (3467), French Quarter, GWFins.com. D daily. To ensure the best possible flavors at GW Fins, owners Gary Wollerman and Tenney Flynn provide dishes at their seasonal peak by flying in products from around the globe. That commitment to freshness and quest for unique variety are two of the reasons why the menu is printed daily. $$$$$

Herbsaint 701 St. Charles Ave., 524-4114, CBD/Warehouse District, Herbsaint.com. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Enjoy a sophisticated cocktail before sampling Chef Donald Link’s (New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year

2009) menu that melds contemporary bistro fare with classic Louisiana cuisine. The banana brown butter tart is a favorite dessert. $$$$$

Hevin 5015 Magazine St., 895-2246, Uptown. L, D Mon-Fri. Chef Kevin Vizard brings casual, family-friendly fare to a quiet, residential stretch of Magazine Street. “Po-Ninis”, i.e. pressed poor boys, are a specialty, and daily “hot plates” are offered as well. $ Horinoya 920 Poydras St., 561-8914, CBD/ Warehouse District. L Mon-Fri, D daily. Excellent Japanese dining in an understated and oft-overlooked location. The chu-toro is delicious and the selection of authentic Japanese appetizers is the best in the city. $$$ Hoshun Restaurant 1601 St. Charles Ave., 302-9716, Garden District, HoshunRestaurant. com. L, D daily. Hoshun offers a wide variety of Asian cuisines, primarily dishes culled from China, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. Their five-pepper calamari is a tasty way to begin the meal, and their creative sushi rolls are good as well. $$

House of Blues 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE (2583), French Quarter, HouseOfBlues.com. L, D daily. World-famous Gospel Brunch every Sunday. Surprisingly good menu makes this a compliment to the music in the main room. Patio seating is available as well. $$

Il Posto Café 4607 Dryades St., 895-

Metairie, Impastatos.com. D daily. Bustling Italian restaurant on the edge of Fat City serves homemade pasta in a convivial atmosphere. Chef/Owner Joe Impastato greets guests warmly and treats them like family. The prix fixe options are a good way to taste a lot for not much money. $$$$

Irene’s Cuisine 539 St. Philip St., 5298811, French Quarter. D Mon-Sat. Long waits at the lively piano bar are part of the appeal of this Creole-Italian favorite beloved by locals. Try the oysters Irene and crabmeat gratin appetizers. $$$$ Iris 321 N. Peters St., 299-3944, French Quarter, IrisNewOrleans.com. L Thu-Fri, D Mon, Wed-Sat. This inviting bistro offers sophisticated fare in a charming setting. The veal cheek ravioli is a winner. New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Restaurant 2006. $$$$ Jack Dempsey’s 738 Poland Ave., 9439914, Bywater, JackDempseysLLC.com. L Tue-Fri, D Wed-Sat. Local favorite nestled deep in the heart of the Bywater is known for its stuffed flounder and baked macaroni served in generous portions. $$$

Jacques-Imo’s Cafe 8324 Oak St., 8610886, Uptown, JacquesimosCafe.com. D Mon-Sat. Reinvented New Orleans cuisine served in a party atmosphere are the cornerstones of this Oak Street institution. The deep-fried roast beef poor boy is delicious. The lively bar scene offsets the long wait on weekends. $$$$

2620, Uptown, ilPostoCafe-Nola.com. B, L, D Tue-Sat, B, L Sun. Italian café specializes in pressed panini, like their Milano, featuring sopressata, Fontina, tomatoes and balsamic on ciabatta. Soups, imported coffee and H&H bagels make this a comfortable neighborhood spot to relax with the morning paper. $

Jamila’s Café 7808 Maple St., 866-4366, Uptown. D Tue-Sun. Intimate and exotic bistro serving Mediterranean and Tunisian cuisine. The Grilled Merguez is a Jazz Fest favorite and vegetarian options are offered. $$

Impastato’s 3400 16th St., 455-1545,

1104 Decatur St., 592-2565, French

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Café

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T HE M E N U

DINING GUIDE

Quarter, MargaritavilleNewOrleans.com. L, D daily. Parrotheads and other music lovers flock to Jimmy’s outpost along the more local-friendly stretch of Decatur. Strong bar menu and stronger drinks keep them coming back. $$

daily. Burgers are the name of the game here at this restaurant which shares a pedigree with Snug Harbor and Port of Call. Rounded out with a loaded baked potato, their halfpound patties are sure to please. Daily specials, pizza and steaks are offered as well. $

Magazine St., 581-9680, CBD/Warehouse District, LiborioCuban.com. L Mon-Sat, D Tue-Sat. Authentic Cuban favorites such as Ropa Vieja and pressed Cuban sandwiches along with great specials make this a popular lunch choice. $$$

Joey K’s 3001 Magazine St., 891-0997, Uptown, JoeyKsRestaurant.com. L, D MonSat. A true neighborhood New Orleans restaurant with daily lunch plates keeps it real along this rapidly gentrifying stretch of Magazine Street. Red beans and rice are classic. $

La Macarena Pupuseria & Latin Cafe

Lil’ Lizzy’s 1500 Esplanade Ave., 569-8997, Mid-City. B Mon-Sat, L Mon-Fri. Spot local and national politicos dining at this favored Creole soul restaurant known for homey classics like fried chicken and Trout Baquet. $

The Joint 701 Mazant St., 949-3232, Bywater, AlwaysSmokin.com. L, D Mon-Sat. Some of the city’s best barbecue can be had at this locally owned and operated favorite in Bywater. $

Juan’s Flying Burrito 2018 Magazine St., 569-0000, Uptown; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., 486-9950, Mid-City. L, D Mon-Sun. Hard-core tacos and massive burritos are served in an edgy atmosphere. $ Jung’s Golden Dragon 3009 Magazine St., Uptown, JungsGoldenDragon2.com. L, D daily. This Chinese destination is a real find. Along with the usual you’ll find spicy cold noodle dishes, dumplings and a Beijing-style breakfast on the weekends. This is one of the few local Chinese places that breaks the Americanized mold. $

Kosher Cajun New York Deli and Grocery 3520 N. Hullen St., 888-2010, Metairie, KosherCajun.com. L Mon-Fri & Sun, D Mon-Thu. Great kosher meals and complete kosher grocery in the rear make this Metairie eatery a unique destination. The matzo ball soup is a winner and catering is available for parties of any size. $

K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen 416 Chartres St., 524-7394, French Quarter, ChefPaul.com/KPaul. L Thu-Sat, D Mon-Sat. Paul Prudhomme’s landmark restaurant helped introduce Cajun food to a grateful nation. Lots of seasoning and bountiful offerings, along with reserved seating, make this a destination for locals and tourists alike. $$$$

Kyoto 4920 Prytania St., 891-3644, Uptown, KyotoNola.com. L, D Mon-Sat. A neighborhood sushi restaurant where the regulars order off-the-menu rolls. $$ La Boca 857 Fulton St., 525-8205, Warehouse District, LaBocaSteaks.com. D Mon-Sat. This Argentine steakhouse in the blossoming Fulton Street corridor specializes in cuts of meat along with pastas and wines. Specials include the provoleta appetizer and the Vacio flank steak. New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year 2006. $$$ Lakeview Harbor 911 Harrison Ave., 4864887, Lakeview, Lakeview-Harbor.com. L, D

8120 Hampson St., 862-5252, Uptown. L, D Mon-Fri, Br,L, D Sat & Sun. This cash-only and BYOB restaurant has recently overhauled their menu, now including a large selection of vegan and vegetarian items, as well as a tapas menu. $$

La Petite Grocery 4238 Magazine St., 891-3377, Uptown, LaPetiteGrocery.com. L, D Tue-Sat. Elegant dining in a convivial atmosphere quickly made this place an Uptown darling. The menu is heavily French-inspired with an emphasis on technique. $$$ La Provence 25020 Highway 190, (985) 626-7662, Lacombe, LaProvenceRestaurant. com. D Wed-Sun, Br Sun. John Besh (New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year 2007) upholds time-honored Provençal cuisine and rewards his guests with a true farm-life experience, from house-made preserves, charcuterie, herbs, kitchen gardens and eggs cultivated on the property, an elegant French colonial stucco house. $$$$$

La Thai Uptown 4938 Prytania St., 8998886, Uptown, LaThaiUptown.com. L, D TueSun. Uptown outpost of the Chauvin family’s ingredient-driven Thai-Cajun fusion cuisine. The summer rolls are good as is the tom kar gai soup. Lunch specials are a good deal and vegetarian dishes are offered as well. $$ Latil’s Landing Houmas House Plantation, 40136 Highway 942, (225) 473-9380, Darrow, HoumasHouse.com. L Sun, D Wed-Sun. Nouvelle Louisiane, plantation-style cooking served in an opulent setting features dishes like rack of lamb and plume de veau. $$$$$

Le Meritage 1001 Toulouse, 522-8800, French Quarter, LeMeritageRestaurant.com. D Tue-Sat. This restaurant blends fine wines with Southern-flavored cuisine for a memorable fine-dining experience in a casual environment. Chef Michael Farrell’s well-rounded menu features suggested wine and food pairings, along with full or half servings both by the glass and by the plate. Complimentary valet parking. $$$

Le Salon Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier St., 596-4773, CBD/Warehouse District. L Buffet Mon-Fri. Also, Afternoon Tea, ThuSun, Seating at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Formal afternoon tea with harpist or string quartet served in a sophisticated atmosphere. A local mother-daughter tradition. $$

Liborio’s Cuban Restaurant 321

Lilette 3637 Magazine St., 895-1636, Uptown, LiletteRestaurant.com. L, D Tue-Sat. Chef John Harris’ innovative menu draws discerning diners to this highly regarded bistro on Magazine Street. Desserts are wonderful as well. $$$$$

Lola’s 3312 Esplanade Ave., 488-6946, Mid-City. D daily. Garlicky Spanish dishes and great paella make this artsy Faubourg St. John boîte a hipster destination. $$$

Lüke 333 St. Charles Ave., 378-2840, CBD, LukeNewOrleans.com. Br Sat-Sun, B, L, D daily. John Besh (New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year 2007) and executive chef Matt Regan characterize the cuisine “Alsace meets New Orleans in an authentic brasserie setting.” Germanic specialties and French bistro classics, house-made patés and abundant plateaux of cold, fresh seafood. New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Restaurant 2007. $$$

Mahony’s 3454 Magazine St., 899-3374, Uptown, MahonysPoBoys.com. L, D Mon-Sat. Along with the usual poor boys, this sandwich shop serves up a Grilled Shrimp and Fried Green Tomato version dressed with remoulade sauce. Sandwich offerings are augmented by a full bar. $

Mandina’s 3800 Canal St., 482-9179, MidCity, MandinasRestaurant.com. L, D daily. Quintessential New Orleans neighborhood institution reopened following an extensive renovation. Though the ambiance is more upscale, the same food and seafood dishes make dining here a New Orleans experience. $$

Maple Street Café 7623 Maple St., 3149003, Uptown. L, Mon-Sat, D, Mon-Sun. Casual dinner spot serving Mediterraneaninspired pastas and entrées, along with heartier fare such as duck and filet mignon. $$

The Marigny Brasserie 640 Frenchmen St., 945-4472, Faubourg Marigny, MarignyBrasserie.com. B, L, D daily. Chic neighborhood bistro with traditional dishes like the Wedge of Lettuce salad and innovative cocktails like the Cucumber Cosmo. $$$ Martin Wine Cellar 714 Elmeer Ave., 8967300, Metairie, MartinWine.com. L daily. Wine by the glass or bottle to go with daily lunch

specials, towering burgers, hearty soups, salads and giant, deli-style sandwiches. $

Mat & Naddie’s 937 Leonidas St., 8619600, Uptown, MatAndNaddies.com. L MonFri, D Thu-Mon. Cozy converted house along River Road serves up creative and eclectic regionally-inspired fare. Crab cakes with cucumber slaw makes for a good appetizer and when the weather is right the romantic patio is the place to sit. $$$$

Maximo’s Italian Grill 1117 Decatur St., 504.586-8883, French Quarter, MaximosGrill. com. D daily. Italian destination on Decatur Street features a sprawling menu including housemade salumi and antipasti as well as old school classics like Veal Osso Bucco. Private dining is offered for special events. $$$

Middendorf’s Interstate 55, Exit 15, 30160 Highway 51 South, (985) 386-6666, Akers, MiddendorfsRestaurant.com. L, D Wed-Sun. Historic seafood destination along the shores of Lake Maurepas is world-famous for its thin-fried catfish filets. Open since 1934, it transitioned to its next generation of owners when Horst Pfeifer purchased it in 2007. More than a restaurant, this is a Sunday Drive tradition. $$ Mike’s On the Avenue 628 St. Charles Ave., 523-7600, CBD, MikesOnTheAvenue. com. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Mike Fenelly and Vicky Bayley have re-opened one of New Orleans most inventive restaurants in Mike’s On the Avenue. Fennelly’s California-Asian cuisine may lack the novelty it enjoyed in the 1990s, but it’s every bit as good. $$$$ MiLa 817 Common St., 412-2580, French Quarter, MiLaNewOrleans.com. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Latest offering from husband-andwife chefs Slade Rushing and Allison VinesRushing focuses on the fusion of the cuisines of Miss. and La. Signature dishes include Oysters Rockefeller “Deconstructed” and New Orleans-style barbecue lobster. New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Restaurant 2008. $$$$ Mona’s Café 504 Frenchmen St., 949-4115, Marigny; 4126 Magazine St., 894-9800, Uptown; 1120 S. Carrollton Ave., 861-8174, Uptown; 3901 Banks St., 482-7743, Mid-City. L, D daily. Middle Eastern specialties like baba ganuj, tender-tangy beef or chicken shawarma, falafel and gyros, stuffed into pillowy pita bread or on platters. The lentil soup with crunchy pita chips and desserts such as sticky sweet baklava round out the menu. $ Mondo 900 Harrison Ave., 224-2633, Lakeview, MondoNewOrleans.com. Br Sun, L Wed-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Susan Spicer’s take on world cuisine isn’t far from her home in Lakeview. Make sure to call ahead because the place has a deserved reputation for good food and good times. $$$

A lunch deal you’ll love

900 City Park Ave., 488-1000, RalphsOnThePark.com

At Ralph’s, executive chef Chip Flanagan ensures that by using fresh, seasonal and local produce, the menu is bursting with delicious reasons to go there. A $15 or $18 lunch menu that includes Turtle Soup or Beet Salad, followed by the Chef’s Special or entrées such as Pork Meat Balls and Tagliatelle Pasta, is a great way to enjoy it. While you’re there, you might enjoy a cocktail with a cause, with 20 percent going to a local charity, or even stay until 5 p.m. when Joe Krown tickles the ivories until 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. – M irella cameran 80

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Morton’s, The Steakhouse The Shops at Canal Place, 365 Canal St., 566-0221, French Quarter, Mortons.com/NewOrleans. D daily. Quintessential Chicago steakhouse serves up top-quality slabs of meat along with jumbo seafood. Clubhouse atmosphere makes this chophouse a favorite of Saints players and businessmen alike. $$$$$ Mosca’s 4137 Highway 90 West, 436-9942, Avondale. D Tue-Sat. Italian institution near the Huey Long Bridge dishes out massive portions of great food family-style. Good bets are the shrimp mosca and chicken à la grande. Note: Cash Only. $$$

Mother’s 401 Poydras St., 523-9656, CBD/ Warehouse District, MothersRestaurant.net. B, L, D daily. Locals and tourists alike endure long queues and a confounding ordering system to enjoy iconic dishes such as the Ferdi poor boy and Jerry’s jambalaya. Come for a late lunch to avoid the rush. $$

Mr. Ed’s Seafood and Italian Restaurant 1001 Live Oak St., 838-0022, Bucktown; 910 W. Esplanade Ave., #A, 4633030, Kenner. L, D Mon-Sat. Neighborhood restaurant specializes in seafood and Italian offerings such as stuffed eggplant and bell pepper. Fried seafood and sandwiches make it a good stop for lunch. $$

Muriel’s Jackson Square 801 Chartres St., 568-1885, French Quarter, Muriels.com. L, D daily, Br Sun. Enjoy pecan-crusted drum and other New Orleans classics while dining in the courtyard bar or any other room in this labyrinthine, rumored-to-be-haunted establishment. $$$$

Naked Pizza 6307 S. Miro St., 865-0244, Uptown (takeout & delivery only), NakedPizza. biz. L, D daily. Pizza place with a focus on

fresh ingredients and a healthy crust. The Mediterranean pie is a good choice. $

Napoleon House 500 Chartres St., 5249752, French Quarter, NapoleonHouse.com. L, D Thu-Tue. Originally built in 1797 as a respite for Napoleon, this family-owned European-style café serves local favorites: gumbo, jambalaya, muffulettas and for sipping, a Sazerac or lemony Pimm’s Cup. $$

