Gambit: February 23, 2021

February 23-March 1, 2021 Volume 42 // Number 8

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CONTENTS

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > F e b r ua ry 2 3 - M a r c h 1 > 2 02 1

4

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Director’s cut

Balcony sets JAZZ VOCALIST ALICIA RENEE livestreams a live set from the balcony of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. She’s backed by Soul Rebels trumpeter Julian Gosin, funky saxophonist Khris Royal, bassist Chris Severin, pianist Yoshitaka Tsuji and others. The link is at facebook.com/ nolajazzmuseum/live

Augustin J. Correro goes behind the scenes in new book about Tennessee Williams

BY WILL COVIELLO

Doubling down

AS A CO-DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS THEATRE COMPANY OF NEW ORLEANS,

Augustin J. Correro often is asked to give talks about the playwright. The sessions can cover everything from the inspirations for Williams’ most famous dramas and characters, like Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” to details about his personal life.

Does Correro have a favorite story about Williams’ life in his adopted home of New Orleans?

“I don’t have a favorite story as much as I have a favorite picture,” Correro says. His new book on the playwright notes that in addition to writing numerous full plays and one acts, poems, essays and more, Williams liked to paint.

“In one of the early times he stayed here, he drew a picture of the corner outside of James’ Bar, which is a gay bar around the corner from the place where he was staying. It might have been when he was writing ‘Streetcar,’ or a little before. He drew a street scene and it has a hustler labeled as ‘Rough Trade.’ It has a nervous auntie with a tour magazine shouting ‘Quelle horreur!’ with her wig and her glasses popping off. It has a pious queen out on the balcony looking down on everyone. It has a rat chasing a cat to show how backward everything was in the French Quarter. There was a drag queen who had been hit by a truck. It’s both gruesome and hilarious …

“Williams was so enrapt by the local color that he put it into his writing, and he put it into his drawing.”

Correro has directed many of Williams’ plays, and this week, Pelican Publishing releases his book, “Tennessee Williams 101.” While it sounds like an academic title, it is an entertaining and accessible biography of Williams that works in a timeline of his writing and productions and puts them in greater context. It chronicles Williams’ young life in Mississippi, years with his family in St. Louis, where “The Glass Menagerie” is set, his amazing success on Broadway and in film, and his complicated later years.

Williams’ place among the best American playwrights stems from

A DOUBLE-BARREL IMPROVISATION PROJECT, Brain Duster doubles up on drums, bass and reeds. The lineup features Aurora Nealand, Brad Walker, bassists Matt Booth and James Singleton and drummers Doug Garrison and Mikel Patrick Avery. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at Broadside. Find tickets at broadsidenola.com.

P R OV I D E D B Y A U G U S T I N J . C O R R E R O

Director Augustin J. Correro wrote ‘Tennessee Williams 101.’

the success of works including “Glass Menagerie,” “Streetcar,” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in the 1940s and ’50s.

He won two Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other drama awards. Many of his Broadway successes spawned landmark films. Both the Broadway and movie versions of “Streetcar” starred Marlon Brando, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter, who all won Oscars for their roles, as did director Elia Kazan.

“Every other year in the ’50s, he had a play or two and a movie being made, and they were blockbusters,” Correro says.

Many of Williams’ plays became vehicles for the most popular actors of the day, including Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Richard Burton and Ava Gardner in “The Night of the Iguana,” and Taylor and Burton in the aptly named bomb “Boom!” which Williams adapted from his own drama, “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore.”

Before his 1945 breakthrough with “Glass Menagerie,” Williams had a contract with MGM to write work for the studio’s starlet Lana Turner, but it wasn’t a successful match. Correro details Williams’ view of the arrangement in the book.

While the conventional view is that Williams’ successes largely ended with 1961’s “The Night of the Iguana,” there were poorly received productions before that, such as the surreal “Camino Real.” And Correro points out that some of Williams’ later works

may have been more successful away from the commercial pressures of Broadway. Late works like “Vieux Carre” have been rediscovered and are finding renewed interest. Though not released until the late 1970s, it’s heavily based on Williams’ first stint living in the city, at a cheap rooming house in the French Quarter in 1938.

While Williams dealt with drinking and drug problems late in his life, he still wrote at a determined pace.

Correro has directed several of the later works for his company.

“If you watch ‘The Mutilated’ and ‘Kingdom of Earth,’ he was still able to find the thread of humanity and put it into words, even if they weren’t as tightly pulled together as ‘Streetcar’ or ‘Cat’ or ‘Menagerie,’ ” Correro says.

The book delves into what elements of Williams’ work stem from his own experiences. Williams once worked at a shoe factory in St. Louis, like Tom in “Menagerie.” Stanley Kowalski, the brute from “Streetcar,” is named after a coworker from St. Louis.

There also is an appendix in the book dedicated to dispelling some rumors, such as whether Blanche DuBois is based on a man.

While the book serves as an excellent quick guide to the plays, it also reveals Williams himself.

“Breaking the glass on the museum case that surrounds Tennessee Williams has always been a guiding principle of mine,” Correro says. “Plays are alive and vital. Putting them under glass is not drama.”

Set to pop SOUTHERN REP THEATRE presents a slate of new short plays in its THE POP-UP series at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 24. There are readings of work by Calvin Calkutta Winbish II, Brian Egland and Emma Schillage and music by Jean Velvet. Find the streaming link on eventbrite.com.

Toxic relationships A HIT ON BROADWAY AND FILM, “Arsenic and Old Lace” is a dark comedy in which Mortimer Brewster seeks to marry a minister’s daughter and is tripped up by his bizarre family, including a couple of spinsters who have been luring and knocking off old men. Janet Shea stars in the JPAS production at Jefferson Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays from Feb. 26 through March 7. Find tickets at jpas.org.

Outer space THOUGH GROUNDED IN TRADITIONAL CAJUN MUSIC, fiddler Louis Michot spaced out a bit with his Michot’s Melody Makers band on last summer’s “Cosmic Cajuns from Saturn” album, featuring Mark Bingham. The band plays a live show at the outdoor space at Broadside at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27. Find tickets at broadsidenola.com.

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N E W

O R L E A N S

N E W S

+

V I E W S

Pour one out for the NCIS: New Orleans homies

# The Count

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down

475,000

Big Chief Demond Melancon

of the Young Seminole Hunters tribe in the early morning hours of Fat Tuesday installed a magnificent Black Masking Indian suit in the spot at Canal Street and Norman C. Francis Parkway, where a statue of Davis formerly stood.

The suit, which Melancon titled “Jah Defender,” turned heads for its poignancy on a day when most of the city’s Black Masking Indians put the day’s deep traditions on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Posters surrounded the base and read, “The People Are King. Carnival 2021.”

The number of additional Louisianans who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine as of Feb. 22.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Feb. 18 the next tier of individuals who can receive the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines includes teachers and school support staff, pregnant people, nonemergency medical transportation staff and people in between the ages of 55 and 64 who meet criteria due to pre-existing conditions. This brings the total number of eligible people to 1.5 million out of the state’s population of 4.6 million. The state expects to receive 90,000 doses this week.

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

HISTORIC COLD SPELL DELAYS COVID-19 VACCINATIONS ACROSS LOUISIANA Mark Raymond Jr. on Feb. 13

cut the ribbon on his project Split Second Fitness, the first fitness center in Louisiana for people who live with a physical disability. Quanteria Williams-Porche, a doctor of physical therapy, is the facility’s fitness director. Split Second Fitness offers exercise programs tailored to a physically limited person’s needs and fitness goals.

Sen. Bill Cassidy broke with the

majority of Senate Republicans, including Louisiana’s junior Sen. John Neely Kennedy, in voting to convict former President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection. Cassidy, a conservative, has received “Thumbs Down” in these pages for some of his past support of Trump, but this time he deserves commendation for having the courage to choose country and democracy over Trump. The Louisiana GOP officially censured Cassidy, but he remained steadfast in his decision.

THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH says bad weather across the state delayed vaccine shipments to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other health care providers. The delays are expected to affect people’s ability to get both first and second doses of vaccines.

“This is similar to delays in other areas outside of Louisiana that are experiencing winter weather,” said department spokesman Kevin Litten in an email Feb. 17.

As of then, health officials weren’t aware of any vaccine that has spoiled or been wasted as a result of the weather, but they anticipate there could be losses, Litten said. The Pfizer vaccine specifically has to be stored at an extremely cold temperature, -76 degrees Fahrenheit.

Louisiana’s medical director Joe Kanter said people scheduled to receive their second dose of vaccine shouldn’t be concerned if they receive it a few days late. The second dose of Pfizer vaccine is supposed to be administered 21 days after the first dose. The Moderna vaccine is supposed to be administered 28 days later.

