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CONTENTS

AUGUST 4 — AUGUST 10, 2025 VOLUME 46 || NUMBER 31

NEWS Opening Gambit ............... 6 Blake Pontchartrain.......... 11

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RECONNECT WITH JOY

AND GREAT SAVINGS

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12

Do We Even Need a Mayor?

After years of Absentee Cantrell, what’s the point?

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5

Witch hunt

Red Dress Run

Fat Squirrel presents ‘The Crucible’ at Big Couch | by Will Coviello ARTHUR MILLER WON A PULITZER PRIZE FOR HIS 1949 PLAY “Death of a

Salesman.” A few years later, he was caught up in Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare and accused of being a communist.

Miller then wrote “The Crucible,” which depicts the Puritan society of Salem, Massachusetts, in turmoil as young women are accused of witchcraft. The governor and outside religious officials arrive to investigate the widening accusations.

In Miller’s drama, a fictionalized account of the trials, John Proctor emerges as a sort of hero, though he’s hidden a sexual relationship he had with Abigail Williams while she was a maid in his home.

So what about the women and girls accused of witchcraft?

“Before anybody accuses anybody of being a witch in ‘The Crucible,’ what immediately precedes that is one or more men screaming at that woman, ‘Who did you see with the devil?’ ” says Andrea Watson, who is directing the show for Fat Squirrel.

In her production, none of the script has been changed, but the focus isn’t on Proctor’s bid at redemption. It’s considering the women. The show runs Aug. 4-7 and 11-14 at Big Couch.

At the beginning of Act 1, there are reports that some women and girls were dancing naked in the woods the night before. They include 17-yearold Abigail, who is still interested in Proctor and believes he has feelings for her. She now lives in the home of her uncle, preacher Samuel Parris. His 10-year-old daughter Betty Parris also was in the woods, along with Tituba, an enslaved Caribbean woman who serves the Parris family. The women have their own account of what happened in the woods.

That shared account is part of what drew Watson to the drama. As she was planning Fat Squirrel’s fourth season, Bradley Warshauer, a friend and collaborator, told her about the “Hysterical” podcast.

In the seven-episode piece, Dan Tabersky explores the outbreak of an unexplained illness in Le Roy, New York, in 2011. A group of young women exhibited vocal outbursts, social tics and similar symptoms, including those suggesting Tourette syndrome. But none of them had Tourette syndrome. Later, it was described as a mass psychogenic illness, or a mass hysteria event.

PHOTO PROVIDED

BY ANDREA WATSON

“This podcast is about a psychological condition called conversion disorder,” Watson says. “It’s when the body is under such incredible stress, and in some cases trauma, that the brain converts that to physical symptoms.

It’s very difficult to definitively label a condition conversion disorder, because people take it as you’re telling them that it’s all in their head. It is, but perception is reality.”

Conversion disorder has some distinct signs, Watson says. People exhibit symptoms they haven’t shown before.

They’re also medically inconclusive.

And importantly, the afflicted are part of a pre-existing social group.

Essentially, members of the group see the symptoms and behaviors and then project them themselves. But for the individuals, the phantom symptoms or hallucinations are real.

The podcast also discussed the Salem witch trials.

“The question popped in my head as I was listening, ‘What if the girls aren’t lying?” Watson says.

In “The Crucible” during a court proceeding, several of the young women say they see a yellow bird. No one else sees it.

The stakes are high, as the community is distraught. Some fear that there is witchcraft in their midst. Many townspeople, including its religious leaders, have become ensnared in the accusations. Many people are in jail, and some will be hanged.

It’s also the case that people convicted of witchcraft will lose their property, which could be a boon to a neighbor.

Some of the Salem women are accused of witchcraft, and they’re mostly powerless in the theocratic society. Miller’s attention is more on John Proctor’s attempt at redemption.

Miller also fictionalizes characters, parting with the historical truth of several figures.

Fat Squirrel mounts the show at a busy part of its season. The company just did the second chapter of its choose-your-own-adventure comedy “The Squirrel and the Squire.” It’s a Dungeons & Dragons-like fantasy quest in which the audience votes to determine characters’ decisions.

In late August, the company presents the next edition of The Greenhouse.

The series picks up the former Southern Rep Theater’s 6x6 program of presenting new 10-minute plays.

The deadline was last week for submissions on the theme of “deep summer.”

Fat Squirrel will present staged readings of six works.

On Sept. 11, Fat Squirrel presents its fall edition of its Something Like series.

The company chooses a popular musical and the audience can sing-along to the music projected on screens while performers improvise the action, not necessarily faithfully. The September show uses the music of “Wicked.”

Also this fall, Fat Squirrel will present “Exhausted Paint: The Death of Van Gogh.” Local playwright Justin Maxwell wrote the one-man show, and Drew Stroud is currently performing it at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Carly Stroud directs the show for Fat Squirrel in October.

Tickets start at $25 for “The Crucible” via fatsquirrelnola.square.site.

New Orleans’ Hash House Harriers hold their 30th run, in which thousands of runners in red dresses or red costumes hit the streets of the French Quarter and surrounding neighborhoods. The pre-run gathering is in Armstrong Park, where the kegs will be tapped at 9 a.m., and the run starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9. There’s food and music by Cowboy Mouth and Crescent Kings after the run for participants. Proceeds benefit a variety of local nonprofits. Registration is $89 via noh3.com.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

‘Belle Noire’

Singer Kayla Lewis stars in a musical show celebrating Black women vocalists from Josephine Baker to Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Dandridge. Her father Kerry Lewis Sr. is part of the live jazz band, and dancers and band members feature a mix of New York and New Orleans performers. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at Ashe Powerhouse Theater. Tickets $37.24 via bellenoireshow.com.

Sean Jordan

The hosts of the podcast “All Fantasy Everything” have all performed at Sports Drink, and the group headlined the comedy club’s inaugural Toledano Street Comedy Festival in May. Now, Sean Jordon returns for two solo shows.

He’s appeared on Comedy Central and light-night TV. Last spring he released the album “Girl Dad” about events surrounding the birth of his daughter. He performs at 7 & 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9. Tickets $32.36 via sportsdrink.org.

Pickle Fest

There’s competitions for various levels of pickleball skills at Pickle Fest, but one of the highlights is the celebrity match-up of event founder Drew Brees versus tennis great Andre Agassi. The PAGE 29

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OPENING GAMBIT

NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

This is gonna be a brutal campaign season

# TC OH EU N T

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

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Louisiana has a new law requiring all law enforcement agencies to report every time the use of force results in serious injury. As Verite News recently reported, the law was unanimously passed by state legislators and signed by Gov. Jeff Landry. The push for mandatory reporting came after Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Julio Alvarado was caught on camera dragging a Black woman by the hair and slamming her head into the ground — and not reporting the use of force as dictated by department policy.

THE ESTIMATED WORTH IN DOLLARS OF STOLEN BEEF DISCOVERED BY SLIDELL POLICE IN A CAR ON OLD SPANISH TRAIL.

City Council President JP Morrell PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

City Council President JP Morrell fires back at Sen. Royce Duplessis over ‘Trumpian’ comments NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT JP MORRELL slammed

The Orleans Justice Center mistakenly released the wrong person recently due to what Sheriff Susan Hutson called a clerical error. The release comes just a few weeks after 10 inmates broke out of the Orleans Parish jail, for which Hutson has been under fire.

The Trump Administration will exclude 12 Louisiana chemical plants for two years from new federal rules meant to better regulate harmful emissions. Many of the exempted facilities have a history of environmental problems. The new EPA rules would help control pollution, but the Louisiana Chemical Association argues it will take more time to make changes needed to meet the new EPA standards.

mayoral candidate and state Sen. Royce Duplessis over recent criticisms of the council’s inability to work with Mayor LaToya Cantrell, labeling the fellow Democrat as “Trumpian” and suggesting he would govern like Cantrell if elected.

In a video posted to his social media July 29, a fired-up Morrell accused Duplessis, a New Orleans native and current state lawmaker, of misunderstanding local issues after Duplessis took aim at city lawmakers and said, “this city council needs to do a better job.”

“I do not let candidates throw rocks, hide hands and do sneak disses,” said Morrell. “It appears that Sen. Duplessis thinks that the council is the problem in the city of New Orleans. That’s kind of interesting because I think that every poll, every conversation in the city, revolves around the council stepping into the leadership vacuum left by our absent mayor, who, more often than not, isn’t even in the city of New Orleans.”

At a recent forum hosted by the Step Up organization, Duplessis said progress is being hindered in the city, blaming the chaotic relationship between the city council and Cantrell.

Two members of the city council, Helena Moreno and Oliver Thomas, are also running for mayor.

“We have city council leadership and a mayor who can’t get in a room to do their job, and where does it end up? It ends up in the courtroom,” Duplessis said, referencing a controversial waste management contract pushed by Cantrell that faced opposition from the council, among several other legal issues.

“We can’t move into the future because of issues of a lack of transparency and trust,” he said.

In his response video, Morrell held up a small model depicting intersecting street signs named “Fuck Around” and “Find Out” before launching into a nearly 15-minute defense of the council and noting that it’s difficult to work directly with Cantrell, because she is rarely in town.

He said council members frequently overcompensate for the shortcomings of the administration, including several high-profile cases of budget mismanagement.

“I think that Sen. Duplessis needs a history lesson,” Morrell said.

The council president didn’t stop there.

Morrell — who is a close ally of mayoral candidate and council vice

Two alleged thieves from Mississippi were pulled over for broken tail lights before police discovered the car was filled with stolen ribeye steaks and slabs of brisket from local stores. Instead of hosting the Southern cookout of their dreams, the meathead heisters are now booked with counts of felony theft and possession of stolen property.

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president Moreno — also said Duplessis tried to undermine the council’s authority to regulate billing at the Sewerage and Water Board during the 2022 legislative session when Duplessis was a state representative.

Morrell suggested he did so at the directive of Cantrell, who presides over the agency.