Nine Roses 1100 Stephen St., 366-7665, Gretna, NineRosesResturant.com. L, D SunTue, Thu-Sat. The extensive Vietnamese menu specializes in hot pots, noodles and dishes big enough for everyone to share. Great for families. $$

NOLA 534 St. Louis St., 522-6652, French Quarter, Emerils.com. L Thu-Sun, D daily. Emeril’s more affordable eatery, featuring cedar-plank-roasted redfish; private dining. $$$$$

Nuvolari’s 246 Girod St., (985) 6265619, Mandeville, Nuvolaris.com. D daily. Dark woods and soft lighting highlight this Northshore Creole Continental-Italian fusion restaurant famous for crabmeat ravioli, veal dishes, seafood specialties and delectable desserts. $$$$

One Restaurant and Lounge 8132 Hampson St., 301-9061, Uptown, OrleansGrapevine.com. L Tue-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Black seating and herbaceous sage-colored walls form a dining room where every seat is a view into the open kitchen and the chefs creating contemporary comfort food on a seasonally changing menu. The bar is also known for cranking out clever cocktails. New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Restaurant 2005. $$$$

Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar and Bistro 720 Orleans Ave., 523-1930, French

Quarter, OrleansGrapevine.com. D Tue-Sun, closed Mon. Wine is the muse at this beautifully renovated French Quarter bistro, which offers vino by the flight, glass and bottle. A classic menu with an emphasis on New Orleans cuisine adds to the appeal $$$

Palace Café 605 Canal St., 523-1661, CBD/Warehouse District, PalaceCafe.com. L Mon-Sat, D Mon-Sun, Br Sun. Dickie Brennan-owned brasserie with French-style sidewalk seating and house-created specialties of Chef Darrin Nesbit at lunch, dinner and Jazz Brunch. Favorites here include crabmeat cheesecake, turtle soup, the Werlein salad with fried Louisiana oysters and pork ”debris” studded Palace Potato Pie. $$$$$ Parkway Bakery and Tavern 538 Hagan Ave., 482-3047, Mid-City, ParkwayBakeryAndTavernNola.com. L, D daily, closed Tue. Featured on national TV and having served poor boys to presidents, Parkway stakes a claim to some of the best sandwiches in town. Their French fry version with gravy and cheese is a classic at a great price. $

Pascal’s Manale 1838 Napoleon Ave., 895-4877, Uptown. L Mon-Fri, D Mon-Sat. Vintage New Orleans neighborhood restaurant since 1913 and the place to go for the housecreation of barbecued shrimp. Its oyster bar serves icy cold, freshly shucked Louisiana oysters and the Italian specialties and steaks are also solid. $$$$

Patois 6078 Laurel St., 895-9441, Uptown, PatoisNola.com. Br Sun, L Fri, D Wed-Sat. The food is French in technique, with influences from across the Mediterranean as well as the American South, all filtered through the talent of Chef Aaron Burgau (New Orleans Magazine’s Best New Chef 2009).

Reservations recommended. $$$

Paul’s Café 100 Pine St., (985) 386-9581, Ponchatoula, PaulsCafe.net. B, L daily. Best known for its strawberry daiquiris, Paul’s also cooks up egg breakfasts and lunches including all manner of sandwiches and poor boys. $ The Pelican Club 312 Exchange Place, 523-1504, French Quarter, PelicanClub.com. D daily. Tucked into a French Quarter alley, Pelican Club serves an eclectic mix of hip food, from the seafood “martini” to clay pot barbecued shrimp and a trio of duck. Three dining rooms available. $$$$$

PJ’s Coffee Multiple locations throughout Greater New Orleans, PJsCoffee.com. The city’s first iced-coffee spot that pioneered the coffee house experience in New Orleans and introduced us all to velvet ices, drinkable granitas and locally made Ronald Reginald vanilla. A wide assortment of pastries and bagels are offered as well as juices and fresh ground or whole bean coffees. $ Port of Call 838 Esplanade Ave., 523-0120, French Quarter, PortOfCallNola.com. L, D daily. It’s all about the big, meaty burgers and giant baked potatoes in this popular bar/restaurant – unless you’re cocktailing only, then it’s all about the Monsoons. $$

Praline Connection 542 Frenchmen St., 943-3934, Faubourg Marigny, PralineConnection.com. L, D daily. Downhome dishes of smothered pork chops, greens, beans and cornbread are on the menu at this homey Creole soul restaurant. $$ Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill 115 Bourbon St., 598-1200, French Quarter, RedFishGrill.com. L, D daily. Chef Austin Kirzner cooks up a broad menu peppered

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T HE M EN U with Big Easy favorites like BBQ oysters, blackened redfish and double chocolate bread pudding. $$$$$

Ralph’s On The Park 900 City Park Ave., 488-1000, Mid-City, RalphsOnThePark.com. Br Sun, L Wed-Fri, D daily. A modern interior, a view of City Park’s moss-draped oaks and contemporary Creole dishes such as City Park salad, turtle soup and BBQ Gulf shrimp. The bar gets special notice for cocktails. $$$$ The Red Maple 1036 Lafayette St., 3670935, Gretna, TheRedMaple.com. L Tue-Fri, D Tue-Sat. This West Bank institution since 1963 is known for its seafood, steaks, wine list and some of the best bread pudding around. $$$$

Reginelli’s Pizzeria 741 State St., 8991414, Uptown; 3244 Magazine St., 895-7272, Uptown; 5608 Citrus Blvd., 818-0111, Harahan; 817 W. Esplanade Ave., 7126868, Kenner; 874 Harrison Ave, 488-0133, Lakeview; Reginellis.com. L, D daily. Pizzas, pastas, salads, fat calzones and lofty focaccia sandwiches are on tap at locations all over town. $$

Arnaud’s Remoulade 309 Bourbon St., 523-0377, French Quarter, Remoulade.com. L, D daily. Granite-topped tables and an antique mahogany bar are home to the eclectic menu of Famous Shrimp Arnaud, red beans and rice and poor boys as well as specialty burgers, grilled all-beef hot dogs and thin-crust pizza. $$

René Bistrot 700 Tchoupitoulas St., 613-2350, CBD/Warehouse District, LaCoteBrasserie.com. B, L, D daily. Fresh local seafood, international ingredients and a contemporary atmosphere fill the room at this hotel restaurant near the Convention Center. $$$

Restaurant August 301 Tchoupitoulas St., 299-9777, CBD/Warehouse District, RestaurantAugust.com. L Mon-Fri, D daily. James Beard Award-winning chef (New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year 2007) John Besh’s menu is based on classical techniques of Louisiana cuisine and produce with a splash of Euro flavor set in a historic carriage warehouse. $$$$$

R’Evolution 777 Bienville St., 553-2277, French Quarter, RevolutionNola.com. L, D Mon-Fri, Br, D Sun, open late Fri-Sat. R’evolution is the partnership between chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto. Located in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, it’s an opulent place that combines the local flavors of chef Folse with the more cosmopolitan influence of chef Tramonto. Chef de cuisine Chris Lusk and executive sous chef Erik Veney are in charge of day-to-day operations, which include house-made charcuterie, pastries, pastas and more. $$$$$

Ristorante Da Piero 401 Williams Blvd., Kenner, RistoranteDaPiero.com. L Tue-Fri, D Tue-Sat, 469-8585. Homemade pastas and an emphasis on Northern Italian cuisine make this cozy spot in Kenner’s Rivertown a romantic destination. $ Rib Room Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, 621 St. Louis St., 529-7046, French Quarter, OmniHotels.com. B, L, D daily, Br Sun. Old World elegance, high ceilings and views of Royal Street, house classic cocktails and Anthony Spizale’s broad menu of prime rib, stunning seafood and on weekends, a Champagne Brunch. $$$

DINING GUIDE Riccobono’s Panola Street Café 7801 Panola St., 314-1810, Garden District. B, L daily. This breakfast spot at the corner of Burdette and Panola streets has been waking up bleary college students for years. The omelets are good, as are the Belgian waffles. Offers daily specials as well. $

Rio Mar 800 S. Peters St., 525-3474, CBD/Warehouse District, RioMarSeafood. com. L Mon-Fri. D Mon-Sat. Seafood-centric Warehouse District destination focuses on Latin American and Spanish cuisines. Try the bacalaitos and the escabeche. The tapas lunch is a great way to try a little of everything. Save room for the Tres Leches, a favorite dessert. New Orleans Magazine’s Chef of the Year 2006. $$$$

Ristorante Filippo 1917 Ridgelake Drive, 835-4008, Metairie. L Mon-Fri, D Tue-Sat. Creole-Italian destination serves up southern Italian specialties bathed in red sauces and cheese alongside New Orleans classics like pan-fried gulf fish and plump shellfish. $$$ River 127 Westin New Orleans Canal Place, 100 Rue Iberville, 566-7006, French Quarter. B, L, D daily. Continental cuisine with Louisiana flare in a dining room that overlooks the Mississippi River and French Quarter. $$$$

Rivershack Tavern 3449 River Road, 8344938, Jefferson, TheRivershackTavern.com. L, D daily. Home of the Tacky Ashtray, this popular bar alongside the Mississippi levee offers surprisingly wide-ranging menu featuring seafood, poor boys and deli-style sandwiches along with live music. Open late. $

Rock-N-Sake 823 Fulton St., 581-7253, CBD/Warehouse District, RockNSake.com. L Fri, D Tue-Sun. Enjoy fresh sushi along with contemporary takes on Japanese favorites in this club-like setting in the Warehouse District. Open until midnight on Fri. and Sat., this makes for a unique late-night destination. $$$

Root 200 Julia St., 252-9480, CBD, RootNola. com. L Mon-Fri, D Sun-Thur, open late Fri-Sat. Chef Philip Lopez opened Root in November 2011 and has garnered a loyal following for his modernist, eclectic cuisine. Try the Korean fried chicken wings and the Cohiba-smoked scallops crusted with chorizo. $$$$ Royal Blend Coffee and Tea House 621 Royal St., 523-2716, French Quarter; 204 Metairie Road, 835-7779, Metairie; RoyalBlendCoffee.com. B, L daily. Known for their frozen Café Glace and a wide selection of coffees and teas, as well as pastries, daily specials and hearty breakfasts. $

Ruth’s Chris Steak House 3633 Veterans Blvd., 888-3600, Metairie. L Fri, D daily, Br Sat-Sun; 228 Poydras St. in Harrah’s Hotel, 587-7099, L, D daily, Br Sat-Sun; RuthsChris. com. Filet Mignon, creamed spinach and potatoes au gratin are the most popular dishes at this area steak institution, but there are also great seafood choices and top-notch desserts. $$$$$

Sake Café 2830 Magazine St., 894-0033, Uptown, SakeCafeUptown.com. L, D daily. Creative and traditional Japanese food in an ultramodern décor. Sushi and sashimi boats, wild rolls filled with the usual and not-sousual suspects and a nice bar with a number of sakes from which to choose. $$$ Sammy’s Po-Boys and Catering 901 Veterans Blvd., 835-0916, Metairie,

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SammysPoBoys.com. L Mon-Sat, D Sun. Bucktown transplant offers a seafood-centric menu rounded out with wraps, kid meals, and catering options all at a reasonable price. $

com. L, D Mon-Sun. This local chain offers a globally influenced menu with burgers, steaks, sesame crusted tuna, sandwiches and salads. $$

Satsuma Café 3218 Dauphine St., 3045962, Bywater; 7901 Maple St., 309-5557, Uptown; SatsumaCafe.com. B, L daily (until 7 p.m.). Two locations bring healthy, inspired breakfast and lunch fare, along with freshsqueezed juices, to the University Section of Uptown. $

Surrey’s Café and Juice Bar 1418 Magazine St., 524-3828, Coliseum Square; 4807 Magazine St., 895-5757, Uptown; SurreysCafeAndJuiceBar.com. B, L daily. Laid-back café focuses on breakfast and brunch dishes to accompany fresh-squeezed juice offerings. Health-food lovers will like it here, along with fans of favorites such as peanut butter and banana pancakes. Note: Cash only. $$

Semolina 4436 Veterans Blvd., Suite 37, Metairie, 454-7930, Semolina.com. L, D daily. This casual, contemporary pasta restaurant takes a bold approach to cooking Italian food, emphasizing flavors, texture and color; many of the dishes feature a signature Louisiana twist, such as the Muffuletta Pasta and Pasta Jambalaya. Popular entrees include Grilled Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Marsala and Veal Parmesan. $$

Serendipity 3700 Orleans Ave. 407-0818, Mid-City, SerendipityNola.com. D nightly. Chef Chris DeBarr brings his eclectic and far-ranging style of cuisine and classicallyinspired cocktails to an outpost in American Can. A late-night option as well. $$

Slice 1513 St. Charles Ave., 525-7437, Uptown; 5538 Magazine St., 897-4800; SlicePizzeria.com. L, D Mon-Sat. Right on the Avenue, order up slices or whole pizza pies done in several styles (thin- and thickcrust) as well as pastas, seafood, paninis and salads. $

Slim Goodies Diner 3322 Magazine St., 891-EGGS (3447). B, L daily. This diner offers up an exhaustive menu heavily influenced by local cuisine. Try the Creole Slammer, a breakfast platter rounded out with Crawfish Étouffée. The laid-back vibe is best enjoyed on the patio out back. $ SoBou 310 Chartres St., 552-4095, French Quarter, SoBouNola.com. B, L, D daily. There is something for everyone at this “Modern Creole Saloon,” the latest offering from the Commander’s Restaurant Family. Decidedly unstuffy with an emphasis on craft cocktails and wines by the glass, diners will find everything from $1 pork cracklins’ to an extravagant foie gras burger on the accomplished yet eclectic menus. $$ Snug Harbor 626 Frenchman St., 949-0696, Faubourg Marigny, SnugJazz.com. D daily. The city’s premier jazz club serves cocktails and a dining menu loaded with steaks, seafood and meaty burgers served with loaded baked potatoes. $$$$

Stein’s Market and Deli 2207 Magazine St., 527-0771, Uptown, SteinsDeli.net. B, L, D Tue-Sun. New York meets New Orleans. The Reuben and Rachel sandwiches are the real deal and the half-sours and pickled tomatoes complete the deli experience. $

Stella! 1032 Chartres St., 587-0091, French Quarter, RestaurantStella.com. D daily. Global cuisine with a Louisiana blush by native son chef Scott Boswell. Dishes are always inventive and flavorful from appetizer to dessert. The wine list is bold and the service “stellar.” Boswell was New Orleans Magazine’s 2005 Chef of the Year. $$$$$ Sun Ray Grill 619 Pink St., 837-0055, Old Metairie; 1051 Annunciation St., 566-0021, CBD/Warehouse District; 2600 Belle Chasse Highway, 391-0053, Gretna; 2424 Williams Blvd., Kenner, 305-4704; SunRayGrill.

