Gambit: June 29, 2021 (The Pothole Issue)

June 29-July 5 2021 Volume 42 Number 26

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CONTENTS

JUNE 29 — JULY 5, 2021 VOLUME 42 || NUMBER 26

THE GAMBIT INTERVIEW: LOOK AT THIS FUCKIN’ STREET 15 PHOTO GALLERY: POTHOLES THROUGH THE YEARS, 1961 - TODAY 17

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The pothole issue From decrepit pipes to historically bad decision making, it’s shocking we have any pavement at all.

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Zydeco stomp

Big Freedia Fourth of July BIG FREEDIA TEAMS UP WITH SAXKIXAVE — rapper Alfred Banks and Tank and the Bangas saxophonist Albert Allenback — for Broadside’s Fourth of July bash at 8 p.m.

Sunday. Freedia recently released her rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Judas” and her new EP “Big Diva Energy” comes out in July. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at broadsidenola.com.

NOLA Zydeco Fest debuts at Jazz Museum on Saturday

BY JAKE CLAPP

Uncle Sam Jam

FOR GABRIELLE DECULUS AND HER COUSIN, COURTNEY SMITH, the NOLA

Zydeco Fest is as much a tribute to their family as it is to the music itself.

Their great grandfather was Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin, the pioneering Creole accordionist and singer who helped lay the foundation for zydeco, and the two festival organizers wanted to make its debut on the festival circuit a way to tell the story of their family’s legacy.

“It just felt like we need to do our part,” Deculus says, “because we didn’t necessarily have the opportunity growing up to be a part of the band — more so just family support, dancing since we were kids.”

The first NOLA Zydeco Fest takes place 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 3, at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

The lineup features Grammy-nominated accordionist Sean Ardoin — also a descendent of Bois Sec Ardoin — the electro-R&B-infusing Lil’ Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers and Lake Charles’ Rusty Metoyer and The Zydeco Krush.

In more family connections, Lil’ Nathan is the son of Nathan Williams, who leads the Zydeco Cha Chas.

“The bands show the variety in the styles of zydeco music and the roots of the families that contributed to this culture,” Deculus says.

Along with the zydeco musicians, New Orleans’ Brass-A-Holics, Flagboy Giz of the Wild Tchoupitoulas and Flagboy Doogie of the Wild Magnolias also will perform.

WGNO-TV anchor Tamica Lee will emcee the festival, and DJ Spin Griffey and DJ Alley Bea also will provide more music. Zydeco is dance music, and instructors Harold Guillory and Arthur Corbin will give a bootcamp before the bands start.

Twelve food vendors, including Elton’s Bar-B-Krewe, Rootz Cuisine and Sweet Thangs NOLA Designer Snoballs, will be serving items. Cajun Fire Brewing Company and Seven Three Distilling will have beers and cocktails for sale. And nearby on Saturday, the Creole Tomato Festival also will be taking place at the French Market.

General admission to the festival is free and includes access to the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Tickets to a

METAIRIE’S ANNUAL FREE INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND FESTIVAL RETURNS SATURDAY, July 3. Wilson Phillips, The Guess Who, Creole String Beans, The Phunky Monkeys and other acts take the stage at Lafreniere Park starting at 3 p.m. There’s also a firework show at 9 p.m. Find more information at unclesamjamjefferson.com.

Light up the Lake

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Sean Ardoin plays the NOLA Zydeco Fest on Saturday at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

shaded VIP lounge with drinks included are $65.

Past her familial roots in the genre, Deculus — who grew up in Baton Rouge, spending weekends with family in Eunice and Mamou, and moved to New Orleans several years ago — says she wanted to increase exposure for zydeco artists to New Orleans.

Zydeco is played in stores and restaurants or used in marketing campaigns, “but our family, friends and others who are part of the culture, perform and play everywhere else besides New Orleans,” says Deculus. “They need more equity here. We need more equity here.

“I’m a Creole woman from southwest Louisiana and I believe there’s some misconceptions about what is Louisiana Creole culture,” she adds. “All of those things kind of intersect.”

The NOLA Zydeco Fest wants to build bridges between southwest Louisiana and New Orleans cultures, Deculus says. By including Brass-AHolics, Flagboy Giz, who released his debut album, “Flagboy of the Nation,” on Mardi Gras, and Flagboy Doogie, she hopes to illustrate commonality behind the traditions.

“I feel like much like zydeco music, Mardi Gras Indians had to carve out their own path and create space and

SATURDAY, JULY 3 NOLA ZYDECO FEST 11:30 A.M. TO 7 P.M. NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM, 400 ESPLANADE AVE.

MANDEVILLE CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE DAY WITH FIREWORKS, live music, food trucks and a kids’ tent on Sunday, July 4. The Boogie Men perform after a patriotic music presentation at 6 p.m. on a stage at Coffee and Carroll streets.

The fireworks display is over the lake at dusk. Visit experiencemandeville. org for details.

FREE GENERAL ADMISSION; $65 VIP NOLAZYDECOFEST.COM

entertainment for Black folks who weren’t welcome in other spaces.

They created their own practices,” Deculus says. “I feel like it can expose those who love zydeco music to New Orleans culture and those who follow Masking Indians to zydeco culture. We may manifest our energy and appreciation in a different way, but we are tied together in more ways than people think.”

The NOLA Zydeco Festival, which received a New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund grant, also plans to host monthly zydeco events in the near future, Deculus says. They’re still looking for a location.

The festival not only wants to give “people an opportunity to gather, but give people an opportunity to learn how to zydeco,” Deculus says.

“Zydeco, yeah, once you learn certain steps and catch that beat, whatever you want to do from that point on is cool. Do your thing — but make sure you catch the beat.”

R YA N H O D G S O N - R I G S B EE

Big Freedia will celebrate Independence Day at the Broadside on Sunday.

Krewe of Conus THE KREWE OF CONUS CLAIMS TO BE THE CITY’S “PREMIERE ROAD CONSTRUCTION INSPIRED MARDI GRAS KREWE,” and who are we to disagree? Founded earlier this year, Conus is holding the first annual Crawling of the Cones over the holiday weekend in the French PAGE 32

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Gov. John Bel Edwards last week vetoed draconian legislation prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating on sports teams that match their gender identity. Edwards had said in the past that he would veto such a bill if it reached his desk and he delivered. The measure shamefully passed the Legislature by margins large enough to override a veto. Legislators will decide in early July whether to return to the Capitol for a veto session.

422,022 The number of participants who signed up as of noon June 25 to participate in the state’s Shot at a Million campaign, a lottery for those vaccinated to win up to $1 million.

P R OV I D E D P H OTO BY DA R R EN A B AT E / I N V I S I O N F O R F R I TO - L AY/A P I M AG E S

Gonna be lights out for all yall JazzDads.

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2021: Our quick takes from the partial lineup announcement THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL RELEASED A PARTIAL LINEUP for its October event. There are plenty of big names, including

The Fielkow Family and Chase Family Foundation have launched an initiative to give local high school students skills and experience in sports industry professions. Starting Block: A Fielkow-Chase Youth Education Initiative exposes students to job opportunities in the sports industry and handson experience through job shadowing. The program will also highlight African-American, Latino and Jewish history through in-person classes and virtual seminars.

Louisiana is 48th in the

country for child well-being, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Center. The report uses data collected in 2019 and measures children’s economic well-being, education, health and family and community. The report found that 27% of Louisiana children were living in poverty in 2019.

the Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks and Wu-Tang Clan — and also some big questions. We’ll have to wait until the remainder of the lineup and other details are released to get all the answers.

Here are a few of Gambit’s observations and questions on the lineup so far: • This is a partial list. Some of the big names pack a punch for a festival announcement, but normally the lineup release includes hundreds of performers, from the biggest stages to groups that parade on the Fair Grounds. We’ll have to wait and see if there are more big names to come and the many more acts who will fill the festival’s 14 stages for six days.

• The festival will be a day shorter, with two three-day weekends. It also will be an hour shorter each day. Music starts at 11 a.m. and stops at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

• There isn’t a Thursday in the schedule, so will Jazz Fest offer any “Locals Thursday” benefits for Louisiana residents? In recent years, the festival offered discounted tickets to Louisiana residents for Thursday admission.

• Jazz Fest 2020 2.0? The festival was able to bring back a fair number of major acts from the canceled 2020 edition: Dead & Company, Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Lizzo, The Black Crowes, Brandi Carlile, Norah Jones, Wu-Tang Clan with The Soul Rebels, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Brittany Howard and Jon Batiste are some of the major draws Jazz Fest managed to re-book.

• One of the new-to-the-fest big names in the lineup is H.E.R. The R&B singer-songwriter has had a meteoric rise in the last five years, including winning four Grammy Awards. She heads into Jazz Fest on the heels of her recently released “Back of My Mind,” H.E.R.’s first fulllength album (her past releases have been lengthy EPs).

