Latest Issue: Saints Preview—August 2021 by Where Y'at Magazine

August 2021

WhereYat.com

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SAINTS PREVIEW THERE’S A NEW PAYTON IN TOWN SAINTS FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICK PAYTON TURNER

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CONTENTS

6 Food & Drink

Features

August 2021 Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Josh Danzig Creative Director: Robert Witkowski Executive Editor: Burke Bischoff

Rookie Wrecking Ball First-Round Draft Pick Payton Turner Ghosts of NOLA’s Former Teams

$20 & Under

Movie Editors: David Vicari, Fritz Esker

Restaurant Guide

Contributing Writers: Kathy Bradshaw, Phil LaMancusa, Debbie Lindsey, Kim Ranjbar, Burke Bischoff, Julie Mitchell, Greg Roques, Celeste Turner, Eliana Blum, Steve Melendez, Michelle Nicholson, Sabrina Stone, Kimmie Tubre, Emily Hingle, Rebecca Fox, Jeff Boudreaux

Bar Guide

Abbreviated History Anagrams Explain NOLA

Cover Photo: Saints first-round draft pick Payton Turner; photo by Romney Caruso

Movie Theaters are Back and Open!

Good Vibes & Tides in Ocean Springs, MS

Coolest Places in Town to Beat the Heat.

38 42 47

Director of Sales: Stephen Romero

Extras

10 14 48 50

Saints Preview: A New Era Saints Schedule Tales From the Quarter Po-Boy Views

Photographers and Designers: Gus Escanelle, Kimmie Tubre, Emily Hingle, Kathy Bradshaw, Robert Witkowski Interns: Kayla Connor, Monwell Frazier, Madeline Taliancich, Marigny Lanaux, Mary Grace Granito, Shayla Baker, Grant Varner, Gigi Halpern, Olivia Longoria, Jordana Comiter

Letter from the Publisher WHO DAT! Saints football is back, and there’s a new Payton in town. Check out Andrew Alexander’s interview with firstround draft pick Payton Turner, as well as his preview of the upcoming season. Speaking of sports, fans should read Steven Melendez’s look back at local teams of the past in sports such as baseball, football, and even tennis. The heat has been brutal, so now’s a great time to catch a flick as Jeff Boudreaux profiles the return of local movie theaters. And if movies aren’t your thing but you still want to cool off, check out Rebecca Fox’s look at the top places in town to beat the heat while having fun. Please get vaccinated if you have yet to do so…and don’t forget to have a plan for hurricane season. Stay safe! –Josh Danzig, Publisher

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ROOKIE WRECKING BALL First-Round Draft Pick Payton Turner is Ready to Prove He’s More Than Just “Upside”

ROMNEY CARUSO

Former University of Houston Cougars defensive end Payton Turner acclimates to his new city and team.

Saints Preview | Where Y'at Magazine

By Andrew Alexander

The New Orleans Saints boasted one of the most fearsome defenses in the NFL last season, thanks in large part to its ferocious defensive line. After losing the 2020 team sack leader, Trey Hendrickson, in free agency, the Saints are hoping their latest first round draft selection will be able to step in and fill the void. New Orleans drafted Payton Turner with the No. 28 selection in April and have high hopes for the former University of Houston defensive end. “He has a lot of things, a lot of traits that we value,” Saints Head Coach Sean Payton said in a draft day press conference. “He was a high energy player, his prototype, his size. We really had this player, someone that you couldn’t help but notice.” A multisport athlete for much of his life, Turner’s combination of length, physicality, and quickness make him a natural fit on New Orleans’s defensive front alongside veterans Cam Jordan and Marcus Davenport. “I was super excited to get drafted in the first round, even more so that it was

WhereYat.com | August 2021

the Saints,” Turner said. “It’s a dream come true.” ADDRESSING THE SKEPTICISM Although some fans have questioned his selection when the Saints seemingly had other, more urgent areas of need to address in the draft, Turner believes his work ethic, athleticism, and upside are all reasons he was worthy of a first-round draft selection. “[It’s] the things you can’t coach and how hard I’m going to play when I’m out there,” Turner explained. “You pair that with how much I’ve learned in the little amount of time that I have played, I can only go up from here.” If you missed Turner on the field during his senior season in Houston,

Hard work has helped him to bounce back from adversity multiple times during his football career, especially after suffering a torn ACL during his senior season in high school and recovering from the ailments he endured last season in Houston. Those experiences taught him the importance of valuing the game of football, a game he now has the fortune of playing for a living. Turner’s resilience paid off early in the “coolest moment” of his college career, when he intercepted a pass against Rice University in his second collegiate play as a freshman. “It’s safe to say that nothing’s been handed to me when it comes to this game,” Turner said. “Every moment that I can be around it, I’m going to give my all to it.”

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you’re probably not alone. The Cougars play in American Athletic Conference (along with Tulane) and played just eight games in 2020, of which Turner appeared in five. Despite playing only five games during his senior season, due to COVID and a calf strain, Turner, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound specimen, led Houston with five sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss. As a junior, Turner recorded eight tackles for loss and four sacks, while playing in all 12 of Houston’s games. Even if you haven’t seen Turner play, the first thing that stands out is his vigorous work ethic. “I’m athletic, I’m tall, I’m long, I’m fast, but none of that really means anything if you can’t work to get better at the things you need to get better at,” Turner said. “I’ve always been working hard.”

WELCOME TO THE BIG EASY Upon arriving in New Orleans, Turner noticed the same spirit of Southern hospitality that he’s accustomed to in Houston also radiates throughout the Crescent City and his new team. “I haven’t had a bad interaction yet,” Turner said. “I love it here. The people are great, the food is great, and the team is great.” As an avid cook, Turner has quickly acclimated to New Orleans’s food scene, trying to sample as many restaurants as possible. New Orleans Food and Spirits currently tops his list as the only place he’s dined twice, but he’s looking forward to exploring more of city’s delicious food. Turner admits, however, that he hasn’t been able to delve into much of the city’s nightlife or music,

ROMNEY CARUSO

(when the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors)

outside of a few trips to Bourbon Street with his fellow rookie teammates. Most importantly, Turner has already been advised of the blood feud between the Atlanta Falcons and the Saints, eagerly anticipating his first chance to participate in the heated rivalry with the Dirty Birds. “It’s a good thing they wear red though,” Turner joked. “You don’t have to see the blood through the jerseys. I’m excited to play that game.” THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH HIM When he wasn’t dominating on athletic fields growing up, Turner was fixated on one of his favorite pop culture obsessions: Star Wars. A long time ago, in playroom far, far

Windu character in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and he unequivocally believes Chewbacca, a 7-foot-5 wookie from the Star Wars universe, would make the best defensive end if he ever stopped battling the evil Galactic Empire. READY TO ROLL Midi-chlorians and Jedi aside, one thing is certain: Turner is humble, yet confident, and is ready to take on whatever role is needed in this year’s Saints defense. “I’ll be rotating in at defensive end,” Turner said. “Whether I’m starting or not, (the Saints) rotate up front, so me playing isn’t really an issue because of how much they rotate.” For a team used to getting consistent

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HAPPY HOUR $1 / RAW OYSTERS $5 / CATHEAD MARTINIS $7 / SMALL PLATES away, Turner amassed over 400 Star Wars action figures as a kid. “I had like all of them,” Turner said. “I’d go to the store and hide them for the next time I came because my parents would only get me one at a time. I’d be asking them, ‘Do we need to go Target today? Do you need to go to Walmart? Do you need to go anywhere?’ I’d have them stashed away somewhere in the gardening section in a pot.” Turner’s favorite movie in the Star Wars saga is Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and his favorite character is Obi Wan Kenobi. Although he wishes the latest Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, was a bit more “faster paced,” he admits that it is good television. He ideal lightsaber color would be purple, ala Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace

pressure on opposing quarterbacks in recent years, the arrival of a new, hungry pass rusher could be an unlikely boost to this team’s front seven. “Every defensive end we have in the room is big and athletic, so I think I fit in perfect,” Turner said. As he embarks upon his inaugural season in the NFL, Turner’s ready to learn, grow, and attack–and maybe pickup a Defensive Rookie of the Year award along the way. Turner’s confident, ferocious, and charming, with physical traits that make him a nightmare to scheme against. The upside is there, the perseverance is evident, and football field is his oyster. New Orleans, meet your potential new defensive star, and make sure to follow him at twitter. com/pt_turner98.

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A NEW ERA Saints Prepare to Tackle Life After Drew Brees

A new era of New Orleans Saints football is upon us. After 15 years as quarterback of the Saints, Drew Brees finally retired following last season’s playoff loss. How do you replace an icon? Head coach Sean Payton is now tasked with molding a new leader under center. Will it be Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill? Realistically, it’ll likely be both at some point this year. On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has several key holes to fill in his unit. Sean Payton has more NFC South titles in the last four years than he did in his first 10 seasons as the head coach in New Orleans, and he still has a roster filled with talent, albeit without proven depth. Payton is one of the best coaches in the NFL, but his status would be vaulted to another level if he can transform either Winston or Hill into an upper-echelon quarterback. It seems like Payton is savoring this challenge, internally smirking

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Many will look to Taysom Hill to lead the team as the defacto QB in this new season

COURTESY MICHAEL C. HEBERT/NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

By Andrew Alexander

GO SAINTS OFFICIAL BEER PARTNER OF THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

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OFFENSE There’s a new starting quarterback in town, but who it will be is still up for debate. Taysom Hill went 3-1 as a starter while Drew Brees was injured last season, throwing his first touchdown passes of his professional career in the process. He rushed for a career high eight touchdowns, amassing 457 yards on ground on 87 attempts and caught a touchdown pass. Overall, Hill accounted for 13 touchdowns last season as his usage rate increased tremendously. Jameis Winston appeared in four games for New Orleans, replacing Brees in the second half of a Week 10 victory over San Francisco in his only extended playing time. His lone, true highlight from last year was in the postseason, when Winston fired off a 56yard touchdown pass against the Buccaneers, flashing the incredible arm we remembered from his days in Tampa Bay. Yes, Winston threw for 30 interceptions two years ago and has earned the label of “turnover-prone.” Payton, however, clearly has seen enough to give Winston another contract. The quarterback room this season feels like a potential “hope for the best but prepare for mediocrity” situation. Whichever quarterback wins the starting job will be joined by one of the best playmakers in the NFL: running back Alvin Kamara.

lost several key contributors in the offseason, including linebackers Kwon Alexander and Alex Anzalone, defensive linemen Trey Hendrickson, Sheldon Rankins, and Malcom Brown, and cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Some of these losses are bigger than others (Hendrickson and Jenkins), but there’s always uncertainty as to how a new contributor will perform. Which recent draft picks and offseason signees will step up to fill the void? The Saints signed former Kansas City defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon in the offseason. Second year linebacker Zack Baun is a logical candidate to see an increase in snaps, and there is a slew of defensive rookies that could have an opportunity to shine. New Orleans’s first three picks in the 2021 draft were defensive players, selecting defensive end Payton Turner, linebacker Pete Werner, and cornerback Paulson Adebo in the first, second, third rounds, respectively. The Saints still have a strong core of defenders, with studs at all three levels of the defense: defensive end Cameron Jordan, linebacker Demario Davis, and cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Other impactful familiar faces returning include safety Marcus Williams, defensive tackles David Onyemata (after he serves a six-game suspension), Shy Tuttle and Malcolm Roach, and defensive end Marcus