“If your [delayed] appointment was for the second dose, it’s OK if you have to push it back a couple of days,” Kanter said Feb. 17.

Ochsner Health — the largest healthcare provider in Louisiana — has had to postpone 500 vaccine appointments at its pharmacies last week because of delayed deliveries, according to a statement released Feb. 17. Appointments for second-dose shots and those scheduled at hospitals and clinics — as opposed to pharmacies — will go ahead as scheduled.

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System — which runs Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge — canceled vaccine appointments Feb. 15 and 16 because of the weather. It intends to add appointments and extend hours over the weekend to ensure that everyone who was scheduled to get vaccinated last week will still get their shot, said Grace Weber, a health system spokeswoman.

As of Feb. 18, about 541,000 vaccine series have been initiated in PAGE 8

C’est What

?

What are you giving up for Lent?

61%

NOTHING. THE PANDEMIC HAS ALREADY TAKEN ENOUGH FROM US

16.8%

I WILL CONTINUE TO GIVE UP WEARING PANTS

11.5% BOOZE

10.7%

JUNK FOOD

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

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OPENING GAMBIT PAGE 7

Every good meal T needs a T

wine

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Louisiana. Around 271,000 have been completed. Louisiana ranks ninth among states and Washington D.C. when it comes to the percentage of the population that has received at least one vaccine dose (11%).

— JULIE O’DONOGHUE / THE LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR

Pedaling that Carnival life Getting into BMX is one of those pivotal moments in life. For most kids, it’s that key moment when you choose: Am I a BMXer or am I more of a skateboard kind of gal? But for Broc Raiford, there never was a question. “[My mom] swears I was riding a two-wheel bike in a pull-up,” the 26-year-old Raiford says with a laugh, explaining that even in the early years when he’d break a bone or two and be laid up, there was never any question in his mind.

“There was never a point where quitting was an option.”

That dedication has paid off: He’s won the bronze medal for BMX Street and the X Games in 2016 and won the 2016 Vans Street Invitational and the Battle of Hastings in 2017. After a major knee injury that required eight months of rehab, Raiford came back strong, winning the best trick award in the 2019 Vans Rebel Jam in Huntington Beach, California.

For Raiford, BMX hasn’t been so much of an addiction or even a passion. It is a part of who he is, bleeding into every corner of his life — even into how the Destrehan native learned to Mardi Gras. Which makes sense: As a small child, his family would ride a float, and enjoying Carnival has been a basic part of his family’s life. “Mardi Gras means everything to me, because

it’s something that so true to Louisiana culture,” he says.

“When I was younger, I was pedaling the route,” he says, meeting up with friends to watch the parades go by during Carnival. “I was always on my bike around parades.”

So combining Mardi Gras and BMX was an obvious choice for him when his sponsor Red Bull came to him looking for ideas for projects.

Raiford’s answer was simple: He wanted to ride a float. “It was always something I had in my head,” he says.

But without the money necessary to construct such a unique course to ride, it had always been that, just a dream.

But even in reality, it’s as preposterous as anything in a dream. In the video Red Bull has produced, the “banger clip” — the big finale for us neophytes to the world of BMXing — “was the biggest trick I’d ever done,” Raiford says.

The course Raiford designed looks and feels like an actual Carnival parade, and in fact uses parts of floats as set pieces. In fact, there’s an entire float built into the run, and his “banger clip” features Raiford actually riding the float before transitioning to the floor below.

Like everyone in Louisiana, Raiford was disappointed that COVID-19 meant parades were canceled during this year’s Carnival. But he hopes his video helps spread some of the Mardi Gras spirit, and said it’s ultimately better to put things on hold now so we all can enjoy a full-on Carnival next year. “I want everyone to be safe and practice social distancing.

So if we need to put Mardi Gras on pause, so be it.”

To see Raiford’s run and a behind-thescenes video about the project, go to our website bestofneworleans.com. — JOHN STANTON

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9

COMMENTARY

say hello to puff shoulders

MARDI GRAS 2021 IS IN THE BOOKS, and it was a

weird one, to say the least.

We won’t know for a few weeks if the modest influx of tourists and some locals’ relaxed attitudes about social distancing and masking made it a super-spreader event. One thing we do know: In ways large and small, most New Orleanians went above and beyond to make Mardi Gras safe, fun and innovative this year.

Much of the credit for innovation goes to the Krewe of House Floats and its founder, Megan Boudreaux.

Boudreaux took what began as a Twitter musing about decorating houses and turned it into what we hope will become an enduring Mardi Gras tradition.

Boudreaux’s idea was simple enough: replicate some of Carnival’s magic — namely its parades — by turning individual houses into “floats” all over town. This being New Orleans, why do simple when you can go big and get wild? Within weeks, people across the city got busy planning their houses’ themes and decorations.

Many homes reflected a DIY approach, expressing the energy and joy of the people who live there — not unlike the St. Anne parade. Others designed huge, intricate floats with moving set pieces and lighting, giving passersby stationary versions of Rex, Zulu and other popular parades.

People threw beads from their front porches, adding to the look and feel of a parade, while the krewe also took the opportunity to raise much-needed funds for local charities.

In sum, the Krewe of House Floats gave people a safe and innovative way to enjoy Mardi Gras at the neighborhood level. It also provided an outlet for the creative energy so many people in New Orleans put into the season, particularly float artists who saw their industry put on hold during the pandemic.

Likewise, the Krewe of Red Beans continued to inspire by helping those most in need. In the last week of Carnival — when bars and bartenders normally earn a huge part of their annual income — the krewe launched its Bean Coin initiative. The beans, which

$44

$36

mon - sat 10 - 5:30 7732 m a p l e 865 . 9625

P H OTO B Y J E A N N E F O S T ER

are pre-paid bar tabs redeemable next year, enabled locals and visitors alike to give a financial lifeline to bar owners and their employees.

The Krewe of Red Beans also lent a hand to one of this year’s most dramatic and poignant Mardi Gras moments: the installation on Fat Tuesday morning of a Black Masking Indian chief’s suit where a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis once stood.

Young Seminole Hunters Big Chief Demond Melancon, who decided against dressing out this year because of COVID-19, opted instead to put his suit atop Davis’ former pedestal on Canal Street at Norman C. Francis Parkway. Melancon wanted to mark Fat Tuesday while underscoring the need to protect the community from the pandemic, which claimed the lives of a number of Black Masking Indians this past year.

Most locals celebrated safely, bundling up under their costumes to walk the streets in small, safely distanced groups. For all its weirdness, Mardi Gras 2021 was, as ever, a beautiful sight to behold.

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Mardi Gras 2021 was, as ever, both weird and beautiful

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CLANCY DUBOS

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@clancygambit

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Council will grill Entergy about mistakes before, during power outages THE CONTROVERSY THAT FOLLOWED ROLLING POWER OUTAGES across some parts

of New Orleans on Mardi Gras night evoked an oftquoted line from the classic film “Cool Hand Luke.” As leading man Paul Newman said in a climactic scene, “What we got here … is a failure to communicate!”

Actually, Entergy New Orleans’ (ENO) failure to communicate was one of several blunders the local utility made as arctic weather swept across the city on Fat Tuesday. Others included not having a plan to spare the Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB) from the rolling power outages and the decision to cut power in some of the city’s poorest neigh-

borhoods while sparing most affluent areas.

Granted, those who lost power for up to an hour during our city’s big chill fared far better than our neighbors in Texas, where millions have lost power — and water — for days in some places, as temperatures dipped into single digits and didn’t get much above freezing, if at all.

Still, things didn’t have to get as uncomfortable here as they did. Now, City Council members want to know why.

Two council committees that oversee utilities and public works will meet jointly (and virtually) at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, to start getting answers from ENO. You can watch live at council.nola.gov.

Council members also serve as the city’s utility regulatory body, so their inquiry could cost ENO more than mere embarrassment. The council has slapped ENO with multi-million-dollar penalties for its lapses in recent years.

ENO doubtless will point out, correctly, that it had no control over the decision to cut power. That decision was made by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which manages the grid for Louisiana and much of the central United States.

But, while MISO ordered a cutback, someone at ENO apparently decided where to cut.

There’s the rub.

“Ratepayers deserve to know how Entergy New

Orleans chose certain neighborhoods to be part of the blackouts,” council president and utilities committee chair Helena Moreno said in a prepared statement. “Also, overall communication needed to be much improved.”

Moreno and Councilman Joe Giarrusso III, who chairs the council’s public works committee, also want to know how ENO failed to make sure the S&WB’s water plant did not lose power.

