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August 3-9 2021 Volume 42 Number 31

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CONTENTS

AUGUST 3 — 9, 2021 VOLUME 42 || NUMBER 31 NEWS

OPENING GAMBIT

COMMENTARY 9 CLANCY DUBOS

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN 12 SHOW US THE MONEY CAESARS!

PULLOUT

DETAILS FEATURES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 5 EAT + DRINK

MUSIC 24 FILM 26 PUZZLES 27 EXCHANGE 27 @The_Gambit @gambitneworleans @GambitNewOrleans

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

COVER PHOTOS PHOTOS BY G. ANDREW BOYD AND CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE COVER DESIGN BY DORA SISON

Tenant Power The collective fight for affordable, safe housing.

STAFF

Publisher | JEANNE EXNICIOS FOSTER

EDITORIAL (504) 483-3105// response@gambitweekly.com Editor | JOHN STANTON Political Editor | CLANCY DUBOS Arts & Entertainment Editor | WILL COVIELLO Staff Writers | JAKE CLAPP, KAYLEE POCHE,

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Advertising Director | SANDY STEIN BRONDUM

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Gambit (ISSN 1089-3520) is published weekly by Capital City Press, LLC, 840 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130. (504) 4865900. We cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts even if accompanied by a SASE. All material published in Gambit is copyrighted: Copyright 2021 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Art of the heal New shows open for the return of White Linen Night BY WILL COVIELLO ARTIST JOHN WALES HAD SOME HELP

from his daughter on the colorful painting “Beach Closed — Corona 2020.” It shows waves foaming onto the shore beyond a cheery red and blue fence, but at the top of the piece, “beach closed” is written in uneven, childlike letters. It’s one of a handful of pieces directly addressing the pandemic chosen by guest juror Hallie Ringle for the Louisiana Contemporary expo, which opens at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on Saturday, Aug. 7. “That’s a great way to talk about the effects of the pandemic on these ordinary experiences that we usually have but weren’t possible — which made everything feel extraordinary,” says Ringle, the Hugh Kaul Curator of Contemporary Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. “This year made everything feel extraordinary again.” Last year was an extraordinary year, and there were no White Linen Night festivities in 2020 due to the pandemic shutdowns. The event returns this summer with festivities on Julia Street and at galleries and museums open throughout the Warehouse District on Saturday. Arts District New Orleans, which includes many Warehouse District art galleries as members, organized the event, and there will be two tents of art activations and food and drink vendors on the 300 to 600 blocks of Julia Street from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. There also will be misters, tables with umbrellas, and tents for shade. Admission is free, and vendor proceeds support Arts District New Orleans. There are gallery openings on nearby blocks, a show at the American Italian Cultural Center at 537 S. Peters St., a show at Stella Jones Gallery at 201 St. Charles Ave., and new shows at the Ogden and the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), also from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Attendees must wear masks inside galleries and are asked to stay masked outdoors. The CAC also hosts its traditional after party from 9 p.m. to midnight. There’s music by DJ Raj Smoove during the show opening, and at the after party by DJ RQ Away, as well as bars and food trucks outside. Admission is free with RSVP via the CAC’s website due to limited capacity.

P H OTO B Y J E N W I T H S TAY P O S H

The Louisiana Contemporary features 51 works in an array of approaches and materials in painting, photography and sculpture, from more traditional portraiture to assemblages with hair or gloves. Bianca Walker’s large-scale figurative paintings hang canvases like a banner and are actually drop cloths dripped with house paint. Charles Gudaitis created a sculpture with wood blocks given intricate textures from voracious Formosan termites. There also are homages to commercial culture, including a heavenly photo of a Waffle House sign against clouds, and an image of a Popeyes chicken combo and the logo made with Mardi Gras beads. More than 15 galleries will be open during White Linen. Arthur Roger Gallery’s “Black Beauty” includes works by influential Black artists, such as paintings by Romare Bearden, contemporary artist Rashaad Newsome, and younger artists, such as local muralist and painter Brandan “BMike” Odums. Hunt Slonem returns to depictions of rabbits, this time in glass, at Martine Chaisson Gallery. The district lost two galleries during the pandemic, but Spillman | Blackwell Fine Art opened. It shows still life paintings by gallery artist Kimberly Witham. The CAC opened “Behind Every Beautiful Thing: Encountering Bodies, Wrestling the Human Condition” on July 31, and Gia Hamilton created a new iteration of her Gris Gris Lab: An Afrofuturist Apothecary in the ovalshaped gallery space adjacent to the expo. It’s designed as a place for mediation and contemplation, and at times during the run of the show, gris-gris bags will be distributed and there will be music and other activations. “Behind Every Beautiful Thing” is an open-call show of works from across the Gulf South curated by David Robinson-Morris, the founding director of the Center for Equity, Justice and the Human Spirit at Xavier University. The

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

White Linen Night draws art fans to Julia Street in 2019.

show explores various aspects of health, healing, loss and grieving in a wide array of media, including several videos. The pandemic is directly addressed by many pieces, as in a bristled chandelier made from discarded IV tubes and a canopy made of recycled medical scrubs. A series of vivid collages explores the medicalization, objectification and commodification of Black bodies, from the Middle Passage through the abuse of Black people by the Tuskegee study and more recent events. A video of a vibrating sex toy and a smartphone invokes isolation and longing for pleasure. The show addresses all sorts of trauma. Former Times-Picayune photographer Steven Forster captures an emotional reunion of family members after Hurricane Katrina. Other pieces deal with policing and people who have died at the hands of police, including a painting featuring George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Those works lead to separate pieces Robinson-Morris placed together. One is a mirror that appears to be shattered and falling out of its frame, which creates a reflection of brokenness, he says. Below it is a sort of receptacle in matching mirrored glass and metal, and it holds medicinal herbs impressed in glass. Robinson-Morris believes it’s too early to fully understand the effects of the pandemic. But the placement of the fragmented mirror above the basin invokes the process of healing and approaching understanding. “Part of what art does is it takes us out of ourselves and reflects ourselves to us differently, which is part of what this show is about,” he says.

Jeez Loueez and Lola Van Ella host a local burlesque spectacular as part of a marathon of shows to benefit the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

Big Easy All-Stars BURLESQUE PERFORMERS LOLA VAN ELLA AND JEEZ LOUEEZ HOST AN ALL-STAR LINEUP of local dancers as part of a benefit for the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. The live local show includes Trixie Minx, Kitten n Lou, Eddie Lockwood, Mz. Juno, Remy Dee and Ariana Amour at the AllWays Lounge on Friday, Aug. 6. There’s also an afterparty with gogo dancers featuring Darling Darla James, The Great Dane, Miss Angie Z and Mamie Dame. There will be two days of performances from across the burlesque world to support the Hall of Fame, which has exhibits on the history of exotic dance, costumes from famous performers from Gypsy Rose Lee to Dita Von Teese and more. Find links to Virtual Hall of Fame weekend shows from other cities on Aug. 6-8 at bhofweekend.com. The Big Easy show begins at 10 p.m. and tickets are $15-$40 on eventbrite.com.

Young Fellaz Brass Band WITH A MIX OF BRASS BAND STANDARDS, hip-hop, rock and pop songs in its repertoire, the Young Fellaz Brass Band has been a New Orleans staple for close to 15 years. The group has been working on a new album, which is expected to be released this year. Catch the Young Fellaz in the courtyard of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 3. Admission is free, and the show will be live-streamed on facebook.com/ nolajazzmuseum/live. PAGE 25

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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N E W

O R L E A N S

N E W S

V I E W S

R.I.P. Dusty Hill, may you get all their lovin’ at the great Chicken Ranch in the sky

# The Count

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down

11 The approximate number by which new cases of COVID-19 have multiplied statewide in just four weeks.

DJ Soul Sister will now

require proof of vaccination for people to attend her legendary dance parties at the Hi-Ho Lounge as the Delta variant surges in New Orleans. As Gambit first reported, the iconic DJ, professor and radio host said she’s taking the step “because I want to be part of the solution in keeping people safe (including myself). Thank you for your support, and I can’t wait to see you at my next parties which thankfully, for the time being, we’re still able to have.”

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

More and more venues are requiring masks and vaccination proof to attend shows.

HAVE VACCINE CARD, WILL BOOGIE Ochsner Health has only

about 61% of its 32,000-person staff vaccinated, The Times-Picayune reported. The system owns or is affiliated with 40 hospitals across Southeast Louisiana. Baton Rouge General Hospital reported 53% of its staff is vaccinated, while the Louisiana Veterans Health Care system has about 85% of its people vaccinated. Ochsner Health last week launched new protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated staff.