• LUDA! • As we said last year: Wu-Tang Clan performing with The Soul Rebels — that’s all we need to hear.

• Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band, or the return of the JazzDad. • Along with H.E.R., several acts on this year’s lineup head into Jazz Fest with new music: Foo Fighters released “Medicine at Midnight” in February; Jon Batiste’s “We Are” came out in March; and Dumpstaphunk’s timely “Where Do We Go From Here” was out in

Gov. John Bel Edwards and the state health department launched the program as a way to incentivize and reward Louisianans for getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The campaign’s $2.3 million earmarked for cash and scholarship giveaways came from federal Covid outreach dollars. The state will have four weekly drawings for $100,000 scholarships and a $100,000 cash prize each week, and the grand prize drawing on Aug. 4 will award a $1 million cash.

Residents can enter at shotatamillion.com.

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April. Also storied musician Rickie Lee Jones released her memoir earlier this year. And The Isley Brothers are out on their 60th anniversary tour this year.

• Single-day ticket prices have not been announced. Only three-day wristbands and VIP packages are available at the moment.

• There are very few international visitors in the preliminary lineup.

The Playing for Change band is typically comprised of musicians from many nations. We’ll see what the rest of the lineup includes, but what does this suggest about the Cultural Exchange Pavilion?

It often focuses on the music and culture of a single nation, although it has focused on local cultural ties, as it did in the focus on New Orleans tricentennial celebrations in 2018.

• Local crawfish won’t be in season, so will we be seeing shrimp bread and shrimp Monica? Food info is yet to come.

Below is the lineup announced so far for this year’s Jazz Fest: Dead & Company, Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, The Black Crowes, H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, Norah Jones, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Beach Boys, Ludacris, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Jon Batiste, Wu-Tang Clan feat. The Soul Rebels, Ziggy Marley: Songs of Bob Marley, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, The Revivalists, Brittany Howard, Randy Newman, Irma Thomas, Melissa Etheridge, The Isley Brothers, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Boz Scaggs, Rickie Lee Jones, Ledisi, Tower of Power, David Sanborn, Tank and The Bangas, Big Freedia, Chris Isaak, Keb’ Mo’ Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, PJ Morton, Samantha Fish, Tribute to Dr. John, The Count Basie Orchestra, Galactic, Playing for Change Band, Terence Blanchard feat The E-Collective, Rebirth Brass Band, Shovels & Rope, Cyril Neville, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Asleep at the Wheel, Arturo Sandoval, Davell Crawford, El Gran Combo, Kermit Ruffins & the Barbeque Swingers, Martha Redbone Roots Project, Ricky Skaggs, Doug Kershaw, Boyfriend, Charlie Musselwhite, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, The Radiators, Anders Osborne, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Soul Rebels, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Tab Benoit, Leo Nocentelli, Walter Wolfman Washington & the Roadmasters, Puss N Boots, Deacon John, The Campbell Brothers, George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, Little Freddie King, Nicholas Payton, Kathy Taylor and Favor, David Shaw, Tribute to Bessie Smith, The Roots of Music Marching Crusaders, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles Mardi

Gras Indians, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Jermaine Landrum & Abundant Praise Revival Choir, New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Ronnie Lamarque, We are One and Divine Ladies Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, and more.

The remainder of the lineup will be announced next month, Jazz Fest says. — JAKE CLAPP & WILL COVIELLO

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2021 tickets: Here’s what you need to know Now that the Jazz Fest lineup has been released, it’s time to start thinking about tickets.

The festival runs Friday, Oct. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 10, and Friday, Oct. 15, through Sunday, Oct. 17, at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course.

Single day tickets will go on sale in July. Right now, fans can buy weekend passes for either threeday weekend. Early bird prices are $200 while supplies last, and the in advance price will be $225. Weekend pass holders get a wristband for entrance and are not transferable.

There also are the regular VIP packages.

“Big Chief VIP” tickets, which allow ticket holders access to special viewing areas, toilets, and other essential amenities — will be $1,600 for either weekend. This includes an air-conditioned lounge, private beverage booths, raised and covered viewing stands at the major stages, ability to purchase VIP parking ($225) and/ or VIP shuttle tickets ($135), express entrance lines, exit and re-entry privileges and a laminated souvenir ticket.

The “Grand Marshal VIP” pass, which offers closeup, standingroom-only space near the Acura Stage, the Shell Gentilly Stage and the Congo Square Stage, is $1,500 for either weekend. Parking and VIP shuttles are available to pass holders.

The “Krewe of Jazz Fest” pass, which offers access to a private covered viewing area near the Acura Stage and other privileges, is $800 for either weekend. Parking and VIP shuttles are available to pass holders.

Ticket packages are available at nojazzfest.com.

WWOZ Brass Passes allow access to the Fair Grounds and the WWOZ hospitality tent every day of the festival. Details on Brass Passes are available on the radio station’s website.

VIP and weekend package buyers from 2020 who elected to rollover their tickets should receive an email from the ticketing company about ticket exchange for 2021, says a Jazz Fest press release. Individual ticket buyers will be contacted when individual tickets are available. — WILL COVIELLO

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COMMENTARY ..... easy dresses

THE PUSHBACK CONTINUES against

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s foolhardy proposal to relocate City Hall to Municipal Auditorium.

Earlier this week Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer announced her intention to ask the full council to hold up the proposed move pending public input about the auditorium’s future. Whether it’s Palmer’s idea or some other formal step, the City Council must preserve all possible alternative options.

No one doubts that the current City Hall is an unsightly mess, but New Orleans’ seat of municipal power and authority has no place in Congo Square, a sacred space and a symbol of Black resistance, defiance and cultural identity.

Despite reassuring words from Cantrell in recent weeks, her administration continued to move forward with her plan to relocate City Hall to Armstrong Park.

On June 21, just three days after Cantrell hinted that she may accept alternatives, the city released a revised Request for Qualifications (RFQ) from architects and engineers for bringing back the auditorium — as the new City Hall.

The only change from the previous RFQ was a new deadline for submissions. Days later, after more pushback, Cantrell said the city is not locked into any final use despite the RFQ’s language.

Given the mayor’s abuse of the public trust during last year’s library funding fight, we are not convinced.

Cantrell insists that time is of the essence, claiming if we don’t meet an impending deadline the city will lose $38 million in FEMA money. Her statements also have suggested a lack of alternative proposals, but that’s not the case.

Municipal Auditorium has been a top issue for Treme residents since Hurricane Katrina, and many options have been discussed. One option which merits serious — and immediate — consideration is turning the space into a dual civil rights museum and cultural learning center.

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Residents of Treme shouldn’t be forced to host City Hall.

New Orleans has played a prominent if often dark role in America’s struggle for racial equality. Decades before the Civil War, our city had both a large slave market and one of the nation’s largest Free Black populations. Louisiana had America’s first Black governor in P. B. S. Pinchback. The landmark Plessy v.

Ferguson civil rights case originated in New Orleans. And in 1957, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at New Zion Baptist Church in Central City.

New Orleans’ connection to the broader struggle for justice also stems from our culture. Born in the streets of Treme, jazz was the soundtrack of Black resistance to white supremacy and Jim Crow for much of the 20th century, before giving way to New Orleans-rooted funk and soul sounds of Black Power and liberation. No Limit in the ’90s, and more recently Curren$y’s Jet Life have helped blaze trails for Black artists to control both their art and their economic circumstances.

Creating a museum and cultural school in Municipal Auditorium is just one idea. In charting the auditorium’s future, city leaders should seek to honor Armstrong Park’s namesake as well as the history and cultural significance of Congo Square. Putting City Hall there would do the opposite.

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CLANCY DUBOS @clancygambit

‘Veto session’ looms large for Edwards, GOP

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

Governor John Bel Edwards A FEW WEEKS AGO I concluded my

“Winnas and Loozas” analysis of the recent legislative session by noting that the lawmaking did not end with final adjournment. Gov. John Bel Edwards has 20 days to sign or veto bills once they reach his desk, including line-item vetoes in the annual capital outlay (read: construction) bill. This year, his final vetoes are due by midnight July 3.

Even that won’t end things. For the first time in memory, there’s real talk of a veto session, which would give lawmakers an opportunity to override any of Edwards’ vetoes. As of press time, he had vetoed two measures since adjournment. Senate Bill 156 bars transgender students from participating in school athletics according to their gender identity.

Senate Bill 118 effectively makes Louisiana a permitless concealed carry state.

Those vetoes came as no surprise.

Edwards, a Democrat, opposed both of the bills from Day One. His veto message on S.B. 156 said the bill would foster “discrimination” and could cost the state the NCAA Final Four, scheduled for next spring in New Orleans. Edwards has previously said the gun measure would unnecessarily erode public safety protections.

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder (R-Gonzales) has announced his support of a veto session, and he was quickly joined by House Majority Leader Blake Miguez (R-Erath) and Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Many see the 105-member House as poised to override Edwards’ vetoes. That takes 70 votes, and the GOP only has 68 House members.

