Gambit Digital Edition: April 14, 2025

®

April 14-20 2025 Volume 46 Number 15

Cristina’s

BULLETIN BOARD

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

2

Family owned and operated since 1996

Cleaning ServiCe

Bereavement • Sympathy Condolence Gifts

REAL ESTATE FOR RENT

Let our crew help you with all your cleaning needs!

• Disinfecting/Sanitation Services Available • • General House Cleaning • • After Construction Cleaning • Residential & Commercial • Licensed & Bonded

504-232-5554

CRISTINASCLEANINGNOLA@GMAIL.COM

CHEAP HAULING YOU CALL IT WE HAUL IT

Construction Trash Household Junk Removal Tree Trimming Text Picture For Quote

4521 W. Napoleon (near Clearview) 504-517-2988 • violetdragonflies.com

EMPLOYMENT

what to do

o g o t e r whewho to see

Your ad here 504.486.5900

FAST SERVICE, FAIR PRICES

Lakeview

Mkt'g Asst in Kenner, LA. Asst to increase pa‐ tients/revenues. Dvlp mktg strategies, social media/digital advtsg, & corp brandg/brand awareness.

Produce visual matls. 35 hrs wk. Assoc's degree & 1 yr exp req'd. Mail resume: Chiropractic Strategies Group Inc, Mr. Plambeck, 1919 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Ste 200, Kenner, LA 70062.

Call Frank 504-292-0724

Weekly Tails

Locally owned & serving the New Orleans area for over 31 years

CLEANING SERVICE

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL AFTER CONSTRUCTION CLEANING SANITIZING/DISINFECTING LIGHT/GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING Susana Palma HEAVY DUTY CLEANING lakeviewcleaningllc@yahoo.com Fully Insured & Bonded

504-250-0884 504-309-6662

• SOIL • GRAVEL • BOULDERS • LIMESTONE

• FLAGSTONE • MULCH • MEXICAN

with our Make a plan dar at events calen AM B CALENDAR.G

ITWEEKLY.C

SCAN FOR THE COMPLETE GAMBIT CALENDAR

OM

MEDUSA-TRE

Kennel #A0048592105

Medusa-Tre is a six-year-old white and brown pup looking for her fur-ever home! Does her name sound familiar? Well, you guessed it— inspired by the enchanting Medusa tree, Ms. Tre is a rare and beautiful pup full of character! Although she can be quite the smarty pants, she is always ready to share her love and warmth with everyone she meets and is ready to put down her roots of love into her next forever home.

To meet Medusa-Tre or any of the other wonderful pets at the Louisiana SPCA, visit 1700 Mardi Gras Blvd., from 12 PM-5PM, Monday-Saturday, or call (504) 368-5191. She can’t wait to meet her future paw-rent(s)!

SUDOKU

BEACH PEBBLES

Easy online ordering at rocknsoilnola.com

504.488.0908

9119 AIRLINE HWY, NOL A

MYSTERY

Kennel #A0058104795

Mystery ia nine-month-old white and tan Pitbull mix looking

for his fur-ever home! This friendly pup may have started as a mystery, but he’s ready to become the best part of his family’s story Forever. All this sweet pup needs are a lot of warm hugs and a loving home.

To meet Mystery or any of the other wonderful pets at the Louisiana SPCA, visit 1700 Mardi Gras Blvd., from 12 PM-5PM, Monday-Saturday, or call (504) 368-5191. He can’t wait to meet his future paw-rent(s)!

3

Manning Family Children’s

DR. ERNESTO MEJIA

PEDIATRIC INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGIST Meet Dr. Ernesto Mejia I hold tiny hearts in my hands. It’s a profound feeling, knowing I can make a real difference.

That’s how I think about my work as a pediatric interventional cardiologist at Manning Family Children’s. For me, it’s about giving children a chance at a healthy life.

My journey to this point has been a long and fulfilling one. I earned my medical degree at the American University of the Caribbean, and then went on to complete my residency at SUNY Downstate in New York. Later, I specialized in my field, through fellowships at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, and the University of Colorado. I am board-certified in pediatric cardiology, and it’s an honor to do this work.

What truly drives me is the ability to help children born with congenital heart disease.

It’s a unique field, because I get to care for these amazing kids from before they’re even born, all the way through their adult lives. It’s an incredible privilege, and I never take that responsibility lightly.

What brought me to New Orleans, specifically Manning Family Children’s, was their commitment. I saw that they are dedicated to taking on the most complex cases, and ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, receives the care they need. The team here is fantastic. We embrace innovation and compassion, and that makes my work incredibly rewarding.

Outside of the hospital, my family and I are loving our new life in New Orleans. The culture, the food, the music—it’s all so vibrant. This city has so much heart, and I’m truly honored to be a part of it.

Tell us about Manning Family Children’s Heart Center The Heart Center at Manning Family Children’s provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of patients with congenital cardiovascular disorders, from before they are born, through childhood and into their adult years. Our accomplished and dedicated team of specialists includes physicians, surgeons, nurses and support staff who are trained to care for the unique needs of children with heart disease as well as their families. The goal of The Heart Center is to enhance the quality of life for every child.

The Heart Center offers the benefits of a fullservice pediatric hospital dedicated only to the care of kids. Complex pediatric heart conditions often require care tied to other existing medical conditions. We are proud to be the only facility in the state offering a full array of pediatric specialists and sub-specialists to care for your whole child, from heart to toe.

Questions & Answers What’s a fun fact about you?

I am originally from Colombia and have lived in many places. I enjoyed my time in med school in the Caribbean on the island of St. Martin. There I played semi-professional soccer while in med school and met a ton of interesting people. I was also a salsa dancing instructor at that time.

What’s one thing that shocked you when you moved to New Orleans?

Bad shock was the potholes. Good shock was the people, their warmth, and their gratitude. I love how this city always finds a reason to celebrate.

What festival are you most looking forward to attending this Spring?

relief in patients’ faces after they suddenly feel better because they never even knew they were feeling bad.

Why did you want to become a pediatric cardiologist?

I fell in love with congenital heart disease from the first semester of medical school. I originally wanted to be a congenital heart surgeon. On a mission trip to Panama, I was able to spend some time in the catheterization lab, which was the first time I had been exposed to congenital interventional cardiology. From that day on, I felt I had found my place in life and knew that this was what I was meant to do.

What’s one thing you wish the community knew about the hospital’s Heart Center?

Yes, I have three dogs: Doc is a Shiba Inu, Blue is an Australian Cattle Dog, Mia is a mini doodle.

As a group, we are some of the most caring and innovative doctors I have been a part of. Through the hospital’s support, we have been able to bring newer virtual reality technology to procedural planning in a way this city hasn’t seen before. We have brought new techniques and collaborations as a team that not only are new to this city, but to the Gulf south.

What made you excited to join the team at Manning Family Children’s?

What’s one memory of your time as a cardiologist that stands out?

The mission of the hospital is what drew me and wife to Manning Family Children’s. The say “yes” culture to taking care of kids regardless of social, cultural, or economic background resonates with me. Taking on the challenging cases that no one else will and giving children with complex congenital heart disease a chance for a normal life with such a supportive group of physicians as what any young proceduralist looks for.

Not just one memory, but always seeing the sickest of patients, who spend a long time in the hospital, finally able to be discharged is something really special. But then even more when you get pictures and videos from the families seeing how that little 6-month-old who had trouble growing is now a flourishing 4-yearold. Every time this happens; we know we have given a sick child their chance at life back.

Definitely Jazz fest, although we had an amazing first Mardis Gras. My kids, Valentina and Julieta, seem to have been born to be in Mardis Gras.

Do you have any pets?

What’s one of the most rewarding aspects of your job?

To me, seeing the difference a successful procedure can have not only for the patient that feels better, but also the stress relief on the family when they know a problem has been fixed. What keeps me going every day is seeing the joy and

manningchildrens.org

Photos provided by Manning Family Children’s

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

Meet Our Krewe

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

4

FILL

THEIR

CONTENTS

BASKET

Uncharted Waters Xavier becomes first HBCU to have a co-ed varsity rowing team......................19

with FLOWERS

CALL US for an Arrangement!

NEWS

837-6400

Opening Gambit ............... 6 Blake Pontchartrain........... 9

815 FOCIS STREET [OFF VETERANS]

CURRENT HOURS: MON-FRI 7AM-1PM

APRIL 14 — APRIL 20, 2025 VOLUME 46 || NUMBER 15

F E AT U R E S

SAT 7AM-NOON

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

SUMMER BODIES ARE MADE IN THE

SPRING! With the revolutionary

INJECTABLE WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM, you’ll be feeling your best on the beach this year!

CALL DR. JOSEPH GAUTREAUX TODAY

985-709-7093 • 504-292-2129 Flexible hours & Saturday appointments available.

Music Listings ................. 28 S TA F F P H O TO BY B R A D B OW I E

11

Festival International de Louisiane

Music ............................ 30 Puzzles ..........................31 C OV E R A R T BY B U R TO N D U R A N D, P H O TO S BY J E A N G O U N A N D J O S E P H V I D R I N E , F I L E P H O TO S P R OV I D E D BY F E S T I VA L I N T E R N AT I O N A L C OV E R D E S I G N BY D O R A S I S O N

Lafayette’s Festival International brings some of the best music in the world to South Louisiana

@The_Gambit @gambitneworleans

S TA F F EDITORIAL (504) 483-3105 // response@gambitweekly.com Editor | JOHN STANTON Arts & Entertainment Editor | WILL COVIELLO

Staff Writers | JAKE CLAPP, KAYLEE POCHE, SARAH RAVITS

Contributing Writer | IAN MCNULTY Editorial Assistant | MADDIE SPINNER

CREATIVE Creative Director | DORA SISON

Traffic Manager | JASON WHITTAKER

Project Manager | MARIA VIDACOVICH BOUÉ

Associate Art Director | EMMA DA VIA

Graphic Designer | GAVIN DONALDSON

Contributing Graphic Designers | TIANA WATTS, SCOTT FORSYTHE, JASMYNE WHITE, JEFF MENDEL

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS Billing Inquiries 1 (225) 388-0185

ADVERTISING Advertising Inquiries (504) 483-3150 Advertising Director | SANDY STEIN BRONDUM [sstein@gambitweekly.com]

Sales and Marketing Manager ABIGAIL BORDELON (504) 636-7427 [abigail.bordelon@gambitweekly.com]

Sales Representatives KELLY SONNIER RODRIGUEZ (504) 483-3143 [ksonnier@gambitweekly.com] CHARLIE THOMAS (504) 636-7438 [cthomas@gambitweekly.com] BENNETT GESTON (504) 483-3116 [bennett.geston@gambitweekly.com] ALYSSA HAUPTMANN (504) 483-1123 [alyssa.hauptmann@gambitweekly.com]

Sales and Marketing Coordinator CLARE BRIERRE [clare.brierre@gambitweekly.com] LIONEL NOSACKA [lionel.nosacka@gambitweekly.com]

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 2025 CAPITAL CITY PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

5

John Waters’ Naked Truth

New suits

African masquerade society ensembles debut at NOMA | by Will Coviello AFTER CARNIVAL SEASON AND THE BLACK MASKING INDIANS’ SUPER SUNDAY display of their new suits,

there’s another wave of elaborately constructed ensembles and vibrant cultural traditions on view in New Orleans. The New Orleans Museum of Art just opened “New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations,” presenting the work of four artists who create ensembles for masquerading societies in West Africa.

If one were looking for similarities to local Black Masking Indian suits, Sierra Leonean artist Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah’s Woman Tote Man is a good place to start.

The towering tan, red and gold ensemble’s front has many panels sewn with cowry shells, sequins, fabric patches and rings of woven twine. Like some Indian suits’ aprons, there are geometric panels in front, and it has long red flame-like extensions on the sides and a wide flaring collar.

The colors of the American and Siera Leonean flag are worked into the front of the suit and on the pants below the apron panels. It’s topped by the intricately carved wooden figure of a man sitting on the shoulders of a bare-breasted woman, which illustrates the suit’s theme of men depending on the strength of women, and them needing to work together.

There are masquerade societies across Africa, and the organizations and their purposes and traditions vary greatly. Some follow religious and cultural practices, and the masks and ensembles often are meant to represent spirits. The person wearing it is usually not the artist, and instead the wearer’s identity is concealed.

Other societies provide entertainment, which spurs the need to innovate and create new looks. Many ensembles are used in public processions and performances, and some societies are secretive, so only members see the ensembles. The suits also vary greatly depending on the artist, who may work for several different societies.

In the case of Fofanah’s Women Tote Man, there are several contributors.

Fofanah is an artist by profession, called a “kotu” in his community. But he is not a wood carver and hired someone else to make the headpiece. A couple other craftsmen also worked on the ensemble.

His, like many of the masquerade ensembles, are called “devils.” The expo has versions of his work showing the “fancy and fierce aesthetics” of

Sheku “Goldfinger’ Fofanah created this ensemble for a masquerade society in Sierra Leone.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY AMANDA MAPLES

ensembles preferred by the societies he works for. Next to Woman Tote Man, another ensemble has the fang-baring head of an animal in the wooden carving serving as its headpiece.

Sierra Leone adapted many masquerading traditions from Ghana in the 1960s and ’70s, and Fofanah is often commissioned by groups outside the country. He primarily works with the Gladiators Power Ordehlay Society, as well as the Tourist Ojeh and Omo Jessah Hunting societies.

Woman Tote Man was created for a social event for an Ordehlay society in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital.

The Gladiators usually host events on Christmas, Boxing Day and the country’s Independence Day, April 27.

Sometimes the events also have a fundraising purpose, like for a funeral.