Tan Dinh 1705 Lafayette St., 361-8008, Gretna. B, L, D Wed-Mon. Roasted quail and the beef pho rule at this Vietnamese outpost. $$

Theo’s Pizza 4218 Magazine St., 894-8554, Uptown; 4024 Canal, 302-1133, Mid-City; TheosPizza.com. L, D daily. The thin, crackercrisp crust pizzas are complemented by the broad assortment of toppings which include a lot of local ingredients. Cheap prices make this an economical choice along upscale Magazine Street and a delicious choice in Mid-City. $$ Three Muses 536 Frenchmen St., 298-8746, Marigny, TheThreeMuses.com. D Sun-Mon, Wed, Fri-Sat. Three Muses is a bar-restaurant serving the eclectic cuisine of chef Daniel Esses. The menu changes, but expect Esses’ take on Italian, Spanish, North African and Korean cooking. Local bands provide music on a regular basis. $ Tommy’s Cuisine 746 Tchoupitoulas St., 581-1103, CBD/Warehouse, TommysNewOrleans.com. D daily. Classic Creole-Italian cuisine is the name of the game at this upscale eatery in the Warehouse District. Appetizers include the namesake Oysters Tommy, baked in the shell with Romano cheese, pancetta and roasted red pepper. $$$$$ Tony Angello’s 6262 Fleur de Lis Drive, 488-0888. Lakeview. D, Tue-Sat. Creole-Italian favorite serves up fare in the completely restored Lakeview location. Ask Tony to “Feed Me” if you want a real multi-course dining experience. $$$$ Tout de Suite Cafe 347 Verret St., 3622264, Algiers. B, L, D daily. Neighborhood coffeehouse/café in historic Algiers Point offers a light menu of soups, salads and sandwiches for a quick meal or carryout. $$

Tracey’s Irish Restaurant & Bar 2604 Magazine St., 897-5413, TraeysNola.com, Uptown. L, D daily. A neighborhood bar with one of the best messy roast beef poor boys in town. The gumbo, cheeseburger poor boy and other sandwiches are also winners. Grab a local Abita beer to wash it all down. Also a great location to watch “the game.” $ Trey Yuen 600 N. Causeway Blvd., (985) 626-4476, Mandeville, TreyYuen.com. L Tue-Fri & Sun, D Tue-Sun. Chinese cuisine meets with local seafood in dishes like their Szechuan Spicy Alligator and Tong Cho Crawfish; private rooms available. $$

Tujague’s 823 Decatur St., 525-8676, French Quarter, TujaguesRestaurant.com. D daily. For more than 150 years this landmark restaurant has been offering Creole cuisine. Favorites include a nightly six-course table d’hôté menu featuring a unique Beef Brisket with Creole Sauce. New Orleans Magazine’s

Honor Roll honoree 2008. $$$$$

Upperline 1413 Upperline St., 891-9822, Uptown, Upperline.com. D Wed-Sun. Consummate hostess JoAnn Clevenger and talented Chef Nathan Winowich make for a winning combination at this nationally heralded Uptown favorite. The oft-copied Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Remoulade originated here. $$$$

Vega Tapas Café 2051 Metairie Road, 8362007, Metairie. D daily. Innovative establishment offers fresh seafood, grilled meats and vegetarian dishes in a chic environment. Daily chef specials showcase unique ingredients and make this place a popular destination for dates as well as groups of friends. $$

Venezia 134 N. Carrollton Ave., 488-7991, Mid-City. L Wed-Fri & Sun, D Wed-Sun. Casual neighborhood Italian destination known for its thin-crust pizzas. Good lunch specials make this a popular choice as well. $$

Vincent’s Italian Cuisine 4411 Chastant St., 885-2984, Metairie, L Tue-Fri, D Tue-Sat; 7839 St. Charles Ave., 866-9313, Uptown. L Tue-Fri, D Mon-Sun; VicentsItalianCuisine. com. Snug Italian boîte packs them in yet manages to remain intimate at the same time. The cannelloni is a house specialty. $$$ Wolfe’s 1041 Dumaine St., 593-9535, French Quarter. L Fri, D Tue-Sat. Chef Tom Wolfe has reinvented the former Peristyle, opening up the doors for full expression of his inventive, contemporary New Orleans cuisine. The menu changes seasonally. Complimentary valet. $$$

Wolfe’s in the Warehouse 859 Convention Center Blvd., 613-2882, CBD/ Warehouse District. B, L, D daily. Chef Tom

Wolfe brings his refined cuisine to the booming Fulton Street corridor. His Smoked Kobe Short Ribs are a good choice. $$$

Ye Olde College Inn 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683, Uptown, CollegeInn1933. com. D Tue-Sat. The Carrollton institution moved next door into brand-new digs but serves up the same classic fare, albeit with a few new upscale dishes peppering the menu. $$$ Yuki Izakaya 525 Frenchmen St., 943-1122, Marigny. D Tue-Sun. Authentic Japanese Izakaya serves small plates to late-night crowds at this unique destination on Frenchmen. Try the Hokke Fish or the Agedashi Tofu. An excellent sake menu rounds out the appeal, as does the sexy, clublike ambiance. $

French Quarter, Antoines.com/AntoinesAnnex. Around the corner from the oldest continuously operated restaurant in the country, Antoine’s Annex serves French pastries, including individual baked Alaskas, ice cream and gelato, as well as panini, salads and coffee. They also deliver.

com. Located in the second floor of a renovated warehouse, above Cochon and Cochon Butcher, is a place to host gatherings both large and small. Catering menus feature modern Louisiana cooking and the Cajun cuisine for which chef Donald Link is justifiably famous.

Bee Sweet Cupcakes 5706 Magazine St., 891-8333, Uptown, BeeSweetCupcakes.net. Open Mon-Sat. Tiny shop sells its namesake treats with a New Orleans twist. Try the Bananas Foster or the Pralines and Cream flavors. Daily specials are offered, as well as catering orders for weddings and parties.

Magic Seasonings Mail Order (800)

Bittersweet Confections 725 Magazine St., 523-2626, Warehouse District, BittersweetConfections.com. Freshly baked cookies, cupcakes and specialty cakes. Serving handmade chocolate truffles, fudge, caramels, gelato, ice coffee, chocolate-dipped strawberries and fresh squeezed lemonade. Children’s birthday parties, chocolate tasting parties, custom chocolates and truffle party bar. Call for details.

Zea’s Rotisserie and Bar 1525 St. Charles Ave., Lower Garden District, 5208100; 1655 Hickory Ave, Harahan, 738-0799; 4450 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, 780-9090; 1325 West Esplanade, Kenner, 468-7733; 1121 Manhattan Blvd., Harvey, 361-8293; 110 Lake Drive, Covington, (985) 327-0520, ZeaRestaurants.com. L, D daily. This popular restaurant serves a variety of grilled items as well as appetizers, salads, side dishes, seafood, pasta and other entrées, drawing from a wide range of worldly influences. Zea’s also offers catering services. $$$

Blue Dot Donuts 4301 Canal St., 218-

333 Poydras St., 2nd Floor, 207-5018, ZoeNewOrleans.com. B, L, D daily, L Mon-Sat. Completely redone in both décor and cuisine, each restaurant features a separate menu by executive chef Chris Brown. $$$

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Calcasieu 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 5882188, Warehouse District, CalcasieuRooms.

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Sucré 3025 Magazine St., 520-8311; 3301 Veterans Blvd., 834-2277; ShopSucre. com. Desserts nightly. Open late weekends. Chocolates, pastry and gelato draw rave reviews at this new dessert destination. Beautiful packaging makes this a great place to shop for gifts. Catering available.

St., 269-5707, Uptown, BlueFrogChocolate. com. French and Belgian chocolate truffles and Italian candy flowers make this boutique a great place for gifts.

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Prytania St., 899-4737, Uptown, StJamesCheese.com. Specialty shop offers a selection of fine cheeses, wines, beers and related accouterments. Look for wine and cheese specials every Friday.

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4866, Mid-City, BlueDotDonuts.com. B, L daily. Heard the one about the cops that opened a donut shop? This is no joke. The Bacon Maple Long John gets all the press, but returning customers are happy with the classics as well as twists like peanut butter and jelly.

Zoë Restaurant W New Orleans Hotel,

Antoine’s Annex 513 Royal St., 525-8045,

457- 2857. Offers Chef Paul Prudhomme’s famous cookbooks, smoked meats, videos, seasonings and more. Online shopping available at shop. ChefPaul.com.

TROPICAL ISLE® BOURBON 721 Bourbon Street (corner of Orleans Ave) TROPICAL ISLE® ORIGINAL 600 Bourbon Street (corner Toulouse) TROPICAL ISLE® BAYOU CLUB 610 Bourbon Street LITTLE TROPICAL ISLE® 435 Bourbon Street FUNKY PIRATE 727 Bourbon Street Our specialty cups are proudly made in the USA. www.facebook/tropicalisle

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Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the French Quarter Festival was founded with the mission of attracting locals to the Vieux CarrĂŠ. Our staff has been sleuthing for reasons to keep visiting year-round, especially for food, music and shopping. There is more than just history in the French Quarter, although thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty rich, too.

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This romp around the French

Quarter focuses on full course meals at bars in restaurants within the boundaries of our beloved Vieux Carré. It begins with a revolution, a new restaurant named R’evolution spawned out of a three-way with Louisiana Chef John Folse, Chef Rick Tramonto and Royal Sonesta Hotel owners, or management, or some combination of it all. R’evolution. Bar R’evolution has become French Quarter hot spot for those of us who enjoy a bar setting more for eating with drinking. My first meal at R’evolution last summer was actually in their most formal center dining room. The reasoning was the same as my first visit to most new restaurants: I needed to go at least once so I could say I had been and so I could give an estimate on its longevity. After a shot glass liquid amuse-bouche of a heavenly citrus concoction, highlights included wood-fire grilled sweetbreads, steak tartare and “Bird in a Cage,” which rivals the fried chicken at Galatoire’s as the tastiest bird dish in town. To provide full details about the incredible edible cage would be like giving away the ending of a movie. The décor equals the food, easily the most smartly dressed eatery to open in New Orleans since Restaurant Jonathan on North Rampart Street in Mr. B’s Bistro the 1970s. Further investigation was in order. The next day I returned solo. As is my custom when dining at a bar, my favorite seat is one near the service area. The cross pollination of bartenders and waiters guarantees access to a flow of insider gossip – a guest with a peculiar order, need the check quick for Table 10 or they will be making a baby at the table, and a local chef just left in an ongoing journey to find himself. The bartender that second night quickly gained my confidence after recommending an iced platter of P&J oysters on the half-shell as a starter. I was under his forces. I forgot what else I ate that night, but a tattoo caught my attention. There was Colbus, a lead bartender at Bar R’evolution since a bold letter on the bartender’s right forearm that they opened with a bang last June. He was lured to resembled the “R” in R’evolution’s logo. None of New Orleans by food, drink and a girlfriend similarthe other bartenders had the same branding, and ly named Randi. “On a busy night at least half our I soon learned that the name of the man with the bar customers are eating at the bar. They include “R” tattoo was Randy. The tattoo had preceded his walk-ins to the restaurant, out-of-towners traveling employment at R’evolution. alone and folks out for a grazing who want a quick “Death by Gumbo, Crabmeat Beignets and in-and-out bite, in addition to our local destination oysters on the half-shell – our three most popular bar diners.” food selections at the bar. Folks like eating in By BROBSON LUTZ All the bartenders are stars who our relaxed and lively atmosphere,” says Randy

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In a recent tour of the wine cellar, Wismeier showed two friends visiting from Virginia and me some of their older wines in the cellar, including a 1929 Maury she described as “lighter than a port but with all that fruit.” We were snagged once we heard it was available by the glass and were soon back at the bar with three glasses. The $35 a glass price tag breaks down to 42 cents a year for an 84-year-old wine that rested in casts for decades before being bottled in the 2000s. I think that it was the first wine I drank that was older than I am. Mr. B’s Bistro and Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse. “The BBQ shrimp is our most popular entrée. R’evolution

Touché Bar at the Omni Royal Orleans

know food as well as drink, but wait until you meet the directors of their 10,000-bottle wine cellar. Wine director Molly Wismeier is as pretty as she is knowledgeable, and her dapper assistant Matthew Allen visits the bar as well as tables with recommendations that shouldn’t be ignored. For example, a perfect Loire Valley cabernet to pair with one of their signature appetizers, a pair of long-roasted bones sawed down the middle presented with a marrow spoon best shared to reserve stomach space for other courses.

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Other favorites at the bar are Gumbo Ya Ya, Crab Cakes and Duck Spring Rolls,” said manager Larry Sherman on a recent Saturday afternoon. The lunch crowd fueled by $3 Bloody Marys and martini specials filled the entire dining room and every seat at the long bar. Food at the bar is best enjoyed on days and times when the restaurant isn’t packed. Anything on the full menu is also available at the Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse bar around the corner from Mr. B’s Bistro. Every place at the bar and all the bar tables were completely set for dining early one recent Thursday night. In fact, I hear dining at their lively bar there is more popular than their subterranean dining room. Touché Bar at the Omni Royal Orleans. “Honey, here is our bar menu, but you can have anything you want from inside, too. You want prime rib, I go and get you prime rib. You need a Rib Room menu, too? I got one here, but let me check on the specials,” said Donna Seyer who has held court at the Touché for the past 14 years and is easily the Royal Street grand dame of bar dining. “Everybody figures I’m from Chalmette when they hear me talk. I do live in Chalmette, but I’m from here. I made my first communion at the Cathedral and attended the St. Louis school on Dauphine Street.” The bar is Seyer’s stage and the customers are supporting actors – not audience. The Touché is lunch day headquarters for several French Quarter business owners and shopkeepers. On busy days, they even call Seyer to order food to go. The bar still has house accounts for the long-term regulars. A federal judge and his buddies show up for lunch followed by a card game in an adjoining lower level room one day a week. Several “regulars” are out of town guests who check into the hotel and immediately report to Touché for their waking hours, enjoying Seyer, other customers, ambiance, food, drink and a changing street scene as the world turns. “It is a hotel bar, but at least 50 percent local. Last night it was 90 percent local. My favorite is the debris roast beef poor boy. My wife loves the potato skins stuffed with cheese and prime rib debris. We eat here at least three or four times a week,”

SARA ESSE X B RAD L E Y PHO T O G RAPHS

said a retired physician who requested anonymity, as I suspect his children have no idea how much time their retired parents spend in a bar. On the doctor’s suggestion I ordered the famed prime beef debris poor boy. It was served on Leidenheimer bread annointed with a generous portion of horseradish mayonnaise and extra gravy on the side. It was obvious what all the adulation was about. I had no idea there was a debris poor boy this good outside of Mother’s. An attorney from Mississippi sitting nearby and watching all the commotion had a hungry look in his eye. He asked Donna if he could get a half-sized order. This was my salvation, as there was no way I could consume a whole one, so Donna brought out another setup and we shared. Meauxbar Bistro. “We love our bar diners. We treat them like family,” said James Conte, co-owner of the 10-year-old Meauxbar Bistro. “Our typical bar diner starts with a gin martini or maybe our Martini Indochine. Our petite plates are perfect for bar dining with maybe a soup du jour or salad, or a pâté special along with a salad.” The steak tartare and flash fried oyster salad are two popular small plates for bar dining, but my favorite is the entrée-sized bouillabaisse, easily one of the best in the city. Their version has a light “nectar of the gods” saffron broth. The chef adds seasonal seafoods in the proper order for each to be perfectly poached, and finishes the presentation with a thick slice of French bread rubbed with garlic and a generous dab of rouille. Once you sample bouillabaisse at Meauxbar, you’ll have no tolerance for the heavy tomato sauce varieties filled with overcooked pieces of seafood that give this dish a bad name. Even though Meauxbar has “bar” in its name, this small bistro has only four or so comfortable and nicely spaced stools. Its location on North Rampart Street near the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts makes this a tough reservation on show nights, but a solo at the bar is usually easy to capture. The Pelican Club. A friend suggested I try a steak at the bar. My 16-ounce, perfectly cooked rare rib eye was crowned with crispy fried onion rings and corralled on three sides by tasty sides – corn so fresh it shivered with cob separation anxiety, green beans fenced in by a few asparagus spears and mashed potatoes nicely scented but not overly drenched with the now ubiquitous truffle oil. I called chef Richard Hughes the next day to tell him how good the steak was and to get his opinion on bar diners. “We cut all our meat daily. The beef is all USDA prime. Each steak is brushed with a little butter and grilled. No secrets,” said Hughes, who has been slinging some good-tasting hash at his “house of huge portions” since 1990. “Last night our bar was filled with diners. In years past bar diners were peo-

ple from out of town traveling alone, but more and more locals both solo and in pairs are eating at the bar. Our menu is perfect for bar dining as we have an extensive appetizer selection. And we’ll serve you anything we cook at the bar.” The bar at Pelican Club sits 10. Five people were eating the weekday night I visited, and I knew three of them. On my right was a health law attorney I hadn’t seen in 20 years. On my left were Kate Lutken Bruno and Stephen LaRue, who told me they enjoy bar dining all over town. They suggested that I give the bar at Iris a try, and I did the next day for lunch. Iris at the Bienville House Hotel. Iris can be entered from North Peters or Decatur streets, and is about three blocks from Canal Street, which isn’t on any of my regular French Quarter routes. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t been there. As is my custom, I took the last and fifth stool closest to the bar service area. My only dining companions at the bar were bottles of Sheep Dip, Knob Creek, undiluted Maker’s Mark and Redbeast directly facing me. I also eyed a seven-bottle collection of exotic bitters, which I understand are expertly used by one of the city’s most creative bartenders. Since this was my first visit to Iris, I did the old chicken trick. A perfectly roasted or grilled

Meauxbar Bistro

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Iris at the Bienville House Hotel

chicken is the signature of a good kitchen. I wasn’t disappointed. Other highlights I sampled included tasty bruschetta and bresola small plates. The kitchen uses almost all locally grown greens and herbs. A tidbit I picked up at the bar: the bread is now from a Maple Street baker as baking in-house has been on hold since chef Ian Schnoebelen recently opened Mariza in Bywater featuring contemporary cooking with a nod towards Italy. Hermes Bar at Antoine’s. Much like a grandparent comes to life with the birth of a first grandchild, the Hermes Bar has energized this trans-generational culinary museum. The bar menu features some items not on the main menu including Oyster Foch and Shrimp Reuben poor boys, but the “big boss” here lets you order anything on either menu. Galvez. For that kind of day when you crave eating at a bar in solitary splendor, think Galvez. Galvez is white tabletop dining with the full menu highlighting tasty tapas and paella offerings. As far as the view and service goes, it’s at the top of its ethnic pyramid in our city blessed with a flood

of Hispanic food trucks since Hurricane Katrina. If it weren’t for Bernardo de Galvez, we might be celebrating the Queen’s Birthday each year instead of the Fourth of July. He was proclaimed a Revolutionary War hero for his military activities in this area. Our early city leaders named a busy street in his honor. To commemorate our bicentennial, Spain sent a statue of Galvez on a horse that stands guard by the defunct World Trade Center, not the best view in town. In contrast, the restaurant named in his honor has one of the best dining views of the Mississippi River south of Memphis. In memoriam and a toast to the future. Like life, French Quarter living and eating has its moments of sadness. Bar regulars as well as occasional guests at Tujaque’s mourned Steven Latter’s premature death last February. Nola.com food writer Susan Langenhennig described his favorite perch in the bar, as “a throne-like Crown Royal chair, which he haggled out of his liquor distributor.” No visit to New Orleans is complete without a beef brisket poor boy or an order of their chicken bonne femme, featured last year in the French Quarter dining update. The portions are huge, so bring a friend to share. As you enter Broussard’s, the wall tiles designed by Joe Segreto depict the establishment’s Italian and Sicilian heritage along with a tribute to Napoleon. I pass the large dining rooms and make a beeline for the nine-stool bar that opens onto a courtyard with the largest wisteria in the French Quarter. The bar was surprising empty one recent cold February night. “I guess you haven’t heard the news. It was supposed to be a secret, but it happens next week so I guess I can talk. The Preuss’ are selling,” said longtime bartender Mary Jackson. Those of us who followed Chef Gunter Preuss and his wife, Evelyn, from Versailles Restaurant to Broussard’s many moons ago will miss these two great folks at the restaurant. However, I hope we see more of them around the French Quarter that they call home as they enjoy a well-deserved retirement.