ENO maintains a list of critical service providers — such as hospitals, police and fire stations — that are the last to see power cut off and the first to get it restored when power goes out.

Why wasn’t the S&WB on that list?

“Power, water, and drainage are all connected,” Giarrusso said in a statement, adding that his committee wants “answers to questions about communication, preparation, and execution during weather emergencies.”

ENO’s only bright spot, if you can call it that, was that its new “peaking” power plant in New Orleans East performed as advertised by delivering extra power — quickly — when demand shot up.

Without that new plant, we may have looked a tad more like Texas come Ash Wednesday.

And that would have been a lot worse than a failure to communicate.

WE CARRY EACH OTHER It’s how we do things in Louisiana during times of challenge. We’re stronger together and we know our strength lies in the helping hands of our neighbors.

So let’s wear a mask and protect one another. And protect the life we love.

01MK7496 R1/20

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BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™ @GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake, I know Dutch Morial was the city’s first Black mayor, but who was the first Black member of the New Orleans City Council? What about the first female council member?

Dear reader,

The Rev. Dr. Abraham Lincoln Davis Jr., a well-known civil rights leader, was the first Black person to serve on the New Orleans City Council since the Home Rule Charter established the current form of government in 1954.

Known as A.L. Davis, he was pastor of the New Zion Baptist Church, where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded.

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as the SCLC’s president, Davis was vice president.

He was appointed to the council in 1974 to fill a vacancy created when District B Councilman Eddie Sapir was elected to a Municipal Court judgeship. Davis was later elected to the seat and served on the council for three years. He was defeated in 1977 by Jim Singleton.

Also in 1977, Sidney Barthelemy, a state senator, was elected the first Black At-Large council member. He was elected mayor in 1986.

That same year, voters elected the first two female councilmembers: Dorothy Mae Taylor, who was Black, and Peggy Wilson, who is white.

T I M E S - P I C AY U N E A R C H I V E P H OTO B Y C H U C K C O O K

Taylor, a longtime local activist, was also the first Black woman elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. In 1986, she was elected to a City Council At-Large seat. She is remembered for leading the 1991 fight for passage of an ordinance banning discrimination in Carnival krewes. She died in 2000.

Wilson was elected to the District A seat and later served as an AtLarge councilmember and council president. She introduced the ballot initiative instituting a two-term limit for councilmembers, which voters approved in 1991.

Two current councilmembers made history when they were elected in 2017. At-Large councilmember Helena Moreno became the first Hispanic American elected to the council, while District E councilmember Cyndi Nguyen is the council’s first Vietnamese American member.

BLAKEVIEW YOU MAY KNOW THE PYTHIAN MARKET FOOD HALL at 234 Loyola Ave. as a place to grab a bite to eat, but did you know the building that houses it is one of Black New Orleans’ most important landmarks? Now known as The Pythian Apartments, the building opened in 1909 as the Pythian Temple.

Its name comes from the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal and benevolent organization founded in 1864.

Smith W. Green, a leader of the group and prominent Black businessman of the time, commissioned the construction of the Pythian Temple in 1908.

Its dedication in 1909 was a significant milestone for the Black community, since it was built by Black craftspeople and housed many Black-owned businesses. According to the Preservation Resource Center, among the building’s tenants were a bank, law offices, and The New Orleans Herald-Louisiana Weekly, precursor to The Louisiana Weekly. The Pythian Temple was also home to many Black fraternal organizations and clubs.

A theater hosted vaudeville shows and Black Carnival balls. In the 1920s, a rooftop garden was added, hosting concerts from musicians including Louis Armstrong.

In the 1940s, Higgins Industries — maker of World War II’s famous Higgins landing craft — leased the building and used it as a hiring center. In the 1950s and ’60s the structure became the Civic Center Building. It housed a district court, a bank and medical offices.

In 2015, Green Coast Enterprises, ERG Enterprises and Crescent City Community Land Trust purchased the building and launched a $43 million renovation. The new Pythian opened in 2017.

13 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > F e b r ua ry 2 3 - M a r c h 1 > 2 0 2 1

FEEDING

BODY, FEEDING

SOUL

CULTURE AID NOLA MARKS A YEAR OF MAKING GROCERIES FOR NEW ORLEANIANS, BUT THE NEED IS ONLY GROWING

BY JAKE CLAPP In some ways, DJ Siphne Aaye starts her workday these days like any other. She gets to the gig about 30 or 45 minutes early — early enough to get ready, not too early to get stuck in the in-between limbo that precedes a show. While the staff is busy prepping around her, she goes about her business: setting up her laptop, her mixer, her speakers.

But this isn’t anywhere close to a normal DJ set in a club. Instead of bartenders and barbacks busily preparing for customers, the people working hard around her are unpacking and prepping fresh groceries — vegetables, bread, cereals, Zatarain’s box mixes and numerous other food items — and then repacking them into boxes destined for families in need.

Because this isn’t a club, and she’s not spinning for party people. Instead, DJ Siphne Aaye has found herself on the ones and twos of the pandemic, providing the beat for Culture Aid NOLA as it sets about feeding hungry New Orleanians, regardless of circumstance.

“My job is to set the mood in a way that makes

P H O T O B Y DAV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

A volunteer checks a bag of groceries during a Culture Aid NOLA distribution event.

DJ Siphne Aaye has been playing music for Culture Aid NOLA distribution events for almost a year.

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y D J S I P H N E A AY E

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y L . S . F R E E M A N

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[everyone there] feel like, ‘I can make it through this,’ ” Aaye says of her sets that drop for people in often long lines of cars, waiting to pick up groceries instead of drinks.

Aaye’s sets aren’t just bells and whistles. She and her music are a fundamental part of Culture Aid NOLA and its ethos: helping New Orleans through the pandemic the only way New Orleans knows how. Through music, community and food.

“Whatever has happened in the day — which is why I try to play a lot of songs people recognize: oldies, some new school, some soul, some funk — music can be nostalgic,” she says. “[Culture Aid NOLA] brings the food, and I bring the music.”

Culture Aid NOLA hosts two distributions a week, focusing on no-barrier, no-paperwork aid. CAN and its partner organizations have collected and distributed more than 500,000 pounds of food to around 100,000 people in its first year. Along the way, CAN has pushed itself to think differently about disaster response and break down any stigma associated with looking for a helping hand.

On March 23, the group will mark its one-year anniversary of serving the city. It will be a bittersweet milestone, marking a year of New Orleans life under a deadly, devastating pandemic. About 3,000 people a week get groceries during CAN’s drive-through and walk-up distribution events, and those numbers have been ticking up and up every week, says Erica ChomskyAdelson, CAN founder and executive director.

“I think we’re starting to dig into some of those long-term effects,” Chomsky-Adelson says. “Everybody’s blown through their savings at this point.”

New Orleans bars and restaurants started to face capacity limits on March 16, 2020, following orders

by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Within days, the city issued its stay-at-home order, closing restaurants, bars and music venues,

“When people coalesce around food in this city, it’s such a fundamental thing, such an emotional thing for people.”

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

A volunteer preps boxes of groceries during a Culture Aid NOLA event.

— LAURA PAUL, LOWERNINE.ORG

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y C U LT U R E A I D N O L A

Culture Aid NOLA got into the Carnival spirit during its recent distribution events. cutting off gigs for thousands of hospitality workers, musicians and artists.

Seeing the need quickly growing among out-ofwork hospitality workers, Chomsky-Adelson organized Culture Aid NOLA in partnership with existing nonprofits, including the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic & Assistance Foundation and Trinity Mobile Loaves & Fishes, among others. The initial focus was on providing meals to those in the culture and hospitality industry, and

CAN launched by distributing 500 meal kits around New Orleans, with food provided by local restaurants Backspace Bar & Kitchen, Cochon, Justine, Luke and Sylvain.

“Culture and hospitality workers are what makes New Orleans New Orleans,” Chomsky-Adelson said at the time. “We need to support the people in these vital jobs. They are our friends, neighbors and family. We are dedicated to taking care of one another.”

But it only took a couple of weeks for that focus to

broaden. Although ChomskyAdelson — who along with three part-time workers runs CAN — kept helping those in the hospitality and culture industries, a core part of CAN’s mission, she realized the pandemic was hurting thousands of other people whose lives where inextricably tied to the bar and restaurant industry.

CAN quickly settled into its current mission: The group distributes meals and groceries twice a week to anyone who needs it and delivers food to the homes of people unable to pick it

up. Its partnerships have also grown to include groups like Second Harvest Food Bank, Lowernine.org, Loving Hearts Foundation and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

Grants from organizations such as the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation — along with donations — have helped the organization fulfill its mission.