The expo has 13 ensembles, including four from Fofanah. There’s also work by Herve Youmbi from Douala, Cameroon, and Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa from Calabar, Nigeria. David Sanou is from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, and he co-credits his work to his father, Andre Sanou, who taught him the wood carving skills at the center of their ensembles.

Sanou’s carved masks can feature realistic human faces or more figurative designs, like Kimi masks with hornbill bird beaks on the face of the piece and tall fin-like carvings on top. At NOMA, some of the top extensions are inset with carved elephants, hippos and other animals. The bodies of the ensemble feature long hanging strands of fabric, so when the wearer spins and dances, they whip about and accentuate the size of the figure and fast dancing.

Sanou’s practice is essentially commercial, and patrons commission masks for a masquerade society’s public celebrations for harvest season festivals, national holidays and elaborate funerals.

Developing new styles is part of the expectations of his audience.

Visitors can see the ensembles and societies in action in an immersive room, where nearly 360-degree videos are projected on three walls. Men wearing Sanou’s masks spin and dance furiously in a circle of spectators.

There’s also video of a parade-like walk of figures in outfits by Bassey Nsa in a neighborhood in Calabar. The brightly colored ensembles have bulging rings covering the chest and neck, and similar bracelets and anklets. He also followed his father’s footsteps into the craft, but he’s modernized the styles used by the longstanding and prestigious Ekpe secret society. Bassey Nsa uses the society’s preferred materials and specific symbols and references its traditions in ensembles for the group.

Youmbi’s work also offers commentary on contemporary issues.

He’s bridged the worlds of traditional and contemporary art, and one of his ensembles has a mask designed to look like the horrific figure in the horror comedy “Scream.” In his work, Youmbi also questions the way African traditions are portrayed, as well as the legacy of colonialism. He is both a contributing artist and a member of the curatorial team.

Almost all of the ensembles were commissioned for the show. While creating the expo, an emphasis was made in gaining consent of all parties, including the artists and their associated masquerade societies.

The expo features recently made ensembles and details their creation and use. More information is available at masquerades.noma.org, and the expo catalogue has much more detail on the artists and the masquerade societies.

The expo is debuting at NOMA and will tour several U.S. museums. There also will be a tour in Africa, starting in Dakar, Senegal.

John Waters’s more popular projects, like the film and Broadway versions of “Hairspray” or the darker “Serial Mom,” starring Kathleen Turner, may obscure the earlier cult classics that earned him the title of Pope of Trash.

To some Waters fans, there’s nothing better than the seedy excesses of “Pink Flamingos” or “Desperate Living.” In addition to his filmmaking, Waters is somewhat of a storyteller, and this live show could do for Easter what “Female Trouble” does for Christmas. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at Civic Theater.

Find information at civicnola.com.

Filmmaker and author John Waters is at Civic Theatre on April 20.

PROVIDED PHOTO

BY GREG GORMAN

Curren$y

Prolific New Orleans rapper Curren$y is about to kick off his 4:20 tour through April and May, and gets things rolling with a hometown show Saturday, April 19, at The Fillmore. Tickets start at $44.50 via thefillmorenola.com.

Luke Null

As a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, Luke Null starred in skits like the reality TV parody Floribama Shore, when a bunch of drunk and horny housemates got wiped out by a hurricane. But in his stand-up comedy, every joke is a song, as he strums a guitar throughout. During his last appearance at Sports Drink, that included a guided meditation that led to imagining one’s parents’ gratuitous sex life. He’s back at Sports Drink at 7 & 9 p.m.

Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19.

Tickets $25 via sportsdrink.org.

PAGE 27

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

A R T S + E N T E R TA I N M E N T

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

6

OPENING GAMBIT

NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

Brace yourselves y’all, the Louisiana state legislature is about to act a fool again

# TC OH EU N T

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

Plaquemines Parish won a landmark lawsuit against oil and gas giant Chevron over its company Texaco’s damages to coastal land in Breton Sound. Chevron has been ordered to pay $745 million in damages, which will go to coastal restoration work. The verdict also could have an impact on about 40 other parish lawsuits against oil companies over their damages to Louisiana’s rapidly disappearing coastline.

1.083

THE NUMBER, IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, LOUISIANA HAS RECENTLY LOST IN FEDERAL FUNDING FROM JUST TWO PROGRAMS BEING CUT.

Forensic scientist Caitlin Traylor, pictured in 2017, screens evidence during DNA testing in the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge

The Trump administration recently ended a FEMA program to help storm damage recovery worth $720 million, and then froze $363 million previously earmarked toward U.S. Department of Agriculture grant programs dedicated to Louisiana farmers.

PHOTO BY BILL FEIG / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

The Trump administration’s freeze on some U.S. Department of Agriculture grant programs could mean Louisiana farmers will miss out on around $363 million in support over the next few years.

Hundreds of Louisiana farmers each year receive grants through the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program and other programs to make improvements to their land. But Trump ordered all current and future contracts on hold to make sure those grants aren’t “DEIA programs or far-left climate programs,” said USDA secretary Brooke Rollins.

The Trump administration has ended a FEMA program to help storm damage recovery, halting more than $720 million in funding for Louisiana projects including levee improvements, home elevations, pumping stations and other mitigation projects. FEMA has stopped accepting applications, canceled projects from 2020 to 2023 and may recall more than $280 million in already paid out funding to the state.

Louisiana is finally close to clearing its rape kit backlog LOUISIANA IS ON TRACK TO CLEAR A BACKLOG OF SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS,

among other forensic evidence kits previously piled up in the state’s crime lab, said New Orleans Council Member Lesli Harris on Tuesday.

Harris, chair of the city’s Quality of Life committee, pointed to “interagency collaboration” and $4.3 million in city and state funding to tackle a problem that had persisted for years.

At one point in 2022, the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge had a backlog of approximately 4,600 DNA kits, many of which came from New Orleans, and desperately needed outside help.

According to Harris, thousands of kits have been processed in recent months, with only 187 remaining. Of those, 49 are linked to sexual assaults.

“Clearing this backlog has been one of my top priorities because every untested kit represents a delayed opportunity for justice,” she said in a written statement prior to a committee hearing on the issue.

“Thanks to the strong collaboration with NOPD, the LSP Crime Lab and city leadership we are seeing real results,” Harris said. “We’ve successfully cleared a vast majority of the

backlog of sexual assault kits that the NOPD has committed to Louisiana State Police for processing.”

Lt. Scott Davis, deputy director of the lab, said a large portion of the state’s DNA kits come from the New Orleans Police Department, and the state agency had been overwhelmed without these investments.

The city allocated $3 million to tackle the issue, and State Rep. Mandie Landry successfully pushed for an additional $1.3 million from the state, allowing law enforcement officials to outsource DNA testing on a larger scale.

Outsourcing the kits to private labs is costly, but it provides faster turnaround times and eases the workload of the state’s in-house analysts who are dealing with evidence from all across Louisiana.

“There’s a real need for efficient sexual assault victim case resolution,” Davis said.

Meanwhile, five additional DNA analysts are completing training and will eventually be a part of the New Orleans Police Department’s own crime lab, which is expected to be completed in 2027.

C’EST W H AT

?

How are you dealing with the tariffs news?

48.1%

I’LL BE OK AS LONG AS I CAN DRINK LOCAL BEERS

11.2%

STOCKING UP BIG TIME ON ESSENTIALS

37%

DEFINITELY NOT CHECKING MY 401(K)

3.7%

BRAINSTORMING ALTERNATIVES TO EXPENSIVE COFFEE

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

New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams said “real investments and commitment” are helping his office seek justice for survivors. Hundreds of tests have been turned over to his office to be used as evidence in criminal trials.

“I believe we are able to move away from a triage (situation),” he said.

One survivor at the meeting, however, said she was still waiting on a rescheduled court date for an alleged assault that took place four years ago.

Williams said allowing DNA kits to be tested on a larger scale would help make the courts more efficient, given the overall accuracy of results. He also said he wants to see this type of testing used not just for violent crimes, but for other offenses like property theft.

“It’s not good enough to sit on the laurels of our success,” he said. “I think we can all do better and build a modern, proactive, survivor-focused DNA strategy that puts New Orleans on the map nationally as a model for forensic justice.”

He added, “This will be a sea change if we can get this right.” — Sarah Ravits

Louisiana Democratic Party tries to claim credit for defeat of Landry amendments

BATON ROUGE — LOUISIANA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR RANDAL GAINES Thursday called voters’ defeat

of all four constitutional amendments backed by Gov. Jeff Landry “a defining moment in Louisiana politics” and attempted to take credit for the display of bipartisan opposition.

“What was determinative was, in my opinion, the messaging of the party,” Gaines told Gambit following a press conference at the party’s headquarters. “Because the activist groups don’t have those relationships.”

Gaines went on to claim that’s because “they’re not necessarily within a circle of trust of our Louisiana voters. The party is.”

It’s unclear what Gaines’ belief is based on. Democrats have had increasing difficulty in even fielding a candidate in local and state level races for the last decade, leaving many Republican state legislators to run unopposed for years. The party also

lost the statewide election in 2023 badly, handing control of all levels of government to Republicans and leading many Democrats to call for totally rebuilding the party.

Other Democrats were less bullish on the party’s role in the defeat of Landry’s agenda. Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, a Baton Rouge Democrat, argued during the press conference that defeat was a joint effort, noting that many majority-Republican parishes voted against them as well.

“The Democratic Party by themselves can’t take credit for it,” she said.

“But it was every citizen in Louisiana that stood up to say that these amendments were wrong for Louisiana.”

Although Gaines insisted Democrats “led the charge” against the amendments, the movement against them was far more diverse. The amendments lost by wide margins in an overwhelming majority of parishes, including many which have little to no Democratic Party presence.

Republicans and independents also voted no in significant numbers.

For instance, data analyst Jeff Asher noted that in Beauregard Parish, which

broke for Trump last year by 85% and is generally hostile territory for Democrats, voted against Landry’s amendment to give the wealthy more tax breaks 51% to 49%.

Community organization against the amendments was noticeably strong, with more than a dozen groups in the environmental, housing, civil rights, criminal justice reforms and other spheres all coming together. Graphics urging people to vote down the amendments spread across social media.

Criminal justice reform groups like the First 72+, Voice of the Experienced and Families, Vera Institute of Justice and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, especially rallied against Amendment 3, which would have let legislators expand the list of crimes for which teenagers could be tried as adults.

Gaines did say the party sent text messages to some voters, posted messages on social media and did a week of phone banking against it. He pointed in particular to the local party’s efforts in Orleans Parish as a major PAGE 8

You’re free to live your life out loud!

Because you’ve got the compassion of the cross, the security of the shield, and the comfort of Blue behind you.

01MK2770 01/25

7 G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

OPENING GAMBIT

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

8

OPENING GAMBIT

CAPTURE THE

FLAG

PAGE 7

IS BACK WIN 2 TICKETS TO JAZZ FEST 2025

HOW TO PLAY: FOLLOW GAMBIT ON

FACEBOOK: @GAMBITNEWORLEANS INSTAGRAM: @GAMBITNEWORLEANS TWITTER: @GAMBIT_GOODS

BETWEEN APRIL 4-MAY 2 NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREAE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Must be 21 to enter. For complete rules visit bestofneworleans.com/flag

factor. The parish had about 31% turnout, notably higher than the 21% turnout statewide, and voted 90% or more against all four measures.

But Baton Rouge and New Orleans aside, voters in the majority of parishes opposed all the amendments.

Nevertheless, while Gaines gave some credit to community and activist groups for helping educate voters, he insisted it was “supportive” rather than “determinative.”

A year of new leadership The Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee selected Gaines as chair in April 2024 after a wave of new faces and party veterans teamed up and ran for positions on the committee with the goal of electing a new party chair. There was momentum to replace controversial former party head Katie Bernhardt following a disastrous showing for Democrats in the 2023 governor’s race and other elections.

For all the talk of rebuilding the party, progress has been slow moving. Gaines previously told Gambit the party would have a strategic long-term plan by the end of January.

Now, he said, he’s hoping to have the plan finished by the end of May. He added that the planning committee is meeting about every two weeks and involving voters, donors and other stakeholders in the process.

At the press conference, Gaines did introduce the party’s new executive director, East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Dadrius Lanus.

A Baton Rouge native, Lanus spent four years as the executive director of the nonprofit 100 Black Men of Baton

Randal Gaines, Louisiana Democratic Party chair PHOTO BY KAYLEE POCHE

Rouge. Gaines called him a “young and up and coming Democrat with a bright future.”

With the legislature set to convene in less than two weeks, Lanus will have to hit the ground running if Democrats hope to have any sort of unified front against Landry and Republican lawmakers.

Meanwhile, internal fighting has continued.

The party has been cash-strapped, as made evident by the top of their podium collapsing under the weight of a few microphones at the beginning of the press conference.

Gaines told Gambit that Lanus’ first priority as executive director will be fundraising. The party previously had no communications director, but Gaines said they recently contracted with Lauren Loisel, who also does communications for the Young Democrats of Louisiana.

Following the defeat of the amendments, Landry claimed without evidence that national Democratic donor George Soros and “far left liberals poured millions into Louisiana with propaganda and outright lies about Amendment 2,” adding “We realize how hard positive change can be to implement in a State that is conditioned for failure.”

Democratic leaders laughed off the idea of funding from national donors deciding the race.

“You show me a George Soros check ... then we can have a conversation,” Lanus said. — Kaylee Poche

9

BL AKE PONTCHARTR AIN™

whimsical fun

Hey Blake,

A building on Howard Avenue near Harmony Circle and the WDSU studios has the word “Motorworks” on the façade. What can you tell me about it?

Dear reader,

THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, THE BUILDING AT 822-24 HOWARd Ave. has served as a

home to many car dealerships and showrooms.

