Gambit Digital Edition: October 27, 2025 by Gambit New Orleans

® October 27-November 2 2025 Volume 46 Number 43

SPOT

CHARITY CHIRP

IN MY MI ND

AB ENE FIT BRIN GI NG AWA RENE SS TO PS YC HO SI S

FRIDAY,N OV EM BER 7 th

FE ATURING AN INTIMATE PERFORMANCEFROM:

TI CK ET INC LU DES:

Open bar andfood from Chef ShannonBingham of Junebug •Story telling through creative expression from thosewithlived experience of psychosis•Art Exhibit• Raisethe Paddle opportunities•Immersivepsychosis experience CALM/COLDcollaborativesweatshir t

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Horror scene

Screamfest NOLA brings horror ficks to The Broad Theater

IN THE SHORT FILM “RED TOPS,” A COUPLE IS GETTING FRIENDLY in Audubon Park while their radio broadcasts WBYU 96 FM. Though the DJ promises to play the hits, he has a strange sign-off line: “Dance like there’s no tomorrow,” he says. “Death is just around the corner.”

“Red Tops” is a locally shot short horror film screening in Screamfest NOLA. The annual horror movie showcase turns up the frights for Halloween weekend with feature and short films at The Broad Theater on Oct. 30 to Nov. 2.

“Red Tops” starts slowly, with people slowly leaving the park as night falls, except a homeless man who tries to find a secluded spot to sleep for the night. But he’s not alone in the park.

The slasher film has a slight throwback setting. As the city is horrified by a murder in the park, a crass and unscrupulous newspaper editor cares only about headlines and selling copies. He’s happy to have a young photographer looking for more crime scenes.

Tristan Chandra shot the 16 mm film, and he likes to combine dubious characters and traditional genre settings.

Also delving into a familiar local environment is Hayden Legg’s “Shotgun.” In the short psychological thriller, Gemma moves into one half of a shotgun double. She’s recently widowed and in a nervous state.

Everything about the new space is strange. She finds what looks like a bloody fingernail, and she hears noises from the other side of the shotgun. She knocks, but no one answers the door. Then, in the middle of the night, someone knocks on her door.

Screamfest screens 10 feature films, with entries from Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand, as well as more than 30 short films, most of them sorted into five showcases. They hit a range of horror niches, from psychological thrillers to supernatural and body horrors, gore fests and more. It may not come as a surprise that Spider One, aka Michael David Cummings, is a musician and filmmaker, like his older brother, Rob Zombie. Spider One fronted the metal group Powerman 5000, and in 2022 he started writing and directing horror films. The last couple have been produced by Cher and her son, Chaz Bono, who has acted in some horror projects.

by Will Coviello |

Lil Weezyana Fest

Lil Wayne returns to his hometown for the 10th anniversary of his Lil Weezyana Fest. Wayne earlier this year released “Tha Carter VI,” so audiences can expect to hear new music from the album along with Tunechi’s hits and deep cuts. BigXthaPlug and other guests also perform. Weezyana Fest starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Smoothie King Center. Tickets are $76.30 via smoothiekingcenter.com.

Spider One’s latest film is “Big Baby,” a meta horror film about a screenwriter. In the story, Adam struggles to finish a horror story about a serial killer who wears a mask that looks like an infant’s face. As he digs deeper into that story, the difference between his envisioned violence and real life blurs.

“Shed” is a much more strippeddown horror thriller, created in the spare manner of “The Blair Witch Project,” but echoing the scheme of “Home Alone.”

Director Steven J. Mihaljevich filmed the survival horror film in western Australia. There, an isolated family is attacked in their home by a stranger. He kills the parents and their son, but he is unaware that the boy had earlier locked his 10-year-old sister in a shed.

The girl has no idea what’s become of her family, and at first she just tries to escape and survive her confinement. When she hears a vehicle in the driveway, she hopes it’s someone who can rescue her.

In Mexican director Emilio Portes’s “Don’t Leave the Kids Alone,” Catalina decides to let her two sons take care of themselves after she can’t find a babysitter for the night. Their sibling rivalry and curiosity about their new home ratchet up the tensions in the haunted house story.

In 2015, the New Zealand horror comedy “Deathgasm” built its own

following with a gratuitously bloody spoof of gore films. In the film, Brodie and Zakk form the metal band Deathgasm and find an ancient piece of sheet music used to summon demons. In “Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon,” the band tries to get back together, which also takes some conjuring, in order to compete in a battle of the bands.

The opening scenes of “Hate Thyself” feature pans of dark swamps and alligators emerging from muddy waters. But the film involves a more vicious killer. The Louisiana-shot feature follows detective Angelo Matteo as he tracks serial killers and investigates other gruesome crimes. He’s also got his own problems, including shaken faith, a deteriorating marriage and struggles with drinking. As he focuses on a suspect picking up victims at bus stops, he starts to see larger patterns.

The fest also screens some horror classics. There’s a 40th anniversary screening of the 4K restoration of “Re-Animator” and the low-budget 1982 cult favorite “Basket Case.” The lineup also includes the horror comedy “Frankenhooker.”

Screamfest is a 25-year-old event started in Los Angeles. The fest screened a slate of horror films there in September, and many of those films are part of the New Orleans version of the fest.

For more information, visit screamfestla.com/nola/events. Tickets $13.65 and up via eventbrite.com.

Paul McCartney

The Beatles, Wings, “RAM,” the theme song to the best New Orleansshot James Bond film — does Paul McCartney really need much explanation? The acclaimed musician has been part of pop culture DNA for more than 60 years. McCartney has been on his Got Back tour since 2022, playing career-spanning sets that reportedly run nearly two-and-a-half hours. Following a cameo in “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” filmed in New Orleans, McCartney returns for a show at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Smoothie King Center. Tickets via smoothiekingcenter.com.

Dia de los Muertos

The Krewe of Mayahuel leads an observation of the Day of the Dead. There is music, dancing, makeup artists, a bar and food and craft vendors in Markey Park starting at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2. At 7 p.m. a procession to St. Roch Cemetery departs. Find information at Instagram: @mayahuel.nola.

Moe.

Moe. became popular during the jam band craze and early this year released “Circle of Giants” to mark its 35th anniversary. The album also serves as a sort of introduction to

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

‘Pitfall’ screens in Screamfest NOLA. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SCREAMFEST

OPENING GAMBIT

THUMBS UP/ THUMBS DOWN

The Humana Foundation has given a $200,000 grant to the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic and Assistance Foundation (NOMC) to support its new music therapy program called Music-as-Medicine. The grant is part of $12 million recently distributed by the Humana Foundation to support programs and organizations working in senior mental health care, and NOMC will use the funding to bring together elder musicians to perform for area seniors.

Louisiana has turned over sensitive personal information of people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to the Trump administration, National Public Radio reported. NPR found that at least 27 states, all led by Republican governors, have complied with a demand for information like names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers and benefit amounts. The USDA said the data was needed to identify and eliminate waste and abuse. But officials in Democratic-led states, which have sued to bar the order, say the demand is illegal and part of Trump’s mass surveillance agenda.

Tens of thousands of people in metro New Orleans to lose SNAP benefts under shutdown

THE NEARLY MONTH LONG GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WILL HALT food SNAP benefits to tens of thousands of people in the New Orleans area beginning Nov. 1, including nearly one quarter of all St. Bernard Parish residents and15 percent of Jefferson Parish residents, which make up much of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s district.

Gov. Jeff Landry announced the looming loss of benefits Oct. 22.

each month. According to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, 21 percent New Orleans residents and 11.5 percent of St. Tammany Parish residents also receive benefits which will be cut off.

All told, more than 17 percent of Louisiana residents receive SNAP benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

87.5

THE NUMBER OF DOLLARS, IN MILLIONS, OWED TO THE CITY BY THE SEWERAGE & WATER BOARD.