“Whenever the mayor says jump, he says, ‘How high?’ ” Morrell said. “If you look at his comments from the Step Up forum, you could see him doing this Trumpian, ‘good people on both sides’ nonsense,” he said. “That’s not the case, this council has fought for you over and over again, and I don’t think he understands on some real basic level how this city council works.”

“The city council does not work for the mayor. Our role is not to rubber stamp or do what she says,” he added.

Morrell also suggested that if elected, Duplessis would govern like Cantrell.

“He believes that he needs to have a council that does what he says, because that’s what he’s entitled to,” Morrell said, adding, “There are people running to be the next mayor who absolutely intend to be like Mayor

Cantrell, seeking power for the sake of power, crav(ing) perks for not doing work ... These are the kinds of people who feel entitled to Nice, France, and the same kind of people who waste our time while the city is on fire.”

Duplessis has not suggested during his campaign that he wants to follow in Cantrell’s footsteps and has pledged to reverse many of the current failures.

In a statement to Gambit, Duplessis said Morrell’s video was misleading.

“The council president made an Instagram video attacking me, misrepresenting my position on issues and accusing me of misunderstanding the challenges plaguing our city’s government,” he said.

“The one thing his video did effectively was to make my point — there is a crisis in leadership in this city, where the only thing coming out of City Hall are attacks and finger-pointing that serve political agendas but don’t deliver for the residents. Videos like this are only aimed to divide us, cloaked in the name of ‘accountability.’ I’m running for mayor because the people of New Orleans want a change from this type of drama and chaos.” — Sarah Ravits

New Orleans City Council candidates compete for District E seat: ‘I’m running because I’m tired’ SIX CANDIDATES FOR THE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT E SEAT said at a

forum Wednesday night they are focused on fixing blight, improving economic opportunity outside of industrial projects and even rehabbing the district’s image, among other key concerns.

Candidates at the forum hosted by Step Up at the TEP Center included state Rep. Jason Hughes, former council member Cyndi Nguyen, Danyelle Christmas, the Rev. Richard Bell, Willie Morgan and Jonathan Anthony Roberts.

Each candidate also said they want to prioritize improving public transit and reverse the Cantrell administration’s budget mismanagement, which has sent the public school board into financial crisis and into courtrooms to reclaim the money it is owed.

“My job is to find out why that money isn’t reaching the community,

and put a stop to that foolishness,” said Bell, an assistant pastor and community organizer.

Each candidate also said they are opposed to the construction of the so-called “Grain Train,” a railway and grain transport project under development in the Holy Cross neighborhood that has drawn intense scrutiny and protests from residents.

While they agree on the major issues impacting the district, the contenders for the seat currently held by mayoral candidate Oliver Thomas are drawing on their different backgrounds and experiences to win over voters in New Orleans East and the Lower 9th Ward.

Five of the six candidates at Wednesday’s event are running as Democrats. Roberts is not affiliated with a political party.

There are also three other candidates on the ballot who did not attend the forum: Independents Nathaniel Jones and Gavin Richard, and Democrat Kimberly Burbank.

Notably, with nine candidates, the District E contest has the most PAGE 8

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contenders of any municipal race besides the mayor’s race in the Oct. 11 election.

Two candidates, former council member Cyndi Nguyen and current state Rep. Jason Hughes, are emphasizing their work as elected officials who understand the inner workings of policymaking.

“No training wheels are needed for me,” Hughes said.

Nguyen, who made history in 2017 as the first Vietnamese-American woman elected to the council, said she wants to reclaim the position to finish what she started before she was unseated by Thomas in 2021.

That includes blight remediation and initiatives to fight illegal dumping in areas that have been long abandoned.

“My time was cut short but I’m asking you to bring me back so I can finish the work that we all started together in 2018,” she said.

Hughes pointed out that while he has been in office as a state rep, he has stood up to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, whose policies are making life harder for low-income, struggling families like many in the district — and Louisiana as a whole.

But Hughes also defended the district and said it has been mischaracterized as a hotbed for crime by politicians outside the district, and the media.

“I feel safer in New Orleans East than I do downtown, the French Quarter, Broadmoor, Mid-City and

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

most other parts of the city,” Hughes said, adding, “ New Orleans East has an image problem.”

He said that image problem has hindered the area’s ability to grow and reach its potential, and that it is lagging behind other regions of the city in its recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.

“We’ve seen progress in (all the other districts), but it seems like Hurricane Katrina just hit yesterday in far too many parts of District E,” he said.

Environmental concerns

Johnson, a horticulturist who spends much of his free time gardening with his daughter, emphasized the need for reducing pollution, drawing on his firsthand experience as a plant enthusiast.

He said he has night-blooming plants that refuse to blossom when the pollution levels are too high from nearby industrial activity, including refineries in St. Bernard Parish.

He says he does not support further industrialization projects, especially those close to residents’ homes, including the one in Holy Cross that is next to a public space used by many as an unofficial park.

“We should not be allocating green space to more building,” he said.

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Youth issues and public transit

Some candidates emphasized their experience working with young people, like Willie Morgan, who work at a school and has vowed to improve public transit issues if elected.

He has family members who are transit workers and says the issue of failing public transportation doesn’t just impact people trying to get to work, it also impacts kids and the bus drivers and operators themselves.

Many of his students rely on city buses to get to and from school, and he is often stuck waiting with them.

“They need more support,” he said of the Regional Transit Authority, which oversees city buses and has several board members appointed by the mayor.

“Every time a new administration comes to office, there’s a lot of turn over at the RTA, which means a lot of people have to relearn new things and new jobs, and there’s a trickle-down effect.”

Danyelle Christmas said she’s a single mom who is running because she is sick of “broken promises” from leaders.

Christmas said if elected she would follow in the footsteps of Jasmine Crockett, the fiery U.S. representative from Texas who frequently goes viral online for calling out injustices.

Christmas has received some support from the national organization Run For Something, which props up young, progressive-leaning first-time candidates seeking local offices.

She emphasized the need for holding officials accountable for unfinished projects and blasted city contractors who earn taxpayer funded paychecks but don’t produce results.

“I’m running because I’m tired of seeing the state of where we are at now,” she said.

After the event ended, a few attendees lingered behind.

Elise Hamilton, who lives in the Lower 9th Ward, said she and her husband Julian are longtime supporters of Nguyen and planned to vote for her again, based on her approachability and activism after Hurricane Katrina.

“After Katrina she was very much boots-on-the ground,” says Elise, who said her main concerns are drainage issues and street flooding.

Meanwhile, Dylan Knott, an LSU student from New Orleans East said he was leaning toward Hughes when he casts his ballot, citing the lawmaker’s confidence.

When asked about what issues matter the most to him, Knott said,

“Probably the streets. There’s water all over the place, empty houses and large amounts of grass that is unkempt. We have to take care of it.”

— Sarah Ravits

give your feet a break

Top Republicans blast New Orleans city ID program

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program to distribute identification cards to homeless people, immigrants and others who don’t have IDs, with Gov. Jeff Landry calling it “the stupidest idea I’ve ever seen” on social media.

“The city of New Orleans is under the state of Louisiana,” Landry said in a joint statement later with Attorney General Liz Murrill plus the heads of Louisiana State Police and the state’s Office of Motor Vehicles.

“It is not its own country.”

Murrill questioned the “motive or need for these cards” and said she was concerned they could be used to “confer or infer legal immigration status or driving privileges.”

In a statement, Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said she was working with Murrill’s office to “ensure that today’s announcement by the City of New Orleans does not negatively impact the integrity of our elections.”

The officials were criticizing the Crescent City ID program, a pending initiative calling on residents to apply for municipal ID cards using birth certificates and passports.

The cards will unlock access to city facilities and offer discounts at some local businesses.

Though they are available to all comers, supporters have said the program is geared towards homeless people, immigrants and other vulnerable populations. They tout the cards’ potential for helping domestic violence and trafficking victims to access city services.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

At a July 28 announcing the program, Cantrell said the cards would seek to accommodate LGBTQ+ people, too, by allowing them to select cards that list their preferred gender and name.

“Making sure that the city is as welcoming as possible, and having the ability to meet our people where they are, regardless of where they come from, regardless of who they PAGE 10

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NEW AFRICAN MASQUERADES ARTISTIC INNOVATIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

ON VIEW THROUGH AUGUST 10 New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations spotlights the work of four contemporary artists working in cities across West Africa: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou, and Hervé Youmbi.

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Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Afia Awan Masquerade Ensemble, 2022.

Kimi masquerade ensemble in honor of André Sanou’s Qui Dit Mieux?, 2022.

Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, “Fairy” Masquerade Ensemble, 2022.

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are and who they love — that was a priority,” Cantrell said.

Immigration and homelessness are two issues on which Landry, a conservative Republican whose national profile has risen during his governorship, has been quick to criticize the Crescent City’s solidly Democratic leadership.

Landry as governor has intervened repeatedly in the city’s handling of its homelessness crisis, busing homeless people to a state-run shelter ahead of the Taylor Swift concerts last fall and again before the Super Bowl in February.

Murrill sued the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office in February, arguing that a sheriff’s office policy restricting cooperation with federal immigration agents violates a state ban on so-called “sanctuary” cities.

Though Landry has criticized New Orleans at times since taking office last year, political observers say he has forged working relationships with local leaders that crystallized in the run-up to the Super Bowl.

At the event announcing the new ID program, Cantrell said residents would be able to begin signing up for the cards in September. — James Finn / The Times-Picayune

under a new contract with the French Quarter Management District.

The Cantrell administration will likely tap a separate contractor to handle work in the city’s Downtown Development District, since the contract the court batted down covered both areas, city Sanitation Department Director Matt Torri said.

Henry Consulting’s owner, Troy Henry, did not immediately return phone and text messages. Henry and subcontractor Richard’s Disposal, Inc. had planned to start work on Thursday.

Supreme Court halts firm’s contract in French Quarter sanitation drama

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right to clean New Orleans’ French Quarter, the Louisiana Supreme Court has yanked Henry Consulting from the running, leaving IV Waste as the sole legal trash hauler in the area — for now.