It was built in 1916 for the Jeffery Automobile Co., which sold cars under the brand name Rambler. A September 1916 article in The Times-Picayune explained the land was previously home to a three-story brick boarding house.

“The new building will afford the Jeffery Sales Company adequate sales rooms, garage and service station facilities for the large stock of Jeffery cars and parts it expects to handle,” the paper reported.

Before long, it became the showroom for the Bernstein-Glenny Motors Co. and later the Clay-Dutton Co., Hughes Motor Co., United Motors Service, Merchants’ Motor Co. and Howard Motors Inc. selling Buicks, DeSotos, Plymouths and other cars.

According to the website of the current owners, for part of its history, the

The building at 822-24 Howard Ave. has been home to many car dealerships over its history.

PHOTO BY JAKE CLAPP / GAMBIT

Motorworks Building was also known as the Daylight Factory due to the natural light shining through its warehouse windows which circle three sides of the building. The original building also contained a large elevator used to move cars up and down between maintenance and the showroom floors.

In the mid-1940s the building housed the Bango and Salzer Furniture Co. In its current incarnation as condos, the building retains some of its earlier history in the car business, including gears from the former elevator incorporated into the bike rack sculpture out front. Two logos of a wheel with an attached wing are embossed on the front of the building.

BLAKEVIEW THIS EASTER SUNDAY WILL MARK THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY of a beloved tradition: the French Quarter Easter parade that for many years was led by iconic entertainer Chris Owens.

The parade built on a tradition established in 1956 by Germaine Wells, the flamboyant proprietress of Arnaud’s Restaurant, which was founded by her father, Count Arnaud de Cazenave. Wells died in 1983, but a parade in her memory continued after that, including in 1985 when parade captain Sammy Steele organized a second parade featuring Owens as Grand Duchess.

The inaugural Chris Owens parade on April 7, 1985, featured 75 riders in white convertibles which took them from the French Quarter and a party at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel to St. Charles Avenue for Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Church.

The parade “had a Carnival flair,” reported the next day’s Times-Picayune.

“Riders began the day drinking champagne in the hotel room filled with plastic bunnies and Easter egg balloons. A 6-foot-tall pink plastic bunny stood at the head of the room, as if presiding over the party.”

The event featured an Easter hat contest and Owens in a show-stopping outfit.

“The Bourbon Street entertainer wore a sheath dress of antique lace with handmade yellowy silk flowers over silk crepe with a V neckline and long puffed sleeves.

She also wore a white wide-brimmed hat with yellow ribbons and tulle,” reported the next day’s Times-Picayune.

The parade grew to become an Easter Sunday favorite for decades, even after Owens died in 2022. This year’s festivities begin at 11 a.m. Sunday with music, a silent auction and hat contest at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel. Beginning at 1 p.m., the parade rolls through the French Quarter, followed by a brunch at the hotel. For more information, visit frenchquartereasterparade.com.

doodle $56

butterfly $54

multidog $56

skirtall cherry berry $48

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

shop @gaetanasnola

Jazz & Blues is in the Air!

Mon-Fri 10am-6pm | Sat 10am-4pm Curbside & Delivery Still Available!

5101 W. ESPLANADE • 504.407.3532 at Chastant • Metairie

3001 ORMOND BLVD • 985.603.4011

at entrance to Ormond Estates • Destrehan www.nolagiftsanddecoronline.com @nolagiftsanddecor

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

have a laugh!

@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

10

LALO

Tequila Blanco $39.99 | 750 ml

Hermosa

Organic Tequila Silver $47.99 | 750 ml

Ell T Tesoro

Tequila Blanco $59.99 | 750 ml

E Espolon l

Tequila Blanco $26.99 | 750 ml

Tres A Agaves

Organic Tequila Blanco $32.99 | 750 ml

Cazcanes

No.7 Tequila Blanco $72.99 | 750 ml

710 VETERANS MEMORIAL BLVD. | METAIRIE | DORIGNACS.COM | (504) 834-8216 | OPEN 7AM-8PM EVERYDAY

#

"

!

11

aT our

doorstep Lafayette’s Festival International brings the music of the world to South Louisiana

BY JOHN STANTON Gambit editor WITH JAZZ FEST COMING UP NEXT WEEK, we’re entering the homestretch of festival season here in New Orleans. Whether you’re a music fan or service industry worker who needs an infusion of cash before summer, that also happens to be the best part of the season.

But don’t sleep on the other major festival coming up next week: Lafayette’s Festival International de Louisiane. This year’s packed line-up includes music from not only across the globe but genres as well, ranging from bhangra to Zydeco.

Now in its 39th year, Festival International runs during the first weekend of Jazz Fest, starting on the evening of Wednesday, April 23, and ending Sunday, April 27. While Lafayette is only a two-hour drive from New Orleans, it’s often overlooked by folks hoping to avoid the Jazz Fest fuss. That’s a shame because Festival International is one of the most unique music events in the country.

It’s also the perfect option for anybody who might not want to stick around town throughout the entire two-week run of Jazz Fest.

First off, it’s free, which given its size is a true rarity in the era of late-stage capitalism, Live Nation-driven festivals. Because it’s spread-out through Lafayette’s downtown, you can pack a lunch and beers, which is particularly clutch for anybody on a budget.

But it’s also incredibly diverse. As this year’s lineup demonstrates, organizers go out of their way to make it an eclectic music experience.

There’s a ton of music during the festival itself, and, as the name suggests, many of the artists are coming to Louisiana from countries across the globe, including many who will go on to play week two of Jazz Fest. And, of course, the festival brings out some of Louisiana’s legends.

Festival International is family-friendly, with kids’ activities and areas available. The festival’s food vendors also are top notch, representing some of our region’s best cuisine.

Plus, there’s a host of local restaurants and bars in and around the festival site that represent Lafayette’s comparatively small but very impressive food culture.

For a full lineup of music, vendors, times and more information, check festivalinternational. org. Here’s a few highlights from the festival — and Lafayette — to give you a little taste of what’s in store.

PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Music

A BIG PART OF THE FUN OF FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL is exploring the world’s soundscape and discovering new genres and bands you’d never dream of otherwise, while still getting to enjoy some of the greats of Louisiana music.

And this year’s lineup is incredibly diverse, with performers from at least five continents playing a dizzying array of musical styles, genres and crossovers.

Want to know what happens when a First Nations singer-songwriter blends their traditional music with reggae and pop influences? Canada’s amazing Shauit will be on hand to show you. Got a hankering for a psychedelic spin on classic Cajun music? The Lost Bayou Ramblers will be there. Or perhaps you’re a little

reggae-curious? Well, you’re in luck because Jamaica’s legendary Black Uhuru is playing as well.

Here’s a few standouts from this year’s lineup:

Yagody

April 25, 8:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Scene Lus Internationale April 26, 8 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.

Scene Wellcare Lafayette

Ukranian band Yagody is the brainchild of Zoriana Dybovska. Founded in 2016, Dybovska brought together a group of women she’d taught in acting classes to form Yagody. Those theatrical roots are front and center in the band’s takes on Ukrainian folk music and styles, incorporating harmonies and complex rhythms using traditional instruments, with an occasional dash of electronic sensibilities.

PAGE 13

PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

THE

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

12

Festival International 2025

Zar Electrik

April 24, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Scene Lus Internationale April 25, 5:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m.

Scene Ochsner Lafayette General Fais Do Do

PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

PAGE 11

The result is an incredibly high-energy, danceable sound.

festivals like Jazz Fest, Germany’s Rudolstadt-Festival and Bonnaroo.

Red Baraat

JigJam

April 26, 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Scene Wellcare Lafayette April 27, 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Scene Lus Internationale

Based out of Brooklyn, Red Baraat combines the sounds of North Indian bhangra with hip-hop, EDM, brass band and even some punk to create a unique, danceable style. Their 2013 album “Shruggy Ji” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s World Music charts, and the band has developed a huge following not only in the Desi community but across the globe, performing at major

April 26, 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Scene Ochsner Lafayette General Fais Do Do April 27, 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Scene Wellcare Lafayette April 27, 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.

Scene Des Jeunes

For decades, American roots country and bluegrass music has been popular in Ireland, which makes sense given those genres have deep roots in the Scottish and Irish diaspora in the United States. Hailing from Offaly and Tipperary, JigJam is what happens

when a bunch of Irish try their hands at bluegrass. The band blends traditional Irish music and bluegrass into a unique, fresh sound and brings some new energy to two genres that can get a bit stuck in their lanes.

Fermin Ceballos + Merengue4Four

April 26, 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

Scene Wellcare Lafayette

New Orleans is the northern most city of the Carribean, so it’s the perfect place to give birth to the unique sound of Fermin Ceballos + Merengue4Four.

Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the United States, the band blends the various sounds that have emerged from the Gulf of Mexico in-

Founded in France, Zar Electrik combines electric dance music with Morocco’s traditional Gnawa style.

Dating from the 16th century, Gnawa is itself a blend of Moroccan folk music and the music of West Africa, which was brought to the region originally by enslaved peoples.

Zar Electrik’s sound is hard to describe, at least for an American audience. The band combines this traditional style of music with elements of trace, house and other styles of EDM to create an often dreamy yet upbeat sound all its own. The band is truly one of the most interesting and innovative on the world music scene.

Check out their recent Tiny Desk performance to see for yourself.

Son de Madera

April 24, 6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

Scene Lus Internationale April 25, 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

Scene Wellcare Lafayette

Based in Veracruz, Mexico, Son de Madera perform son jarocho music, a style from Mexico’s western coast.

It’s a perfect encapsulation of the culture and history of the central coast region of the Gulf of Mexico, mixing Indigenous, baroque and West African

OFFICIAL CHICKEN OF THE

CRESCENT CITY CLASSIC ORDER ONLINE

RaisingCanes.com

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

cluding merengue, bachata, vellenato and even zydeco. Ceballos, the founder and front man of the band, has been a fixture in New Orleans’ growing Latin music scene since moving here more than a decade ago. Listen to “Zydeco Star,” which Ceballos recorded with zydeco legend Rockin’ Dopsie Jr., for a taste of what you can expect.

13

14 G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

I F IT DI DN ’ T COM E F ROM DOCK S I DE RUG S ,

"You Probably Paid Too Much"

ALL RUGS

Festival International 2025

sounds into a unique genre. Founded in the early ’90s by Ramón Gutiérrez Hernández and Laura Rebolloso, the band has been a major part of the son jarocho music scene for more than three decades.

also perform with swamp pop king Tommy McLain and C.C. Adcock, a show that is always a great time and highlights a classic Louisiana sound.

Tif Lamson and Kelli Jones

April 26, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

La Galerie

April 26, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (performing as Double Dare) Pavillon De Cuisine

220

$

April 26, 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (performing with Tommy McLain and C.C. Adcock) La Galerie

2401 TCHOUPITOULAS ST SAT-SUN 11AM-4PM

You’ll get not one but two chances to catch Tif Lamson (a Gambit 40 Under 40 honoree) and Kelli Jones at Festival International this year. They will play a set as Double Dare, which the duo created during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Their style is rooted in folk, Americana and country and is a great showcase of two of South Louisiana’s best young musicians. They’ll

The Figs

Lafayette roots rock band The Figs will play a reunion show at Festival International in honor of their late band member Jillian Johnson (and will play a matinee show at Chickie Wah Wah on April 19). In addition to singing in The Figs, Johnson also owned several small businesses, including Parish Ink in Lafayette and Red Arrow Workshop, which both had locations in Lafayette and New Orleans. Johnson was murdered in 2015 when a gunman opened fire in the Grand 16 movie theater in Lafayette. There will also be a special panel about Johnson’s life and influence on the community on April 26 from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the La Galerie stage.

@DOCKSIDE2401

420 420 SALE SALE 20% OFF ENTIRE STORE ON 4/20 EXCLUDES TOBACCO & NICOTINE

RA SHOP GIVEAWAY & EMPIRE GLASS RAFFLE AT EVERY LOCATION

WE SELL LEGAL THC FRENCH QUARTER

739 BOURBON ST. (504) 354-1511 733 TOULOUSE ST. (504) 875-3067 1201 DECATUR ST. (504) 528-2352

METAIRIE

3828 VETERANS STE. B (504) 889-8436

NEW ORLEANS

3118 MAGAZINE ST. (504) 894-7934 8128 OAK ST. (504) 864-8288

www.TheRaShops.com

COVINGTON

2900 N. HWY 190 (985) 893-2748

MANDEVILLE

2198 FLORIDA ST. (985) 647-1644

SLIDELL

758 K I-10 SERVICE RD. (985) 902-8380 PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

15

Festival International 2025

April 11-13 Lunch - fried catfish with crawfish étoufée

Dinner - Shrimp burger

with spring mix and old bay aioli

Blackened redfish

over oyster mushroom goat cheese polenta

Fried oysters

over spinach artichoke pasta

Stuffed redfish

with veggies and seafood cream

Seared scallops

over creamy summer succotash

Brunch pork loin

in grillades gravy over grits

DON’T FORGET

sh Boiled Crawfi

Every

Thursday!

PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Festing After Dark AND THEN THERE’S THE POST-FESTIVAL PARTIES AND SHOWS, which unlike the super-secret, crazy expensive after fest “experiences” being offered around Jazz Fest, are still accessible to regular music fans. They often feature some truly unexpected combos, like musicians from Niger sitting in with a bunch of rowdy Cajun players. Since a lot of these shows are spontaneous, it’s hard to know who will show up where. But there’s already a handful of shows scheduled, including these that are not to be missed.

For specific tines, tickets and information, check out the venues’ websites.

Blue Moon

bluemoonpresents.com

On Friday, April 25, Blue Moon is hosting the Lost Bayou Ramblers with Niger’s Etran de L’Air, as well as a midnight show featuring Zach Edwards and The Medicine.