Alvin Kamara's speed and agility will be tested

There's no place like Dome! Can the legs of Lutz keep kicking us into the playoffs? The explosive back put up nearly 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns as a dual threat rusher and receiver last year. Unfortunately, the franchise’s new signal caller will initially be without the services of All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas, who will miss several games to start the season recovering from ankle surgery. Thomas’s 2020 campaign was plagued by injuries, and he appeared in only seven games while logging career lows in all statistical categories. Production from the supporting cast of skill players is perhaps the biggest question mark on offense outside of the quarterback position. Expect a breakout season from receiver Tre’Quan Smith as he enters a contract year. Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway showed flashes of brilliance in limited offensive snaps last season. Latavius Murray is a reliable second running back behind Kamara. Tight ends Nick Vannett and Adam Trautman replace the departed Jared Cook. Thankfully, the Saints still boast a solid offensive line, capable of keeping whoever wins the quarterback job upright. DEFENSE Roster turnover is a part of football, but Dennis Allen’s defense

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Caesar's Superdome expects to infuse a new look and new life into the Who Dat Nation

Davenport, who has yet to live up to his first-round draft pick status in his first three seasons. The Saints defense has been integral to the team’s four straight NFC South titles. With a new quarterback taking over for Brees, this unit may be more important than ever. SPECIAL TEAMS One of the most startling developments during the 2020 season was the sudden inaccuracy from kicker Wil Lutz, who recorded the lowest made field goal percentage of his career (82.1%). Lutz missed four of six field goals over 40 yards from weeks 10-14. While not a massive cause for alarm, Lutz inconsistency was frustrating at times for a kicker who was lights out the previous three seasons. Hopefully Lutz has rediscovered his mojo in the offseason. Speaking of ends of eras, for the first time in 12

seasons, the Saints will field a punter other than Thomas Morstead. Second year player Blake Gillikin is set to fill Morstead’s shoes after spending last year on injured reserve. Here’s to Gillikin bringing back the glorious mullet he rocked at Penn State. Explosive returners Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway should provide a steady presence once again in the return game. PREDICTION Quarterback play, personnel depth, and how the team adapts to the early season losses of Thomas and Onyemata will largely dictate how this year unfolds for the Saints. New Orleans still has the talent to make the playoffs, but a fifth straight division crown seems unlikely. New Orleans: 11-6, NFC Wild Card Game

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about what he’s about to unleash upon the league with his new signal caller. Or it could be a disaster, and the Saints slip back into 7-9 mediocrity. Either way, buckle up because 2021 is going to be an interesting season for the Saints.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7 ATLANTA FALCONS 12 PM, FOX

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19 @ TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 7:20 PM, NBC

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14 @TENNESSEE TITANS 12 PM, CBS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 27 MIAMI DOLPHINS 7:15 PM, ESPN

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GHOSTS OF SPORTS TEAMS PAST A Remembrance of NOLA’s Former Teams

By Steven Melendez

He ended his first year with the VooDoo with a Rookie-Franchise Record 924 yards receiving. ARENA FOOTBALL While the NFL has remained the only major football league in the United States, that hasn’t stopped other leagues from trying. The Arena Football League, which sought to make the sport more exciting by playing in smaller quarters like basketball and hockey stadiums, fielded a team called the New Orleans Night in the 1991 and 1992 seasons. The team played in the Superdome but in a smaller configuration of the arena than used by the Saints. Unfortunately, as newspapers reported at the time, the team didn’t win a single game in its second season, which didn’t do much for bringing in fans or revenue, and the owners gave up after that year. Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson brought Arena Football back to New Orleans in 2004, setting up the New Orleans VooDoo in the Smoothie King Center. Naturally, its cheerleaders were dubbed the VooDoo Dolls. Benson disbanded the team after 2008, but the name was revived in 2010 when Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings owner Dan Newman moved his team to the bigger market of New Orleans. The team never built up a winning record or a strong fan base and was again dissolved in 2015. The league itself shut down after the 2019 season.

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VooDoo at home

The Arena Football team's home turf was in the Smoothie King Center, next door to the Saints homefield Superdome.

Name of Place

FROM TOP: @AFLVOODOO; AMERICANFOOTBALLDATABASE.FANDOM.COM; ANDREW GUILLOT/@CAPTBENTWHEEL

Roger Jackson

Today, many people see New Orleans professional sports as essentially synonymous with Saints football and Pelicans basketball (and Jazz basketball, before the team decamped for Salt Lake City in 1979 but inexplicably kept its name). But historically, the Crescent City has played host to other teams in a wide variety of sports from baseball and tennis to alternative football leagues.

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This team photo is most notable for player #12, baseball's future superstar—and later disgraced—"Shoeless" Joe Jackson. NEW ORLEANS BASEBALL While there were exhibition games played in the city in the past, professional baseball is generally considered to have arrived fulltime in New Orleans in 1887 with a team then known as the New Orleans Pelicans. Part of the regional Southern League, the team won the league championship in its initially year. It played to crowds of thousands in a field known as Sportsmen’s Park, or Crescent City Baseball Park near Metairie Cemetery, before moving to a new Pelican Park, located in Mid-City at Banks Street and Carrollton Avenue. In 1914, the ballpark was moved a few blocks down the street to Tulane and

Zephyr Field (bottom)—Became the Shrine on Airline, and now is called The Gold Mine on Airline as home field for the New Orleans Gold Rugby Team.

Carrollton Avenues, with newspaper reports at the time describing the grandstands being slowly hauled down Carrollton by mule-driven machinery. The new venue was soon dubbed Heinemann Park, after Pelicans’ president and part-owner A. J. Heinemann, known for wearing outlandish outfits to home games. The Pelicans were known for offering Ladies’ Days and Kids’ Days, where women or children could come to games for free in

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order to boost crowds, and for inexpensive refreshments—Heinemann boasted of freezing soft drink prices at just 5 cents. Probably the team’s best-known player was “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, the player depicted in the movie Field of Dreams, who’d go on to play for the Chicago White Sox (and be implicated in the infamous “Black Sox” scandal, where players took money to fix the 1919 World Series, though Jackson’s role is still debated). The team continued to play minor league ball until the 1950s. In 1977, a new minor league team by the same name would appear for one season, playing its games indoors in the Superdome. Minor league ball would return in 1993 when the triple-A Zephyrs moved from Denver to Metairie. Renamed the Baby Cakes in reference to king cakes for the 2017 season, the team ultimately departed for Wichita, Kansas, after 2019. Heinemann Park also hosted games by a number of Black baseball teams during the sport’s segregated days. The New Orleans Black Pelicans of the Negro Southern League were perhaps the most famous. Other Black teams in the city included the Crescent Stars and the Algiers Giants. In the 1880s, a Black team called the New Orleans Pinchbacks—named for Reconstruction-era governor P.B.S. Pinchback, the first Black U.S. governor— defeated teams from Chicago and St. Louis in a tour of the Midwest and claimed a national championship. Even Louis Armstrong briefly sponsored a local team in the 1930s that came to be called the Secret Nine. Though the players’ identities are largely still unknown, the team drew attention for the fashion-forward uniforms the players wore, which bore Armstrong’s name, as they faced off against other local teams, including the Black Pelicans. TENNIS, ANYONE? World Team Tennis, sometimes simply Team Tennis or World TeamTennis, is a mixedgender league that’s existed in various forms since the 1970s, designed to provide audiences with a more exciting alternative to the staid tennis competitions at fancy events like the U.S. Open. One account in a Honolulu newspaper quoted a team official looking to woo the “beer and peanuts crowd.” Team members play in traditional singles or doubles matches, with their victories accumulating to the team’s overall performance. In 1978, the team known as the Cleveland Nets relocated and became the New Orleans Sun Belt Nets, soon to simply be the New Orleans Nets, playing home games at the Superdome and other regional venues. The Nets were one of several tennis-punned names—newspaper accounts mention the Indiana Loves, Phoenix Racquets, Los Angeles Strings, and even Boston Lobsters—but lost top players Björn Borg and Martina Navratilova before the move to the Crescent City. The team lasted only a single season in New Orleans before the league folded. When the league reformed in 1981, there was no local team.

WhereYat.com | August 2021

BBREVIATED ISTORY

OMG! Abbreviations in NOLA began long before Millennials began texting.

By Robert Witkowski

One can discover our city's history by reading between the lines, or even beyond the letters. THE CITY NOLA – The Crescent City-and-state abbreviation seems everywhere, but it is not new—just rediscovered. While the “Follow Your NOLA” tourism campaign was launched post-Katrina as a tourism slogan almost a decade ago, a film company, a fraternal organization, a sheet metal company, and even a 500-seat movie theatre at 4000 St. Claude Ave. used “NOLA” as far back as the early 1900s. The acronym was solidified in 2001 when The Times-Picayune secured nola.com as its website. Not surprisingly, other quick catchy web addresses have encouraged similarly abridged monikers, like NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art).

WDSU began with the chicken and the egg, and broadcast all networks at the same time. 20

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FROM TOP: ROBERT WITKOWSKI; CC/PUBLIC DOMAIN

CBD – These letters are likely to elicit giggles as a reference to cannabidiol—one of marijuana’s most active ingredients— but they still refer to the Central Business District for locals.

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John Bevins Moisan MSY's namesake

MSY in 1946

The new Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport shows how MSY has changed over the decades, but the IATA has not.

TRANSPORTATION Luggage tags are emblazoned with International Air Transport Association (IATA) three-letter codes to identify travelers’ final-destination. However, while airport names may change, the established code letters often do not. NEW – As the former New Orleans Army Air Base, Lakefront Airport became the original airport for the metro area, capturing the NEW code. It was relegated to a private field in 1946 when MSY’s larger facilities absorbed New Orleans’s commercial air service due to its inability to expand to accommodate larger jets. MSY – Bag tags arriving at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport do not reference Sachmo or the city, but rather the airfield’s origin:

Moisant Stock Yards. When the airfield opened on the former site of an expansive cattle field in 1946, it was named in tribute of John Bevins Moisant, the worldrenowned “King of Aviators” who had perished in a crash at the site in 1910. The code did not change after the airport was renamed in 1961, or again in 2001 to honor Louis Armstrong on the jazz musician’s 100th birthday. NOL – Trains do not use IATA codes, but this Amtrak designation is a nod to the City of New Orleans for passengers arriving at Downtown’s Union Passenger Terminal— even more than the train with the catchy tune. RTA – Public transportation in the metro area is under the umbrella of the Regional (not Rapid) Transit Authority. While much of the system’s buses, ferries, and

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streetcars are found within city limits, the regional service reaches as far as Arabi, Westbank locations, and Kenner. BROADCAST Most know stations east of the Mississippi River start with a W, and stations west of the river with a K. This seemingly arbitrary classification is believed to be the result of a miscommunication that flipped the letters. In the Bureau of Navigation’s prefixes, ships in the Atlantic Ocean were assigned the K, while ships in the Pacific Ocean were given a W (for west?). For some reason lost to time, in adapting for radio, eastern stations got W, while western ones got K. In 1923, the delineation was clarified as “Old Muddy.” While all television stations follow this border, some radio stations predate the change and have their previous state-bystate K prefix grandfathered.