An emergency New Orleans City Council meeting Oct. 22 revealed more insight into vast financial mismanagement, including uncollected debts, runaway overtime expenses, and worsening conditions thanks to the government shutdown, which has delayed a FEMA funding extension the city requested in August. Officials say the city will have to take out the equivalent of a payday loan to pay employees and vendors through the end of the year.

C’EST WHAT ?

is this year’s scariest Halloween costume?

The Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy did not consider how a Commonwealth liquified natural gas facility would impact the environment and communities in southwest Louisiana when issuing a permit, a Cameron Parish judge ruled. The ruling has halted construction of the facility, which is one of six proposed projects along the Cameron coast.

The federal government shutdown Oct. 1 after Republicans led by President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Louisiana’s own House Speaker Mike Johnson and Scalise failed to come to an agreement on spending measures to fund it.

With no agreement in sight, the government is expected to remain closed, mostly, through the beginning of November, when SNAP benefits are sent out.

Also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP provides assistance to low-income people to buy food

In the American form of governance, the legislative branch’s most basic function is providing funding for government agencies. For most of the nation’s history, government shutdowns were unheard of.

However, since the Reagan administration, shutdowns have become increasingly common. Of the 11 total shutdowns of the federal government, all but three occurred during a Republican presidency. In most instances, Republicans controlled one or both chambers of Congress, and in five instances the GOP controlled both chambers for all or most of the shutdowns.

11.4%

From right to left: Former U.S. Rep. and current Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in 2019.

PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

A 16-day shutdown during former President Barack Obama’s term came as a result of Tea Party opposition to the Affordable Care Act, while 21-day shutdown during former President Bill Clinton’s term came as a result of efforts to significantly cut federal spending. Trump holds the current record for longest government shutdown at 35 days.The current shutdown has already had significant impacts in Louisiana. The National Flood Insurance Program has been shuttered, meaning homeowners can’t buy new policies, extent existing ones or increase their coverage.

Thousands of Louisianans who are employed by the government have either been sent home without pay or furloughed, though some – most notably TSA agents at airports – are being forced to work without pay. The shutdown has put an additional strain on the state’s already stretched thin network of foodbanks.

The loss of SNAP benefits Nov. 1 will almost certainly mean a spike in demand at foodbanks.

While the administration and congressional Republicans seem content to let anti-hunger programs to lapse until a broader funding deal is reached, Trump appears set to push ahead with his planned military occupation of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Legally the administration can’t deploy new national guard troops without pay.

But Trump has indicated he will do so anyway, and his regime has hinted they may simply pay the troops targeting Chicago, the District of Columbia and Portland, Oregon regardless of the legal restrictions.

— John Stanton

Financial mismanagement, outstanding debts put New Orleans on brink of fiscal “apocalypse”

NEW ORLEANS IS FACING A BUDGET

“APOCALYPSE” and will likely have to take out the government equivalent of a payday loan to pay employees

and vendors through the end of the year, city officials said during an emergency city council meeting Oct. 22.

According to officials from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration, part of the city’s financial woes is a result of the government shutdown, which has delayed a key FEMA funding extension the city asked for in August.

But much of the problem rests within the administration itself, including tens of millions of runaway overtime expenses and hundreds of millions of uncollected debts owed to the city, most notably more than $87 million from the Sewerage & Water Board.

In addition to being mayor, Cantrell is also the titular head of S&WB.

Officials had already established last week that the city was on track to spend $160 million more than it took in. But Chief Administrative Officer Joe Threat informed Council Vice President and Mayor-elect Helena Moreno and Budget Chair Joe Giarrusso on Oct. 21 that the city

might not be able to make payroll through the end of the year because of cash flow issues.

Part of the cash flow problem is the city was relying on the federal government to extend through 2028 a Hurricane Katrina grant set to expire at the end of the year. The city is still waiting for FEMA to sign off on that extension, amid a government shutdown. If they don’t, the city will have to fund construction and program management costs itself, though Threat said he’s optimistic the feds eventually will.

Moreno said the administration did not adequately warn the council about the extension.

“I can tell you the council was not aware that the extension was a determining factor about whether we’d be able to make payroll through the end of the year,” she said.

“I didn’t feel a need to come to council because I thought that was going to get approved,” Threat replied.

You’re free to live your life outloud! Becauseyou’ve gotthe compassion of the cross, the securityofthe shield, and the comfortofBluebehind you.

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™

@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake, I remember watching a guy named Tom Foote do segments for kids on local TV in the 1980s. What channel was I watching, and what do you remember about him and his show?

Dear reader,

TOM FOOTE WAS A MIME, JUGGLER, CLOWN AND ENTERTAINER WHO MADE PERSONAL APPEARANCES around town and appeared on WGNO-TV in the 1980s, when Channel 26 was an independent station without a network affiliation.

A native of Michigan, Foote came to New Orleans to work in the French Quarter as a street performer, as he also had done throughout Europe. In a Facebook post earlier this year, Foote explained that he was spotted in New Orleans by a WGNO producer as he performed at the 1981 Jazz Fest.

The next year, the station hired Foote to appear in spots aired during cartoon shows on weekday afternoons. “His Ch. 26 bits are 30-60 seconds in length and run the gamut from agreeable silliness to artful and amusing,” wrote David Cuthbert in a March 1982 Times-Picayune article. “Foote is an ingenuous, playful sort. He’s childlike without being childish and he is accomplished at what he does.

BLAKE VIEW

Later, Foote did several half-hour children’s specials for WGNO.

He made personal appearances, including one at Audubon Zoo early in his run at WGNO that The TimesPicayune reported drew some 10,000 people. “That was the day I felt like the Beatles,” Foote said. “They had to escort me out of there and the kids virtually chased after us!”

He also appeared at community events, schools, summer camps and even children’s birthday parties and worked as director of the New Orleans Theater for Young People.

According to a Times-Picayune article, Foote left New Orleans to return to Michigan in 1987. “It’s a combination of the economy being flat and me wanting to go back home,” he said.

THIS WEEK WE REMEMBER TOMMY RIDGLEY, A SINGER, PIANIST, SONGWRITER AND BANDLEADER from the golden age of New Orleans rhythm and blues, born Oct. 30, 1925 — 100 years ago this week.

Born in the Shrewsbury section of Jefferson Parish, the first song Ridgley recorded was “Shrewsbury Blues.” On that 1949 recording for Imperial Records, he was backed by legendary bandleader and producer Dave Bartholomew and his band. Ridgley formed his band The Untouchables in 1957, becoming the house band at the legendary Dew Drop Inn. They would back some of the music icons who performed there, including Little Richard, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and James Brown. Ridgley played a key role in the career of another music icon, Irma Thomas. Ridgley noticed Thomas while she was a waitress at New Orleans’ Pimlico Club. Thomas offered to sing with Ridgley and his band against the wishes of her boss, who fired her for singing instead of waiting on tables.

Ridgley arranged a recording contract for Thomas with the local Ron Records label. Her debut single, “You Can Have My Husband, But Please Don’t Mess With My Man,” hit No. 22 on the Billboard R&B charts in May 1960.

“He was responsible for my being in the business,” Thomas told The TimesPicayune. “He took me to my audition, and I was accepted by Ron Records, and the rest is history.”

According to his 1999 Times-Picayune obituary, Ridgley made more than 70 recordings, although he never had a national hit. He was a fixture in the city’s nightclubs and at private functions and performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival from 1972 through the rest of his life.

Tom Foote performing at Hoffman Elementary School in 1982. THE TIMES- PICAYUNE FILE PHOTO

tanasnola

The broader problem is that the Cantrell administration has allowed overtime spending to run amok. The 2025 budget only included $45,000 in overtime costs. Estimates indicate that number will be closer to $50 million.

