Gambit: August 9, 2022

August 9-15 // 2022 // Volume 43 // Number 32

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WEEKLY

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A Petal for Your Thoughts!

AUGUST 9 — AUGUST 15, 2022 VOLUME 43 || NUMBER 32

CONTENTS

NEWS Opening Gambit ...............................7 Commentary...................................12

TELL SOMEONE YOU LOVE THEM WITH AN ARRANGEMENT!

Clancy DuBos..................................13 Blake Pontchartrain.....................14

FEATURES CURRENT HOURS: MON-FRI 7am-1pm

SAT 7am-Noon

Arts & Entertainment ....................5 Eat + Drink...................................... 23

Monday Noon to 10pm Tues Closed WEDNESday Noon to Midnight

Music Listings................................28

THURSday - Sat Noon to 2 am Sunday Noon to 10 pm

Film ...................................................30 Puzzles..............................................31 DESIGN BY EMMA VEITH

haha’s & tatas comedy burlesque

Mayor LaToya Cantrell

8:30 pm �ursdays �ursdays

bootleggers bath burlesk

5 pm Fridays

OPEN MIC COMEDY 10 pm �urs & 8 pm Sat

spot of tease burlesque

1 pm Saturdays and Sundays

91 French Market Place | New Orleans | jinxnola

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All Natural Nutrition Pre and Post workout fuels Vitamins, Supplements and Essential Oils

15

Where in the World is Mayor Cantrell?

A guide to Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s domestic and international travels this year

S TA F F EDITORIAL

KAYLEE POCHE, SARAH RAVITS

Contributing Writer | IAN MCNULTY

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ALL MADE IN HOUSE

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BUSINESS & OPERATIONS ADVERTISING

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[sstein@gambitweekly.com] Sales Representatives KELLY SONNIER (504) 483-3143

[ksonnier@gambitweekly.com] CHARLIE THOMAS

Creative Director |

(504) 636-7438 [cthomas@gambitweekly.com]

Traffic Manager |

JOSH BOUTTE (504) 313-3553

JASON WHITTAKER

[josh.boutte@gambitweekly.com]

Project Manager |

Sales and Marketing Coordinators

Senior Art Director |

[abigail.scorsone@gambitweekly.com]

DORA SISON

FROM THE BREAD DOWN TO THE SAU CE

Publisher | JEANNE EXNICIOS FOSTER

Advertising Inquiries (504) 483-3150 Advertising Director |

Staff Writers | JAKE CLAPP,

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C O V E R D E S I G N BY D O R A S I S O N

Editor | JOHN STANTON Arts & Entertainment Editor |

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(504) 483-3105// response@ gambitweekly.com Political Editor | CLANCY DUBOS

3200 Severn Ave Suite 116 | 504-841-9145 | health4nola.com

CORRECTION: The August 2 edition of Gambit included a photo with an incorrect caption of a photograph of the federal prosecutor in District Attorney Jason Williams case. It was added during the editing process to the photo that ran with Clancy DuBos’ story.

We apologize for the error.

MARIA VIDACOVICH BOUÉ CATHERINE FLOTTE

Junior Art Director |

ABIGAIL SCORSONE CAMILLE CROPLEY

[camille.cropley@gambitweekly.com]

EMMA VEITH

Senior Graphic Designer |

SCOTT FORSYTHE

Graphic Designer |

COURTNEY LEONPACHER

@The_Gambit @gambitneworleans

Gambit (ISSN 1089-3520) is published weekly by Capital City Press, LLC, 840 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130.

(504) 486-5900. 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 2022 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

5

Ritual Cleanse

Flagboy Giz releases new album ‘I Got Indian in my Family’

|

by Jake Clapp

IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR AARON “FLAGBOY GIZ” HARTLEY’S SUIT TO BURN.

The Flagboy of the Wild Tchoupitoulas one July evening took his suit to Lincoln Beach, drenched it in lighter fluid and put a match to a piece of red and white ruffle. The lighter fluid got things going, but the feathers and the glue sent the suit up in flames. Within four minutes, the red, white and blue suit was destroyed.

Hartley had heard elders in the Black Masking Indian community talk about an old tradition of suit burnings, but he’d never seen it happen.

So he asked some friends to shoot video and photos at Lincoln Beach.

“That’s really the only documented suit burning I’ve ever seen,” Hartley says. “I’ve watched a lot of documentaries and Indians say things like they want to work on the next suit and they destroy the other one, or they take apart and reuse some things and then burn the suit.

But you’ve never actually seen anybody burn it up.”

Hartley decided to use the footage of the suit burning as a music video for his song “Sacred Ritual,” the lead track on the new Flagboy Giz full-length album, “I Got Indian in my Family.” A gripping image of the suit on fire with Lake Pontchartrain in the background is on the album cover.

On “Sacred Ritual” Hartley raps about the traditions of Black Masking Indians on Mardi Gras Day — and woe to anyone who gets in the way.

Indians spend all year — and thousands of dollars — sewing new suits, building up to the moment they step out as a tribe. With the video, Hartley connects the ritual of the day with the finality of the suit burning.

“We doing a sacred ritual — ‘I know you want a picture, but I come to run them over by the Magnolia,’ so that’s what the song is about,” Hartley says, quoting a line from the track. “But the burning of the suit itself is a sacred ritual. Even though I’ve never seen [a suit burning], this is something the ancestors would do, and it was almost like a rise like a phoenix type of thing to me. Every year, you create art and you destroy it, and then you start from brand new, so that when you’re gone, they can’t come and look at your art up close and touch all on it — no, once you’re gone, the art is gone. The pictures exist and the stories exist.”

Red Dress Run

DAY DRINKING, RUNNING IN THE SUMMER HEAT and matching a dress

and running shoes may not sound desirable to everybody, but the New Orleans Hash House Harriers wrap them into a single event held the second Saturday of every August. This year, that’s Aug. 13, and the Red Dress Run begins in Crescent Park, where the first kegs will be tapped at 9 a.m. The run starts at 10 a.m. on North Peters Street, where there will be more beer trucks. The event includes live music and food after the run. The running group donates proceeds from the annual fun run to area nonprofits and charities.

Information and advanced registration are available via neworleanshash.com. Runners also can register on the day of the run but only cash will be accepted.

The 12-track “I Got Indian in my Family” is out now. The record is Hartley’s second full-length album, following up on his self-produced debut “Flagboy of the Nation,” which was released Mardi Gras Day 2021 when most Indians chose not to step out amid the ongoing pandemic.

Rooted in hip-hop and bounce, “I Got Indian in my Family” features production by Mannie Fresh (the song “Uptown”), Philadelphiabased producer DJ Emynd and Hartley himself. Raj Smoove mastered the album. And Queen Elle, Big Chief Roderick Sylvas and other members of the Wild Tchoupitoulas offer guest vocals.

Draped in swagger and bravado, Hartley paints a picture of life as a Black Masking Indian, rapping about Indian customs, challenges to other tribes, theft by culture vultures and views on Black life in New Orleans.

“It’s one of the wokest things a Black man can do,” Hartley says.

Hartley, 35, grew up in Pontchartrain Park and picked up piano at a young age and later the saxophone, which he played through high school. In his early teens, Hartley and a friend started making beats and writing verses.

They made a few of their own mixtapes, which will never see the light of day, Hartley says with a laugh.

During his freshmen year in college, Hartley met Brandan “Bmike” Odums and Kevin Griffin-Clark and started working with their 2-Cent Entertainment collective, making music for various projects

PROVIDED PHOTO BY DWIGHT BELL JR.

Flagboy Giz recently put to rest his 2022 suit.

He’s now sewing his new suit for 2023. over the next few years. But when Hartley started masking with the Wild Tchoupitoulas in 2015, music took more of a backseat while he learned to sew.

Then, the pandemic rolled into New Orleans, and with more extra time, Hartley wanted to dive back into music. He started making his own beats again and freestyling about Indians. Before Hartley knew it, he had enough songs he felt worth showing off and put together “Flagboy of the Nation.”

It’s hard not to think about the long legacy behind “Flagboy of the Nation” and “I Got Indian in my Family” stretching back to the benchmark 1976 Wild Tchoupitoulas record. Hartley says he’s a student of the music Big Chief Jolly and the Nevilles were making at the time along with other Mardi Gras Indian funk bands — listeners will catch references in Hartley’s lyrics.

“It is nothing really different. This is exactly reflective of what the culture has been for 50 years, it just sounds different with a different cadence in a way that people like to play in their car now,” Hartley says.

“I want this culture to evolve. It can’t stay stagnate.”

Find “I Got Indian in my Family,” including a vinyl pre-order, at flagboygiz.com.

PHOTO BY BRET T DUKE / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Father John Misty

JOSHUA TILLMAN TURNED TO THE RETRO STYLINGS OF BIG BANDS and

lush orchestration for his April release “Chloe and the Next 20th Century,” his fifth album released under his Father John Misty moniker. His voice is gentle and steady from songs like “Q4” to long lyrical pieces like “The Next 20th Century.” He performs at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday, Aug. 13. British former model and actress turned singer-songwriter Suki Waterehouse just released her debut album, “I Can’t Let Go.” She opens at 8 p.m. Find tickets via ticketmaster.com.