“The scale and the scope and the supply chain, all of that, has expanded and shifted and grown,” Chomsky-Adelson says.

“But at the heart of it is that dual mission: no barrier, no stigma aid. We are still never going to ask for paperwork, no Social Security number, no lease, no utility bill, no ID, nothing. All we’ll ask is, ‘How many people do you want to feed?’ At the same time, even a year in, there’s still so much shame around hunger, so much stigma.”

The unemployment rate in the New Orleans metro area was 8.2% in December, almost double the rate seen the year before. The area’s leisure and hospitality industry lost 20,100 jobs over the year. The city has marked a full calendar year without festivals like Jazz Fest or the French Quarter Festival — and now a Carnival season.

Add to that: Louisiana has the second highest rate of food insecurity in the nation, and New Orleans has one of the highest poverty rates of metro areas in the U.S., with Black families experiencing poverty at much higher rates than white families.

Simply, many New Orleanians are just hanging on however they can.

“We’re definitely seeing need. We’re definitely seeing more and more people every time we have the pantry open,” says Laura Paul, executive director of Lowernine. org. The group was founded in 2007 to help build homes in the Lower 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina.

During the pandemic, they started a mobile food pantry, and in November, opened the permanent Levee Food Pantry at 1804 Deslonde St. in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank and

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P H OTO B Y DAV I D GRUNFELD / THE T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | THE NEW ORLEANS A DVO C AT E

A New Orleanian gets groceries at Our Lady Star of the Sea church

“We are trying as best we can to not ‘give’ resources to people. We’re trying to ‘get’ resources to people.

And I think there’s a really important distinction there.”

— ERICA CHOMSKYADELSON, CULTURE AID NOLA

district includes the French Quarter, Treme, Marigny, St. Roch, Bywater and Algiers, was organizing as many as four to six food pantry events a week, often in partnership with Culture Aid NOLA. Her office has so far distributed more than 550,000 pounds of food to individuals and families over the last year.

“We’re seeing our numbers increase. Periodically there are dips,” she says, noting that she hopes people understand that the pandemic-induced economic downturn has impacted everyone.

“If you lose a job, and you

were making $60,000 a year, and you have a mortgage note, you still have to pay that,” Palmer says. “Or you have a car, you still have to pay a car note. Even if you’re working part-time or you’ve downsized … if you’re tied to a note, people have these obligations” that make it tough to afford basic necessities.

Covid “is not a typical disaster relief scenario,” says Paul, “in that it wasn’t a moment in time, a snapshot, that you can recover from for days, weeks, months or years. It’s an ongoing event

that has not yet ended, that the implications and ramifications we’re not clear about yet because we’re not even recovering, we’re still experiencing the disaster.”

The global nature of the pandemic, where your neighbors who might have once been able to provide help are in the same boat as you, in a way “brings us together in ways that are helpful and will drive solutions,” Paul says. “But in another way, of course, everyone is tapped out, everyone is suffering and there are only so many resources to go around.”

Still, Paul adds, there are many people working to address food insecurity in New Orleans, and it may be because of the city’s food culture.

“When people coalesce around food in this city, it’s such a fundamental thing, such an emotional thing for people,” she says. “I do think, too, that it’s important that people are given access to groceries rather than prepared food. I like some of the work that’s being done by restaurateurs here locally … and keeping restaurants afloat is amazingly important. I do think people being able to take their own groceries home and make their own food is a big part of New Orleans culture, and it needs to be honored.”

Chomsky-Adelson has thought a lot about disaster response during the pandemic. A Michigan native, she has been involved in disaster response and recovery work in some way since 2008, when she caught photos of a devastating flood in Wisconsin on the news while working a waitressing job.

She quit and went to help, volunteering for a local organization and cooking meatloaf and sour cream mashed potatoes for 250 people on the first night.

Chomsky-Adelson moved to New Orleans 2010, and over the years has worked for several different nonprofit organizations dedicated to disaster response and recovery in various capacities — operations, logistics, communications. She also earned a degree in planning and urban studies from the University of New Orleans.

“I think there’s this interesting moment or opportunity in the disaster response world right now,” she says.

“So often, we come into a place and we do the thing and we make it go ... and then we leave. It’s immediate and it’s physical. Right now, we’re kind of living the longterm effects. How do we take these lessons and apply them to the next tornado?

“I think there’s this temptation in the disaster response world, particularly, to come in and say, ‘Everything is broken, we’re going to fix it,

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Common Ground Relief.

The Levee Food Pantry is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Paul says she expects they are serving around 100 families a week, many of them from the neighborhood but also from across the city.

The Sankofa CDC Community Center’s Lower Nine Food Pantry is also nearby at 5200 Dauphine St. The pantry, which partners with Grow Dat Youth Farm, served more than 350 families just in last November, according to its website.

“We’ve done long-term disaster recovery here in the Lower 9th Ward,” Paul says, “which we’re still very much engaged in, unfortunately, from Katrina. But having this sort of second wave disaster in our community — I think it’s safe to say the pandemic affects low-wealth, communities of color much more than it does other communities.

“That was our experience following Katrina as well,” she adds. “It’s disheartening to see that those systems haven’t changed, that food access and disaster relief in the moment is every bit as challenging and necessary as it’s ever been.”

New Orleans has seen many people mobilize to help those dealing with food insecurity during the pandemic: Krewe of Red Beans launched first its Feed the Front Line and then its Feed the Second Line initiatives; the larger Second Harvest Food Bank and smaller neighborhood organizations, like Sankofa’s Lower Nine Food Pantry, Giving HOPE and the Broadmoor Food Pantry, have helped countless neighbors; a network of community fridges have popped up around the city; and the grassroots Southern Solidarity organized to deliver food and necessities to the unhoused community.

The city government has operated a meal assistance program, delivering meals made by local restaurants to residents. And several City Council members have been organizing food pantries in their districts since the start of the pandemic.

Council member Kristin Gisleson Palmer, whose

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > F e b r ua ry 2 3 - M a r c h 1 > 2 02 1

16 create it, build it, save it,’ ” she adds. “In some ways, after a tornado, after a short-lived, catastrophic disaster, that may work. But looking around at our community, there are so many existing support systems. These communities are resilient, they’re not broken, and we need to spend a lot more time, thought and money building up existing support networks. Help things grow.”

CAN’s supply chain and food sources sound like a Rubix cube when Chomsky-Adelson lays it out: Grocery items come from Second Harvest, either donated or purchased; from a local company with a federal commodities purchasing contract; purchased from P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y C U LT U R E A I D N O L A

Culture Aid NOLA along with Grace at the Greenlight were the beneficiaries of the Krewe of House Floats’ giving campaign during Carnival.

a local wholesaler; purchased straight from local farmers; and some items are donated.

“Putting together an efficient, consistent, cost effective supply of good food for 3,000 people a week is hard,” Chomsky-Adelson says.

Culture Aid NOLA is intentional in its methods. It wants to make its distribution events relaxed and serviceable: Hospitality phrases like “welcome in” are used; there’s no probing questions about ID or details (only how many people need groceries); and a DJ or musician sets the atmosphere as people drive through, receiving a box of groceries in the trunk.

In CAN’s view, getting help should be as easy as possible and even small choices can help treat people with dignity and break through any perceived stigma of picking up a box of groceries. It extends to the very language being used.

“One of the things we’ve been talking about lately is the difference between ‘give’ and ‘get,’ ” Chomsky-Adelson

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About 25 volunteers help out at each CAN distribution, packing boxes of groceries, loading them into cars, talking with folks or, like DJ

“We’re living together and we’re each, daily, confronted by the limits of our ability,” Chomsky-Adelson says. “I really hope that going through this sustained trauma together opens us up to the possibility of how we can really come together as a community.”

The deep effects of that sustained, collective trauma caused by COVID-19 will be felt for a very long time, even after life returns to “normal.”

“Even for volunteers that are out there knowing that they’re doing something, knowing that they’re helping, knowing that they’re work is valuable, it’s still hard,” Chomsky-Adelson says. “And then I think ‘bout the people I see in line — our line starts at four o’clock in the morning for a 10 a.m. distribution. And I cannot imagine the stress and cumulative trauma of having to fight to keep yourself fed for that much time every single week.”

Siphne Aaye, playing some mood music.

“2020 has been a year,” Aaye says. “It’s been a challenge for everyone in more ways than one. It’s tough to keep moving forward, to keep going on. As a person also trying to live in the same world and same lift, it can be tough.

To know that you can get free groceries or free meals, you can get assistance — even the music aspect, you can come somewhere and hear music … it’s nice to just know someone’s got your back, to know there’s support out there.”