Meanwhile, the city has yet to recoup tens of millions it is owed, from federal money and $87.5 million from S&WB to $135 million in outstanding traffic tickets. Council President JP Morrell said the council was planning to send a demand letter from the city to S&WB.

Director of Finance Romy Samuel said those issues combined with lower than expected revenue, including from major events like the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift concerts last year, resulted in the “perfect storm” for a financial crisis.

Threat said the overtime situation was “confusing” because the city should have budgeted better for it and the administration shouldn’t have continued to allow employees to work overtime when they didn’t have the money for it. He promised to end that

practice and continue regular cash management meetings.

“Next few months, on my watch, if you overspend overtime, I’m gonna cut your budget somewhere else,” he said. It’s not clear how much money is actually owed to the city. Council

Member Lesli Harris asked for a full list

of any judgments owed to the city that are more than $500,000.

Threat said that he created a 30-day task force to work with city departments to speed up collection of fees.

Council Member Oliver Thomas said he hoped that the city wouldn’t punish residents with overzealous

enforcement in its pursuit of revenue, such as issuing more parking tickets or other citations.

“Let’s not start raiding communities and shutting people down just because we’re desperate for money,” he said.

New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said her officers have increased traffic enforcement in general, but that she would not have ticket quotas for officers or tell them to write more tickets because the city is having money problems.

“It is actually illegal to direct officers to write tickers for generation of income,” she said. “That’s taxation without representation, and it is not going to happen under Anne Kirkpatrick.” — Kaylee Poche

Joe Threat answers questions about the city’s financial issues during an emergency city council meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

TAKING THE

CostumES OUT OF

The

Free Little Costume Shoppe helps kids get outfitted for Halloween without a price tag

BY SARAH RAVITS

WHILE SORTING THROUGH her son Hardee’s closet last fall, Algiers resident Allie Abel was struck by how quickly he had outgrown his old Halloween costumes. It got her thinking about how buying a new costume each year is a luxury a lot of families in New Orleans can’t aford.

Within just a few weeks, she and Hardee launched the Free Little Costume Shoppe, a pop-up event where they give away gently used, cleaned and repackaged kids’ Halloween getups, donated by families and children who have outgrown them.

She hosted the most recent giveaway at Old Road Cofee Oct. 25 and will soon be collecting costumes again for 2026. She accepts a full range of sizes, so everyone from infants to teenagers can have a chance to dress up, and she also welcomes fnancial contributions for other supplies like candy and tote bags.

She kicked of the initiative just a few weeks before Halloween 2024, crowdsourcing for kids’ costumes in neighborhood groups and on social media. She ended up collecting about 30 costumes and hosted a couple of small giveaways in Algiers Point.

It was a “very small launch,” she says. But it still made an impact.

One little boy had been waiting in line hoping for a Spider-Man costume.

Luckily, Abel had one in just the right size.

“I was like, ‘I got you!’ ” she says, remembering how his face lit up. “It ft him like a glove, and he just was so excited.”

That was the kind of reaction that motivated her to gather costumes year-round, including lots of animal onesies, superhero garb and princess dresses, she says.

“We never really stopped,” Abel says.

She also started an Instagram account, @fcs_ nola, where potential costume donors or volunteers can message her and learn more about how to get involved or donate. She also posts updates about other community events and programs that help kids.

She then cleans the costumes, mends them if necessary, and organizes and repackages them all from home, hand-labeling each one.

“I want them to look as close to new as possible,” she says.

She also purchased a bulk order of reusable Halloween-themed tote bags, which she uses as shopping bags and encourages her young customers to reuse for trick-or-treating.

“I want the giveaway to feel more like a shopping experience for them,” she says.This year she says she’s collected more than 200 costumes.

“My goal was 100,” she says, “But I told myself to double that.”

She hopes it doubles again for Halloween 2026. Abel wants to make the Free Little Costume Shoppe accessible to other neighborhoods as well because she knows families who can’t aford Halloween costumes also face transportation barriers. It’s been rewarding to see how many people want to get involved, she says. But it’s also not entirely surprising, given how costuming is a huge part of New Orleans culture — and no one — kids included — wants to wear the same thing two years in a row.

One friend, for example, recently donated a stash of about 25 costumes and a bounty of bejeweled accessories that were entirely hand-crafted.

“She spent quality time on those pieces,” Abel says.

Support for the Free Little Costume Shoppe has extended far past New Orleans. Abel went back to her hometown of Shreveport and returned with a “truckload” of items. She’s also received items in the mail from other out-oftowners who want to help make Halloween special for kids.

“It makes me happy,” she says. “In these very dark times, it’s good to be a little light.”

Abel says a lot of her inspiration to keep up the efort comes from Hardee, who is 9 years old and always quick to volunteer and help others who are less fortunate.

Abel says she does a lot of costume porch pickups throughout the year. In August, she set up laundry hampers at locations around the city for people to drop of costumes.

He recently requested a trip to the grocery store so he could spend some report card reward money on breakfast supplies to feed people who are unhoused.

“He has a heart of gold,” she says. “He really inspires me to keep it going.”

Kids trick or treating at a shelter in New Orleans

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN FLYNN / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

Allie and Hardee Abel

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ALLIE ABEL

A trick or treater pictured in 2024

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

Carnalito Opens in New Orleans: The Authentic Mexico City Taquería Arrives in the Heart of Downtown

Behind this project is Veho Hospitality Group, led by Danny Cruz and his wife, Vilexis Cruz — restaurant entrepreneurs with a deep passion for Mexican culture and Mexico City’s taco tradition. They ﬁrmly believe that a great taco does not need to be adapted or altered, but rather respected at its roots. Carnalito’s mission is clear: bring Mexico City’s authentic ﬂavors to New Orleans.

A Taste of Mexico City in Louisiana

Carnalito’s menu pays tribute to Mexico’s rich taquería tradition. At its heart is the classic al pastor trompo, sliced to order just as it is on the streets of Mexico City—the undeniable star of the menu.

Everything is served on nixtamalized tortillas, crafted through Mexico’s ancestral corn process and learned directly from its source As the Carnalito team explains:

Carnalito Highlights

• First taquería in Downtown New Orleans inspired 100% by Mexico City tacos.

• Grand Opening: Friday, October 3, 2025.

• Address: 930 Poydras Street, Suite 100, New Orleans, LA 70113.

• Menu highlights: tacos al pastor, sirloin trompo, gaonera, volcanes, churros, and more.

• Made in Mexico: nixtamalized tortillas made with heirloom Mexican corn and authentic recipes from Mexico City

Authentic, Vibrant, and Within ach

Carnalito is not only authentic—it’s also accessible, bringing the true ﬂavors of Mexico City closer to both locals and visitors in New Orleans

The restaurant opened its doors in one of the city’s most vibrant areas, just steps from the Caesars Superdome, the Smoothie King Center, and the cultural corridor of Poydras Street, making it an ideal gathering spot before or after a game, a concert, or a night out in the French Quarter.

About Carnalito

Carnalito is a taquería inspired by the vibrant street-food culture of Mexico City, created by true lovers of Mexican culture and cuisine who aim to share the authenticity of their roots in the heart of New Orleans.

The project is the vision of Danny Cruz and his wife, Vilexis Cruz, entrepreneurs behind Veho Hospitality Group. With a deep passion for gastronomy, the couple has developed multiple restaurant concepts in Louisiana and Florida, always with the goal of delivering unique, high-quality dining experiences.

With Carnalito, they take a step further by honoring Mexico City ’s taco tradition, preserving its authenticity, and bringing this culinary legacy to a new community.

GHouS zombis ghSTs, AND AND OH MY!

COSTUMING AND PARTYING are part of the very fabric of life in New Orleans, and have been for a century or more. In fact, pretty much everybody has at least a closet (or two) dedicated to costumes, and we can all transform from our normal selves into fantastical creatures on a moment’s notice.