KKND –Despite its CBD studio on St. Charles Ave. and powerful transmitter in St. Bernard, this popular New Orleans morning drive-time station is not one of the grandfathered stations. Its the FM radio station license and transmitter in Port Sulphur down river on the Westbank that earns the New Orleans station its 'K.' KKND's Regional VP and Market Manager Pat Galloway confirms, "Most stations with a K are west of the Mississippi River and most stations with a W are east of the Mississippi River, but there are some exceptions." In September 1996, the station changed format to become 106.7 The End and changing its calls to KKND—morphing KK and “the eND.” WWOZ – The genesis of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s beloved radio

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: COURTESY NEW ORLEANS LAKEFRONT AIRPORT; POSTCARD_MOISSANT_AIRPORT, 1960S / GRANT L. ROBERTSON; WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; COURTESY OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT; FLICKR/HYTAM2

NEW still identifies the city's first airport

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WWOZ keeps "the man behind the curtain" to allow wonderful talent of stars like John Boutte to impress listeners

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station to broadcast NBC, ABC, and CBS networks simultaneously from 1948 to 1951, retaining its NBC affiliation for over seven decades.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY WWOZ; SLOTMACHINEBONUS /YOUTUBE; KKND

KKND's call letters are hard to find on this side of the river. station was an inside joke from The Wizard of Oz. Founding brothers Walter and Jerry Brock did not want the city’s music to be overshadowed by on-air talent. So they were guided by the film’s famous line, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” And WWOZ’s calls were established when it went on the air December 4, 1980. WWL – Long before the creation of the world wide web, World Wide Loyola was formed as a one of the city’s oldest universities pioneering new technology in 1922. The radio station was originally created as a laboratory for wireless technology. It aired after the Jesuit priests who ran Loyola University New Orleans received Vatican approval, but it wasn’t until 1957 when the CBS affiliate began televising programming. WDSU – In 1928, Joseph Uhalt moved his burgeoning radio station out of his chicken coop and into the DeSoto Hotel in downtown New Orleans. The call letters adapted the D and S from “DeSoto,” and the initial of his last name to form WDSU. The early years of television were unique for the station when it was the only city

WVUE – Vue is the French word for “view.” It started by sharing its CBS affiliation with WDSU in 1953, moving stations and changed their call letters to WVUE in 1959. On June 8, 1970, the station shocked the broadcast community by moving to VHF Channel 8, swapping channels with the city’s PBS affiliate, WYES (sometimes YES just means yes). The station again shook the New Orleans airwaves on New Year’s Day 1996 by breaking with its ABC affiliation after over 40 year to broadcast the fledgling FOX network. WGNO – The station started in 1967 broadcasting as WWOM—“The Wonderful World Of Movies”—before becoming GNO when sold in 1972. The obvious meaning of the ABC affiliate’s call letters is, of course, Greater New Orleans…but are things that simple? One theory proposes GNO is a melding of the station’s parent company and host city. While the idea that The Tribune Company’s flagship station, WGN in Chicago (itself meaning “World’s Greatest Newspaper”), combined with the city’s N.O. initials to form WGNO is strong, the timeline is flawed—the station became WGNO almost a decade before the Tribune Company sale in 1983. Another possible theory: the station’s slogan, “We’ve Got New Orleans.” But it’s more likely the slogan was derived from the call letters as a bit of clever marketing. How many acronyms that we hear daily are instilled in our city’s history, and that of the country? Enjoy pondering other abbreviations many take for granted over beignets and cafe au lait on your next visit to CDM.

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Local Movie Theaters Are Alive and Well (Mostly) By Jeff Boudreaux

While we aren’t out of the COVID-19 woods yet, things are looking up for moviegoers in New Orleans as area theaters are beginning to operate on all cylinders. Sure, you may still be asked to don a mask if you haven’t been vaccinated (or even if you have), and the concession stand still may not accept your cash, but we (the moviegoing public) can go to just about any theater that we could pre-pandemic. And isn’t it beautiful that it happened just in time for summer blockbusters like F9 and Black Widow!? 24

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COURTESY THE BROAD THEATER/ CRYSTAL SHELDON PHOTOGRAPHY

THEY’RE BACK!

As rabid moviegoers may realize, AMC Theatres have been open since the end of last summer. It was rather refreshing to be able to enjoy films on the big screen once again, as opposed to streaming into your living room. Sadly, the majority of these showtimes were capacitated to a fraction of what they were before the world shut down and new releases were scarce and mostly unexciting. As a loyal A-List member, I, like many others, chose to “pause” my membership in lieu of major releases. I would occasionally be lured to the AMC Elmwood Palace 20 for the opening weekend of a

film such as Marvel’s long-delayed The New Mutants (after all, I and every other Marvel fan had been waiting patiently since 2018 to see it). Through it all, this conglomerate was able to stay afloat, even after losing millions of dollars throughout the shutdown and beyond. They even struck up a new partnership with Clorox to eliminate those damn virus particles from our movie seats, which I’m sure the majority of us were worried about. Even New Orleans’s oldest movie house, the legendary Prytania Theatre, was able to find its

The Broad Thetare is reopen for business.

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THIS MONTH AT ACE HOTEL AUG 1

SUN

Float, Alto, 12pm, house | Extended Layover with Felice Gee, Lobby, 12pm, eclectic, soul, electronic

AUG 3

TUE

Hack Night - Tech Tuesday, Three Keys, 7pm, tech night

AUG 5

THU

Helen Gillet, Three Keys, 8pm,

AUG 6

FRI

Them Productions presents Them People + ANTWIGADEE! , Three Keys, 8pm, hip hop, electronic, R&B | Them Productions presents Them People + ANTWIGADEE! , Lobby, 10pm, hip hop, electronic, R&B

AUG 7

SAT

Big Easy Brawlers, Three Keys, 8pm, brass | DJ Wop, Lobby, 10pm, hip hop & R&B & soul

AUG 8

SUN

Float, Alto, 12pm, DJ | Extended Layover with Jaek, Lobby, 12pm, eclectic, soul, electronic

AUG 10

TUE

Hack Night - Tech Tuesday, Three Keys, 7pm, tech night

AUG 12

THU

Four Five Times Swing Night, Three Keys, 8pm, swing/dance

AUG 13

FRI

AfroXotica with Andrea Peoples, Three Keys, 8pm, afrobeat

AUG 14

SAT

Khris Royal & Dark Matter, Three Keys, 8pm, funk, jazz | DJ G, Lobby, 10pm, funk, pop, eclectic

AUG 15

SUN

Float, Alto, 12pm, DJ | Extended Layover with Felice Gee, Lobby, 12pm, eclectic, soul, electronic

AUG 17

TUE

Hack Night - Tech Tuesday, Three Keys, 7pm, tech night

AUG 18

WED

SONO presents Shape of Jazz to Come, Three Keys, 8pm, jazz

AUG 19

THU

Grooves with Jevon Tate, Lobby, 7pm, vinyl, funk, boogie, soul

AUG 20 FRI

Water Seed, Three Keys, 8pm | DJ Raj Smoove, Lobby, 10pm, funk, soul

AUG 22

Float, Alto, 12pm, DJ | Extended Layover with Jaek, Lobby, 12pm, eclectic, soul, electronic

SUN

Major chains like the AMC reopening signal a larger change nationwide

AUG 24 TUE

Hack Night - Tech Tuesday, Three Keys, 7pm, tech night

AUG 26 THU

Green House with Kelly Green, Lobby, 7pm, house, disco, funk

AUG 27

Radio Garden with Alexey Marti + C’est Funk, Three Keys, 8pm, international funk, disco, dance | Radio Garden with Alexey Marti + C’est Funk, Lobby, 10pm, international funk, disco, dance

FRI

AUG 28 SAT

La Noche Caliente with Muevelo!, Three Keys, 8pm, latin

AUG 29 SUN

Float, Alto, 12pm, DJ | Extended Layover with Felice Gee, Lobby, 12pm, eclectic, soul, electronic

AUG 31

Hack Night - Tech Tuesday, Three Keys, 7pm, tech night

TUE

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niche during the summer of COVID by reviving 80s classics like The Goonies and The Karate Kid, as well as fan-friendly screenings of films from The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises. Then something exciting happened: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was released to worldwide fanfare last September. Local moviegoers revisited the thrill of humongous 4K images, state-of-the-art sound, convoluted plot twists ad-nauseum, and many of these individuals chose the Prytania. In fact, so successful were the singlescreen theater’s profits that owner Robert Brunet was able to rekindle a business deal to open a second establishment in November at the nine-screen Canal Place Theatre, following in the footsteps of Landmark, Southern Theatres, and then

Cinebarre (Regal). Unlike the previous incarnations of the Theatres at Canal Place, the Prytania remodeling upheld the New Orleans flair that made its Uptown space so homey, yet unpretentious. Visit them for a charming mixture of major and independent releases. Masks are required, as both establishments rigorously follow safety protocols for its guests. Another favorite destination of film fans in New Orleans is The Broad Theater, which had unfortunately been closed for the majority of 2020 and much of this year. Much like the Prytania’s celebrated expansion during the midst of a global pandemic, Broad owner Brian Knighten had no plans on letting COVID kill his business. Hence, October began the tenure of his outdoor performance space

FROM TOP: COURTESY OF AMCTHEATRES.COM; COURTESY OF ZEITGEISTNOLA.ORG

Monday & Thursday 4pm - 9pm

The Broad Theater glows again in Mid City

officially closed their doors in February after a short-stinted revival in the latter half of 2020. With a true hodgepodge of major Hollywood releases, independent and localbased productions, Black cinema selections, and classic films, here’s hoping that coowners Wennie Schulz and Ellis Fortinberry can reopen sometime in the future. If this last tidbit saddens you, there is one surefire way to keep these theaters open—go out to the movies! With so many films debuting online at the same time as their theatrical release, we need to send a message to Hollywood by choosing to support the theaters that have comforted us for so many years. While streaming is undoubtedly here to stay, we can see to it that our beloved cinemas are as well.

FROM LEFT: ROBERT WITKOWSKI; COURTESY THE BROAD THEATER / CRYSTAL SHELDON PHOTOGRAPHY

Let's all go to the lobby in the Prytania Uptown dubbed The Broadside, located just down the street. Here, patrons can purchase a ticket for one of 120 courtyard seats, sit at several picnic tables, or even bring their own chair to enjoy the latest movies, musical performances, and much more. There’s also a full bar, with a strict mask-on policy for all guests. Still, it’s the closest thing to a drive-in movie theater that New Orleans will likely ever see, with undeniably more-comfortable amenities. As for the Broad itself, the theater you loved came back in April, rocking at 50% capacity. Exiting the city into Arabi, Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center has been reopened since the previous May, but the average person may not know this since they won’t find any blockbusters on this screen. It is here that local cinephiles go to to get their fix for International, LGBTQ, and Arthouse Cinema. Also boasting a full bar and performance stage, owner Rene Broussard has been killing it in his new establishment on St. Claude Avenue since 2019, after 32 years on Dryades/Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. I was fortunate to attend the opening night screening of George A. Romero’s lost 1973 curio The Amusement Park in early June and the experience was truly amazing. Be sure to check out the movie-themed cocktails! On the other side of Lake Pontchartrain, the Regal Covington theatre finally reopened this May, boasting a stellar lineup of Hollywood releases such as Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Those Who Wish Me Dead, and Wrath of Man. Social-distancing is recommended here, the theater follows all of the necessary safety protocols, and vaccinated guests can remove their masks during the film (please no cheating; do yourself a favor and get vaccinated!). Unfortunately, not all theaters were successful in reopening. Just a few miles from Zeitgeist, the 10-year-old, rechristened Chalmette Movies on W. Judge Perez

Come See Us! 2117 Gause Blvd.

Slidell

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GOOD VIBES & TIDES ON MISSISSIPPI'S GULF COAST Ocean Springs' Arts & Crafts Village By Michelle A. Nicholson

Quiet seaside escapes may not be as far as some think… 28

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ALL PHOTOS BY MICHELLE A. NICHOLSON

Settled in 1699 by Iberville and populated by a people of blended indigenous, French, and African heritage, Ocean Springs (aka Old Biloxi, by Fort Maurepas), historically and culturally, resembles New Orleans. In a letter to Governor Claiborne in 1811, Dr. William “Fat Doctor” Flood described the village: “I am greatly impressed with the beauty and value of this coast. The high sandy lands, heavily timbered with pine, and the lovely bays and rivers…will furnish New Orleans with a rich commerce, and with a delightful summer resort.” And while the mineral springs that made this place sacred to natives now flow from residents’ taps instead of health resort baths, Ocean Springs continues to revitalize visitors who take the 90 minute drive from New Orleans.