Find Them Here Broussard’s Restaurant

Galvez Restaurant

Meauxbar Bistro

The Pelican Club

819 Conti St. 581-3866 Broussards.com

French Market 914 N. Peters St. 595-3400 GalvezRestaurant.com

942 N. Rampart St 569-9979 Meauxbar.com

312 Exchange Place 523-1504 PelicanClub.com

Mr. B’s Bistro

Touché Bar

201 Royal St. 523-2078 MrBsBistro.com

Omni Royal Orleans 512 Royal St. 529-5333

Restaurant R’evolution

Tujagues Restaurant

777 Bienville St. 553-2277 RevolutionNola.com

823 Decatur St. 525-8676 TujaguesRestaurant.com

Criollo Restaurant Hotel Monteleone 214 Royal St. 681-4444 CriolloNola.com

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse 716 Iberville St. 522-2467 DickieBrennansSteakhouse.com

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Hermes Bar Antoine’s Restaurant 713 Saint Louis St, 581-4422 Antoines.com

Iris at the Bienville House Hotel 321 N. Peters St. 299-3944 IrisNewOrleans.com

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Balcony Music Club (BMC)

If t h e s u n w e r e v i s i bl e , i t w o u l d h a v e

been starting to set on Mardi Gras while Chegadao played at the Balcony Music Club (BMC). The location, at the corner of Decatur Street and Esplanade Avenue has been The Mint, The Matador and even a short-lived club owned by comedian/magician Harry Anderson, and it has become the French Quarter terminus of the Marigny’s Frenchmen Street strip. Musically, it leans toward bands on the rise these days, and on Fat Tuesday the self-proclaimed samba-funk band played to a comfortably full room squeezing the last hours of fun out of Carnival. Singer and percussionist Tedo Oliviera’s conga had beads hanging from the lugs as a white Afro wig could be seen bobbing above the other dancers. The French Quarter is the heart of New Orleans, but zoning laws restrict live music to certain areas and the largest, Bourbon Street, specializes in covers for tourists. A lot of good musicians perform there, but few are playing distinctive music because that’s not their job. They are there to offer familiarity to travelers, but there are outposts of individuality. Big Al Carson lives up to his name; he’s the size of a huddle and wants to be your lover man all night long. He is also back at the Funky Pirate playing the blues after some time off for health reasons. The most audacious music performed on Bourbon Street the Friday after Fat Tuesday was

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made by a skeletal marching band outside Rico’s Drunken Burrito. They performed James Brown’s “Superbad” to the delight of the crowd that encircled them. They weren’t in the local brass band tradition despite the horns-and-drums lineup; when each player soloed, the others laid out except for the drums, but the crowd loved it nonetheless. “We’re from Miami,” the trumpeter in a dark blue fraternity T-shirt announced as he worked the circle, hat out. “We’re trying to raise money to get home.” And maybe they were. The French Quarter in general and Bourbon Street particularly comes at you offering “big-ass” beers, four T-shirts for $20 and it knows where you got them shoes. It is the place where capitalism gets democratic, and anybody who can think of something to trade for a buck – even a song or a story – will find a taker.

B y A l e x R a w ls

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House of Blues

Preservation Hall

At the same time, two tour buses sat parked behind barricades in front of the House of Blues. Boston-based Flogging Molly has been playing Irish-inflected punk for 20 years, and it returned to the Decatur Street club as part of its anniversary tour. The House of Blues has been one of the city’s most consistent live music destinations since 1994, usually presenting popular touring acts in a relatively intimate space. The smaller Parish elsewhere in the building features emerging national and local acts, and variations including hip-hop, EDM and Americana. The House of Blues is part of the Live Nation family of music locations which translates to a less laissez-faire musical experience, but it also means that shows often start at more audience-friendly times such as 8 and 9 p.m. In general, The House of Blues’ shows are ones you plan to attend rather than ones you adventure into, but the location has something for the spontaneous as well. The free Local Songwriter Showcase Wednesday nights presented Blue Mountain’s Cary Hudson, as well as Luke Winslow-King, who recently signed to Chicago’s Bloodshot Records.

Thursday nights, comedian Leon Blanda hosts the Allstar Comedy Revue, another free show that regularly features some of the city’s top comedians as well as touring comics passing through town. There are also happy hour shows Friday and Saturday nights on the back patio. On Fat Tuesday, nearby One Eyed Jacks set up a stage outside on the street for bounce rapper Katey Red. On Friday night it was an indie rock showcase with Blind Texas Marlin, White Colla Crimes and Steve Eck. One Eyed Jacks has been a theater and a cabaret space; now it’s one of New Orleans’ leading spots for local and touring indie rock. This spring it will feature NPR darling Kishi Bashi, Waylon Jennings’ hard-rock son Shooter, soul man Charles Bradley in a Jazz Fest show and Pittsburgh’s psychedelic collective Black Moth Super Rainbow. Because of One Eyed Jacks’ theatrical past, its floor slopes toward the stage, giving the showroom unusually good sightlines. That also makes it a natural home for the Fleur de Tease burlesque troupe. A few blocks away, it was shortly after 8 p.m. and the line outside of Preservation Hall had stretched down St. Peter Street almost to the door of Pat O’Brien’s, where the doorman tried to sell drinks to those who were waiting. Preservation Hall remains a very pure experience – no drinks to sell, no smoking allowed and no amplification necessary in the tiny room that has been New Orleans’ spiritual home for traditional jazz since 1961. Since Ben Jaffe took over as the hall’s artistic director in the mid-1990s, the performances have been reliable and true to the hall’s vision of giving New Orleans’ traditional jazz musicians a place to practice their craft, but it has also become part of the contemporary club scene. On occasions including Jazz Fest, Preservation Hall presents special midnight shows

One Eyed Jacks

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Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone

that offer rare performances including My Morning Jacket and Robert Plant in a room that might hold 100 people. Recently Earl Scioneaux, engineer for many of the Preservation Hall recordings, debuted his Brassft Punk project there, with a brass band assembled to perform the music of electronic dance music pioneers Daft Punk. The hall is venerable, but the new-by-comparison Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse in the Royal Sonesta Hotel has quickly become just as valuable, bringing quality jazz to Bourbon Street. On Friday night Joe Krown was hunched over the piano playing a driving version of Ray Charles’ “Mess Around” on a stage backed and flanked with rich, red curtains, and that red echoes visually behind the bar. The Friday Piano Professor happy hour series presents a number of the city’s top piano players for solo shows, and it taps into the city’s proud piano tradition. The Jazz Playhouse made regular appearances on the HBO series “Treme.” Jon Seda’s Nelson Hidalgo often mixed business with pleasure there and Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown – the trumpet player who ghosts for Rob Brown’s Delmond Lambreaux – is a regular performer as well. The booking policy is inclusive, presenting brass bands, members of Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Jason Marsalis, traditional jazz, and even late-night burlesque. At the other end of the French Quarter, the Palm Court Jazz Cafe sits, a more mom-and-pop monument to traditional jazz. The business, owned by George and Nina Buck celebrates the music with jackets of albums released by George’s G.H.B. Records in the front window, along with yellowed newspaper clippings dating back to at least 2007 – and some look older. One of the Palm Court’s heroes, “Uncle” Lionel Batiste of the Treme Brass Band, passed away last year and he’s remembered on the window. Another, Lionel Ferbos, is now 101 and stories on his last few birthdays have been taped up as well. Ferbos still plays every Saturday night at the Palm Court, but on the Friday after Mardi Gras trumpeter Charlie Miller sat calmly at

Royal Crown Men

center stage leading the band. Focusing solely on the locations that are destinations misses much of the music of the French Quarter. At night busking on Royal Street comes to a halt, but during the day it’s one of the points of call for street musicians from around the world. Even the Moonwalk is alive with eccentric, scruffy music performed by people with varying commitments to skill and shelter. On Friday night a marimba player and a conga player jammed on one side of Decatur Street while Ted Graham’s All-Stars shuffled out the blues across the way in Margaritaville. Another couple of musicians playing dobro, mandolin and kick drum serenaded customers on a haunted tour on Royal Street. The French Quarter’s hotel bars split the difference between the happenstance of street corner buskers and shows around which an evening’s plans are made. The Hotel Monteleone renovated its Carousel Bar last year to expand it toward Iberville Street, and on Friday night the space was packed, some enjoying cocktails at its signature revolving bar, while others awaited Louis Prima’s daughter Lena, sitting first through a tenor sax-led version of “What’s Going On” by her backing band. Nearby in The Ritz-Carlton, Jeremy Davenport’s playing to a packed Davenport Lounge. “It must have been moonglow,” he sang, bringing a bit of old-school Vegas to the Crescent City. His band can swing, and with the audience rapt he kept the Rat Pack patter to a minimum, letting his and his band’s chops do the work. It often seems like Las Vegas is the model civic leaders envision for New Orleans: a tourist-friendly playground fueled by big bucks from Topeka, Des Moines and Terre Haute. Unlike Vegas, there is a there here. The French Quarter is a neighborhood, and musicians aren’t simply entertainers; they’re part of the community. It is one of the things that “Treme” got very right, and that means that most of the musicians in the French Quarter offer a fair exchange of music for your money. The French Quarter, unlike the Strip, isn’t a grift; it’s their home, even if just for a while. They have to represent.

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Flanagan’s Pub

E a c h F r e n c h Q u a r t e r b a r o ff t h e

tourist-beaten path has a distinct personality, but it changes rapidly over the course of a night (or day) depending, of course, on the crowds. Part of the fun of rolling into one of these casual bars is mingling with its eclectic denizens and creating your own environment. Bring friends with you. Bring out-of-towners who are looking to get to know the city beyond Bourbon Street. Bring your mom. Go by yourself, people-watch and strike up a conversation with a stranger. At all of these places you can just as easily start a dance party as you can sit and read a book. One of the truest affirmations that you’re in a winning spot is knowing that the bartenders of said B y S A R A H R A V I T S establishments stay there and hang out, often long

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after their work shifts end. One such spot is my personal favorite Lower Quarter haunt, Cosimo’s. A popular misconception about the place is that it was started by recording engineer and studio owner Cosimo Matassa – it wasn’t. Original owner Cosimo LaBuono [Ed. Note: the exact spelling of his last name is not known] opened the watering hole in 1934, and since then, not a whole lot has changed besides ownership. It still boasts original woodwork, exposed brick and drinks on the cheap. Bar manager Jeanne LeBlanc, who’s been working there since 2006, says it’s a pretty laid-back crowd; mostly undiscovered by tourists, Cosimo’s draws nearby residents during the week; Fridays and Saturdays can get a little more rowdy but never unmanageable. Drinks range from $2-$7, and LeBlanc is currently working on perfecting a signature cocktail for the bar which will make its debut sometime this spring. She says that it will contain a refreshing combination of ginger beer, Pimms and cucumber. When I stopped in recently, Cosimo’s was gearing up for its weekly crawfish boil, which takes place every Tuesday until the end of May. The bar also has a back room up a small flight of stairs with a pool table, comfortable couches and a dartboard, along with televisions and even when they’re not serving crawfish, the menu is extensive and serves all kinds of food that might strike your fancy after a few beers – gourmet hot dogs and pizzas are

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among the most popular items. After I paid my tab at Cosimo’s that night, I headed over to Royal Street’s Golden Lantern. I had never been in there at night before, but I did kick off a recent Fat Tuesday with one of their self-proclaimed “world famous” Bloody Marys, and it had set the tone for the rest of the delicious day, so I was eager to go back and check out the evening crowd. The place is small in size but makes up for it in personality. Bartender Wayne, who started working there in January, says that every Friday night the bar hosts blues singer Lisa Lynn, while on Saturday nights Divas R Us, a group of female impersonators, takes the stage. Golden Lantern is also the birthplace of Southern Decadence, a festival that began as a small party more than 40 years ago that’s evolved to now include 120,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender revelers from around the globe every September. Wayne says that the bar is always full of “a lot of tourists who want to escape the Bourbon Street scene,” who mingle with regulars. Happy hour, he says, lasts from “8 a.m. to 8 p.m.” Well drinks are $2.25, beers are $2.50 and premium drinks are $6 or $7. The décor inside is eclectic and colorful; a Marilyn Monroe print graces one wall and several funky statues adorn the top of the bar, looking upon thirsty revelers. A few blocks away, Flanagan’s Pub is situated on St. Philip Street. It’s always a good time of day to be at Flanagan’s, whether you’re stopping in for a pre-dinner High Life, or if you need a pick-me-up (generous) shot of Jameson afterward. Flanagan’s also serves standard bar fare that is quite tasty – fried things and other munchies abound. The bar itself is located in the middle of the establishment, so it’s a good place to people-watch – or alternatively, become one of the people who’s being watched.

Chart Room

When I stopped in on a sunny day last month, bartender Susie at Harry’s Corner, who makes a fantastic Old Fashioned and Pimm’s Cup, was celebrating her birthday. She generously shared her cake with the other patrons of the establishment. At 6 p.m., there was a small crowd of geriatrics who happily mingled with 20-somethings. Characters were in full force. I was fond of one woman who said she’d been popping in to the place for more than 30 years. “I’m here every day that I work,” she told me as she polished off a highball of unknown ingredients. Six blocks up toward Canal Street from Harry’s in the area of the city which has arguably the highest per-capita rate of tourists, the Chart Room is a small, intimate space – almost a hole in the wall – that is always teeming with a crowd of regulars, many of whom are in the service industry. This place provides an oasis from all the Uncle Terrys and Aunt Carols who’ve driven in from Tallahassee for a weekend of debauchery that you don’t necessarily want to know about. There are a few tables at which to sit, though they tend to get pretty crowded in the later hours. Lewis Bernard, a longtime Find Them Here fan of the place, who makes Cosimo’s regular trips there despite being 1201 Burgundy St. 522-9715 a resident of the Irish Channel, Chart Room says he likes it because, “It 300 Chartres St. reminds me of my neighborhood 522-1708 bar, which is a quality that is difFlanagan’s Pub ficult to find in that part of the 625 St. Philip St 598-9002 Quarter.” He also gives it props Golden Lantern for being in a spot that’s easy 1239 Royal St. to remember: “It’s on Chartres 529-2860 Street,” he says with a smirk. “I Harry’s Corner can find it no matter how much 900 Chartres St. 524-1107 I’ve had to drink.”