However, both bills received significant Democratic votes in the Lower

Chamber. That bodes ill for Edwards.

Things look somewhat better for the governor in the 39-member Senate, according to veteran political writer Jeremy Alford of LaPolitics.com. It takes 26 Senators to override, and 27 of them are Republicans. But, as Alford notes in his latest digital issue, Senate President Page Cortez (R-Lafayette), hadn’t opined on the veto session as of press time, and several other GOP senators were not too keen on the idea. At least, not at first.

In recent days, however, Republican senators have been bombarded with pro-override phone calls, emails, texts and direct messages — all stoked by GOP leaders anxious to hand the Democratic governor a defeat.

Of course, the governor can turn up some heat of his own, thanks to his line-item veto authority over the construction budget. Other political considerations may affect the course of things as well.

Edwards has also expressed misgivings about the massive infrastructure bill that passed on the final day of the session. Edwards says he is concerned that the bill redirects $300 million in general fund dollars to infrastructure. It too passed with a large majority in both chambers, so a veto of this measure would complicate things for the governor.

The state constitution mandates five-day veto sessions, but lawmakers can (and typically do) opt out if a majority in either the House or Senate votes in writing not to return.

This year, the veto session will begin July 20 — unless enough lawmakers opt out by July 15.

Stay tuned. We may soon see some new winnas and loozas.

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™

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Hey Blake, With all the talk of renaming streets, I understand that the city once considered changing the name of Canal Street. Why and what was the new name going to be?

Featuring

Dear reader,

The city did more than just consider changing the name of Canal Street in the 1850s, it went through with it. In March 1854, the City Council voted to rename the thoroughfare for merchant and philanthropist Judah Touro (also the namesake of Touro Infirmary and Touro Synagogue).

Touro had a strong connection to Canal Street. For many years, the 700 block of Canal Street — from Royal to Bourbon — was known as Touro Row for the property he owned and redeveloped into more than a dozen identical buildings.

When Touro died in January 1854, The Daily Picayune noted that his will called for the distribution of more than $4 million ($128.2 million in today’s money) to synagogues, Jewish charities, hospitals, schools and institutions here and across the country. He was no doubt worthy of a permanent tribute, but some questioned the decision by the

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 AYUNE

Cars head toward the Mississippi River on Canal Street.

council a few months later to rename a major street for him.

“The people of New Orleans didn’t take kindly to the change and paid no attention to it, though Judah Touro was a highly respected citizen and generous benefactor,” wrote States-Item columnist Pie Dufour in 1956. He said that New Orleanians kept calling it Canal Street and “though conceived with the best of motives, (it) was nonetheless sheer nonsense.”

So in April 1855, the council passed a second ordinance “that the name of Touro Avenue be and is hereby changed (back) to the original name of Canal Street.”

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About six months after he opened his restaurant, Brennan brought in his younger sister Ella to manage it. Just 21 years old, she immersed herself in the business, learning the finer points of cooking and hospitality. She helped invent the restaurant’s iconic dessert, Bananas Foster, and popularized breakfast as the restaurant’s signature meal.

In 1954, with the family’s lease on the Bourbon Street restaurant soon to expire, Owen Brennan inked a deal to move the restaurant to 417 Royal Street. His sudden death a year later meant he would not see that new restaurant become reality.

Ella Brennan and her five siblings went on to open Brennan’s on Royal Street in 1956 and make it a New Orleans culinary landmark. In 1974, a family dispute led to Owen’s widow Maude and her three sons taking control of the restaurant, which they ran for the next 40 years. Ella Brennan and her brothers, sisters and children were forced out but assumed control of other restaurants they owned, including Commander’s Palace.

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H LE TRUTH From decrepit pipes to historically bad decision making, it’s shocking we have any pavement at all

BY JOHN STANTON | GAMBIT EDITOR THERE ARE PLENTY OF REASONS TO BE ANGRY about the state of New

P H O T O B Y S H AW N F I N K / T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Drivers avoid one of several deep potholes marked with Sewerage & Water Board hazard cones along Banks Street in New Orleans, La., Monday, Dec. 3, 2018.

Orleans roads. They shred our tires, overturn our bikes, wreck the suspension on our cars and can making getting to or from anywhere a nightmare.

They unite us in a collective anger and despair, no matter whether you are rich or poor, Black or white, on one side of Canal or the other.

“We find ourselves playing partial therapist by the time people get to us,” says District A Councilmember Joe Giarrusso, who chairs the council’s Quality of Life Committee and thus fields complaints about roads on a daily basis.

Identifying the problem is easy. The why is a lot trickier, and it can’t simply be laid at the feet of our current Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Because none of this is new. Far from it. Since at least 1961, people have taken pictures of their kids posing in the gaping holes that periodically rip open on the mean streets of New Orleans.

“This has been forever,” says Giarrusso, who also chairs the Public Works Committee and has oversight authority over the Department of Public Works. Even as a kid in Lakeview, he recalls, “the streets were horrible back then.”

So how did we get here?

For one, the city is built on what our Clancy DuBos likes to call “coffee grounds” — the very ground upon which we stand is just, well, not all that solid. Over time, that wet, loose ground just gives way.

And then there are the water pumps. Critical to our survival, the pumping system helps pull water out of the water table to reduce flooding. But that has also made things underneath us unstable. So much so, it’s the greatest contributing factor to the fact that New Orleans is sinking by as much as two inches a year, according to a 2016 study by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Cal Tech.

Ever seen a manhole that almost looks like it’s the top of a small volcano in the middle of the street? It’s likely not because the manhole — which is connected to the rigid underground system of pipes — moved, but rather the street and everything else around it sank.

Speaking of pipes, our drinking water pipes are a huge source of potholes and sinkholes in the city.

New Orleans’ drinking water system is ancient. According to Giarrusso, more than 50% of the system is at least 80 years old, and some go back a centu-

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THE

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THE

HOLE TRUTH

S C R E E N S H OT O F S W B O N L I N E M A P

Pipes installed prior to 1919 (in red) make up a huge part of our system.

And our problem.

ry or more. Pipes aren’t meant to last that long, and as a result, the entire system is riddled with leaks.

In its February 2020 quarterly report to the City Council, the Sewerage & Water Board warned officials that the city’s “water distribution system loses approximately 55% daily of its treated, potable water ... This percentage reflects ‘real’ losses, which can be attributed almost entirely to leaks in water mains across the City.” Those leaks slowly — or in some cases not so slowly — erode the soil around the pipes, eventually opening pits beneath roadbeds, which in turn collapse and become potholes and sinkholes.

The problem is so bad, engineers and city officials agree it is one of the biggest contributors to New Orleans’ pothole epidemic. And fixing it won’t be cheap: according to Giarrusso, estimates on fixing all of our infrastructure — including the roads and systems underneath them — clock in around $9.1 billion.

And that doesn’t include the cost of ongoing maintenance that pretty much starts immediately after a road is repaired.

And then there’s the problem of funding priorities. For decades, successive administrations punted costly infrastructure repair projects, systemwide maintenance or both.

Other administrations focused efforts on tourist heavy areas or on signature capital projects. And all of them have dealt with the general graft and mismanagement that has long plagued government in New Orleans. Combined with the neglected drinking water pipe system under our streets, thousands of miles of roads went without needed maintenance or repair, allowing problems to grow to the point we’re at now, with whole stretches of roads needing to be completely replaced.

The cascading effect of longstanding neglect have hurt the budget in other ways, particularly in the wake of the 2017 floods

when the city shifted significant resources into clearing catch basins and canals to reduce the sorts of massive flooding events that have now become all too common.

Though it may feel like nobody is ever fixing anything, that’s not really the case. It’s not like road crews aren’t out there filing holes. They are. According to the city’s website, between 2010 and 2016 the Department of Public Works filled an eyepopping 360,000 potholes.

According to city officials, last year the city filled 36,979 potholes on 2,773 blocks. And that doesn’t count the who knows how many cutouts — those spots, generally square or rectangular, where a utility has come, cut the street open and, if you’re lucky, filled it in with some loose gravel and dirt.

Aside from potholes, the city has launched a host of larger projects.

According to Sarah McLaughlin Porteous, the director of DPW’s Special Projects & Strategic Engagement Office, “the mayor made the decision to really ramp up our projects during Covid,” particularly those funded by FEMA. As a result, there are currently 68 projects underway across the city, worth an estimated $600 million. That’s up from the $20 to $40 million in FEMA projects the department normally has going at any one time, Porteous says.

Of course, when your tire explodes or your oil pan cracks because you hit a pothole, none of that spending or work is there to reassure you. That most people feel like nothing is being done despite those numbers is in part a testament to how bad the problem is.

But it can also be chalked up to a bit of an “out of sight, out of mind” situation.

Giarrusso says given the sheer size of the problem, and the daily challenge everyone faces navigating the city’s streets, “It does feel like a drop in the bucket … If it’s not on your street or drive to work, it doesn’t feel like it’s going on.”

This pothole thought it could take Sabrina Crais. It thought wrong.

BY JOHN STANTON | GAMBIT EDITOR IF YOU LIVE IN NEW ORLEANS and

have even a passing acquaintance with this thing called the “internet” upon which people put “photographs” on “Instagram,” then you know Look At This Fuckin’ Street. Since 2019 the account has catalogued potholes, sinkholes, cutouts and various sundry of other sorts of roadway insanity in our fair city.

Seeing as how this is the Pothole issue, we wanted to get to know Instagram’s Infrastructure Influencer a little bit better: see what makes them tick and perhaps discover the location of the cave from which Martha Huckabay emerged low this many years ago.

We provided LATFS with anonymity because honestly, who cares who they are physically, as well as to protect them from retribution by Jimmy Two Thumbs or any of the other asphalt bosses.

When did you start LATFS? LATFS: I started it sometime around November of 2019 when I had some extra time on my hands.

I used to drive around the city a lot for work, and started collecting pictures that just make you say “look at this fuckin’ street!”, but most of the New Orleans pothole accounts I found (of which there are many) were either defunct, barely posted, or had a much more opinionated commentary. I wanted to make something that was a bit more documentarian but with some comedy sprinkled in.

Why did you decide to start the account?

LATFS: I have a distinct memory of maybe 2016, turning right onto a Bywater street and there just was no street there anymore. It was literally just dirt and holes and mud and it stayed that way for months — I don’t think it was even under construction. I said out loud to the passenger I was with “Look at this fuckin’ street!” I thought that while it’s pretty on-the-nose, that phrase would make a great name for an account.

Every place has potholes.

What makes our pothole situation so different?

LATFS: Well, it depends on who you ask. Plenty of people in the comments say it’s because of who we elect to office, and that’s certainly an oversimplification.

There’s also plenty of people in the comments who say things like “this is what you get for building on a swamp,” and while I think there’s some truth to it, that’s also an oversimplification. I’m not an expert, but I think the real causes are a mixture of geographical and geological elements like subsidence, groundwater, pumping, the sheer age of the city, and institutional issues like mismanagement, poor prioritization, and of course, lack of resources ... I would love it if New Orleans streets looked like some other cities’ pothole accounts. I recently saw one from Indianapolis I think – any of our potholes would eat this thing for breakfast.

Have you ever tried to get a pothole fixed? If so, what was that like and are you still on hold waiting to speak to someone about it?

LATFS: I had a sinkhole in front of my old house that I reported.

SWBNO came out and they said Entergy caused it with a power pole crushing a drain line. Entergy came out and said it was actually SWBNO’s fault. I had someone from DPW come out and they said there’s not even a drain line there to crush, but that either way it would be SWBNO’s fix.

Meanwhile, there was a hole in the sidewalk with a gas line at the bottom that could snap someone’s leg if they stepped into it. I spoke to a contractor to fix it, but they wouldn’t because it’s city property. And this is exactly the frustration people who submit to LATFS are dealing with — it’s a lack of transparency.

P H OTO B Y TAY LO R HOFFMAN

“Bruh, I JUST got her detailed and everything!”

Should the mayor move City Hall to a pothole, and if so which one?

LATFS: There are plenty of potholes large enough to accommodate City Hall right now, and as long as it’s not in the Treme I don’t care which one she chooses.

Why is it important to you to be involved in the discussion around the city’s infrastructure?

LATFS: It’s not often that you stumble into the opportunity to make a bunch of people laugh (and maybe make the right people angry), AND have a chance at maybe getting something fixed every day. I thought originally I’d have a few laughs and a few hundred followers and lose interest.

When I realized that I could actually amplify people’s concerns and that people were paying attention, I couldn’t resist staying engaged.

What are some basic things you think the city could do to either get a handle on the pothole situation or at least help citizens better understand what’s going on?

LATFS: Right now, most of the submissions I’m getting are about roadwork that has been started but then left for months. My understanding is that this is a rush to start projects to get FEMA money allocated to them which expires soon ... I think most people just want transparency.

As everyone knows, Buffy lived in Sunnydale because of the Hellmouth.

Are you a vampire slayer, or in any way affiliated with said slayer?

LATFS: No comment

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EYES ON THE STREET

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Potholes through the years

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Billy Wynn, then 8, standing in a gaping maw of a pothole back in ‘61. On Oct. 6 the 400 block of Audubon will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of this amazing photo. Hopefully there won’t be a freakin’ huge-ass hole there when it happens.

P H OTO B Y E L L I S L U C I A / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Government types standing around potholes has been a time honored tradition for as long as there’s been holes to be filled by other people.

P H OTO B Y A L E X A N D E R B A R KO F F / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Parents were putting their kids to work filling potholes in the 1980s. And y’all wonder why Gen X is so messed up.

P H OTO B Y B R YA N S .

B ERTR E AUX / TH E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

This freakin’ lake of a pothole was being filled in 1987 as part of the city’s Adopt a Pothole Program.

The Reagan years were wild as hell.

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Gnola the Gnome gettin’ in that WAP — Wet Ass Pothole.

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TBF this 2008 pothole’s fashion aesthetic was way better than that bike.

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Potholes through the years

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Stop. Drop. Shut ‘em down. Open up shop. Oh no, that’s how the potholes roll.

P H OTO B Y JENNIFER ZDON / THE TIMESP I C AY U N E

“I’ve seen some shit,” this warning sign would say to passersby back in 2006 as it stood unsteadily on the corner of Bienville and Anthony streets, taking a long drag from its smoke.

P H OTO B Y M AT T R O S E / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Potholes have always been a fun reason to party, like when Marie McCoy celebrated the Cannes Street pothole’s first birthday back in 2004.

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No story about the failures of the city to deal with a longstanding problem is complete without a photo of former Mayor C. Ray Nagin being preposterous.

P H OTO B Y MICHAEL DEMOCKER / THE T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

The New Orleans Pot Holes Brass Band was formed by members of the Marine Corps Band of New Orleans, because even when you’re in uniform you can still mock City Hall.

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RIP to that safety barrel.

D O U G M AC C A S H / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Artist John Bukaty created a series of pieces shaped like actual New Orleans potholes, perhaps the best use of negative space ever.

J O H N M C C U S K E R / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Potholes aren’t always round, like this Moss Street beast from 2009. Don’t square-shame them, you guys.

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Worst. Jacuzzi. Ever.

P H OTO B Y MICHAEL DEMOCKER / THE TIMESP I C AY U N E

The infamous Canal Street sinkhole, which inspired the Sinkhole de Mayo.

P H OTO B Y C H R I S GRANGER / THE T I M E S - P I C AY U N E P H OTO B Y E L I OT K A M E N I T Z / T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Don’t let the smile fool ya, this 2014 pothole was straight eatin’ tires in Mid-City.

Is that a giant cone in your pothole or are just happy to see us?

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Potholes through the years

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Potholes through the years

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This is the sort of sinkhole that vampires emerge from to terrorize local high school cheerleaders.

P H OTO C O U R T E S Y M I C H A E L L I N D L E Y

Dr. Michael Lindley said that he told his kids this pothole at Nashville Avenue and Laurel Street was evidence that there were “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles living under our New Orleans streets.”

P H OTO B Y B R E T T D U K E / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Don’t matter if you’re rich or poor, in New Orleans you’re always dealing a huge-ass pothole on your block like this 2015 monster on Stafford Place.

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

Remember when the Sinkhole de Mayo happened on Canal back in 2016 and ole’ Mitch got more worked up over people second lining for it than he did over the creation of the Canal Street Canyon?

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P H OTO C O U R T E S Y S TAC T G R A B E R T

A toy all-terrain vehicle has met its match in a chasm at Camp and Upperline streets — note the journalism booster bumper sticker

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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

In 2018 The Times-Pic created the Gnola Gnome to make fun of the city’s inability to address the pothole epidemic.

The Attack of the Huge Ass Sinkholes of 2016-2017 lasted for just two years, but its legacy can still be felt today.

Miranda Humphrey gracefully walks the Sinkhole Catwalk wearing the latest in 2016 pothole couture.

P H OTO B Y S O P H I A GERMER / THE T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Pandemic Potholes just hit different, ya know?

P H OTO B Y M AT T H E W H I N TO N / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Clowning on our city government’s inability to deal with potholes is a time honored tradition, like when in 2020 the Krewe of Brid rolled through Lakeview.

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Potholes through the years

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Puff piece

On the line

Beard Papa’s opens in New Orleans

opened in 1983 is today a modern classic of Creole dining. It also is at a crossroads.

Clevenger has said throughout the coronavirus crisis that she intends to reopen Upperline but has not had a timeline for when that would be possible. Now, though, she is uncertain whether she will reopen.

“If I could flip a switch and get back to March 14 (2020), I would do it,” Clevenger says. “Right now, though I just don’t know.”