CAN has firmly planted itself into New Orleans’ cultural community in the last year and taken part in several programs, like Howlin’ Wolf owner Howie Kaplan’s Meals for Musicians program. CAN along with Grace at the Greenlight were the beneficiaries of Krewe of House Floats’ giving campaign during Carnival.

Collaboration is key. It has made CAN effective.

Culture Aid NOLA (504) 370-8176; cultureaidnola.org Distributions at:

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says. “We are trying as best we can to not ‘give’ resources to people. We’re trying to ‘get’ resources to people. And I think there’s a really important distinction there.”

New Orleans has the organizations in place, ChomskyAdelson says, pointing to the work done by CAN partners at the Musicians’ Clinic and MaCCNO and the deep traditions of social aid and pleasure clubs. The key is to get the resources to the community groups and then step back.

“It’s that whole concept of doing things in a way that lifts the community up, doing things in a way that people want when we listen to communities and trust communities,” she says. “When we get out of the way and get people the tools they need to help themselves, how much more can we accomplish?”

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Being more than just an athlete how UNO student athletes embrace community impact and service.

BY AMANDA MCELFRESH | amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS.

For most people, the University of New Orleans is much more than an institution of higher education. It is an integral part of the city’s fabric, with UNO students, faculty, staff and alumni being significant contributors to the area and its growth.

UNO Athletics is no different. In addition to participating in 14 NCAA Division I sports, Privateer student athletes engage in a variety of activities to improve their city. That work accelerated when Tim Duncan arrived on campus as UNO Vice President of Athletics and Recreation in June 2019; he saw an opportunity to do even more.

“I held 100 meetings in 100 days,” Duncan recalled. “What I learned is that if we create a larger presence by giving back to our city, people will appreciate the university and the athletic department in unimaginable ways. I knew it would help student-athletes learn about something larger than themselves and would be a great way to have a positive impact on the people that make up this great city.”

Duncan challenged all UNO coaches to increase their teams’ service hours to the community.

The response was tremendous. By the end of the 2019-20 academic year, the Privateers led all NCAA Division I programs in the country with 4,139 hours of community service.

The community work has taken many forms.

There have been multiple cleanup days in different areas of the city. UNO coaches and student-athletes have worked with individuals with special needs through a partnership with

Specialized Therapies for Autism and Related Services (S.T.A.R.S.). That has been particularly meaningful for UNO men’s basketball guard Damion Rosser.

“We’ve been able to go bowling with them and have camps with them. We want to let them know that they are important and that exercise is still something they need to do,” Rosser said.

“It’s just about being a friend and even a mentor to them. They look up to us, so that makes it a great experience.”

UNO also continues to increase its interaction with local schools. Last year, the university partnered with Edward Hynes Charter School to bring students to a women’s basketball game and expose them to the excitement of a college campus. The event was a success, and more are in the works for the future.

“It exposes them to college athletics and also allows us to engage in educational programs with them,” Duncan said. “If we can brighten their day and educate them about UNO and the value of learning at the same time, I think that is a big win.”

UNO student-athletes are also working with New Orleans youth through Son of a Saint, a nonprofit that provides mentoring to boys whose fathers are deceased or incarcerated. Rosser said he and others have tutored the boys, given them study tips and played basketball games with them. UNO’s Victoria Corcoran and her beach volleyball teammates have been involved as well.

“We’ve been to a couple of their galas to show

our support,” she said. “Some of the girls on the team will tutor the Son of a Saint young men.

We just want to be there for them any way we can and support them.”

UNO student-athletes and coaches have also assisted those who are homeless or suffering from food insecurity. Duncan said one major project was a partnership between UNO and the nonprofit Blessed To Be A Blessing, in which university student-athletes assembled gift bags with snacks, water, clothing and toiletries to deliver to homeless individuals.

The effort won UNO the Southland Conference’s community service award, but Duncan said the meaning went much deeper.

“This was something our student-athletes really believed in doing,” he said. “I was fortunate to experience the thrill they had in being able to bring a little bit of joy to folks who have been challenged so much. It was really impactful.”

Rosser recalled one particular experience that has stayed with him. He was helping to distribute items to the homeless when he met a man who was going through a difficult time. His mother had died, his father had been diagnosed with cancer and the man himself had recently been released from jail.

“He felt like he had no one,” Rosser said. “We just kept talking to him and encouraging him to keep pushing through. He was just so thankful for that time. We could tell how happy it made him feel that someone was actually listening to him.”

Duncan said he has noticed that such experiences help UNO student-athletes develop a deeper appreciation for their own lives and what the future could hold for them, as well as empathy for those who are less fortunate.

“I think it has shown them that by giving someone a helping hand, they can help that person regain their confidence and have a little bit of hope,” Duncan said. “I think we have a humble and appreciative group of student-athletes

already, but I think it makes them realize they are in a position that many people are not and teaches them to embrace the moment.”

That has been the case for Corcoran. When she finishes an outreach day with her teammates, Corcoran said she often has “the biggest smile” and a strong feeling of gratitude. Those days have also helped Corcoran become closer with her teammates and other UNO student-athletes.

“I think when we volunteer as a group, we come together and realize that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves,” she said. “I think our relationships have grown because we bond over that feeling of helping out, having fun and doing something good for those in our city. It makes us realize we have the power to influence, so why not show the positive impact we can have in the community.”

That impact can be long-lasting for both the community and volunteers. Gary Solomon, Sr., a former UNO student athlete and New Orleans businessman, has been involved with nonprofits for decades. Solomon said starting that type of work early on in life can help build a lifelong enthusiasm for helping others.

“A lot of it is about the relationships with other volunteers or within a nonprofit board room,” Solomon said. “When you meet the other volunteers who have the same goal, it creates this bond. When you put volunteers together from all walks of life and different socioeconomic statuses, you realize that we’re all equal and we all want the same things.”

Solomon added that community service like that being done by UNO student athletes can also help them learn other skills that will be beneficial now and in the future.

“It taught me to listen more,” he said. “If they move into a role where they are making a decision for a nonprofit or a civic organization, they will realize that everybody’s opinion matters.”

For more information on UNO Athletics, visit www.unoprivateers.com.

Gone fishing

Taco alley

BEFORE THERE WERE MARDI GRAS HOUSE FLOATS or “festing in place,”

A new casual taco restaurant in Bywater

BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O ROSALITA’S BACKYARD TACOS may

be the only taco joint named for an alley.

Laurie Casebonne and her husband, chef Ian Schnoebelen, called their 2018 taco pop-up Rosalita’s for Rosalie, the Bywater alley that has served as their home address since 2003. Like so much else in Bywater, it’s a quirky place — a cluster of a few ramshackle houses and (naturally) a Voodoo temple tucked away between Piety and Desire streets.

When the couple closed their last restaurant, Mariza, where Bywater American Bistro is now, they were looking to step away from the grind of a fine dining restaurant. Schnoebelen figured, why not dial things back and serve homemade California-style Mexican tacos, the kind of food he was raised on in his hometown of San Diego.

The thrice a week pop-up was popular, offering a from-scratch menu of tacos, quesadillas and burritos in the shady yard behind their house. Schnoebelen heard through the grapevine that Dawn Snead was closing her bakery, Shake Sugary, and planning a move to Vermont. She was putting the building at 3304 St. Claude Ave. on the market.

“I called and told her we’d be really interested,” he recalls. “She and her husband came over and hung with us until two in the morning — we worked it all out.”

That was over the summer.

The new location opened on New Year’s Eve. “It’s a perfect spot for the pandemic,” Schnoebelen says. “There’s no indoor dining, only seating outside in the courtyard.”

Schnoebelen and Casebonne transformed the space previously used as the owner’s backyard, adding

grading and bricks and installing a partial overhang for shelter. Tables are spaced out for physical distancing, with room for about 40 guests.

The counter-service restaurant literally backs up to Rosalie Alley and has the same low-key vibe and core menu that regulars know and love.

Now open seven days a week instead of three, Rosalita’s menu isn’t about being authentic or fancy, Schnoebelen says.

“We do what we do,” he explains. “I ate a lot of tacos as a kid. We aren’t doing the taco truck thing. I’m doing my own thing.”

There are taco fillings of housesmoked pork, house-made chorizo, fried fish, carne asada, lengua, pork belly, chicken adobo, al pastor, smoked brisket and black beans and avocado on corn tortillas with cabbage slaw. Diners can ask for “gringa” style if they want cheese and flour instead of corn tortillas for the base.

Customers can add rice and beans to make their order a plate.

“We always had five tacos on the menu and a daily special, Schnoebelen says. “I took all of the taco specials we’d run before and added them to the regular menu.”