Louisiana has wasted 79,000

Covid vaccine doses as vaccination rates have faltered and health care providers can’t get shots into arms. Four months ago, there were fewer than 1,500 wasted doses, but that number has grown 50 times over, according to the AP. Louisiana has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

TIPITINA’S, MAPLE LEAF BAR AND D.B.A. WILL BEGIN REQUIRING PROOF of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test beginning

July 30. The clubs sent out a joint press release explaining that due to the rise in new cases, entrance to the venues will require a valid, complete vaccination card or proof from a health care provider of a negative COVID-19 test within the prior 72 hours. Vaccination cards or test results will need to be presented with a valid ID. Earlier this week, DJ Soul Sister announced she would require proof of vaccination for admission to her dance parties at Hi-Ho lounge. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Botanical Garden in City Park has canceled the entirety of its months-long Thursdays at Twilight concert series, citing the ongoing surge in new cases and hospitalizations due to the Delta variant. The weekly indoor concert series was set to kick off Aug. 5 and run through Nov. 18 with 14 shows featuring a range of local artists from blues guitarist Little Freddie King to Benny Grunch & the Bunch. It is one of several music series and festivals scheduled in the upcoming months, as wide availability of vaccines had many event planners hoping the worst of the pandemic was behind us. But the Delta variant has led to the most rapid surge of the virus yet, seizing on areas like Louisiana with low vaccination rates. “We are experiencing a dangerous COVID outbreak and are at the beginning of a surge,” read a page on the Botanical Garden’s website. “In an effort to ensure your safety, your loved ones’ safety, and supporting the stop of the surge, we will unfortunately cancel the Thursdays at Twilight concert series.” At the same time, Zony Mash Beer Project won’t resume their outdoor shows until at least September — but not because of the virus. The brewery is still working with the city to straighten out permitting PAGE 8

On July 28, the state health department reported 4,699 new cases. Louisiana is in the midst of a dreaded fourth surge of the coronavirus, and this is the fastest growth since the onset of the pandemic 16 months ago. Due to the swift increase in cases and low vaccination rates in the state, the White House has classified Louisiana as a “state of concern.” More than 1,500 people are hospitalized as of press time — and roughly 90% of those are unvaccinated.

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OPENING GAMBIT

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OPENING GAMBIT PAGE 7

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for its live, outdoor events, founder Adam Ritter says. Zony Mash had hit pause on those events in early July. And finally, if you went to Creepy Fest 2021 you may want to grab a mask, return to social distancing and get a COVID-19 test: A number of attendees of the four-day punk, metal and hardcore festival have reported coming down with coronavirus — including a number of vaccinated people. “All four nights of Creepy Fest went really well with no signs of illness,” Creepy Fest organizer Bill Heintz says. “Then, a couple of days following the festival there were a few reports of people feeling sick. By mid-week the news was reporting a spike in Covid cases in Louisiana due to the Delta variant so people started getting tested. Turns out quite a few people that were vaccinated had contracted Covid over the weekend.” By all accounts, the festival operated in similar ways as other shows and music venues in recent months, as cases declined and restrictions relaxed. The cases, particularly those among vaccinated people, underscore the difficulty private citizens and businesses are having in navigating Delta variant phase of the pandemic without strong direction from local officials. — JAKE CLAPP, WILL COVIELLO & KAYLEE POCHE

State researcher says she was fired for raising alarms over dolphin deaths The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries employee whose job it was to count dolphin deaths in the state says she was fired in 2019 because her work reaffirmed the potential of the project to devastate a dolphin population. Mandy Tumlin was the Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). The year she was fired, the Bonnet Carre Spillway was open for a total of 118 days to relieve pressure on the Mississippi River levees in New Orleans. Fresh water from the river spilled into Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Sound. A total of 337 dolphins were found on beaches along the Gulf Coast that year, and only nine of those survived, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Tumlin said it was “disappointing, and completely disheartening” to be fired from her position while

a large number of dolphins were dying from freshwater lesions due to the second opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in 2019. “We feel that this was done so that the State of Louisiana can proceed with its plan to construct and operate the Mid-Barataria Bay and Breton Sound Diversion Projects which will actually be lethal on dolphin populations in those areas due to freshwater lesions and other impacts,” she said. LDWF documents show that Tumlin was fired for failing to enter data into an online system about dolphin and sea turtle strandings by a federal deadline. Tumlin’s lawyer, J. Arthur Smith, III, said the allegations are untrue. “The termination was a bogus, contrived set up,” he said. “Mandy made all deadlines for which she was responsible.” Tumlin began working for the department in 2005. She responded to marine mammal strandings during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, saving hundreds of sea turtles. “I gave my life to this. I missed out on celebrations and holidays,” she said. “My personal cell phone was the statewide hotline for marine mammal strandings. I was on call constantly.” When the 2019 openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway were blamed for dolphin deaths, she said she was not given permission to talk to reporters about the issue. “When media requests came in, I had to toe the line as a state employee,” she said. “It felt like there was just this constant roadblock.” However, when reporters had made previous requests for information about sperm whale strandings in 2017, she was allowed to do interviews. A LDWF spokesman said the state civil service is expected to make a decision on the case in the next few months. The department denies that Tumlin’s dismissal had anything to do with the MidBarataria Sediment Diversion. Despite no longer being the state stranding coordinator, Tumlin is still concerned about the future of marine mammals in Louisiana waters. “These diversions are going to cause the salinity levels in these areas to drop drastically,” she said. “We can’t catch 2,000 or more dolphins and move them.” — SARA SNEATH | THE LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR / SOUTHERLY MAGAZINE

COMMENTARY white linen

Editor’s note: Several hours after the below commentary was published online, Mayor Cantrell announced she was imposing a new mask mandate in New Orleans. We welcome this common sense first-step towards containing the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19. $64

LAST WEEK, AS THE SEVERITY OF THE DELTA VARIANT’S SURGE be-

came painfully obvious, Mayor LaToya Cantrell held a news conference to announce her administration’s latest policy for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Although she readily acknowledged that “the Delta variant is alive and very much well in the city,” the mayor declined to announce new indoor masking protocols or proof-of-vaccination requirements. Her plan — if it can be called such a thing — was equally simplistic: Everyone should probably wear a mask, but from here on out, “the responsibility [is] on individuals, on themselves,” not her administration. It was a breathtaking departure — and a 180-degree turnaround — from the Cantrell of March 2020. Back then, facing a dramatic of spike in infections, hospitalizations and deaths that we now see, Cantrell confidently made painful and politically difficult decisions to protect locals and visitors. She canceled Super Sunday, shut down bars and restaurants, and put the city into lockdown. The pushback was loud and long, but she persisted, and citizens overwhelmingly stood by her. It’s why she has framed her reelection campaign around her handling of the pandemic, which makes her current “not my problem” approach particularly puzzling — and disturbing. In the early months of the pandemic, the business community put intense pressure on Cantrell to reopen prematurely, but she stood firm. When the city took measured steps toward a resumption of normalcy, she didn’t hesitate to reimpose restrictions when Covid numbers worsened. She wasn’t perfect, but she provided strong leadership at the grimmest moments of 2020. That kind of leadership saved thousands of lives. The dangers of the current Delta-driven crisis have been obvious for some time. Despite early warnings about the Delta variant, vaccina-

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Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

tion rates slowed, tourists and conventions returned, restaurants and bars reopened, and people stopped taking precautions. Seeing no movement from City Hall, business and event promoters understandably assumed things were under control. Music halls and venues were packed, and the first small festivals since the start of Covid came and went. Unfortunately, the Delta variant also came, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. The deadly virus reportedly infected numerous people at Creepy Fest and possibly other large events as well. With hospitals getting dangerously close to capacity again, Cantrell has left it to businesses and citizens to figure it out. That, in turn, has led to a predictable mishmash of responses. DJ Soul Sister, for example, is requiring vaccination cards to attend her shows, as are some music venues like Tipitina’s and d.b.a. Others, like City Park, are canceling indoor events. Some bar owners have begun requiring masks and ending bar seating while others pretend all is well. It shouldn’t be up to citizens to protect themselves. Commonsense steps like mask mandates, urging unvaccinated tourists to stay home or requiring vaccine cards for large events could stave off more extreme measures. But those steps must come from a mayor willing to lead again.