One factor she’s watching is the future of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a federal program to help rebuild the restaurant industry. The initial fund ran out quickly, and Congress

THE UPTOWN BISTRO JOANN CLEVENGER and her family first

BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O OF ALL THE BEARD PAPA’S LOCATIONS across the globe — there

are more than 400 in 15 countries, including more than 33 in the U.S. — the New Orleans cream puff bakery is the only one with two locally influenced filling flavors: bananas Foster and king cake.

“It’s very important to me to keep our shop as tied to New Orleans as possible,” says franchisee Thu Le. “This is our home, and there’s no other city quite like it.”

Le and her husband Hung Cao opened Beard Papa’s on June 26 at 4712 Magazine St. It’s the couple’s first venture in the food world. Both work in medical fields — Cao is a chiropractor and Le a cardiovascular perfusionist, a member of an open-heart surgery team.

Le grew up in Houma and Cao in Cut Off, and the couple has lived in Lakeview for the past decade with their sons Jackson, 5, Benson, 7, and Cohen, 10. Their parents started businesses when they came to the U.S. from Vietnam years ago, and the couple had been toying with the idea of investing in a business that would help provide for their children’s education down the road.

Cream puffs were not on their radar until Le’s younger sister visited Japan and raved about the pastry she had at Beard Papa’s, which was founded there in 1999.

“We went on a road trip to try them out in Dallas and Houston and thought they were so delicious and different,” Le says. “Not too sweet and incredibly consistent. I just felt it in my bones — this was the right business for us.”

Beard Papa’s is named for and has a logo representing the bearded, elderly man who reportedly opened the first shop in Japan.

Beard Papa’s focus is cream puffs with various toppings and fillings. The airy, flakey pastry shells have just the right amount of crunch and are filled

with a blend of whipped and custard cream in flavors like vanilla, chocolate and green tea, as well as king cake and bananas Foster. Seasonal options will feature pumpkin in the fall and chocolate mint around the holidays.

The cream puffs are available with or without icings, which include chocolate, green tea or strawberry frosting, drizzled with honey butter or topped with s’mores or crumbled cookies and cream. A version with a crispy almond shell is a crunchier cousin to a French croissant.

The short menu also has mini chocolate lava cakes, cheesecakes and creme brulee. Dessert prices range between $3.50 and $4.25, and portions are generous. There also are soft drinks, coffee and tea.

Le has maintained local elements throughout the business. She petitioned to use a local contractor instead of a national contractor for construction, and the corporation agreed. A mural on the wall is from local artist Ashlee Arceneaux, who has painted murals up and down Magazine Street, including at Dat Dog. Although she grew up in a family that loved to bake, Le’s first formal experience was her two-week training to make the cream puffs. She’ll be hands-on at the shop — while

P H OTO B Y W I LL C OV I ELLO

Thu Le serves cream puffs with various fillings at Beard Papa’s on Magazine Street.

also maintaining her medical career — until a general manager is trained to run the show. Cao’s role has been mostly as a handyman, assembling equipment and making sure the back of the house is ready to go. They tinkered with the Rational oven to adjust for the local humidity.

They considered many options but were determined to open the business in New Orleans.

“We also sought our parents’ approval,” Le says. “We had talked about maybe moving to Austin (Texas), but I’m a New Orleans girl and I love my job at Tulane hospital.

I love the population that we serve, and I can’t leave it.”

She’s gotten a lot of head scratching responses from friends about opening a cream puff place on top of her job in medicine. “I see that it’s confusing to people, and it’s hard to put into words,” Le says. “It’s a way of balancing my life that sparks joy with me. Our goal is to have three locations, so this is a first step.”

?

What Beard Papa’s

Where 4712 Magazine St., 504-3452459; beardpapas.com or @ beardpapasnola on Instagram

When 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 10 a.m.9 p.m. Friday-Saturday

How Takeout and dine-in

Check it out A popular Japanese cream puff comes to Magazine Street

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 AYUNE

JoAnn Clevenger owns Upperline Restaurant.

is considering legislation that would add more money and reopen it for additional restaurants to apply.

Upperline is one of a handful of New Orleans restaurants that have not yet reopened but didn’t permanently close in the pandemic.

It holds a prominent place in the New Orleans dining scene, and Clevenger, now in her 80s, has through the years built a reputation as the personification of her restaurant. In normal times, she is constantly in circulation around the dining rooms, greeting regulars and chatting tableside with customers.

Upperline is known for the collection of art covering the rambling rooms of its 1870s-era home. Its menu has kept a consistent culinary style through the decades and through a succession of head chefs. Dishes like duck etouffee and roast duck with ginger peach sauce are signatures, and the restaurant holds claim to originating shrimp remoulade with fried green tomatoes, a dish now found on many New Orleans menus.

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Clevenger has garnered plenty of hospitality industry honors through the years. She’s been a perennial contender for the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurateur, being named a finalist for the award through six consecutive years.

In 2015, the regional food culture group Southern Foodways Alliance honored Clevenger with its Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award, joining past recipients including Leah Chase, Ella Brennan and John Folse. Brett Anderson, then the restaurant critic for The Times-Picayune, named Upperline his “restaurant of the year” in 2017. — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

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for celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, has been shuttered since the first closure orders in March 2020. It will reopen Aug. 3, Lagasse says.

In an interview, Lagasse also discussed some changes coming for the Warehouse District restaurant, which has been a prominent part of the New Orleans dining scene for three decades.

“We’re doing things very carefully, not reopening just to reopen, but doing it in a way that makes sense,” Lagasse says.

Lagasse says his strategy through the pandemic has been to focus his teams on reopening one restaurant at a time. Meril, the most casual of his local restaurants, reopened last summer. He was reluctant to reopen more in New Orleans, though, as closure orders and business restrictions kept shifting.

Now, Lagasse says, the time is right for Emeril’s Restaurant.

The year 2020 marked the restaurant’s 30th anniversary, and the chef had been planning some upgrades for the milestone. Early in that year, before the pandemic closures, Lagasse hired a new creative director for his company — chef Tim Alvarez, who was previously sous chef for menu development at Le Bernadin, the Michelin-starred New York restaurant. Lagasse says Alvarez will play a crucial role in preparing Emeril’s for its reopening.

He says it will feel like the same restaurant, but with enhancements to reaffirm its role as the flagship of the company. The restaurant once was known for its tasting menu, and Lagasse wants to bring that back. His goal is to sharpen the restaurant overall.

“I’m looking at it like I’m opening a brand-new restaurant,” Lagasse says. “Everyone on the team knows we have to step up the game and be the best restaurant in New Orleans for New Orleanians.”

There is much rebuilding to do here, though, especially with staffing.

During the closure, key staff including the restaurant’s chef de cuisine, sous chef, manager and sommelier started their own business, called the Furloughed Four, hosting private dinners in homes and borrowed restaurant spaces.

At least to begin, Lagasse himself will serve as co-chef at Emeril’s Restaurant alongside David Slater, a 20-year veteran with his company who was chef de cuisine at the flagship for nine years up until 2017.

Lagasse says his company is now recruiting for the restaurant and has cast a wide net.

The chef doesn’t yet have firm dates set for reopening his other New Orleans restaurants, but he says NOLA, the French Quarter restaurant he opened in 1992, will be the next one up, following some repairs to its St. Louis Street building. He is less certain about the timeline for Emeril’s Delmonico.

Lagasse has been reopening restaurants around the country. In New Orleans, his restaurant in the new airport concourse, Emeril’s Table, is back in business. Meril, open for nearly a year now, has a new chef at the helm, Bergen Carman, who rose through the ranks from her start as pastry cook.

His company closed two restaurants permanently in the pandemic, both in casinos — Emeril’s Stadium, his sports bar on the Las Vegas Strip, and Emeril’s Fish House, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

A bright spot for the chef emerged in Miramar Beach, Florida. The restaurant he originally opened as Emeril’s Coastal Italian was revamped to focus more fully on seafood and renamed Emeril’s Coastal.

The restaurant has been booming, and Lagasse has been a constant presence there, working different stations in the kitchen. The chef says when Emeril’s Restaurant reopens, he expects to spend the same kind of time at his flagship.

Lagasse opened the restaurant at the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Julia streets in 1990. He was well known in New Orleans by then for his tenure at Commander’s Palace, but it was his own restaurant that launched his global fame.

Looking ahead to reopening, he’s also been looking back at the restaurant’s history and that has energized him to get back behind the stoves here, he says.

“There will be changes, but it will still be the soul of what Emeril’s has been through the years,” Lagasse says. “It’s time to rev it up, to raise the bar after 30 years, and I couldn’t be more committed to that goal.” — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

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Kevin Belton Chef and TV Host KEVIN BELTON LEARNED TO COOK

at home while growing up in south Louisiana. He started a career in cooking and launched a cooking school. He’s released several cookbooks and hosted three cooking series on public television stations, as well as doing food and culture segments for WWL-TV. His new 26-episode series, “Kevin Belton’s Cookin’ Louisiana,” premieres at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, July 3, on WYES-TV, and it will air on most PBS stations across the country.