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THE SHORE Obviously, one of Ocean Springs’s most appealing features is its stretch of shore on Biloxi Bay. The western half is the public beach; the marshy eastern half is where you’ll find Mississippi’s share of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Davis Bayou area offers visitors every imaginable outdoor recreation opportunity, and while camping reservations get scooped up a year in advance, a day trip may include hiking, kayaking, picnicking, and fishing off the pier. The park also includes several barrier islands. You can launch your boat from the park for a small fee. No boat? Book a charter through one of many local operators—or pop over to Biloxi and rent a boat from NautiToons (119 Beach Blvd., Biloxi) to explore the bay and islands yourself. After the Civil War, not only New Orleanians but also people from New York and Chicago began flocking to Ocean Springs for a reprieve from the extreme

temperatures in their cities—including the famous architect Louis Sullivan, who built his cottage here in order to escape Chicago’s brutal winters. Built in 1890, the Charnley-Norwood House (509 Shearwater Dr.) is one of the earliest examples of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright Modern design. The property also features a French rose garden and a cultivated coastal meadow, which hosts migrating and mating monarchs each fall. To make reservations for a guided tour, email heritage@dmr.ms.gov or call (228) 234-7298. Similarly, the Anderson family resettled in Ocean Springs from Uptown New Orleans, establishing Shearwater Pottery (102 Shearwater

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ALL PHOTOS BY MICHELLE A. NICHOLSON

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This historic estate offers a glimpse into life in the 1800’s through the guided tour and the original artwork and artifacts throughout the mansion. 38 acres of the South’s most beautiful gardens surround the estate offering brightly colored florals year round. Restaurants and a boutique Inn are also available for spending the day or night at Houmas House. Save time to visit The Great River Road Museum which explores life along the Mississippi River in the 1800's. 40136 Hwy 942 | Darrow, LA 70725 www.HoumasHouse.com

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Dr.) and kickstarting the arts and crafts scene that dominates contemporary Ocean Springs. The studio was founded in 1928 by Peter Anderson, with brothers Walter Inglis Anderson and James McConnell Anderson working as designers too. Shearwater’s pottery is both functional and decorative, formed from white bodied clay from Tennessee or locally sourced buff bodied clay. Three of Peter’s children continue this tradition today—throwing, jiggering, and casting one-of-a-kind pieces, glazed in colors of the Gulf Coast. Visit its showroom any day of the week, the workshop on weekdays, or make an appointment for a group tour ahead of time by calling (228) 875-7320.

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DOWNTOWN OCEAN SPRINGS (GOVERNMENT AND WASHINGTON STREETS) Peter’s brother Walter Anderson, declared the official cultural patron saint of Mississippi in 1991, classically trained as a painter at Parsons Institute in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and also traveled in his early career throughout France and Spain. But the inspiration he found in the wildlife and natural landscape of Horn Island led him to settled in Ocean Springs. His watercolors and block prints, made from carved linoleum and intended to be public art, are of international renown, evoking wild folk and fairy tale vibes. The Walter Anderson Museum of Art (510 Washington Ave.) is open until 5 p.m., seven days a week. Admission is $10 for adults, with a discount for

seniors and visitors with a AAA, military, or student ID. A stop to check out its current exhibit, The South’s Most Elusive Artist, is definitely one of the coolest ways to escape the hottest parts of the Gulf Coast’s sweltering summers. The influence of the Anderson family (and migration from New Orleans and South Louisiana, in general) on the culture of Ocean Springs is undeniable in downtown Ocean Springs, which is filled with boutiques and galleries, and even an old-school handcrafted toy shop, and is home to the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center (1600 Government St.), which includes the Duckett Art Gallery, WPA murals, and a history museum. The district is also filled with patioed restaurants and brew pubs and a busy food truck plaza on weekends—and they allow open containers, so you can have your drink to-go. On the eastern end of district is The Juke Joint (1911 Government St.), which is exactly as you imagine it might be. Visit msjukejoint. com for info on its weekly and special events. Blue Dog Bistro (1801-A Government St.) is one of the most unique dining options in Ocean Springs. Its menu offers

ALL PHOTOS BY MICHELLE A. NICHOLSON

featuring a sandwich (beef, pork, sausage, or grilled chicken) with baked beans, potato salad, or coleslaw—all for under $10.

“Good Dog” and “Bad Dog” breakfast and lunch entrees—with keto/GF options available for most items—as well as small plates—so you and your friends can enjoy baked avocado and free-range egg with a spinach-oyster sauce and grilled portabella steaks, or a cinnamon roll skillet with pecan praline bacon and a Blue Dog burger with blue cheese on sourdough. Order a pour-over, a French press, or a pull of espresso from their coffee bar, which features a $15 cup of kopi luwak. Even the kids menu is impressive, offering items that range from chocolate chip waffles to grilled fish or shrimp. Blue Dog Bistro is BYOB (with a $10 per table cork fee), but it also serves bottomless mimosas. Visit the bistro between 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. If you are there between Tuesday and Saturday, be sure to stop by Pleasants BBQ (1415 Government St.). Established in 1982, the Black-owned local legacy is considered by many to be the best barbeque in town—and it has homestyle daily specials such as blackened chicken fettuccini with salad and garlic bread, smother pork chops with greens and cornbread, and the Pleasant’s Special,

RESIDENTIAL OCEAN SPRINGS For a sweet treat—and to support another Black-owned business—swing by Sugar Tribe Sweets between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, where you’ll find an assortment of baked goods, as well as sno-cones. Next-door is Patrick’s (2105 School St.), a family-owned business recently honored by locals as the Best Gulf Coast Weekend Seafood Restaurant, which is open from 5:30–9:30 p.m., Thursday to Saturday. The outskirts of Ocean Springs are also home to The Cypress Taphouse (6616 Rose Farm Rd.), featuring live music on the last Friday of every month. Nana J’s Soulfood Kitchen (6512 Washington Ave.) is another Blackowned legacy in Ocean Springs. Sisters Karen Newkirk and Sherine Bates dish out homecooked food—think oxtails, fried catfish, ribs, wings, collard greens, cabbage, fried okra, and field peas & snaps—pulling from recipes handed down to them from their mother—a native New Orleanian—Nana Jackson, who Newkirk wanted to honor by opening the restaurant. Open from 12 to 5 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday, the kitchen sells out every day, so call (228) 447-3502 or visit its Facebook page to order your blue plate special ahead of time! Everything is deliciously crafted with love and, as one patron said, it’s “food that feels like home,” so much so that Nana J’s is a mainstay for Sunday dinner among locals—and a favorite among travelers who appreciate “real” down-home cooking.

WhereYat.com | August 2021

THE COOLEST PLACES IN TOWN

Where to Find Sweet Relief During the New Orleans Summer Heat By Rebecca Fox

Audubon's Cool Zoo 34

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COURTESY AUDUBON INSTITUTE

Whether you’ve been living in New Orleans since you were in diapers or you’re just visiting for the weekend, we’ve all been made extremely aware of one thing: it’s HOT. We New Orleanians are known for our resilience, and the party continues to go on regardless of how high the mercury is rising. I recently polled my friends on social media and here are some of their favorite places to have a good time in the air conditioning:

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Audubon Aquarium’s A/C The aquarium was #1 on everyone’s list as the top place to kill a couple of hours, be entertained (and educated), and to enjoy the sweet air conditioning. I’m still more than bummed that the Entergy Giant Screen Theatre is no more, as that was a great way to kill another couple of hours in a dark and cool spot, but the aquarium is still a cool and pleasant way to feel refreshed. The Pool is Cool To see a different type of water, visit pools all over the city that are either free to the public or pretty affordable. You can try the YMCA pool, which is great for families according to a Facebook comment by Christina Rhoda, or the pools located at some of our local universities—UNO, Loyola, and Tulane. Audubon Park’s Whitney Young Pool, the Gert Town Natatorium, and Stallings Gentilly Pool are just a few pools that offer free swimming for area residents. You can also try the Country Club, The Drifter Hotel, or take advantage of locals’ pool days at some Downtown hotels such as the Roosevelt or the Ace Hotel, among others.

In the water at Whitney Young Pool

Chill Out at the Cool Zoo The zoo is mostly outside, so you won’t find air conditioning there, but Cool Zoo is a wonderful opportunity for kids of all ages to play in the water and on the splash pad. Billed as “New Orleans’s only water park,” Cool Zoo has a 750-foot lazy river, spider monkey soakers, an alligator water slide, and is just $8 for Audubon members.

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There’s NO Heat at NOMA – Established in 1911, The New Orleans Museum of Art also got high marks when it comes to spending a day inside. It’s centrally located and has plenty to keep the entire family entertained—besides art, there’s also tai chi, drink and draw sessions, and even a book club. On Wednesdays, the museum is free to those with a Louisiana driver’s license, and it’s always free for children under 12. Afterwards, check out the brand-new Louisiana Children’s Museum nearby in City Park.

Indoor Shopping

FROM TOP: COURTESY AUDUBON NATURE INSTITUTE (2); RIVERWALKNEWORLEANS.COM

Eat, Drink and Relax at Apolline

Art imitating life at NOMA

FROM TOP: COURTESY OF NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART; ROBERT WITKOWSKI

Heat rises in the vaulted ceilings of St. Louis Cathedral The Riverwalk Beats a Walk in the Park The Riverwalk was on a lot of people’s lists, especially in conjunction with the aquarium, or even the aquarium and a streetcar ride. It provides lots of strolling, shopping, dining, and indoor sightseeing. It’s also conveniently located near several other spots on our list! Don’t get Bowled Over by the Heat Bowling is a little more physical than a gentle stroll, but it can be a lot of fun for the whole family and can get your competitive juices flowing! You can try Rock’n’Bowl or Fulton Alley if you’re in the city, or Colonial Lanes or AMF in the suburbs. Escape the Heat in an Escape Room Escape rooms are a great way to exercise your mind and body while inside! There are great adventures just waiting for you at Clue Carré’s three locations, as well as at Escape My Room and the national chain The Escape Game (at the time of this article, the Mystere Escape Rooms were still closed).

We All Scream for Ice Cream (and Popsicles) – Ice cream, yogurt, popsicles, and sorbet all kept coming up on my list. Though some of these places sell outside without AC, Angelo Brocato’s, Creole Creamery, Sno-La, and Kilwins all offer inside seating with air conditioning. Social media user Bridget Malbrough enjoys picking up ice cream sandwiches from SweetHandKraft before heading to her next sweet (cool) spot. If you don’t mind enjoying your sweet treat in the heat, you can try Big O’s Original Pops on St. Roch or PopBar on N. Peters. Or, of course, you’ll always be welcomed at your favorite local snoball stand. Cathedral Ceilings & AC Social media user Gwen Haydel Smith mentions that in addition to the Riverwalk, aquarium, and other downtown spots, St. Louis Cathedral is another beautiful place to get out of the heat. Whether resting, praying, or just looking around—it’s a wonderful way to feel at peace about the heat. Let’s Go To the Movies, Let’s Go Get Cold Air Don’t forget about the variety of movie theatres in town, including AMC, The Prytania and Prytania at Canal Place, and the Broad. The Prytania has launched a summer series where you can get a drink, popcorn, and a ticket to a family-friendly flick for $10 on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. through August 14th. No matter what, there are options for summer activities that won’t break the bank or make you break a sweat. Try combining two or three of the above ideas based on geography (for example NOMA, the Children’s Museum, Brocato’s or Kilwins, the Riverwalk, and the aquarium) for an even nICEr experience!