Harry’s Corner

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APRIL 2013

Aft e r a w e e k e n d v i s i t t o t h e F r e n c h

Quarter, I’m here to tell you that there are possibly more places to shop there than there are restaurants – and knowing how much we like to eat, that’s saying something. Whether you’re looking for clothing, jewelry, shoes, hats, accessories or a piece of New Orleans’ past, the French Quarter offers all that and so much more. I have my favorite places to visit each time I’m there, as I bet you do, too, but on my last visit, I found a bunch of new places that deserve our attention. There is no way to cover all of the wonderful places to shop in the French Quarter, but here are eight suggestions. Newly Notable. Looking for that perfect hostess gift, or a rug to tie your room together? Look no further than Nadine Blake’s eponymous shop, Nadine Blake LLC. It is filled with a unique combination of vintage and new items artfully arranged to reflect Blake’s love of traveling, collecting and decorating. Though she’s only been open for a couple B y M O R G A N P A C K A R D years, her boutique is quietly taking over her

corner of Royal Street. Whether it’s jewelry, art books, bags, furniture or stationery, you’ll leave with the hostess gift you came in for – and much more besides. After four years in their brick-and-mortar on Royal Street (they were located in the French Market from 2001 until ’07), Papier Plume has a loyal and vocal following. While most of us fire off an email instead of mailing a letter, or send a text without really thinking, there’s a small – but growing – backlash to that trend who values handwritten correspondence and the trappings thereof. Papier Plume offers both the tools – quill and glass dipping pens, inkwells, sealing wax, handmade stationery paper and more – and the know-how to get you started sharing your heartfelt messages the old-fashioned way. Opened in 2011, Green Eyed Gator Gallery and Gifts is packed with handmade arts and crafts by (almost) exclusively all Louisiana artisans. Here you can find decorated oyster magnets, jewelry, handcrafted furniture, fine art dolls, glassware and walls covered in art – all for sale from $2 into the thousands of dollars. Stop by to view owner, and Loyola University graduate, Shannon Kelley’s paintings and stay for the conversation and shopping. The Big Guns. See that attractive woman in the well-crafted asymmetrical jacket with the perfect accessory? If she bought it in New Orleans, chances are it came from Wise Buys. From on-trend items, such as corset belts, crossover purses and watches that double as bracelets, to the aforementioned jackets, collectable Ray Cole scarves, tunics and more, Wise Buys offers wear-it-now items that also make great gifts. Owned by a mother-and-daughter

The Historic New Orleans Collection Gift Shop

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CRAI G MU L CAH Y PHO T O G RAPHS

team, the staff also makes helpful recommendations. Though you may end up taking home more than you bargained for, you won’t regret it. You know The Historic New Orleans Collection for its exhibitions (including “Seeking the Unknown: National History Observations in Louisiana 16981840” through June 2) and its collections (including “The Collins C. Diboll Vieux Carré Digital Survey” and “A Guide to French Louisiana Manuscripts” among many others), plus its publications and programs. But you might not yet have visited its shop – and that’s a shame. Featuring a range of items from Michael P. Smith photography to home décor, jewelry, maps, note cards, books and more, shopping at THNOC means taking home a piece of our city’s history. The Louisiana Music Factory should, in my opinion, be every visitor’s first stop, and every local’s go-to place to purchase local and regional music in New Orleans. Carrying the “widest selection of Louisiana and New Orleans music on compact disc and vinyl records in the world,” they also host in-store performances. In need of the Wild Tchoupitoulas’ eponymous recording to bring a bit of Mardi Gras into your home? They have it. Searching for the latest CD from the To Be Continued Brass Band? They have that, too. While you can order all this and more from their website, I suggest you visit the store and spend a few hours finding your next favorite album. Within a block of St. Louis Cathedral, Librairie Book Shop is stacked floor-to-ceiling with new, old and hard-to-find volumes cheek by jowl with posters and vintage postcards. While you could spend a day here and not find the exact book you’re looking for, you’ll find armfuls of them that you never knew you needed – until now. Still not sure what you want, but know you’re missing something? Ask the very knowledgeable staff. When you need, not want, the perfect crystal flute or 18th-century dining table, it’s time to visit Lucullus. With a focus on “fine culinary antiques,” it caters to the burgeoning collector as well as the serious connoisseur (proprietor Patrick Dunne even wrote the book: The Epicurean Collector). From furniture to glass, art to linens and, of course, silver, Lucullus’ staff can research and identify that one piece in your collection for which you don’t have provenance or consult with you to help build your collection.

Nadine Blake

Papier Plume

Find Them Here Green Eyed Gator Gallery and Gifts 901 Chartres St. 535-4507 GreenEyedGator.com

The Historic New Orleans Collection 533 Royal St. 523-4662 HNOC.org

Librairie Book Shop 823 Chartres St. 525-4837 Spitfire

When in Need of Refreshment Shopping is hard work, so you’ll need refreshments to keep you going. Here are three options for slaking your shopping-induced thirst. New on the scene (they’ve only been open since Mardi Gras), the smallness of Spitfire’s space gives new meaning to “minimal seating,” but the coffee is totally worth it. Pore over coffee and espresso, cold brewed ice coffee, homemade chocolate syrup – all delivered by knowledgeable and talented aficionados. (627 St. Peter St., twitter.com/spitfirecoffee) When your dogs are barkin’ head over to Royal Blend, not only for its tasty treats and large assortment of coffees and teas, but for its cozy inside seating and beautiful courtyard, which comes complete with a fountain, overhanging greenery and iron tables and chairs. (621 Royal St., 523-2716, RoyalBlendCoffee.com) Just steps away (but a whole other kind of refreshment), when celebrating or in need of a consolatory drink the place to go if you’re shopping in the heart of the French Quarter is the bar at The Court of Two Sisters. Treat yourself to your favorite cocktail, throw yourself on the mercy of the very talented bartenders or order a pitcher of mimosas and toast to your success. (613 Royal St., 522-7261, CourtOfTwoSisters.com)

Louisiana Music Factory

210 Decatur St. 586-1094 LouisianaMusicFactory.com

Lucullus

610 Chartres St. 528-9620 LucullusAntiques.com

Nadine Blake LLC 1036 Royal St. 529-4913 NadineBlake.com

Papier Plume

842 Royal St. 988-7265 PapierPlume.com

Wise Buys

532 Chartres St. 524-3004 WiseBuysFrenchQuarter.com

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APRIL 2013

The Ancient Romans and

Four festivals not to miss

Greeks had it right when they named this month Aprilis (Latin) and Aphrilis (Greek). Both mean, “to open” – it’s the time of year when flowers bloom, leaves tentatively appear on trees, animals … well, animals procreate (April is sacred to the goddess Venus/ Aphrodite, by the way), and we start to leave our homes having been By Sue Strachan awakened from our annual winter’s nap. It is time to open ourselves to the glory of spring. So, what awaits us sprightly souls? As South Louisianians have an inherent expertise with how 98

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to celebrate (a Ph.D. in Fêtes, perhaps?), it isn’t a shocker that this month is full of festivals. Alas, even though all are worthy (for example, I may have to make it to the Arnaudville Étouffée Festival or Baton Rouge Blues Festival), for this article, I’m focusing on the four largest in April: French Quarter Festival, Pontchatoula Strawberry Festival, Festival International de Louisiane and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (more commonly known as Jazz Fest.). One thing these festivals have in common is that they’re family-friendly – and what better way to ensure that children are well on their way to a Ph.D. in Fêtes! [Note: I recommend downloading these festival apps – if available – for iPhones or Androids. They are a great way to schedule your days at the festivals. My only complaint is that I wish the festivals would have them ready much, much sooner.]

rounded by the graceful historic buildings in the French Quarter, or enjoying the cooling breezes of the Mississippi River. The food: Go with an appetite, as you probably won’t see as many top New Orleans restaurants, caterers and food purveyors (65 as of press time) selling their signature items for the festival’s famous “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch.” Location: The French Quarter. Need I say more? The 411: Date: April 11-14 Admission: Free Location:

Throughout the French Quarter, New Orleans Website: fqfi.org Twitter: @FQFestNOLA Not one, but three commemorative posters!: To celebrate its 30th anniversary, FQF had three posters designed by artists Simon Hardeveld, Phil Bascle and Tami Curtis. Do not park or drive in the French Quarter: Between the traffic (caused by closed streets, crowds, those people who parked there earlier than you) and the meter maids, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Park in the outlying areas and walk in. There is also a shuttle (no service on Thursday) with set hours. Also, biking is a great option. Thursday is “Locals Lagniappe Day”: OK, you don’t have to be a local to enjoy, but if you’re a resident of our fair city I suggest

a long lunch in the French Quarter, or a pressing appointment at the end of the day. Insider tip: Avoid the walkway between the stage just past (or before, depending on which direction from which you’re coming) the Aquarium of the Americas along the Mississippi River. There is always a human traffic jam that’s hot and annoying. I usually walk around it – I leave the walkway and go into the French Quarter, enjoy some other stages, then return another way to see what is on that stage. Or take the walkway along the river. Lagniappe tip: Last year my new favorite stage became the one at the Old U.S. Mint. Whoever scheduled that stage did a stellar job creating an eclectic and interesting mix of musical acts. Plus: The entrance to Frenchmen Street is just across the street.

PONTCHATOULA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

Even though this year’s official theme is “Celebration of the Strawberry,” it’s safe to say that it’s like that every year. There is a strawberry eating contest, strawberry auction, strawberry dishes, strawberries on the official festival poster … you get the idea. Founded in 1972 as a way to support the area’s strawberry farmers, it has now become one of the largest fundraisers in the state for nonprofits and charitable organizations – when you buy food or drink you’re supporting the group from which you’re buying. And as a community event – albeit, one that has grown to more than 300,000 attending in 2010 – it still prides itself on retaining its small-town flair. The 411: Date: April 12-14 Admission: Free Location:

French Quarter Festival

While this started out 30 years ago as a local festival, it has now grown so much that more than 574,000 people attended in 2011. That sounds like an intimidating number – one that gives visions of a French Quarter packed with too many people. However, the French Quarter Festival does a great job of spreading the stages throughout the area – along the Mississippi River from the Aquarium of the Americas to the Old U.S. Mint, then into the heart of the French Quarter, including Jackson Square. (I only have one crowd gripe: see “The 411,” below.) Why do I like this festival so much? The music: Nothing can beat listening to more than 125 acts (this year) on 20 stages surCHER Y L G ER B ER PHO T O G RAPH

Pontchatoula (aka “Strawberry Capital of the World”) Website: LAStrawberryFestival.com Twitter: N/A Main Street style: When was the last time you saw a small-town festival parade? (No, Mardi Gras parades don’t count.) On Saturday at 9:30 a.m., marching bands and floats – including one with the Louisiana Strawberry Festival Queen – take to the main street of Pontchatoula. Egg toss? Why yes, please!: As well as sack races, strawberry eating contest, a fun run and amusement rides. Strike up the Band: No festival

is complete without music, and this year’s lineup includes a number of crowd-pleasing bands, such as Christian Serpas and Ghost Town. Did you know?: In 2001, the Louisiana Legislature named the strawberry the state fruit. Insider tip: Buy a flat of strawberries. Yes, it may seem like a lot, but these strawberries are the best around. You will eat them all before you know it. Or check out the strawberry auction: Not only is it fun to watch everyone bid on flats, they’re also supporting that farmer (not a bad deal, as bids have been know to go as high as $1,500myneworleans.com

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$2,000). Lagniappe tip: Much like the FQF, you don’t want to park at the actual location because of traffic. Park your car in an outlying lot and take the shuttle in. If you are coming from the Southshore, get off Highway

51 (the first Pontchatoula exit), park in one of the festival lots, then get on a shuttle. Last year, I was also told not to get off on Highway 22, nor try to drive down Pontchatoula’s main street. Both solid recommendations!

FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE LOUISIANE

When I look at this festival schedule, it’s almost like I can spin a globe, put my finger on a country and voilà, a musical act from that faraway locale will appear. While it competes with the first weekend of Jazz Fest, what the Festival Internationale Louisiane lacks in “star power,” it makes up in diversity. How else can you explain Delhi 2 Dublin, who play “Celtic Punjabi Electronica,” and Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits, who perform “Zimbabwe-Tuku Music.” The website is set up so you can find out more about the musicians. Set throughout downtown Lafayette, its six-stage set-up makes it easy to go stage to stage without missing a song – well almost! The food includes local favorites dishing out such savories as crawfish pistolettes (Poupart’s Bakery) and seafood fries (Fezzo’s), as well as more international items such as hummus (Zeus Café). Art and craft also have an around-the-world accent, with a focus on Louisiana. Founded in 1986 as a music and arts festival to celebrate the culture of Southwest Louisiana – a mix of French, Latin, African and Afro-Caribbean influences – Festival International de Louisiane lives up to its name, though with a definite Francophone feel. The 411: Date: April 24-28 Admission: Free Location: Lafayette Website: FestivalInternational.com Twitter: @festivalint Parlez-vous

français?: Southwest Louisiana is one of the only places in the United States where you’ll hear French (or should I say Cajun French) spoken as a first language. Put on your dancing shoes: No, really, wear comfortable shoes, as you’ll probably spend most of your time dancing. Getting pinned!: I never knew there was a cult of pins for this festival until, well, I went to the festival. Not only are they decorative keepsakes, your purchase also helps support the

festival. Make it a long weekend: Lafayette is a great place to start your adventure in Cajun Country. Visit Avery Island, where Tabasco is made, and tour the plant, as well as do the driving tour of the island; go on a swamp tour; and if you’re traveling to and from the New Orleans area, be sure to stop at any number of plantations along the route. Do not forget to bring home some native food, such as boudin. Stop at Don’s, just outside of Lafayette, Poche’s in Breaux Bridge, Herbert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice – or just ask a native, as everyone has their favorite spot.

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present Jazz Fest! Now in its 43rd year, this festival has taken on a Mardi Gras-like presence in New Orleans. Vacations are scheduled; visitors are OK sleeping on your couch; end-of-the-day exhaustion (or night, depending on how you decide to extend your Jazz Fest day); overeating (but enjoying every moment of it); imbibing beverages – adult or not; costume changes of a sort; interesting visual sights (I leave that to 100

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your imagination); and, of course, the music – seven days of it! New acts to Jazz Fest this year are New Orleans native Frank Ocean (given name: Christopher Breaux), Maroon 5, The Black Keys and Hall & Oates. Big acts include Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Dave Matthews Band and Earth, Wind & Fire, while other highlights include Patti Smith, Jimmy Cliff, Stanley Clarke/George Duke Project, Campbell Brothers, Andrew Bird, the Little Willies featuring Norah Jones and Gary Clark Jr., whom I saw at a concert during the most recent Super Bowl in New Orleans and it was a great show. And while some people come for the music, I’ve actually heard a rumor that food choices also play an important role in the overall Jazz Fest experience. That and the amazing choices of art and crafts from throughout the world, make this an annual event – just like Mardi Gras – you don’t want to miss. The 411: Date: April 26-28; May 2-5 Admission: $50 adult (through April

25), single day; $65 at gate single day; children age 2-10 $5, single day, available at gate only; adult must be present with child. Other options: Big Chief VIP Experience; Grand Marshal VIP Pass; Krewe of Jazz VIP Pass. For details, see website. Also available: WWOZ Brass Pass (see below) Location: New Orleans Fair Grounds, New Orleans Website: NOJazzFest.com Twitter: @jazzfest And the award for the “Most Improved Website” goes to: Jazz Fest. This year’s site

implemented a number of changes, including (to me at least), easier navigation; and if I click on an artist’s name, it now takes me to a brief description of their music, which is helpful for those of us not in the know. Dreaming of cool breezes?: When the heat of our Louisiana spring gets to be too much, head to the Grandstand. The air-conditioning is well worth it. Added bonuses? The Allison Minor Music Heritage Stage, where you can sit back and learn more about musicians during in-depth interviews, and there are special exhibits focusing on a certain segment of a culture. FYI: While the Fair Grounds is a horse racing track, you won’t be able to place any bets on the Kentucky Derby, nor watch it. However, the Fair Grounds would be interested in finding out who on Kentucky Derby Day places flowers on the grave of Black Gold, the 1924 Louisiana Derby and Kentucky Derby winner buried in the Infield. WWOZ Brass Pass: While the Jazz Fest offers ticket packages that also benefit its foundation (which funds cultural programs and organizations), the WWOZ Brass Pass is a favorite for those

who want to support this iconic New Orleans radio station. Brass Passes start at $450 and go up to $1,800. Benefits include re-entry to the Jazz Fest, one-year WWOZ membership, access to the WWOZ VIP Tent, and more. (Bonus: If you like to go every day, the basic $450 pass is more affordable than the $65 a day ticket, which totals $455 and doesn’t include any of the Brass Pass benefits!) Feeling crafty: Jazz Fest, in addition to its fame for music and food, is also a hot spot for the latest in crafts and art from throughout the United States and the world – with a particular emphasis on Louisiana. Bring home a bit of heritage to remember your Jazz Fest experience. Insider tip: Parking on the street? Well then, you need to observe all parking laws. If not followed, expect to get a ticket or be towed. What isn’t a law, but a particular concern: If someone has put traffic cones, trash cans or what not to hold a parking spot on the street, don’t move those items so you can park. Your car will most likely not be in the same condition as it was when you originally parked it when you return to it. Lagniappe tip: While there are perennial food favorites with long lines, there’s such an assortment of flavors at Jazz Fest that it’s an opportune time to mix it up a bit. So, in addition to having your annual Crawfish Monica, try sampling the smoked sausage macque choux or fry bread made by the United Houma Nation of Golden Meadow, La., or the jamajama from Bennachin restaurant. (And I have to do a shout-out to my friend, Miss Linda, whose ya-ka-mein is a weekly addiction of mine.)