So of course when there’s a holiday where everybody else in the country is gonna get dressed up, you know New Orleans is going to turn out.

We did a deep dive into the photo archive for Halloween looks over the decades, and here are some of our favor ite ones. From very good dogs to Saints legends and boozy nuns and priests, it’s obvious New Orleans has always known how to do Halloween right!

FILE PHOTO BY MATT ROSE

PHOTO BY MICHAEL DEMOCKER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

FILE PHOTO BY JIM GUILLOT

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY NEW OREALEANS CVB/ HARRY COSTNER

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY SEAN GARDNER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

FILE PHOTO BY DONALD V. STOUT

FILE PHOTO

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY DAVID LEE SIMMONS / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

FILE PHOTO BY RALPH URIBE

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

FILE PHOTO BY P.A. HUGHES

PHOTO BY DOUG MACCASH / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

PHOTO BY ELLIS LUCIA / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE

EAT + DRINK

Roll out the barrel

LIKE A CASK-AGED FINE BOURBON, Boil & Barrel, the new seafood restaurant in Lakeview, strikes just the right balance. It’s both a family-friendly neighborhood seafood joint with approachable prices and an inviting bar for social drinking. Add a bourbon list that might be found in a fancy steakhouse, and it’s clear this isn’t your average boil house.

Chef David McCelvey is the culinary talent behind the concept, and his partner Tarek Tay, co-founder of Byblos restaurants, takes care of the front of the house and the bar. It’s a big restaurant that can accommodate more than 200 guests inside and on the covered patio.

“Our idea was to bring the lakefront vibe to Lakeview,” McCelvey says.

The Kentucky-born chef spent years working for Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants, working as the chef at NOLA in the French Quarter before moving into restaurant operations. He left in 2013 to pursue his own projects, which for the past decade meant running the longtime casual Uptown spot Frankie & Johnny’s, known for its seasonal boiled crawfish and traditional New Orleans dishes year-round.

In Lakeview, in the space that was Susan Spicer’s Mondo for 10 years and most recently Outpost 45, the menu hinges on seafood, with a boiling station in the kitchen. Most of the seafood is local, with the exception of favorites like snow crab legs from Canadian waters.

Tay describes the menu as elevated casual seafood dishes. It includes oysters offered raw or char-grilled and platters of fried or grilled seafood. There’s a grilled Gulf fish sandwich dressed with roasted chili tartar sauce and traditional Frenchstyle mussels in garlicky white wine butter sauce. A Gulf fish of the day is always available, as are pan-seared blue crab cakes.

An ingenious shrimp boil bisque, a simmer of all the good things that go into a boil, is a standout. So is the fruit de mer, a seafood-flavored

Tay adds. “People love to taste different bourbons.”

Paradigm shift

THE CITY RISES BEYOND PARADIGM

GARDENS with a skyline of office towers, the arc of the Superdome and the brickwork of the adjacent historic church, which seems to glow in the golden hour at sunset.

Within the garden itself, this urban farm-turned-event venue feels like a verdant glade in the middle of it all, hidden behind a perimeter that is no longer just a fence but a wall of flowering vines.

Close to downtown and near the highway overpass in Central City, the halfblock-sized lot was once fallow, just part of a terrain of disinvestment. But as Paradigm Gardens, it’s grown into a uniquely adaptable space for music, food and gatherings in a landscape of low plantings and high waving fronds, chatty goats and colorful murals. Behind it are culinary roots that keep growing, and an offbeat entrepreneur who keeps tilling his various pursuits and passions into the garden.

buttery red sauce with fresh herbs, swimming with shrimp, mussels and crawfish tails.

Carnivores will find much to enjoy, from a ground chuck burger to a chicken and sausage gumbo and grilled chicken paillard on a bun.

The kitchen also offers a daily vegan special and a kids’ menu for the younger set.

“There’s no particular correct way to order,” McCelvey says. “It’s whatever you’re hungry for.”

Tay also was involved in Frankie & Johnny’s. He’s late to the bourbon party, only discovering that passion in the last few years. “I grew my Byblos bourbon list to 170,” he says.

So far at Boil & Barrel, there are more than 130 bourbons to try, with tequila the second deepest spirit list.

“I’d say whiskey is today’s fine wine,”

The bar menu offers bourbon in single, double and flights of shots, the latter including .75 ounce pours. The selection includes bottlings local to New Orleans and Louisiana, such as Bywater Bourbon from Seven Three Distilling. There also is a range of Uncle Nearest pours, Sazerac products and Whistle Pig reserves. For obscure sips, patrons can sample Widow Jane Lucky Thirteen out of New York.

“We put some fun flights together, like all 1792 bourbons, but guests can experiment with making their own flights too,” Tay says.

McCelvey plans to incorporate more bourbon into his menu as the restaurant evolves. Currently, there’s a savory steak sauce and a chocolate dessert featuring the signature American whiskey.

“We’re just getting started,” he says.

“It really started as a chef’s garden, supplying our partner restaurants,” says Joel Hitchcock-Tilton, the gardener, event producer, DJ, educator and connector for a network of chefs, musicians and artisan makers through Paradigm Gardens.

“Today, we still work closely with our chefs,” he says. “But it’s really grown into something else. It’s this event venue and community space.”

This year marks a decade since the founding of Paradigm Gardens. In that time, it’s evolved from a garden that hosts events to a custom-built event space within a garden. In addition to concerts, craft markets and food events,

Boil & Barrel serves seafood and whiskey in Lakeview by Beth D’Addono |

David McCelvey and Tarek Tay opened Boil & Barrel.

PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT

Joel Hitchcock-Tilton runs Paradigm Gardens.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE

Weekend Specials

stuﬀed with spinach andricotta with sweetpotatoesand veggies

Chicagostyle bratS withsauerkrautand spicymustard andfries

Witches brew shrimp steW Seafoodstuﬀedshrimp pasta

it hosts weddings, corporate outings and goat yoga sessions (the main occupation for the in-house herd).

others, too, as specialty produce comes into season.

Alongside fancy baby and heirloom vegetable varieties, these beds are growing tropical staples for world cuisines, getting more attention in the restaurant scene, especially Caribbean.

Where it was once a patchwork of garden beds, there are now paved walks between plantings, an indoor prep kitchen and a kettle pond. String lights between the trellises have replaced tiki torches, and full-fledged restrooms have replaced the glorified outhouses of before.

In the weeks ahead, a few events show some of its potential.

Still central, though, is the woodburning oven and outdoor kitchen that first brought visitors through the garden.

That aligns with the gardener’s role in the reggae music realm. He produces reggae festivals here and in other cities, including the NOLA Reggae Fest on Oct. 24-26 at Congo Square.

During food events and concerts, a cross section of New Orleans restaurant people cook together, representing upscale restaurants or anytime joints putting different global traditions side by side on the table. These aren’t the individual tasting stations common to events, but more like chef-led cook-outs as guests fill their plates from the assembled spread.

For private events, Paradigm Gardens now has its own in-house chef, Pat White of Karibu Kitchen catering, a master of wood-fire cooking.

With the Central City garden now more tailored to events, most of the restaurant-bound produce HitchcockTilton grows comes from a smaller plot he developed next to his house about two miles away, just off Freret Street’s restaurant row.

Walking around the garden beds here, Hitchcock-Tilton constantly tears off leaves or plucks produce, offering samples and often giving their resumes.

Paradigm Gardens started when Hitchcock-Tilton and his friend and then-business partner Jimmy Seely took on the original Central City property in 2015. The city was seeing a post-Hurricane Katrina flourishing of urban farms and community gardens at the time. But Paradigm Gardens was drawn up differently, with specific restaurants as partners and events built into the business plan.