Dirty Linen Night

ART AND ANTIQUE GALLERIES ARE AMONG THE MORE THAN 45 BUSINESSES along Royal Street opening

for Dirty Linen Night. Formed 19 years ago in response to White

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NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

Bye for now BUKU, we hardly knew you

#

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

500

THE APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF LOW-INCOME APARTMENT UNITS NO LONGER MANAGED

BY INFAMOUS LANDLORD JOSHUA BRUNO.

Be Loud Studios, a New Orleans organization teaching kids about radio and digital media production, will use a $5,000 grant to support Be Loud Live, a Saturday morning program that connects the young DJs with local culture bearers and institutions. The Society for Science awarded the STEM Action Grant to Be Loud along with 44 other organizations working to improve access to STEM education.

Judge Meredith Grabill, a federal

bankruptcy judge, has ordered that six apartment complexes owned by landlord Joshua Bruno be turned over to an independent manager. Bruno has drawn criticism for his dilapidated New Orleans properties and mistreatment of tenants, many of whom are low-income.

His 336-unit Oakmont Apartments in Algiers is nearly abandoned because of its disrepair.

The judge ordered Bruno to turn over Oakmont and five other properties and any associated financial records and assets to a trustee as part of his ongoing bankruptcy case.

Home insurance rates rose an

average 6.7% in Louisiana in 2021, three times the 1.9% average increase the year before. According to a recent Times-Picayune article, seven insurance companies in Louisiana have folded and at least a dozen more have submitted withdrawal notices to the Department of Insurance.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is calling the situation a “crisis.”

THE COUNT

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill on Aug. 1 appointed an independent manager to oversee Bruno’s six decrepit properties after he filed for bankruptcy.

According to The Times-Picayune, Grabill also accused Bruno of millions of dollars of fraudulent money orders and potentially squandering $800,000 of Hurricane Ida insurance money. For years, tenants have complained of deplorable living conditions and health problems stemming from sewage leaks, fires, rodent infestations, toxic mold and violence.

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

City Council Vice President JP Morrell and President Helena Moreno.

Legalized outdoor music enters the homestretch following council vote THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL IS ANOTHER STEP CLOSER to creating

new guidelines for outdoor live music and other entertainment, aimed at replacing the confusing and restrictive rules currently on the books.

Last week, the council unanimously advanced the latest version of the proposed rules, guided by recommendations by City Planning Commission (CPC) staff.

The commission will now make those changes and send them back to the council for another vote in the coming months.

Until then, venue owners and musicians remain in limbo, operating under temporary rules Mayor LaToya Cantrell set through her pandemic emergency order. The order removed the cap on the number of special event permits businesses could receive a year for live outdoor entertainment — 8 individual events for a max of 24 days — but Cantrell could end the order at any point.

Even under the temporarily loosened rules, the uncertainty and costly permitting fees have caused owners of popular outdoor venues to close their doors or make major renovations to continue operating legally.

The rules the council advanced would create a permit for most places that can have indoor live entertainment to have regular outdoor live entertainment. The city would let owners of these venues host outdoor live music up to three times a week — without forcing them to apply and pay for a separate permit each time.

The new permit would be what’s called “conditional use,” meaning businesses would first have to apply for it, submitting their noise control, site plans and other necessary documents to the city. Neighbors could weigh in on those plans, which would eventually go to the CPC and the council for approval.

The city could then take the permit away if business owners and employees weren’t following the agreed upon rules.

“We want to end the process of people going through this kind of rigmarole, arbitrary thing that they do right now with social events, and we want to get them into this conditional use process,” Andrew Tuozzolo, chief of staff of Council President Helena Moreno, told Gambit PAGE 8

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prior to the meeting. Moreno’s office has been spearheading efforts to change the city’s outdoor entertainment rules on the council side.

Though most commonly associated with live music, outdoor live entertainment can also include theater, comedy, dance, DJs and other types of performances. The rules would not affect second lines, private events at private residences, markets, special events or street performances.

Generally, with the permit, the city would allow outdoor shows up to three days a week from 11 p.m. until 9 p.m. on weeknights and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Live entertainment at hotels would be more limited during weekdays.

Under the proposed rules, there would also need to be a buffer zone of at least 30 feet between the outdoor live entertainment and a residential district, up from the original 15 feet considered.

The council or CPC could further increase that buffer on a case-bycase basis.

The council also added to the proposed rules a requirement for the city to post online a list of businesses to which it gives conditional use permits for outdoor live entertainment. The website would also need to include the terms of that agreement, like when the city is allowing the business to have outdoor live entertainment in the first place.

The proposed rules require businesses to follow the city’s sound ordinance, which sets legal sound levels in the city. But the way the ordinance is written basically renders it unenforceable. Any new ordinance would have to go through the health department, which has been busy dealing with the pandemic for the last few years.

Moreno said in the meantime the city would be able to enforce the hours businesses are allowed to have live music, regardless of the status of the noise ordinance, potentially through the Office of Safety and Permits and the new Office of Nighttime Economy.

Council Member Joe Giarrusso said he is working on making sure the city will have staff available to enforce the rules. “If we’re going to do new things that is exciting, but we’ve got to also make sure that we have personnel to support them,” he said.

The council won’t take a final vote on the rules until the fall. There

will be more opportunities for the public and stakeholders to weigh in before that vote and for the council to make further changes.

Ethan Ellestad, executive director of Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, said that the council honoring Tank and the Bangas earlier in the day emphasized the need for legislation on the front end to support musicians.

“To be able to be here and see this as it progresses and create new safe outdoor spaces that really are not just for public health but for economic development, that will help create those cultural spaces that will allow the next generation to come up and continue, is fantastic,” he said.

Council Vice President JP Morrell said creating clearer and less restrictive rules allowing regular live outdoor music in the city has been a long time coming.

Even in the latest iteration of the outdoor music debate, it’s been a year and a half since the Outdoor Live Entertainment Study was submitted to the council for further action.

“It’s amazing to me when you travel this country and you go to other cities, they have outdoor venues where our musicians are able to apply their craft and they make tremendous amounts of money from it,” Morrell said.

“Yet in the city of New Orleans, it took us this long to finally allow our musicians to make that kind of money and share their art at home.” — KAYLEE POCHE

Cantrell seeks quick end to civil rights consent decree, lashes out at NOPD critics

MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL LAST WEEK SAID SHE WILL SEEK TO QUICKLY BRING AN END to the decade-old

federal consent decree aimed at ending systemic corruption, civil rights abuses and other problems within the New Orleans Police Department — despite new allegations of misconduct against NOPD brass.

Cantrell announced her decision at a press conference with NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, during which she blamed criticism of the police by the media, members of the City Council and the public for causing low morale in the force and driving dozens of officers out of the job.

“It takes all of us to reassure the men and women [of NOPD] that

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we depend on them and that they matter, and that we appreciate them and we respect them for what they do,” she said.

“It feels like service is under attack. Law enforcement is under attack nationally.”

Cantrell also argued the consent decree — which was put in place in 2012 — was no longer necessary. She said it “handcuffs” officers and that the paperwork involved has become unnecessarily burdensome.

In April, The Times-Picayune reported that a federal judge said the force had reached substantial reform improvements but noted NOPD still needed marked improvement amid allegations of “double-dipping” on shifts — meaning, picking up private detail jobs while on public duty — and recruitment tactics.

Cantrell and Ferguson have faced mounting criticism over their handling of violent crime, police retention and recruitment in recent months, which spurred the mayor to cancel a trip to Singapore this week to meet with officers about their concerns.

Meanwhile, the Independent Police Monitor told Gambit July 29 it was investigating allegations NOPD brass pressured a former cop to make an illegal arrest in January.

In efforts to boost morale and resources, Cantrell said part of the latest tranche of federal infrastructure money has gone toward purchasing 75 brand-new Ford Explorers, which are currently being outfitted with “bells and whistles” for officers.

As part of the city’s efforts to bolster public support for officers, Cantrell said her administration would be hosting more recognition ceremonies for law enforcement and other workers in the city.

Cantrell also seemed to agree to a plan before the City Council to hire more civilians to respond to non-violent calls.

She said she would be ramping up pilot programs to get more mental health professionals, rather than law enforcement, to respond to certain urgent calls for help, which criminal justice reform advocates have long been pushing for.

“That will free up our officers to allow them to focus on and to concentrate on the real threats to public safety,” she said.

And promotions to senior police officers will be more

“timely” moving forward. Instead of waiting to promote them on an annual basis, she says they will be promoted as they become eligible, though she did not specify what the eligibility requirements are.

Officers also reportedly raised concerns about personal appearance standards and Cantrell and Ferguson are considering updating the dress code to allow officers to wear baseball caps and shorts made of breathable materials during the summer months. They are also considering letting them grow facial hair and wear nail polish.

Cantrell also blasted the media and select city council members for contributing to the public’s overall low opinion of law enforcement, and complained that criticism of the force has exacerbated problems at NOPD. While she thanked council members Oliver Thomas and Eugene Green for their support, she and Ferguson, without explicitly naming names, slammed Council President Helena Moreno and Council Vice President JP Morrell.

Morrell and Moreno have been vocal critics of NOPD and have raised concerns NOPD downplayed crime statistics to avoid scaring off tourists.

Ferguson said, “some of our elected officials continue to beat the drum on negativity,” and Cantrell blamed their criticism, in part, on mental health issues.

“When you hear elected officials speaking negatively — and yet the (officers) we depend on are delivering for the city, in spite of the challenges that exist, it has an impact,” Cantrell said. She added, “To hear from some (elected officials) that were here four years ago and had nothing to say, but all of a sudden now and especially when we have been through so much and our officers have gotten us through — you can’t deny the impact that this has on our officers psychologically.”