The high court ruled late Wednesday in favor of a French Quarter restaurant owner and a property owner who argued that Mayor LaToya Cantrell arbitrarily terminated IV Waste’s existing $6.2 million emergency contract and improperly substituted Henry Consulting at a greater expense.

The court found plaintiffs Daniel Conwill and Maria Costopoulos “raised significant legal questions” about the $8.3 million Henry Consulting contract, which Cantrell awarded without soliciting bids.

The ruling overturned two lower court rulings that allowed Henry’s contract to proceed. Instead, IV Waste will continue to handle pickups in the French Quarter for at least the next month at a cost of $459,000,

Mayor LaToya Cantrell PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER, THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

IV Waste owner Sidney Torres IV on social media said Wednesday that his firm is “grateful that the Supreme Court ruled on the facts and are excited to continue providing the people of New Orleans with the high level of service they expect and deserve in the French Quarter.”

The last-minute high court intervention heads off the spectacle of the two companies working the same job under different contracts. But Henry is still awaiting the fate of a separate, long-term contract for the same work he won last year through a competitive solicitation.

That contract is now tied up in a different court case, and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear arguments on Aug. 5. — James Finn / The Times-Picayune

BL AKE PONTCHARTR AIN™

Hey Blake,

Join the revolutionary

After seeing an article about the comeback of the Roy Rogers fast food restaurant chain, I told a friend how I remembered going to one in Metairie as a child.

Where was it and were there other locations here?

Dear reader,

THE FAST FOOD CHAIN NAMED AFTER ROY ROGERS, the

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Rogers licensed his name to the western-themed restaurant chain, which at its peak included more than 600 locations across the U.S. The menu included roast beef sandwiches, hamburgers, fried chicken and more.

In 1969, just a year after its founding, the chain had five locations in the metro New Orleans area: 6309 S. Claiborne Ave.; 4122 Chef Menteur Highway; 701 Westbank Expressway in Gretna; 1001 Veterans Blvd. at Oaklawn Drive; and 4713 Veterans Blvd. at Clearview Parkway. Later there were also locations in Kenner, Slidell and on Belle Chasse Highway.

In his 1970 book “The New Orleans Underground Gourmet,” States-Item restaurant critic Richard Collin wrote that while he could understand the popularity of the chain in other parts of the country, “in New Orleans it is

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incomprehensible.” Of the roast beef sandwich, Collin said, “the meat is not distinctive, the sandwich bun is not nearly as good as French bread and the accompaniments are ordinary.”

In addition to licensing his name, Rogers made personal appearances at the restaurants, including one advertised in September 1976 at the Slidell location. By the mid-1980s the chain, owned by Marriott, had closed its local outlets. In 1990, the hotel operator sold the chain to Imasco, then the parent company of Hardee’s. Many of the remaining Roy Rogers locations were converted into Hardee’s.

Rogers died in 1998. In 2002, Imasco sold the concept to Plamondon Companies, which relaunched the chain and now operates 40 locations in the mid-Atlantic region.

BLAKEVIEW AUGUST IS MUSEUM MONTH, OFFERING A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY for you to explore some of New Orleans’ museums and historic houses. If you are a member (or become one) of one of 28 participating museums, you and a guest can visit any or all of the other museums for free this month. Over the next few weeks, we’ll focus on some of them.

One that may not be as familiar to some is the TEP Interpretive Center, located at 5909 St. Claude Ave. Located in the former McDonogh 19 elementary school, its mission is to teach, exhibit and engage visitors in the history of civil rights in New Orleans.

Its name comes from three Black women who desegregated the school as 6-year-olds: Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost. On Nov. 14, 1960, U.S. marshals escorted them past angry protestors to enroll in McDonogh 19, which at the time was an all-white school. That same day, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges integrated William Frantz Elementary.

Abandoned for more than a decade after Hurricane Katrina, the former McDonogh 19 building (later known as Louis Armstrong Elementary) was purchased in 2020 by the Leona Tate Foundation for Change. The center opened in 2022 with education and exhibit space. Tate serves as the center’s executive director. For more information visit tepcenter.org.

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DOES NEW ORLEANS

EVEN NEED

A MAYOR?

After years of an absentee Cantrell, what’s the point?

BY JOHN STANTON GAMBIT EDITOR

E

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell PHOTO BY HIL ARY SCHEINUK / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

T

HIS FALL voters in New Orleans will be asked to decide who will replace Mayor LaToya Cantrell and lead the city over the next four — and if past is indeed prologue, likely eight — years.

It’s a critical election for the city, which is suffering a series of simultaneous crises ranging from climate change, broken infrastructure, a rapidly shrinking population, a lack of affordable housing and a tourism-centric economic model that threatens the city’s long-term future.

This year’s election will also very much be a referendum on Cantrell’s tenure, in particular her second term, which has led to an additional crisis: the utter lack of faith in our city leaders to even show up for work, let alone solve the problems facing our community.

Over the last four years, Cantrell has increasingly consolidated power and control in her office.

In a number of cases, judges friendly to Cantrell have helped her beat back efforts by the New Orleans City Council to address problems independent of the mayor, while in others she simply has refused to implement ordinances, hire staff or generally follow the laws the council has passed.

In some instances, that’s meant a steady erosion of city services, leaving the city’s streets and networks of traffic signals and streetlights to slowly crumble. In others, like the permit enforcement office, it’s resulted in uneven application of regulations that targets small businesses and second-line vendors while essentially ignoring long derelict buildings or the spread of illegal short-term rental properties.

Meanwhile, the mayor has spent increasingly little time in her actual office — averaging just 16 hours and 39 minutes of work a week in 2024, much of which is spent on ceremonial duties.

None of that has necessarily caused an immediate crisis or brought the city to a halt. In fact, it’s all just become part of the background noise of living in New Orleans. New Orleanians still get to work every day, even if it takes a bit longer.

Businesses limp along under the constant threat of a random decision by an unseen bureaucrat to enforce an ordinance governing how much of your window can be covered in flyers.

But nobody is happy, and average residents clearly want serious change — even if none of the candidates for mayor have so far laid out any plans for large-scale reforms or significant restructuring to how government works.

“The depth and extent of dissatisfaction is surprising,” says longtime political analyst and pollster Ron Faucheux.

And while unhappiness with government isn’t new, “I can tell you the numbers I have seen have never been worse,” he adds.

It’s enough to leave some residents wondering: Do we even need a mayor?

Est Lic 3392

OF COURSE, every election is important, and not just for New Orleans itself.

We are, after all, one of Louisiana’s primary economic drivers and a center of culture not only in the United States but globally.

And, thanks to the city’s charter, which grants mayors significantly more power than other branches of government, city elections are often referendums on the previous mayor’s time in office.

In 1946, for instance, voters swept deLesseps Story “Chep” Morrison Sr. into office in direct response to the corruption of Mayor Robert Maestri. Likewise, former Mayor Mitch Landrieu came to power in 2010 in large part because voters were looking for a leader who could effectively manage the city and work the levers of state and federal power in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and former Mayor Ray Nagin’s failed second term and subsequent conviction.

But this year at least feels different.

“Big majorities are dissatisfied,” Faucheux says, noting that holds true regardless of race, gender, age or any other demographic breakdown.

In December of last year, Faucheux polled residents on the state of New Orleans for the City Services Coalition, a group of business leaders and others.

When it came to quality of life, the numbers were stark: 70% of Black respondents, 65% of white respondents and 75% of those between 18 and 44 all rated their quality of life negatively.

Only 19% of residents said they felt things had gotten better, while 80% said quality of life had either gotten worse or stayed the same.

And 40% of respondents said they expected to move out of the city in the next five years — a shocking number under any circumstance but especially so in a city where so much of our identity is wrapped up in where we live.

Only 12% of voters said they believe things will get better in the near future.

It’s understandable. In just the last five years, we’ve had not two major trash pickup crises, including one in 2021 that left thousands of residents without reliable service for months — and that was before Hurricane Ida effectively ended pickups for a significant period of time.

Speaking of Ida, the storm left intersections across the city without reliable traffic signals, many of which still aren’t working correctly.

The Hard Rock collapse shone a light on the city’s broken and corrupt inspection process — though it hasn’t resulted in any apparent reforms. While the city put a little bit of lipstick on the pig that is our road system for the Super Bowl this year,

many of the city’s streets are hazards on the best day.

Meanwhile, the school board mismanaged its way into a multi-million dollar deficit, forcing the Cantrell administration and council to bail it out — only to have the mayor refuse to obey the ordinance she herself signed that would fund the system.

Thousands of illegal STRs have driven the cost of rent up and pushed people out of their homes, particularly in historic and historically Black neighborhoods.

And the number of boil-water advisories has only been rivaled by the number of days Cantrell has been on junkets to the French Riviera, Miami, Dubai and other places on the taxpayers’ dime.

Clearly, the status quo isn’t something anybody is looking for in this year’s election.

THERE ARE SEVERAL OPTIONS for fixing government in New Orleans.

Voters could move the city toward a system more similar to that in Jefferson Parish, in which the city council has significantly more power over the dayto-day workings of government and the mayor becomes more of a titular head of the city.

It’s an attractive, if unlikely, option.

After all, while New Orleans has struggled in virtually every metric imaginable since Katrina, Jefferson Parish has been the opposite. Its population has grown, the school system isn’t on the brink of collapse, roads and other infrastructure are in significantly better shape, as is its economy.

Still, it’s the least likely option for change for a number of reasons. First, it would require a massive rewrite of the city’s charter. New Orleanians generally like having a strong executive branch.

More specifically, after decades of being a majority Black city under white control, Black residents now have significantly more power in the city.

Pulling the rug out from under the mayor now could be perceived as disempowering future Black mayors.

And as the city’s demographics shift, it could give white and non-Black city council members more control over the city.

And as Gov. Jeff Landry’s recent (and thankfully failed) attempt to rewrite the constitution proved, tinkering in a major way with a government’s statutory bones can be fraught. Powerful interests will use even a straightforward re-write to pursue their own changes that may not benefit, or even hurt, the community.

People aren’t “looking for a bunch of big, complicated answers ... people want city services to work better,” Faucheux says.