“This could not rely on grants or volunteers, it had to be financially sustainable as well as ecologically sustainable,” Hitchcock-Tilton says.

Since Seely left the venture, Hitchcock-Tilton runs the property with a team of staff, and many of his interests beyond the garden have intersected here. A teacher and youth sports coach, he started a Montessoristyle school on the grounds during the pandemic. His work in events and concerts opens a pipeline of musical talent for happenings in the garden, and sometimes beyond.

One lightly citrusy lemon cucumber was planted for Sophina Uong, chef at Mister Mao, and the tamarillo, a pea-sized fruit with a tart pop, is bound for her eclectic Uptown Asian restaurant too.

The sugarcane stretching up by the corner has chef Nina Compton’s name on it. The gardener will soon shuttle some over to her upscale Caribbean restaurant Compére Lapin, likely on his bicycle if the weather cooperates.

This garden gives partner restaurants a supply chain that can be measured in city blocks, and it gives the chefs and their staff a chance to visit, join the harvest and get a dirton-the-hands connection to what they’re serving.

“If we’re cutting that morning, it could be on their menu that day,” Hitchcock-Tilton says.

The garden’s partner restaurants also include the contemporary bistro Coquette and its casual chicken spot Here Today Rotisserie, and the two Daily Beet cafes. The garden supplies

In August, he co-hosted Savor the City, a tasting event and concert at the Broadside to support a dozen local restaurants during the summer business slump. It was the test-run of a concept he hopes to make an annual event and expand to help more local restaurants through the seasonal downturn.

Still, it’s the Central City garden where all these threads come together.

“It’s always felt magical because of the chefs and music in this forgotten spot that’s really in the middle of the city,” Hitchcock-Tilton says. “Now I feel we’ve really connected the dots with the venue.”

Upcoming events include a Taste of the Caribbean event on Tuesday, Oct. 28, featuring food from Queen Trini Lisa Nelson, Jamaican Johnny, Fritai and 14 Parishes and music from Inna Vision.

The Decade in Bloom concert on Nov. 16 features food from Baru, Kingsway, Mister Mao, Here Today Rotisserie and Brasa. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

Clayton Smith

Founder of Rougarou

by Will Coviello

CLAYTON SMITH GREW UP IN CONNECTICUT, where seafood meant lobster rolls, cold-water oysters and more from New England. Since moving to New Orleans a decade ago, he’s mastered boiling crawfish. Last year, he launched the seafood pop-up Rougarou Shuckers and Crawfish with his spouse, Shahinoor Hafez, who grew up in Lafayette. Beginning Nov. 2, they’ll serve chargrilled oysters at Urban South Brewery during New Orleans Saints games. When crawfish are in season, he’ll switch to focusing on weekend boils at Courtyard Brewery. They also do private events. For more information, visit rougaroushuckers.com.

How did you get interested in seafood?

CLAYTON SMITH: I am from Connecticut. We don’t really have any seafood culture beyond lobster rolls, which we do really well. When I was working in restaurants in college, most of what we got was seafood coming from Maine or the Atlantic, and Prince Edward Island oysters if we were lucky. But I gained some basic skills in how to cook and deal with fresh seafood. That was about 15 years ago, but it kind of stuck in my mind until we started the business about a year ago. One of my best friends went to Tulane. He invited me every spring break to New Orleans. I came all four years in a row. Spring break was my introduction to boiled crawfish. I tried it in restaurants, but it never was as much fun as on St. Charles on the route. That’s where I learned that it’s fun to eat. Everyone is actually enjoying themselves. It’s not like sitting down for a lobster dinner or waiting in line at a raw bar in Boston. It was affordable, and you could imbibe while you’re doing it. It was like, “OK, this rules.” It was four years of that.

My wife is originally from Egypt, but she grew up in Lafayette. She was there 20 years before she came to New Orleans. So her friend group is all Lafayette people and New Orleans people who knew how to boil, and I just took my ideas from them. They taught me a lot about how to cook Cajun food. The way I do things is a bit more Lafayette than New Orleans because that’s who I surround myself with. I also learned from some friends I met along the way when I was doing my oyster pop-up.

What are you doing at Urban South?

S: For every Saints game starting in November, we’re going to be doing char-grilled oysters there.

How did you start Rougarou?

S: We’re about a year old. Our first pop-up was at Pete’s Out in the Cold. I didn’t know how to approach pop-ups. My two favorite bars were Pete’s Out in the Cold and Henry’s in Uptown. I just walked in the door and asked them, and they were like, OK, let’s see how that goes.

First, we did char-grilled oysters. That’s how we became known and how other people found out about us. Our entire book of business until May of last year was char-grilled oysters, and we would do raw bars for private events. I love doing that, and there’s high demand for someone who can shuck an oyster well.

When I am doing the raw bar, I give every option. I set out a traditional mignonette or a Champagne mignonette. I put that dead center in the boat I serve them on. But there are 10 or 12 different options: horseradish, ketchup and every Louisiana hot sauce I can find.

The crawfish booking came from a friend I made at Pete’s who asked if I did crawfish. I had done it maybe 30-40 times at home for friends. He invited me to do a private party, and it went great. From there, word of mouth — last season we did maybe 20-25 private boils. All of them were small-scale, in backyards. I enjoy that. We were always invited to stay after the boil was over.

WI NE OF THE WEEK

I taste-tested pretty much every chargrilled oyster in New Orleans restaurants and kept a diary. For our char-grilled oysters, I make a compound butter that has a little bit of Cajun seasoning, an outrageous amount of garlic, hot sauce, lemon and pure Irish butter. I work on making that butter special, and I have sold it in little four-ounce containers. People have put it on steaks or used it in pasta. I have used it in crab linguine I made at home. We also add cheese. I use a Romano Parmesan blend. We don’t put anything crazy on it. We serve them with French bread.

I love buying oysters from Bright Side Oysters. When I do raw bars, I am always going for those Grand Isle Jewels, Lady Nellie, Bright Side. I try to showcase local oysters to people who are coming in from around the country. It’s cool to surprise them with how deep our oyster culture goes when they are used to Duxbury Farm or Prince Edward Island or Washington oysters. I also buy some giant ones from Tesvich Farms for char-grilling. For more interesting recipes, I’ll do a miso-garlic compound butter or non-traditional New Orleans styles. They’re fun to experiment with.

A little bit down the road, or in December, I am going to be doing lobster rolls. I am going to do them Connecticut style. We poach them in warm butter and serve it on a toasted, side-split brioche bun, and finish it with more butter. When they’re available, we’ll be doing crawfish boils at Courtyard Brewery. I am waiting for my farmer friend from Lafayette to tell me when it’s available. That’ll be Saturdays and Sundays.

Pessimist RedBlend

Abold and powerful wine thatopens with ample aromas of blueberry, boysenberry,and plum. Notesoftruffle, roasted coffee, lavender,and lilac fill the air with apalate showing both robustness and elegancewith juicyflavors of cherry, huckleberry,and cassis.