In July, he and his wife Monica will release a cookbook of the same name with all of the recipes from the show.

What will the new series cover?

KEVIN BELTON: We have done the other shows basically in New Orleans. This show is my take on recipes and traditions from all around the state — to show off all the areas that make up the state and make us who we are.

Besides all the in-studio cooking, the transitions between recipes are going to be meeting people in different areas. I sat down with the Tamale Queen from the Zwolle Tamale Fiesta. It’s up near Toledo Bend. They’re known for their tamales, so they have this huge festival.

In the book, I give my take on a Zwolle hot tamale.

We actually start in Lafourche Parish in the first episode. My dad’s family came from Lafourche Crossing, which is just outside of Thibodaux. I wanted to do things that were like grandmother cooking — all the traditional dishes. I did a stuffed crab and an oyster stew.

I also did a seafood crepe. When we were growing up, seafood was so plentiful that we always had seafood, so I decided to put it in a crepe. Maybe six or seven months ago, I bought this crepe pan during Covid and started playing with it.

Monica thought I was crazy. I was like, “Let’s do this in the show.”

What else did you find traveling around the state?

BELTON: We have so many Native Americans here. They were such a big influence with our cooking.

The Native Americans showed the Africans, the French, the Spanish

P H OTO B Y D ENNY C UL B E R T/ COURTESY GIBBS SMITH

and everyone coming in how to use what grew here naturally. They were using it first, like file powder. In the show, I went to visit Marksville and the Tunica-Biloxi, which is an amalgam of tribes from the area.

We were out in the Atchafalaya Basin where I was talking to Jody Meche, the president of the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association West. We were out there talking about crawfish, but I couldn’t help but bring my fishing pole. It’s not recorded, but it was like, you can’t be from Louisiana and be on the water and not cast at least one pole.

If you go up to Ruston and Monroe (in north Louisiana), it’s still a lot of the same ingredients, but there’s Southern influences. You have folks who have come over from Texas and Mississippi or down from Arkansas.

In Monroe, I decided to do a chicken-fried steak.

What are some of the less common recipes you do for the show?

BELTON: It was interesting to search for those hidden gems around the state. Everyone is so familiar with the Cajun and Creole traditional dishes, and in New Orleans we have the Irish community, Italians, Germans, Vietnamese, Greek and so many different heritages. In other cities, we found more, like Hungarians and the Croatian oyster fishermen in south Louisiana. In Baton Rouge, we found (Czech) kolaches.

In Baton Rouge, we found Filipino dishes. We do tapsilog with sinangag. Tapsilog is a Filipino beef dish and sinangog is garlic fried rice. They usually are served together with an over-easy egg on top that busts and runs down with all that goodness mixed together.

— WILL COVIELLO For more information, visit kevinbelton.com.

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Contact Will Coviello wcoviello@gambitweekly.com 504-483-3106 | FAX: 504-483-3159 C O M P LE 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.

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

Notice: Due to COVID-19, dining at restaurants is impacted. Information is subject to change. Contact the restaurant to confirm service options.

CARROLLTON Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description.

Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ 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.

Lunch and dinner daily. $$

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. Lunch and dinner 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. Lunch and dinner Wed.-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. Breakfast, lunch and dinner 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. Lunch and dinner daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; 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.

Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $

LAKEVIEW The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 2842898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood and more. The Blue Crab platter has fried shrimp, oysters, catfish and crab claws and either fried stuffed crab or soft-shell crab. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.Sun. $$ 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.

Breakfast and lunch daily. $

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. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 8352022; gumbostop.com — The Seafood Platter comes with fried catfish, shrimp, oysters and crab balls and is accompanied by fries and choice of side.

Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 8882010; koshercajun.com — This New Yorkstyle deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available. Lunch Sun.-Thu., dinner 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. Lunch Tue.-Sat., dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — Chef Frank Catalanotto is the namesake “nephew” who ran the kitchen at his late uncle Tony Angello’s restaurant. The Creole-Italian

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. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar — 231 N. Carrollton Ave., Suite C, (504) 609-3871; 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. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — The neighborhood pizza joint serves New Yorkstyle pies, plus calzones, sandwiches and salads. Signature shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onion on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Dine-in, takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes New Orleans favorites such as red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as grilled or fried seafood plates, po-boys, raw or char-grilled oysters, pasta, salads and more. Dine-in and takeout available. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ 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. Dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ 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 CR Coffee Shop — 3618 Magazine St., (504) 354-9422; crcoffeenola.com — The

selection includes Coast Roast coffees made with beans roasted in antique roasters, and the sweet vanilla cream cold brew is a signature item. There also are pastries and snacks. Indoor and outdoor seating, online ordering and delivery available. Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. $ 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. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ 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. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — The Peruvian menu includes a version of the traditional dish lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Dine-in, outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

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.

Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$ NOLA Caye — 898 Baronne St., (504) 302-1302; nolacaye.com — The menu features Caribbean-inspired dishes and Gulf seafood. Seared ahi tuna is served with mango, avocado, mixed greens, citrus vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Takeout, delivery and outdoor seating available. D daily, brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

WEST BANK Asia — Boomtown Casino & Hotel, 4132 Peters Road, Harvey, (504) 364- 8812; boomtownneworleans.com — Restaurateur Tri La’s menu serves Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. The Lau Hot Pot for two comes with choice of scallops, snow crab or shrimp.

Reservations accepted. Dinner Fri.-Sun. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, 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. Dinner Wed.Sat. Cash only. $$$ Specialty Italian Bistro — 2330 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna, (504) 391-1090; specialtyitalianbistro.com — The menu combines Old World Italian favorites and pizza. Paneed chicken piccata is topped with lemon-caper piccata sauce served with angel hair pasta, salad and garlic cheese bread. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

29 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > J u n e 2 9 - J u ly 5 > 2 0 2 1

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menu features dishes like veal, eggplant or chicken parmigiana, and Mama’s Eggplant with red gravy and Romano cheese. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 885-4572; shortstoppoboysno.com — The menu includes more than 30 po-boys along with other Louisiana staples. Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. No reservations.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $

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Louisiana communities and leaders turning to UNO to help address coastal restoration and disaster mitigation

Left: UNO runs coastal wetlands learning experiences at its Coastal Education and Research Facility in New Orleans East. Middle: Community leaders and legislators traveled by boat to a critical marsh restoration area near Lake St. Catherine to learn more about plans for restoration and ways in which to support and protect the project area. Right: Dinah Maygarden (pink cap), director of the UNO Coastal Education Program at the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES), leads a coastal restoration field workshop as part of a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation New Orleans.

By Amanda McElfresh amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This story is brought to you by the University of New Orleans.

Each day, dozens of University of New Orleans faculty, staff and students are working to better understand Louisiana’s ecosystems and develop ways to restore and protect the state’s coast.

“Our focus is largely geared toward understanding coastal systems and processes that are most commonly associated with Louisiana,” said Dr. Mark Kulp, chair of UNO’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Kulp said that includes field work and lab studies with UNO students. Those teams have conducted sand resource studies to give state officials better information on where sand could be used to renourish barrier islands or create new marshland. Other projects involve identifying faults in Louisiana’s subsurface and how they may cause subsidence, sea level rise and other changes.

The projects have real world applications. For example, Kulp said private companies who receive state contracts for coastal work often contact UNO for information.

“They turn to us to help look at the data and provide some background,” Kulp said. “The beauty in it is that we can get students involved. I’ve had students work on data sets, and they can often see things from a different perspective and add important knowledge to the project.”

Jared Garcia, a UNO senior geosciences major, is working with a graduate student to analyze sediments in Louisiana’s faults

to help determine their relationship with coastal land loss. Garcia said the results of such research could help guide future construction and infrastructure decision-making.

“To be able to go to campus and feel like I am a working geologist is amazing,” Garcia said. “It’s really fulfilling to know I could be contributing to decisions made across the state. I’m not only building a resume and gaining lab experience, but I’m able to do work that really matters and learn that I’m capable of doing this kind of work.”

To expand this work and its impact, UNO operates multiple research and educational centers and facilities.

This includes the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology (CHART), an applied social science hazard research center that partners with Louisiana communities on disaster resilience projects, with a focus on disaster mitigation.

UNO-CHART is running several projects that address topics such as repetitive flood loss, community continuity, and planning for climate adaptation and evacuation, said Dr. Monica Teets Farris, the center’s director. All projects involve working closely with residents and leaders in coastal communities to prepare more for future storms and other weather events.

“More attention is being paid to the idea that people have to plan around the idea of relocating,” Farris said. “Many people don’t want to think about that because we are really attached to place here in south Louisiana, but I think more attention is being paid to that and people in some areas will have to make that decision.”

In fact, Farris said UNO-CHART is working with other universities and the United Houma Nation to develop climate adaptation plans.

“We are working to identify short- and long-term stressors affecting community and culture, as well as ways the Houma can address these issues and perhaps stay in place,” she said.

Farris said another UNO-CHART project involves working with the city of New Orleans on the 6,000-plus properties with a repetitive flood loss designation from FEMA. That includes working with the city to gather more information on why these sites flood often and how to prevent future problems.

“We want to get information to residents on an individual level so they can make better decisions around these particular properties,” Farris explained.

UNO students are involved in nearly every CHART project, Farris said.

Currently, eight students are working on the center’s research. Over the past several years, more than 100 students have been involved in CHART work, including those from other disciplines such as public administration and urban studies.

“We feel students are integral to our projects,” Farris said. “They may be doing literature reviews, research, collecting data, conducting interviews and analyzing data. We’ve had students present at academic and practitioner conferences.

They are very involved at every level.”

Garcia has been especially impressed with the willingness of UNO professors to collaborate with students on projects.

“There are so many opportunities to work alongside the faculty, get your hands dirty and figure out your passions and the

work you want to do while building those relationships,” he said.

Another major UNO asset is the Coastal Education Research Facility (CERF), a field station located in tidal waters in New Orleans East. The facility focuses on expanding science education to students of all ages.

“At any one time, we might have fourth graders or an adult group such as the Louisiana Master Naturalists doing a workshop,” said Dinah Maygarden, CERF’s Science Education Program Director. “We also have college classes at the facility, both from UNO and other universities in the area.”

Regardless of the participants’ ages, Maygarden said all lessons at CERF are hands-on, with very little lecture.

“It’s more about experience and learning through observation and data collection,” she said. “For children in particular, I think it is super important because they grow up really fast. Many of them don’t have much experience going outside of the levee to understand what these coastal wetlands are. We want to give them that opportunity so they are better informed about topics such as coastal land loss and how the coast is restored.”

Maygarden said experiences at CERF can introduce students to potential career fields that they might not have otherwise considered.

“There are tons of jobs in this arena in Louisiana,” she pointed out. “We want young people to be aware of that and prepared to enter that job pipeline with the right qualifications.”

For more information visit uno.edu.

MUSIC

BY JAKE CLAPP AND WILL COVIELLO

“Parables of a Southern Man”

Willie Durisseau (Nouveau Electric Records) “Creole House Dance” is a new recording of sounds from a century ago. Lost Bayou Ramblers fiddler Louis Michot, founder of Nouveau Electric Records, and zydeco musician Corey Ledet interviewed and recorded music

by Willie Durisseau in 2019. The Creole fiddler died later that year at the age or 101.

Durisseau was born in Mallet, Louisiana, and he and his brothers learned to make their own fiddles and bows, which is briefly touched on in the track “Willie’s Zydeco.” In the 1930s and early ’40s, Durisseau played Creole music at house parties.

His family and community were affected by World War II and migration to Texas, and the gatherings were rare afterward. Creole la la music later became the foundation of zydeco. In 2017, family members gave Durisseau a new fiddle, and he started playing the old style of music.

Michot recorded and condensed the snippets into two tracks on a seven-inch single. At times, Durisseau nimbly plays two-stepping dance music, and there are some slower parts with some whiny sawing of the bow. It’s a rare chance to hear a musician play the folk music of nearly a century ago. The recordings are available digitally from Nouveau Electric, and vinyl copies are available at local record stores Euclid, Louisiana Music Factory, White Roach, Sisters in Christ and Good Earth Records.

— WILL COVIELLO

“mine.”

OHD (Self-released) New Orleans singer and producer Owen H. Dunne, who records as OHD, packs his debut full-length album, “mine.,” with emotion-filled grooves. A Black, queer man, Dunne works through the stages of a deeply intimate new relationship across the 11-track album, while touching on themes of identity, gender fluidity, acceptance, rejection and self-love.

The house-inspired production

is filled with steady thumping bass, subtle synths and interesting layers of vocal harmonies, beats and added instruments. A number of the tracks find a patient, steady pace, slowly unfolding over their lengths, but sprinkled throughout the album — well done to keep the listener gripped throughout “mine.” — Dunne bumps up the bpm. “Voodoo (Nile Ashton Remix),” which features artist Shangobunmi Durotimi, is an upbeat ballroom track. “God Damn” is a fiery, grinding electro hip-hop track — you can almost feel the heat of the daggers coming from Dunne’s eyes on the track.

The next song, “Alonely,” shifts gears down as Dunne sings through the still stingy aftermath of the fight with his lover on the previous track. Dunne makes use of effects on his voice throughout the album, and on tracks like “Hurts Too Much,” where he bounces around a vocal range, it’s used as an added instrument. But at spots, like on the song “Escape These Feelings,” the digital edge of the effect blunts the power that could come through in his natural voice.

Dunne lists Frank Ocean and Sam Smith as influences, and those performers can be RIYL references for his music. But on “mine.,” the singer goes his own way to present an authentic portrait of himself. — JAKE CLAPP

Jonathon Long (Wild Heart Records) Jonathon Long has a funny sense of irony. In “Pain,” a track on his new album “Parables of a Southern Man,” he sings, “Nobody wants to hear a song about other people’s problems.” That may not be the calling card of a bluesman, but he’s been clear that while he loves and got started in the blues (in Baton Rouge with Henry Turner, Kenny Neal and others), his songwriting reaches across genres. “Parables of a Southern Man” is a mix of blues, Southern rock and some country influences. (He’s also shed the nickname “Boogie,” which was never a reference to music, he says.) While he’s prone to delivering blistering guitar solos in live performances, those flourishes are restrained on the album, and he’s more focused on his songwriting.

That’s been the case since he started working with local blues guitarist Samantha Fish. His eponymous 2018 album was the first release on her Wild Heart Records label. They worked together again on “Parables,” and Long sings

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about earning his fame (“Madison Square Garden”) and trying to find relief from it (“The Ride”). He also laments failed relationships and celebrates chasing new flames in the fun tune “All I Need” and the humorous “My Kind of Woman.”

It’s a storytelling album, but no matter what he says, it’s a showcase for his guitar mastery.

— WILL COVIELLO

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Quarter. Festivities kick off at 10 a.m.

Monday, July 5, with a bloody mary-fueled cleanup along the river at the Aquarium, followed by a costumed bar crawl through the Quarter that starts at the Golden Lantern at noon.

For more information and to RSVP, visit kreweofconus.org.

Creole Tomato Festival THE FRENCH MARKET’S ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF THE CREOLE TOMATO HAS BOTH LIVE AND VIRTUAL COMPONENTS THIS YEAR, with food booths and a kids’ activities area at the market, a bloody mary trail at participating restaurants, a parade and more on Saturday, July 3. The second line includes the Yellow Pocahontas Black Masking Indians, a baby dolls marching group, a brass band and more, and it begins at Washington Artillery Park at 11 a.m. A short series of virtual concerts begins with Cha Wa at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 30. Visit frenchmarket.org for a full schedule of events.

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Richard and Bianca Walker. An opening reception will take place 6-9 p.m.

Thursday, July 1, and the exhibit is on view through the month. More information can be found at noaam.org.

Rob Mazurek IN HIS DEEP AND WIDE-REACHING CAREER, composer and cornetist Rob Mazurek has worked with Pharoah Sanders, Emmett Kelly and Jeff Parker and led or co-led the ensembles Sao Paulo Underground and the Exploding Star Orchestra, among many others.

For his Scatterjazz show at the Broadside on Thursday, July 1, Mazurek collaborates with percussionist Mikel-Patrick Avery, bassist James Singleton and Jeff Albert, who will play trombone and electronics. The quartet will focus on unique sound-sculptures and experimentations. At 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 at broadsidenola.com.

Shark Discovery

Pride & Joy LAVEAU CONTRAIRE HOSTS A DANCE PARTY WITH MUSIC BY HASIZZLE AND MORE AT JAMNOLA AT 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY, June 30. The LGBTQ pride celebration includes music by Phlegm, food trucks, a cash bar and more. Proceeds benefit House of Tulip. Tickets are $20 on eventbrite.com.

Sweet Crude with LeTrainiump

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LETRAINIUMP IS HAVING A GOOD MONTH. THE CHARISMATIC POP SINGER AND COLORFUL WINDBREAKER AFFICIONADO RELEASED HIS NEW SINGLE, “Lost?” — a fantastic synthpop groove reflecting on the waywardness of our 20s — and was featured on NPR Music’s “Desk of the Day” series on social media. He played with SaxKixAve at Gasa Gasa and even got an unexpected shoutout from the Twitter account for Wendy’s. LeTrainiump ends his month with a show with Sweet Crude at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, at the Broadside. Tickets are $20 at broadsidenola.com.

‘Welcome to the Afrofuture’ THE NEW ORLEANS AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM IN TREME AND THE AFROFUTURE SOCIETY OPEN THE NEW ART EXHIBIT “WELCOME TO THE AFROFUTURE — The Matrix of Creativity: Where the River Meets the Sea.” Writer and artist Krisitina Kay Robinson, with curatorial fellow Kennedi Andrus, curated the exhibition of contemporary works “engaging in the aesthetic of Black spatial realities, imaginary spaces and Black meccas,” the exhibition notes say. Among the more than 25 featured artists and designers are Khalid Abdelrahman, Dianne “Mimi” Baquet, Jacq Francois, Soraya Jean Louis, Gael Jean Louis, Nik

P H OTO B Y M AT T H E W H I N TO N / T H E A DVO C AT E

What mighty big teeth you have, Granny!

THE AUDUBON INSTITUTE’S AQUARIUM OF THE AMERICAS OPENS ITS NEW SHARK DISCOVERY EXHIBIT, on Friday, July 2. The focus is a 13,000-gallon touchpool filed with white spotted bamboo and epaulette sharks, and southern, blue-spotted and cownose stingrays and other varieties.

Entrance to the large new exhibit is included with regular admission. Visit audubonnatureinstitute.org/aquarium for tickets and details.

New Orleans Nightcrawlers THE NEW ORLEANS NIGHTCRAWLERS, winners of the 2021 Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album, perform in the courtyard of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 29. Clesi’s Seafood will offer jambalaya and hot boiled crawfish for sale. The show is also available virtually via facebook.com/nolajazzmuseum.

“Name that Tune” THE ELECTRIC YAT QUARTET, a string ensemble that plays pop, jazz and classical music, kicks off a month of Thursday night “Name that Tune” music trivia nights at NOLA Brewing at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 1. Visit facebook. com/electric.yat.quartet for details.

FILM

BY WILL COVIELLO IT DOESN’T TAKE LONG TO WONDER if

the bite can live up to the bark in director Josh Ruben’s “Werewolves Within.” Forest ranger Finn arrives at his new post at a remote Vermont town and quickly meets Cecily, who delivers the mail for the Post Office.

She invites him to tag along on some package deliveries and introduces him to the people of Beavertown — and shares racy gossip about them. Then she takes him to a tavern where there’s ax-throwing instead of a dart board, and she’s deadly accurate with a hatchet.

Beavertown is not much more than a quirky handful of misfit neighbors who find themselves trapped when a winter storm blocks the road with heavy snow. Charlotte dreams of opening a craft store for tourists.

The gruff Sam Parker is staying at the inn while trying to buy townspeople’s support to run a gas pipeline through the area. He’s being thwarted by Dr. Ellis, a scientist out to protect the environment. Devon is a tech mogul who lives with his Argentinian husband. Emerson Flint threatens anyone who comes near his property.

Jeanine runs the local inn, and her husband dies in the opening minutes.

Finn is drawn into that and other mysterious phenomena.

Ruben’s horror comedy is a follow-up to his 2020 debut “Scare Me,” which also flirted with werewolves and gruesome tales. This film is a hybrid whodunit mystery and monster horror film, and it’s based on the video game of the same name. Ruben gently parodies those and other film genres with stock premises and schemes. It’s full of eccentric characters, all with motives to kill and most with something to hide. The story tracks like countless mystery films in which a group of strangers who are trapped together decide the menace is among them.

Sam Richardson, who stars in “Veep,” plays Finn, the mild-mannered federal forest ranger. He arrives like a new sheriff in an old Western town with a mission to calm unrest.

He takes everything in stride as they try to figure out who’s the murderer and if it’s connected to some human flaw — like greed or vengeance — or inhuman menace — like a bloodthirsty beast. He attracts the sidekick Cecily,

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Sam Richardson in ‘Werewolves Within’

played by Milana Vayntrub, familiar from a string of AT&T ads as the showroom salesperson “Lily.” Here, she’s more direct in her come-on to Finn, and she’s entertaining in her deadpan humor, but their flirtation needs to burn brighter.

The method to Ruben’s madness is overkill. Rather than drop clever clues for shrewd viewers, he bombards the screen with conspicuous teasers, including an abundance of guns and blades, rivalries and threats, poorly kept secrets and sudden violence.

Ruben also preserves his mystery with distractions of all sorts. No tangent is ignored, as Ruben slips in snark about hits from the ’90s and drags in new trends like the ax-throwing bars. He works in a host of headline-grabbing issues, including battles over fracking, gun ownership, “get off my land” property rights, animal cruelty and pet obsessions, the arrogance of tech millionaires, gay marriage and more. The horror scheme could use more compelling pathos, and the comedy is buoyed by the film’s breakneck pace and stream of plot twists and reversals.

It’s not easy to make some of the bits work simultaneously as parody and compelling drama. Ruben wants to have it all ways, and rather than dwell on any point, he whiplashes his cameras to new revelations. He manages to tie it all together, and it’s a boisterous addition to the growing niche of horror comedy.

“Werewolves Within” runs at Prytania Theatres at Canal Place, Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge and The Broad Theater.

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31 Identical sibling near some falling rocks?

37 Caesar’s 106 38 Neighbor of Vietnam 39 River through Orsk 40 “Norma —” 41 “Happy Days” star with gleaming eyes?

45 Ingredient in Nutella 49 A noble gas 50 Wedding page word 51 Top-notch 52 Genetic stuff 53 Major exhibition 56 Perform gastric bypasses?

61 Coastal inlet 64 Roof overhang

66 Musical sign 67 “Say again?”

68 One working to promote high-quality serge and denim?

75 Fuzzy picture 76 Tilted type: Abbr.

77 Imitate a lion 78 Susan of “L.A. Law” 79 Contest to see who has the cleverest taunts?

85 Have too much of, for short 87 Lance of the O.J. trial 88 Paris hub 89 Negatives 91 “Wonder Woman” star Gal

95 CBer’s lingo system 97 Time of day for muscle spasms?

102 That, in Lima 103 Any day now 104 “I goofed!”

105 K-12 org.

106 Expert at recognizing the finest strong string?

112 Lacking spice 113 “— it grand?”

114 Tofu source 115 Call to squad cars, for short 116 Lamp dweller 117 Arbitrator 120 Super-itchy wool cloth?

124 Coveted part for an actor 125 Big Apple animal attraction 126 — Lanka 127 It provides product plugs to websites 128 Skin malady 129 Passports et al.

130 IRS form fig.

DOWN 1 “Solaris” actress McElhone 2 Amaze 3 Glade 4 Mother of Mars, in myth 5 Singer DiFranco 6 Golfer Michelle 7 Possess jointly with someone else 8 Big name in toothbrushes 9 Come- — (temptations) 10 Old JFK flier 11 Of a pelvic bone 12 City northwest of Genoa 13 Ending for krypton 14 Yappy lap dog, in brief 15 Predicament 16 Oahu porch 17 Virtual b’day greeting, e.g.

18 Look at again 21 Certain dried berry 24 911 VIP 28 Banned apple spray 31 Body pic 32 “Amazing!”

33 Brynner on Broadway 34 Plural “is” 35 Brand of clog remover

36 Oregon’s capital 38 Wildcats with ear tufts 42 Caviar eggs 43 Seine, for one 44 Royal Botanic Gardens site 45 Pan’s cousin 46 Corsage flower 47 Get a whiff of 48 In conclusion 51 In regard to 54 Fathers 55 Eggs 57 Bacterium in the gut 58 Furry TV ET 59 Small cask 60 “So cute!”

61 Easter animal 62 Hurrier’s cry 63 Share a border with 65 Give moral guidance 69 Part of MoMA 70 Ballplayer Mel 71 Not cooked 72 Hugs, in a love letter 73 Father 74 “Wild Thing” singers, with “The” 80 Not rigid 81 Triage physician, for short 82 Corrida cheer

83 Blasting stuff 84 Part of 130-Across: Abbr.

86 Slangy denial 90 Container for flats or heels 92 Stupidity 93 Things unlike all the others 94 Exchanged, as an older model 96 Franc division 97 Stage award 98 Go after romantically 99 Ending of some pasta names 100 Debtor’s slip 101 “Says You!” airer 103 Noisy sleeper 106 Florida city 107 Use, as a tool 108 Pakistan’s longest river 109 “— Mio” 110 Anglo- — 111 Back column 112 Kitten’s cry 116 Old Pontiacs 118 Opp. of departure 119 “Mazel —!”

120 Pacers’ org.

121 Foe of Frodo 122 Rambo’s gun 123 Grassy turf

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ACROSS 1 “Bluff City Law” network 4 Mandible site 7 Talks lovingly 11 One painting with dots 19 Long-popular ISP 20 Mythical horses 22 Indy 500, e.g.

23 Outdoor food party for 11- and 12-year-olds?

25 Some very valuable violins 26 Old Texas siege site 27 Saddlery tool 28 Meyers of “Kate & Allie” 29 Not adorned 30 Type

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