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A POTENTIALLY MORE ATTRACTIVE OPTION that a number of communities have opted for is to have a non-elected official run much of the government.

The use of a city manager to run the day-to-day operations of municipal government dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. At the time, local politics were often dominated by political machines, which used the levers of government not only to favor themselves and their allies but also to ensure they remained in power.

The built-in corruption of machines was not ideal, of course, and in the early 1900s, cities like Staunton, Virginia, and Dayton, Ohio, decided to take the politics out of the daily operations of their governments by employing city managers. While many continued to have mayors as their titular leaders, these communities hired unelected officials to oversee city services and policy.

Today, there are more than 3,000 communities with a city manager, according to the International City/ County Management Association.

The theory, at least, was that by using an unelected official with no formal ties to a political party or machine would not only reduce graft and corruption, it would increase efficiency in the management of resources and implementation of policy, since the city manager wouldn’t be beholden to political groups or the need to curry favor with voters. It can also mean better long-term planning.

For instance, a massive project like replacing a city’s ancient drinking and wastewater pipe systems — which New Orleans is in desperate need of — will span across multiple political administrations. Having a city manager who is, in theory, less susceptible to political pressures can make it easier to carry them out, rather than starting from scratch every four or eight years.

Meanwhile, the mayor would still be the political leader of the city and would have the ability to both propose new ordinances and veto them, set priorities and hire agency heads and other key officials.

One option that has gained traction would be a bit of a hybrid approach that has been proposed by the City Services Coalition.

Rather than creating a city manager position, the coalition has called for strengthening the hand of the city’s chief administrative officer, giving them the sort of powers that a corporate CAO might have. That would include greater control over city service operations and spending, the ability to fire officials and setting performance metrics for city departments.

It would also formalize a “Capital Cabinet” made up of agency heads which would regularly meet and work

with the CAO on implementing policy, meeting goals and other issues, among a host of other proposed changes.

Pres Kabacoff, one of the founders of the coalition and a long-time developer in New Orleans, argued creating a new city manager isn’t “a silver bullet.”

“It’s working in some cities and not in others,” he says.

Kabacoff also notes that given the political realities in New Orleans and historic backing of a strong mayor, “you’re not going to get a lot of support” should the change be put before voters.

Still, he argues that taking some of the politics out of how the city is run is necessary. “The city is not a business, but it has businesses, which are the city services,” he says.

Some of the coalition’s changes wouldn’t need charter fixes. The CAO already technically oversees much of the city’s government, and a new mayor could simply give them that full authority rather than follow Cantrell’s more centralized approach.

With buy-in from the council, that could free them up to focus on services rather than worrying about political considerations — and consequences, something that has plagued outgoing CAO Gilbert Montano.

Still, it would require some charter modifications. It would mean some changes to the charter, including making the CAO “responsible and accountable for effective delivery of city services” and eliminating the need for the mayor’s approval for firing department heads, among others.

However, it would be much more politically palatable to voters — and future mayors. Since the CAO would remain under the mayor, the change would maintain much of the mayor’s authority over the CAO and ability to set policy priorities.

The coalition’s plan is clearly of interest to the city council. In fact, last month the council voted to put the coalition’s proposal for a major restructuring of the city’s attorney office on the ballot this fall.

The changes would make clear the city attorney isn’t just the mayor’s lawyer, which has often been the case under Cantrell. Rather, the city attorney would be tasked with representing the people of the city in litigation and they’d be barred from becoming involved in any litigation between the executive branch and the council.

OF COURSE, moving some or most of the control over government services out of the mayor’s office isn’t a guarantee that things will go perfectly.

Last month, Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings pulled Jefferson Parish’s bond rating (essentially the parish’s credit

Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and current Mayor LaToya Cantrell PHOTO BY BRET T DUKE / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Outgoing Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano P H O T O B Y D AV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

rating), which will make it all but impossible for the parish to raise funds for projects until it rights its financial ship.

Meanwhile, the parish’s government has plenty of its own controversies to deal with, most recently the council’s approval of a controversial decision to lease publicly owned space to a brewery.

Creating a formal city manager position, meanwhile, might reduce the politics involved in the process, but they don’t go away entirely. Managers are routinely forced out by city councils over policy disagreements, for instance. Plus, it’s not uncommon for successful managers to be poached by other cities while others are ousted for corruption or incompetence.

Meanwhile, the City Services Coalition’s plan can only work so long as the mayor is on board, since the CAO would still report to the mayor.

That means voters have to hope whomever they choose won’t have an authoritarian streak. And that can be tricky: It’s not like voters could have predicted in 2017 that a former community organizer and city council member like Cantrell would end up more like Donald Trump than Barack Obama.

But one thing is certain, something needs to be done, and now may be the best political opportunity to do it.

“The public is open to significant change,” Faucheux says. “Frankly, I’ve been surprised the candidates so far haven’t talked more about that.”

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23

Southern revival Brown Butter Depot is open in Gretna

FORK + CENTER

| by Beth D’Addono

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

IT TURNS OUT THE WEST BANK NEEDS ITS OWN VERSION of Brown Butter’s

Southern comfort food.

Brown Butter Southern Kitchen and Bar earned lots of buzz when it opened in 2015 in Mid-City. When the restaurant lost its lease in 2023, partner Simon Beck opted to keep the brand going, while chef Dayne Womax departed and later took a position with the Rizzuto Restaurant Group’s Rizzuto’s Prime in the CBD. After scouting for a location from one side of the city to the other, the opportunity to land in Gretna fell into Beck’s lap with the closing of the Gretna Depot, Beck says. After more than a year of delays, Brown Butter Depot opened a few months ago, now serving patrons at the station in Old Gretna, across from the Saturday farmers’ market.

While much of the original Brown Butter menu remains the same, there’s a new partner and chef in the mix.

Lauren Clayton was an original employee at the Mid-City location, starting as a server and working her way up to management. Clayton, a West Bank native who lives with her daughter in Marrero, left a job in a surgeon’s office to focus on hospitality.

Now, she’s a co-owner with Beck and was able to bring a few original restaurant team members back on board.

“As soon as I started at the restaurant, I knew this was my thing,” Clayton says.

Brown Butter Depot exudes a friendly, British pub vibe, with a long bar lined with beer taps and a few flat-screen TVs for watching sports.

Two dining rooms offer seating for about 80 guests, and a side patio has another 40 spots for dining. Chef Devin Alvarado oversees a menu focused on burgers and sandwiches, and they’ll add weekend brunch items to the mix later in August.

Born and raised on the West Bank, the self-taught chef offers nine different kinds of burgers, all sandwiched between Dong Phuong brioche buns.

Local restaurants face permit fines AN ONEROUS CITY LICENSING PROCEDURE IS TRIPPING UP small businesses

with big fines, business owners complained at a City Hall hearing on July 28.

Among the more than two dozen New Orleans businesses facing fines over delinquent local liquor license renewals this past week were many prominent names, from the International House Hotel to the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club. Both of those agreed to pay the city $2,600 to settle.

But then there was Plume Algiers, a tiny Indian restaurant in Algiers, whose husband-and-wife owners say that paying the $4,800 in fines before them will put them out of business.

“We’re struggling, and incurring something like this would destroy us,” said Merritt Coscia, who with her husband Tyler Stuart started the restaurant as a pop-up before opening on Teche Street in 2000.

Chef Devin Alvarado (back) with owners Lauren Clayton and Simon Beck at Brown Butter Depot PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT

Weighing in at a half pound, the patty is a mix of ground short rib and brisket, and it can be topped with everything from pimiento cheese to Korean barbecue sauce or house-made kimchi.

There’s a smash burger duet as well, and it oozes melted cheddar.

The line up of sandwiches includes a Barbecuban, combining barbecued pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on a pistolette. There also is a stacked club sandwich on brioche toast and a fried chicken thigh topped with collard greens. For his version of Nashville hot chicken on a bun, Alvarado whips a little hot lard in to bind the recipe with spices and herbs.

Diners can add a side salad, garlic fries or the crowd-pleasing pimiento mac and cheese.

Alvarado takes pride in his housemade sauces and dressings, including a pungent garlic aioli, a sweet and savory bacon jam and spicy pepper jelly, which is a perfect foil for his tasty boudin egg rolls. The Cajun sausage is sourced from chef Trey Herty, the powerhouse behind T-Rey’s Boudin and Specialty Meats in Mandeville.

Brown Butter has an extra-long happy hour, from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays, and it features drink specials, $4 drafts and $5 bar snacks.

For now, keeping things affordable and casual for the neighborhood regulars is the goal, Beck says. But the menu is expanding.

“We’ll be expanding with brunch first, then we’ll see what’s next,” he says. “We’re excited for fall.”

?

WHAT

WHERE

WHEN

HOW

CHECK IT OUT

Brown Butter Depot

326 Huey P. Long Ave., Gretna, (504) 510-2797; brownbutterrestaurant.com

lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon.

dine-in

Brown Butter returns on the West Bank with a more casual menu

Tyler Stuart and Merritt Coscia opened Plume Algiers.

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Their plight has drawn vocal community support. It has also spurred other small business operators to call for changes to how the city handles liquor license renewals, criticizing the process as onerous and the fines for lapses excessive.

Plume Algiers’ operators appeared July 28 in City Hall at a sales tax hearing from the New Orleans Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

That meeting drew numerous Algiers neighbors and customers who praised the restaurant and pleaded with hearing officer Mollie Ponds for leniency to save it. At one point, the turnout for these normally sparsely attended meetings prompted Ponds to ask if everyone was sure they were in the right place.

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FORK & CENTER

PAGE 23

Weekend S pecials

August 1-3 Short ribs

over cheddar grits with andouille tomato Demi

Shrimp eggplant dressing stuffed inside fried eggplant with fried catfish and seafood cream

Tempura battered jumbo Softshell

over seafood penné

Fried buffalo chicken sandwich

with blue cheese bacon ranch spring mix and fries

Seafood lasagna

White chocolate pecan pancakes

Fried Thai chilli rib appetizer Creole tomato salad

Seared scallops

with seafood cream

with marinated onions Mozzarella and shrimp “salad app”

French dip

with au jus and fries

over garlic mash with beurre blanc sauce and a side salad

Chicken picatta

over angel hair with lemon garlic butter lemon sauce

BRUNCH

Saturday & Sunday!