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$20 AND UNDER

Summertime Soups: Just Chill! By Kim Ranjbar

Okroshka

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Early this summer, Chef Amy Mehrtens at Poydras Street gem Copper Vine had the sticky-hot weather in mind when she changed up the menu to include chilled soup. Along with a sunflower arugula salad and half a Creole tomato sandwich, diners can enjoy a delightful green garlic vichyssoise for lunch, all for only $13! Vichyssoise is a classic French recipe for a smooth, chilled soup made with leeks, potatoes, chicken stock, and lots of cream. But Mehrtens has given it a Thai twist using coconut milk, creamy avocado, and green garlic, and topping it with chopped cucumbers and a spicy, fried shallot sambal. If you journey all the way Uptown to the Carrollton neighborhood, you'll discover unusually affordable, white-linen-tableclothlevel cuisine at Boucherie. For the last decade, chef and co-owner Nathanial Zimmet has long made it a point to offer high-end eats at reasonable prices, and though the pastel-purple themed eatery had moved from Jeanette Street to around the corner on Carrollton and back again over the years, the menu has remained consistently excellent. Since the beginning, patrons have discovered chilled soups on the menu, one particularly memorable version offered way back in the summer of 2010 was a watermelon Creole tomato gazpacho Nameand of Place topped with kafir-lime tuna ceviche. These

days, there's an avocado ramp vichyssoise featured on the menu. Ramp, in case you were wondering, is a wild onion-type plant that pops up in the springtime, similar in flavor to leek or shallots, but stronger and more garlic-like than both. The cool, creamy, flavorful soup is served with an old French favorite, pommes soufflés or potato puffs, and a bowl will only set you back $12. When considering French cuisine in New Orleans, you can't pass up the classics offered at Cafe Degas. Located near the Bayou St. John on Esplanade Avenue, this quaint bistro named after the impressionist painter Edgar Degas (who once lived for a spell just down the street) has been around for 35 years. This tiny cafe offers only outdoor seating in a well-shaded and enclosed arbor and is easily one of the most romantic dining spots in town. Along with escargot and quiche, the seasonal menu features a classic, cooled vichyssoise, a velvety-smooth potato and leek soup. Along with toasted New Orleans French bread, butter, and a glass of wine, it's a meal, and an experience, you won't soon forget. Speaking of classics, just down Esplanade, headed towards City Park, there are two spots where you can score the quintessential gazpacho. First, there's Santa Fe Restaurant. Known for its ceviche and icy margaritas, the Spanish and Southwestern-

FROM TOP: KIM RANJBAR; THEGREEN ROOM KUKHNY

Watermelon Gazpacho

Sweat is dripping into your eyes, your shirt is stuck to your back, and your face is turning a beetlike shade of red when you pick up the August issue of Where Y'at Magazine only to find an article on soup? You laugh to yourself, a little dizzy from both the heat and the absurdity of it all, and think, “Who eats soup in over 90° weather?” While most New Orleanians would be more than willing to slurp down a piping-hot bowl of gumbo, regardless of the weather, we also share a love for cool, savory soups, a meal that goes down just right during our notoriously sweltering summers.

3 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS Chalmette • Metairie • Harvey

ITH W E L Y N ST I E T A TAILG

Chalmette Metairie 201 W Judge Perez Dr. 5249 Veterans Blvd. (504) 277-8388 (504) 582-2479

Harvey 1535 Lapalco Blvd. (504) 323-2111

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MO NO ND W O AY PE NIG N HT

Q neworleanssocialhouse | 752 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA, 70130

Thank You New Orleans WE ARE ALL JUAN

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crescent city

brewhouse

influenced spot also offers a wonderful, classic gazpacho, a chilled soup traditionally made with stale bread, tomato, onion, garlic, bell peppers and cucumbers. It used to be that all of gazpacho's ingredients were ground together in a large mortar with a pestle, but these days, most cooks use a food processor. At Santa Fe, you can cool down with a bowl for only $9, but it's highly recommended you up your gazpacho game with a generous topping of jumbo lump crab for only $3 more. Secondly, there's another restaurant on Esplanade offering gazpacho, a place which really needs no introduction, called Lola's. For almost three decades, this unassuming little spot on the avenue has been regaling New Orleans diners with true Spanish cuisine. Though its most popular dishes

high-quality ingredients like ripe tomatoes and olive oil, Empanola's gazpacho goes perfectly with a couple of savory hand pies, and it even offers a soup and empanda (2) deal for only $11. Over on St. Bernard Avenue, just a few blocks from the French Quarter, The Green Room Kukhnya (a.k.a. kitchen), owned and operated by chef Matt “The Hat” Ribachonek, serves “working-class American pub fare and Eastern European comfort food.” What began as a kitchen installation, serving unique grub for almost seven years out of the now defunct Siberia Lounge, this Slavicinspired restaurant scored its own digs not long ago in May of 2019. Among dishes like pierogi, blini, and golubtsy (stuffed cabbage), The Green Room Kukhnya also offers both a vegetarian and beef borsch, which during

Avocado Ramp Vichyssoise

Green Garlic Vichysoisse

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would have to be its paellas, it would be a mistake to pass up the chilled gazpacho. As an added bonus, you can also try an Andalusian “white” gazpacho made with a base of crushed almonds as opposed to tomatoes. Both soups are offered for $9 a bowl, and it would be a mistake to forgo a 50¢ up-charge for a crusty pistolette served with Lola's “famous” garlic aioli spread. Among the new guard, Empanola is another restaurant that serves gazpacho during the hot, Crescent City summers. Brainchild of Patricio Garcia and Jimena Urrutia, Empanola started life in 2017 as an empanada vendor in the Marigny's St. Roch Market. These days, they have their own brick and mortar on the river side of Freret, between Broadway and Carrollton, with a new Magazine location coming soon. Known primarily for creative empanadas, we're talking Peruvian Chicken with pecans and olives, or ham with havarti, mozzarella, and cream cheese, the restaurant also offers a tasty, seasonal gazpacho when the temperatures begin to soar. Always made with fresh,

Gazpacho

Borsch the summer months is gladly offered chilled. Slow-cooked beets and vegetables (carrots, onions, cabbage, and potatoes) make up a chunky, hearty chilled soup topped with a dollop of sour cream and served with an onion roll. Also during these sticky summer months, the restaurant will offer okroshka, a cold cucumber dill soup made with kvass, a traditional Slavic fermented, nonalcoholic beverage made from rye bread. Less than $9 per bowl, you could easily add an excellent corned beef Rueben or grilled ham and cheese sandwich, and still stay within budget. Finally, we can't walk away without mentioning Chef/Owner Michael Gulotta's recently featured chilled soup at his South Market District restaurant Maypop. Offered as a special, the talented chef created an eye-popping dish of sea scallops served in a chilled blueberry and curry leaf consommé with Grand Isle sea beans, watermelon radish, and bronze fennel. All we need to do is just chill, and our local chefs will continue to wow us, whether their dishes be hot or cold.

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: MAYPOP; BOUCHERIE; EMAPNOLA; THEGREEN ROOM KUKHNY; COPPER VIVE

Scallops and chilled blueberry consommé

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RESTAURANT GUIDE Bayou Hot Wings is aptly named because its wings can get real hot! Order your wings with mild sauces like Teriyaki Glaze or test yourself with flavors like Korean BBQ. Enter the Bayou Beast Challenge, where you will have to eat 10 of the restaurant’s hottest wings in under five minutes. 6221 S. Claiborne Ave., 504-865-9464, bayouhotwings.com Bub’s NOLA is New Orleans’s go to spot for the most delicious smash burgers and French fries in the city. You can order the standard Bub Burger, or branch out and go for the Bub Royale, Peanut Bubber, or the Impossible Burger. All of Bub’s sandwiches come served on tasty brioche buns. 4413 Banks St., bubsnola.com

Legacy Kitchen Craft Tavern prides itself on its refined American cuisine. From breakfast classics like crawfish queso to pecan smoked chicken wings, you are guaranteed to find your next favorite meal on the menu. Enjoy daily brunches with items like fried chicken and waffles, as well as crawfish and egg beignets. 700 Tchoupitoulas St., 504-6132350, legacykitchen.com Legacy Kitchen Steak + Chop provides fine dining to its loyal customers on the Westbank. You can order different cuts of steak, appetizers like crawfish cornbread and chargrilled oysters, or build your own burgers. Don’t miss out on ordering the chicken and waffles with pepper jelly. 91 Westbank Expy #51, Gretna, 504-513-2606, legacykitchen.com

strip. The pan seared crab cakes, charred oysters, and the BBQ shrimp are also not to be missed. 8 Canal St., 504-533-6111, caesars.com Willa Jean is the definition of Southern comfort. Using fresh, local ingredients, the restaurant/ bakery is best known for its delicious biscuits, which you can get with fried chicken, sausage gravy, seasonal jam, and more. Toasts and sandwiches are also available, as are many different brews of coffee. 611 O’Keefe Ave., 504-509-7334, willajean.com

ASIAN

Green Tea is a family-owned Chinese restaurant offering diet conscious and great tasting cuisine. Choose a protein and pick from a selection of

Bud’s Broiler is a local chain of burger joints that have served charcoal-broiled burgers and shakes in New Orleans since 1952. The menu features a variety of hamburgers and cheeseburgers as well as hot dogs, chicken, and specialty poboys. A separate seafood menu features shrimp, catfish, and combo plates. Multiple Locations, budsbroiler.com Chicken & Watermelon serves over 80 flavors of chicken wings, as well as refreshing watermelon punch. Some of its best flavors include BBQ, Yakamein, Cajun Ranch, Teriyaki, Garlic Parmesan, and Lemon Pepper. There is also a separate menu for seafood, which includes the fish combo, fish bites, tuna sandwich, or tuna combo. Multiple Locations, boogiebird.com Crescent City Brewhouse is the French Quarter’s premier and best microbrewery. Try one of the brewhouse’s delicious in-house beers such as the Red Stallion, Black Forest, and Creole Alt. Make sure to also order one of the restaurant’s mouthwatering burgers or try the weekend oyster bars. 527 Decatur St., 504-522-0571, Manning’s Sports Bar & Grill is the place crescentcitybrewhouse.com to be for the next big game. With over 30 flat Daisy Dukes is a local restaurant serving seafood screen TVs, unique sports memorabilia, and over 20 different beers on tap, what better place and Cajun comfort food in a relaxed atmosphere. is there to watch football? Make sure to come Entrees include the Cajun spicy gumbo with hungry and order the fried oysters or the St. shrimp, hot sausage, rice, and a biscuit, as well Louis-style spare ribs. 519 Fulton St., 504as the blackened alligator platter with a cup 593-8118, caesars.com of gumbo, red beans, fried green tomatoes,