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It’s on the mayor, not citizens, to protect New Orleans

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HEADED INTO THE SECOND WEEK of official campaigning,

three candidates on the Oct. 9 ballot in New Orleans continue to face legal challenges to their candidacies. All three — Clerk of Criminal District Court candidates Darren Lombard and Patricia BoydRobertson and City Council District C candidate Freddie King III — prevailed at the trial court level, but all three cases were appealed. Even with expedited hearings at the trial and appellate levels, and even if all three candidates continue to win in court, they lose valuable campaign time. Such is the nature of modern campaigns — candidates qualify, then sometimes face challenges to their eligibility based on accusations they didn’t

satisfy all legal requirements when qualifying. Ultimately, all three cases could be decided by the state Supreme Court. At issue in the three cases now on appeal is whether candidates should be disqualified if one of the 13 statements they made on qualifying papers turns out to be incorrect. Candidates swear under oath that all statements are true, and in some cases the law is clear. For example, if a candidate has not filed federal and state income tax returns in each of the five preceding years, as attested on qualifying papers, they will be disqualified. That happened on July 26 to City Council at-large candidate David Nowak and assessor

@clancygambit

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What to know about the legal fight over eligibility in this year’s city-wide election

CLANCY DUBOS

P H OTO B Y VLADIMIR CETINSK Y / G E T T Y I M AG E S

candidate Greg Lirette. Neither Nowak nor Lirette has appealed those decisions. Lombard, Boyd-Robertson and King were all ruled eligible to run last week by trial court judges — but all three have to defend those rulings before the state Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. The court will hear all three appeals by Monday afternoon (Aug. 2) and must rule on each within 24 hours, but further appeals to the Supreme Court could eat up another week of campaign time — and potentially make new law. The challenge to King’s candidacy questions whether he has been domiciled in District C for at least two years. At trial, Judge Nicole Sheppard

ruled that he had satisfied that requirement. Boyd-Robertson and Lombard face challenges based on their failure to file campaign finance reports with the state Ethics Commission. Lombard, who serves as Clerk of Second City Court, admitted at trial that he hadn’t filed a required 2019 report, despite attesting to the contrary on his qualifying papers. Judge Kern Reese recognized that admission as a fact but ruled that it was not enough to bounce Lombard from the ballot. That legal ruling will be at the center of the appeal, which appears headed for

the Supreme Court. Boyd-Robertson likewise admitted that she hadn’t filed the 90-day report required for her council candidacy. She claimed she relied on an attorney’s advice in not filing the report, but she subsequently filed it before the appeal. Ultimately, the question is whether a candidate’s false attestation on qualifying papers should disqualify him or her from the ballot. Generally, courts prefer to let voters decide electoral issues, but in recent years they have provided clarity to state laws that are not always clear — or not uniformly enforced. Stay tuned.

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BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™ @GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake,

BLAKEVIEW

In the 1980s, there was great fanfare surrounding the construction of the Eiffel Tower restaurant on St. Charles Avenue. I recall the builders were planning to incorporate a restaurant that was removed from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Was this ever accomplished?

GENERATIONS OF NEW ORLEANIANS remember

–PAUL

Dear Paul, When the Eiffel Tower opened in Paris in 1889, it was home to four restaurants. In 1937, those restaurants were demolished and replaced by two, including one near the top of the tower called Le Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel. In 1981, as the 1,000foot landmark underwent renovations, engineers noticed it sagging under the weight of the restaurant and recommended the eatery be removed. According to a 1986 New York Times article, French businessman Georges Lancelin acquired the restaurant in return for dismantling its 11,000 pieces. His plans to relocate it elsewhere in Paris were scuttled when the French government said he couldn’t use the Eiffel Tower name. In 1983, New Orleans businessman McDonald Stephens paid $525,000 for the restaurant, partnering to open it here with developer John Onorio and French chef Daniel Bonnot. “Knowing that you can own a one-of-a-kind living piece of

P H OTO B Y M I C H E L E U L E R / A P

No, not that Eiffel Tower.

French history can be terribly intriguing,” Onorio told The New York Times. “The intrigue translated into appeal when I finished running some numbers that indicated we could do well.” Stephens’ death two months later put the project in limbo. It finally opened in the 2000 block of St. Charles Avenue in Dec. 1986. While much of the original restaurant’s interior could not be salvaged, local architect Steven Bingler used 16 original glass and metal walls to create a new restaurant.The restaurant closed in 1989. In 1992, investor Dave Burrus paid $154,000 for the building at auction. He reopened it as an event facility. Under different management, it was later known as the Red Room and Cricket Club. Since 2010 it has been known as Eiffel Society.

“makin’ groceries” at Schwegmann’s. This month marks 75 years since the opening of the original Schwegmann Brothers Giant Super Market at St. Claude & Elysian Fields — the city’s first supermarket. German immigrant John Garret Schwegmann opened his first neighborhood grocery store in Bywater in 1869. In 1891, he opened a store at Piety and Burgundy Streets. His sons and grandsons followed him into the business, most notably John Gerald Schwegmann, who was born above the Piety & Burgundy store where the family lived. John Gerald Schwegmann — along with his brother Paul and business partner Wilfred Meyer — built the family’s first “giant” supermarket at St. Claude & Elysian Fields. Opened on Aug. 23, 1946, the 40,000-square-foot store dwarfed the corner stores which were commonplace at the time. An Airline Highway store opened in 1950, followed by a mammoth store on Old Gentilly Road in 1957. By 1978, the supermarket chain had grown to 10 local stores, with sales of over $250 million a year. Schwegmann, who died in 1995, also was a state lawmaker and Public Service Commissioner. His son John F. Schwegmann also served on the PSC and took over the company in 1979. The supermarket chain sold to out-of-state investors in 1997 and closed soon after.

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TENANT

POWER The collective fight for affordable, safe housing BY JAKE CL APP

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

A mock courtroom on the steps of First City Court during the New Orleans Renters Rights Assembly protest on July 30, 2020.

Y EARLY 2018, the apartment

building at 447 Thurston Road was literally falling apart. Mold and rot, broken windows, electrical problems, rats and other unaddressed conditions plagued the Rochester, New York, building, making it unlivable by any reasonable measure. Tenants all over the three-story, 48-unit brick building had reported terrible conditions. Water had been backing up in Mary Brown’s sinks, mold was in her bathroom and a large crack had formed in her kitchen ceiling. On the other side of the building, part of Barbara Rivera’s bathroom ceiling had collapsed into her tub. The door to the building itself didn’t even have a working lock. But those complaints had fallen on deaf ears, and complaints to the city hadn’t gotten the tenants

anywhere: Peter Hungerford, an absentee landlord living six hours away in Staten Island, simply ignored them — racking up more than 70 outstanding city code violations. The only thing they had heard from management was that rents were going up. “You raise our rent but then you don’t want to fix anything,” Brown said in the lobby of the building at the time. “We are all human beings, and we deserve to be treated right.” The tenants had enough, and in March 2018, they decided to do something about it, collectively. With help from the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester, the residents of 447 Thurston Road organized. They called press conferences, let local media into their apartments to see the deplorable

conditions, held protests and went on a rent strike. It got a lot of attention in western New York — and eventually paid off. Within a year the building was sold to Rochester-based developer Home Leasing, which would ultimately undertake a multimillion dollar renovation of the building while not displacing the current tenants. The Thurston Road renters aren’t alone. In New Orleans, Rochester and communities across the country, the lack of clean, safe and affordable housing has become a chronic problem. Slumlords and absentee owners leave properties to collapse before their tenants’ eyes, even as rent only seems to become a larger expense every month. But renters are fighting back, particularly in a growing move-

ment of tenant organizing in the South, using techniques honed over decades and influenced by the labor movement. “Having an organized tenant class can bring a lot of changes as far as housing — really for anything,” says Ryan Acuff, an organizer with Rochester’s City-Wide Tenant Union. “I think most people ... believe they deserve better and they should live better, but there is a sense of hopelessness. Some of these poor conditions have gone on for a long time.” But organizing renters’ unions and other forms of collective bargaining are giving tenants ownership over their circumstances and showing other people what’s possible. “These examples of regular folks coming together are really important in our community, to keep going back to and (to) show

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TENANT POWER How protected you are is patchy based on where you live in California, Singh says, and each municipality is facing its unique issues — from opaque corporate landlords and predatory rent hikes to slumlords and dwindling affordability — so local coalition building is important. “A tenants’ union, especially a city-wide tenants union can be bigger than” a rent strike, Singh says. “It’s not like everybody has the same landlord. You’re not always just coordinating action, like collective bargaining against your landlord, but you’re actually advancing tenant issues, for example, at a city council level or with your legislators.” T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E A R C H I V E P H OTO B Y T E D J AC K S O N

A tenants association marches on a Friday morning in April 1984 in front of a business owned by a New Orleans City Council member.