On Saturday, April 26, they’ll have Jourdan Thibodeaux et les Rodailleurs with Bab L’Bluz out of France and Morocco. Zach Edwards and The Medicine will play a second midnight show as well.

And on Sunday, April 27, Blue Moon will host the Festival International Appreciation Party and International Jam, featuring The Bluerunners and The Revelers, who will be joined by musicians from around the world who played the festival.

Hideaway on Lee hideawayonlee.com

On Friday, April 25, the Hideaway will have Max Baca and Los Texmaniacs.

Then on Sunday, April 27, Luke Winslow-King will perform. The Hideaway is also a great spot to just get a drink and has a full menu for after fest noshing, which really makes it a one-stop shop for all your post-festival needs.

Warehouse 535 warehouse535.com

On Saturday, April 26, there will be a special double reunion show with The Bluerunners and The Figs performing.

3701 iberville st • 504.488.6582 katiesinmidcity.com Mon-Thurs 11am-9pm Fri & Sat 11am-10pm • Sun 10am-5pm

Eating and drinking in Lafayette LAFAYETTE HAS A LOT TO OFFER, especially when it comes to food and drink (though nobody we’re not vouching for that weird practice of putting boil spice on after crawfish are boiled). Here are just a couple of recommendations: If you’re looking for something a bit fancy, check out the Vestal Restaurant (555 Jefferson St.), which features steaks, seafood and cocktails.

Pamplona Tapas Bar (631 Jefferson St.) is, as the name suggests, small plates type joint that features that classic Spanish tapas place atmosphere and food.

Since 1940, Borden’s Ice Cream Shoppe (1103 Jefferson St.) has been an institution in Lafayette. A classic soda jerk shop, it’s perfect for a cold treat during the day or after dinner.

Reve Coffee is a Lafayette chain of coffee shops. Their location downtown at 200 Jefferson St. is the perfect spot to get the caffeine levels up to snuff after a long night of post-festival dancing and drinking.

And if you’re looking for a solid neighborhood style watering hole, you can’t go wrong with The Greenroom (229 Jefferson St.). There are pool tables, it’s sufficiently dark and the drinks won’t come near breaking the bank. Plus, they’ll have a post-festival show Saturday night featuring a lineup of local bands.

LIVE ON FACEBOOK EVERY WED AT 7PM!

DOWNLOAD OUR APP FOLLOW US!

517 METAIRIE RD. OLD METAIRIE 504-510-4655 | nolaboo.com

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

Weekend S pecials

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

18

BROCATO LAW FIRM, PLC C REAL EXPERIENCE

MATTERS.

SALVADOR M. BROCATO, III ATTORNEY AT LAW

METAIRIE & NEW ORLEANS CIVIL

CRIMINAL

TRAFFIC

BROCATOLAW.COM LA Filing #21-11910

504-832-7225 SPECIAL EXHIBIT

NOW OPEN DISCOVER THE ONLY WWII CAMPAIGN FOUGHT ON NORTH AMERICAN SOIL This new exhibit examines the often-overlooked Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and the subsequent efforts to repulse the only seizure of North American soil that occurred during World War II.

WATE WAT E RS

Xavier University becomes first HBCU to have a co-ed varsity rowing team B Y K AY L E E P O C H E ARSHAY COOPER REMEMBERS an interesting object sitting in his school lunchroom in Chicago’s West Side during the ’90s: a white boat. He had no idea what it was for.

“I remember this white lady walking up to me and saying, ‘You want to join a crew team?’ ” Cooper said.

The word crew had a different meaning to him at the time.

“I was like, I don’t know what that is, but I know my uncle told me if someone asked me to join a crew, run the other way as fast as I can,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh, Lord, there’s so many crews and gangs. Now this white lady is starting a gang in my school.’ ” The woman then showed him footage of rowing, also called crew, at the Olympic Games. Enticed by free pizza, he ended up joining the Manley High team, the first all-Black high school rowing team in the country. It changed his life.

Cooper has since written a book about his experience titled “A Most Beautiful Thing” and started a foundation under the same name.

“To go from seeing dirt and concrete to water and grass changed everything for me,” he told a group of students from Xavier University of Louisiana, at an event to debut the rowing team’s new varsity status.

Rowing has been a club sport at Xavier in New Orleans since 2023, but it will become an official university sport in the fall — making it the first historically Black university in the U.S. to have a co-ed varsity rowing team.

It’s another milestone in the attempts to diversify the sport, which is largely associated with upper-class white people and is less popular in the Gulf South.

Gathered at the Black-owned Backatown Coffee Parlour in New Orleans one evening in February to celebrate becoming a varsity team, club co-captain Kamryn Days noted that the group achieved this feat despite not having a previous background in rowing.

“We have made history with no prior knowledge in rowing,” she said.

And most of all, they’ve been enjoying the ride.

“We get to wake up every day and get in the boat with what I call them, our boat besties, and have fun making history,” Days said.

Xavier’s rowing team PHOTO PROVIDED BY XAVIER ROWING

ANOTHER BARRIER BROKEN

ROWING HAS LONG BEEN A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE — and wealthy — sport, despite some barriers having been broken over the last two centuries. A 2021 study of the National Collegiate Athletic Association found that only 2% of its women athletes who participated in rowing were Black.

A history of racism has affected the relationship Black people have had with water over the years.

As mentioned in a 2018 article for the African American Intellectual History Society, “Slavery at Sea” author Sowande Mustakeem said that Africans originally had positive associations with water, but being transported across the Atlantic Ocean, the water began to represent “a repository of bodies, death, pain and suffering.”

Then segregation and discrimination meant many Black people didn’t have access to public pools or even beaches.

For instance, throughout the Jim Crow era, the only beach along

the Gulf Coast available to Black Americans was Gulfside, a resort and Methodist religious retreat run by a Black minister in Waveland, Mississippi. Even after desegregation, pools that served Black communities were — and often continue to be — underfunded and staffed, making it hard for families to access swimming lessons for their kids.

Meanwhile, spaces like Gulfside and New Orleans’ Lincoln Beach along Lake Pontchartrain, which were historically for Black people, fell into disrepair and were

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

UNCH A R TED

19

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

20

UN C H A R T E D WAT E R S Xavier students row on Bayou St. John.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY XAVIER ROWING

PHOTO BY TARA KLINE

PHOTO PROVIDED BY XAVIER ROWING

eventually abandoned after the Supreme Court ostensibly barred segregation, removing what little opportunities to learn to swim that did exist.

The sport is also expensive, requiring a lot of equipment, including boats, oars and indoor rowing machines. Because public schools are funded through local tax dollars, many with mostly Black students don’t have those kinds of resources.

Nevertheless, in 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, Frenchy Johnson, a former enslaved person, moved to Boston, where he and a few friends formed the first African American rowing club. Johnson became a rowing phenom, taking on some of the top rowers of the time.

In the early ’60s, Howard University became the first all-Black crew team in the United States, thanks to the efforts of alum and real estate broker Howland Ware. The university couldn’t afford it, so he spent more than $10,000 of his own money and nine years forming a private club there.

The students had little to no experience with rowing and were competing with Ivy League students, many of whom had started in high school.

Aquil Abdullah became the first African American man to win a rowing national championship in 1996 and the first African American man to qualify for the Summer Olympics in rowing in 2004.

Abdullah rowed in high school and was the only Black person on his rowing team in college. He was the first African American to compete in the Olympics on Team USA in 1996, and only a handful of other Black people have done so since.

In 2022, North Carolina’s Saint Augustine University became the first HBCU women’s rowing team, joining Howard as the second HBCU to form a rowing team, according to the school.

“If you’re doing anything well, it’s hard,” Kevin Harris, who’s coached rowing at the University of Tulsa for more than two decades, told Xavier students at the event. “If you’re the first to do it, it’s harder.”

‘MY FRIEND DARED ME TO’

COACH CHLOE JOBIN AND A FEW STUDENTS formed Xavier’s rowing club in the fall of 2023, with support from the New Orleans Rowing Club.

Their first task was getting people to sign up for a sport they probably didn’t know much about.

Word of mouth, including in parent groups, lead to more people hearing about the team.

Days’ mother told her she should join as a way to get back into organized sports and get some structure in her life. At first, she was hesitant, but her mom insisted she try.

“She said, ‘Go do it,’ ” Days says.

“And I loved it.”

Similarly, Taylor Kentish’s mom and her friend’s mom told them about the team. But she didn’t decide to do it until her friend dared her to.

“We were both like, ‘Oh no, we won’t do that.’ My friend dared me to do it, and I actually stuck with it, and I really ended up enjoying it,” Kentish says. “I love trying new things. So it was like, why not?”

Victoria Duffey was another Xavier student who signed up in those early days. Her middle school in Jacksonville, Florida, had a rowing team, but she didn’t join — too busy with other sports. She was also familiar with some of the workout equipment from growing up doing CrossFit. She still wasn’t sure if she could make rowing work in her schedule, but because the club was new, she felt less intimidated knowing they’d all be learning together.

And that’s exactly what happened, starting with introductory sessions to teach students the basics, including how to row on an erg machine, which simulates rowing without water.

Regular practices followed.

“As my friends say, ‘You’re always doing side quests.’ I’m like, let me do a little side quest and start on the rowing team,” Duffey says. “I didn’t realize it was gonna turn into something so big.”

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

NOW, IN ITS SECOND YEAR AS A CLUB SPORT, teammates estimate that 15 to 16 students show up to the water practices on Bayou St. John at the crack of dawn, with 13 attending consistently.

The team is made up of mostly women, with around five men. But that is to be expected given that Xavier’s student body is about three-fourths female, which is not unusual for an HBCU.

UN C H A R T E D WAT E R S

PHOTO PROVIDED BY XAVIER ROWING

Athletes have at least five practices a week, three on the bayou and at least two indoors. Those practices on the water are an early wake-up call, running from 5:45 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. And taking the bus to practice means getting up even earlier.

It’s a hard sell for many college students who prefer to go out at night, but teammates say — despite this author’s skepticism — that there are upsides to the early start time.

For one, it’s an exercise in selfdiscipline.

“Just being able to tell myself the day before, like, OK, you have to go to bed on time so you can wake up and make sure you set your alarms and everything, that has definitely translated into other parts of my life,” Kentish says.

And when the time comes, Kentish feels at peace watching the sun rise on the still bayou.

“You take a deep breath, and it’s like, I kind of like this,” she says.

Part of that is the nature of rowing itself. Jobin and Days say that unlike some other sports, which may require high-intensity practices, improving in rowing is all about consistency.

“Rowing is a sport where you have to slow it down in order to go fast, as the great Coach Kevin (Harris of the University of Tulsa) once said,” Days says. “You have to control your breathing. You have to control your movement. Everything is a controlled piece, and you have to do everything with purpose, which means that you have to slow down and think about every single movement you make before you make it.”

VARSITY STATUS

BUT SOMETHING THAT HASN’T HAPPENED SLOWLY is the team’s upgrade from club sport to an official varsity sport starting in the fall.

here looking at what I never had,” Abdullah told students at the Backatown event. “I was the only, Kevin (Harris) was the only, Manley crew was the only when they showed up at regattas.”

‘I CAN DO HARD THINGS’

MEMBERS OF THE XAVIER ROWING TEAM SAY the sport has taught them lessons that go far beyond rowing.

For one, it’s taught them teamwork and given them strong friendships with their teammates. They see each other most days and often carpool together.

They went to Waco, Texas, together for a week during their winter break. Training together twice a day and sharing a cabin, they got to know each other on a more personal level.

“I think the saying ‘You become the average of the five people that you spend the most time around’ really plays a big part here,” Days says. “We started in the beginning as complete strangers to one another, to now making sure each other is reaching our goals and that we are eating right and being there for each other and celebrating together.”

“There is nobody else in the world who I would rather wake up at five o’clock in the morning and spend the first part of my day with,” she adds.

At the same time, rowing has also shown the students their own individual strength.

Duffey says joining a sport by herself that she had no experience with wasn’t something that she would have done prior to attending Xavier.

“That’s taught me I can do hard things. I can do things alone. I can work as a team,” she says.

Days says the sport has increased her confidence and showed her the importance of celebrating successes, both big and small.

“What I’m most appreciative of is realizing the impact that self-confidence has on anything that you do,” she says. “You can’t do anything with determination, with purpose and perseverance, if you don’t have that voice inside your head telling you, ‘Do it again. You are supposed to be here.

You are correct. You can do this.’ ”

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

The sun rises over Bayou St. John during an Xavier rowing practice.

The switch will mean the team will rely on university funding rather than funding from the New Orleans Rowing Club. They’ll also get a full-time coach who will spend time recruiting from high schools. Plus, there will be six scholarships available for athletes.

“That would also really broaden the pool of athletes ... that want to attend an HBCU and also want to continue rowing in college,” Jobin says. “That’s not really something that they can do and perform at the varsity level until this program becomes a varsity sport.”

Getting university funding also means there will be more resources available for athletes to go to regattas, aka rowing races and tournaments, whether that’s transportation, hotel stays or other costs.

“It just shows that the university, the institution as it is, wants to invest in the program and thinks that the program is worthwhile and worth investing in,” Jobin says.

There are two rowing seasons, one in the fall and the other in the spring.

So far, the fall season has consisted of more scrimmages, aka practice or informal competitions, on Bayou St. John. The spring season is more timebased and fast-paced. There are also indoor races, where participants are set up on a bunch of rowing machines in a big gym and have to row a certain number of meters.

They’re used to racing against the New Orleans Rowing Club but will start racing the rowing teams at Tulane and LSU, including at the Intercollegiate Louisiana State Championships this season.

Rowing was able to go from a club sport to a varsity sport in a few short years at Xavier thanks to a collective effort from the coaches, athletes, higher-ups at Xavier and national rowing advocates, like Cooper and Harris.