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There is much ado about everything this spring, as festivals liven up the region, restaurants release new menus, shops unveil spring merchandise and arts and entertainment boost the excitement. Whether you’re looking for a weekend family outing, a new spring wardrobe or a place to gather with friends for dinner and drinks, you’ll find it all among these top offerings for festivals, food and fun across South Louisiana. Tap your feet to the rhythms of a country or Cajun beat, sip on a cool cocktail, celebrate culture and support the local businesses that make the region an exciting spring destination.

REGIONAL FESTIVITIES Festival season kicks off in high gear this spring in beautiful Bayou Lafourche. Let the good times roll at the Family Fun Festival April 5-7 at the Larose Regional Park & Civic Center and fill your belly April 19-21 at the Lockport Food Festival, “La Fete du Monde.” Also, don’t miss the Thibodaux Fireman’s Fair May 2-5 complete with a Firemen’s Parade and a carnival mid-way. Celebrate on into summer at The Bon Mange’ Festival June 7-9 in Gheens. Each festival boasts an abundance of genuine Cajun food as well as music to keep you moving. Spring is also a great time of year to venture outdoors and see Louisiana’s unique wetlands. From April 4-7, Paddle Bayou Lafourche provides the opportunity to experience the natural elegance of Bayou Lafourche. Paddlers choose between one to four days to participate in this 52-mile adventure from Donaldsonville to Lockport. For more information or to register, visit btnep.org. Find endless events and attractions at VisitLafourche.com and experience all Lafourche has to offer. Historic downtown Lafayette, LA., transforms into an entertainment complex during Festival International de Louisiane April 24-28. The largest, free Francophone festival features six music stages, food courts, street performers, arts and crafts, workshops, cooking demonstrations, a 5k run and more. All programming for the festival is designed to celebrate cultural expression in a variety of forms and to encourage understanding and appreciation for different cultures. In addition, the festival offers free parking and a shuttle service that runs every 15 minutes from the University of Louisiana Lafayette’s Cajun Field to the festival grounds. Festival International de Louisiane is a volunteer-driven event with annual participation from approximately 2,000 volunteers. Through the arts presented and the joint efforts to produce it, the festival contributes to the spirit of community that is so unique to the Acadiana region. Visit their Web site for more information at FestivalInternational.com. It is time to discover Baton Rouge – where the weather is always warm, the food has a special little kick and the people are ready to entertain. From every direction, everything uniquely Louisiana culminates in the “Red Stick.” So while you’re in Baton Rouge, take time to experience all the city has to offer – from an eclectic mix of museums and political

landmarks to unique shopping destinations and antebellum homes. Baton Rouge is a city full of colorful history, rich culture, vibrant music and exquisite cuisine – a truly cultural hot spot sure to impress. Enjoy fest season in Baton Rouge. Bring your appetite and your toga May 11 to the annual Baton Rouge Greek Festival. Later in the month, Bayou Country Superfest will align the biggest stars in country music for a two-day celebration in LSU Tiger Stadium (May 25-26). The concert lineup includes Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, the Band Perry, Thompson Square, Rodney Atkins, Aaron Lewis and Frankie Ballard. For more information, call 800-LA-ROUGE or go to VisitBatonRouge.com. For more on each festival, visit BRGreekFest.com and BayouCountrySuperFest.com. Just southwest of New Orleans, families are gathering together to celebrate a yearly tradition of Cajun food, festivities, music and fun. Celebrating its 50th year, the Larose Family Fun Festival will be held April 5-7 at the Larose Regional Park and Civic Center, located at 307 E. 5th St. in Larose. The family-friendly festival features a craft show, carnival rides, a live auction, festival queens, a pirogue race in Bayou Lafourche, Family Fun Field Day and more than 30 Louisiana seafood dishes for all to enjoy. Local and visiting families

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alike love competing in Family Fun Field Day, which includes sack races, tug of war and other exciting family games. Additionally, several of Louisiana’s top musicians will be taking the stage, getting everyone on their feet. Bands include The CheeWeez, Waylon Thibodaux, Southern Cross, Amanda Shaw and many others. For more details on the festival, call 985-693-7355. Jackson, Miss., is no stranger to arts and entertainment, and this April features a variety of options for fun seekers. Indulge in the aromas and flavors of the Santé South Wine Festival held at Highland Village April 13. Santé South Wine Festival is a destination event and international showcase of the world’s premier wines and some of Mississippi’s most succulent culinary delights. Santé South features more than 120 exceptional new-release wines from small production and boutique wineries and samplings from more than 20 top Mississippi restaurants. Hit the streets April 26-27 for the Lynch Street Cultural Arts Festival. In addition to the free street festival, discerning festgoers can participate in a cabaret style banquet featuring Bobby “Blue” Bland April 26 at 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple (1072 Lynch St.). For a quieter affair, check out “Old Master to Monet: Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum” on display now at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Featured artists include Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh, among others. For more on each event, go to VisitJackson.com. This spring and summer, enjoy the most exclusive resort experience on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Located on a secluded stretch of pristine white sand, with sweeping views of the sparkling emerald water, The Beach Club is the only full-service resort in Gulf Shores. This is the quintessential beach escape, featuring elegant, gulffront condos and lakeside cottages in an inviting community setting. At The Beach Club, your every need is cared for, from the pampering of full-service staff to an endless array of leisure activities and upscale amenities. Choose from five outdoor swimming pools or an indoor pool. Relax poolside in a private cabana or visit the poolside bar and grill. Enjoy private access to the area’s most pristine beach. Delight in onsite dining and relaxing spa services. Go shopping, deep-sea fishing, or take the clubs to one of several nearby golf courses. Whether you’re looking for romance or family fun, you’ll find it at this unique tropical locale. Just be warned, once you arrive, you may never want to leave. For more information or to make a reservation, visit BeachClubAL.com or call 855-405-4219. 102

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FOOD, FOOD & MORE FOOD In celebration of being awarded Wine Spectator’s Grand Award, Commander’s Palace is hosting a series of wine dinners throughout the spring and summer of 2013. In 2012, only 75 restaurants worldwide received the Grand Award, the highest given by Wine Spectator. To celebrate, award-winning winemakers from across the country are collaborating with Commander’s Palace “Wine Guy” Dan Davis and Chef Tory McPhail. Dan Davis has taken great care in selecting partners among top American producers, and Chef McPhail expertly pairs each wine with a severalcourse feast. In May, Commander’s Palace will host a dinner featuring the Staglin Family Vineyard. In August, Davis and McPhail will team up with esteemed sommelier Raj Parr. Reservations are required to each dinner. On May 24-25, look for Commander’s at the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience Grand Tasting, where Chef Tory McPhail was awarded the 2012 Gold Award. Celebrate spring at Commander’s Palace, and gather friends and family together on the patio for Mother’s Day and graduations. For more information and to make reservations, call 899-8221 or visit CommandersPalace.com. A self-described “Spirited Restaurant,” SoBou elevates the adult beverage to a level of esteem, a pleasurable accompaniment to a whimsical yet Commander’s-quality meal. The latest venture of the Commander’s family of restaurants, SoBou, short for “South of Bourbon,” offers guests a customizable dining experience, from small plates and drinks to a full three courses. Throughout 2013, SoBou is partnering with Museum of the American Cocktail (MOTAC) with a monthly series of boozy seminars every first Monday of the month, each focusing on a different aspect of cocktail culture. Advance tickets may be purchased at MuseumoftheAmericanCocktail.org and limited seating is available. Monday, May 6, will feature a special gumbo and Punch & Rum presentation by cocktail extraordinaire Dale DeGroff and Chef Simon Ford. SoBou, recently named one of America’s “Coolest New Businesses” by Business Insider, invites guests to cool off with a cocktail in their hidden courtyard before the weather heats up. For more information and reservations, contact SoBou at 552-4095 or online at SoBouNola.com. Amazing history, elegant old-world ambiance and delectable Creole cuisine come together at The Court of Two Sisters in the French Quarter. Located at 613 Royal St., this old line New Orleans restaurant is where locals and

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visitors from around the world come to enjoy traditional Creole specialties in the largest courtyard in the French Quarter. Dinner is a romantic, memorable occasion where entrees include Louisiana Shrimp & Grits, Veal Oscar and Char-Broiled Tenderloin of Beef. Guests are served under flickering gaslights in the courtyard or in one of three elegant dining rooms. During the day, the Jazz Brunch Buffet provides a lavish display of hot and cold dishes while a jazz trio plays Dixieland favorites. Additionally, the restaurant is available to host special events. From bridal showers to rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions, the Court of Two Sisters provides a beautiful setting, delicious New Orleans cuisine and impeccable service. Open seven days a week, the Jazz Brunch Buffet is served from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., and their a la carte Creole Dinners are served nightly from 5:30–10 p.m. Reservations are recommended. For more information, visit CourtOfTwoSisters.com or call 522-7261. Located just one block from the river on burgeoning Oak Street, Breads on Oak is New Orleans’ first organic bakery and café. Artisan baker Sean O’Mahony combines passion and skill in each creation, making everything by hand, from scratch, and using the finest organic flours. Each bread, pastry and muffin is baked on the premises in a stone hearth oven. At one time, 90 percent of the bread eaten in New Orleans was made by local bakers with baking techniques consisting of long fermentations of more than 12 hours. After studying the local history of breads, O’Mahony wanted to bring back Old World breads and baking style to the city. O’Mahony supplemented his experience in a European bakery by studying under French Master Bakers and World Champions at the French Pastry School, graduating with honors. As it was 100 years ago, he wants to make New Orleans the greatest bread city in America. For more information and to view the vast menu, visit BreadsonOak.com or call 324-8271. Hours are ThursdaySaturday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Expanded hours coming soon. Fishing for New Orleans’ deFINitive seafood dining? Fish no further than Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill, a triumph of cuisine, style and design, and recently named as a top seafood restaurant in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure. Executive Chef Austin Kirzner’s casual New Orleans seafood dominates a menu peppered with Big Easy favorites like Hickory Grilled Redfish, BBQ Oysters, Alligator Sausage & Seafood Gumbo, Double Chocolate Bread Pudding and a wide variety of Gulf fish available every night. Professional yet friendly service spiced with New Orleans joie de vivre ensures easy comfort and sets a tone for the ultimate laissez les bon temps rouler experience. For information or to make reservations, call 598-1200 or visit RedFishGrill.com. Whether you’re looking to take a break from the festival madness or simply craving some traditional New Orleans flavors, satisfy your appetite with a flavorful bowl of gumbo at The Gumbo Shop. Located in one of the few remaining 18th century buildings, this French Quarter favorite serves up classics like Seafood Okra Gumbo, Chicken Andouille Gumbo, Shrimp Creole, Crawfish Etouffee and more. For 20 consecutive myneworleans.com

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years, The Gumbo Shop has received the “Best of New Orleans” award for the best place to get gumbo, and the first bite leaves you with no question as to why. Small festival servings always leave you wanting more, so visit The Gumbo Shop for full-sized portions of your favorite New Orleans classics. The menu combines ageless Creole cuisine with more contemporary New Orleans dishes. Stop in at The Gumbo Shop, 630 St. Peter St., for an unforgettable meal, and experience a little New Orleans nostalgia right in the heart of the French Quarter. For more information, call 525-1486 or visit GumboShop.com. Stop by any of the Tropical Isles, home of the Hand Grenade®, New Orleans’ Most Powerful Drink®. Also, enjoy a Hand Grenade at Funky Pirate Blues Club or Bayou Club. Experience Trop Rock, Cajun/Zydeco & the Blues with Tropical Isle’s nightly entertainment, the best on Bourbon. State-of-theart sound systems plus great live bands will keep you dancing the night away at Tropical Isle Bourbon, Tropical Isle Original, Little Tropical Isle, Funky Pirate and the Bayou Club. Tropical Isle® celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and is bringing some of the fun to French Quarter Festival by proudly sponsoring The Fireworks Display on Saturday, April 13. Make sure to enjoy the celebration of fireworks, the second display since Katrina. For more on Tropical Isle, visit tropicalisle.com. For a quiet escape, visit local favorite The Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro right off of Bourbon at 718 Orleans Ave., which has more than 200 varieties of wine by the bottle and plenty of wine by the glass. For sample menus and wine lists, visit OrleansGrapevine.com. In Louisiana, there seems to be a festival for every day of the year, and Rouses makes a point of being involved in as many as they can, whether through sponsorship, food preparation or just community support. April brings the French Quarter Festival (April 11-14) to New Orleans, and Rouses Bayou Boys will be out among the music boiling their famous recipe of Louisiana crawfish. While enjoying the festivities, food and fun, don’t miss this year’s Rouses Crawfish Eating World Championship, a contest sanctioned by Major League Eaters, the same group that puts on the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the New Orleans Food & Wine Experience (May 22-25), and for the fourth consecutive year, Rouses will be sampling their own chef creations. Come sample the delicious concoctions and help in supporting several great community causes. For more info on Rouses and to find the location nearest you, visit Rouses.com. Five Happiness, New Orleans’ awardwinning Chinese restaurant, offers a 104

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delicious menu of Sichuan and Hunan specialties in a newly renovated sleek and elegant dining room. Enjoy the succulent shrimp with honey roasted pecans, General’s Chicken or asparagus sautéed with garlic sauce in a comfortable and unique setting distinguished by its authentic Chinese décor of etched glass and Chinese paintings. The dining room, now split into three rooms, provides a more private dining experience for guests. The well-known and affordable Imperial Room is available at Five Happiness for private parties, receptions or other functions and can hold from 50-150 people. Serving options are customized for each party, ranging from sit-down dinners to buffets or cocktails with hors d’oeuvres and prices ranging from $20-$45 per person. For more information, call 482-3935 or visit FiveHappiness.com. Maximo’s has been a French Quarter hot spot for more than 25 years. Serving Tuscan style roasting with a fiery New Orleans twist, Maximo’s is an oasis of Northern Italian sophistication. The restaurant features an open kitchen and a grill bar, where the discerning diner can watch and interact as our staff prepares cuisine that rivals the best restaurants from New York to Rome. Fresh local meats, cheeses and produce are delivered daily to create Maximo’s famous Fire Roasted entrées. Dine on Ravioli d’Anatra or New Orleans famous Crawfish Fra Diavolo. Pair the kitchen’s specialties with a bottle from Maximo’s extensive wine list. With a following of locals, celebrities and business people from all over the country, Maximo’s wine list, craft cocktails and gastronomic delights warm the soul. The energy of New Orleans music and culture blends with exquisite Italian food creating an experience you won’t soon forget. For menus and more, visit MaximosGrill. com, or call 586-8883 for reservations. Now that spring is upon us, the weather couldn’t be better for enjoying café au lait and beignets in the beautiful outdoors of … City Park. It’s true – Morning Call Coffee Stand, “New Orleans’ most famous coffee drinking place,” has recently opened its newest location under the ancient oaks of City Park in the Timken Center, otherwise known as the old casino building. The new location marks Morning Call’s return to Orleans Parish, where it originally operated in the French Market from 1870 until its move to Jefferson Parish in 1974. The new location boasts the same decadent coffee, sugar-dusted beignets, and signature mirrored walls and bare bulb lighting as its Fat City counterpart. Visit Morning Call in City Park and experience a time-honored tradition of New Orleanians for more than 140 years. Both the City Park and Fat City locations are open 24 hours, seven days a week, and 364 days of the year. For more information on either location, visit MorningCallCoffeeStand.com or call 8854068.