Clayton Smith and Shahinoor Hafez started Rougarou Shuckers and Crawfish.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CLAYTON SMITH

LE VAMPYRE CABARET

Out to Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.

com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato in flavors like praline, salted caramel and tiramisu, as well as Italian ices in flavors like lemon, strawberry and mango. There also are cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and coffee drinks. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — Gulf Drum Yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. There also are oysters, seafood pasta dishes, steaks, lamb chops and more. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$

Bamboula’s — 514 Frenchmen St.; bamboulasmusic.com — The live music venue’s kitchen offers a menu of traditional and creative Creole dishes, such as Creole crawfish crepes with goat cheese and chardonnay sauce. Reservations accepted. Lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$

The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp are served with rosemary garlic butter sauce over cheese grits with a cheese biscuit. The menu includes po-poys, fried seafood platters, raw and char-grilled oysters, boiled seafood in season, and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lakeview: Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: Lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 581-3866; broussards.com — The menu of contemporary Creole dishes includes bronzed redfish with jumbo lump crabmeat, lemon beurre blanc and vegetables. Brunch includes Benedicts, avocado toast, chicken and waffles, turtle soup and more. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available in the courtyard. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and Louisiana items like crab beignets with herb aioli. Sandwiches include po-boys, a muffuletta on flatbread and a burger. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner Fri.-Mon. $$

The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — Dickie Brennan’s Commissary supplies his other restaurant kitchens and also has a dine-in menu and prepared foods to go. A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Sat. $$

Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. There also

$ — average dinner entrée under $10

$$ $11-$20

$$$ — $20-up

are crab cakes, shrimp and grits, crawfish etouffee, po-boys and more. Outdoor seating available on balcony. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes oysters served raw on the half-shell or char-broiled with with Parmesan, garlic and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse.com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and char-broiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish on the Half-shell is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. The bar offers a wide selection of bourbon and whiskies. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — The menu includes a variety of steaks, plus seared Gulf fish, lobster pasta, barbecue shrimp and more. A 6-ounce filet mignon is served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. Reservations recommended. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, ceviche. tamales and more. Pescado Vera Cruz features sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar jack cheese, black beans, rice, guacamole and salsa. The menu also includes tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, salads, rice and bean bowls with various toppings and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The eclectic menu also includes char-grilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more. Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The all-day bar menu includes sandwiches, soups, salads, flatbreads and a couple entrees. A muffuletta flatbread is topped with salami, mortadella, capicola, mozzarella and olive salad. No reservations. Lunch Fri.-Mon., dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and sharable plates like NOLA Tot Debris. A slow-cooked pulled pork barbecue sandwich is served with coleslaw on a brioche bun. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 5132606; legacykitchen.com — The selection of steak and chops includes filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, top sirloin and double pork chops and a la carte toppings include bernaise, blue cheese and sauteed crabmeat. There also are burgers, salads, pasta, seafood entrees, char-broiled oysters and more. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The menu of Japanese cuisine includes sushi, signature rolls, tempura items, udon noodle dishes, teriyaki, salads and more.The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado, snow crab, green onion and wasabi roe. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and spaghetti Bordelaise and chicken cacciatore. Chicken a la grands is sauteed with garlic, rosemary, Italian herbs and white wine. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$

Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys dressed with sliced cabbage like the Famous Ferdi filled with ham, roast beef and debris. Creole favorites include jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Breakfast is available all day. Delivery available. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans and rice with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as shrimp Creole, seafood platters, po-boys, chargrilled and raw oysters, salads and more. Side items include carrot souffle, mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato tots and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese and garlic butter, and other options include oysters Rockefeller and loaded oysters. The creative menu also includes seafood bread, a Cajun-lobster potato, wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood pasta, loaded fries and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers cheese boards and appetizers to nosh with wines. The menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$

Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill. com — The menu includes a variety of burgers, sandwiches, wraps, pizza and salads. For an appetizer, sauteed andouille is served with fig preserves, blue cheese and toast points. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — At brunch, braised short rib grillades are served over grits with mushrooms, a poached egg and shaved truffle. The dinner menu has oysters, salads, pasta, shrimp and grits, a burger, cheese plates and more. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$ Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates. Crab beignets are made with Gulf crabmeat and mascarpone and served with herb aioli. No reservations. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 9343463; tableaufrenchquarter.com — The menu features traditional and creative Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, littleneck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available on the balcony. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$

Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes raw and char-broiled oysters, seafood platters, po-boys, fried chicken, crab and corn bisque and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — A Marilynn Pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches, wings, breadsticks and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 324-7144; thevintagenola.com — There’s a full coffee drinks menu and baked goods and beignets, as well as a full bar. The menu has flatbreads, cheese boards, small plates and a pressed veggie sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

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FOREVE R HERE

at S T. AGNE S CHURCH

St . Agnes Church is a beau tif ul, sacred space to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony Our f ai th communi t y would be honored to share in your special day and help you prepare a meaning ful, prayer ful celebration.

St. Agnes Church - Old Jefferson 3310 Jefferson Highway, Jefferson, LA 70121

Rectory Ofﬁce (For bookings or info) 504-833-3366 | parish@stagnesjefferson org stagnesjefferson org/weddings html

multi-instrumentalist Nate Wilson, who though he’s toured with the band before became a regular member and worked on recording it. Progressive bluegrass outfit The Infamous Stringdusters also perform at two nights of shows at The Joy Theater. At 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1. Tickets $25 and up via ticketmaster.com.

Big Thief

Indie folk rock band Big Thief in September released “Double Infinity,” its sixth full-length album and its first as a trio following the departure of the group’s original bassist. Although the record is intimate and personal, led by guitarist-vocalist Adrianne Lenker’s writing, “Double Infinity” isn’t meek. Instead, it’s expansive and engaging with touches of psych-Americana. Big Thief plays the Saenger Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31. Tickets start at $49.41 via saengernola.com.

NOLA Zydeco Fest

The annual zydeco festival moves to Slidell’s Heritage Park for its fifth year, with performances by Lil Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers, Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band, Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers and more. There’s also a Creole La La music jam featuring Cedric Watson, Jourdan Thibodeaux, Drake LeBlanc and more. The fest also has zydeco dance lessons and a competition, a gumbo cook-off, kids’ activities and food vendors. Gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, and tickets are $28.52 via nolazydecofest.com.

Day of the Dead beneft concert

The Latin band Con su Banda reunites for a Day of the Dead celebration that also features Flemenco dancers, John Boutte, Alex McMurray, Margie Perez and the Tremelo Kings, and more. Con su Banda gained popularity backing singer Fredy Omar in the 1990s. Event proceeds will be donated to Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA). At 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Tipitina’s. Tickets $34.21 via tipitinas.com.

LPO Market Nights:

Alfred Banks & Sebastian St. John

New Orleans emcee Alfred Banks hit a milestone last year when he performed a set of his own songs with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a sold-out performance, and Banks is doing it again on Wednesday,

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Oct. 29, at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market. Banks will be joined by musician and composer Sebastian St. John, who adapted Banks’ music for the orchestra last year, as well as DJ Novi. The LPO will be conducted by Matthew Kraemer. Along with Banks’ music, the LPO also will play works by Kenji Bunch and Jennifer Higdon. Antwigadee! will DJ a pre-concert cocktail hour starting at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $39 via lpomusic.com.

‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’

In the cult classic musical comedy horror movie, sweethearts Brad and Janet knock at the door of the bizarre Dr. Frank-N-Furter after their car breaks down. Once inside, they’re introduced to his strange experiments, new experiences and a host of eccentric inhabitants, groupies and odd visitors. Nell Campbell, the original Columbia, attends this 50th anniversary screening, complete with a shadow cast, and costumes and customary audience participation (bags of props are available at concession stands). There’s also a costume contest for the audience. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, at Mahalia Jackson Theater. Tickets start at $48.19 via mahaliajacksontheater.com.

Acid Mothers Temple

This Japanese band — full name: Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. — is known for its live show meltdowns, churning out psychedelic experimental rock with electronic effects under the direction of guitarist Kawabata Makoto. The group recorded prolifically, usually putting out at least two albums a year, though it has slowed down since the pandemic. It released “Holy Black Mountain Side” last year. It plays a Halloween night show with The Macks and Jess Joy at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, at Gasa Gasa. Tickets $24.96 via gasagasanola.com.

‘Nosferatu’

German director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s 1922 silent film version of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula story was billed as a “Symphony of Horror.”

It’s become a classic and a popular film to match with live scores. Brian Haas, James Singleton, Chris Combs and Otto Schrang provide the music for these screenings at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, and Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Broadside. Tickets $22.20 at broadsidenola.com.