Both Cantrell and Ferguson said it was the media’s responsibility to “uplift” the officers. And Ferguson complained that the media’s coverage was skewed.

“If (the officers) do something wrong,” Ferguson said, “we have everyone on that scene.”

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For Mayor Cantrell, the buck stops elsewhere MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL WANTS NEW ORLEANIANS TO BELIEVE that every-

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thing related to the New Orleans Police Department would be just fine — if. If the media wouldn’t call attention to NOPD’s two-and-a-halfhour average call response time. If certain members of the City Council would stop voicing citizens’ concerns and complaints about NOPD operations. If the federal consent decree governing NOPD operations would end, so that cops would no longer be “handcuffed.”

During a press conference last week with NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, Cantrell seemed to put responsibility for NOPD’s problems everywhere but on the department’s leadership — or herself. She repeatedly complained about the 2012 consent decree, which was expressly designed to end longstanding problems, including a pattern of civil rights abuses by police. Cantrell claimed NOPD had reformed itself, that cops are doing their jobs constitutionally, but that “biased monitoring,” a biased media and political opponents have created a perception that things have gone awry.

Unfortunately for the mayor, reality does not align with her Panglossian view.

Cantrell’s presser came just a day after news broke that an on-duty, intoxicated police officer crashed his unit into multiple parked cars in the Warehouse District in late July. Several days before that, the city’s Independent Police Monitor told Gambit that she will launch an investigation into allegations that police brass pressured a detective to make an illegal arrest. According to the now-former officer’s exit interview documents, he refused, citing constitutional grounds and lack of probable cause. He alleges his supervisors then punished and demoted him, prompting him to resign from NOPD. Those allegations were part of a damning report by The TimesPicayune on why officers have left NOPD in droves in recent years.

For months, the administration cited salary issues and low morale

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Mayor LaToya Cantrell holds a press conference with New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Shaun Ferguson. in the wake of protests against police violence as the cause of so many departures. The exit interviews show otherwise. Many quit or retired citing poor management, pressure to take illegal or unethical actions and other problems expressly covered by the consent decree.

Meanwhile, as a direct result of City Council oversight, the public recently learned NOPD’s average response time to 911 calls is more than two and a half hours — double that of San Francisco. Worse still, council hearings showed that victims of violent crimes, including rape, often give up and leave the scene before officers finally arrive, resulting in innumerable crimes not being counted by NOPD in its statistical reports.

We acknowledge that NOPD has made significant strides since the consent decree took effect, and we applaud all those improvements.

It’s clear, however, that some of the most egregious problems at the heart of the consent decree remain unresolved. The fact that a departing officer made credible allegations that he was pressured to make an illegal arrest six months ago is proof of that.

Cantrell promised to finish the job of reforming NOPD when she took office in May 2018. Now, more than four years into her tenure, she owns all NOPD problems, including the longstanding ones. The buck stops with her — not everywhere else.

@clancygambit

Jurors got it wrong — Africk should overturn Burdett’s conviction CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS OFTEN ASK JUDGES TO OVERTURN GUILTY VERDICTS, but jurors seldom get it

wrong. When they do, judges have a duty to set things right. Such is the case in the recent guilty verdict jurors returned against attorney Nicole Burdett in the pitifully weak federal tax fraud prosecution of New Orleans DA Jason Williams.

Burdett from the get-go was “collateral damage” in the Williams case. She was the DA’s law partner in his private practice, not a public official, and therefore not a “trophy” for the feds to hang on their wall. Williams and Burdett both used the same tax preparer — a prolific fraudster named Henry Timothy, who lied on so many occasions to so many people it’s impossible to keep count.

Yet, the feds made Timothy their star witness.

That Timothy did not hold up well on the witness stand is the legal understatement of the decade. He didn’t even make a good case for convicting either defendant under questioning by his federal handlers.

Under cross-examination by defense attorneys, he admitted that his innumerable lies included presenting himself as a CPA to the roughly 1,500 clients whose tax returns he filed each year. He even lied — numerous times, he admitted — to FBI and IRS agents who initially investigated him for his own fraudulent tax returns, on which he understated his income and inflated his deductions.

Timothy did the same for hundreds of his “Schedule C” clients — self-employed individuals who can legally deduct business expenses from their ordinary incomes — every year, without any supporting documentation whatsoever.

Timothy made only one statement under oath that jurors could possibly weigh against Williams and Burdett. He claimed he sent them drafts of their tax returns each year to review and correct. However, the feds did not — could not — produce a single email, text or copy of any such draft showing understated income or inflated deductions for either Williams or Burdett.

That’s because the feds did not seize Timothy’s computer and “image” everything on it to gather

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Nicole Burdett was found guilty of four counts of falsifying four years’ worth of her own taxes, allegedly shaving nearly $130,000 off of her tax bill. evidence of his and his clients’ crimes — something that’s typically the first step of any tax fraud investigation. Had the feds done that, they likely would have found such evidence, if it exists.

Regardless of whether that error was intentional or inadvertent, it presents a textbook reason — reasonable doubt — for a jury to acquit. The jury’s decision to convict notwithstanding, there’s more than enough reason now for Judge Lance Africk to reverse Burdett’s conviction.

There’s also the salient fact that, among the hundreds of fraudulent returns filed each year by Timothy, the feds chose to pursue only one for prosecution: Jason Williams.

And, because Burdett refused to accept their offer of immunity in return for testifying against Williams, the feds vindictively named her as a “target” as well.

The late Judge Martin Feldman, who presided over the case until his death in January, frequently expressed grave doubts about the feds’ case, but he left it to a jury to determine the defendants’ guilt or innocence.

Now that more of Timothy’s lies and the feds’ failure to seek and produce critical evidence have been exposed at trial, it’s up to Judge Africk to correct the jury’s obvious injustice.

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Mangin explained the difference between wrought iron and cast iron produced from a mold.

“Wrought iron is like an oil painting — every stroke is put on by hand, and there is only one copy in the world. Cast iron is like printing — once you have the plate, you may run off millions of copies.”

In 1920, Mangin closed his business. “I can get no workmen.

Today, they want things turned out by machine, quick, cheap. Art does not matter to them,” he told The Times-Picayune. “There is no one to whom I can teach my trade; all the boys nowadays would rather be merchants and get rich than be apprentices for years at a difficult art and earn little.”

Mangin died in 1924. According to his family, one of his anvils and a large key that hung in front of the shop were donated to the Louisiana State Museum.

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FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS, the Mangin name was well-known in the French Quarter and across the city. Mangin’s Iron Works, located at 621 Bourbon St., crafted many of the wrought iron balconies, fences and railings in the French Quarter from 1832 until 1920.

Charles A. Mangin was born in New Orleans in 1854. He worked in the family business with his father and grandfather. The business, established in 1832, was on the first floor and the family lived upstairs.

The building was later inherited

by Lindy Boggs, who made it her New Orleans home from 1972 until Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In a 1920 Times-Picayune article, Mangin detailed his family’s history in the ornamental ironworks business. “I hardly had to learn at all. It was born in me,” he said. “I have worked around a forge since I was fourteen.”

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A Mangin Ironworks sign

PLEASE VISIT

THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA on Saturday, Aug. 13, will present a special concert honoring the legacy of civil rights activist Oretha Castle Haley. It takes place at the New Orleans Jazz Market, located on the Central City boulevard named for her.

Born Oretha Castle in Oakland, Tennessee, in 1939, she moved to New Orleans in 1947. She first became a civil rights activist as a student at Southern University at New Orleans.

She participated in a boycott and protests against the racially discriminatory employment practices of Dryades Street merchants. She also took part in sit-ins at segregated cafeterias, picketed Canal Street department stores and was arrested several times during protests. She was one of the leaders of a lawsuit that helped end racial discrimination at Charity Hospital, where she later worked.

In 1960, Castle co-founded the local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and was its president from 1961 through 1964. Her husband, Richard Haley, was an attorney for the group.

She also helped organize political campaigns, including for Dorothy Mae Taylor, the first Black woman elected to the state House of Representatives.

After Oretha Castle Haley died of cancer in 1987 at age 48, Taylor, then a City Council member, led the effort to rename Dryades Street between Philip and Calliope streets (near the area where one of the activist’s first offices was located) Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.

For more information about the Aug. 13 concert honoring Haley, visit www.thenojo.com.

Gambit’s guide to all the places the mayor has visited so far this year — and how to experience themrighthereathome without spending more than $80,000

BY JOHN STANTON | GAMBIT EDITOR IMAGES BY GE T T Y | DESIGNED BY EMMA VEITH

Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been on the go this year —

literally. Since the beginning of the year, she’s made nine overnight trips to destinations across the country and the world. All of them have been for official business, including meetings held by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Aspen Institute as well as for “sister cities.”

Part of a mayor’s job is to be an ambassador for their city, and travel has long been a standard practice in fulfilling that duty. It makes sense: Mayoral visits typically generate positive local news coverage in other cities, which in turn provides a chance for the mayor to showcase local culture and tourism opportunities.

They also can be opportunities for city officials to meet with counterparts in other parts of the country and the world to discuss how they may be handling shared crises, from climate change to poverty.

And, occasionally, they coincide with music festivals at Mediterranean beach resorts. Such is the life of a traveling mayor.