Curtis Wright, Xavier’s vice president of student affairs, spoke to Harris and Cooper as well as others.

“Having them kind of discuss the meaning and the impact of the sport being at an HBCU, and how important that is for the sport as a whole and how important that would be for Xavier, I think that really kind of was a little bit like a light bulb moment,” Jobin says.

All of them showed up to February’s Rowing with a Purpose event along with Abdullah and fellow Black Olympian Alex Osborne.

“And just like that, we are standing in history, because just like that, I am

21

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

22

FASHION | LIFE | DESIGN

FASHION | LIFE | DESIGN

The Pearl is a monthly magazine showcasing the best of New Orleans FASHION, LIFE, and DESIGN. From curated trend stories to profiles on local leaders and creatives, residents and visitors alike will benefit from this stylish guide.

ShopDog

BY MICHAEL A BECHLER

Dolly L

THE PEARL’S REACH:

232,000 readers,

in Gambit + Times-Picayune — more than any lifestyle magazine in New Orleans.

ike many sisters, the Becnel women have always shared a love of shopping and dreamed of opening their own Old Gretna boutique one day. “Old Gretna is just magical, and what makes this place so special is the people. Everyone here loves their community, and they put their hearts back into it. You can feel it at all of the special events that the city hosts throughout the year.”

Jacqueline, Julia, and Jenna opened Susie’s Boutique in October 2023. The shotgun home turned shop offers a curated selection of home items, kids and baby finds, and gifts for every occasion. “We look at this store not only as our business but as an extension of our family,” they shared. “We truly love our customers. The friends we have made along this journey have made this experience that much sweeter.”

When shopping at Susie’s, customers will also meet Dolly, Jacqueline’s spunky and upbeat Cavapoo. She loves being around people and is an expert at greeting customers at the door. Sometimes you’ll find Dolly hanging out with the stuffed animals in the children’s section, and when she needs a break, she prefers lounging on the couch in the office looking out the window. When she’s off duty, Dolly’s either running around her acre-lot at home, stopping for pup cups at Chick-fil-A, using her cuteness to guilt her family into getting her way, or making appearances in the carpool line at school. “She’s the sweetest pup and is truly just a joy to be around!”

Jacqueline said.

MAXIMALIST FOR THE

Name: Dolly Age: 1 Zodiac sign: Leo Breed: Cavapoo Favorite food: Rotisserie chicken Favorite humans: Mom, Dad, Piper (sister), Pierce (brother), and all her aunts, uncles, and grandparents Favorite animals: Her besties Baxter and Asher

Tibusda idis pressin nobitem evellamusdam etur aliqui volupta sendae quia veribus ipsum res autatusae sum reptate modiatiosa nessin por aut fugia nem nis quiatur, voluptio doluptati untempo restenia inctatet explige ndaeped essin nobitem evell.

1

3

2

While seeing Dolly is a major perk of visiting Susie’s, customers are always in1 for a treat with the delightful assortment of items, including gifts for all of

ALISON FORD STERLING theCUFF guys in your life from brands like Sportsman Gear, Burlebo, Turtlebox, WINGS $800, Bargeboard and Toadfish. The shop also carries door hangers, pieces by local artists, bargeboardnola.com

New Orleans-themed gifts (like their popular gumbo bowls), wedding gifts, 2 everything you need to deck the halls this holiday season in style. We’re and

JEWELED BROOCH Dolly will be thrilled to show you around! $80,sure Sosusu sosusuboutique.com

S U S I E ’ S B O U T I Q U E I S L O CAT E D AT

3

DESTREE GUNTHER MINI BAG 4 2 6 H U E Y P L O N G A V E N U E I N G R E T N A $480, Sosusu sosusuboutique.com

4

BEATRIZ BALL JUMBO SALAD SERVERS $68, Little Miss Muffin shoplittlemissmuffin.com

4

5

COOPER SMALL CARVING BOARD $128, Maisonette maisonetteshop.com

6

VINTAGE PERSIAN TURQUOISE SNAKE BRACELET $8,950, Wellington & Co. Fine Jewelry wcjewelry.com

5 6

7

IDA FLOREAK, “DANDELION MOON,” OIL ON PANEL, 14 X 11 IN. Price Upon Request, Claire Elizabeth Gallery claireelizabethgallery.com

8

INCLUDING

44,000 households

VINTAGE CAFÉ BRULOT DIABOLIQUE SET $200, Bargeboard bargeboardnola.com

9

7 8

9

JAIPUR FUCHSIA LACQUER SQUARE TRAY $185, Chateau Drugs & Gifts @chateaudrugsandgifts

Uptown

Hall

CENTER

with an income of $150,000+ – more than double any lifestyle magazine in New Orleans.

L

SCAN ME

abo. Hento mo torum esero milici alitam eum, eium quam et quia nientem hic tem et aliquis totatin vellabor mi, te ium qui ist volum quatiossiti doluptate dolupta tibusame voluptia earum volore nobitia tiatenime eum eni simporro millendiosae sequaeste vellest, ut as sequam res esciis verunt ducit unt, nobitius unt aped modigeniet pa pero quam fugia sitibusantem id molupis et voloriat quasim ad quundig endunturit lab id qui officip sanditio doluptu ribus, opta quaecturiam

que sitatem nonsect orepeliquam doluptas atatur? Oluptas di reprecu llectur?

Ossit adia sima core nusam debit venditam restiis sequis explique exerspic to tota quiae aruntur, susdand icitiiscium etum vit, ommolen imincipiet quiaepro dolupta temodis ex et et aut et vent pe sinihilic totatio nseque invelent moloremperum nis simusa accab inci volorit quam et quibus el magnimendio omnis poreperi intiam aut officaeNet qui alitatiam, sant, consequis enet quaesti nctio. Mincimus re vitati occusae rehenim

G E T S TA R T E D : G E O R G E S M E D I A G R O U P. C O M / T H E P E A R L

BY MICHAELA BECHLER PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER

aiorepudae. Modio venimpo repellaccum que vollabo. Tur? Fictaest, offici ipsam, venisci modiciam illecte cullaci deligenis maximagnist int od enisimagnis verum faciatem sapicienis eumet, cone nem que comnita tenditas eat etur, in conem idelent emquam corem. Nemque prerum fuga. Itate di occum ab int.

Vid ea volescium fuga. Nam ipidi dolestiis utem excea autemol uptatendunt, ea aboria santotamus arcipie ntiatis verferis es ullit inciur repudam nam, cora dis re, qui cum

23

Dee-lightful

FORK + CENTER

Boiled and char-grilled seafood at Dee’s Xquisite | by Beth D’Addono

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

DEMOND “DEE” MATTHEWS NEVER WENT TO CULINARY SCHOOL or worked

in restaurants previously. Yet here he is, the chef and owner of a thriving seafood restaurant, Dee’s Xquisite, in New Orleans East. And he’s about to open a second location in Baton Rouge.

The self-taught chef’s restaurant is known for boiled then char-grilled seafood, swabbed with deeply flavorful garlic butter. It’s a formula seven years in the making.

Matthews’ success is hard earned and collaborative. His team includes a core group of friends he’s had since his childhood growing up in the Florida housing projects in the 9th Ward. He says he’s been supported by family, neighbors, community and faith, a network that is at the heart of his accomplishments.

For nine years, Matthews worked in mental health, helping clients with schizophrenia, depression and addiction. After a long week, he’d hang with his friends at his brother Barry Matthews’ barber shop, X’quisite Stylez, on Louisa Street, close to his alma mater, George Washington Carver High School.

“Instead of buying seafood already boiled, we started boiling our own,” he says. “We were working out of one pot.”

Then one day he set a batch of leftover Dungeness crabs on the grill to defrost before watching a game. “My boys were like, ‘Hey Dee, these crabs are good!’ ” he said.

Parboiling the seafood and finishing with the smoky goodness of the grill became his thing.

Getting the garlic butter right was not easy, so a family friend, Mr. Dice, a long-time restaurant cook, helped.

“He mentored me,” Matthews says.

He “said the flavor was good, but I was using the wrong butter. He helped me get the texture perfect. He passed a month later, and I’m forever grateful for his help.”

Word spread, and the weekly barbershop pop-ups drew long lines of customers. With family help, Matthews quit his job and jumped

Hog wild

BACK IN 2009, TWO FRIENDS DECIDED TO HOST A PIG ROAST to raise money to help

Demond ‘Dee’ Matthews opened Dee’s Xquisite seafood restaurant.

CHERYL GERBER / GAMBIT

into the business full bore. His first location was on St. Bernard Avenue, but when he lost his lease, a customer with real estate in the East stepped in to assist.

“My guys were like, “We’re going to the East, wait what?’ ” Matthews says.

“But the East is the best thing that has happened to me since I’ve been doing this. We are supported by New Orleanians, the neighborhood.”

Dee’s Exquisite is in the old Club Whispers at 8700 Lake Forest Blvd.

It’s a large space with a big bar, a scattering of tables and an orange, white and green color scheme like his high school colors. Local muralist Ken Artz (@kenisart) painted a crab on one wall, which Matthews adopted as his logo.

The restaurant’s biggest sellers are the combo packages of Dungeness, snow and blue crabs, shrimp, lobster tail, oysters, corn, turkey necks and potatoes. Diners can add a rib-eye for surf-and-turf, or super-size with the Mambo,

named for Kobe Bryant, a feast for four to five people for $120.99.

Seafood is offered by the pound with sides. There are char-grilled oysters, blackened chicken pasta, fried and grilled shrimp, as well as po-boys and fried seafood platters.

“I learned how to do all of that on this journey,” Matthews says.

Matthews is planning to close for a few weeks to renovate when the Baton Rouge restaurant opens in May. With the addition of more tables and booths, Matthews will be able to take care of about 130 guests. The Baton Rouge location, which is off College Drive, close to both LSU and Southern University, is about the same size and has an oyster bar and outdoor patio.

Matthews admits that it hasn’t been easy learning the restaurant business.

Hurricane Ida just about broke him.

“I had to recommit, to fall back in love,” he says. “I didn’t want to expand too soon. Now, I think we’re ready. I have a strong team. Next, we’re thinking about Houston. We did a pop-up and sold 900 plates in three days. But let’s see how Baton Rouge goes. Taking things one step at a time.”

?

WHAT

WHERE

WHEN

HOW

CHECK IT OUT

Dee’s Xquisite

8700 Lake Forest Blvd.; @deesxquisite on Instagram

Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sun.

Dine-in

Boiled and grilled seafood in New Orleans East

a family in need, and they were able to give $7,500. This year, the organization that grew from this benevolent impulse brought in $5.25 million.

The 17th annual Hogs for the Cause barbecue cook-off and festival drew sold-out crowds to its April 4-5 events. It also smashed its own fundraising record of a year before by nearly $1 million.

For two days, Hogs for the Cause turned the grounds at the UNO Lakefront Arena into a festive landscape of barbecue, music and New Orleans good times. It also was a showcase of determined generosity and service to others.

The organization supports families dealing with pediatric brain cancer, and since Becker Hall and Rene Louapre started it with that first pig roast, it has become the most important funder for this work nationally.

Hog Addiction won top honors at Hogs for the Cause.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOGS FOR THE CAUSE

The nearly 100 teams taking part fuel the giant charity cook-off with the food they serve through the weekend and the money they raise throughout the year.

They also compete for awards across a range of categories. Here are the winning teams for 2025.

• Grand Champion: Hog Addiction • Whole hog: Hog Addiction • Ribs: Pork Illustrated • Pork butt/shoulder: Fire & Spice • Porkpourri (creative pork dish): Sir Pork-A-Lot • Best sauce: Chew Forks Farms • Best side dish: Team Stabbin • Best bacon dish: House of Hogs • Best chicken wings: Fire & Spice • Fan favorite: Pork Belly Cartel • Best Friday night party: The Boar’s Nest PAGE 24

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

E AT + D R I N K

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

24

HAND GRENADE

FORK & CENTER

®

THE #1 DRINK IN NEW ORLEANS!

PAGE 23

• Best booth: House of Hogs • Best social media: 2nd Hand Smokers • Top fundraising team: Fleur de Que ($750,000) • More than $250,000: Hogwatch, The Boar’s Nest, March of the Pigs, Morten Anderson’s Mullets.

• More than $100,000: Bark & Bite BBQ, Devil Moon BBQ, Glazed & Confused, Deswine Intervention, Swine Krewe, River Pork Pilots, House of Hogs, Piggy Stardust, Hoggystyle, Mr. Pig Stuff and Mr. Pigglesworth — Ian McNulty / The Times Picayune

Star power

NEW ORLEANS IS FAMOUS AROUND THE WORLD for food. Soon, the city’s

Littlle Tropical Isle 435 BOUR RBON Tropical Isle Original 600 BOURBON Tropical Isle’s Bayou Club 610 BOURBON Tropical Isle 721 BOURBON Honky Tonk 727 Bourbon

FAS H I O N | LI F E | D E S I G N

MAY ISSUE • Weddings & Celebrations • Mother’s Day • Teacher Appreciation • Graduation Gifts AD RESERVATION DEADLINE

April 18, 2025 RELEASE DATE

May 5, 2025 To advertise, contact Abigail at abigail.bordelon@gambitweekly.com or call 504-636-7427

restaurant scene will be getting new attention from a global brand that is a byword for culinary excellence.

The Michelin Guide recently announced it will begin assessing and ranking restaurants in New Orleans and around Louisiana for the first time.

Rankings, including potentially its coveted Michelin Stars, are set to be doled out later this year.

Michelin says its reviewers, called inspectors, are already at work visiting restaurants for potential inclusion.