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

Coscia said that during the annual renewal of their restaurant’s state liquor license in May she and Stuart were shocked to discover the separate city permit was two years delinquent. She said the only notice they received from the city was via email, to an address they had filed with the city but no longer routinely use.

Assistant city attorney Jasmine Bandy pointed out that expiration dates are marked on permits, and that it is the responsibility of permit holders to keep them current.

Tara Francolini, owner of Francolini’s Italian Deli on Tchoupitoulas Street, attended the hearing in support of Plume Algiers and said the city should do more to help businesses stay in compliance.

“I think what’s being missed is, as a small business, the sheer number of things we need to keep track of” from the city, Francolini said. “There’s no one place for a small business to go and figure it all out.”

The specialty wine and spirits shop Keife & Co. resolved its own 12-month delinquent liquor license with a consent judgement of $2,400. But owner John Keife also spoke out at the meeting on the need for change.

“I think the process clearly needs to be reformed,” Keife said. “One email is not sufficient for us. None of us want to be here.”

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration didn’t immediately respond to additional questions about how the city contacts permit holders for renewal.

The issue of city fines on businesses arises as many are struggling with higher costs, from insurance to taxes.

A slew of high-profile local restaurant closures has underscored the hardships for this sector in particular.

Another business operator cited for a lapsed license, Mike Serio of the downtown restaurant Serio’s Po-boys, said he felt blindsided by the fines and that the city’s email renewal notice wasn’t enough.

“We’ve been in business 67 years, and business is tanking since pandemic, expenses are through the roof, and revenue is through the floor, we’re barely hanging on,” Serio said.

“To jeopardize a business over this foolishness isn’t right. I need a break.”

Serio got one, with the hearing officer cutting the fine by half to $2,400 and doubling to 60 days the time to pay it.

Also facing similar fines at this meeting alone were long-running restaurants and bars including the

Gumbo Shop, Vincent’s Italian Cuisine and the Delachaise, and institutions including the New Orleans Jazz Market, the Autocrat Club, the New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club and the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute.

They either agreed to a settlement in fines, sometimes reduced, or had their cases continued to a future meeting of the board.

The exception was Plume Algiers, whose owners asked the hearing officer to waive its fines altogether. With slow summer business and costly expenses, Coscia said the fines would kill the restaurant.

Ponds did not waive the fines and instead continued the matter for the full board to consider at its Aug. 15 meeting. She urged the restaurant operators to contact their city council member, Freddie King III. Stewart said they would try to keep Plume Algiers open until the next hearing. Since the issue came up this spring, the restaurant has invited customers to bring their own alcohol.

— Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

Coolinary deals

A COOLINARY DINNER IS A GOOD EXCUSE TO GATHER SOME FRIENDS

you haven’t seen in a while. It can be a chance to try that new place on your list or return to an old favorite. Or it could be just about going after one particular dish that leaps off the menu.

This year’s crop of Coolinary menus are loaded with deals, interesting dishes and different formats from restaurant to restaurant.

Coolinary is the annual dining promotion running Aug. 1-31. It can bring a boost of business that many restaurants rely on to make it through the summer slump, and it’s become something people make plans around.

Restaurants that take part offer two-course lunches for $28 or less, and three-course dinners and brunches for $58 or less. Within those parameters, restaurants get creative and some really pack a bargain.

It’s all organized and marketed by New Orleans & Co., the city’s tourism marketing and sales agency. All participating restaurants are members of that organization. This year, more than 130 restaurants are taking part in a wide array of styles and price ranges all across town. They go from the oldest, including Antoine’s Restaurant (713 St. Louis St.), departing from its traditional menu again, to yearlings like Le Moyne

Bistro (746 Tchoupitoulas St.), giving a taste of its very French menu.

Diners can see all the options and find menus online at neworleans. com/coolinary. Below are some of the options.

Hungry Eyes (4206 Magazine St.), is new to Coolinary and leads its $58 dinner with an eye-catching signature, artichokes on the half shell, followed by the lip-smacking grilled pastrami.

Hungry Eyes’ artichokes are on its Coolinary menu.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

At GW Fins (808 Bienville St.), Coolinary is a chance to try chef Mike Nelson’s fixation on seafood charcuterie, such as scallops carbonara with swordfish bacon or drum crusted with redfish crackling among the options on a $56 dinner menu.

Boucherie (8115 Jeanette St.), back Aug. 1 from its summer hiatus, starts its $58 dinner menu with bay scallops with Parmesan and nduja.

At Cafe Sbisa (1011 Decatur St.), diners can dunk caramel crunch cookies in an icy bourbon milk punch (for the “adult cookies and milk”) to end a $52 dinner.

Costera (4938 Prytania St.) offers a family-style menu, filling the table with Spanish tapas and larger dishes for $58 per person. The number of dishes varies by the number of people in the party. The same operators repeat this approach with Italian dishes at Osteria Lupo (4609 Magazine St.).

The Coolinary brunch at Mister Mao (4501 Tchoupitoulas St.) is a flex on its dim sum brunch, a parade of Asian small plates for $50.

Atchafalaya (901 Louisiana Ave.) has crab-stuffed squash blossoms fried in beer batter to start off the $58 dinner menu, before the seared tuna with crispy rice cakes with marinated cucumbers— Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

25

3 COURSE INTERVIEW

Author

by Will Coviello JOHN SHELTON REED IS A SOCIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR WHO HAS WRITTEN about

the South, including “Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s.”

He’s also written about food, and his latest book is “The Ramos Gin Fizz,” published as part of an LSU Press series about famous New Orleans cocktails.

The Ramos Gin Fizz is a mix of gin, egg white, cream, lemon, lime and seltzer, and with a couple of minutes of shaking, it takes a while to assemble. It was invented by Henry “Carl” Ramos in the late 1800s, and he became rich selling that drink at his New Orleans bars, first The Imperial Cabinet and then The Stag. Its popularity was wiped out

by Prohibition, though it was associated with fame and sophistication for decades in film and elsewhere. More recently, it’s been revived by the craft cocktail movement. For more about the book, visit lsupress.com.

Though the Ramos Gin Fizz name carries on, is its former fame forgotten?

JOHN SHELTON REED: LSU calls its series serious, iconic cocktails of New Orleans. The Gin Fizz certainly is. For a long time, people heard Gin Fizz and they thought of New Orleans.

There are other drinks that are evocative. With the Mint Julep, an image comes to mind. With the martini too.

So these are iconic if you want to use that word. They stand for something bigger than themselves.

The Ramos Gin Fizz became this thing (around the turn of the century). If you came to New Orleans, you went to Ramos and got a Gin Fizz. It’s just one of the things you did — if you were a white man. They didn’t let women in, and there were Black folks working behind the bar, but they weren’t drinking at the bar.

But everybody in the country knew about it. You had sports writers using similes using the Gin Fizz and people knew what they were talking about.

You had sports writers in Atlanta talking about the Gin Fizz when they’re talking about the Georgia offense. It’s astonishing to me. It’s not the case now and won’t be again.

Though he invented the drink, Carl Ramos seems like an unlikely figure to get rich

WINE OF THE

WEEK

Is the drink different after Prohibition, or now that it’s been revived?

John Shelton Reed with a cutout of Henry ‘Carl’ Ramos PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOHN SHELTON REED

in the bar business. What do you make of his success?

R: Ramos was of German extraction.

It turns out New Orleans had this huge German community, and he was very much part of it. His wife was German.

He moved in those circles.

The fact that he was a Mason makes it interesting. He was very much a club man. He was also an Elk. Both a big deal. At the time, being a Mason meant he probably didn’t drink. Or if he did, he probably didn’t drink a lot. He didn’t drink at all on the job. The legend was that he didn’t drink at all. I discovered he did drink some wine at home. He was a temperate drinker.

I say in the book, tongue-in-cheek, that the Gin Fizz is a temperance drink.

It’s not particularly strong. You’ve got to drink a lot of Gin Fizzes to get drunk, and I don’t know how many people want more than a couple. It’s so rich.

Ramos had it down to industrial production. There was one thing I couldn’t figure out. He talks about getting his eggs from the largest hennery in the United States. I don’t know if he owned the hennery or just patronized it. In any case, he was getting 5,000 eggs a week. He was organized and methodical.

Between 1890, when he invented the drink, and 1920, when Prohibition came along, it’s close to 30 years.

The man was a success. He had a place in the country and a Cadillac and a horse and a yacht. He took the family to Cuba on vacation.

R: It came back with the craft cocktail revival. That’s not going to last forever, depending on what comes next.

People will have to work to keep it alive. I found it in four places in New Orleans. A number of places will mix it for you if you ask them. Places like the Roosevelt Hotel specialize in it. They had the monopoly on it for a while.

I also had some (research) help from Chris McMillian who runs Revel. He is a great bartender, and he’s also an amateur historian. He knows the history of the drinks he’s selling. He has this archive of clippings and photographs.

He’s the one who figured out what kind of gin Ramos was using because he looked at his order book. He was a lot of help. A lot of the photos I used were from him.

Now, there is this business about this giant head of foam. That seems to be a late development. If you want something like the original, go out to Revel. McMillian uses something like the original glass, and it doesn’t have this towering head of foam on it, which has become the signature of it in an ahistorical way.

Then there’s the question of vanilla.

My theory is that possibly Ramos was making it with a gin that had been aged in an oak barrel. So even if he didn’t put vanilla in, it might have had a vanilla tinge to it.

When I make it, I put a drop or two in. I think it marginally improves it, but it’s fine without it.

I think I’ve got making it down now.

It’s a pain to make. You have to shake the thing for two minutes. That’s an awfully long time. I am going to shake it for two and feel guilty for not doing it for three.

Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc

On the nose, bright aromas of pineapple, melon, and lemon verbena are balanced by a subtle minerality.