He also added brisket, chicken and cheese empanadas and enchiladas,

P H OTO B Y C H E R Y L G E R B E R

Laurie Casebonne and Ian Schnoebelen opened Rosalita’s Backyard Tacos.

brisket or cheese chile relleno, shrimp or chorizo tamales and chicken taquitos. There are a variety of house-made salsas, some so hot he recommends dispensing them by eye dropper. “I’m working with a local guy who grows ghost and reaper peppers hydroponically,” he says.

“They are killer hot.”

House-made seasonal margaritas are another welcome option. There’s also dulce de leche ice cream and cinnamon-spiced brownies to satisfy the sweet tooth. Prices are reasonable and geared to keeping neighbors and regular customers coming back.

“This works for where we are in our lives right now,” says the chef, who got his first restaurant job at 15. He’s 50 now. “I just don’t know how the bars and fine-dining indoor restaurants are making it in the French Quarter. I feel so bad for our industry.”

He’s also thankful.

“We’re happy to be where we are and doing what we do right now.”

?

WHAT

Rosalita’s Backyard Tacos

WHERE

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

3304 St. Claude Ave., (504) 354-2468; rosalitas-nola.com

WHEN

Lunch and dinner daily

HOW

Outdoor dining and takeout available

CHECK IT OUT California-style Mexican favorites in Bywater

New Orleans saw one tradition recast early in the pandemic with a curbside edition of the Lenten fish fry, held last spring at a handful of local restaurants.

As another Lenten season begins, this restaurant version of the fish fry is back, now greatly expanded. As always, the tradition revolves around a plate of seafood and a side of support for others.

Beginning Feb. 19, more than 40 restaurants around the area are taking part in a weekly campaign called Fish Fry Fridays. It’s an effort to drive business to restaurants as the pandemic continues to roil their industry and to raise money for crisis grants for hospitality industry workers in need.

Friday fish fries normally are a fixture for local churches and other community groups, serving important fundraising roles. These traditional fish fries continue this year, though in limited numbers and in many cases operating in drivethrough mode.

The idea of a restaurant-based fish fry drew an eager response last season. In March, just days after the first shutdown orders limited restaurants to takeout only, a small group of restaurants and supporters started a curbside Friday fish fry.

This year, many more restaurants are taking part, and with more flexibility for how they can serve, adding dine-in, takeout and delivery options. The McIlhenny Co., maker of Tabasco, returns as a sponsor for this edition too.

The restaurant roster represents a wide spectrum, from taverns and brunch spots to fine dining destinations, including Avenue Pub, Brown Butter Southern Kitchen, Casa Borrega, GW Fins, NOLA Caye, Peche Seafood Grill, Ruby Slipper Cafe, Saba, Toups’ Meatery and more.

Each Friday through Easter, they’ll serve their own versions of the fish fry plate, and they’re pledging $1 from each plate to Hospitality Cares.

This crisis grant program is aimed at helping people in the hospitality field with emergency funds, and it’s run by the United Way of Southeast Louisiana and the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation.

Seafood distributor New Orleans Fish House is supporting the campaign with discounts for restaurants taking part. Phil DeGruy, sales manPAGE 21

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ager for the local distributor, says the program has the potential to help buoy the industry through another stretch of slow business.

“The restaurants are hurting, so many of their employees are hurting,” says DeGruy, who once ran his own string of local restaurants called Phil’s Grill. “As a distributor, we’re part of the hospitality industry too, so it’s important for us to find ways to help.”

Some restaurants will change up the Fish Fry Fridays plate week to week, while others have the same special each Friday throughout the season. Others offer family meals.

Across the range, you can see how the fish fry idea plays out at a barbecue smokehouse (Buffalo fried catfish sandwich from Blue Oak BBQ) or a Japanese restaurant (tempura-fried fish with nori chips and wasabi tartar sauce at Tsunami).

Others go more traditional, like fish and grits at Ma Momma’s House of Cornbread, Chicken & Waffles.

See menus and ordering details for each restaurant at fishfryfridays.org.

— IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE | THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

Master craft POURING A PILSNER DIRECT FROM THE BREWING TANK one recent

morning, Crescent City Brewhouse founder Wolfram Koehler describes a beermaking process that hasn’t changed since his early days in the business back in Germany.

That might be the only constant right now.

Crescent City Brewhouse reopened in the French Quarter on Feb. 11 for the first time since the coronavirus shutdowns in March last year and right in time for its 30th anniversary. It’s rejoining a hospitality industry that’s been drastically altered in recent months and also a brewing scene that has been changing around it for years.

Crescent City Brewhouse is a brewpub, licensed to make and serve its own beer in house; it also is licensed as a restaurant, which means it can operate under the city’s coronavirus restrictions for restaurants, currently at 50% occupancy with physically distanced tables.

The menu is largely the same as before, with a mix of tavern standards and Louisiana staples, such as Buffalo oysters, soft pretzels, burgers, po-boys, a German sausage plate, shrimp and grits and grilled redfish in seafood broth.

Koehler sees this as a time to rekindle connections with locals.

“Opening now is something that comes from the heart and the gut, maybe not from the head,” he says.

Crescent City Brewhouse was the city’s first brewpub, and when it

21

opened in 1991, many people misunderstood the concept.

“I told people you have to think about it more as a bakery,” he says.

“It’s a fresh product that we make and serve right here.”

Originally from the Franconia region of Germany, Koehler studied brewing at university in Berlin and then apprenticed at local breweries.

He then worked at breweries from London to Latin America. When he first came to New Orleans, he sensed an opportunity to make a mark.

In 1991, there were only about 300 breweries in the U.S., according to

YARDI GRAS 2021 P H OTO B Y I A N M C N U LT Y/ T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

MEMORIES

Wolfram Koehler opened Crescent City Brewhouse in the French Quarter in 1991.

the Brewers Association, an industry group. Today, there are more than 8,000.

Breweries now dot New Orleans, producing a dizzying array of styles and following different formats, from tiny neighborhood tap rooms to regional brands.

Koehler has watched the return of brewing with glee, remembering the days when getting people to try anything beyond the familiar national beer brands was a challenge. But he prides himself on straightforward brews, striving always for the ideal balance between sweet and bitter, and bringing a moderate alcohol content.

“I make beers that are beers, not hammers,” Koehler says. “I like to have a beer or two at lunch and still be able to work.”

While plywood covered the brewpub’s Decatur Street windows, Koehler and his staff were preparing new batches of six distinct beers, including a pale ale, a wheat beer and a Vienna-style lager.

They also freshened up the indoor and outdoor spaces across the large restaurant.

“It’s been a wonderful journey over 30 years here with two big interruptions — Katrina and Covid,” he says.

“This one is worse, but we have to get through it.”

— IAN McNULTY/THE TIMESPICAYUNE | THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

SEE YOU IN 2022!

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EAT+DRINK

EAT+DRINK 3-COURSE INTERVIEW

Jasmine Rogers and Alex Davis Chefs CHEFS JASMINE ROGERS AND ALEX DAVIS ARE NATIVES OF HOUSTON who met while work-

3618 MAGAZINE STREET

OPEN 7 AM – 7 PM Order drinks online for pickup or fresh roasted coffee shipped to you from

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CRE A M WA S ME A N

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ing in New Orleans restaurants, including Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, True Food Kitchen and Emeril’s Delmonico. In July 2020, they created Coalesce Goods (@ coalesce_goods on Instagram) to serve vegan and gluten-free dishes at pop-ups and farmers markets, and to sell their home-made meat substitutes. On Feb. 12, they opened a Coalesce Goods at St. Roch Market.

How did you both get interested in cooking?

Jasmine Rogers: I was a cook in the Army for five years after high school. Our morning started at 3 a.m. for breakfast. When I was stationed at Fort Hood, we’d cook for anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 troops a day per period. Working with breakfast foods, we’re cooking eggs, bacon, grits — it wasn’t anything too crazy.

After that, I went to culinary school at The Art Institute of Houston and got a degree in culinary management. I have a passion for food and love to see people’s faces when they eat my food.

I was thinking I’d like to have a food truck lounge that did latenight dining. We’re from Houston, and it’s an area that has a lot of food trucks. I still feel like we want to have a food truck eventually, but it’ll just be one part of Coalesce Goods.

Alex Davis: I am a self-taught chef.

Cooking has been in my blood. My grandma was an amazing cook, and she had her own restaurant.

Same thing with my aunt. She’s actually opening up a restaurant in Houston. Cooking was always a chore for me. My mom would make me cook dinner.

When I was in high school, I would be vegetarian, or pescatarian or vegan and fall off the wagon.