Louisiana isn’t alone. It will be part of a regional guide called the Michelin Guide American South that takes in five more states: Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. This reflects a new approach from Michelin, which has previously turned its attention to individual cities or states as its guides expand in the U.S. The new guide, which will be online, also will include restaurants in Michelin’s Atlanta Guide, which was started in 2023.

Michelin announced the new guide with the regional tourism marketing group Travel South USA at its conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

In New Orleans, the news comes after years of speculation over when the city might be up for inclusion in the Michelin Guide. Arguing over which restaurants would be likely contenders has long been a parlor sport of local dining aficionados.

Some restaurants set their sights on Michelin attention well before the announcement. After more than 30 years in business, Emeril’s Restaurant emerged in 2023 from a transformative renovation and with a tasting menu format clearly aligned with Michelin star-level standards.

This new edition of Emeril’s has since drawn other global rankings.

Michelin deploys its inspectors to dine anonymously at restaurants in its

Michelin recognition is posted outside Le Bouchon Sully in Lyon, France.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

chosen markets and assess them based on the quality of food, service and atmosphere. Some will be awarded stars on a three-star system, the highest rankings Michelin offers. Fewer than 300 restaurants in the U.S. now have a star rating at any level, and just 14 have the highest three-star rank.

Others may get Bib Gourmand recognition, typically for more casual, less-costly restaurants giving good quality and value, and some may also be included as “recommended restaurants” in Michelin’s online guide, without a specific award status.

New Orleans & Co., the city’s tourism sales and marketing agency, and the Louisiana Office of Tourism are two of the local groups from the region that partnered with Michelin on the new guide, providing financial support for its entry in the market, a practice that’s become standard as Michelin has expanded in the U.S. The groups did not release financial terms of the partnership.

Walt Leger III, president and CEO of New Orleans & Co., called it a milestone in efforts to attract more international tourism and culinary tourism more broadly.

“New Orleans’ culinary scene is known and celebrated around the world as truly remarkable,” Leger said.

“We look forward to aligning with one of the most well-respected travel brands in the world, Michelin, known the world over for excellence in culinary achievement. Michelin’s presence will showcase the incredible creativity of our local culinary professionals and demonstrate our restaurants’ ability to continue pushing the boundaries of cuisine through our own unique lens.”

Even before the guide announcement, New Orleans has increasingly been on Michelin’s radar. Last year, the

brand started a new rating system for U.S. hotels, called Michelin Keys, similar in concept to restaurant stars, awarding key symbols. Six New Orleans hotels made the list: Columns, The Celestine, Hotel Peter and Paul, Hotel Saint Vincent, Maison Metier and the Pontchartrain Hotel.

Earlier this year, Michelin released a French-language travel guide to New Orleans, part of a new guide division distinct from its restaurant rating system, aimed at overseas tourists coming to the Crescent City.

The city’s restaurants and culinary reputation are a big part of its draw for tourism and events, and lately it has been racking accolades. In March, Time Out named New Orleans the top food destination in the world.

Last year, the city was the first in North America to host an event for Bocuse d’Or, known as the World Cup of cuisine. Next year New Orleans will again hold the bi-annual qualifying round for countries in North America and South America vying to make it to the Bocuse d’Or and related Pastry World Cup finals in Lyon, France.

While Michelin Stars and reviews have been part of the dining world for more than a century, they were a European institution until relatively recently when a global expansion began.

The first U.S. guide, for New York, appeared in 2005, and since then its range has been gradually expanding, one state or group of cities at a time.

Texas was the latest addition, late in 2024, with 15 restaurants in cities around the state getting one-star reviews and more featured in the guide below star level.

Michelin guides now expand with financial backing from cities, tourism agencies and other associations and corporate sponsors, which underwrite the expenses of the group’s research and reviews. That practice has drawn some criticism in the industry, though Michelin has maintained that once it enters a market its culinary judgments and editorial decisions remain independent. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

25

3 COURSE INTERVIEW

Chef

by Will Coviello CHEF NINA COMPTON OPENED HER FIRST RESTAURANT IN NEW ORLEANS

after coming to the city to compete on a season of “Top Chef.” Now she’s got three restaurants, and she just released a cookbook, “Kweyol / Creole,” which traces her life and love of food, from her home in St. Lucia to other major stops in her career, including Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Miami, though there were many stops along the way, including British boarding school and top fine dining kitchens in New York. “Kweyol / Creole” is a personal account, and it shares experiences and dishes from the four major cities of her career. There are daily staples, some cocktails and signature dishes, like the goat curry with sweet potato gnocchi she serves at Compere Lapin. For more information, see @ninacompton on Instagram.

In the book, you say becoming a chef is about more than learning skills, it’s about finding your voice.

How did that work for you?

NINA COMPTON: For me, becoming a chef started off taking care of my family, making my family happy by cooking.

Then realizing that I could cook for other people and hopefully make them happy as well. That was the entry into cooking.

But now, I remember when we got the opportunity to open the restaurant, Compere Lapin. People asked, “What kind of cuisine are you going to cook?” Nobody had ever asked me that because I had always worked under other chefs and cooked their food.

Being on “Top Chef” there were no boundaries, and that made me more creative as a chef. Each step, I evolved.

I was on TV cooking Caribbean food.

I felt like we had a place at the table as well, as Caribbean people. It was: How do we show people the beauty of Creole cuisine, and my interpretation of Creole cuisine in St. Lucia and ending here in New Orleans? The book is a journey of the four different chapters of Creole cuisine in how it evolved and the influences in it.

How do you describe the variety of food in the Caribbean?

C: I always tell people the Caribbean has different influences from all over

PROVIDED PHOTO BY DENNY CULBERT

the world. Each island is very different.

When you look at who colonized each area, they each have a different influence. Let’s take Barbados. There isn’t a lot of Indian or East Indian influence there, whereas in St. Lucia we have a lot. And the same thing in Trinidad.

So it’s about who came before us.

Everybody wants to know where their family is from. How did mangos end up in St. Lucia? How did breadfruit end up there? You find all these things, and it’s really a huge history lesson. I think people are paying attention more. I think people have a huge sense of pride when they know their background. As the years have come along, we have more technology to find that information.

Caribbean food is not just about jerk chicken and rice and peas. It’s really about different influences.

Talking about Cuban food, Haitian food, just the different influences all the islands have and showcasing the different elements.

The Miami chapter was instrumental. There’s a lot of Caribbean influence in Miami. I wanted to talk about that as well, because it switched into more of a Latin Afro-Caribbean lens.

Talking about Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican food. Everybody is basically incorporated in this book.

Everybody gets a shout-out about how beautiful their cuisine is.

In the Caribbean, everybody has plantains, everybody has mangos. But everybody treats them differently.

For example, green plantains: We didn’t fry them. Now we do, because

What kinds of recipes did you want to include in the book?

C: I wanted to document the dishes that people know, say for example, jerk chicken and rice and peas, but also dishes that are more ‘if you know, you know.’ With the green fig (green banana) and saltfish, if you are from St. Lucia, you know that dish. I wanted to stay true to those things. There are a lot of people who go to the Caribbean and don’t eat like a local. I want people to come and be like, “Hey, I want to try this.” It’s encouraging people to go and try to get the saltfish, or the callaloo, something that is not the regular culprits. Cow heel soup is a dish that people request all of the time.

The recipe for milk punch is the recipe that my dad made every Christmas.

Having that and my mom’s soursop and my grandmother’s tea sandwiches and my sister’s cookies — those are recipes that when I go home, I want to make sure I get them every single time.

I want people to have fun with it.

And don’t make it a coffee table book.

With the recipes in the book, I wanted them to be for the home cook. We wanted to have a beautiful book with vibrant colors that really grab people, but I want people to understand Caribbean culture. There’s a lot of depth in there. I really want people to enjoy our cuisine.

WINE OF THE

WEEK

Quilt Cabernet Sauvignon

A seamless blend of crème de cassis, hazelnut, cocoa, and blackberry pie along with hints of dark licorice, strawberry, spice and vanilla, with rich and satisfying flavors of dark chocolate, molasses, brown sugar and rhubarb notes presented in perfect balance with higher-toned fruit emphasis in this Napa Valley Cabernet.

DISTRIBUTED BY

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

Nina Compton

everybody has caught on to how good they are. Seeing the different interpretations of how people treat them was eye-opening.

In the Caribbean, lots of people have a specialty. I talk about this guy Juicy Black, who does only cornmeal porridge. That’s all he does.

It’s a thing that’s common: Somebody only makes one dish, and they’re great at it. So why do something else?

That’s a Caribbean mentality: Doing a small menu, and when they sell out, they sell out. I see a lot of these memes on Instagram. People say, “Oh, when we go to this Jamaican restaurant, they’re always out of the oxtails.”

But it’s like, “Hey, I made a really great batch, and that’s all we have.” In the Bahamas, there are places that only serve conch. There’s no chicken, there’s no snapper, it’s just that. When you see those kind of things, it makes it more special, because they’re putting all their heart, all their energy into that one dish.

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

26

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

Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ices, cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and more.

There also are coffee drinks. No reservations.

Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com — Gulf Drum Yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts.

There also are seafood pasta dishes, steaks, lamb chops and more. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$ Bamboula’s — 514 Frenchmen St.; bamboulasmusic.com — The live music venue’s kitchen offers a menu of traditional and creative Creole dishes, such as Creole crawfish crepes with goat cheese and chardonnay sauce. Reservations accepted. Lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$ The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp are served with rosemary garlic butter sauce over cheese grits with a cheese biscuit. The menu includes po-poys, fried seafood platters, raw and char-grilled oysters, boiled seafood in season, and more. Outdoor seating available.

No reservations. Lakeview: Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: Lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$ Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 581-3866; broussards.com — Rainbow trout amandine is served with tasso and corn macque choux and Creole meuniere sauce. Brunch includes Benedicts, chicken and waffles and more.

Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and Louisiana items like crab beignets with herb aioli. Sandwiches include po-boys, a muffuletta on flatbread and a burger. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner Fri.-Mon. $$ The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 2741850; thecommissarynola.com — A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more. No reservations.

Outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Sat. $$ Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. There also are crab cakes, shrimp and grits, crawfish etouffee, po-boys and more. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil.

Delivery available. Reservations accepted.

Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta. com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes char-grilled oysters topped with Parmesan and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse.com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and charbroiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish on the Half-shell is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. Reservations accepted.

Lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — The menu includes a variety of steaks, plus seared Gulf fish, lobster pasta, barbecue shrimp and more. A 6-ounce filet mignon is served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. Reservations recommended. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$ El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 2662022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, ceviche. tamales and more. Pescado Vera Cruz features sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar jack cheese, black beans, rice, guacamole and salsa.

The menu also includes tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, salads and more.

Outdoor seating available. No reservations.

Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, cheese and pickles. The eclectic menu also includes chargrilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more.

Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The bar menu includes sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, including one topped with peach, prosciutto, stracciatella cheese, arugula and pecans. No reservations.

Lunch Fri.-Mon., dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and a NOLA Style Grits Bowl topped with bacon, cheddar and a poached egg. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 513-2606; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes filets mignons and bone-in rib-eyes, as well as burgers, salads and seafood dishes. Reservations accepted.

Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Luzianne Cafe — 481 Girod St., (504) 265-1972; luziannecafe.com — Boudin Benedict features two poached eggs over boudin and an English muffin, served with green tomato chow chow and hollandaise. No reservations. Delivery available. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Sun. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 4881881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab.

Dahla (611 O’Keefe Ave., 504-766-6602; dahla-restaurant.com) serves curry duck and more in the CBD. PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

The menu also has noodle dishes, teriyaki and more. Reservations accepted. Delivery available.

Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including chicken a la grande, shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and chicken cacciatore. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys dressed with sliced cabbage and Creole favorites like jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Breakfast is available all day.

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

Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola.com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese and garlic butter, and other options include oysters Rockefeller and loaded oysters. The creative menu also includes seafood bread, a Cajun-lobster potato, wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood pasta, loaded fries and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$ Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro — 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers cheese boards and appetizers to nosh with wines. The menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available.

Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$ Palace Cafe — 605 Canal St., (504) 523-1661; palacecafe.com — The contemporary Creole menu includes crabmeat cheesecake with mushrooms and Creole meuniere sauce.

Outdoor seating available. Reservations recommended. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$ Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill. com — The menu includes burgers, sandwiches,

pizza and sauteed andouille with fig dip, blue cheese and toast points. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — At brunch, braised short rib grillades are served over grits with mushrooms, a poached egg and shaved truffle. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$ Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates.

Crab beignets are made with Gulf crabmeat and mascarpone and served with herb aioli. No reservations. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 934-3463; tableaufrenchquarter.com — The menu features traditional and creative Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, littleneck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available on the balcony. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$ Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes raw and char-broiled oysters, seafood platters, po-boys, fried chicken, crab and corn bisque and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. Reservations accepted.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 5104282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza. com — A Marilynn Pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches, wings, breadsticks and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 3247144; thevintagenola.com — There’s a full coffee drinks menu and baked goods and beignets, as well as a full bar. The menu has flatbreads, cheese boards, small plates and a pressed veggie sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

27 G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T PAGE 5

Bunarchy

Costumed participants hunt for cocktails instead of Easter eggs in this annual bunny-themed bar hop in the Marigny. Costumes range from the saccharine sweet to horrifying and anarchic, and either way, the event raises funds for the Louisiana SPCA. The festivities begin at Marie’s Bar at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 19. Find tickets and information at noomoon.net/nolabunarchy or @nolabunarchy on Instagram.

Caroline Rose

Though her first two albums leaned into country and folk, the singer-songwriter has crafted a broad indie pop sound on recent projects.

She released “the year of the slug” in February. She performs at 9 p.m.

Tuesday, April 15, at Gasa Gasa.

Tickets $23.83 via gasagasanola.com.