So far this year, Mayor Cantrell’s travels happen to have taken her to some of the world’s most sought-after vacation destinations, from the Bay Area in California to the beaches of Miami, and from historic Washington, D.C., to the Swiss Alps. Also, she visited Reno.

She was scheduled to take her 10th trip of 2022 at the end of July: a multi-night stay in Singapore for a climate change conference. Unfortunately for Cantrell, after public outrage over busy travel during a time when the city is facing escalating crime and multiple infrastructure problems, the mayor decided to cancel her trip.

She told reporters on Aug. 4 that the city would either be reimbursed for the cost of the canceled trip or would receive credits for use on future travels.

Given the state of the economy, for most New Orleanians such a busy travel schedule, even a work one, isn’t in the cards. But that doesn’t mean we can’t experience here at home much of the music, food and culture offered by the cities she’s visited! So this week we decided to bring you a guide to Mayor Cantrell’s travels, as well as tips for how you, too, can feel like a jet setter — even on a tight budget.

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FAST Fact

So far this year, D.C. (pop. 701,000) has had 127 murders, compared to 162 in New Orleans (pop. 391,000)!

Locals in Washington, D.C., will tell you there’s actually two cities:

There’s Official Washington, and there’s Hometown D.C. Most everybody knows Official Washington, where everyone wears the same drab clothes, goes to the same drab parties and has the same drab conversations about their work as a lobbyist/politician’s aide/journalist/activist.

And then there’s Hometown D.C., the majority Black city filled with hundreds of thousands of regular people, living regular (if often forgotten by the powers that be) lives. The city that’s been home to some of the world’s most important musicians, including Duke Ellington, Link Wray, Marvin Gaye, Ian MacKaye and more.

And of course, there’s the history. Like New Orleans, D.C.’s history stretches back hundreds of years. But the city is also home to some of the finest free museums in the world, including the relatively new African American History Museum.

Getting a taste of D.C. in New Orleans may seem like an oxymoron, given the stereotypes. And while it’s true you can’t get D.C. food like half smokes or mumbo sauce in the Crescent City, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a sense of what life is like there.

First up, you’ll want to build a playlist. We’d suggest using Parliament’s classic 1975 record “Chocolate City,” whose title is an homage to the nation’s capital. Then, you’ll want to cop some gogo, starting with the Godfather himself, Chuck Brown. Even if you don’t know go-go, ya know it: Brown’s classic 1979 jam “Bustin’ Loose” has become a standard for New Orleans’ brass bands, and his signature “pocket beat” draws from the city’s funk music scene. To round out your playlist, head over to Euclid Records and grab a record by Bad Brains, the iconic all-Black punk band that helped create the hardcore sound that would dominate punk throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. We suggest “Banned In D.C.” if they have it. A greatest-hits record, “Banned” is a great introduction to Bad Brains’ music.

Then, head over to the National World War II Museum as a stand-in for the National Air and Space Museum, before visiting the Backstreet Cultural Museum. True, Backstreet is New Orleans-specific, but it is an amazing museum and worth everyone’s time on a museum day.

Also consider volunteering with one of the many groups in town working on voting rights and spend a few hours registering folks to vote. Afterward, head over to Hi-Ho Lounge (or if it’s her birthday, Tipitina’s) and check out a set by New Orleans’ own DJ Soul Sister. A native New Orleanian, DJ Soul Sister is also a diehard Funkateer who also happens to have a Master’s Degree in Musicology in which she focused on D.C.’s go-go scene.

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> june 6 new york, NY

Yale Mayor’s College & CEO Summit

> june 22 Ascona, Switzerland

Signing of Sister Cities Agreement + Jazz Festival

> jan 18; April 26 washington, dc

> APRIL 6 San Francisco, CA

American Bar Association of Environment, Energy & Resources 51st Spring Conference

> June 1 reno, nv

US Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting

African American Mayor’s Conference; US Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting

> MArch 3; may 8 MIAMI, FL

> july 29 singapore

US Conference of Mayors Winter Leadership Meeting;; Aspen Ideas Climate

World Cities Summitt

> july 13 Antibes Juan-Les-Pins, France Signing of Sister Cities Agreement + Jazz Festival

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architecture and home of the legendary Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, Miami and New Orleans have plenty in common. Like New Orleans, Miami wasn’t an English colony, instead being originally invaded by the Spanish. That means it has different customs and ways of life compared to most of the United States. Miami’s culture is also heavily influenced by Caribbean immigrants — including large numbers of Haitians and, of course, Cubans.

Miami and New Orleans are both thriving hubs for music, dancing and dining that draw millions of tourists from around the world each year. They’re both really hot for much of the year, have suffered a number of devastating hurricanes and are both struggling with the effects of global warming and how to stave off rising sea levels. And, both cities are Democratic Party bastions in states largely controlled by far-right Republican ideologues who look down on their cultural and legal freedoms.

There’s any number of ways

to get a taste of Miami — and in particular, its Caribbean influences — in New Orleans. One sure bet is to get a copy of Leyla McCalla’s remarkable new record “Breaking the Thermometer.”

McCalla is of Haitian descent and has worked to promote not only Haitian culture but its longstanding and intertwined history with New Orleans and its culture. It makes a perfect soundtrack for eating a delicious meal including plantains, legim epina and Creole chicken from chef Charly Pierre’s Haitian restaurant, Fritai.

Next up, you’ll want to mix a Cuba Libre using one of the several locally distilled rums like Old New Orleans Rum and watching “A Tuba to Cuba.” The 2018 documentary chronicles a visit to Cuba by New Orleans’ legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band and explores the musical connections of New Orleans jazz in the island nation.

Afterward, you can connect with a New Orleans mutual aid group to start planning how to help your neighbors next time a hurricane hits and the power is out for weeks on end.

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FAST Fact The average 9-1-1 call response time by police is 76 minutes, compared with NOPD’s average time of 150 minutes!

San Francisco, the City by the Bay: It is, without a doubt, one of the most strikingly beautiful and complex cities, not only in the United States but the world. For years, it was the West Coast’s answer to Ellis Island and New York for millions of immigrants from China, Japan and other parts of Southeast Asia, and its Chinatown neighborhood remains a thriving cultural community.

Its rich melting pot of different cultures and traditions, love of music and historical penchant for freewheelin’ living make it one of the closest places to New Orleans you’ll find. Aside from sourdough and expensive lattes, it doesn’t have a signature cuisine, per se. But its varied food offerings, and especially the seafood, are fantastic, even if they wouldn’t know a boil from a bunion.

In recent years, San Francisco has become the unofficial capital of the tech world, pushing out poor and working-class communities of color in favor of astronomical rents and fancy cars. Is it any surprise

it’s the birthplace of the short-term rental industry?!

To get a taste of life in S.F. (never San Fran, which is their version of N’awlins), you’ll want to first head over to the independent bookstore of your choice and grab a copy of Tom Wolfe’s “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.” Then, you’ll want to bake some fresh sourdough bread to enjoy while you read. If that’s overly aggressive, you can stop into Dian Xin for delicious soup dumplings and other a Chinese dishes that will blow your mind and tastebuds.

Then, hop in an Uber and have the driver put on The Coup’s “Fat Cats, Bigga Fish” as you cross over the Crescent City Connection. Once on the West Bank, take a tour of Algiers and marvel at a part of the city where locals can still somewhat afford rent. Later, you can head to one of several shelters and churches ministering to the working poor and unhoused populations to volunteer and help out those hit hardest

by Economy 2.0.

Reno — ahh, Reno. Dubbed “The Biggest

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Little City in the World,” it is best known for its casinos. Though Reno has seen its fair share of modernization and gentrification, unlike Las Vegas it still retains much of that classic 1960s casino town vibe. Located on the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range at the edge of the Great Basin, it is a nature-loving gambler’s dream, with easy access to both the mountains and prairies as well as Lake Tahoe.

Experiencing Reno can at first seem, well, tricky. It doesn’t have its own world-renowned styles of food like we do.

And it’s certainly not known for its music.

As far as geography goes, it’s hard to find a place further from New Orleans. Still, there is an obvious way to get your Reno on while staying firmly inside local limits: Head over to the casino!

Conveniently located at the end of Canal Street, Harrah’s is like a Reno in our own backyard. They have gambling, a buffet, gambling, live music, gambling, several other dining options, gambling, and plenty of neon! Did we mention gambling? ‘Cause they definitely have that. And lots of it!

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town! The ties between New York and New Orleans run long and deep, particularly when it comes to music. Jazz was, of course, born in New Orleans, but for many musicians like Louis Armstrong, New York would become their second home where’d they plant the seeds for the city’s own unique versions of the style. Likewise, in the 1960s and ’70s, New York bands would take inspiration from New Orleans’ funk sound to create their own vibrant musical masterpieces.

With more than 8.3 million people and counting, New York is one of the most diverse places on Earth, and its varied food and cultural traditions are easily accessible to everyone, regardless of economic background. Every borough is full of ethnically and culturally specific neighborhoods offering a variety of foods, music and culture.

There are, of course, iconic New York things, and near the top of

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any list is the classic New York deli. Often part corner store, part sandwich shop, New York style Jewish delis offer up some of the most amazing handheld meals you’ll find. Locally there’s plenty of options — including at Stein’s Deli — which though strictly speaking is more rooted in Philadelphia’s deli tradition, still offers up classic New York sandwiches, as well as a New York-style corned beef and pastrami sandwich. If a sandwich isn’t your thing, you can always grab a slice from Pizza Delicious or one of the other fine New York-style pizzerias in town.