this can happen,” Acuff says. “A lot of people don’t understand that they have tenants’ rights and they can speak up and they don’t have to tolerate a landlord’s terrible behavior,” Rivera recently told Gambit. “If you’re the tenant, you pay the rent, you deserve to live in good, healthy, safe housing.” ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME key differences between the two cities — there are fewer large apartment buildings in New Orleans, for instance, and Rochester has historically had regulations more favorable to renters than we do — Rochester and New Orleans are in similar boats when it comes to affordable housing. More than half of their populations pay a landlord — with 64% percent of Rochester renting, compared to 54% of New Orleanians. Likewise, both cities have large groups of people that are “rent burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent: 55% in Rochester and 63% in New Orleans. In both cities, people of color are disproportionately rent burdened compared to white people. Both cities also are in affordable housing crises, which are exacerbated by aging housing stock, rising rents, slumlords and increasing numbers of absentee owners. Traditionally, most communities have approached problems between landlords and tenants as largely individual issues. That can mean that if you have enough money to pay a lawyer or just get lucky that day, your place may get fixed, but everyone around you

won’t. Those sorts of one-off solutions mean the broader, systemic issues don’t get addressed. Which is where grassroots tenant organizers like the New Orleans Renters Rights Assembly or Rochester’s City-Wide Tenant Union, come into play. Depending on the city, each group might have a slightly different mission, but across the country, and particularly increasingly in the South and Midwest in recent years, renters are working together for their housing rights. THERE’S A LONG HISTORY of

tenant organizing in the U.S., stretching back to when cities saw population booms tied to the industrial revolution of the late 1800s. In 1904, immigrant Jewish women held New York City’s first rent strike when they successfully withheld payment and marched against a rent increase. The early 20th century saw a further string of strikes there — often organized by socialists fighting back against capitalism’s exploitation of housing needs — before the city adopted its Emergency Rent Laws in 1920. Even rural areas have a tradition of organizing around housing, notably the fight against “company towns” associated with the mining industry. Likewise, the South has its own traditions of tenant organizing, notably the formation of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union in Arkansas in 1934. The group united both Black and white farmers in its mission to reform the system of tenant farming. Today there are dozens of tenants’ unions across the U.S. and count-

less other grassroots housing organizations focused on collective action. “There’s strength in numbers and you’re not alone,” says Shanti Singh, the communications and legislative director for Tenants Together in California. “And the more of you that there are, the more you’re working together, the more protected you will be.” Organizing — whether for housing, labor or justice — comes with risks, but there’s strength in numbers. “However isolated you must feel right now, going through this exploitation … the way you’re going to reverse that is by teaming up with everybody else who’s going through the same thing as you,” Singh says. “No matter how much you fear your landlord and you may feel like you’re alone, you’re not. There are more of us than there are of them.” Tenants Together works with and connects tenant organizations and other social justice groups across California. Working with about 50 member organizations, they offer direct services, counseling and volunteer training on tenant law and rights and focus on promoting legislation at the state level. Most of the member groups are tenants’ unions and legal aid organizations, but there are some community partners working on intersecting issues, like public health. “Housing is an issue that touches pretty much every other issue,” Singh says. Tenants Together doesn’t have a labor-focused member organization, “but we do work with labor a lot. I think that’s a natural alliance.”

THE CITY-WIDE TENANTS UNION

of Rochester came together in fall 2017, an offshoot of Take Back the Land Rochester, which focused on blocking foreclosure-related evictions. Within weeks CWTU was incredibly busy. Tenants of a literally freezing apartment tower — where icicles formed on the non-working heaters — became organizers in the union, as did tenants from 447 Thurston Road. The union works by helping organize tenants into their own individual associations by building or by landlords. Those associations then work together as a collective to progress tenants’ rights across the city. “Even though the 447 building is taken care of now, I still make

P H OTO B Y G I N O FA N E L L I / C I T Y N E W S PA P E R

Barbara Rivera helped organize tenants in her building at 447 Thurston Road in Rochester, New York.

TENANT POWER

–Y. FRANK SOUTHALL, NEW ORLEANS RENTERS RIGHTS ASSEMBLY ORGANIZER.

it my mission to go see [other tenants] and check on them and talk to them,” Barbara Rivera says, who works as a tenant advocate to keep Home Leasing honest. “It’s like a family base.” In the past year, CWTU has organized against evictions amid the pandemic and is advocating for Rochester to adopt “good cause” eviction protections, which recently passed at the city level in Albany. That statute gives tenants the right to renew their lease and protects them from an annual rent hike of more than 5%, unless the landlord can find “good cause” — such as failure to pay rent or illegal use of the apartment — for the tenant’s eviction. “There is a feeling that maybe regular folks can’t change things. I think we have to continually do our best to interrupt that through practice. It’s not a theory, this is what regular people coming together can and are doing,” says Acuff, the CWTU organizer. THERE IS A BROAD THOUGHT that

grassroots tenant organizing is of the realm of the East and West Coasts, but people have always fought for their right to housing in the South and Midwest, and those regions have seen a recent upswell in organizing. In Texas, both Houston and Austin have tenants’ unions — the Austin Tenants Council started in 1973, in fact — as does Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona. Atlanta has the Housing Justice League, and similar groups can be found in Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida and North Carolina. This year in Kansas City, organizers at KC Tenants declared a Zero Eviction January and

able units in the building, and the homeowners in Gordon Plaza have been fighting for years for a relocation away from the infamous, contaminated subdivision. But RRA is unique in its goal to explicitly connect all New Orleans renters together. “In terms of that encompassing tenant advocacy organizing piece, it didn’t exist,” Southall says. “And that’s a problem because Louisiana ranks at the bottom of most of the lists when it comes to tenant protections in the U.S.” Last year, RRA launched its first major campaign to extend the eviction moratorium and keep eviction courts closed during the pandemic. They held marches and

rallies — and notably a large group of protesters took autonomous action, Southall says, and blocked the entrances to First City Court, halting evictions on July 30. RRA now is turning its focus to campaign for rental assistance and a tenants’ right to counsel in eviction court. “The movement around housing justice in the South as it relates to tenants’ rights is something just really fully beginning,” Southall says. “There’s always been organizing around housing because of people not having autonomy, but ultimately, this current era of ‘How do we challenge the laws and social practices of how landlords operate’ is something very new. PAGE 17

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

A group of senior citizens talk to Councilman Peter H. Beer outside of City Hall in October 1972 as they protested against poor housing, inadequate Social Security payments and medical facilities.

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“The hardest work is being done in the regions where all the laws are stacked against you and it’s rooted in white supremacist Confederacy thinking.”

prevented 919 eviction hearings from happening in Jackson and Clay counties, the Kansas City Pitch reported. KC Tenants tactics were straight out of the labor organizers playbook: They physically blocked courthouse entrances; made daily phone calls and sent emails to sway targeted lawmakers and influential citizens and groups; disrupted online proceedings; and protested outside of judges’ homes. Ninety percent of the eviction hearings scheduled for January were postponed, giving tenants more time to seek help. Closer to home there are a number of groups working for housing access, including the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance and the community land trust and grassroots advocacy group Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative. Several years ago, Jane Place started hosting monthly Renters Rights Assemblies to help educate and connect New Orleans renters, and today the New Orleans Renters Rights Assembly is an autonomous group. RRA focuses on tenant education and direct action, like protests and conducting a “Slumlord Tour” in summer 2020. The tour took the RRA to apartment complexes around New Orleans known to have abusive landlords, where the group set up a table to talk to renters about their rights and hand out PPE. RRA hosts three sessions a month where tenants around the city can learn more about their rights and access pro bono legal advice, and the group will refer people to other organizations, like Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, LAFHC, New Orleans Family Justice Center and Disability Rights Louisiana. “So often people don’t know where to look when they’re experiencing an issue around their housing,” says organizer Y. Frank Southall. “So we are that connecting force.” There have definitely been other movements in New Orleans around housing justice, Southall says. In 1984, the Marrero Tenants Organization, which is still active, led a march across the Crescent City Connection to protest for better public housing policies. Tenants at the Louisburg Square Apartments in Terrytown fought back against evictions post-Hurricane Katrina. More recently, low-income residents at the American Can Apartments held protests in 2016 to keep afford-

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Signs on the front steps near Loyola Avenue at the New Orleans Renters Rights Assembly protest outside First City Court near Hall on July 30, 2020.