Gay Easter Parade

The Gay Easter Parade will be led by Grand Marshals Malaysia Walker and Will Antill. Walker is a drag performer, advocate for trans rights and the reigning Miss Pride Tupelo. The parade of 20 carriages and marching groups circles the French Quarter starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20. The event raises funds for Food for Friends. Visit gayeasterparade. com for information.

Grateful Shred

Hailing not from the Bay Area but Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, Grateful Shred started as musicians with other bands got together and grooved to Grateful Dead songs, with their own laid-back style of grooving, harmonizing and guitar noodling. As Dead offshoot and tribute bands took off in the last decade, Grateful Shred also jumped into the touring game. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at Toulouse Theatre. Tickets $32.22 (including fees) via toulousetheatre.com.

The Sklar Brothers

Twin brothers Randy and Jason are comedians and actors who’ve appeared on “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and have released several comedy albums and specials.

But they may be best known for the sports commentary show they hosted on ESPN, “Cheap Seats,” a name they used in a more recently spun-off podcast. They perform comedy at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, at Sports Drink. Tickets $25 via sportsdrink.org.

French Quarter Easter Parade

The Easter parade marks its 40th anniversary. The procession features floats, bands, throws, big Easter bonnets and more as it circles the French Quarter. There’s a hat contest before the parade. The parade begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at Royal and St. Louis streets. Visit frenchquartereasterparade.com for details.

Bayou Fest

The Sankofa park dedicated to recreation and conservation hosts a festival celebrating Earth Day and Easter. Bayou Fest features an Easter egg hunt, a brass band, barbecue, nature activities, STEM activities, a fishing clinic and more. At 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Sankofa Wetlands Park and Nature Trail. Visit sankofanola.org for information.

I N S T O C K AT

Drivin N Cryin

Though he’s from Milwaukee, Kevin Kinney has been at the wheel of Georgia’s Southern rockers Drivn N Cryin for four decades. The band parks at Chickie Wah Wah for two nights of shows, at 9 p.m. Thursday, April 17, and Friday, April 18. Tickets $25 via chickiewahwah.com.

1818 Veterans Blvd., Metairie LA | 504.888.2300 | nordickitchens.com

Crescent City Classic

The Crescent City Classic gathers thousands of runners to make a 10-kilometer trek from Poydras Street near the Superdome to the French Quarter and the finish line in City Park.

There’s everyone from professional racers to people running in costumes, and there are prizes for the best costumes. Post-race festivities in the park include awards presentations, music, inflatables and games for kids and more. There’s a health and fitness expo at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans on Thursday, April 17, and Friday, April 18. The race starts at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 19. To register or find info, visit ccc10k.com.

Gabby Bryan

Comedian, actress and podcaster, Gabby Bryan released a crowd work special called “Girl Town Hall,” and she doesn’t hold back on the downsides of aging or the flaws of her least favorite generations. She performs stand-up at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 17, at The Howlin’ Wolf. Tickets $25 via thehowlinwolf.com.

HERE’S $20 TO SHIP YOUR FIRST ORDER

OPEN DAILY 7AM-10PM

401 Poydras St

GOLDB3LLYIT

MothersRestaurant.net

(504)523-9656

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

28

MUSIC FO R CO M P L E T E M U S I C L I ST I N G S A N D M O R E E V E N T S TA K I N G P L A C E IN THE NEW ORLEANS AREA, VISIT 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

MONDAY 14 BAMBOULAS — The Rug Cutters, 12 pm; Jon Roniger Band, 5:30 pm; Sugar ‘n Blue, 9 pm BJ’S — Red Beans & Blues with Alex McMurray and Luke Allen, 9 pm BOURBON O BAR — Vince Henningfield Duo, 4 pm; Blue Horn Jazz Band, 8 pm BROADSIDE — Lilli Lewis Birthday Bash, 7:30 pm EAST BANK REGIONAL LIBRARY — Spring Concert, 7 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Matinee All Star Band, 1 pm; Tin Men, 5 pm; Richard "Piano" Scott and Friends, 8 pm GASA GASA — John Maus, 9 pm HOLY DIVER — Stereodad Presents: Pressure Drop!, 10 pm THE MAPLE LEAF — George Porter Jr. Trio, 7 and 10 pm SANTOS — Karaoke with Sunshine Edae, 10 pm SATURN BAR — Piano Night with BC Coogan, 8 pm

TUESDAY 15 BAMBOULAS — Swingin’ with John Saavedra, 12 pm; Giselle Anguizola Quartet, 4:30 pm; Caitie B. & The Hand Me Downs, 9 pm BOURBON O BAR — Dr. Zach, 4 pm; Shawan Rice Trio, 8 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott , 1 pm; Colin Myers Band, 5 pm; ritzel's All Star Band with Kevin Ray Clark, 8 pm GASA GASA — Caroline Rose, 9 pm HOLY DIVER — Piano Happy Hour with Herietta, 8 pm THE MAPLE LEAF —The Boneshakers with John Papa Gros, 8 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Rebirth Brass Band, 8:30 pm SALON SALON IN MAISON MÉTIER — Or Shovaly Plus, 7 pm TIPITINA’S — Soul Coughing, 7 pm

WEDNESDAY 16 BAMBOULAS — J.J. and the A-OKs, 12 pm; Boardwalker & The 3 Finger Swingers, 4:30 pm; The Queen & Friendz, 9 pm BLUE NILE — Yoshitaka “Z2” Tsuji, 8 pm; New Breed Brass Band, 10 pm

Bon Bon Vivant plays The Broadside April 19 at 12 pm BOTANICAL GARDEN AT CITY PARK — Evenings with Enrique , 5 pm BOURBON O BAR — High Standards, 4 pm; Serabee, 8 pm BROADSIDE — Lulu and the Broadsides, 7 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Jon Cleary, 8 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott, 1 pm; Bourbon Street Stars, 5 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/Kevin Ray Clark and Gunhild Carling, 8 pm GASA GASA — Yung Senju with Tavi, Flow Mvnny, Joey Vesco, 8 pm HOLY DIVER — Karaoke with Sunshine Edae, 10 pm LASALLE RESTAURANT, HILTON AIRPORT — April Spain, 6 pm THE MAPLE LEAF — Happy Organ Hour featuring Joe Ashlar, Stanton Moore and Chris Adkins, 9 pm MARIGNY OPERA HOUSE — Geovane Santos + Orkestra Maria Fumaça, 7 pm NOPSI HOTEL — Nell SimmonsBradley, 6 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Dance Hall Classics with DJ T-Roy, 10 pm SATURN BAR — Another Thought – The Arthur Russell Cover Show, 8 pm

THURSDAY 17 BAMBOULAS — F. k-rrera Music Group, 12 pm; Cristina Kaminis and the Mix, 5:30 pm; Wolfe Johns Blues, 9 pm BJ’S — Woods on Fire, 9 pm BLUE NILE — Irvin Mayfield, 9 & 11 pm BOURBON O BAR — Tiffany Hall , 4 pm; Audrey & The CrawZaddies, 8 pm BROADSIDE — Sonic Chambers Quarter with Helen Gillet and Doug Garrison & Byron Asher, 8 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Drivin n Cryin, 9 pm DOUBLE DEALER BAR — John Saavedra, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott, 12 pm; Doyle Cooper Band, 2 pm; John Saavedra Band, 5 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/Kevin Ray Clark and Gunhild Carling, 8 pm HISTORIC BK HOUSE & GARDENS — Amanda Shaw, 5:30 pm HOLY DIVER — Happy Talk, 8 pm THE MAPLE LEAF — Richard “Piano” Scott: Booker Piano Sessions, 6 pm; Johnny Vidacovich, 8 pm

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

ORPHEUM THEATER — Mahler "Song of the Earth", 7:30 pm THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE — D’Batiste & Friends, 5 pm SANTOS — Tainted Love 80s Dance Night, 10 pm SATURN BAR — Keaton Schiller, Autumn Dominguez and Feeferella, 8 pm

FRIDAY 18 BAMBOULAS — The Rug Cutters, 11 am; Felipe Antonio’s Quinteto, 2:15 pm; Les Getrex and Creole Cookin’, 6:30 pm; Bettis and the 3rd Degree Brass Band, 10 pm BJ’S — Slow Motion Cowboy with Max & The Martians, 9 pm BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers' FunkBox, 8 pm BLUE NILE — Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, 11 pm BOURBON O BAR — Ellen Smith & April Spain, 4 pm; Mem Shannon Trio, 8 pm BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm

29

BROADSIDE — Susan Cowsill’s Covered in Vinyl: Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ and ‘Court & Spark,’ 7:30 pm CARROLLTON STATION — Bon Bon Vivant, Sweet Magnolia, 9 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Drivin n Cryin, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Mia Borders, 6 pm DOUBLE DEALER BAR — Jenavieve Cooke and the Winding Boys, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Sam Friend Jazz Band, 2:30 pm; Sam Lobley Band, 6 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/Kevin Ray Clark and Gunhild Carling, 9 pm HOLY DIVER — Terrain with Across Phoenix, 8 pm HOUSE OF BLUES NEW ORLEANS — Jacquees & Dej Loaf, 7 pm THE MAPLE LEAF — Jeffery Broussard & The Nighttime Syndicate, 8 pm; GORF featuring Ari Teitel, 11 pm THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE — Or Shovaly Plus, 3 pm SANTOS — Arco Latino with DJ Flav, 9 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Badger, 10 pm SEAWITCH OYSTER BAR & RESTAURANT — Miss Sigrid and the Zigzags, 5 pm TIPITINA’S — The Soul Rebels and SaxKixAve, 8 pm

SATURDAY 19 BAMBOULAS — The Jaywalkers, 11 am; Boardwalker & The 3 Finger Swingers, 1:30 pm; Johnny Mastro Blues, 6:30 pm; Paggy Prine and Southern Soul, 10 pm BJ’S — Anna Moss and Bruisey Peets, 9 pm BLUE NILE — George Brown Band, 8 pm BLUE NILE BALCONY ROOM — The Next Level Band, 10 pm BOURBON O BAR — Brian Wingard, 4 pm; The Blues Masters, 8 pm BROADSIDE — Earth Day Fest Presented by The Louisiana Bucket Brigade with Bon Bon Vivant, Yusa and Sally baby’s Silver Dollars, 12 pm; Big in the 90s Plays Weezer, 8 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — The Figs, 2 pm; Henri Hebert and Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars, 8:30 pm FILLMORE — Curren$y, 7 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Steve Detroy Band, 1 pm; Bourbon Matinee All Star Band w/Chuck Brackman, 5 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/Jamil Sharif, 9 pm GASA GASA — Pheiress, 11 pm

HOLY DIVER — Unnaturals album release show, 8 pm THE MAPLE LEAF — South Austin Moonlighters, 8 pm; Zita featuring Mike Lemmler and Tucker Godbold, 11 pm NOLA BREWING — Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, 7 pm NOPSI HOTEL — Jazz Brunch, 9 am ROCK 'N' BOWL — The Boogie Men, 8:30 pm THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE — Or Shovaly Plus, 4 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — House Bliss, 10 pm SATURN BAR — Alex McMurray Band, 6 pm TIPITINA’S — Lagniappe with DJ RQ Away, 10 pm WILD BUSH FARM AND VINEYARD — Mia Borders, 5 pm

Relax on our

TROPICAL COURTYARD OR SIDEWALK SEATING

with a fresh cocktail, wine or dinner!

SUNDAY 20 BAMBOULAS —Aaron Levinson & Friends, 11 am; Youse, 1:30 pm; Midnight Brawlers, 5:30 pm; Les Getrex and Creole Cookin’, 9 pm BJ’S — James McClaskey and The Rythm Band, 9 pm BLUE NILE — Kayla Jasmine & the Experience, 6 pm; Street Legends Brass Band, 10 pm BOURBON O BAR — Queta Cavalier , 4 pm; Amber Rachelle & The Sweet Potatoes, 8 pm BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — Doyle Cooper Band, 1 pm; Sazerac Jazz Band, 5 pm; The Bad Sandys, 8 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/Mike Fulton, 8 pm GASA GASA — Rare Seed with Low Hanging Fruit and Beach Angel, 9 pm HOLY DIVER — Head Cannon, Die with Nature and The Pause, 8 pm THE MAPLE LEAF — Sketchy 420 with Best Buds Johnny Sketch and The DIrty Notes, 4:20 pm; James Jordan and the Situation, 8 pm NOPSI HOTEL — Jazz Brunch, 9 am SANTOS — Easter Egg C*unt, 6 pm SATURN BAR — TV Pole Shine, The Bomb Pulse and Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars, 8 pm

SCAN FOR THE COMPLETE GAMBIT CALENDAR

OPEN THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 4PM - 10PM 720 ORLEANS AVE. • 504.523.1930 • WWW.ORLEANSGRAPEVINE.COM NOTICE OF VACANCY ON THE

SEWERAGE & WATER BOARD OF NEW ORLEANS

For Consumer/Community Advocate The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans announces a Declared Vacancy, effective Wednesday, March 19, 2025, of one (1) existing seat on its Board of Directors for a Consumer/Community Advocate.

Pursuant to La. R. S. 33:4071, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans hereby gives notice that it is accepting applications from persons interested in serving on the Board of Directors as a Consumer/ Community Advocate.

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans is comprised of eleven members, seven of which are citizens appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council from a list of nominees submitted by the Sewerage and Water Board Selection Committee.

The Sewerage and Water Board Selection Committee is comprised of representatives from the following organizations: Dillard University, Loyola University, Tulane University, Xavier University, Delgado Community College, Southern University at New Orleans, University of New Orleans, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans.

ELIGIBILITY, PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS The term of office for members appointed to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans is four years. Additionally, a member shall serve no more than two consecutive terms of office.