On your way to grab some grub, give a listen to Curtis Mayfield’s iconic 1972 “Superfly” soundtrack.

The movie and the record are a great snapshot into the effects of crime and police corruption and brutality on the city’s Black community — a theme as relevant then to both New York and New Orleans as it is today.

DATES: June 22-27 FOR: Signing of Sister

Cities Agreement and Jazz Festival

Fast Fact The Sister Cities Agreement was actually completed in 2021!

Nestled on the shore of Lake Maggiore in southwest Switzerland,

Ascona isn’t exactly what you might picture when you think of the country. Located close to the Italian border, the bulk of its population is ethnically Italian and German, with a healthy bit of Serbian mixed in for good measure. Instead of ancient stone cottages and cathedrals, its architecture is decidedly more Mediterranean as well.

Ascona is the home of the annual Jazz Ascona music festival, which is dedicated to New Orleans-style jazz and each year features New Orleans musicians. Since 2006, the

festival has also held an awards ceremony which has honored a who’s who of New Orleans luminaries, including Irma Thomas, Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr., Lionel Batiste and Jon Cleary.

Obviously, there’s no mountains to climb or fill with the sound of music here in Louisiana. Still, to get a little taste of life there, you can always grab a box of Swiss chocolates and head over to Lakeshore Park. To get a bit of that Alpine umpa umpa tuba heavy music vibe, throw on Tuba Fats’ “Street Music” while enjoying your candies and watching the sun set.

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When you imagine the French Riviera, you almost certainly

picture beautiful beaches, classic French architecture, rugged cliffs, luxury yachts dotting the waters of the Mediterranean fancy cars and fancier casinos … in short, what you see in your mind’s eye is Antibes Juan-Les-Pins.

Known as a playground for the world’s wealthiest members of the jet-set life, this charming seaside resort town is conveniently located between the equally upscale if better known cities of Nice and Cannes. It’s also the home of the annual Jazz au Juan music festival, which for decades has drawn musicians from New Orleans and around the world. Miles Davis even recorded an album there. New Orleans and Antibes Juan-Les-Pins have been sister cities since at least the 1990s, as The Times-Picayune noted last month.

Getting a taste for Antibes Juan-Les-Pins may seem out of reach for most New Orleanians. But in reality, we have everything you need to get a sense of what a weekend on the Riviera might feel like. First things first: food. You’ll want to grab some crusty French bread, a variety of soft cheeses, perhaps a bit of pate (substitute hog’s head cheese if it’s more to your liking) and a couple bottles of wine. For music, there’s no better way to get into a French yet jazzy mood than with a little Josephine Baker.

To finish it off, you’ll want some of the glitz and glamour of a night at a posh seaside casino in the South of France.

Luckily for you, there’s Waveland! So book a room at the Silver Slipper Casino — make sure it’s got views of the Gulf — and enjoy a romantic evening of cheese, wine and jazz! *Exact dates of the mayor’s visit are not available at press time.

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Cutting edge sushi Sukeban serves sashimi and more FINE INGREDIENTS AND TECHNIQUES ARE JACQUELINE BLANCHARD’S FOCUS

at her recently opened Japanesestyled tavern, or izakaya, on Oak Street. The chef and owner exerts a determined mindfulness in everything from sourcing ingredients to avoiding popular distractions that don’t fit her plan, such as spicy mayo or a poke bowl, for starters.

“I admit, we are purists,” Blanchard says.

Almost two years in the making, Sukeban can be translated as “delinquent girl,” a connotation that’s a throwback to the girl gangs that flexed their rebelliousness in 1970s Japan. Badass is a fine equivalent, and it describes Blanchard’s skills to a T. Blanchard was raised in Ascension Parish and graduated from the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University. She then worked in some of America’s finest kitchens, including the French Laundry in Napa Valley, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York and Benu in San Francisco. She also was executive sous chef at Restaurant August in New Orleans.

In 2015, she and business partner Brandt Cox forged relationships with dynastic and patriarchal families of Japanese knifemakers to supply Coutelier, the artisanal knife and culinary store the pair opened together. A second location opened in Nashville in 2018.

It was during frequent trips to meet makers in Japan that she homed in on the style of restaurant she wanted to open herself. She visited a dozen Japanese cities, seeking out taverns known for expertly created hand rolls and street snacks.

“I was drawn to the simplicity and integrity of the Japanese izakaya,” she says.

As a female chef, she breaks new ground with Sukeban, cutting sashimi and making handrolls. In Japan, the profession is male-dominated, and there are sexist myths, including that women’s hands are too warm for proper handling of sushi or sushi rice.

|

FORK + CENTER

by Beth D’Addono

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

“We use warm rice in our rolls. That attitude reflects the Japanese patriarchy,” Blanchard says with a shrug.

It took more than a year for her to forge relationships with the suppliers she sought. The roasted nori (dried seaweed) sourced from Japan’s Ariake Sea took the longest, but it’s the best for the crispy, briny version for her hand rolls. Then there’s Koda Farms, an innovative third-generation, rice-producing Japanese family based in California’s San Juaquin Valley that grows a medium-grain rice.

Sukeban’s soy sauce, which is presented in small spray bottles to cut down waste, and chunky miso are produced by Bob Florence’s fermentation company Moromi in Mystic, Connecticut. And Chris Bonomo at the Japanese Pantry in San Francisco connected her with the best sources for sesame seeds and bonito flakes.

Higgins Seafood is her go-to for crabmeat, and local seafood purveyors supply blue and yellow fin tuna, shrimp and crawfish that rotate through sashimi specials and the restaurant’s signature hand rolls.

“We’re so lucky to be here where seafood is plentiful,” Blanchard says.

Sukeban’s design is sleek and minimalist, and the menu is a concise study in simplicity, with each dish allowing its pristine ingredients to shine. Slices of buttery ora king salmon fan across a plate, topped with bits of seaweed and microgreens. One of the most popular hand rolls pairs the intense brininess of uni (sea urchin) with the shiny pop of salmon roe.

Plates of bar snacks include slices of cucumber and radish next to a shiny coin of chunky miso for dipping. Sauteed spinach exudes

Coolinary choices

BETWEEN THE PLUMP SHRIMP WITH AN EDGE OF SEAR, THE BUTTERY SMOTHERED OKRA beneath and the sweet

PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER

Chef Jacqueline Blanchard opened the Japanesestyle tavern Sukeban. a sheen of sesame oil, the greens topped with bonito flakes and sesame seeds. A mound of potato salad is spiked with pickled carrots, dashi and ginger, a scattering of tiny niboshi, or dried baby sardines bursting with sweet and savory umami. Prices range from $7 to $28 for the rolls and $5 to $6 for the side dishes. An addition of Cajun caviar is $10.

The drinks menu includes sake, beer, wine, whiskey and shochu, as well as tea.

There are two ways to dine at Sukeban. There’s a table by the window that can be reserved for up to six patrons for seatings at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Or patrons can walk in for a place at the 16-seat chef’s bar. If it’s full, customers can leave their name and head to nearby bars, and tavern staff will notify them when a spot is available.

“I don’t want people at the bar to feel rushed,” she says. “If they want to eat their way through the menu for hours, that is just fine by us.”

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Sukeban

WHERE

8126 Oak St.; barsukeban.com

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Dinner Tue.-Sat.

HOW

Dine-in only

CHECK IT OUT

A refined Japanese food bar

pop of peppers between, I tore through a dish one recent night at Palm & Pine that said summer with every bite. During August, that dish is also part of a very local summer ritual, at least in the realm of New Orleans restaurants.

The shrimp and okra is part of the three-course Coolinary menu at Palm & Pine, the modern French Quarter restaurant that is one of roughly 80 around the area taking part in this seasonal promotion.

There’s everything from fine dining and old-line restaurants to barbecue and seafood houses.

Coolinary offers set-price, multicourse menus at different restaurants around town, using the lure

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

Palm & Pine has shrimp and okra on its Coolinary menu. of a dining deal to get locals and regional travelers to the table when tourism and conventions typically dip low.

The basic parameters of Coolinary are well known. Participating restaurants offer two-course lunches for $25 or less, and threecourse dinners and brunches for $45 or less, sometimes with other offers to sweeten the deal. Some menus dispense with desserts and give diners an extra savory course.

At the Country Club, one of the dinner courses ($45) is a margarita.

Many Coolinary menus come with extras, optional or built in, especially for accompanying alcohol.

Many restaurants offer optional wine pairings for $20-$25 with their Coolinary dinner menus.

PAGE 24

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Crescent City Brewhouse will add three 12-ounce house-made beers for $10 to the dinner menu ($29). Couvant offers bottomless mimosas and other morning cocktails for $20 with its brunch menu ($35). Frey Smoked Meat Co. adds a daily cocktail for $5 to a bargain dinner menu ($24.50), the lowest cost on this year’s Coolinary list. Pizza Domenica has affogato (espresso over ice cream) on its dinner menu ($35), and for an extra $6 you can rev up that dessert with an amaro.

The promotion is organized and marketed by New Orleans & Co., the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

Coolinary’s format has been a tool that restaurants and industry boosters have used throughout the pandemic. These earlier efforts took place even as restaurants were contending with capacity restrictions and other changing coronavirus safety rules. This time around, Coolinary is more of a return to normal, or whatever passes for normal these days.