When I went to Bali for my yoga teacher training, it made me realize how filling and how diverse food could be and still be vegan. We were teaching a yoga class at an orphanage and they fed us a stew with jackfruit in it. I thought I was eating chicken.

Why did you start a vegan cooking business?

R: I am 100% a part-time vegan. Alex and I both have health restrictions.

D: That is why I started experimenting with a plant-based diet. We limit ourselves on certain things.

But we feel like there aren’t enough vegan and gluten-free options in New Orleans.

R: Alex had this great idea (during the pandemic) about starting to make our own meat substitutes and giving them to our friends.

We were stuck in the house, so we were researching recipes and trying to do a new one every day.

We made videos, and people liked it and wanted to purchase our sausage. We were like, “Maybe we should work for ourselves.”

When we decided we wanted to figure it out and do pop-ups, it was during the summer, and we popped up at The Drifter every day. Then people started asking us to pop up at other places.

D: We started doing more markets and more take-home-and-prepare foods. We’ve been at markets at Coffee Science, Laketilly Acres and Sugar Roots Farm.

R: People coming to the popups were like, “Yo, your sausage, can I buy some?” And we were like, “Yeah, we should start selling our sausage.” We should be packaging our habanero pepper jam. We should package our beef barbecue sauce.

We also have gluten-free pastries. That put us on the map. We were doing late-night doughnuts for a while. We called ourselves the Doughnut Dealers. We would do donuts from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the weekends. People would walk up or ride their bikes to our home for late-night hidden doughnuts.

That got us into Mojo and some coffee shops.

What is on the menu at the St. Roch location?

D: I really think that’s what makes us different than a lot of vegan restaurants that buy their meat substitutes. We make everything

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y C OA L E S CE G O O D S

Chefs Jasmine Rogers and Alex Davis

from scratch. We keep it clean and healthy.

With our menu right now, we have boudin balls. We make the basic Cajun sausage. We sell vegan sausage and vegan chicken.

Our whole menu revolves around our meat substitutes. We make our own vegan brisket as well. We braise it for hours and put a crust on it — like a real bark. We make a dough and there’s chickpeas in it.

It’s really high in protein. There’s a liquid that gives it a meaty brisket-y taste.

R: We braise it for 36 hours, so the liquid gets trapped in the dough, which becomes really meaty. And we char it with a barbecue sauce to give it a bark, so when you slice it, it looks like brisket.

D: We have a ginger “beef” lettuce wrap. Its base is tofu, and we make sweet and spicy ginger sauce and it’s really fresh with the lettuce, rice noodles and pickled vegetables. One of the most sold items is Buffalo “chicken” mac and cheese. We make the chicken from scratch, and it’s breaded and air fried and served with our creamy vegan cheese.

D: We also aim to serve the hearty grandma-style cooking.

R: During fall, we were serving shepherd’s pie.

D: And vegan gumbo, the kind of stuff people think they can’t have anymore. Like brisket.

The whole thing with St. Roch is to get ourselves established and grow … We want to ship our meat substitutes all over the world. We want to expand. — WILL COVIELLO

OUT EAT Contact Will Coviello wcoviello@gambitweekly.com 504-483-3106 | FAX: 504-483-3159 C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S AT W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are in New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

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

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

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

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. L, D daily. $

FAUBOURG MARIGNY Kebab — 2315 St. Claude Ave., (504) 3834328; kebabnola.com — The sandwich shop offers doner kebabs and Belgian fries.

A falafel sandwich comes with pickled cucumbers, arugula, spinach, red onions, beets, hummus and Spanish garlic sauce.

No reservations. Takeout and delivery available Thu-Mon. $

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in traditional and contemporary Creole dishes, po-boys and more. Char-grilled oysters are topped with Parmesan, herbs and butter. Reservations recommended. Takeout available. B, L and D daily. $$

HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.com — This bar and music spot offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-

B — breakfast L — lunch D — dinner late — late 24H — 24 hours

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11 to $20 $$$ — $21 or more

3803; theospizza.com — There is a wide variety of specialty pies and toppings to build your own pizza. The menu also includes salads and sandwiches. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D Tue-Sat. $

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

Katie’s Restaurant and Bar (3701 Iberville St., 504-488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com) in Mid-City serves pizza and much more.

LAKEVIEW Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew.com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan.

Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. B, L daily. $ Lotus Bistro — 203 W. Harrison Ave., (504) 533-9879; lotusbistronola.com — A Mineko Iwasaki roll includes spicy snow crab, tuna, avocado and cucumber topped with salmon, chef’s sauce, masago, green onion and tempura crunchy flakes. The menu also includes bento box lunches, teriyaki dishes, fried rice and more. Takeout and delivery are available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$

METAIRIE Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant. com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in cream sauce. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 888-2010; koshercajun.com — This New York-style deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available. L Sun-Thu, D Mon-Thu. $ Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing — 2035 Metairie Road, Metairie, (504) 832-8032; marktwainpizza.com — Mark Twain’s serves salads, po-boys and pies like the Italian pizza with salami, tomato, artichoke, sausage and basil. Takeout and curbside pickup are available. L Tue-Sat, D Tue-Sun. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Window and curbside pickup. L, D Tue-Sun. $ Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar — 231 N. Carrollton Ave., Suite C, (504) 6093871; brownbutterrestaurant.com — Sample items include smoked brisket served with smoked apple barbecue sauce, smoked heirloom beans and vinegar slaw. A Brunch burger features a brisket and short rib patty topped with bacon, brie, a fried egg, onion

jam and arugula on a brioche bun. Dine-in, takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D Wed-Sat, brunch Sat-Sun. $$ Doson Noodle House — 135 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 309-7283; facebook.com/dosonnoodlehouse — Bun thit is Vietnamese-style grilled pork with cucumber, onions, lettuce, mint, cilantro and fish sauce served over rice or vermicelli. The menu includes pho, spring rolls and more. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. $$ Five Happiness — 3511 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 482-3935; fivehappiness.com — The large menu of Chinese dishes includes wonton soup, sizzling seafood combinations served on a hot plate, sizzling Go-Ba and lo mein dishes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$ Nonna Mia — 3125 Esplanade Ave., (504) 948-1717; nonnamianola.com — A Divine Portobello appetizer features chicken breast, spinach in red pepper sauce and crostini. The menu includes salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and more.

Curbside pickup and delivery are available.

Service daily. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

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

UPTOWN Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com ­— The menu includes fried seafood platters, salads, sandwiches and red beans and rice. Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishes, sandwiches, baked goods and more.

Takeout available. $$

Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — The Peruvian menu includes a version of the traditional dish lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice.

Dine-in, outdoor seating and delivery available. L and D Mon-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes.

Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required. D Thu-Sun. $$$ Carmo — 527 Julia St., (504) 875-4132; cafecarmo.com — Carmo salad includes smoked ham, avocado, pineapple, almonds, cashews, raisins, cucumber, green pepper, rice, lettuce, cilantro and citrus mango vinaigrette. The menu includes dishes inspired by tropical cuisines. Takeout and delivery are available. Mon-Sat. $$ NOLA Caye — 898 Baronne St., (504) 302-1302; nolacaye.com — The menu features Caribbean-inspired dishes and Gulf seafood. Seared ahi tuna is served with mango, avocado, mixed greens, citrus vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Takeout, delivery and outdoor seating available. D daily, brunch Sat-Sun. $$$ Provisions Grab-n-Go Marketplace — Higgins Hotel, 500 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higgingshotelnola.com — The coffeeshop serves salads, sandwiches, pastries and more. Takeout available.

Service daily. $

WEST BANK Mosca’s — 4137 Hwy. 90 W., Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca, made with breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings. Curbside pickup available. D Wed-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Specialty Italian Bistro — 2330 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna, (504) 391-1090; specialtyitalianbistro.com — The menu combines Old World Italian favorites and pizza.

Paneed chicken piccata is topped with lemon-caper piccata sauce served with angel hair pasta, salad and garlic cheese bread. Takeout and delivery available.

Service daily. $$

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25

MUSIC

BY KEITH SPERA IRMA THOMAS TURNED 80 LAST WEEK.

The obligatory references to her classic single “Time Is On My Side” are still appropriate.

The Soul Queen of New Orleans is in good health, good spirits and good voice.

She and her husband, Emile Jackson, still live in the brick ranch-style home in New Orleans East they occupied before, and rebuilt after, Hurricane Katrina.

At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Thomas performed one song at a wedding. Since then, she has taped a few holiday webcasts, but hasn’t performed for a live audience except in church.

She was the subject of a house float during this year’s Covid-curtailed Carnival. A locally produced documentary about her is slated to air on WLAE this fall, coinciding with the rescheduled New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

She spoke recently about her childhood in the country, her socially distanced church choir and her new album.