The palate is silky and lively due to the inclusion of Sémillon.

Notes of tropical fruit are balanced by citrus tones yielding a juicy & energetic finish.

DISTRIBUTED BY

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M > A U G U ST 4 - 1 0 > 2 0 2 5

John Shelton Reed

The drink just got bigger every year until Prohibition shut it down. I think he just retired. His brother went into the paint business. He may have had some investments. But as far as I can see, he sat back and reminisced about the good old days when he was a big shot.

G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M > A U G U ST 4 - 1 0 > 2 0 2 5

26

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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 in flavors like praline, salted caramel and tiramisu, as well as Italian ices in flavors like lemon, strawberry and mango. There also are cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and 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 oysters, 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 — The menu of contemporary Creole dishes includes bronzed redfish with jumbo lump crabmeat, lemon beurre blanc and vegetables.

Brunch includes Benedicts, avocado toast, chicken and waffles, turtle soup and more.

Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available in the courtyard. 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) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — Dickie Brennan’s Commissary supplies his other restaurant kitchens and also has a dine-in menu and prepared foods to go. 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. Outdoor

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up seating available on balcony. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 7666602; 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 oysters served raw on the half-shell or char-broiled with with Parmesan, garlic and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more.

Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse. com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and char-broiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish on the Half-shell is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. The bar offers a wide selection of bourbon and whiskies. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$ 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. $$$ El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, ceviche. tamales and more. Pescado Vera Cruz features sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ 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, rice and bean bowls with various toppings and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The eclectic menu also includes char-grilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more. Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The all-day bar menu includes sandwiches, soups, salads, flatbreads and a couple entrees. A muffuletta

flatbread is topped with salami, mortadella, capicola, mozzarella and olive salad. 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 sharables plates like NOLA Tot Debris. A slow-cooked pulled pork barbecue sandwich is served with coleslaw on a brioche bun.

Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 5132606; legacykitchen.com — The selection of steak and chops includes filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, top sirloin and double pork chops. There also are burgers, salads, pasta, seafood entrees, char-broiled oysters and more. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Luzianne Cafe — 481 Girod St., (504) 2651972; 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. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. The menu also has noodle dishes, teriyaki and more. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.Fri., dinner daily. $$ 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 like the Famous Ferdi filled with ham, roast beef and debris.

Creole favorites include 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, chargrilled 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) 5231661; palacecafe.com — The contemporary Creole menu includes signature dishes like crabmeat cheesecake with mushrooms and Creole meuniere sauce. There also are steaks, pasta, a burger and Gulf seafood dishes. 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. The dinner menu has oysters, salads, pasta, shrimp and grits, a burger, cheese plates and more. 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) 9343463; 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) 510-4282; 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) 324-7144; 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. $$

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for spots at the 2026 Olympic summer games. At the Smoothie King Center Aug. 7-10. Find tickets via ticketmaster.com.

festival also features lawn games, a food truck court and vendor market.

Registration to compete is $110.

Admission to watch is $10 at the door on Saturday, Aug. 10, and free on the other days. At Halls G and H of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Find tickets and information at nolapicklefest.com.

Andrew Duhon Trio

Singer-songwriter Andrew Duhon has spent a lot of time out west, from Colorado to the Pacific Northwest, but on his latest album, he took inspiration from his native Louisiana. He released “The Parish Record” in spring. This show features his trio, along with bassist Myles Weeks and drummer Jim Kolacek. At 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, at Chickie Wah Wah. Tickets $26.96 via chickiewahwah.com.

Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships

The Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships feature a host or recent medalists and rising stars.

Expected to compete in New Orleans are Paris gold medalist Hezly Rivera, who will attend LSU, and men’s bronze medalists Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik. Gold medalists from the World Championships include Joscelyn Roberson, Leanne Wong and Skye Blakely. Athletes are vying for spots representing the U.S. at the Artistic World Championships in October in Jakarta, Indonesia, and many also are preparing to compete

Cool Off

Human Toys

The French garage rock punk duo Human Toys play with everything from theremins to open flame in their live shows. The group released the album “At the Poor Cow” in January, and is on a world tour taking them from the U.K. to Tokyo, with a stop at Saturn Bar at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8. The Flying Roaches, featuring Ratty Scurvics and Stoo Odom,

and the Sleazeball Orchestra also perform. Tickets $12.47 via dice.fm.

‘Ginger Snaps’

Before the billion dollar “Twilight” vampire franchise was launched, there was “Ginger Snaps.” The 2000 Canadian film merged stories of werewolves and teen angst in a story about oddball sisters living in a suburb of Ontario. The supernatural horror film became a cult classic. Screamfest NOLA and Timecode present a screening with horror trivia and prizes at the Broad Theater at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 4.

Tickets $12 via thebroadtheater.com.

Joystick

New Orleans ska punk band Joystick is saying “see ya later” to drummer Kyle Bouque, who has kept the band “locked in with his tight grooves and his proficiency to find the best coffee wherever we may be,” Joystick said on Instagram.

Bouque plays one more show with Joystick at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, at The Goat with Chilled Monkey Brains and Shidded. Cover is $10.

Southern Nights

New Orleans singer-songwriters Lilli Lewis and Mia Borders will play the August edition of Southern Nights, a monthly series highlighting women in Americana music. Borders, Lewis and Dusky Waters, who organizes the series, will each play a set and will then join together for a “superset” dedicated to the music of Roberta Flack.

The shows are at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at Snug Harbor.

Tickets are $30 via snugjazz.com.

Julian Primeaux

Southern rock and swamp blues guitarist Julian Primeaux already had a Grammy nomination under his belt for his work with zydeco musician Corey Ledet when Primeaux was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame around this time last year. He’s a regular face around New Orleans, and he’s back in town Saturday, Aug. 9, for a show at Gasa Gasa with Electric Ramble. The music starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $13.63 via gasagasanola.com.

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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 4 30/90 — The Dapper Dandies, 6 pm; Half-Shell Boogie, 9 pm APPLE BARREL — Zev Russ, 6 pm; Decaturadio, 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — Byron Asher, 7 pm BAMBOULA’S — Jon Roniger & The Good for Nothin’ Band, 4:30 pm; Ted Hefko & The Thousandaires, 9 pm BJ’S LOUNGE — Red Beans & Blues with Alex McMurray & Friends, 9 pm BUFFA’S — David Doucet, 7 pm CAFE NEGRIL — Gumbo Funk, 7:30 pm CAPULET — Layla Musselwhite, 6 pm DOS JEFES — John Fohl, 8:30 pm FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB — Matinee All Stars Band & Jazz Jam Session, 1 pm; Tin Men, 5 pm; Richard Scott & Friends, 8 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — VetJams, 7 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Jazz Vipers, 9 pm SATURN BAR — Lapis, 9 pm ST. ROCH TAVERN — Rose Vaughn + Spoonfed Jr., 9 pm SNUG HARBOR — Charmaine Neville, 7:30 & 9:30 pm SPOTTED CAT — Jenavieve Cooke & The Winding Boys, 2 pm; Dominick Grillo & The Frenchmen Street All-Stars, 6 pm; Amber Rachelle & The Sweet Potatoes, 9:30 pm

TUESDAY 5 30/90 — Decaturadio, 6 pm; Kim in the Wind, 9 pm APPLE BARREL — Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Scott Jackson & Friends, 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — David Sigler, 6 pm BAMBOULA’S — Giselle Anguizola Quartet, 4:30 pm; Caitie B. & The Hand Me Downs, 9 pm BUFFA’S — Alex McMurray, 7 pm CAPULET — Lady O & The Expats, 6 pm DOS JEFES — Tom Hook, 8:30 pm FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 1 pm; Zach Lange Band, 5 pm; Fritzel’s All-Star Band with Jamil Sharif, 8 pm GASA GASA — Harbour + Abby Holliday + Night Kitchen, 9 pm JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Amber Rachelle & The Sweet Potatoes, 7:30 pm MAHOGANY JAZZ HALL — Big Joe Kennedy, 6 pm; Kevin Louis & The Home Team, 8 pm

THE RABBIT HOLE — Rebirth Brass Band, 10 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Trumpet Mafia, 6 pm; 9 pm SATURN BAR — Grocer + MOLD! + Coworkers + Avery Island, 9 pm SNUG HARBOR — Stanton Moore Trio, 7:30 & 9:30 pm

WEDNESDAY 6 30/90 — Jeff Chaz Blues Band, 6 pm; Soul Tribe, 9 pm APPLE BARREL — Hobo Gadget, 6 pm; Steve Mignano, 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — Jesse Morrow, 6 pm BAMBOULA’S — Swingin’ with John Saavedra, 4:30 pm; The Queen & Friendz, 9 pm BANKS ST. BAR — Mia Borders, 6 pm BLUE NILE — New Breed Brass Band, 9:30 pm BUFFA’S — Ragtime & Stride with Adam Rogers, 7 pm CAFÉ ISTANBUL — Sariyah Idan, 7:30 pm CAFÉ NEGRIL — Jam-ilton, 8 pm CAPULET — Brian Quezergue & Friends, 6 pm DOS JEFES — Joe Krown, 8:30 pm GASA GASA — Emo Karaoke, 8 pm HOWLIN’ WOLF DEN — My Mom Is Here with Paul Faith and Miss Morning, 7 pm JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Funkin’ It Up with Big Sam, 7:30 pm NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM — Sporty's Brass Band, 2 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Reggaeton Dance Night with DJ Siisko, 9 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Kermit Ruffins, 8 pm; BAM JAM w/ Gene Black, 9 pm SATURN BAR — Glad I Didn’t Get My Stupid Wish + Shining Fields + Drugstore Lipstick, 9 pm SNUG HARBOR — Orlando Gilbert, 7:30 & 9:30 pm

THURSDAY 7 30/90 — Tajh & The Funky Soles, 6 pm; Gumbo Funk, 9 pm APPLE BARREL — Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Johnny Mastro, 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — Christien Bold, 6 pm

BAMBOULA’S — JJ & The A-Okay’s, 12 pm; Cristina Kaminis & The Mix, 4:30 pm; Wolfe John’s Band, 9 pm BJ’S LOUNGE — Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, 9 pm BLUE NILE — Irvin Mayfield’s Music Church, 9 pm; 11 pm BLUE NILE BALCONY ROOM — Reggae Night with DJ T-Roy, 11 pm BMC — The Budz, 8 pm BUFFA’S — Tom McDermott & Marla Dixon, 7 pm CAFE NEGRIL — Jason Neville Funky Soul Band, 6:30 pm CAPULET — Meccanotes, 6 pm D.B.A. — Palmetto Bug Stompers, 6 pm DOS JEFES — The Ed Barrett Trio, 8:30 pm GASA GASA — Dicqbeats with Hidden Hands, Cr5ation Five & We Dreamt Of Being Ghosts Amongst The Stars, 9 pm JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Brass-A-Holics, 7:30 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — The Soul Rebels, 11 pm POOR BOYS — The Magic Mic, 7:30 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Pure Intentions: Open Decks, 9 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Glen David Andrews, 9 pm SANTOS BAR — Tainted Love 80’s Dance Night, 10 pm

Corey Henry performs with his band at Vaughan’s Lounge Thursday, Aug. 7 at 10:30 p.m.