“We’re just encouraging everyone to take a tourist-in-your-hometown attitude,” says New Orleans & Co. spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig. “If people resolved to dine out two or three times in the month of August, we will be good.”

Menus and service details for individual restaurants are at neworleans.com/coolinary, and there are filters to find restaurants by neighborhood, cuisine type and meal time as well as finding places offering outdoor seating or takeout. — IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Melba’s expands

FOR THE PAST DECADE, MELBA’S HAS HELD DOWN THE BUSY CORNER

of Elysian Fields and North Claiborne avenues with 24-hour service for po-boys, hot plates and daiquiris. Now work is underway to open a second Melba’s on Tulane Avenue in Mid-City.

The new restaurant will be modeled closely on the original Melba’s, though it is smaller and for that reason will not have the laundromat, which is a major component of the first one.

The new space is now taking shape at 3205 Tulane Ave., in an old building, formerly used as a car wash, on a triangular lot where D’Hemecourt Street branches off from the main drag.

This new Melba’s should be ready to open within two months.

Owner Scott Wolfe says it will be open 24 hours a day serving po-boys, breakfast dishes and

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

breakfast sandwiches, plates like stuffed bell peppers and smothered cabbage and fried chicken and wings. It will not have a full-service bar, but instead offer an array of daiquiris. Online ordering and delivery will be a big part of the operation, Wolfe says.

Wolfe says he was drawn to the area by the mix of neighborhoods along this stretch of Tulane Avenue to downtown New Orleans, as well as the nearby medical complex, a special consideration for a 24-hour operation.

“The demographics are great, but Tulane Avenue needs more restaurants,” Wolfe says.

The new location will have two floors, and the upper level will have an open-air rooftop deck. On the ground level, there will be a large canopy extending from the restaurant to the tip of the triangular lot, creating another shaded outdoor seating area.

When the first Melba’s opened at 1525 Elysian Fields Ave. in 2012, it represented the next act for Wolfe, his wife Jane and their family, who had already created some memorable brands with their earlier businesses.

In 1982, when he was 20 and she was 18 and pregnant, they borrowed $10,000 from family members to buy a bankrupt grocery called Wagner’s, located in one of New Orleans’ poorest neighborhoods near what was then the Desire public housing complex.

They built Wagner’s Meat into a local chain and a household name in New Orleans, even for those who never shopped at his stores.

Credit its slogan: “You Can’t Beat Wagner’s Meat.”

Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Melba’s in 2019.

Wolfe and his family also created the Chicken Box, which used the slogans “Tastes Like Mama’s” and, at some locations, “Tastes Like Ya Mama’s.” The chain of takeout joints had a short but colorful run in the years before Hurricane Katrina. The company once offered to put on weddings for couples who bought its 1,000piece chicken package to cater their receptions.

Hurricane Katrina spelled the end of both of those, though the Wagner’s brand would return under different ownership.

At Melba’s, the Wolfes built a colorful place that serves a cross-section of New Orleans people. Jane Wolfe also has worked in her own community literacy mission, hosting reading events and author visits, including from some heavy hitters.

In 2019, Melba’s hosted Colson Whitehead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, and Sarah M. Broom, whose book “The Yellow House” won the National Book Award.

That same year, Hillary Clinton visited Melba’s while promoting a campaign from her foundation called Too Small to Fail, an early learning initiative that helps turn otherwise utilitarian spaces like laundries, groceries and clinics into places where parents and caregivers can read, talk and play with children.

Wolfe says literacy programs will also extend to the Mid-City location of Melba’s. — IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

25

Jerome Grenier Chef

by Will Coviello JEROME GRENIER GREW UP IN TOULOUSE IN SOUTHWESTERN FRANCE . He was working as a

project manager for a tech start-up in Paris, where he met his wife, who is from New Orleans. They decided to move here, and he started The French Stall, a pop-up offering cakes, tarts, quiches and crepes. In July, he moved the business into St. Roch Market, where he focuses on crepes. The French Stall is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

For more information about The French Stall, visit french-stall. com or strochmarket.com.

How did you start The French Stall?

JEROME GRENIER: I was tired of my job and wanted to try something else. I really like cooking. I learned to cook at home. My mom taught me a few things.

I met my wife in Paris. We decided to move to the U.S. and do some traditional French food.

We moved here in August 2019. I started small — doing a few farmers markets here and there.

I started at (markets) in Covington and Mandeville. I went there because it was really easy to get started. I would go talk to people, and they would say, “Yeah, come next week.” It went pretty well. I started small to find my place and little by little it grew. I was doing a lot of pastries and quiches. I was making chocolate cakes and strawberry tarts and chocolate and caramel tarts and things like that. After the pandemic, the crepes took over.

I thought my food was getting popular. My two main gigs were at Lafreniere Park on Wednesdays and in Mandeville on Saturday. It was getting busy from word of mouth. I was also doing some pop-ups, like at second lines. I was thinking it might be the right time to try to take the next step. I wasn’t ready to open a restaurant. I wasn’t sure if people were familiar with crepes.

When I am at the market, people can see them. They are like, “That looks good.”

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PHOTO PROVIDED BY S T. R O C H M A R K E T

What is your take on traditional French crepes?

G: When I travel to other cities in the U.S., I always look to see if there is a crepe store. It’s not like there is an American version of crepes. What I am doing is an authentic French version.

With savory crepes, I use buckwheat flour batter. This is what we would use in France. It makes a crispier crepe. With a sweet batter, or a yellow batter — all the crepes here are like that.

For sweet crepes, I use a simple batter of regular flour, eggs, milk and sugar.

I am trying to stay with the classics. The Parisian has mushrooms and homemade persillade, with garlic, shallots and parsley. For breakfast, there’s one with eggs, cheese and bacon. I have some specials. I did a Cajun one with Cajun sausage, onions and cheese.

I am planning to make one with shrimp, parsley, butter and garlic.

The breakfast crepe and the Parisian are the two most popular.

For the sweet ones, people like the Nutella, and you can add fruit, like strawberries. I also do crepes Suzette. It’s flambeed with Grand Marnier. I put butter, sugar, orange zest and orange juice in the pan, and when it’s ready, I add the alcohol.

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I am doing a baby shower in a couple weeks. This is something I am developing. I’ll do quiches and tarts. I have a couple of weddings in the fall where I will do a crepe station.

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C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S A T W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

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. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and other treats. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes.

Gulf Drum Yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$ The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood and more. Basin barbecue shrimp and grits features jumbo shrimp over cheese grits and a cheese biscuit. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lakeview: Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: Lunch Fri.-Sat., dinner Wed.-Sun. $$ Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 581-3866; broussards.com — The menu includes Creole and creative contemporary dishes. Rainbow trout amandine is served with tasso and corn macque choux, Creole meuniere sauce and fried almonds. Reservations recommended.

Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and Louisiana cuisine. Crab beignets are served with herb aioli. No reservations.

Breakfast and lunch daily. $$ Common Interest — Hotel Indigo, 705 Common St., (504) 595-5605; commoninterestnola.com — Shrimp remoulade Cobb salad comes with avocado, blue cheese, tomatoes, bacon, egg and corn relish. Debris grits features slow-roasted, beef served over goat cheese and thyme grits. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$ Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The Creole menu highlights Gulf seafood and shellfish in a traditional and contemporary dishes. There also are raw oysters and char-grilled oysters topped with Parmesan, herbs and butter.

Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar — 739 Iberville St., (504) 522-4440; 7400 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 304-4125; felixs. com — The oyster bar serves raw Louisiana oysters, and char-grilled

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up

oysters are topped with butter, garlic, Parmesan and breadcrumbs. The menu also includes seafood platters, crawfish etouffee and more. No reservations.

Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Frey Smoked Meat Co. — 4141 Bienville St., Suite 110, (504) 488-7427; freysmokedmeat.com — The barbecue restaurant serves pulled pork, St. Louis ribs, brisket, sausages and more. Fried pork belly poppers are tossed in pepper jelly glaze. No reservations. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Froot Orleans — 2438 Bell St., Suite B, (504) 233-3346; frootorleans.com — The shop serves fresh fruit in platters, smoothie bowls such as a strawberry shortcake smoothie and more using pineapple, various berries, citrus and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch 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. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes grilled steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar-jack cheese, black beans, yellow rice, salsa la fonda, guacamole and sour cream. There also are nachos, quesadillas, tacos and more.

Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant & Bar — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity. com — A Cajun Cuban has 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 and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The bar menu includes sandwiches, flatbreads, salads and more. A Louisiana peach flatbread has prosciutto, stracciatella cheese, arugula and pecans. No reservations.

Dinner Wed.-Sat. $$ Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — A NOLA Style Grits Bowl is topped with bacon, cheddar and a poached egg. Reservations accepted.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 5132606; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes filets mignons, rib-eyes, bone-in rib-eyes and top sirloins, as well as burgers and seafood dishes. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available.

Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Martin Wine Cellar — 714 Elmeer Ave., Metairie, (504) 896-7350; 3827 Baronne St., (504) 894-7444; martinwine.com — The spirits shop has a deli serving salads, sandwiches and more. The Sena salad includes pulled roasted chicken, golden raisins, blue cheese, pecans and field greens tossed with Tabasco pepperjelly vinaigrette. No reservations.

Lunch daily. $$

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

Nice Guys Bar & Grill (7910 Earhart Blvd., 504-302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com) serves char-grilled oysters on French bread.

Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 5096224; midcitypizza.com — The pizza joint serves New York-style pies, calzones, sandwiches and salads. Shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onions. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. The menu also has sushi, sashimi, noodle dishes, teriyaki and more. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and more. Baked oysters Mosca is made with breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant. net —The counter-service spot is known for po-boys dressed with cabbage and Creole favorites, such as jambalaya, crawfish etouffee and red beans and rice. No reservations. Delivery available.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — Chef Frank Catalanotto is the namesake “nephew” who ran the kitchen at Tony Angello’s restaurant. The Creole-Italian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant or chicken parmigiana. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ 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 seafood plates, po-boys, char-grilled oysters, pasta, salads and more. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — The menu includes wings, quesadillas, burgers, sandwiches, salads, seafood pasta and more. Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese. No reservations.

Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$ Nonno’s Cajun Cuisine and Pastries — 1940 Dauphine St., (504) 354-1364; nonnoscajuncuisineandpastries.com — The menu includes home-style Cajun and Creole dishes. Shrimp is sauteed with onion and bell pepper, topped with cheese and served with two eggs and toast. Reservations accepted. Delivery

available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$ Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — Black lentil vadouvan curry comes with roasted tomatoes, forest mushrooms and basmati rice.

Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.Mon., brunch Sun. $$ Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 5281941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The hotel’s rooftop bar has a small menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates.

No reservations. Dinner daily. $$ Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 8271651; legacykitchen.com — The seafood restaurant serves raw and char-grilled oysters, seafood, burgers, salads and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread.

Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Tavolino Pizza & Lounge — 141 Delaronde St., (504) 605-3365; tavolinonola.com — The menu features signature thin-crust pizzas as well as salads, pepperoni chips, meatballs and more.

A Behrman Hwy. pizza is topped with pork belly, caramel, nuoc cham-marinated carrots and radishes, jalapeno and herbs. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza. com — A Marilynn’s Pota Supreme pie is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions.

The menu also includes salads and sandwiches. Takeout and delivery available.

Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco. com — The Peruvian menu includes lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ Zhang Bistro — 1141 Decatur St., (504) 826-8888; zhangbistronola.com — The menu includes Chinese and Thai dishes.

The Szechuan Hot Wok offers a choice of chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu with onions, bell peppers, cauliflower, jalapenos, garlic and spicy Szechuan sauce.

Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

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MUSIC

F O R C O M P L E T E M U S I C L I S T I N G S A N D M O R E E V E N T S TA K I N G P L AC E I N T H E N E W O R L E A N S A R E A , V I S I T C A L E N D A R . G A M B I T W E E K LY. C O M To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com Note: Due to COVID-19, events may have certain restrictions or may be postponed; we recommend checking out a venues social media sites or call before you go for the most up to dateinformation.

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TUESDAY 9 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 7 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Collin Myers Band, 5 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Teenage Halloween with Nana Grizol, Pope, 9 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Belinda Moody's Kitchen Table Cafe Trio, 7 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Pinegrove, 7 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Rebirth Brass Band, 8 pm

WEDNESDAY 10 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 7 pm BLUE NILE — New Breed Brass Band, 5 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Bourbon Street All Stars, 5 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Little Bird with Epic Reflexes, 9 pm JEAN LAFITTE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK VISITOR CENTER, NEW ORLEANS JAZZ NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK — Darianna Videaux Capitel, 2 pm NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM — Thais Clark and Her Jazzsters, 2 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Joshua Starkman, 7 pm SANTOS — DarkLounge Ministries, 7 pm; The Mojo Hands, 9 pm THE BOMBAY CLUB — Harry Mayronne and Chloe Marie, 9 pm

THURSDAY 11 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 8 pm BLUE NILE — Where Y'at Brass Band, 9 pm CAFE NEGRIL — Sierra Green and the Soul Machine, 10 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Doyle Cooper Band, 2:30 pm; John Saavadra Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Urban Heat, Sailem, Plomo, 9 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Dr. Mark St. Cyr Traditional Jazz Band, 7 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Will Hemmings, 9 pm PAVILION OF THE TWO SISTERS — John Boutté, 6 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Rusty Metoyer & the Zydeco Krush, 8 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Doug Belote Trio, 8 & 10 pm

THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — BrassA-Holics, 7:30 pm

FRIDAY 12 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 8 pm BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers, 7 pm; Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, 11 pm BROTHERS THREE LOUNGE — Cast Iron Cactus, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Band, 2:30 pm; Lee Floyd and Thunderbolt Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 9 pm GASA GASA — The Dude Ranch, a Blink 182 Tribute with Moccasyn, 9 pm JEAN LAFITTE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK VISITOR CENTER, NEW ORLEANS JAZZ NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK — Sequenon Kone, 12 pm; Sam Kuslan and Darianna Videaux Capitel, 2 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Jay Walkers, 7:30 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — Tiffany Pollack & Co., 8 pm PUBLIC BELT AT HILTON RIVERSIDE — Phil Melancon, 8 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Mista J, Donny, Naada, Pretty Na$ty, 10:30 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Bucktown Allstars, 8:30 pm SANTOS — Guillotine A.D., 4Mag Nitrous, Ox,Tombstone, Konstricted, 8 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Delfeayo Marsalis Sextet, 8 & 10 pm THE BLUE CRAB NORTHSHORE — The Glory Rhodes, 6 pm THREE KEYS (ACE HOTEL) — Water Seed's Wild Nights, 9 pm TIPITINA'S — Steve Kelly feat. Andrew Campanelli, Noah Young, Andriu Yanovski, Sage Rouge + Daria and the Hip Drops, 9 pm

SATURDAY 13 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Jordan Anderson, 8 pm BLUE NILE BALCONY ROOM — The Marigny Street Brass Band, 10 pm BLUE NILE — George Brown Band, 7 pm BUFFA'S — Freddie Blue Acoustic Review, 7 pm; Freddie Blue & the Friendship Circle Band, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Band, 2:30 pm; Lee Floyd and Thunderbolt Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 9 pm GASA GASA — Butte, Beans, Slow Rosary, 9 pm JEAN LAFITTE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK VISITOR CENTER,

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK — Greer Mendy, 10:30 am; Dr. Ben Redwine Duo, 2 pm KERRY IRISH PUB — Patrick Cooper, 9 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Freddie Lonzo Jazz Ensemble, 7 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Bryan Hoff, 7:30 pm; Frenchie Moe and Family, 9 pm NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MARKET — Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, 7:30 pm ONE EYED JACKS — 96 Bitter Beings with Howling Giant, 10 pm ORPHEUM THEATER — Father John Misty, Suki Waterhouse , 8 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — The Bad Sandys, 9 pm PUBLIC BELT AT HILTON RIVERSIDE — Phil Melancon, 8 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Red Dress Death Slam, 9 pm RIVERSHACK — Gwen and Mad City, 7 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Bag of Donuts, 8:30 pm SANTOS — Ethos of Izba, Loudness War, Secret Cowboy, 9 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Mahmoud Chouki New World Ensemble, 8 & 10 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — Gradu, 8:30 pm THE BOMBAY CLUB — Anais St. John, 8 pm THE HIDEAWAY DEN & ARCADE — Lillian Axe, 8 pm TIPITINA'S — Gimme Gimme Disco, 9 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — The New Orleans Nightcrawlers, 8 pm

SUNDAY 14 BLUE NILE — The Baked Potatoes, 7 pm; Street Legends Brass Band, 10 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Conner Stewart, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Band, 2:30 pm; Marla Dixon Band, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 8 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Rachel Murray and Joe Bouchá , 11 am ROCK 'N' BOWL — A Tribute to Elvis, 4:30 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Jay Griggs Quartet, 8 & 10 pm THE BLUE CRAB — Glory Rhodes, 5 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Chucky C and Band, 7:30 pm

MONDAY 15 FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Lee Floyd and Thunderbolt Trio, 5 pm; Richard "Piano" Scott and Friends, 8 pm GASA GASA — Lady Dan, Waltzer, Eva LoVullo, Sarah Burke, 9 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — DarkLounge Ministries, 8 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — The Amazing Henrietta, 6 pm

' ! # ! #$% # & $ - # ! ! #$% # % *

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Linen Night in the Warehouse District, it highlights local artists and businesses in the French Quarter. Dirty Linen is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, but some participants have special events outside those hours.

Purchasing a wristband for the event is good for beer, wine and cocktails. Most venues are in the 300 to 1100 blocks of Royal. Find wristbands and information on dirtylinen.org for details.

Orleans changed a stretch of Dryades Street to Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard in 1989, a couple of years after her death. The orchestra’s Jazz Market home is at 1436 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. The show is at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 13. Tickets $30$85 on eventbrite.com.

‘How Did This Get Made?’

repeated the splash it made with the late ’90s single “All For You.” The band’s pop-friendly alt rock sound has drifted toward folk and alt country in recent recordings. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at House of Blues. Find tickets via houseofblues.com.

FOR THE LAST DECADE, ACTORS AND COMEDIANS Paul Scheer,

June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas have talked about terrible movies on their podcast “How Did This Get Made?” The trio is joined on each episode by a special guest — usually another comedian, like Doug Benson, or a filmmaker such as Kevin Smith and Dan Harmon — to analyze the schlock we can’t stop watching. Episodes have covered everything from “Battlefield Earth” to “Howard the Duck” and “Spice World.”