What does turning 80 mean to you?

Just thankful that I’m still alive. When you’re past 60, you start taking stock. In this business, you’re blessed to live past your 60s or 70s. Several people who were already in the business back when I started out lived to be well into their 80s and were still performing. I feel blessed that I’m among those who can still do it at my age.

Do you generally feel pretty good?

I feel fine. Life is what it is. You’re thankful for each day that you can still take care of yourself and move about. You’re a little slower but you can still get things done. I feel pretty good about being 80.

How’s your voice?

It’s still good. I sing every Sunday in my church. I’m still in the church choir.

We belong to a small church where we don’t have a lot of people, so we can do the social distances and have a good service.

We have a choir of three, sometimes four, who show up. I’m still singing and still soloing, cause somebody has to do the solos. All of us in the choir are lead singers, so that makes it easy for the choir director.

In addition to your secular show at Jazz Fest, you also perform in the Gospel Tent.

To me, gospel music is prayer in song.

You can get connected to it very easy.

I was raised in the church. If you didn’t do anything else on Sunday, you went to Sunday school. It’s instilled in me. That’s how I survived all these years, through my faith and being brought up in the church and still being a strong participant. There are certain things I don’t do because of my faith.

And I was blessed to find a good husband to be my backbone. So I’m living fine, as far as I’m concerned.

PICK UP DELIVERY You were raised Baptist?

It was a combination of all of it. I went to Catholic school. I graduated from preschool from a Methodist church. When we lived in the country, we attended a Methodist church. When I came back to the city as a child, the closest church was a Baptist church, so that’s where I wound up being baptized.

I’m connected with all of the faiths.

They’re all serving the same God. The person you have faith in is Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter what your denomination is.

When did you live in the country?

Between Greensburg and Hammond is where I lived as a small child. My dad took me out there before I turned 5 and I stayed there until I was 9. My parents both worked in New Orleans. My dad was working for a steel company and my mom was working for Southern Bell Telephone Company. They both had pretty good jobs.

Did you go to high school at all?

No. I’m only 15 years older than my oldest kid. I finished junior high, eighth grade, at McDonogh 41. I started ninth grade but it was only a couple weeks.

And then you got pregnant and you didn’t go back.

They didn’t let you. You weren’t allowed to back then, unlike now where they’re graduating eight and nine months pregnant. You couldn’t do that back in the day.

So until you went to Delgado Community College later in life, that was your last formal schooling?

That was my last formal training. I took a GED test when I lived in California and I passed it. When I moved back to New Orleans, at 45, I decided to go back to school and try to get a degree of some kind. I was touring, so I would take a few classes when I was home during a break.

I was starting and stopping. It took me over a 15-year period to get a two-year degree, but I was determined to get it.

Do you make royalties on your old recordings?

Yeah, thanks to Ruth Brown. Before she passed away, she sued Atlantic Records for some past royalties. Other

P H OTO B Y CHR I S G R A N G ER | T HE T I M E S - P I C AYU N E | T HE N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Singer Irma Thomas at home in New Orleans.

MON, WEDS, THURS & SUN 11AM-10PM FRI & SAT 11AM-11PM

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record companies, to keep from being sued, started giving money to artists.

Right after Katrina, I started getting my royalties a lot better. Some of the companies who was holding royalties for me said they couldn’t find me. I said, “I don’t know why you couldn’t find me.

Anybody in New Orleans could have told you where I was.”

Anything I’ve ever done in terms of TV shows, I’ll get little royalty checks for 98 cents, a dollar and a half. It’s funny — they take out the withholding and the Social Security.

When the British TV show “Black Mirror” used your song “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand),” you probably got a decent check.

I got a nice sized check. We got a nice surprise with that one. They’ve used “Time Is On My Side.” I still get residuals from that album because a lot of movies use songs from it.

I’m a lifetime member of the American Federation of Musicians, so I get my pension checks from them. Sometimes, you can pay a light bill with it. At least I get something.

You, Little Freddie King, Jon Cleary and Ellis Marsalis Jr. made new recordings last year for a box set on Newvelle Records, which specializes in high-quality vinyl LPs. The young man, Ben (Chace, the album’s producer), called me and had these songs he wanted me to record on vinyl. I picked through the ones I liked and we decided on how many and went into Esplanade Studios and did it (in January 2020), just before the COVID thing started.

Are you looking forward to the fall Jazz Fest?

I’m looking forward to Jazz Fest period, whether it’s in the fall or summer or whatever.

Bride

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Irma Thomas, Soul Queen of New Orleans, at 80

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26

FILM

Summer doldrums

Uptown, New Orleans, LA

BY WILL COVIELLO

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G REE N W I CH E N T ER TA I N M E N T

previews everything a viewer needs to know about “Days of the Bagnold Summer.” Sue Bagnold is hanging clothes in her backyard, and two lines are covered in women’s clothes in muted shades of pink. The other two lines have all-black pants and T-shirts emblazoned with the logos and graphics of heavy metal bands.

Monica Dolan and Earl Cave star in ‘Days of the Bagnold Summer.’

The film is based on Joff Winterhart’s graphic novel of the same name, which drew critical praise when it was released in 2012. The film version is fairly faithful to the story, with teenaged Daniel stuck with his mother for six weeks in summer.

The British teen had been scheduled to spend those six weeks with his father, who now lives in Florida with his new, younger, now-pregnant wife. Daniel had been looking forward to driving his father’s convertible and delving into whatever else goes with his father’s exciting new life in the U.S. Instead, Daniel does his best to avoid spending time with his mother, who is a polite and earnest librarian.

She’s also a relatively indulgent parent, who puts up with Daniel’s petulance and mopey reclusiveness.

The producers found a talented cast in rising British actor Earl Cave as Daniel and Monica Dolan as Sue. They’re matched well in the sweet odd couple story, and the separate lines of laundry are about as confrontational as the drama gets.

Winterhart has written a couple of graphic novels that dwell on melancholy feelings. In “Driving Short Distances,” a teenager gets a part time job in which he spends a lot of time driving around with his uncle making deliveries.

In an interview, Winterhart said he wasn’t sure how the story would fill more than an hour-long film. While director Simon Bird doesn’t let the film

drag, it feels sparse. “Bagnold” makes as much as it can of having a soundtrack by the Scottish pop band Belle & Sebastian.

One scene of Sue moving around the library seems drawn out for the purpose of playing as much of a song as possible.

Sue also is at a turning point in her life.

Daniel is no longer a child — or the enthusiastic young companion she misses.

She’s finally had enough of her ex-husband, and she’s beginning to think about dating again.

A friendly history teacher shows up at the library and strikes up a conversation.

He’s played by comedian and actor Rob Brydon, who may be familiar to fans of “The Trip” series, in which he and Steve Coogan play a couple of friends who banter glibly while traveling Europe on the pretense of reviewing restaurants.

It’s hard to miss as Brydon effusively talks about food in a couple scenes in an Italian restaurant. But he brings some welcome energy to “Bagnold.”

The hanging clothes are uniforms that only fit their subjects so well. Daniel is still trying to figure out who he is beneath the façade of matted hair and apocalyptic metal T-shirts. The prospect of joining a band gives him a chance to stop hiding in his bedroom. Sue also seeks to overhaul her outlook.

Tasmin Greig plays Astrid, the mother of one of Daniel’s friends. Though she was more of a flaky spiritualist in the graphic novel, the film has made her a more entertaining and useful foil to Sue. There are entertaining moments when generations collide, but it’s a gentle coming-of-age story that doesn’t lean too hard into comedy or drama.

“Days of the Bagnold Summer” screens at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge.

27

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57 Prefix with sense 58 — Melodies (old cartoon series) 59 Stand-up comedy TV series 64 Ending for form 65 Wince 66 Pakistani’s language 67 Like circles

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29 Extra game periods, for short 30 Distrustful 31 Designer for Jackie

71 Daniel Boone or Johnny Appleseed 76 Lustrous gem 79 Pushpin’s kin 80 Jewel box for music 84 Color 85 Kia Sedona competitor 90 Mystery’s Christie 94 Org. offering tows 95 Actor Morales 96 Sundae toppings 97 Florence institute near the Uffizi Gallery 100 New York Giants’ div.

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107 “QED” center 109 Eric the Red, for one 115 Alvin of choreography 119 Klutz 122 Pumped stuff 123 Flood stopper 124 All through the dark hours 130 Show sleepiness 131 Most promising 132 “Been there myself, man” 133 Really liking 134 Combination punches 135 Sends along 136 Org. associated with the nine missions featured in this puzzle

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36 Shiba — (Japanese dog breed) 37 Virus, e.g.

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