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

SNUG HARBOR — Clarence Johnson III Quartet, 7:30 & 9:30 pm VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE — Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet, 10:30 pm

FRIDAY 8 30/90 — Cam & The Sonic Canvas, 2 pm, Lil’ Red & The Big Bad, 5 pm; Brass Flavor, 8 pm; Neicy B. & Kompani, 11 pm APPLE BARREL — Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Andre Lovett, 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — Willie Green III, 7 pm BAMBOULA’S — The Rug Cutters, 11 am; Felipe Antonio’s Quintet, 2 pm; Les Getrex & Creole Cookin’, 6:30 pm; Bettis & The 3rd Degree Brass Band, 10 pm BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Little Freddie King, 9 pm BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers' FunkBox, 8 pm BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers’ Funk Box, 8 pm; Kermit Ruffins & The BBQ Swingers, 11 pm BMC — Jazz Band Ballers, 5:30 pm; John Lisi & Delta Funk, 9:30 pm BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm BUFFA’S — Ragtime Piano Hour with Adam Rogers, 8 pm

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MUSIC

SATURDAY 9 30/90 — Personal Space, 2 pm; Anne Elise & The Swamp Circus, 5 pm; Big Easy Brawlers, 8 pm; Street Lyfe, 11 pm ALLWAYS LOUNGE — Ficheraz: Live Latin Band & Burlesque, 8 pm APPLE BARREL — Hobo Gadget, 6 pm; Smokey Greenwell, 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — Miles Berry, 7 pm BAMBOULA’S — Aaron Levinson & Friends, 11 am; James McClaskey & The Rhythm Band, 2:15 pm; Johnny Mastro Blues, 6:30 pm; Paggy Prine & Southern Soul, 10 pm BJ’S LOUNGE — Itchy Stitches + Lilly Unless and the If-Onlys, 9 pm BLUE NILE — George Brown Band, 8 pm; Afrobeat NOLA, 10 pm BLUE NILE UPSTAIRS — The Next Level Band, 10 pm BUFFA’S — The Freudian Slips, 7 pm D.B.A. — Higher Heights, 10 pm DOS JEFES — Betty Shirley, 8 pm DOUBLE DEALER BAR — John Saavedra, 8 pm GASA GASA — Julian Primeaux + Electric Ramble, 9 pm HIDEOUT BAR — Trombone Slim & The Music Street Quartet, 12 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — Basch Jernigan Band, 11 pm

MUSIC BOX VILLAGE — The Sweet Spot, 5:30 pm NO DICE — Set De Flo, 10 pm OLD ARABI LIGHTHOUSE RECORDS AND BOOKS — Ego Likeness, 7 pm PUBLIC BELT AT HILTON NEW ORLEANS RIVERSIDE — Phil Melancon, 8 pm RABBIT HOLE — Club Blush (An Ethereal & Euphoric Dance Night), 10 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Glen David Andrews, 9 pm SWEET LORRAINE’S — Justin Garner, 7 pm TIPSY TRUMPET — Feral House Cats, 5 pm

SUNDAY 10 30/90 — Danger, Barnes & Wilson, 3 pm; Sugar & The Daddies, 6 pm; Single Malt Please, 9 pm ALLWAYS LOUNGE — Sunday Swing Night, 8 pm APPLE BARREL — Mark Appleford, 6 pm; Decaturadio 10:30 pm BACCHANAL — Tangiers Combo, 7 pm BAMBOULA’S — The Jaywalkers, 11 am; Laura Doyle Quartet, 1:15 pm; Cristina Kaminis & The Mix, 5:30 pm; Les Getrex & Creole Cooking, 9 pm BJ’S — James McClaskey & The Rhythm Band, 9 pm BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm BROADSIDE — The Supervillians, 8 pm BUFFA’S — Patrice LeBlanc, 7 pm CHAMPION SQUARE — Teddy Swims, 8 pm DEUTSCHES HAUS — The Czech Valachia Cimbalom Folk Quartet, 3 pm DOS JEFES — Mikayla Braun, 8 pm JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Richard “Piano” Scott & The Twisty River Band, 7 pm OLD ARABI LIGHTHOUSE RECORDS AND BOOKS — Frenchie Moe Acoustic Blues Trio, 4 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Baby, Baby, Baby...Bieber Fever Is Back! ft. DJ Klitz, 9 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Chris Christy’s Quintet, 9 pm SNUG HARBOR — Southern Nights Songwriter Series ft. Lilli Lewis, Mia Borders & Dusky Waters, 7:30 & 9:30 pm

SCAN FOR THE COMPLETE GAMBIT CALENDAR

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BROADSIDE — The Zips, 8 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Andrew Duhon Trio, 9 pm D.B.A. — Big Easy Brawlers, 9:30 pm DOS JEFES — Sunpie & The Louisiana Sunspots, 9 pm DOUBLE DEALER BAR — Jake Landry, 8 pm JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom, 7:30 & 9:30 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — Ted Hefko & The Thousandaires, 11 pm NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MUSEUM — Russell Welch, 2 pm NO DICE — Billy Gay Cyrus, 9 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — GLTTRAVE Presents: GLITTER LAGOON, 10 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Stephen Walker N’Em, 6 pm; Big Easy Brawlers, 9 pm SATURN BAR — Human Toys + Ratty Scurvic’s Flying Roaches + Sleazeball Orchestra, 10 pm SNUG HARBOR — Jason Marsalis 7:30 & 9:30 pm SWEET LORRAINE’S — Late Night DJ Sessions with DJ P.U.D.G.E, 10:30 pm TIPITINA’S — Free Fridays ft. Raw Deal Presents: A Tribute to Rick James + The Next Level Band, 9 pm

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33

MUSIC

by Jake Clapp

FI N E CR EOLE DI N I NG I N TH E H EA RT OF T H E WA R E H O U S E D I S T R I C T

BIO GIRL HAS BEEN ON A QUEST across the cos-

mos. The robotic being is searching to “know love and to find a heart of her very own,” the devious Bimbo Yaga narrates, their voice reverberating from the stars.

As “Bio Girl,” the debut album by New Orleans synth-pop band Drugstore Lipstick, unfolds, the deity Bimbo Yaga watches as Bio Girl lands on Earth and meets Earth Girl, herself desperate for love and trying to give her heart away.

But this isn’t an easy, happy story — there are selfish, secret motives at work.

“We have Bio Girl, this psychopathic robot, and we have Earth Girl, who is this mirror to Bio Girl and is always trying to give her heart away and constantly looking for someone to allow her to love (them),” says vocalist and synth player Slade Warnken. “So for both of them, love is a very selfish act. They both want to feel the things they’ve dreamed up, not necessarily be with another person.”

As for Bimbo Yaga, the deity of love and chaos, all she wants is to devour another broken heart.

Drugstore Lipstick released the dark, synth-pop album “Bio Girl” in June along with an accompanying comic book illustrated by New Orleans cartoonist and musician Leo Rauf.

And earlier this year, the trio — Warnken, synth player Joshua Dellabella and guitarist Tyler “Jangles” Bellingar — premiered the album in full at the AllWays Lounge & Cabaret. They were accompanied by burlesque performers and Ylva Mara Radziszewski reprising their narration role as Bimbo Yaga.

Drugstore Lipstick will next perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, at Saturn Bar with the band Glad I Didn’t Get My Stupid Wish.

With darkwave and glam rock elements, the album “Bio Girl” plays out like a soundtrack to Bio Girl’s story, and the comic elaborates on the background of the characters. It’s a concept project, but Drugstore Lipstick started with the music and developed the story as they recorded.

Drugstore Lipstick began working on the album soon after Warnken, Dellabella and Bellingar began playing together in 2021. All three have either solo projects or play in other bands.

Over the last few years, Drugstore Lipstick has performed with drag and burlesque performers and once

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performed for a catwalk. The band is invested in atmospheric world-building through their music.

“Putting on a show — creating an event and space for this has been a big part,” Dellabella says. “It’s been really special to be able to pull it off and feel happy about it.”

So with a few songs ready to record in 2023, the band went to McKinley Studios and began talking about how to release their new music.

“Everything has to be interesting now,” Warnken says. “[Dellabella] was like, ‘Oh, we can make a comic.’ But then it’s like, ‘What’s the story?’ ” Warnken was listening to a mix of the band’s song “Meet Me in the Dark,” with the lyrics “Beat for me if you know how to part / Beat for me if we can love from the start,” and the image of a robot with a hollow chest, floating through empty space, came to her mind.By the end of “Bio Girl,” the titular robot has her freely-given heart — but it comes at a cost.

Things are unresolved, and Drugstore Lipstick hopes to continue the story in the future.

The story is a “fantastical queer tragedy,” the album notes say, and queerness is an intrinsic part of “Bio Girl,” with trans and gender-nonconforming characters and perspectives.