The podcast is on a live show tour with a stop at The Fillmore at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, to talk about John Woo’s New Orleansshot Jean-Claude Van Damme mullet masterpiece “Hard Target.” Tickets are $25.50 via hdtgminfo.com.

‘No Laughing Matter’ Comedy Fest

“NO LAUGHING MATTER: A FEMALE COMEDY FESTIVAL” will feature 10

New Orleans comedians raising funds to support reproductive rights. The fest features Amy Collins, Bobbi Jeanne Misick, Carin Chapman, JQ Palms, Kymbra Li, Lee Glass, Mary Devon Dupuy, Nkechi Chibueze, Samantha Bednarz and Shep Kelly along with special guests Simone Maya and Nina Szarka and host Boyfriend. Proceeds will benefit the New Orleans Abortion Fund and Women with a Vision. “No Laughing Matter” takes place at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Howlin’ Wolf. Tickets are $15 via thehowlinwolf.com.

NOJO Tribute to Oretha Castle Haley

ADONIS ROSE LEADS THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA in a trib-

ute to civil rights leader Oretha Castle Haley, who was a leader in the fights against segregation and for voting rights. New

Sister Hazel

THOUGH NOT EXACTLY A ONE-HIT WONDER, SISTER HAZEL HAS not

Teenage Halloween

QUEER POWER POP BAND TEENAGE HALLOWEEN is on summer

tour and swings through New Orleans for a show with Pope and Mesopeak at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Gasa Gasa. Tickets are $15 at ticketweb.com.

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‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’

SWEET SENSATIONS SHADOWCAST WILL MAKE YOU SHIVER with

antici—pation when it hosts a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” shadowcast performance at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, at One Eyed Jacks. Tickets are $15 general, $20-$35 seated and VIP. Fine more info at oneeyedjacks.net.

2022

Little Bird

LITTLE BIRD’S PSYCHEDELIC INDIE ROCK BRISTLES WITH ELECTRONIC FLOURISHES and alternately

spacey and jazzy interludes.

The Charleston outfit released “Proxima” in a sequence of EPs last year. Epic Reflexes opens at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, at Gasa Gasa. Tickets $15 via Ticketweb.com.

New Orleans Salsa Bachata Festival

THE DANCE FESTIVAL FEATURES PROFESSIONAL dancers, DJs, perfor-

mances, social dancing sessions and parties with themes from Harry Potter to Hawaiian luau.

Workshops range from dance styles for different experience levels to lifts and tricks. The festival is Aug. 11-15. Many events are at the New Orleans Marriott. Visit nolasalsabachatafest.com for information and registration.

ISSUE DATE

AUGUST 23

CALL NOW! S C H O O L O P E N H O U S E C A L E N DA R C O M I N G I N O C T O B E R !

Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

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FILM

Puppy love

P H O T O P R O V I D E D B Y H O L LY D A L E P R O D U C T I O N S

Buddy finds a new home in ‘Free Puppies.’

by Will Coviello

“FREE PUPPIES” HAS LOTS OF GREAT DOGS. It also has many heartwarming stories. Some of them are about dogs that find the right home, like Buddy, a big, floppy, adult bloodhound who manages to escape his foster caretaker a couple times. It’s also really hard not to love people like Monda Wooten, who has taken it upon herself to rescue dogs near her home in Trenton, Georgia, an area with very limited resources for animal control.

There’s an interesting teaser for the film.

Hurricane Katrina prompted a massive migration of rescued animals out of the South. Filmmakers Samantha Wishman and Christina Thomas started to notice news stories of puppies arriving in northern spots ready for adoption. There’s a clip of 84 puppies arriving by plane in Morristown, New Jersey. Another 51 dogs arrive in Rochester, New York, via the Freedom Ride Rescue.

The filmmakers wanted to know why so many dogs from the South were finding new homes in the Northeast. That the answer is related to low income is no surprise, but their caring and thoughtful documentary “Free Puppies” takes the time to meet people who rescue animals and explore the challenges.

Wooten says she was not an animal lover until her son wanted a dog. He chose a little black

Yorkshire Terrier at a shelter, but she couldn’t stop thinking about all of the other dogs left behind.

She took it upon herself to start rounding up strays and rescuing dogs. She housed them in the back of her own flooring business while trying to find new homes or move them to shelters or rescue organizations. The camera follows her to animal pick-ups and town hall meetings. She and another woman became known as the “Rescue Ladies,” and police, firemen and other local government workers called her when they found animals in need of help.

Wooten is endlessly charming and charismatic, and she’s also candid that she’s dealing with the fallout of many shortcomings. Some dogs are the products of unscrupulous (“backyard”) breeders or owners who don’t spay or neuter their pets. Others are relinquished by individuals who learn the hard way they can’t afford a pet or they weren’t prepared.

Wooten and Ruth Smith make several trips to the home of two older brothers who live in

dilapidated trailers and struggle to get by on fixed income. They don’t want to give up any of their dogs, but they need help.

Dog adoption may be a solution, but it’s also part of the problem. Wooten notes that many people don’t spay or neuter animals. Instead, they simply put new, unwanted litters in a box by the side of the road with a sign reading “free puppies.”

Katrina spurred organized and funded efforts to move animals to areas of the country, generally with better animal control laws and more resources. Karen Walsh, the ASPCA’s Director of Relocation, says Katrina showed it was a viable way to address some of the need, and rescue organizations embraced it.

The filmmakers stick to the region of northeastern Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. There’s a very brief history of animal control, and they mostly focus on talking to shelter workers and veterinarians, who do their best to manage the situation with available resources.

The strength of Wishman and Thomas’ film is the time they take listening to rescuers and pet owners.

It’s inspiring to watch the animal lovers who go above and beyond their own stake. The film also has some of the best footage to watch during and after the credits. It makes all the rescue efforts feel very satisfying.

“Free Puppies” opens at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge on Aug. 12.

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE CABINET-MAKING

By Frank A. Longo

30 Massey of movies 33 Lith. was one until 1991 34 Run for a long football pass 35 Gym class 42 Sts. and aves.

43 Remini of “Fired Up” 44 Decorative wheel cover 45 Put an — (cease) 47 Higher-ranking 49 Ballet garb 50 Emergency removal, for short 52 Construction girder 56 Commoners, collectively

58 Transaction of business via e-devices 61 Volcano in Japan 63 — Jose 64 “Luck Be a Lady” composer Frank 65 Enter 69 Work contrasted with a desk job 73 To be, in Marseilles 74 Belly 76 Mao — -tung 77 Investments for later yrs.

79 Nickname for Michigan 83 Eggnog spice 88 Typed (in)

89 Trial run 90 Supplies with a staff 92 Oyster’s prize 93 Cars for VIPs 95 Big arteries 97 “Auld Lang —” 98 Police alert, for short 101 Flight travel 105 Arab leaders 107 Really cold 108 Sparkly crown 109 Fitting retribution 114 Composer Jean-Philippe — 118 Possess with shallow passion 119 Eight U.S. ones are featured in this puzzle 122 Fishing spool 123 Eternally 124 Verdugo of “Panama Sal” 125 Art film, often 126 Water swirl 127 Maple fluids 128 First-string athletic group 129 Ceases DOWN 1 Labyrinthine 2 Dip — in the water 3 Part of MSG 4 Ugly blotches 5 Nickname for Yale University 6 Adobe file suffix 7 Sooner than 8 Honky- — music 9 Mozart’s “— Fan Tutte” 10 Loses one’s inhibitions 11 Iran- — Affair 12 Race created by H.G. Wells 13 “The Mod Squad” cop 14 Amor, for one 15 Scouted before a heist 16 Loan shark 17 Put on, as a play 18 Corals, e.g.

24 Cain’s eldest 26 Submitted by the deadline, say 29 PC panic button

31 Seagoing: Abbr.

32 Egg-white protein 35 Prune-to-be, perhaps 36 Acronym for many vacuum cleaner filters 37 Barks shrilly 38 Outer: Prefix 39 Paint crudely 40 Audio equipment brand 41 With a variety of hues 46 Like sumo stars 48 Ring official 50 Israeli carrier 51 — cava 53 Once, quaintly 54 PC brand 55 Paltry 57 Part of Babylonia 59 Dot in the sea 60 Erin of “Happy Days” 62 Custodial worker 65 Stare stupidly 66 Double-reed woodwind 67 In a lazy way 68 Inventive 70 Salt Lake City athletes 71 Admin. aide 72 “À —!” (“Adieu!”)

75 Press release packet 78 Have dinner

80 Hawk’s home 81 “Famous” cookie guy 82 Pool cover 84 Bible division 85 Polite request beginner 86 Cube creator Rubik 87 Valley 91 Agra dress 94 Blunders 95 “Got a guess?”

96 Onset 98 Reach for the sky 99 Gave a buzz 100 Bellyached 102 Choir platforms 103 Behave 104 Partner of Athos and Porthos 106 Rome’s home 110 Joe in a mug 111 Lone Star sch.

112 Ancient Brit 113 Duel sword 115 Prefix that’s the opposite of 38-Down 116 “Take — from me” 117 Functions 120 Comedian Gasteyer 121 Aries’ symbol

ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P 2

PUZZLES

ACROSS 1 Cha-cha’s cousin 6 Chain selling dog chains 11 Honeycomb unit 15 Molar point 19 Ring around a lagoon 20 Sag down 21 Medley 22 Concerning 23 Basketball guarding strategy 25 Not dependent on eyesight 27 U.S. Navy petty officers 28 What a moving body has

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