MISA is on a mission to bring chicness to the New Orleans restaurant scene. With a menu highlighting Gattuso’s Neighborhood Restaurant is located flavors from Italy, North Africa, the Middle East, India, and more, this restaurant is truly one-of-ain beautiful and historic Old Gretna. In addition kind. Choose small plates like Avocado Bruschetta, to a well-stocked bar and live music nights, Gattuso’s menu contains mouthwatering bar food. and main courses like the Moroccan Fish. 4734 Magazine St., 504-510-2791, misanola.com Order anything from po-boys and wraps to filet mignon and grilled salmon or tuna. 435 Huey P. New Orleans Vampire Cafe is worth risking your Long Ave., Gretna, 504-368-1114, neck for. Make sure to “stake” out the Dracula gattusos.net Burger, which is half brisket and ground beef topped Jimmy J’s Café is one of the funkiest cafes in New with arugula, blue cheese, chilli pepper sauce, and onion/bacon jam. Stop for breakfast bites like Orleans. Enjoy the restaurant’s all-day breakfast shrimp and grits, as well as Sunday brunches with items such as omelets, French toast, or eggs bottomless mimosas. 801 Royal St., 504-581benedict. Not in the mood for breakfast? Try one 0801, nolavampirecafe.com of these house specialties like the cochon de lait

po-boy, the blackened pork chop, or the homemade chicken noodle soup. 115 Chartres St., 504-309- Spudly’s Super Spuds has your baked potato needs covered. Serving its “meal in a baked potato” 9360, jimmyjscafe.com for over 40 years, they're professionals. You can get a traditional potato with cheese, sour cream, Lakeview Harbor, home of Lakeview’s chives, and bacon bits, or branch out and try the famous original burger, has an extensive menu, unique Pizza Spud, Fajita Spud, or their famous so you’re guaranteed to find a dish that you Super Duper Seafood Potato! 2609 Harvard Ave., will absolutely love. Choose from a wide variety of breakfast items, seafood dishes, appetizers, salads, 504-455-3250, spudlys.com po-boys, and wraps. Come hungry and leave full and satisfied. 8550 Pontchartrain Blvd., 504486-4887, lakeviewharbor.us

The Steakhouse at Harrah’s is the perfect place to unwind when you need a break from the slots on date night. Enjoy filet mignon, ribeye, or prime New York

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Peacock Room is a self-described luxurious yet lighthearted cocktail bar on Tchoupitoulas Street. This is the place to spend time with friends while enjoying refreshing Sazeracs and Sherry Cobblers. Make sure to grab some gumbo, oysters, or a burger while you’re there! 501 Tchoupitoulas St., 504-5711818, peacockroomnola.com Rendon Inn has been Uptown’s favorite neighborhood bar since 1933. Select from a variety of bourbon, rum, tequila, scotch, and craft cocktails like Old Fashioned, Sazerac, French 75, and Manhattan. Bite into some of Rendon Inn’s boudin, fried onion strings, and different sandwiches and po-boys. 4501 Eve St., 504218-7106, rendoninn.com Rivershack Tavern is located adjacent to the Mississippi River and is truly a sight to behold. From the tacky ashtrays to the funky bar stools, Rivershack oozes personality. Enjoy a multitude of different burgers, po-boys, and deli sandwiches, as well as appetizers like alligator sausage and garbage fries. 3449 River Rd., 504-834-4938, rivershacktavern.com

Spudly's Super Spuds

and a side of remoulade. Multiple Locations, daisydukesrestaurant.com

national beers on tap, but you can also order craft cocktails like the Chai Old Fashioned or the Jalapoloma. Sandwiches, burgers, and street tacos are also available. 5216 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, 504-766-1417, 5216tableandtap.com

styles like szechuan, hunan, or kung po. Then, choose rice or lo mein to go with your main dish, as well appetizers like egg rolls, crab rangoon, and egg drop soup. 3001 Napoleon Ave., 504-8998005, greenteanola.com Maypop brings the rich flavors of Southeast Asia to New Orleans. Established by Chef Michael Gulotta, the menu features Asian fusion dishes like crawfish etouffee curry and smoked duck ham with cashew butter sticky rice. You can also order craft cocktails like the Bangkok Mule or Sazerac Du Roi. 611 O’Keefe Ave., 504-5186345, maypoprestaurant.com Mikimoto has been providing Uptown NOLA with authentic Japanese food for over 20 years. If you’re a fan of sushi rolls, then Mikimoto has you covered with over 50 different kinds that you can choose from. Grab your chopsticks and dig into teriyaki, udon dishes, and an assortment of appetizers like gyoza and edamame. 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., 504-488-1881, mikimotosushi.com MoPho is an Asian fusion spot for Vietnamese dishes with a Creole influence. The pho is served in several options: the veggie bowl, beef broth, or fowl broth. A separate submenu has po-boys such as: fried shrimp po-boy with chisesi ham or sloppy roast duck po-boy with banana barbecue sauce. 514 City Park Ave., 504-482-6845, mophonola.com

BARS WITH GREAT FOOD

5216 Table & Tap is the perfect fun bar in Metairie. Not only does it have local and

Rum & the Lash, which is located inside Mick’s Irish Pub, offers a menu of bar food with Southern flavors. For appetizers, order either the fries, curry fries, or wings. For entrees, order either the burger, veggie burger, chicken sandwich, or R&L salad. You won’t leave disappointed! 4801 Bienville St., 504-482-9113, facebook.com/ RumandtheLash. Stumpy's Hatchet House is the go to place to hone your axe throwing skills. Stumpy’s is the perfect place to bring your friends or have your next bachelorette party. Located in the CBD next to Dave & Buster’s, enjoy cold drinks and bites such as hot dogs and nachos at Stumpy’s in-house dining area. 1200 Poydras St., 504577-2937, stumpyshh.com/neworleansla The Jimani has been one of New Orleans’s favorite sports bars for over 40 years. Order from a selection of over 100 different beers and enjoy watching UFC fights on 10 huge TV screens. A wide array of burgers, po-boys, sandwiches, wraps, pizzas, Chicago dogs, and more are available. 141 Chartres St., 504-5240493, thejimani.com Vitascope Hall, inside the Hyatt Regency Hotel, is a perfect gathering spot to enjoy drinks, snacks, and sports on one of many big-screen TVs. Vitascope Hall serves fresh Louisiana seafood and sushi, along with an array of options that include burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, soups, and salads. 601 Loyola Ave., 504-561-1234, neworleans.regency.hyatt.com

BBQ

We All Asked For You BBQ & Catering is owned by Lisa Tanet and has been catering to South Louisiana for over 30 years. Entrees include Southern favorites like etouffee, grits, mirliton, and gumbo. They can cater your next seafood boil! Catch live music at their sister spot The Kamp while enjoying their BBQ. 2321 Hickory Ave., Harahan, 504-800-4265, weallasked4u.com

KAYLA COMMOR

AMERICAN

ROYAL REDS live music check for schedule

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fish tacos W FRONT ST, COVINGTON, LA (985) 900-2441

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MARINA

Madisonville, LA

, LA

100 MARINA DEL RAY DR, MADISONVILLE, LA

(985) 206-5390

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drink

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WELCOME BACK, WE’VE MISSED YOU!

RESTAURANT GUIDE CAFE

Open Daily for Lunch & Dinner

Bearcat Café is a daytime café with a variety of comfort food, artisanal coffee, and teas. Have the crab croquette with crawfish, tasso, and green onion remoulade, the hot chicken sandwich with pimento, the BBQ pasta with shrimp, portobello, tomato, and corn, or the pork chops with bacon jam, sweet potato, and mushroom. Multiple Locations, bearcatcafe.com

Happy Hour M–F >> 4–6 pm

611 O’Keefe St. >> MayPopRestaurant.com >> 518-6345

Caffe Caffe is a café and coffeehouse that serves gourmet coffee, pastries, and a variety of breakfast and lunch food. Order the specialty breakfast platter of scrambled eggs, bacon, or sausage with grits, biscuits, and bacon. You can also get salads and soups, as well as sandwiches like grilled chicken and shrimp remoulade. Multiple Locations, caffecaffe.com

Josephine Estelle is a magnificent osteria run by award winning chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman. The restaurant specializes in Italian favorites such as veal, arancini, and many different types of pasta. Come in for brunch, lunch, dinner, or even Aperitivo “Happy” Hour and enjoy what this spot has to offer. 600 Carondelet St., 504930-3070, josephineestelle.com Mid City Pizza is the perfect place to grab a slice during the summer. A number of different types of pizza are available, such as Hawaiian, T-Bird Special, and the Mid City Meat Monster. Customize your pizza by adding your own toppings. Appetizers, salads, and build-your-own

Carmo is a gem that mixes international elements from Southeast Asia, West Africa, the Caribbean, and South America to create its one-of-a-kind dishes. Some of these include ceviche, trifongo, and a wide arrangement of seafood dishes as well. Make sure to also order one of the many tropical cocktails. 527 Julia St., 504-875-4132, cafecarmo.com

FRENCH

Cafe Degas is a NOLA gem and, since 1986, is the longest running French bistro in the city. Order exquisite dishes like broiled escargots, seared hanger steak, quiche, and a cheese and fruit plate. If you’re thirsty, Cafe Degas offers $5 mimosa and sparkling wine on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. 3127 Esplanade Ave., 504-945-5635, cafedegas.com

ITALIAN

The Crazy Italian Pizzeria has classic Italian fare that is crazy delicious. From fried ravioli and caprese salad to calzones and bolognese pasta, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to Naples. Save room for some mouthwatering desserts like cannolis, tiramisu, Italian almond cake, and now gelato! 206 W. Harrison Ave., 504-766-7914, thecrazyitalianpizzeria.com Elle-J’s pridefully brings Lakeview area quality Italian cuisine, seafood, and steaks with the help of its friendly staff. Some of the specialty Italian dishes include oysters signorelli, lasagna, and veal or chicken parmigiana, marsala, and picatta. You also can’t go wrong with the Fresh Fish Basilico or the Drum on the Halfshell. 900 Harrison Ave., 504-4592262, ellejslakeview.com

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The Vintage calzones are also available. Multiple Locations, midcitypizza.com Mosca’s Restaurant was the brainchild of Provino Mosca, who immigrated from Italy to America in 1913. This James Beard Award winning restaurant has been serving Westwego for over 60 years. All of Mosca’s dishes, from the pasta to the chicken and oysters, are served al la carte and familystyle. 4137 US-90 W., Westwego, 504-4368950, moscasrestaurant.com Nephew’s Ristorante continues NOLA’s tradition of providing delicious Italian and Sicilian cuisine to locals and tourists alike. Founded by Chef Frank Catalanotto, some of the traditional dishes on the menu include pasta bordelaise, veal parmigiana, and spiedini. Leave some room for a spumone and cappuccino! 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, 504-533-9998, nephewsristorante.com Pascal’s Manale has been in New Orleans for over 100 years! Not only is all of the food incredible, Pascal’s Manale is also the birthplace of the world-renowned New Orleans BBQ Shrimp. With Creole/Italian dishes like turtle soup and crab cakes, you’ll know exactly why Pascal’s Manale has thrived for so long. 1838 Napoleon Ave., 504895 4877, pascalsmanale.com

ANNABEL MORRISON/WHERE Y'AT

The Vintage is a great place to relax and socialize with loved ones. Order coffee and beignets and enjoy the time-honored tradition of people watching. You can order some parmesan truffle fries, alligator poppers, and a cheese board, as well a large drink menu with wine, cocktails, and more. 3121 Magazine St., 504-324-7144, thevintagenola.com

Red Gravy serves delicious East Coast-style Italian fare right on Magazine Street. Select from the bruschetta, coteletta bolognese, and mussels. Red Gravy offers different types of NYC bagels for brunch, all served with a side of seasoned greens, and delicious desserts like the Cannoli Skillet Cake and the Brulee French Toast. 4206 Magazine St., 504-561-8844, redgravycafe.com Tavolino Pizza & Lounge is a casual Italian restaurant located right on Algiers Point. Come for the 13-inch, thin crust pizzas and stay for the fried gorgonzola stuffed olives. Tavolino’s caprese salad with burrata cheese, as well as the chicken liver pate, shouldn’t be passed up on. 141 Delaronde St., Algiers, 504-605-3365, instagram.com/ tavolinonola Venezia is a family friendly establishment that has served classic Italian fare with a New Orleans flare since 1957. Some house specialties include spaghetti with Italian sausage and fresh fish almondine. The restaurant also has several types of pizza. At Venezia, there is something for everyone. 134 N. Carrollton Ave., 504-4887991, venezianeworleans.net

MEXICAN

Carreta’s Grill is a festive Mexican restaurant that serves jumbo margaritas. Order the “El Pepito” with carne asada or grilled chicken with rice, beans, and pico de gallo, or the “Los Rancheros” with two over easy eggs and a strip of carne asada, a corn tortilla, rice, beans, and pico de gallo. Multiple Locations, carretasgrillrestaurant.com

MIDDLE EASTERN

Lebanon’s Café is NOLA’s top spot for great tasting Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine. Run by chef and owner Hussain Sheereef, Lebanon’s has some of the best hummus and shawarma around. The menu is extensive with appetizers like falafel, tabouleh, and kibby to tasty entrees like lamb shank and gyro. 1500 S. Carrollton Ave., 504-862-6200, lebanonscafe.com Saj provides modern Middle Eastern food in the Big Easy. Saj’s food is served family style and includes wonderful selections like kufta, baba ganouj, and mashawi wood fire grilled lamb chops and gulf shrimp. The restaurant is BYOB, so bring over some drinks and have an excellent dinner at Saj with your family and friends! 4126 Magazine St., 504-766-0049, sajnola.com Tal’s Hummus serves tasty Israeli fare using only the freshest ingredients. The restaurant’s hummus is made in house and can come served with different options like mushrooms and beef kabob. The pita sandwiches are delicious and can come stuffed with chicken shawarma, falafel, schnitzel, or stewed lamb shank. 4800 Magazine St., 504267-7357, ordertalsonline.com

NEW ORLEANS CUISINE

Akasia’s Cafe, which is also home to Let Us Cater For You, is owned by Culinary Queens of New Orleans founder Akasia Lee. The cafe’s menu has delicious burgers such as the Ghetto Burger and the BS Night Life Burger, as well as chargrilled oysters. You can also get fried chicken, fish, ribs, and shrimp baskets. 5600 Westbank Expy., Marrero, 504-345-2563, letuscaterforyou.org Annunciation is the perfect place to relax and enjoy Cajun and Creole specialties after a long day at the office. Enjoy a craft cocktail like the Catherine the Great with one of many delicious

oyster dishes, such as Oysters Rockerfeller, fried oysters, Oysters en Brochette, and oyster and artichoke soup. 1016 Annunciation St., 504568-0245, annunciationrestaurant.com Bywater Brew Pub is a recent addition to the Bywater culinary scene, but it’s already making waves! This full-scale brewery and restaurant mixes Cajun, Vietnamese, and Gastropub flavors. Try the yaka mein, Phởritto, or the Bánh Mì Burger. Save room for the ube bread pudding ice cream sundae. 3000 Royal St. 504766-8118, bywaterbrewpub.com Cafe 615 (Home of Da Wabbit) has been a Gretna hit since 1948 with its iconic Bugs Bunny themed sign. In addition to the famous Da Wabbit Burger, the restaurant serves unique dishes like crabmeat stuffed fish and bacon wrapped pork medallions. Find weekly specials like rabbit and white beans. 615 Kepler St., Gretna, 504-3651225, cafe615.com Chef Ron’s Gumbo Shop has some of the best comfort food that you’ll find in Louisiana. Try the award-winning seafood gumbo, which contains crabmeat, crawfish, shrimp, tomato, and okra. Make sure to get the fried shrimp po-boy, boudin balls, fried green tomatoes, and the oyster platter. 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., 504-835-2022, gumbostop.com Evangeline is known for serving some of the finest cuisines in NOLA. Named after the famous poem about the Expulsion of the Acadians, Evangeline is sure to please with scratch-cooked Cajun/Creole goodies like crawfish etouffee, gumbo, and more. Have a local beer in the restaurant’s courtyard dining area. 329 Decatur St., 504-3734852, evangelineneworleans.com Mahony’s Po-Boys & Seafood is a great place to unwind with quality gulf seafood and NOLA classics. Try different types of po-boys like roast beef, hot sausage, fried oyster, French fries, and more. Make sure to grab the BBQ shrimp pasta, speckled trout on the half shell, or the blackened catfish. 3454 Magazine St., 504-899-3374, facebook.com/mahonyspoboys

EASY TO

MIX!

Mandina’s Restaurant serves large portions of Italian and homestyle Creole seafood dishes. Some entrees include fried shrimp with fries and grilled catfish with boiled potatoes and string beans. From the Italian Specials submenu, there are meatballs and spaghetti, veal parmesan and spaghetti, and chicken parmesan and spaghetti. 3800 Canal St., 504-482-9179, mandinasrestaurant.com Meril is Chef Emril Lagasse’s forth and newest restaurant in New Orleans. Showcasing some of Lagasse’s favorite dishes, you can pick from different types of flatbreads, pastas, or other entrees like the Korean beef short ribs. Make sure to save room for sorbet or the chocolate chip skillet cake. 424 Girod St., 504-5263745, emerilsrestaurants.com/meril Mother’s Restaurant originated in 1938 as a hangout for Marines and has since become a New Orleans favorite. Not only does Mother’s have the “world’s best baked ham,” the restaurant is also proudly known for its red beans and rice and bread pudding. Be careful, it might be better than your mother’s cooking. 401 Poydras St., 504-523-9656, mothersrestaurant.net MRB Bar & Kitchen is a great place to grab a bite while enjoying the French Quarter. MRB hosts live

At Slap Ya Mama, we have a soft spot for Southern favorites. Taking the smooth, rich spices of Slap Ya Mama seasoning and combining them with all-natural ingredients, we created a delightfully bold twist on the classic Bloody Mary cocktail — one that is sure to leave your mouth watering.

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RESTAURANT GUIDE music daily in their courtyard. Check out their signature cocktails, frozen drinks, wine, and over 100+ local and craft beers. Sip fantastic drinks while biting into sandwiches, appetizers, or MRB’s famous grits bowls. 515 St. Philip St., 504-524-2558, mrbnola.com New Orleans Creole Cookery is another successful restaurant launched by New Orleans’s famous Tusa culinary family. Expect many specialty Creole favorites sure to leave you satisfied. Order the Creole pasta, the pecan crusted redfish, or the chargrilled oysters for a true taste of New Orleans. 510 Toulouse St., 504-524-9632, neworleanscreolecookery.com

Orleans since 1957. The entrees include classic fried chicken, baked chicken, and the Willie Mae chicken sandwich. Keep an eye out for Willie Mae’s the next time you visit the Pythian Market. Multiple Locations, williemaesnola.com

SEAFOOD

Neyow’s Creole Café is an informal joint that specializes in Creole and Southern-inspired cuisine and cocktails. The restaurant serves a variety of entrees like fried chicken, pork chops, and shrimp creole. With even more pastas, seafood, and po-boys also available, the options at Neyow’s make it more than worth your visit. 3332 Bienville St., 504-827-5474, neyows.com Orleans Grapevine is quality local wine bar. Housed in an early 1800s two story building, enjoy sipping on a glass of wine while dining on small plates like baked brie, angus medallions, shrimp remoulade, or a finely assorted cheese board. Ahi tuna and filet steaks are also available as entrees. 720 Orleans Ave., 504-5231930, orleansgrapevine.com

Briquette is housed in the former Rodd Brothers Molasses Refinery, which dates from the 1800s. The restaurant is best known for its 18-foot-long seafood display. Choose from a multitude of seafood specialties like Caramelized Sea Scallops and Lump Crabmeat Napoleon to Halibut Fillet and Redfish on the Half Shell. 701 S. Peters St., 504-302-7496, briquette-nola.com Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar is the spot for expertly done oysters. Get them raw or chargrilled. Order the Buffalo Oysters, Oysters Rockafeller, Oysters du Jour, and Oysters Bienville. Make sure to get some other dishes like the turtle soup, the BBQ shrimp with potatoes, the fried soft shell crab platter, or the hamburger steak. Multiple Locations, felixs.com Seaworthy is all about providing New Orleans with quality seafood. Mussels, scallops, gulf shrimp, and oysters from the Gulf, East, and West Coasts are only some of the many different options available. Make sure to save room for a chocolate ricotta cheesecake or an apple hand pie for dessert. 630 Carondelet St., 504-930-3071, seaworthynola.com

Please U Restaurant has been pleasing Uptown since 1946. They specialize in traditional New Orleans plates like gumbo, seafood platters, and red beans and rice. Please U is also well known for its all-day breakfast menu, which includes French toast, Belgian waffles, and a variety of omelets. 1751 St. Charles Ave., 504-525-9131, pleaseunola.com Short Stop Poboys has been providing po-boys to Metairites since 1966. If you’re craving po-boys, then Short Stop has you covered with over 30 different kinds. Order a multitude of sides like gumbo, jambalaya, sweet potato fries, and a variety of flavored potato chips. 119 Transcontinental Dr., Metairie 504-885-4572, shortstoppoboysno.com

Spahr’s Seafood, where catfish is king, is known for its Cajun and Creole Italian dishes. Choose from Spahr’s certified Louisiana wild seafood options like catfish chips, softshell crabs, and the shrimp platter. With several locations, you’re bound to get truly great flavors from Spahr’s Cajun comfort food. Multiple Locations, spahrsseafood.com

Seaworthy

Trenasse is the passion project of owner and chef Jim Richard, who’s originally from Lafayette. Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, Trenasse will impress you with its menu selections like Louisiana crawfish pie, fried brie burger, and duck confit lettuce wraps. The restaurant also has oysters “all days, all ways.” 444 St. Charles Ave., 504-680-7000, trenasse.com

The Galley Seafood is Metairie’s one stop shop for quality seafood. The restaurant’s soft-shell crab po-boy and the catfish filet po-boy have been served at Jazz Fest since 1977. Catch a live concert via DVD from their collection while enjoying great boiled seafood. 2535 Metairie Rd., Metairie 504-832-0955, thegalleyseafood.net

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Willie Mae’s Scotch House is a famous family-owned spot that has served soul food in New

Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco is the perfect place for something unique and flavorful. Specializing in Peruvian cuisine, start with any of Tito’s fresh ceviches, but the culinary adventure continues. With appetizers like grilled octopus and entrees like Lomo Saltado, it will transport you to Peru. 5015 Magazine St., 504-267-7612, titoscevichepisco.com

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Alto (Ace Hotel) 600 Carondelet St. 504-900-1180

Enjoy an amazing view of the city of New Orleans when you visit this rooftop garden, pool, and bar. You can snack on small plates with seasonal cocktails all day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Banks Street Bar 4401 Banks St. 504-486-0258

Live music, art, and refreshing drinks attract many to this Mid-City bar and grill. Their food menu features some New Orleans classics, including gumbo, red beans, and po-boys.

Bar Marilou 544 Carondelet St. 504-814-7711

Previously a library, Bar Marilou has a fun ambiance with specialty cocktails and small plates. The bar is also the perfect place to catch some live music or performances.

Bar Tonique 820 N. Rampart St. 504-324-6045

Bar Tonique offers $5 daily drink specials that highlight a popular hand-crafted cocktail. These drinks include a Pimm’s Cup, Moscow Mule, and Mai Tai.

The Basin Lakeview 152 W. Harrison Ave. 504-482-6066

This charming neighborhood bar is one of Lakeview’s favorites. Relax and enjoy its low-key atmosphere, as well as its Monday to Friday happy hour.

The Bulldog Various Locations 504-891-1516

With two locations in the New Orleans area, The Bulldog is a great place to try nearly 50 beers on-tap whether you’re Uptown or in Mid-City.

Golden Lantern 1239 Royal St. 504-529-2860 Jazz Daiquiris 3400 S. Claiborne Ave., # A 504-899-8761

This inclusive bar is known for its fun atmosphere, drag shows, live music, and daily drink specials. No matter how busy your schedule is, you will have time to enjoy their happy hour deals from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jazz Daiquiris and Lounge has delicious specialty daiquiri flavors, including chicken and watermelon, fruit loop, and cotton candy. You can also enjoy their sports-themed daiquiris, some of which honor the LSU Tigers and Tulane Green Wave.

Jimani 141 Chartres St. 504-524-0493

Catch any sports game you desire at Jimani with over 100 beers, an expansive food menu, and 10 flat-screen televisions.

Lots A Luck Tavern 203 Homedale St. 504-483-0978

This casual Lakeview bar has all you could ask for. Their outdoor patio space is great for you to bring a pet, utilize their mini-golf course, and enjoy a few beers!

Manning’s 519 Fulton St. 504-593-8118

Located in the Warehouse District, this sports bar and grill provides patrons with a casual dining and drinking experience that is steps away from Harrah’s Casino.

Martine’s Lounge 2347 Metairie Rd. 504-831-8637

Indulge in pizza and snacks when visiting Martine’s Lounge. The cocktail bar offers happy hour daily from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Mercantile 727 S. Peters St. 504-558-1914

Home of the Cotton Candy Cocktail, The Mercantile Hotel has a craft cocktail bar for all guests and local New Orleanians to enjoy.

MRB 515 St. Philip St. 504-524-2558

MRB offers a casual atmosphere with games, live music, and art. You also can’t pass up their happy hour deals, which are held from 11 a.m. to midnight.

Pal’s Lounge 949 N. Rendon St. 504-488-7257

Rivershack Tavern 3449 River Rd. 504-834-4938

In addition to having delicious cocktails, Pal’s Lounge frequently hosts a variety of food trucks. You can grab a drink at the indoor bar before seeing which food truck is cooking up grub that day. Within walking distance of City Park, Parley’s has been a local favorite drinking hole for over 25 years. The local spot also boasts one of the longest bars in Orleans Parish at 60 feet in length. Inside the Sheraton Hotel, The Pelican Bar offers some delicious craft cocktails. The popular bar is just a few blocks from Jackson Square and is perfect for enjoying a drink during lunch or dinner. This neighborhood bar provides craft beer, cocktails, and Cajun cuisine for patrons to enjoy. Their daily specials, including Tequila & Tacos Tuesday, Welfare Wednesday, and Trivia Thursday, keep customers excited to return. Order some food from the kitchen while bartenders make you any drink you can think of at Rivershack Tavern. Besides regular cocktails, you can also try their specialty Riveritas, such as the Razzirita or Poncharita.

Royal Frenchmen Hotel 700 Frenchmen St., #1614 504-619-9660

This award-winning bar, inside the Royal Frenchmen Hotel, is a popular destination for martinis. To try out their signature drink, the bar offers a daily $5 Martini Happy Hour from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Shenanigan’s 4612 Quincy St. 504-605-3299

Found in the heart of Metairie, Shenanigan’s has a full-service kitchen and bar. This is the perfect place to engage in shenanigans of your own by playing pool and throwing darts.

Stumpy’s Hatchet House 1200 Poydras St., Suite C 504-577-2937

Axe throwing at Stumpy’s Hatchet House will make any night more exciting! All groups can reserve their own private throwing pit, which makes this a great spot for parties and events. While walking along Bourbon Street, stop by one of the five Tropical Isle locations to order a famous Hand Grenade. Take your drink to-go or enjoy the live entertainment that is offered daily. Located inside the Hyatt Regency, Vitascope Hall is a bar that offers premium seafood and sushi. Besides the food, you can also have a drink while watching one of their 40+ television screens.

Parlay’s 870 Harrison Ave. 504-304-6338 The Pelican Bar (Sheraton) 500 Canal St. 504-525-2500 Rendon Inn 4501 Eve St. 504-218-7106

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TALES FROM THE QUARTER By Debbie Lindsey

uring a recent writers’ meeting for this magazine, it was suggested, and wholeheartedly agreed upon, that we should write with a “moving forward and leaving the pandemic behind us” stance. We often hear the phrase about when COVID is in our rearview mirror and I totally get that. But as with all experiences, we are shaped and moved by them. I for one gained much that I wish to hold on to while moving happily along unencumbered by masks and fear. During the past year and a half, I was introduced to volunteer work. Oh I was no stranger to working, marching, petitioning various “causes,” but simply signing up to give time to a group of folks packing and handing out food to those in need was new to me. I have been torn between my desire to altruistically perform volunteer work without recompense or recognition and my pleasure in feeling better about myself and proud. Mother Theresa, I am not; but I credit my folks for giving me a fairly reliable moral compass that I use to balance my selfish leanings. But there was no way not to have a great time during these volunteer gigs—I met so many good people and am delighted to have snagged some excellent new friends from this pool of humanity. I might have been part of something important, but all I know for certain is that I had a ball. Now here is the rub—is it okay to have this much fun during trying times? And my answer, after much deliberation, is heck yeah! If enjoyment gave me sanity during these obscene times, then I will light a candle to the saints for allowing me to participate. So whether I am answering a call from my better angels or heeding the roar of my inner social animal, I am hooked. And as long as the current organizations I have lent a hand to have room for me to show up, I will. Even if the needs of the community they address reach fulfillment, I will look for other volunteer venues. One often leads to another. My new friend Donna, aka Volunteer Donna (as I list her in my cell phone), is a motivating force of goodwill and damn fun to be with. We met with Culture Aid and, from there, she enlisted me to work with her a couple of mornings a week at a check-in/dropoff spot

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for chefs and restaurant owners to bring food for the hungry. It was a win/win for our restaurant industry as they were able to make money and help feed our foodinsecure community. AND I got lots of great conversations, camaraderie, gossip, and… another new friend, Danny (a powerhouse of positivity, wry humor, and a kick-ass playlist of tunes), who oversees our intake of food deliveries. All the while I just sat on my lard-ass and jotted down weights and temps of food! Wanna volunteer? Sometimes you don’t even break a sweat. My dad was really big on volunteering, especially after he retired (retirement is such a subjective term—he was far from sittin’ in a rocking chair). And I know he felt it was the right thing to do, but now I know he had a blast doing it. I suspect he would agree that service to others can be, should be, self-serving also. And with this incentive of finding fulfillment, new friends, new skills, and the pleasure of passin’ a good time, a volunteer tends to stay committed, rain or shine. And they show up ready to work! The folks I volunteer with are such a blast that I look forward to these days with such enthusiasm that getting up at the crack of dawn is worth it! Enough of me and my experiences— time for me to share some volunteer links and suggestions. There is something for everyone. Think of what you are passionate about and then find an outlet for that drive. There are many causes out there to pledge time to, many needs within our community to assist. Do you love movies, music, parks, animals, the arts? How about Jazz Fest (jazzandheritage.org/get-involved)? Are you a film buff (neworleansfilmsociety.org/ jobs/)? If community supported radio is your groove, then lend a hand to WWOZ (wwoz.org/wwoz-volunteers), or, if you are a PBS freak like me, then reach out to our local WYES via this email to volunteer (mschroder@wyes.org). My personal favorite pick for assistance to cats is trapdatcat.org/volunteer. Food insecurity is a chronic issue and there are numerous organizations to lend a hand to: Culture Aid NOLA (Erica is at the helm and has given me a rewarding year and half of feel-good opportunities in volunteerism) and, of course, the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic does it all for our culture bearers. I could go on and on with suggestions but I shall turn it over to my sidekick Mr. Google to help you navigate the many worthy organizations and groups out there in need of your time. And remember: we can save the world and have a good time doing it!

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PO-BOY VIEWS By Phil LaMancusa

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his is my inside voice on the yoga mat, “Om Mane Padme hum (praise to the jewel in the lotus).” This is my outside voice driving the streets of New Orleans, “Nice turn signal, F**k Face!!” You/I can only be courteous driving here for just so long, and I’ve been driving here for so many decades, I’m jaded up to my gills. I’m able to tell you that, not only do we have bad drivers here, but that I am one of them; oh, I’ve never succumbed to a road rage exhibition, I tend to keep my anguish inside and wisely stay at a silent wonder as to how we, with God’s blessing, are allowed to operate 10,000 pounds of twisted steel that have the ability to go fast and do damage. Now that I’m in my stately and mature years, I observe how inane, consciously or unconsciously, the driving public (including myself) actually is; basically, it’s as if once we got our licenses to operate moving vehicles, we developed amnesia pertaining to rules, regulations, manners, or instructions that allowed to get behind the wheel in the first place. I’ve had my share of cause-and-effect traffic mishaps; I’ve never hurt anyone or gotten a DWI, but I have managed to put bumps, bruises, and sometimes major damage to the vehicle I’ve been at the wheel of. If I drink and drive nowadays, a single beer is my limit, if that. I adore the open road but not freeways or interstate highways. I harken back to the days when I could fix my own car; when the windows operated with a crank handle, when we had side vents for air flow, nothing was electronic, gas was cheap, and families had only one car. It felt safer. Now it’s almost cartoonish. That Yosemite Sam that cuts you off from the left lane to make a right turn; Elmer Fudd at the stoplight that decides that it’s taking too damn long and they’re gonna go for it; Bugs Bunny on a bike that’s not stopping for anything; Daffy Duck deciding that you’re going too slow so they’re gonna pass you from the bike lane that some Pepe le Pew is using it as a motor scooter lane, while Foghorn Leghorn is deciding to amble across your path as you see another road signer asking for spare change (God Bless/Anything Helps), and you look up and witness a sign that reads “End School Zone” and you know for all the Looney Tunes around you that there’s gonna be a $75 ticket arriving in your mailbox this week.

It’s true I have an old car, a big old car; an old big heavy iron car that other drivers should give as much respect to as if they could see a bumper sticker on it proclaiming: “my insurance covers nothing, and it’s your car that will get damaged, not mine,” but they don’t; a YIELD sign means nothing, they’re going through it; a No Left Turn sign, no problem, they take it anyway; a yellow light means “speed up and try to make it before the light turns.” They speed up, crossing my path, and go through the red light anyway. Sheesh. Debbie always acts as my copilot when we drive and alerts me to dangers that I may miss; there are plenty, and she is aware of my driving shortcomings. She knows that if I turn my head to the right to look off road, the car will start to veer to the right (same goes if I glance to my left). She sees the bicyclist that’s coming from my right when I’m turning left into one way traffic. She reminds me to fasten my seat belt. We stop when the light is yellow for more than 10 seconds. The other crazy drivers get angry at me. So what? It’s our asses that I’m saving. Advice: it’s important that you have a good mechanic for your car, as well as knowing where the salvage yard is that has spare parts for your vehicle. It’s important to have a “tire guy” that knows you and what your needs may be. Renew your AAA religiously. It’s also important to be up on your registration, insurance, brake tag, and driver’s license just in case. In case what? In case Wile E. Coyote decides to blaze through the stop sign, T-bone you, and say that you’re in the wrong. My car, The Duchess, in town drinks gas likes a fish. I’d love to go electric, but my finances are so tight that if money were dynamite, I couldn’t blow my nose; as it is, I have to save some dough every year to get my shock absorbers changed from the damage stemming from the conditions of New Orleans streets; The Duchess has a propensity for finding all hidden potholes. I keep The Duchess gassed, tuned, and ready to roll in the case of evacuation or escape, even though there’s always a chance that she won’t fire up when the key is turned; you see, with any vehicle, I’ve found that you’re really at their mercy, as well as being at the mercy of other drivers. To stay safe on our streets nowadays, the best advice is to be paranoid: they ARE out to get you.

TIME WARNER/THE LOONEY TUNES SHOW, "DMV"

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Latest Issue: Saints Preview—August 2021

Articles inside

Restaurant Guide

Tales From the Quarter

Po-Boy Views

Bar Guide

Saints Preview: A New Era