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SHOPPING This past March, acclaimed fashion designer Donald J Pliner made a personal appearance at Saint Germain to present his Spring 2013 designs. Pliner and his wife, Lisa, also debuted their new Italian-made Signature Collection, which is exclusive to Saint Germain and 20 other selected stores across the nation. Visit Saint Germain this month to see what’s new. Take your pick of the season’s hottest designs.

and dozens more. Spend your day taking advantage of sales and diverse selections before enjoying exciting local attractions and luxurious accommodations. Gulfport Premium Outlets provides a comprehensive shopping experience for the serious or casual shopper with its vast array of merchandise, offering access to designer fashions, sportswear, children’s apparel, shoes, fine leather and luggage, accessories, jewelry, housewares and gifts. Gulfport Premium Outlets is more than a shopping trip – it’s a vacation experience. Join in the fun and find directions, a complete list of stores, sales, accommodations and much more at premiumoutlets.com/Gulfport. Be sure to register for the free online VIP Shopper Club for exclusive coupons and savings offers.

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In addition to Pliner’s award-winning shoes and handbags, Saint Germain carries French hair accessories and fine jewelry and handbags by designers from all over the world. For more than 30 years, owner Faye Cannon has brought the best in fashionable shoes and accessories to New Orleans and is known for catering to each customer’s individual style and desire. Fearless, passionate and knowledgeable, Cannon keeps both locals and international customers coming back to see what’s new at Saint Germain. To see the latest designs, or for more information, visit SaintGermainNewOrleans.com or call 522-1720. Since 2005, Mandeville has been home to a locally owned and nationally known boutique with a reputation of rescuing women from years of discomfort and misguided purchases. Bra Genie, the creation of bra-fitting expert Jeannie Emory, is the only regional boutique to offer New York-style bra fittings and an inventory of more than 10,000 bras ranging from 28-48 in bands and AA-KK in cup size with prices as low as $30. With the largest inventory in the South and a policy of not selling a bra without a perfect fit, Bra Genie attracts women from more than 200 miles away. The results of a proper bra fitting at Bra Genie often surprise women. Effective bras can work magic in the sexy, slimming department by elongating the torso and lifting the breasts, and in some cases, they can eliminate back or neck pain women experience. Open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and located at 2881 Highway 190, Bra Genie welcomes walk-ins, though there may be a brief wait since each personalized fitting can take about 30 minutes. For more information on Bra Genie, visit TheBraGenie.com or call 985-951-8638 to schedule an appointment. Visit Gulfport Premium Outlets in nearby Gulfport, Miss., and shop 70 designer and name brand outlet stores including Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, BCBG Max Azria, Coach, Fossil, Gap Outlet, Guess, J.Crew, Nautica, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Talbots, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour

On view now through June 16, the Archdiocese of New Orleans, along with the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) and curators from the Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas, will present a special exhibit on the life and ministry of Blessed John Paul II through “Portrait of Faith: John Paul II in Life and Art,” hosted at NOMA. Visitors to “Portrait of Faith” will begin their journey with a pre-exhibition movie detailing the life of John Paul II as well as his historic 1987 visit to New Orleans. Following the movie, visitors will re-create the Pope’s 1987 visit, from the anticipation and arrival at the Superdome, Mass at UNO, Xavier visit and finally, his departure and legacy. Artwork, photographs and personal items complement each area. Visitors will be able to contribute personal thoughts and memories of John Paul II in an interactive portion of the exhibit. Admission is $15 for adults with discounted rates available for seniors, active military, large groups, children and students K-12 on school tours. For more info, visit JPIIinNOLA.com, call 866-608-4799, or follow on Twitter (@JPIIinNOLA). In December 1911, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) opened its doors with just 11 works of art and now features nearly 40,000 objects. Forty-six galleries house a wealth of American and European art – particularly French – make up much of the collection, with names such as Monet, Renoir, Picasso and Pollock. Louisiana artists also have a marked presence, and the museum boasts photography, ceramics and glassworks from cultures around the world, plus outstanding holdings in African, Pre-Columbian and Asian art. NOMA’s upcoming exhibition (April 12-August 4), “Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the Worlds Fairs, 1851-1939,” showcases the technological and scientific invention, cross-cultural influence, modernism and historicism that defined the world’s fairs, which is especially resonant in New Orleans, host of the 1884 and 1984 world’s fairs. In conjunction with this exhibition, NOMA is proud to present “Spectacle and Spectator: Joshua Mann Pailet’s Photographs of the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans.” These large-scale prints have been recently produced from original negatives that Pailet made while serving as an official photographer for the U.S. pavilion for the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans. For complete information, visit noma.org. •

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Summer may be a time to relax and have fun, but that doesn’t mean that learning and growth have to stop. Keep your child’s mind and body active this summer with an educational or athletic summer camp. Several New Orleans schools and businesses offer programs for children as young as 2 on up to high school students. Magic shows, field trips, fitness activities and science projects are just a few of the offerings that extend across the educational, arts and athletics spectrum. Make the most of summer and keep your child ahead of the curve with rewarding activities tailored specifically to their interests. Summer is also a good time to begin planning for the school year ahead, so check out all these schools and programs have to offer. Mount Carmel Academy’s Summer Camp, June 3-28, will feature specialty camp offerings for fifth to ninth grade girls, and junior camp offerings for second to fifth grade girls in academic and life skills, arts and theatre, athletics, cheer and dance. Visit their Web site, mcacubs.com, for individual camp offerings and descriptions. Email summercamp@mcacubs.org or call 504288-7626. For more than 38 years, KIDCAM Camps have offered summers full of learning and fun for children across South Louisiana and beyond. Providing the perfect combination of compassionate care, exciting activities and new experiences, KIDCAM offers high quality programming for children ages 3-13. Experiences range from 106

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physical activities such as skating, bowling, yoga and fitness, karate lessons and sports clinics, to visits to aquariums, museums, petting zoos and more. KIDCAM fees are all-inclusive, even for off-site field trips. Flexible schedules of thoughtfully crafted programs and activities make it easy for parents to choose and pay for the weeks and sessions they need. Parents can choose individual weeks to make their own session. Choose three weeks or more and receive 10 percent off before May 10. Registration, account management and payment are easily accomplished through KIDCAM’s convenient online services. For more information, including weekly schedules, rates and camp locations, visit KIDCAMcamp.com or call 877-4KIDCAM. Have a “whale” of a summer on the 12-acre country campus of Arden Cahill Academy’s Camp Corral. Cahill Camp Corral offers a relaxed environment where children continue to grow and develop during the summer months under the supervision of qualified teachers and experienced instructors. Activities and amenities include horseback riding, swimming, art, theater, sports, a game room, petting farm, a computer room, academic and enrichment classes, field days, dances, fishing, boating, camp-outs, archery, riflery and much, much more. Campers ages 3 (camper must turn 4 by Sept. 30) through 14 are welcome to attend. Conveniently located on the West

Bank (10 minutes from the GNO Bridge), the camp runs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. with before and after care available. Hot lunches may be provided for an additional fee. Session dates are June 3-July 5 and July 8-Aug. 9 with options for weekly and session rates. To find more information or to register, please visit Camp Corral online at ArdenCahillAcademy.com. Archbishop Chapelle High School, a college preparatory school, is a nationally recognized leader in the education of young women, grades eighth through 12th, and prepares its students spiritually, academically and socially for college and career success. In addition, Archbishop Chapelle proudly offers summer camps for girls entering grades fourth through eighth and girls entering grades first through third. For older girls, one-week specialty camps (offered each week in June) provide fun and educational instruction. Sessions include Art, Baking with Chips, Broadway Camp, Cajun Cooking, Cake Decorating, Camp Chameleon, Cheering, Chipmunk Idol, Chips and Canvas, Cricut Craft Craze, Creative Writing, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Chipmunks, iPhoto Fun, iMovie Magic, Mini Chefs, Photography, Rock ‘n’ Roll Movie Camp, Sports, Tennis, Theatre, Travel Camp, Ultimate Survivor and Volleyball. For the younger girls, Archbishop Chapelle offers Acorn Camp (June 3-7, 10-14, 17-21), which offers activities that vary each day and include arts and crafts, silly games, music, karaoke,

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sports, dancing, theme parties and specialty events. Visit ArchbishopChapelle.org for an online camp brochure. For more information, call the Camp Director at 504-468-9090 or e-mail msscathy@ archbishopchapelle.org. Since 1727, Ursuline Academy has provided a broad, challenging and contemporary Catholic education to girls of all ages. This summer, Ursuline Academy offers various camps in arts and athletics. Ursuline’s Summer Arts Camp, for girls age 3 through eighth grade, explores the creative and performing arts through classes in visual arts, dance, drama, singing, science, cooking, sewing, cheering, music, gym games and more. Session I is June 10-28 and Session II is July 1-19. Super Week, for girls entering first through eighth grade, is an all-field trip experience that includes a variety of fun places, things and activities such as bowling, swimming, IMAX, skating and so much more. Super Week is July 22-26. Ursuline Academy Volleyball Camp is lead by Jay Jay Juan, Head Coach and

Division III 2012 Volleyball Coach of the Year. Session 1 is June 4-8 for girls ages 11-14 and Session 2 is Aug. 5-7 for girls ages 8-10. Ursuline Academy’s Basketball Camp, facilitated by Head Basketball Coach Andrea Williams, is for girls ages 7-14 and will be held June 3-7. For more information on each camp or to contact Ursuline Academy, visit UrsulineNewOrleans.org. Brother Martin High School, operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, challenges young men in grades seven through 12 to define their lives with Courage and Confidence. Brother Martin is committed to holistic education with a focus on personal attention, academic excellence and strong character formation. A District 9-5A school, Brother Martin offers a full range of athletic teams at the seventh, eighth, ninth, JV and Varsity levels. Students can also choose from more than 80 extracurricular activities. This summer, Brother Martin will offer sport camps for boys 6-12 years old. Each of the three sessions will run for two weeks, beginning June 3-July 12. Mornings will be dedicated to sports

along with scheduled activities or field trips during the afternoons. A kidfriendly boxed lunch will be available for purchase. Before and after care is also available at an additional charge. Online registration is available at BrotherMartin.com. Elmwood Fitness Center is proud to offer a variety of summer camps in 2013. With four different camps and 12 weeks of activities (May 22-Aug. 16), there’s fun for all ages. Kidsports (ages 3-12) combines indoor and outdoor sports, art and crafts, the Adventure Challenge Maze, Adrenaline Rush II, XRKade (Interactive Gaming), swimming, a new wet-dry 180-degree slide and more. Additionally, weekly themes, dress up days and fieldtrips (5+) contribute to the fun. Elmwood Gymnastics, Tumble and Cheer is designed for boys and girls (ages 3+) and enhances skills on Floor, Bars, Beam, Vault, Trampoline and Cheer & Dance. Other activities include swimming, arts and crafts and more. Campers perform skills shows for parents weekly. Prior experience not required. Youth Fitness is perfect for “tween-

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agers” (10+). Campers will take part in Zumba, Spinning, Yoga and Cardio Kickboxing. They also enjoy swimming, sliding and XRKade. Requiring one year of swim team, Swim Team Camp (ages 7-13) is designed for competitive swimmers and focuses on individual swim development through dry-land training, stretching and stroke analysis. Activities and games are incorporated as well. For more information, call 504733-1200. St. Martin’s Episcopal School, a co-ed, early childhood through grade 12 independent school, provides a challenging, college-preparatory education focused on development of the whole child. This summer at St. Martin’s, camp opportunities exist for all ages. For the youngest campers (2-3 years), Summer Cottage Camp provides a nurturing environment and participation in numerous developmentally appropriate activities both indoors and out: arts/crafts, water

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play, music, body movement and more. For ages 4-14, Summer Theme Camp is a time to build friendships, create adventures on field trips, play imaginative games, swim everyday and discover new talents in performing arts, health and fitness and visual arts. Campers who are looking to learn a sport or sharpen existing skills can do so at any of St. Martin’s four Athletic Camps: Baseball, Basketball, Sports Academy and Top Gun Sports. From rockets to robotics, science is the focus at the summer Science Camps for boys and girls entering first through ninth grades. Enrollment is limited in order to guarantee individual attention to each participant. For more information, including camp schedules and before and after care, call 504-733-9925 or visit StMSaints.com/summer. EARLY PREPARATION Take advantage of the spring and early summer months to acquaint yourself with Jefferson Parish’s

newest school, Young Audiences Charter School at Kate Middleton, opening this fall on the West Bank. With more than 50 years experience in arts education, Young Audiences’ research shows that students in arts programs are more likely to have improved grades, better test scores and lower dropout rates. Additionally, the arts foster creativity, organization and collaboration, and help students understand cultural identities. The Young Audiences Charter School integrates an arts-based curriculum reflective of this research in a creative, nurturing and challenging academic environment for all students. Young Audiences Charter School is a tuition-free, open enrollment charter. For the 2013-’14 school year, it is enrolling Jefferson Parish students entering Kindergarten, first, second and third grades. The school will add a grade each year until it’s K-8 in ’18. For more information, visit YA4LA.org, call 504-523-3525 or email Charter@ ya4la.org. •

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If you or a loved one is experiencing a change in needs, the following resources are available to help navigate each transition for maintaining high quality of life. From medical checkups and screenings to home health, and assisted or independent living, the following professionals and services may be just what your family needs now or in the future. As aging begins to affect the body, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to be able to distinguish the normal effects of growing older from diseases and other maladies. Family/Geriatric Medicine specialist Dr. Vernilyn N. Juan of Crescent City Physicians is available to help with just that. Geriatricians focus their practice on diagnosing, treating and managing conditions that are more prevalent among older adults. Some of these conditions include falls, incontinence, preoperative assessment, memory problems, sensory impairment and other cognitive and affective changes that occur with aging. Geriatricians also work closely with elderly patients to pay specific attention to medications the patient may be taking to avoid adverse drug reactions resulting from taking multiple medications. Dr. Juan is specially trained in geriatric assessment and rehabilitation, preventative medicine, management of patients in long-term care settings, and other issues pertinent to geriatric patients. If you or someone you love would like the focused care of a geriatrician, call Dr. Juan of Crescent City Physicians today at 897-8118. Has someone you love been diagnosed with prostate cancer or kidney cancer? The Department of Urology at Tulane University Medical Center, a national leader in providing minimally invasive surgical procedures for various

urologic maladies, stands at the forefront of cancer treatment through state-of-the-art robotic procedures, breakthrough treatments and research. Tulane Urologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly trained surgeons along with the daVinci high-definition robot, offer patients a highly advanced therapeutic option for prostate and kidney cancer treatment. This cutting edge, minimally invasive surgical technology, combined with the extensive experience of doctors Benjamin Lee and Raju Thomas have made Tulane Urology the go-to center for the treatment of prostate cancer and kidney cancer. Visit SaveTheKidney.net or MyProstateCancer.com for more information on the various treatments and procedures offered at Tulane Urology. According to Dr. Gerdes at Academic Dermatology Associates, one of the most common skin problems associated with aging is sun damage, which can result in wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer. More than 1 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year, and while the majority of those cases are non-melanoma, treatment is necessary. If you begin to notice changes in your skin or that of a loved one, make arrangements to see a dermatologist, especially if the spot doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t heal, is painful or bleeding. Board-certified Drs. Leonard Gately III, Lee Nesbitt Jr., Brian D. Lee, Michelle Gerdes, Tamela Charbonnet and Ryan J. Matherne offer annual full body skin cancer screenings to new and existing patients and work to deliver individualized treatments and preventative measures. The doctors at Academic Dermatology Associates, LLC also treat a full range of skin issues including eczema, acne,

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contact dermatitis and psoriasis. In addition, they provide cosmetic procedures such as Botox, chemical peels, fillers and laser treatments. They are located at the corner of 14th Street and Causeway Boulevard in Metairie. For scheduling, call 832-6612. Audiologists at Associated Hearing know that a patient’s life centers on experiences and relationships with family, friends and other individuals. They help patients with their decisions concerning better hearing health through the protection, preservation, evaluation and treatment of hearing and balance function. With over 75 years combined experience, Associated Hearing audiologists employ a team approach that centers on personalized care. Their board certified audiologists value precision in diagnosis, utilizing advanced diagnostic equipment and innovative hearing aid technology in their practice. With locations in Metairie, Covington and Franklinton, Associated Hearing is poised to serve every part of the community. Patients can expect comprehensive treatment including an in-depth medical and social history, complete audiological and vestibular evaluation, individualized counseling, hearing aid fittings and follow-up care. Other services offered include specialized diagnostic assessments, customized assistive listening devices and in-office repairs for many hearing aids. For more information, visit AssociatedHearinInc.com or call 833-4327 (Metairie), 985-249-5225 (Covington & Franklinton). Many women suffer from incontinence or overactive bladder in silence. Often these conditions occur from childbirth, aging and at times medical problems. But according to Margie Kahn M.D., clinical associate professor and section head of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Urology at Tulane’s School of Medicine, “Urinary incontinence is not a normal part of aging. We address all pelvic floor disorders, including fecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, at the same time. We have an experienced and sensitive team that understands most women are embarrassed to bring up these problems, and may have had them ignored if they did so. We offer a multidisciplinary approach comprising behavioral interventions, physical therapy, simple office procedures and more complex, minimally invasive surgery in the operating room.” Dr. Kahn’s patients are given every option for treatment, and every woman chooses what options are right for her. For more information on Tulane’s OB/GYN department and Dr. Kahn, call 988-8070 for the Metairie office or 988-5271 for the offices in downtown New Orleans. Is an older adult in your life experiencing emotional, cognitive or behavioral dysfunctions? Kindred Hospital, located in New Orleans’ Garden District, is pleased to provide inpatient treatment to persons 65 or older in need of immediate intervention for behavioral or emotional issues. Kindred physicians and staff understand the changing

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needs of the older population and the issues that may be associated with aging. They also recognize that mental disorders do not have to be a part of aging, and that medications, physical illness, dementia or grief can influence behavior. Researchers believe that more than 60 percent of adults over 65 needing mental health services go without treatment, which can lead to disability, poor quality of life or inappropriate placement. In many cases, treatment is available through Kindred Hospitals’ Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit. At Kindred, patients and their families can expect a multidisciplinary team approach. Particular attention is paid to each patient’s unique medical, traditional and mental health issues for high quality care. For more information on Kindred Hospital and their Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit, visit KindredHospitalsNola.com or call 899-1555. Alzheimer’s Residential Care Homes (ARCH) specializes in sensitive, specialized care for seniors with Alzheimer’s or related dementias. ARCH facilities are lovely, five-bedroom homes in well-maintained, quiet residential neighborhoods located in New Orleans and Metairie. With secluded and secure backyards, residents are able to enjoy a comforting, safe atmosphere both indoors and outdoors. Each home is limited to five residents so that individuals can receive personalized assistance and care tailored to meet their specific needs in a non-institutional, secure setting. ARCH staff receive extensive training specific to Alzheimer’s and related Dementia’s and are dedicated to enhancing each resident’s quality of life. Personalized services include assistance as needed with personal hygiene, bathing, dressing and monitoring of medications at no extra expense. Structured, failure-free activities, three meals a day,

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and mid-morning and mid-afternoon refreshments round out ARCH’s exceptional approach to caregiving. For more information, visit AlzheimerCareHomes.com or call 528-7941. New Orleans’ leading retirement community, Lambeth House, is expanding in response to consumer demand, and this summer, it will unveil an $18-million expansion, adjacent to its current location at 150 Broadway in Uptown New Orleans. “From an architecture and development standpoint, the building is state of the art,” said Scott Crabtree, Lambeth House CEO, adding, “Every aspect – from the design of spaces, to the programming within them – has been thoughtfully planned to promote resident quality of life.” The building’s main level provides new amenities for Lambeth House’s independent living residents, including a casual café, salon and spa, interfaith chapel, fitness center, group exercise studio and natatorium. Lambeth House also offers a full continuum of care, and the upper two floors are dedicated to person-centered nursing care, with spacious, private residences, inviting common-areas full of natural light, scenic terraces and a separate program for memory support. For more information about Lambeth House and its affiliate, St. Anna’s Residence, please call 865-1960. Anyone looking for compassionate and dignified care for their terminally ill loved ones should take a look at the services offered by Canon Hospice. The caring team at Canon is dedicated to a hospice ministry that helps patients and families accept terminal illness positively and resourcefully. Their stated goal is to “allow our patients to live each day to the fullest and enjoy their time with family and friends.” With special expertise in pain management and symptom control, Canon Hospice designs individualized plans of care for each patient based on their unique needs. Home Based Services provide doctors, nurses, social workers, pastoral care and volunteers. For patients with more intensive symptom management needs, Canon has an Inpatient Hospice Unit. This unit provides 24hour care in a home-like environment where patients are permitted to receive visits at any hour. For more information visit CanonHospice.com or call 818-2723. Home Care Solutions offers highly personalized caregiver services and Geriatric Care Management services to help loved ones in the Greater New Orleans area extend their independence. Locally owned and operated for more than 20 years by licensed social workers, Home Care Solutions has particular expertise in dignified, compassionate Alzheimer’s care. All home care services begin with a professional assessment visit. A care manager then designs a plan of care specific to the client’s needs while incorporating family input. Carefully selected and trained caregivers then provide assistance with activities of daily living and companionship, supported by routine supervisory visits by the care manager.

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Many clients need additional Geriatric Care Management services and support beyond home care. Additional services that provide peace of mind for far-flung families include exploring the options and costs of elder care services in the area, attending medical appointments with clients and reporting back to family members, coordinating legal and financial referrals, and managing crisis situations. Home Care Solutions is a member agency of the National Private Duty Association, and their Geriatric Care Managers are designated professionals of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. For more information, call 828-0900 or visit HomeCareNewOrleans.com. Established in 1925, Nurses Registry continues to serve the health care needs of the Greater New Orleans area and remains a vital community resource. The founder, Rose Mary S. Breaux, RN, BSN, believed it is an honor and privilege to care for the sick and aging in our community, and to treat the whole patient – Body, Mind and Spirit. Nurses Registry doesn’t just send out a caregiver. All staff members are personally interviewed, carefully screened and receive hands-on training, orientation and on-site supervision by licensed health care professionals. There is also a team of office staff available to assist clients on nonclinical matters. As an added value, their clients have the full set of resources of a Medicare-certified home health agency at their disposal.

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Nurses Registry provides private duty nursing as well as an array of private medical and non-medical support services. Any service can be completely customized based on individual needs in collaboration with family and/or the physician, if desired. Call 736-0803 or 866-736-6744 for a personalized in-home assessment. Nurses Registry provides “Care for Them and Peace of Mind for You.” Visit MyNursesRegistry.com for more info. Parents naturally want to provide for their children. As kids grow older, their needs change. A parent’s wish to make their kids’ lives easier, however, stays the same. You can do your kids one last favor by preplanning your final arrangements. Making funeral, cemetery or cremation prearrangements is a loving act of kindness and an emotional relief to family members. It can help take away the doubt and confusion from those who would make the difficult decisions on your behalf. It’s the last gift you can give, the gift of peace of mind. Also, you can prefund tomorrow’s arrangements at today’s prices, or plan today and pay nothing until the time of need. Learn about how easy it is to do your kids a favor with Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries. To get your free planning booklet, visit PreplanningFavor.com or call 855-701-PLAN (7526). •

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New Orleans hospitals may be leading the way when it comes to neuroscience and help for stroke victims, but no treatment will ever top preventing a stroke from happening in the first place. Stroke can be prevented, and knowing what puts you at risk is the first step in awareness and prevention. Educating yourself and your family on the risks and signs of stroke as well as available local resources could make a world of difference in saving a life. The following area health care providers may be able to help you or your family in stroke prevention or treatment if a stroke occurs. Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disabilities. To advance stroke care in the region, Slidell Memorial Hospital (SMH) has been focused on a significant patient care initiative: A multi-year action plan already underway to become a certified Primary Stroke Center (PSC). It will ensure all patients get appropriate, standardized stroke care using best-practice guidelines – from rapid diagnosis treatment and rehabilitation to educating the community on how to recognize and respond to a stroke for the best results possible. A key element in stroke care is SMH’s dedicated Acute Stroke Team. They respond immediately when a patient in the Emergency Department or anywhere in the hospital experiences stroke symptoms. In addition, SMH has partnered with area Emergency Medical Transport personnel to implement calls to SMH’s ER to alert the Acute Stroke Team prior to a stroke patient’s arrival to the hospital. For more information on all SMH offers, visit SlidellMemorial.org. Know the signs of stroke and call 9-1-1 if you notice face drooping, arm weakness or speech difficulty. Other signs of stroke to watch out for include sudden numbness in the leg, confusion, vision impairment, trouble walking, bad coordination or a severe headache with no known cause. Calling for emergency personnel as soon as possible will increase the victim’s chance of recovery. Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) is one of

the most respected groups of cardiologists, representing nearly every specialty in heart and circulatory medicine. With a team of nearly 500 dedicated members, CIS serves communities throughout Louisiana as well as national and international patients at its 14 clinics. CIS consistently positions itself at the forefront of technology by providing the most up-to-date technology coupled with compassionate care. This mission has guided the institute for nearly 30 years of service to south Louisiana. For more information about CIS, call 800-425-2565 or visit Cardio.com. “Time is Brain” when stroke strikes. No one should ever ignore its symptoms: sudden numbness or weakness (especially on one side of the body), vision problems or dizziness. If you think you are having a stroke, go immediately to the Emergency Room. It is possible to prevent a stroke from happening. “Control of blood pressure, cholesterol and lipid levels in the blood is very important in stroke prevention,” says Frank Culicchia M.D., medical director of Culicchia Neurological Clinic and chairman of the LSU Health Sciences Department of Neurosurgery. See a doctor if you are at risk for stroke, and if you have already suffered a stroke, you may be at risk for another. The staff of neurologists, neurosurgeons and interventional neuroradiologists at Culicchia Neurological Clinic is able to evaluate and offer treatment. The Clinic has offices conveniently located Uptown, on the West Bank and in Slidell. Call 504-340-6976 for an appointment or e-mail cnc@culicchianeuro.com. For more information, visit their Web site, CulicchiaNeuro.com. West Jefferson Medical Center’s Primary Stroke Center knows that getting the right treatment quickly is critical to survival of stroke patients. In November, West Jefferson Medical Center received the Get With The Guidelines®– Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The award recognizes West Jefferson for its high standard of stroke care that reduces

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death and disability and improves lives. There’s more good news in the area of neuroscience. HealthGrades named West Jefferson Medical Center among the top 10 percent in the nation for neurosurgery in 2012. This excellence is further testimony to West Jefferson’s staff implementing acute and secondary prevention guideline processes to improve patient care and outcomes. For more information about the Stroke Center and neurological services, call 504-349-1177. Tulane Medical Center’s Primary Stroke Center offers comprehensive stroke services. Patients are rapidly evaluated and treated by the Stroke Team and cared for in a dedicated Stroke Unit. Tulane offers advanced treatments including clot-busting drugs and surgical procedures that can minimize disability caused by stroke. According to Michelle Martin, Tulane’s Stroke Team saved her life: “I suffered a massive stroke at home. An ambulance quickly responded and called the Tulane ER to activate the stroke team. Upon my arrival, the stroke team was already in place and administered TPA and other life saving measures. The care at Tulane saved my life and was instrumental in helping me retain a high quality of life. I have no vision loss or speech issues and I continue to work and drive. I credit Tulane’s Neuro-ICU and Inpatient Rehabilitation program for my recovery. They took excellent care of me and showed my family compassion and kept them well informed.” For more information visit TulaneHealthcare.com. •

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TRYTHIS A

Touring While Jogging By HALEY ADAMS

had heard of running tours in other cities, so

I figured there must be something similar in New Orleans. Thanks to Google I found New Orleans Jogging Tours in seconds, and booked my first tour for a sunny day in February. As someone who likes to stay active, a running tour has always seemed like a brilliant idea to me: see a city while burning calories. I met tour guide Marcus Reine, a New Orleans native whose family has been in the city since the 1700s, on the corner of Decatur and Barracks streets outside the Old U.S. Mint. There were five of us in the running group, including Reine, one of Reine’s friends and two tourists from Pennsylvania. The five of us took off around 9 a.m. and in just under two hours, we ran by all of New Orleans’ most famous landmarks. We saw the French Market, the Mississippi River and Jackson Square. In the French Quarter, we ran down Bourbon Street and stopped by the Old Ursuline Convent. We ran to the Garden District along the St. Charles Avenue streetcar tracks and later took a break from running to wander through the Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. While we jogged for most of our journey, we did stop to take photos in front of a few attractions, such as the Mannings’ house, Sandra Bullock’s house and

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a few other famous spots. There was an element of leisure to the tour. It wasn’t like running with a personal trainer who pushes you to work hard and test yourself; instead, Reine was like a well-informed running buddy who was fine with stopping in front of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s French Quarter compound to snap a photo. Though the tour had its leisurely moments, it was still a workout. We trekked 6.2 miles from start to finish, and even with the walking and picture-taking breaks I still worked up a sweat. I walked away from the tour with a big blister on my right foot and sore muscles for the next two days. But even with my minor battle wounds, I enjoyed the tour and Reine’s commentary. While a run through New Orleans is something you can do on your own for free, having a tour guide makes you see things you wouldn’t normally notice. Reine added a personal element to the tour, such as his family’s stories from Hurricane Katrina. For tourists, a morning with New Orleans Jogging Tours is a great way to learn about the city and to feel a little less guilty about eating those beignets at Café Du Monde later in the day. For locals, the tour is a great way to exercise while learning tidbits about your city. Couch potatoes might want to stick to a walking or bus tour, but I recommend a jogging tour for those who like to go a little faster. For more information about New Orleans Jogging Tours, visit NewOrleansJoggingTours.com.

Find your sweet spot in the sand (866) 966-8715, GulfShoresRentals.com

You might think that miles of sugar-white sand, emerald-green waters and a choice of the finest beach vacation properties with some of the best seafood anywhere, would be enough for the perfect vacation. At Gulf Shores Rentals that’s just the starting point. There is a huge range of activities and attractions, many of which are complimentary with your stay such as: golf, deep-sea fishing, cruises and amusement and water parks. So if you’re interested in the perfect beach vacation, check into Alabama’s Beautiful Gulf Coast. – M i r ella c ame r a n

Leisure

Explore Lafourche Parish for fun and festivals VisitLafourche.com

Spring is the perfect time to enjoy Bayou Lafourche parish with its unique wetlands and some of the area’s most fun-filled events. You can sign up for Paddle Bayou Lafourche: a 52-mile, one- to fourday adventure starting at Donaldsonville on April 4 (btnep.org). There are festivals galore: Family Fun is April 5-7, the Lockport Food Festival is April 19-21, and the Thibodaux Fireman’s Fair is May 2-5 and includes a parade and carnival. “The Bon Mange” festival on June 7-9 is another chance to enjoy the best in Cajun cuisine and music. The website is packed with information and a great way to plan time out in the great Louisiana outdoors. – M . C . myneworleans.com

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Paul McIlhenny and the Back of Antoine’s

B Y E RR O L L A B O R D E lm o s t a t t h e v e r y b a c k o f A n t o i n e ’ s r e s t a u r a n t

there’s a small dining room next to the wine cellar. Officially the area has been known as the “1940 Last Room,” but then there was the day that Paul McIlhenny nailed a sign to the door that proclaimed the room to be the “Chez Team Tabasco” room. “Which is it?” I asked CEO Rick Blount, the latest in the long family line to manage the restaurant. Blount expressed no preference, though it should be noted that the walls in the room are painted Tabasco red and that all of the framed pictures are of friends of McIlhenny. Who wants a room called “Last” anyway? McIlhenny, who died this past February, could do such things because he was affable and because he was powerful. Like Blount, he was the CEO of a long-established family food business, in his case Tabasco. During his time at the helm, McIlhenny saw his family’s hot sauce expand beyond being globally known for its red bottle with a green cap to being a product-marketing brand. There are Tabasco flavored potato chips, liquor, plus the brand name on ties, ice chests and just about anything marketable. And there is the room at the back of Antoine’s. There are three other rooms in the back of the restaurant: the Rex Room, the Proteus Room and the Escargot Room, which is named after a dining club. In his time, McIlhenny ruled over all three of those, too: He was a Rex. He was King of Proteus. And he served as the Escargot Master Chancellor. Certainly the renamed Tabasco room was a small conquest for him; nevertheless he set a mark that will not likely ever be broken, the only person to have reigned over all four of Antoine’s prestigious rear rooms. He even reigned when he wasn’t on the throne. McIlhenny was Rex in 2006. That was a relief for Rex watchers because for each of several years preceding that Carnival season there were rumors in Uptown circles that the Tabasco boss would be King of Carnival. McIlhenny reveled in having been Rex’s shill monarch, and seemed to enjoy the ruse as much as the experience. Secrecy prevents knowing if he was ever Comus. He would just smile impishly when asked. (As an aside, according to an article printed in the very first edition of New Orleans Magazine, published in October 1966, it was in the setting that would one day be known as the Tabasco Room that New Orleans Magazine was founded, over a dinner between executives of Atlanta Magazine and the local Franklin printing company. We take some pride in having Oysters Rockefeller in our DNA.) I last saw Paul McIlhenny on Lundi Gras afternoon standing in the crowd that gathers outside Antoine’s after the Proteus lunch. Carnival was a fun season for him, but I suspect there’s one season he liked better: duck hunting. He could talk with authority about fowl and how to cook them. Come next fall, there will be one fewer sure-shot for the ducks to worry about, but somewhere in the marsh there should be a duck blind with his name on it. He was king of that, too.

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ARTHUR NEAD I L L USTRATION