E N E W O R L E ANS A RE A, V ISIT CALENDAR.GAMBITWEEKLY.COM

To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com

MONDAY 27

30/90 Dapper Dandies, 6 pm; Half Shell Boogie, 9 pm

ALLWAYS LOUNGE Betsy Propane & The Accessories, 7 pm

BACCHANAL— Byron Asher, 6 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE— Red Beans & Blues: Washboard Chaz and Jonathan Freilich, 9 pm

CAPULET— Cristina Kaminis, 6 pm

CARROLLTON STATION Biscuits n’ Jam with Meryl Zimmerman & Friends, 10 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH Lucinda Williams Night: Loose Cattle, Andrew Duhon, Paul Sanchez and more, 8:30 pm

DBA Secret Six Jazz Band, 6 pm; The Jump Hounds, 9 pm

DOS JEFES— John Fohl, 8:30 pm

GASA GASA— FEA + Swinging Astrid + Tash Delay, 9 pm

HOLY DIVER Brother Dusty & ReddixYoung, 9 pm; DJ Reverend Robert Sinewave, 11 pm

THE MAISON Mike Clement, 5 pm; Gene’s Music Machine, 8:30 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR George Porter Jr. Trio with Chris Adkins, 7 pm; 10 pm

NO DICE— Kink Support Group + Stunning with Scissors + Allision, 9 pm

PRYTANIA BAR— George Kilby Jr. & The Random Few, 7 pm

SATURN BAR BC Coogan, 8:30 pm

ST. ROCH TAVERN— Chris Acker + The Big Deals, 9 pm

THREE MUSES— Johanna Rose, 8 pm

TUESDAY 28

30/90 Tajh & The Funky Soles, 6 pm; Neicy B & Kompani, 9 pm

APPLE BARREL Bubbles Brown, 6 pm

BACCHANAL— Robin Sherman, 6 pm

BUFFA’S Alex McMurray, 7 pm

CAPULET— Miss Morning, 6 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH Sunny Sweeney, 8 pm

DBA Les Femmes Farouches, 6 pm; Kid Chocolate & The Free P.O.C, 9 pm

FRED HAMPTON FREE STORE— Takaat + Diane Airbus + Basher, 8 pm

GASA GASA— Daybreak + Zach Smallman + New Planets, 9 pm

HOLY DIVER— Miss Amerikan Vampyre & Vacillator, 8 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR— Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet, 8 pm

MRB— DJ Mr. Bubble, 7 pm

NO DICE Vedas with Euphonia, Donate Your Friends, & The Kissing Disease, 9 pm

OKAY BAR— Stunning With Scissors, Bad Year, Prey For Neighbors & Autumn

Dominguez, 7 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE— Rebirth Brass Band, 10 pm

ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL— Trumpet

Mafa, 6 pm; 9 pm

SALON SALON— Or Shovaly Plus, 7 pm

SANTOS BAR Meldamor with Sailem, Missing & EveHill, 10 pm

SATURN BAR 90s Country Line Dancing with Giddy Up Two Step, 7 pm

VAUGHAN’S Lil Prince & The Youngbloods, 10 pm

WEDNESDAY 29

30/90 Decaturadio, 6 pm; Brass Tyrannosaurus, 9 pm

BACCHANAL Jesse Morrow, 6 pm

BROADSIDE— WWNO Beneft Concert, 5 pm; Inna Vision, 8 pm

BUFFA’S— Washboard Chaz Trio, 7 pm

CAFÉ DEGAS— Gizinti Trio, 6 pm

CAFÉ NEGRIL Jam-ilton, 6 pm; Sugar & The Daddies, 9 pm

CAPULET The GET, 6 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH— Ricky G’s Birthday Bash & Record Release Party, 8 pm

DOMINO SOUND RECORD SHACK Takaat, 3 pm

DOS JEFES Kris Tokarski, 8:30 pm

JAZZ PLAYHOUSE— Funkin’ It Up with Big Sam, 7:30 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR— A Very Good Wednesday, 9 pm

MRB— Lynn Drury, 7 pm

NO DICE More October with Dr. Scientist and Just Kidding, 9 pm

SANTOS BAR DJSON, 10 pm

SATURN BAR— The Lostines + John R Miller, 9 pm

SMOOTHIE KING CENTER— Paul McCartney, 8 pm

THREE MUSES— Tyler Thomson, 8 pm

TOULOUSE THEATRE— George Brown Band, 6 pm

VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE— Robin Rapuzzi’s Glo Worm Trio, 8:30 pm

THURSDAY 30

30/90— Danger, Barnes & Wilson, 6 pm; Lyndsey Smith, 9 pm

ANNA’S— ITALO ITALO ITALO w/ DJ OTTO, 9 pm

BACCHANAL— Raphael Bas, 6 pm

BAMBOULA’S— JJ & The A OK’s, 12 pm; Cristina Kaminis & The Mix, 4:30 pm; Wolfe John’s Band, 9 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE— Blue Tang People + Midnight Brawlers, 9 pm

CANOA— Ritmo Exchange Club - Grupo Yurumeina + La Mio y Su Piquette + Vinyl Sets by Yeyo, 7 pm

CAPULET— Mando Jazz ft. Coyote Anderson & Zach Lange, 6 pm

CARROLLTON STATION— Costume Party with Cloudsave & Friends, 9 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH— People Museum + Lyla George, 9 pm

DOUBLE DEALER— John Saavedra, 9 pm

GASA GASA— Amanda Shires, 9 pm

LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ The Soul Rebels, 11 pm

THE MAISON— Champagniacs, 4:30 pm; Single Malt Please, 8:30 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR— Booker and Beyond Piano Series with Lilli Lewis, 6 pm; Johnny Vidacovich Trio, 8 pm

NO DICE Halloween Eve Takeover ft. Dana Ives, Juno Dunes, Still Alice & David Suarez, 4 pm

SALON SALON Geovane Santos, 7 pm

SANTOS BAR— Highgloss: From Beyond the Rave, 10 pm

SATURN BAR— Renegade Wav presents Saints and Sinners, 9 pm

SNUG HARBOR— Trevarri, 7:30 & 9:30 pm

THREE MUSES— Sally Baby, 8 pm

TOULOUSE THEATRE George Brown Band, 6 pm

Friday, Oct. 31 at 10 p.m.

VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE— Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet, 10:30 pm

FRIDAY 31

30/90— Scyrin, 2 pm; Andre Lovett, 5 pm; Sporty’s Brass Band, 8 pm; Manic Mixtape, 11 pm

ALLWAYS LOUNGE The Blood & Glitter Burlesque Spookshow, 8 pm; Rocky Horror Striptease, 10:30 pm; Filth Horror, 11 pm

ANNA’S Black Lagoon’s Halloween Special w/ Female Trouble, 9 pm

ARORA— Club Chido, 10:30 pm

BACCHANAL— David Sigler, 1 pm; Willie Green III, 7 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE Hallo-WEEN with the Baby Bitches Ween Tribute Band + The Helots, 9 pm

BROADSIDE Ratchet Jazz Halloween Bash, 8 pm

CARROLLTON STATION— Atomic Broad + Vacillator + Drab, 8 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH— George Porter Jr. & Runnin Pardners Will Funk You to Death – with Brian Stoltz and Mark Mullins, 11 pm

DBA Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. & The Wild Magnolias, 6 pm; Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers, 10 pm