PAGE 15

We’re very inspired by what we’re seeing happening across the South.” “The hardest work is being done in the regions where all the laws are stacked against you and it’s rooted in white supremacist Confederacy thinking,” Southall adds. SOUTHALL SAYS ORGANIZING

around housing in New Orleans looks like “a big ass science lab.” The make-up of our rental housing — largely single-family homes and landlords with small properties spread across the city — makes it difficult to connect people by proximity in the way you could with tenants in larger apartment blocks. “Part of the tenants’ union is predicated on labor organizing,” Southall says, “where you have people in a set place at a set time, they talk with each other and engage with each other. In New Orleans, so many of our tenants are small renters.” Things like poverty, transportation, work obligations and other

stressors that come from living in New Orleans make it harder to consistently connect with people. Eviction laws in Louisiana also are largely weighted toward landlords and “good cause” for eviction is defined broadly. Tenants who are under a yearlong lease have the protections of that agreement. But tenants on month-to-month leases are more vulnerable, and landlords are only required to give a 10-day notice to vacate in those cases. Louisiana tenants also can’t withhold rent in response to habitability issues. Those laws make it incredibly difficult to hold a rent strike in Louisiana, an important bargaining chip for tenants’ unions in other states. “Because our laws are so shitty, because so many of our tenants are on month-to-month leases, and that impacts tenants who try to organize [a strike], they’ll just be evicted,” Southall says. “So we have to really figure out what are the protections that people will organize around.” Louisiana is far behind other

WHEN THE TENANTS AT 447 THURSTON ROAD called their rent

strike, it inspired tenants in other buildings to organize themselves. The groups and the City-Wide Tenant Union lobbied city government and kept up media attention on the problems in their building. Within a few months, the city of Rochester filed a suit with the tenants against owner Peter Hungerford, threatening to place the building into receivership if violations weren’t fixed. A partner eventually forced Hungerford out of control of the

company owning his buildings in Rochester. But the new landlord served 30-day eviction notices to 25 people at 447 Thurston Road. Again, the tenants protested, and the landlord reversed course, eventually resulting in the March 2019 sale. Home Leasing, which is Rochester-based, decided to completely renovate the buildings. Residents were moved to temporary living situations while Home Leasing put $11 million — with another $10 million investment from a

“There are more of us than there are of them.” SHANTI SINGH, TENANTS TOGETHER COMMUNICATIONS AND LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR.

state agency and further support from the city — into fixing the two buildings. In March 2020, the tenants returned to new apartments, and without much change in rent — Barbara Rivera, for instance, saw a $30 a month increase, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported. “It was a positive turnaround,” Rivera said recently. “Home Leasing is working with the tenants, and now that I’m the tenant advocate, I harass Home Leasing often to make sure they keep up with what they need to do.” The City-Wide Tenant Union already has its next fight ahead of them: Cassandra Stone, a tenant in a building right up the street from 447 Thurston, is beginning to work with her neighbors to fight back against a lack of hot water, backed up plumbing, a roach infestation and other problems. “Tenants coming together with the goal of forming unions in buildings and across the city, I think that creates the conditions to change some of the policies and then make them more tenant friendly,” Ryan Acuff says. “It’s really people coming together in some collective effort, whether it’s called a union or something else, that’s going to bring about the policy changes. Editor’s note: This article is part of a series done in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network’s Economic Mobility Initiative. To learn more, visit solutionsjournalism.org.

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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

communities in what is considered a basic level of renters’ rights, but that also means activists in the state can learn from, and adapt, the tactics others have used successfully in their fights for suitable housing — and each victory makes the organizing process easier. There is a budding movement in the state to press for right to counsel measures, ensuring renters have representation in eviction court, says Davida Finger, clinical professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans. “It’s important for the public to understand what happens every day in housing court,” Finger says. “Think about going downtown and watching dozens and dozens of people who have done nothing wrong except the fact they’re unable to pay their rent right now, being evicted and having to move everything within 24 hours. “We can do a better system than that, and it takes public awareness and enough people in the community being uncomfortable for there to be enough pressure on lawmakers to change [the system]. Every story that comes out about this has a chance to spark understanding in 10 or 100 people and organizing efforts need that. It can’t happen in a vacuum.” And that’s where the New Orleans Renters Rights Assembly is directing its focus: on education and building the community of organized tenants in the city as well as encouraging Renters Rights Assemblies or similar groups in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and other parts of the state. A broad coalition of groups from across Louisiana will always be harder for state political leaders in Baton Rouge to ignore than a movement rooted solely in New Orleans. “The [Renters Rights Assembly] model that we’re using is the model that a lot of places in the South have talked to us about,” Southall says.

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MORE THINGS Caesars should buy the naming rights to in New Orleans B Y J O H N S TA N T O N | Gambit editor THE CONE OF UNCERTAINTY

Betting and constant existential dread from worrying over the chances of getting hit by a hurricane are two great tastes that go together like peanut butter and chocolate!

NOW THAT THEY HAVE THE LEGISLATURE’S BLESSING, the Saints and Caesars Entertain-

ment have inked a 20-year “naming rights” deal, estimated to be worth more than $138 million for the Saints. It’s a pretty good deal for both parties (though not so much for the taxpayers who paid to build the place): Gayle Benson gets some walking around money, and Caesars gets a huge branding opportunity as well as revenue from events like Essence Fest, the Sugar Bowl and the upcoming Super Bowl. The deal got Gambit to thinking about all the other things Caesars could buy the naming rights to in New Orleans. For instance …

PARKING METERS

They already look like weird slot machines, and they’re about as likely to work as you are to win the jackpot at penny slots.

I M AG E BY J O H N “ PH OTOS H O P S EN S EI ” S TA NTO N

O R I G I N A L P H OTO BY 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

Worst. Slot machine. Ever.

ALL THE POTHOLES

CITY HALL

Let’s face it, City Hall is a dump. Caesars, on the other hand, has really swanky hotels. The deal could pay to rehab the building and install lots of random fountains and Roman statues. O R I G I N A L P H OTO B Y SOPHIA GERMER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

It’s already a crap shoot whether anything useful gets done there anyway, amirite?

HOW ABOUT LEE CIRCLE?

After all, Caesar was murdered by a traitor who stabbed him in the back, and Lee was a murderous traitor who stabbed the U.S. in the back. Full circle. The money could pay to replace all the racist statues in town! It’s the Appomattox of naming rights deals!

Most naming rights deals cover just one physical object. That’s fine and all, but why stop at just one when you could literally have dozens of ads per city block? Plus, it’s a renewable resource: According to Gambit Chief Mathematician Will “I Got Your Prime Number Right Here” Coviello, a new pothole is born approximately every 69 seconds (nice). O R I G I N A L P H OTO B Y JENNIFER ZDON / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Always bet on black(hole)

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

Who’s feeling lucky

S&WB? MORE LIKE THE C&WB O R I G I N A L 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

Anything’s better than a racist loser.

Change the name to Caesars Crapshoot & Water Board and spend the money on bringing the pumping system into the mid-20th century.

O R I G I N A L P H OTO B Y BRETT DUKE / THE T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Seeing good music here would certainly be a ... sure bet.

THE GENTILLY STAGE AT JAZZ FEST The money could go toward more porta johns and Aloha shirts.

New moon

Elizabeth Street food

FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS, CAFE LUNA WAS a low-key landmark for its

A new Vietnamese cafe opens in the Lower Garden District BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O NEW ORLEANS HAS A DEEP CONNECTION to Vietnamese cuisine, but din-

ers used to have to go to Vietnamese communities in New Orleans East or the West Bank for fragrant pho and banh mi sandwiches. Now mom and pop eateries abound in neighborhoods and shopping centers across the area. And the latest vision of elevated Vietnamese dining arrived from Texas. Elizabeth Street Cafe recently opened on the corner of Magazine and Race streets in the Lower Garden District. It’s a sophisticated French bakery and Vietnamese cafe from Austin-based restaurant and hotel operators McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality, which has more than a dozen restaurants in Austin and Aspen, Colorado. A replicate of the original restaurant, which opened in 2011 in Austin, this new cafe is located in the company’s Hotel Saint Vincent. The 75-room property is a spectacular $22.2 million renovation of what once was an orphanage that opened in 1861. The company has done a gorgeous job, marrying a funky aesthetic with creature comforts and eye-popping design. It also has an impressive track record of taking popular types of cuisine, such as barbecue, or in this case Vietnamese fare, and elevating it with high-quality ingredients and charging accordingly. Geared to both hotel guests and locals, Elizabeth Street Cafe is open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for pastries and a robust Intelligentsia direct-trade coffee program. The in-house bakery makes classic French pastries and desserts — ask about the daily macaron — as well as the baguettes for its banh mi. An all-day menu of popular Vietnamese dishes

is available from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. There’s an expansive, awning-covered brick patio complete with misters and a compact indoor space for dining and picking up to-go orders. Upping the game with the likes of house-made sausages and modern takes on traditional dishes elevates the cafe in multiple ways. Yes, diners will pay $12 instead of $8 for fried spring rolls, but these aren’t the usual bites. The crispy fried-to-order rolls are plump with coarsely ground, garlicky pork sausage, napa cabbage, glass noodles and wood ear mushrooms and are served with fresh herbs, lettuce and nuoc cham dipping sauce. Ginger and chili oil dumplings are another winner. The tender wonton purses of ground pork, shrimp and water chestnuts swim in a red sea of spiced oil, topped with fresh herbs and glazed jalapenos. Escargot is broiled with a yellow curry compound butter and served on a fresh demi-baguette for catching every drop of sauce. In a sandwich-loving city that adores both po-boys and banh mi, there are six options on the menu, including one that gives a slight nod to local po-boy culture. “We don’t use shredded lettuce on any of the banh mi except for the fried shrimp,” says Jedd Adair, the company’s vice president of culinary operations. “We use a Louisiana-style hot sauce butter on the baguette along with the usual marinated

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

Elizabeth Street Cafe serves banh mi, fried spring rolls and ginger-chili dumplings.

daikon, carrot and cilantro.” Other fillings include grilled pork, crispy pork belly with fried egg, grilled chicken thighs, fried chicken and lemon grass tofu. Under the menu’s list of specialties, there’s a fragrant and spicy vermicelli bowl with redfish, colored with turmeric and sweetened with coconut. The wonderful fried rice is served with either sliced rib-eye or fried redfish, topped with ribbons of egg, cilantro and bonito flakes. A chicken and makrut lime laap — Adair’s favorite — is made with house-made chicken sausage seared hard, with slivers of fragrant makrut lime leaves served with sticky rice. Fans can try making this or other dishes at home with the Elizabeth Street Cafe cookbook, which drills down into the restaurant’s French-Vietnamese approach. “Our idea is to nod to tradition while being approachable,” Adair says. “The end key of all Vietnamese food is freshness, along with the highest caliber of ingredients. We’re getting a lot of traction with the locals who are coming in for coffee and pastry and then back in for lunch or dinner… We are thrilled that the neighborhood is really enjoying us.”

? WHAT

Elizabeth Street Cafe

WHERE

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

St. Vincent Hotel, 1507 Magazine St., (504) 3502435; saintvincentnola.com

WHEN

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily

HOW

Dine-in and takeout

CHECK IT OUT

An upscale approach to popular and unfamiliar Vietnamese dishes

Uptown neighborhood. It closed for good during the pandemic. Now, a young couple who have found success with eye-catching cakes and traditional Chinese dim sum soon will give the old spot new life. Wishing Town Bakery Cafe is planning to open a second location here at the corner of Nashville Avenue and Magazine Street. Founders Vivi and Kevin Zheng plan to open sometime in the fall, pending a round of renovations. Like the first location, this new shop will double as a bakery and a dim sum parlor, with custom cakes, a bakery case full of sweet treats and a menu of dumplings, soups and other dishes. The couple started Wishing Town in Metairie in a small, backstreet strip mall. Last year, they moved to a larger, more visible location near the Lakeside Shopping Center, at the address that had long been home to Morning Call Coffee Stand. Aisha Chen, their business partner

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

Kevin and Vivi Zheng founded Wishing Town Bakery Cafe.

and the manager of the new location, says they decided to expand based on feedback from customers. “Many people ask us about delivery to that area, which we can’t do right now, but we know there is interest,” Chen says. Wishing Town is known for intricate cakes, especially mille crepe cake, built from a dozen or so layers of crepe-thin cake between creamy filling, and sheet cakes topped with lush landscapes of cream dollops, fruit slices, frosting flowers, real flowers and macaroons. PAGE 20

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EATDRINK

FORK CENTER

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > Au g u st 3 - 9 > 2 02 1

WINE OF THE

WEEK

EAT+DRINK PAGE 19

On the savory side, Wishing Town serves delicate dim sum, soup dumplings gushing with juice, spicy soups, noodle dishes and hot pots. One specialty is the dragon dumpling, which has a hash of seaweed and sesame over the top, like a creature’s scales, and a tail of whole shrimp protruding for good measure. Within the almost-translucent wrapper, that shrimp is heaped with crab, ground shrimp and a ginger-spiked juice. The Zhengs, originally from Guangzhou, China, started their New Orleans business with a food truck, serving hibachi grill plates outside downtown office buildings and hospitals. But baking is Vivi Zheng’s true passion. She started out as a home baker, making traditional Chinese baked goods to sell to a circle of friends and family. The work gradually outgrew the home kitchen. Her cakes are visually stunning and deliver mellow sweet flavors. Custom cakes are a big part of the business, and at the shop patrons will find single-serve cake slices ready to go, with flavors like green tea (earthy, subtly bitter), taro (fragrant, nutty) and pandan (floral, coconut-like). The new shop will serve lunch and dinner daily. — IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Nine lives FOR A DOZEN YEARS, LE CHAT NOIR

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was a cabaret theater and lounge in downtown New Orleans. Soon, its old space will reopen with the same name, now recast as an upscale-casual restaurant from a local operator with big plans ahead. There’s even a ready tie-in to Le Chat Noir’s cat motif. This new Le Chat Noir is taking shape at 715 St. Charles Ave., which was most recently home to Marcello’s Restaurant & Wine Bar. Marcello’s did not reopen here after the pandemic closures, and last year it relocated to downtown Covington. The new restaurant is from James Reuter, founder of Bearcat Cafe, which has locations off Freret Street and nearby on Carondelet Street. He’s developing the new restaurant along with property owner and Marcello’s founder Gene Todaro. It’s slated to open in September. This new restaurant will be more refined and upscale than the two Bearcat cafes, best known for breakfast and lunch menus mixing lighter and indulgent dishes. But it will share some of the same guiding principles, including a broad range of vegetarian, vegan, paleo and gluten-free dishes. The chef is Seth Temple, and he described his approach as showcasing local ingredients with a lighter, cleaner edge.

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

The former Marcello’s Restaurant and Wine Bar space on St. Charles Avenue will become a new restaurant with an old name, Le Chat Noir.

“I want to present them in a way that’s not over manipulated, not smothered and covered,” he says. “I want to present it with the respect it deserves and also make sure it’s affordable enough for someone like me, a cook, to eat here.” Temple has been giving a taste of what he has in store for Le Chat Noir at an ongoing pop-up at the nearby Bearcat. From Thursday through Saturday each week, his crew serves a dinner menu in line with what the new restaurant will feature. This evening edition is dubbed Le Chat Noir at Bearcat CBD, and it will continue until the new restaurant opens. A recent meal showed Temple’s style in vivid fashion, with an interplay of freshness and flavor. Whole roasted carrots yielded to the knife like butter to swipe up some tofu hummus, bringing an earthy chile heat with it. An heirloom tomato salad over a bright basil aioli carried a spread of fat fried oysters and razor-thin slices of shallot. Slices of wagyu rib-eye steak were paired with creamy-rich Stilton and beets cooked to a dark, balsamic sweetness. They combined for bundles of umami flavor to pack into crinkly lettuce cups. Even a simple plate of white anchovies became a centerpiece, with a plate of griddle-pressed focaccia as running partner and a bath of citrus and chile that begged for a crisp white wine. Temple is a Lake Charles native. In New Orleans, he cooked at Kenton’s and Couvant before departing for London, where he cooked at the Michelin-starred restaurant Lyle’s. Back in New Orleans, he started working with Reuter at Bearcat and eventually developed the dinner concept as Le Chat Noir plans progressed. The new restaurant will allow him to expand on the ideas he’s showing now at the pop-up.

The kitchen will have a wood-fired grill and will practice whole animal butchery for both meat and seafood. At any given time 40% to 60% of the menu will be vegetarian or vegan, says Temple. The cabaret originally opened in 1999 with a lounge in front and an intimate performance space and stage in back. It hosted a wide array of productions until closing in 2011. A renovation is now underway behind the papered-over windows, though the bones of the old space within remain the same. Walk into the new restaurant, and you’ll find an expanded bar in the front lounge area, where broad windows face the passing streetcars. This lounge will have its own oyster bar, a standup version with no seats. Temple says he wants to focus on a changing array of specialty oysters from different waters around the country, including from Bright Side Oysters in Grand Isle. The main dining room in back will have seating for about 60 people, and also work in a touch of the theatrical. The kitchen occupies the space where the cabaret’s stage once stood; this is now framed by a large pass-through counter, for a semi-open kitchen visible from the dining room. At the new restaurant, Temple will be joined by Kevin Wardell as general manager, an accomplished sommelier who will direct the wine program. Behind the bar, you’ll find Christian Penuel, who is now at Bearcat CBD, and Christina Rando, an alum of Cure, who is developing the cocktail program. The rest of the staff will be a mix of former Marcello’s employees and others joining from Bearcat and elsewhere. “We’re going to push through the pandemic,” Reuter says. “This is a group of young professionals who are really excited to work together on something new going in a positive direction.” — IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

EAT+DRINK

Dee Lavigne

E R AT E D. F A M I LY O P

ned. F a m i ly O w

AY D e n i W e t i h W L A N O I NAT

Chef, Director of programming at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum

AUGUST 4, 2021

DEE LAVIGNE STARTED COOKING AT AGE 7 and she later attended the

Culinary Institute of America. She currently runs her own baking and catering company and is the director of programming at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, where she teaches weekly classes. Levigne’s Deelightful Roux cooking school will open at the museum in October. Lavigne co-hosts “Lena Richard’s New Orleans Cook Book: A Groundbreaking Story of Innovation and Resilience,” which is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s three-part Cooking Up History series. Born in 1892, Richard was a Black woman chef and entrepreneur who owned two restaurants, authored a 1939 cookbook on Creole food, started a frozen food company and hosted twice weekly morning cooking segments on WDSU-TV in 1949. The seminar features Lavigne cooking one of Richard’s dishes and historian Ashley Rose Young, who is writing a book about Richard. The in-person portion is open to SoFAB members, and the program is available online via the Smithsonian (find the link at natfab.org) at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5.

How did you learn about Lena Richard? DEE LAVIGNE: I first heard about Lena Richard in 2016. Elizabeth Williams was the director at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. When we met, she gave me a tour of the museum and she asked if I knew about Lena Richard. I said I hadn’t. She gave me a little bit of information, and I found it fascinating that I had never heard of this lady — and she’s done so many things, literally in the city I was born in. I had never heard anybody talk about Lena Richard. (Richard) was doing live TV twice a week. It wasn’t a pre-recorded segment. I think one of the reasons she may not be remembered is because of the time she was on TV. There were no pre-recorded broadcasts. There were no VCRs. There was no way to record her besides pictures. I think that’s one of the reasons why she got lost in history.

P H OTO B Y C H A N E L L E H A R R I S

What do you make of her getting a weekly spot on morning TV? L: She did not quit. She was moving — two restaurants, an international frozen food company in the 1930s. I love the fact that she was able to not be put in a box, or kept as a kitchen servant, or work as another Black cook in a racially motivated time. It was still the time of Jim Crow, and she was able to work outside of that. I believe a lot of (getting on TV) had to do with her catering. People knew she could cook.

What dish are you going to demonstrate? L: The dish I chose is shrimp bisque. I feel like it’s a really classic, old-school Creole dish that everyone can identify with. To me it’s the ultimate gift of love. It’s so involved. You’re stuffing shrimp heads. I tried to stick to her original recipe as much as I could, which is tricky. When I first tried it, it didn’t work. I was like, “There’s no way.” I followed everything to the letter. I need to know why. There were ingredients in the directions that weren’t listed in the ingredients. You had to think about what was common kitchen knowledge then. (They didn’t write it in the recipe) because you should know that. In 1939, they didn’t have the same kitchen knowledge we have today. I had to do a few work-arounds. Of course, both recipes will be presented. This (bisque) is roux based with big shrimp flavor, though very few ingredients. There is going to be a stuffing made to stuff the shrimp heads that get served on top of the bisque, which is an old-school type of thing. When I started practicing the recipe, the flavors were always on point. She was cooking delicious food. — WILL COVIELLO For more information about Dee Lavigne, visit chefdeelavigne.com.

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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 WO 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. $$

GENTILLY NOLA Crawfish King Seafood & Barbecue — 5321 Franklin Ave., (504) 571-5038 ; crawfishking.com — The restaurant specializes in boiled seafood and barbecue. The Gentilly Reuben features house-smoked brisket pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and house sauce on marbled rye. No reservations. Takeout and outdoor seating available. Lunch and early dinner Wed.-Sun. $$

HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershack-

tavern.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. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop.com — The Seafood Platter comes with fried catfish, shrimp, oysters and crab balls and is accompanied by fries and choice of side. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 888-2010; koshercajun.com — This New York-style 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. $

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 York-style 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. $$

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OUT EAT

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 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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MUSIC

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4:30 Abita Blues Band 5:30 The Chitlins 7:00 Big Al and the Heavyweights 9:00 Kenny Neal

SATURDAY

SEPT. 24–25, 2021 CASSIDY PARK BOGALUSA, LA www.bogalusablues.com

1:00 Looka Here 3:30 Laurie Morvan Band 5:30 Walter “Wolfman” Washington 7:00 Jonathan Boogie Long 9:00 Eric Gales

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Congo Square celebration BY JAKE CLAPP IN JUNE, TROMBONIST AND BANDLEADER

Delfeayo Marsalis wanted to plan a livestreaming concert with his Uptown Jazz Orchestra for a Juneteenth celebration. But by the time the idea came together, it was too close to the date, he says, so they moved it back to July 4. By that time, though, “We just decided, hey, let’s start Jazz at Congo Square which is something we could actually do on an annual basis, perhaps,” Marsalis says. In that time, the fight over Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s proposal to move City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium heated up, renewing citywide acknowledgement of the cultural and historical importance of Congo Square. The decision to host Jazz at Congo Square, an afternoon-long celebration on Sunday, Aug. 8, right now was coincidental, Marsalis says — but the time is always right to recognize the site’s importance. “At some point, we just have to say something is sacred,” Marsalis says. “So Congo Square is that space. This isn’t being done to make any kind of political statement.” Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra will host and perform at Jazz at Congo Square, which will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday with a call to ancestors led by percussionist Luther Gray and the Congo Square Preservation Society. Poet Sunni Patterson will give a reading and Tonya Boyd-Cannon, Kyle Roussel, Mykia Jovan and Vegas Cola Band will perform. Stooges Brass Band also will play and lead a second line to close out the celebration. Jazz at Congo Square will “reinforce the importance of the African traditions that have made New Orleans so special and so unique for so many years,” Marsalis says. “That’s primarily why people come to New Orleans and love New Orleans. It’s these great traditions we not only want to maintain but pay homage to.” There will be an art market, and local restaurants and chefs

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

Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis leads the Uptown Jazz Orchestra.

will be serving food and beverages. Admission to the festival is free. VIP tickets, which include an open bar, small bites and a seating area, are $75. Proceeds from Jazz at Congo Square will benefit the Uptown Music Theatre, which teaches kids skills in musical theater, and Keep NOLA Music Alive. Marsalis started KNOMA last year in the midst of the pandemic to help give emergency relief aid to New Orleans culture bearers. A VIP Patron Party at Gallier Hall on Friday, Aug. 6, will precede the Jazz at Congo Square celebration. Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra will perform, and there will be a silent auction on artwork and other items. Tickets are $100. “In this past year and a half, musicians around the world have faced and conquered what seemed like insurmountable circumstances,” Marsalis said in a previous statement. “Now, we’re looking to the future, which means celebrating the past, embracing the present and focusing on building sustainable futures for New Orleans culture bearers.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SLAAP’D Drag Kickball TEAMS OF DRAG PERFORMERS WILL GO TO HEAD-TO-HEAD FOR A GAME OF CHARITY KICKBALL. On Saturday, Aug. 7, The Androgynettes, named after performer Ariel Androgyny, will face off against The Lil’ Smokeys, named after performer Smokestack Lightning, at City Park’s softball quad. Suggested donations are between $5 and $20 and will benefit LOUD: New Orleans Queer Youth Theatre. For more information on the program, visit neworleansqyt. wixsite.com/loud.

Javier Olondo and AsheSon GUITARIST JAVIER OLONDO PLAYS ALL SORTS OF MUSIC, but with AsheSon he focuses on traditional Cuban songs and grooves. The band performs at Rock ’n’ Bowl at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3. Find tickets at rocknbowl.com.

Naughty Professor THE FUNKY SIX-PIECE ENSEMBLE WAS BORN A DECADE AGO, not long after its members moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University. The line-up has changed since then, and the group’s songs are mostly instrumental. Its past albums have featured guests such as David Shaw of the Revivalists, Ivan Neville and the Soul Rebels. The band takes the stage Friday, Aug. 6, for a free show at Tipitina’s. The show starts at 10 p.m. For more information, visit tipitinas.com.

Royal Bing-Oh! COMEDIAN GENEVA JOY IS STRAIGHT TO THE POINT: “IT’S BINGO FOR SEX TOYS, people!” The New Orleans comedian is celebrating her birthday with a round of bingo and other games for adult toys and weird prizes. The night also will feature appearances by comedians Lee Glass, Keeda with a Q, DC Paul, Michele Poole and Jeff D and burlesque performer Juno Juno. Tacos de Liberation will also be on site. Royal Bing-Oh! Takes place Tuesday, Aug. 3, at Hi-Ho Lounge. Free to play with the purchase of a drink. 21 and older. Find more information at facebook.com/hi.ho.nola.

48 Hour Film Project TEAMS OF LOCAL FILMMAKERS HIT THE STREETS FRIDAY TO MAKE A SHORT FILM (less than seven minutes) — entirely written,

filmed, edited and submitted — in 48 hours. Crews must use a character name, line of dialog and genre drawn out of a hat at the beginning of the event. The kickoff is at Buffalo Wild Wings at 3434 Veterans Memorial Blvd. in Metairie at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6. Visit 48hourfilm.com/new-orleans-la for information on local teams or joining the action. Completed films will screen in August at the National World War II Museum’s Solomon Victory Theater.

Family Festival: Word Play THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART HOSTS A FAMILY DAY WITH ART-MAKING ACTIVITIES, storytelling and music by Kelly Love Jones. Programming is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7. Admission is free for families and advanced registration is encouraged. Visit noma.org for details.

Blue Cypress Books re-opening celebration OAK STREET BOOKSTORE BLUE CYPRESS BOOKS RECENTLY RELOCATED almost directly across the street to a larger, twostory space, giving the business more room to expand its secondhand books section and add a dedicated space for author signings and readings. The shop just re-opened on Aug. 1 and is having a celebration on Saturday, Aug. 7. Blue Cypress will have drinks available for customers throughout the day, and author Jim Gabour will sign his new book “Meow, Monsieur! The French Felines of New Orleans” from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. More information can be found at bluecypressbooks.com.

Mutzie A VETERAN OF BET’S COMIC VIEW, cruise line shows and church gigs, Mutzie has built a following for his clean comedy, though the Chalmette native isn’t shy about mobile home and “Hee Haw” jokes. He performs at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7. Find ticket information at zeitgeistnola.org.

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > Au g u st 3 - 9 > 2 0 2 1

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G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > Au g u st 3 - 9 > 2 02 1

Bride + G ROOM A GUIDE TO NEW ORLEANS WEDDINGS + UNIONS

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FILM

Dark webs BY WILL COVIELLO MATT DEHART’S STORY

is either stranger than fiction or mostly just that: fiction. As an internet “hacktivist,” DeHart emerged a little more than a decade ago, claiming to be a member of the online group Anonymous and perhaps a conduit to WikiLeaks. He says he operated a server on the dark web and that he had files about U.S. government activities. DeHart had enlisted in the Air National Guard and trained to work on a drone program, but was honorably discharged. DeHart tried to defect to Russia and Venezuela at their embassies in Washington, D.C. He later fled to Canada to seek asylum, and says he was drugged and tortured while detained by the FBI. But there were other accusations about his online activity. He was accused of meeting two teenaged boys in a World of Warcraft online community and soliciting child pornography. DeHart said the charges were bogus and designed to allow the government to search his computer. DeHart’s story was the subject of several deep dives into an amazing string of revelations and accusations, all obscured by the dark corners of the web, the security state, sealed documents and more. There also are some odd happenstances in the story, adding to a sense of paranoia. The latest attempt to get at the truth of the matter is Sonia Kennebeck’s film “Enemies of the State,” which runs at The Prytania Theatres at Canal Place. There’s a whiplash effect to wading into the cascades of details in the story. DeHart’s father is a chaplain. But it’s soon revealed that both of DeHart’s parents formerly worked for the U.S. military as linguists monitoring international communications. With the decline of the Cold War and reduction of some sectors of military operations, they retired (before the robust return of the security state following 9/11). The DeHarts believed their son and went to great lengths to fight for his innocence. The entire family applied for asylum in Canada, alleging that the U.S. had tortured their son. It’s hard to verify many parts of the story. Matt DeHart says unencrypted files were placed on his server by another person. He says

P H OTO C O U R T E S Y O F I F C F I L M S

the government files were on hard drives that he took to Mexico and mailed to others, whom he hasn’t identified. The only person who claims to be familiar with their contents is his mother. The U.S. government neither confirms nor denies various aspects of the case and its sprawling reach is daunting. Prosecutors in Tennessee had a different view. They saw a Matt DeHart who told two teenagers that he was the son of a mob boss who lived in New Jersey. DeHart actually went to Tennessee and met one of the teens. The child pornography charges helped the government detain DeHart after one crossing of the Canadian border. Not everything is as it first appears in the film. The movie follows the format of a documentary, but many scenes are recreated with actors. That’s not unheard of, and some use real recordings of conversations. But there is a wealth of created scenes and images, including stark images of Matt DeHart in detention that match what he alleges. But if he’s an unreliable narrator or greatly mischaracterized the situation, these are rather loaded fabrications of the filmmaker. Is her recreation more about getting to the truth or giving the film a dark thrill? It’s also possible for multiple bad things to be true. DeHart could be a child pornographer and a hacker and the government could abuse its powers and be hiding war crimes, all of which deserve attention. Kennebeck turns to independent figures — journalists, security and legal experts — to try to establish a set of verifiable facts. No matter what the truth is about Matt DeHart, just the difficulty of getting to it is a chilling aspect of a film that feels designed to tease viewers with the possibilities.

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67 PC-sent greeting 68 Hearing things 70 Fast shark 71 Bamboozles 72 Footballer working as a sound technician? 75 Matching pullover and cardigan 77 Old Chrysler 78 Think meditatively 79 “Uh, pardon me ...” 80 Like Goodwill goods 82 Apple variety 85 Humiliated 90 Expand, as a house 95 Footballer on a plane trip? 97 Thin pancake

98 Envious composer in “Amadeus” 101 Iterate 102 Visit a footballer? 104 Labor 106 Young fellow 107 Flush (with) 108 Sony Bravia or Sharp Aquos 109 Pool hall item 110 Piece of office furniture 112 Plaything for Fido or Fluffy 114 Declaration when a footballer arrives? 119 Angry speech 120 One casting a ballot 121 Urge on 122 Makes a sly verbal attack 123 Ecstasy 124 Feds, e.g. DOWN 1 “See-saw, Margery —” 2 Fanciers of fine dining 3 Wrinkle-removing procedure 4 Iterate 5 Greek consonants 6 Vietnamese festival 7 Common infant illness 8 Girl played by Lily Tomlin 9 Bamboozles 10 Anger 11 Quick escape 12 Stuck going nowhere 13 When typical workdays start 14 Self-indulgent binge 15 Have existence 16 Experience a huge failure 17 Remove hair from, as one’s legs 18 Like doctors’ practices 19 In an aerodynamic way 24 Early Mexican 29 ’80s Golden Arches burger 31 Bulldogs’ school 32 Scared (of) 33 Kennel club classifications 34 Rowing need 35 TiVo device

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37 — minimum 38 Connect-the-points puzzle 40 Abbr. limiting a list 43 Canon — Rebel 45 Exec. helper 48 Make — out of (rebut) 49 Skating place 51 “It’s finally clear” 53 Woeful cry 55 Relatives of xylophones 56 Clickable screen image 57 Some ring wins, for short 58 Sommer of “A Shot in the Dark” 59 Take it easy 60 A helmet protects it 61 Take — from (do as suggested by) 62 Units of absorbed energy 63 Vigor, in music scores 64 “Oedipus complex” coiner 65 Egyptian goddess of fertility 66 Black-clad teen, maybe 69 High point 73 Blowout win 74 Enshrouded

ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRS

76 Mink’s cousin 79 “Mein Gott!” 81 “Such a pity!” 83 Erstwhile space station 84 Troublemaker 86 Rear, at sea 87 Marine animal’s pelt 88 Title girl of old comics 89 Like green or purple hair 90 Doesn’t reject 91 Embedded, as a nail 92 “Taking Woodstock” star — Martin 93 Source of flowing water 94 Tennis divider 95 Shark feature 96 Tot’s wheels 99 Pollen bearer 100 Lowest parking garage tier, perhaps 103 “Absolutely!” 105 Earthy hue, to a Brit 109 Post-Q string 110 Fender flaw 111 Latin “Lo!” 113 Lyrical verse 115 Sales staffer 116 Outer: Prefix 117 Rio carmaker 118 Hi- — image

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32 Strong urge 33 Footballer ejected from a nightclub? 36 She helped Theseus 39 Imparted fizz to 41 Critical 42 Not on a footballer’s right? 44 For the most part 46 Aristocrat’s home 47 Formerly 48 Liberal — 50 Mai — (rum drinks) 52 Salvador the surrealist 54 Hard hitter, biblically 60 Ship shelters 64 Footballer with a rod and reel?

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ACROSS 1 Imperfection 7 1970 Simon & Garfunkel hit 14 “— Lot” (Stephen King novel) 20 Geronimo’s tribe 21 Scenting compound 22 Push forward 23 Footballer from a major Kansas city? 25 Dwell (in) 26 Corp. VIPs 27 Pimples 28 “The — of the Ancient Mariner” 30 Fashion designer Tahari 31 Actor Brynner

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27 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > AU G U S T 3 - 9 > 2 0 2 1

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LEGO! LEGO! LEGO!

AUGUST 14 & 15 LEGO FAN CONVENTION The Ultimate LEGO Fan Event!

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