The story explores “the process of trying to fall in love with someone while you’re understanding your identity and yourself and the loneliness that creates,” Warnken says.

It’s a story “of not necessarily searching for love,” she adds, “but searching for a recognition of yourself in another person and how that can lead to toxic behaviors or a love that isn’t necessarily pure and might leave you hurting someone in the process.”

Find Drugstore Lipstick on Instagram, @drugstore_lipstick.

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Triumph of Grace Painting Exhibition Painting Exhibition Alen J. Salerian M.D. Student of Hippocrates Saturday, August 9, 2025, 6-10 pm CST (Anniversary of Nagasaki)

Please join us for this benefit show for the UN Palestine relief fund. We will also be raising funds for Judy’s dignified end of life and World Honesty Day to promote zero tolerance for governmental lies and civilian bombings.

Where: The Saulet, 1420 Annunciation St, New Orleans, LA It will also be possible to attend via Zoom

RSVP and please Donate $15 at worldhonestyday.com Alen J Salerian MD President, World Honesty Day

2025 NEW ORLEANS

4-10 September 2023 44 Volume 36 Number

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36

GOING OUT

Wall to wall

by Will Coviello

AUGUST IS A GREAT TIME TO STAY INDOORS, but that doesn’t have to mean

staying home. The annual Museum Month promotion offers plenty of options for bargain outings, and there are other free admission events and opportunities this month as well.

During Museum Month, members of participating museums can use their membership to get into other participating institutions. The deal is good for an annual membership holder to get admission for themselves and a guest. With 29 museums participating, it’s a bargain to join one and explore many. Basic admission is free, but some museums have special exhibits, classes or other programs that are not included with general admission.

Some of the city’s biggest and best known museums are participating, including the National World War II Museum, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. NOMA closes its “New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations” on Aug. 10, and a closing party ($15 for members, $30 for nonmembers) on Friday, Aug. 8, features gallery talks, music by Bamboula 2000, food and drink.

Ogden just opened its annual Louisiana Contemporary, which features works by 50 artists selected from 1,500 submissions. Ogden also hosts a Free Family Day on Saturday, Aug. 16, with a focus on Vietnamese crafts, art activities for kids and community partner tables.

The World War II Museum marked its 25th anniversary in June, and this week it hosts a symposium on the 80th anniversary of the end of the war with Japan. It also has an ongoing special program for active military. Through Sept. 2, the Blue Star Museum program, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, offers active service members and up to five family members free admission.

There also are many smaller museums and some fun attractions during Museum Month. Some of the entertaining options include JAMNOLA, Vue Orleans and Sazerac House.

JAMNOLA moved to its new location on Frenchmen Street in the former home of the Alois J. Binder Bakery earlier this year, and it grew to 29 installations celebrating everything from the swamps to local music venues. Vue Orleans has exhibits on New Orleans culture, but one of the highlights of the venue is the outdoor observation deck on top of the Four Seasons hotel, in the space that

Masquerades by Nigerian artist Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa are on display at NOMA through Aug. 10.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

used to house the revolving Top of the Mart lounge.

Nearby on Canal Street, the Sazerac Company’s Sazerac House offers selfguided tours of exhibits on distilling, famous cocktails and New Orleans spirits history, and there also are some events scheduled in August.

Families can take advantage of the Louisiana Children’s Museum’s offerings.

Other art spaces to explore are muralist Brandan “BMike” Odums’ StudioBE warehouses in Bywater, and the New Orleans African American Museum in Treme.

Outdoor spaces include Longue Vue House and Gardens, which has tours of the home, art exhibits indoors and the gardens. Pitot House on Bayou St. John also is on the list.

Those interested in historic homes can also head to the French Quarter and Gallier House, Hermann-Grima House and the Historic BK House & Gardens.

Built around the former home and legacy of Kemper and Leila Williams is The Historic New Orleans Collection, which includes several French Quarter properties on Royal and Chartres streets. Current temporary exhibits include “Making It Home: From Vietnam to New Orleans,” exploring the growth of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans after the Vietnam War. There’s also an expo of aerial views of Louisiana’s disappearing coast and wetlands. During August, HNOC offers free short tours of some exhibits.

Those interested in visiting several museums can pick up a Museum Month passport and if they collect stickers from six spots can be entered to win prizes.

For a list of participating museums and guidelines on the promotion, visit neworleans.com/museum-month.

SPACIOUS & STYLISH HOME IN FONTAINEBLEAU!!

DELIGHTFUL 4 BR, 4 BA IN CARROLLTON!!!

7116 FIG STREET

2026 PINE STREET

BUILT IN 2019!!! 3 BR 2 1/2 BA Home offers an Open Floor Plan w/ Lrg Living Area. Upscale Kitchen w/ Stainless Steel Appliances, Quartz Counters, Lots of Cabinet Space, a Pantry & an Island w/ Breakfast Bar. 2nd Floor features Large Ensuite Primary Bedroom. Both Full bathrooms have deep Soaking Tubs. Full Size W&D. Enjoy the Rear Covered Porch.

Security System. Off Str Prkg. X Flood Zone. House is Elevated. Central location 10 min to Uptown, Downtown, University Medical Center, Ochsner Baptist, & Ochsner Main Campus! $325,000

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! $495,000

W G N E T IN S LI

PRISTINE LIKE-NEW MID-CITY CAMELBACK 201 S. Cortez Street New Orleans, LA 70110 Michael Styles (504) 777-1773 nolastyles.com

3 Beds, 2.5 Baths, 2,448 SqFt Only 3 Years Old • Corner Lot $750,000

WE NERIC P

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(504) 895-4663

PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE WORKING MADLY

By Frank A. Longo

33 Like an angry macramé artist?

37 Actor’s rep: Abbr.

38 Princess in a sci-fi classic 39 “Quo --” (1951 epic set in Rome) 40 Houston pro team 44 Like an angry auto mechanic?

49 Call dibs on 50 Actresses Vardalos and Long 51 Officeholders 52 80-ball casino game 53 Like an angry home contractor?

58 Brand of mattresses 59 Fencing sword

60 Motorists’ org.

61 “Yo te --” (Spanish “I love you”) 62 Sits alongside of 64 Like an angry carpenter?

68 Lovingly, on music scores 72 Hosp. area 73 Viral gene stuff 74 Tall volcano in Sicily 78 Grow mature 79 Like an angry clown?

83 “You said it!”

84 Org. flagging luggage 86 Gal pal, in Grenoble 87 Singer Cleo or Frankie 88 Like an angry contortionist?

DOWN 1 Fire leftovers 2 Pollen piece 3 Journalist Couric 4 Electrojet particle 5 No-goodniks 6 Lead-in to “Radio” or “Huckabees” 7 Strong swell 8 Actor Bert 9 Land in eau 10 & so forth 11 Scooby- -12 Native of the capital Chisinau 13 Certain trash can liners 14 “Eat -- Chikin” (fast-food slogan) 15 Title rabbit in an animated Disney TV series 16 Disgrace 17 Stuck through 21 Hole for coins 24 Half of bi25 TV series title role Lasso 30 First half of an Ella Fitzgerald song title 32 Tennis star Osaka 33 Not a lot of

MICHAEL ZAROU

ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRS

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(504) 913-2872

EMAIL: Michael.Zarou@Compass.com

34 Half of VI 35 Khaki color 36 Child care writer LeShan 38 Get defeated 40 Dull pain 41 Tiny mistake 42 British art gallery 43 Religious act 44 Tried to chomp on 45 “-- -di-dah!”

46 Many a PC pic file 47 Study of insects, for short 48 -- extent (partially) 50 Mystery author Marsh 54 Short sleeps 55 Amassed, as a tab 56 Texter’s “Holy cow!”

57 Suffix with ball or bass 58 Questionable, informally 62 Danny of the 1980s Celtics 63 Ho-hum 64 Prince, e.g.

65 Up to, in ads 66 Here, in Paris 67 Golfer Palmer, to fans 68 Qatari, e.g.

69 Actor who’s speechless 70 Receptive to new ideas

71 U-Haul vehicles, e.g.

74 Actor Morales 75 Tease in fun 76 Three threes 77 Grows older 79 -- Schwarz (toy retailer) 80 Jack of early talk TV 81 Unruly kid 82 “Don’t that beat all!”

84 Traitor 85 Stop flowing, as water 89 Yes, in Paris 90 Best-liked, informally 91 Take to court 92 That lady 93 Wapiti venison 96 Title nanny of a 2005 film 97 Moisten, as poultry 98 Edible bulb 99 “My treat” 100 In a tizzy, with “up” 101 Rarin’ to go 102 Couple 103 Seed-to-be 104 Honored lavishly 105 Jeff of “The Marshal” 108 Zap with a weapon 111 Viral malady 112 Possibilities 113 Prefix with natal or soul 114 Tiara stone 115 Med. scan

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

PUZZLES

ACROSS 1 Request 4 Storklike bird 8 Told a fib 12 “Grand” Vegas hotel 15 Chinese soup additive, for short 18 Jacuzzi joint 19 Waikiki locale 20 Female aria, at times 22 Pi-sigma link 23 Like an angry priest?

26 Huge conflict 27 Journalist Burnett 28 Rarin’ to go 29 Peculiar 30 Wistful exclamation 31 Like an angry strawberry farmer?

93 Best-of-the-best groups 94 Tierney of “The Affair” 95 Violinist Leopold or actor Mischa 96 Mets’ and Marlins’ gp.

97 Like an angry chef?

100 Like an angry lumberjack?

106 Raggedy -(classic dolls) 107 Channel for 27-Across 108 2200 hours 109 Middle layer of the eye 110 Caesar of old comedy 111 Like an angry barista?

116 Tot’s “piggy” 117 Credit card penalties 118 Scorch 119 Spike of film 120 Call a halt to 121 Sporty truck, for short 122 Not a lot of 123 Snow beast of legend 124 Eponym of an ice cream brand

GARDEN DISTRICT OFFICE 2016, 2017, 2020 & 2022

35 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M > A U G U ST 4 - 1 0 > 2 0 2 5

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