Each nominee shall be a registered voter in Orleans Parish and shall have been a domiciliary of Orleans Parish for two years prior to his/her appointment. Please note that nominees for the Council District vacancies must reside in the City Council District for which he or she applied.

Consumer/Community Advocate nominees may reside anywhere in Orleans Parish.

Each nominee shall have experience in architecture, environmental quality, finance, accounting, business administration, engineering, law, public health, urban planning, facilities management, public administration, science, construction, business management, community or consumer advocacy, or other pertinent disciplines.

All members of the Board of Directors of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans must comply with all ethical requirements of Louisiana law, including but not limited to the filing of financial statements pursuant to La. R.S. 42, et. seq.

APPLICATION PROCESS Responses should include a detailed resume or curriculum vitae for the prospective board member. Application responses shall also contain an affidavit of the applicant verifying that he/she possesses the eligibility requirements, professional qualifications, and experience as outlined above to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans as a Consumer/Community Advocate.

If you are interested in serving as the Consumer Advocate, you are welcomed to visit our website and initiate the application process at: https://www.swbno.org/Notices/VacancyConsumerAdvocate All applications must be submitted to: ProspectiveBoardMemberApplications@swbno.org The deadline for receiving applications is the close of business on Monday, April 21, 2025, which is approximately 30 days after the Declaration of Vacancy. If applicants have any questions, please contact the Board Relations office at 504-585-2190 or by email: ProspectiveBoardMemberApplications@swbno.org

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

MUSIC

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

30

NOTICE OF VACANCY ON THE

SEWERAGE & WATER BOARD OF NEW ORLEANS For Council District C The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans announces a Declared Vacancy, effective Wednesday, March 19, 2025, of one (1) existing seat on its Board of Directors for Council District C. Pursuant to La. R. S. 33:4071, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans hereby gives notice that it is accepting applications from persons from Council District C interested in serving on the Board of Directors.

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans is comprised of eleven members, seven of which are citizens appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council from a list of nominees submitted by the Sewerage and Water Board Selection Committee.

The Sewerage and Water Board Selection Committee is comprised of representatives from the following organizations: Dillard University, Loyola University, Tulane University, Xavier University, Delgado Community College, Southern University at New Orleans, University of New Orleans, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans.

ELIGIBILITY, PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS The term of office for members appointed to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans is four years. Additionally, a member shall serve no more than two consecutive terms of office.

Each nominee shall be a registered voter in Orleans Parish and shall have been a domiciliary of Orleans Parish for two years prior to his/her appointment. Please note that nominees for the Council District vacancies must reside in the City Council District for which he or she applied. Consumer/Community Advocacy nominees may reside anywhere in Orleans Parish.

Each nominee shall have experience in architecture, environmental quality, finance, accounting, business administration, engineering, law, public health, urban planning, facilities management, public administration, science, construction, business management, community or consumer advocacy, or other pertinent disciplines.

All members of the Board of Directors of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans must comply with all ethical requirements of Louisiana law, including but not limited to the filing of financial statements pursuant to La. R.S. 42, et. seq.

APPLICATION PROCESS Responses should include a detailed resume or curriculum vitae for the prospective board member. Application responses shall also contain an affidavit of the applicant verifying that he/she possesses the eligibility requirements, professional qualifications, and experience as outlined above to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans from Council District C. If you are interested in serving as the Consumer Advocate, you are welcomed to visit our website to initiate the application process at: https://www.swbno.org/Notices/VacancyDistrictC All applications must be submitted to: ProspectiveBoardMemberApplications@swbno.org The deadline for receiving applications is the close of business on Monday, April 21, 2025, which is approximately 30 days after the Declaration of Vacancy. If applicants have any questions, please contact the Board Relations office at 504-585-2190 or by email: ProspectiveBoardMemberApplications@swbno.org

REACH LOCALS & VISITORS IN THESE

2 BIG ISSUES

ISSUE DATES ISSUE 1 • APRIL 21 • CALL NOW TO RESERVE! ISSUE 2 • APRIL 28 • RESERVE SPACE BY APRIL 18 Contact Sales and Marketing Manager Abigail Scorsone Bordelon 504.636.7427 or abigail.bordelon@gambitweekly.com

MUSIC

Gut check

by Jake Clapp

NICK CORSON AND DUNCAN TROAST DIDN’T HAVE MUCH PLANNED when they started

working on the songs that would make up “Like Cartoon Vampires,” their new album together as The Convenience. Really, there were no plans. The two New Orleans multi-instrumentalists were going in blind and seeing what happened.

“I think that’s always been kind of the way we work,” Corson says. “It’s most fun for us when we’re doing things that we don’t know [the result], when it’s kind of an experiment or a mystery to us how it’ll turn out.”

It was a similar process to how the duo made their first full-length album, “Accelerator,” a shiny, funky, synthdriven pop record. Corson and Troast play in the New Orleans indie pop band Video Age — as well as on the road with the Austin, Texas, band Hovvdy — and those influences can be heard on The Convenience’s 2021 record.

For “Like Cartoon Vampires,” though, Corson and Troast gave themselves more limitations. They stripped away the keys and layers of effects and focused on guitar work, resulting in a captivating post-punk record full of interesting textures and raucous turns.

The Convenience releases “Like Cartoon Vampires” on Friday, April 18, on Los Angeles label Winspear, and the band plays a release show on Friday, May 2, at No Dice with Pope and Grape Candy.

Corson, who’s from San Francisco, and Troast, from New Jersey, originally met while both were at Loyola University New Orleans. A few years later, they ended up playing together in singer-songwriter Grady Bell’s band Fishplate, and the band recorded an album with producer and engineer Ross Farbe. Soon after Corson and Troast began playing with Farbe and Ray Micarelli in their band Video Age. Meanwhile, Corson and Troast started to get together and record their own material, and in 2018 released a short EP of psychedelic pop. Recording “Accelerator” followed, and Winspear picked up the album for its 2021 release.

But during the pandemic and in the few years since, both Corson and Troast started to reflect on their musicmaking. Corson found time to listen to more music, reconnecting to a love for rock, punk and jazz, he says.

Duncan Troast and Nick Corson are The Convenience.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY PHILLIP THOMPSON

Meanwhile, Troast, who has mainly played piano and keys in the past, began turning more to the guitar and diving into albums by the English postpunk band The Fall and releases on the label ZE Records.

“We were getting together in our practice space, and we’d both be playing guitars and that was exciting,” Troast says. “Nick had the tape recorder, and we’d just record ourselves playing, free improvising. We’d put guitars into weird tunings, and it felt really visceral.”

So for close to a year and a half, Corson and Troast would meet up about once a week, hit record and see what happened. They’d follow the raw threads of things they liked, edit the recordings and add drums, bass and other instrumentation.

“I love the feeling of just coming up with something and then immediately jumping into recording and not having any idea of what the song should sound like yet,” Corson says. “It’s more of an exciting discovery process, rather than trying to reach some vision you have in your head.”

Similarly, Corson’s process of writing lyrics for “Like Cartoon Vampires” was more instinctual and improvisational than on past Convenience recordings, leading to songs reflecting on contemporary, consumerist culture and disillusionment with a world that’s steadily growing more dystopian.

“A lot of it was kind of automatic writing, but we couldn’t help but feel like the end of the world was happening as we were making the record,” Corson says. “I think that was just sort of unavoidable.”

Find The Convenience and links to “Like Cartoon Vampires” on Instagram: @theconvenienceband.

DELIGHTFUL 4 BR, 4 BA IN CARROLLTON!!!

3913-15 N RAMPART STREET

2026 PINE STREET

5 BDS, 2 BAS, 2,530 SF Charming Historical Double built in 1895. Great Investment Opportunity!!! Tenants pay all utilities. $3450 Rental Revenue!

3913 has a Living Room, 3 Lrg Bdrms & an Eat-in Kitchen. 3915 has Dble Parlor w/ a Side Hall that allows for Independent Bdrms. Lrg Updated Kitchen. Both units have Lots of Closets. Roof replaced & exterior painted 3 years ago.

Neighborhood places include The Bywater Bakery, The Joint, Jack Dempsey’s, Bacchanal & Vaughan’s. Easily Accessible to Frenchmen St & the Fr. Qtr. $395,000

4 BR, 4 BA Home on Pretty Block.

1st Flr has Hdwd Flrs & Lots of Natural Light & 2 Ensuite Bdrms.

Kitchen has Cool Mid Century Modern design. 2nd Flr has 2 Lrg Ensuite Bdrms w/ Cathedral Ceilgs & Bamboo Flrs. Primary Bathroom has a Clawfoot Tub & tiled walk in Shower. Bkyd has lovely Patio w/ est Garden Bed. Rear Bldg previously rented has potential as a Guest Cottage or rental. Convenient Location w/ access to Tulane & Loyola + Claiborne Ave, direct route to Downtown & 1-10.

Off Street Prkg! $595,000

.

ES M TU 1P N 11E • OP 15 4/

PRIME MID-CITY 301 S. Pierce Street New Orleans, LA 70119 Michael Styles (504) 777-1773 nolastyles.com

Stunning 1920’s Arts & Crafts Four Square Multi-Family 6 Beds, 5 Baths, 4,484 SqFt $850,000

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans (504) 862-0100 8601 Leake Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118 Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated. Broked & Agent are licensed in the state of Louisiana

SEEING S-STARS

By Frank A. Longo

56 Longtime baseball manager who was a noisy kisser?

60 Detonated 62 Grassland 63 One nabbed by the fuzz 64 Euphoric feelings 65 “360°” news anchor who works at an ice cream shop?

71 Sweat spot 74 Choir voice 75 “Ben- --” 76 Rip- -- (swindles) 80 Country Music Hall of Famer who was bursting with pride?

84 Roman 1,053

GARDEN DISTRICT OFFICE 2016, 2017, 2020 & 2022

86 Meyers of “Kate & Allie” 87 B&B, e.g.

88 “Freeze!”

89 Chinese ideal 90 MRI relative 92 In a regular, even way 95 “To Kill a Mockingbird” Oscar winner who had a tiny birthmark?

98 “Forget it!”

99 Lose all of one’s dough 100 Actor Damon 101 Onetime 76ers star who was also a waiter?

105 -- out a living 107 “-- Wiedersehen” 109 WWII nuke 110 1860s prez 111 Alias letters 112 Other, in Peru 113 Team spirit 115 Peter Rabbit creator who assisted weightlifters?

121 Friendly teasing 122 Touchdown destination 123 A -- (based on logic) 124 Knights’ rides 125 Reasoned out 126 Approach intrusively DOWN 1 Enthusiasm 2 Like the study of animals 3 Fight-or-flight hormone 4 Many August babies 5 Doc with an otoscope 6 Dramatist Fugard 7 “Presuming that’s true ...”

8 Quick swim 9 Historic time 10 Edition: Abbr.

11 Bic liquid 12 Bohemia natives 13 Spine-tingling 14 U.S. public health agcy.

15 Puts new shoestrings in 16 Hurriedly 17 More reasonable 18 Artist Degas 19 Insolent 24 Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give --” 29 Physicist Sakharov 32 Arrive by air 33 Binge

MICHAEL ZAROU

ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRS

CELL:

(504) 913-2872

EMAIL: Michael.Zarou@Compass.com

loose lips are said to do 34 2001 space tourist Dennis 81 See 79-Down 35 Before, in poems 82 Polish labor leader Lech 36 For every 83 Bridge writer Culbertson 37 Soak in liquid 84 One of a pair of Arma39 Outdated geddon nations 41 Bricklaying material 85 “Who’s there?” reply 43 Fishhook part 89 Aquatic bird 44 Reprimand 91 Health facility 45 It may hold a doz. eggs 93 Liven up 46 Webzine 94 Times two 47 Wealthy 95 Part of the NSA’s URL 48 Nordstrom rival, in brief 96 Baseball stat 51 Liable to offend some 97 Stinks 55 Director Ang 99 See 103-Down 56 Dollar parts 101 Doorposts 57 Roughly 102 German sub 58 That girl 103 With 99-Down, 59 Spanish painter Joan “Bonanza” star 61 Wish to have 104 Died down 63 Place to vote 106 Iota follower 66 Negative vote 108 In favor of the plan 67 Sodium chloride 111 Hacked down 68 “Hey, check it out!”

112 Ear-related 69 Parisian “yes” 114 Hosp. parts 70 Expensive 116 Total up 71 Biathlon gear 117 Shih -- (dog) 72 “-- it the truth!”

73 -- Reader (digital digest) 118 Dungeons & Dragons beast 77 Inked forehead image, e.g.

119 Suffix with Carol 78 Some bone injurers 120 Dungeons & 79 With 81-Down, what Dragons beast

ANSWERS LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P2 ANSWERS FOR TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE ON P2

31

PUZZLES

31 Actor Silver 32 Viral bug 33 Golden State Warriors point guard who’s always scampering?

38 Brits’ prison 40 Diamond arbiters 42 Female goats 43 “Pose” Emmy winner who flaunts his clothes?

45 Tin can compressors, e.g.

49 Low-pH 50 Certain antique auto 51 4x4 trucks, in brief 52 Farrow of film 53 Managed 54 Actor Nick

TOP PRODUCER

(504) 895-4663

PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Spring bloom 7 Apple phone or tablet, e.g.

14 Emergency situations 20 Rat, for one 21 Capital of Tuscany, to Italians 22 “Don’t mention it,” in Spanish 23 Witty literary critic who started lots of fires?

25 Metal-on-metal sounds 26 Bullfight yells 27 Love letter “hugs” 28 U.S. org. with operatives 30 Districts

BIG BYWATER DOUBLE!!! PRIME LOCATION!!!

G AMBIT > BESTOFNE WORLE ANS.COM > APRIL 14 - 20 > 2025

NEW TO MARKET