DOS JEFES Sunpie & The Louisiana Sunspots, 10 pm

DOUBLE DEALER— Jazz Bounce, 9 pm

KOKOKO performs at Saturn Bar with Brookiecita and Chore Boys

PHOTO PROVIDED BY KOKOKO

GASA GASA— Acid Mothers Temple, 9 pm

GOOD MEASURE— Soiree Halloween Party ft. Pell, DJ FTK & Legatron Prime, 10 pm

HOLY DIVER Kal-El with Insomniac, Ans, Fun Destroyer & Fiend, 8 pm

HUMMINGBIRD LOUNGE Pleasure

Savior: Ghoul’s Ball with DJ Madspinnz and Soft Serve, 9 pm

JAMNOLA— 3I/ATLAS — Visitors from the Dark Forest Experience (Parade & Party) ft. Dirty South House, hollagraham & more, 8 pm

JOY THEATER— moe. (Night 1), 8 pm

LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — Colin Davis & Night People, 11 pm

THE MAISON— Nola Sweethearts, 3 pm; Shotgun Jazz Band, 5 pm

MAPLE LEAF BAR— Surco ft. Dylan Miles, 10 pm

THE METROPOLITAN— Fright Night ft. Sammy Virji, 9 pm

MRB And Then Came Humans, 6 pm

NO DICE— Where My Girls At Halloween Party, 10 pm

OKAY BAR— Community Printshop Halloween Fundraiser & Cover Show: Smashing Pumpkins, Steely Dan & More, 7 pm

PAULIE’S— Pleasure Savior: Ghoul’s Ball with Sanctuary, Very Cherry and Sana, 10 pm

PRYTANIA BAR Evan Oberla, 10 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE— RIKI + Delores Galore + Berlin Taxi, 7 pm; Pure Intentions, 10 pm

SAENGER THEATRE— Big Thief, 8 pm

SALON SALON Halloween Party with Ghazi Gamali, 9 pm

SATURN BAR NIGHTCRAWLERS: Brookiecita, Chore Boys, and KOKOKO, 10 pm

SWEET LORRAINE’S— DJ Pudge and DJ RQ Away, 9 pm

TIPITINA’S— Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, 9 pm

Z’OTZ Pleasure Savior: Ghoul’s Ball with DJ Ghoulsby, Heelturn, Jake Ryan and Eliot from Earth, 9 pm

SATURDAY 1

30/90 Jef Chaz Blues Band, 2 pm; Street Legends, 8 pm; Deltaphonic, 11 pm

BACCHANAL— Miles Barry, 1 pm; Bayou Manouche, 7 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE— BrasiNola, 9 pm

BLUE NILE Afrobeat NOLA, 10 pm

BMC The New Orleans Rug Cutters, 5:30 pm; Sierra Green, 9 pm

BROADSIDE Christina Kaminis and Mariachi Jalisco, 8 pm

MUSIC

BUFFA’S— Asylum Chorus, 8 pm

CAFE NEGRIL— Duane Bartles Band, 1:30 pm; 3:30 pm; Bon Bon Vivant, 6:15 pm; 8 pm; Zena Moses & Rue Fiya Allstars, 10 pm; 12 am

CARROLLTON STATION— The Band Melrose + She Might Be A Beast + Donate Your Friends, 9 pm

CHICKIE WAH WAH A Halloween Cure, with DJ Mykelle Playing Music from The Cure, 8 pm

DBA— Tuba Skinny, 6:30 pm

GASA GASA— Ben Kenney with Ashley Mendel & Mark Whitfeld Jr., 9 pm

GOOD MEASURE— DJ Aliyuhhh Spins, 9 pm

JOY THEATRE moe. (Night 2), 8 pm

LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ— Bearded

Chieftains, 11 pm

NO DICE Lesser Care + Night RItualz, 6 pm

OKAY BAR Necromancer: Boufant Boufant + Tristan Dufrene + N*S*F*W*, 10 pm

POOR BOYS— NOCHE DE MUERTXS:

DJs FTK, Mikey Ofine, Jamil & Sean Straynge, 10 pm

PRYTANIA BAR — Stunning with Scissors, 10 pm

RABBIT HOLE— Daft Disko [A French House & Disco Halloween], 10 pm

SMOOTHIE KING CENTER— Lil WeezyAna Fest 2025, 7 pm

TIPITINA’S Day of the Dead Beneft to ISLA, 7 pm

SUNDAY 2

30/90— Single Malt Please, 9 pm

ALLWAYS LOUNGE— Sunday Swing, 8 pm

BACCHANAL— Juan Tigre, 1 pm; Noah Young, 7 pm

BJ’S LOUNGE Dia de Los Muertos Backyard Fiesta, 5 pm; James McClaskey & The Rhythm Band, 9 pm

BROADSIDE T Marie & Bayou Juju, 5 pm

GASA GASA French Cassettes with Burnt Sugar, 9 pm

HOUSE OF BLUES— Matt Maltese, 7 pm

HOWLIN WOLF— Hot 8 Brass Band, 10:30 pm

SATURN BAR— Helen Gillet’s Rebelle Music, 9 pm

GIVING GUIDE to 2025

MUSIC

Freret Fest moves to fall

by Will Coviello

THE FRERET STREET FESTIVAL WAS CANCELED in March due to forecasts of bad weather. The rescheduled fest is Saturday, Nov. 1, and it’s also a debut of sorts. Organizers say the fest will stick with the first Saturday in November moving forward, again due to more hospitable weather.

Freret Fest is a free event that stretches between Napoleon Avenue and Valmont Street on Freret Street. There are three music stages and more than 200 vendors. The fest runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

The festival footprint also is changing slightly. Due to construction of the Trader Joe’s on Napoleon Avenue, the large music stage on that end of the strip will be moved into the parking lot at Jena Street, where the organizers hold the monthly Freret Markets. That also will give the crowd more space in front of the stage. At the other end, the new placement of the Valmont Stage adds a block on that side of the strip. Many of the bands originally scheduled for the fest are still on the bill. Headliners include The Rumble, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, People Museum and more.

The Rumble was added to the schedule. Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. leads the Mardi Gras Indian funk outfit which was nominated for Best Regional Roots Music Album Grammy awards for its “Live at the Maple Leaf” album and last year’s “Stories from the Battlefield.” It closes the Napoleon Street Stage starting at 4:45 p.m.

Vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph was known for singing in front of Galactic and supporting Tank and the Bangas before going solo. Now she’s more likely to work with special guests. Recently, she’s been performing with HaSizzle, the self-proclaimed King of Bounce, who joins her for the set closing the Valence Stage at 4:45 p.m.

People Museum expanded from the electro pop duo of Claire Givens and trombonist Jeremy Phipps to a four-piece band. In the last year, the group stretched its collaborations to a live-scored dance piece with Brazilian inspirations with Marigny Opera Ballet. The group performs at 1:50 p.m. on the Valmont Stage.

The Creole String Beans play their mix of swamp pop, classic New Orleans R&B and funk at 2:05 p.m. on the Napoleon Stage.

The music lineup works in a variety of local sounds. Singer-songwriter Paul Sanchez closes the Valmont Street Stage. Blues guitarist Ghalia Volt has a solo set there earlier in the day. Guitarist and composer Mahmoud Chouki teams up with pianist Victor Campbell on the Napoleon Stage. Cuba Heat brings Cuban and Caribbean sounds, and the Divas Brass Band opens the Napoleon Stage with funky brass band music. There also are a couple of sets organized by and featuring musicians from Loyola University.

Dance and movement performances include the African dance and drumming group N’Fungola Sibo at 2:50 p.m. on the Valmont Stage. NOLA Capoeira will present the Brazilian martial arts-dance hybrid on both the Napoleon and Valence stages.

Food booths and bars generally are clustered at street intersections. Beverage booths will offer Abita beers, canned cocktails, soft drinks and water.

There are all sorts of craft vendors offering clothing, jewelry, leather goods, painting, ceramics, candles, soap and body care products, pet care and accessories, and more. Many businesses on the strip extend their presence with vendor booths in front of their address. In the case of the music club Gasa Gasa, it’s adding tented hospitality spaces.

N’Fungola Sibo performs at the Freret Street Festival.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE