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Higher purpose
Kr3wcial releases full-length album ‘God is With Us’
THERE’S A BONUS TRACK THAT CLOSES OUT THE VINYL RECORD version of Kr3wcial’s meaningful new album “God is With Us.”
The New Orleans hip-hop artist, born A.J. Gullage, grew up on the West Bank in a family full of musicians, including his brother, blues musician Sonny Gullage. His uncles and aunts sang together in the Avondale Community Choir and recorded an album. Kr3wcial’s paternal grandmother and her sister also recorded two songs for a 45 vinyl, and at her 50th birthday, her children put together a choir with some younger cousins to sing the song “Total Praise.”
“So at her funeral, in the beginning of the year, the grandkids sang the song,” Kr3wcial says. “Since it’s the grandkids, it was like 30 of us on stage with my cousins playing music.”
It’s a powerful and appropriate ending to “God is With Us,” full of voices, praise and family. But Kr3wcial doesn’t think he’ll include the song when the album is released on digital platforms in midOctober. Listeners will have to seek out a physical copy.
“That’s one of the things that I like about this,” he says. “What I put [the album] together for is to be an art piece for your house. It’s not just for passive consumption.”
“God is With Us” is Kr3wcial’s first full-length album. It’s a surprising notion considering the dynamic rapper and producer has been making music since 2012 and has released several substantial EPs and collaborative albums since 2020. But this album is different, he says. It’s more intentional.
The 10-track album is currently only available on vinyl at Peaches Records or through Kr3wcial himself. Although “God is With Us” will be on streaming platforms in a month, he says he wants listeners to pause and give their attention.
Many of the tracks are high-energy and will rock a live show — where an occasional, gruff call-and-response “Kr3www-cial!” shout will help make sure the crowd is connected — but Kr3wcial has been thinking a lot in recent years about hip-hop as art and the ways modern listeners engage with music. In 2023, he took up a residency at A Studio in the Woods and followed it with a months-long stint as part of the New Orleans Museum of Art’s Creative Assembly program.
“It was these experiences happening back-to-back. It also influenced my
by Jake Clapp |
ability to create these songs in the ways I was creating them. I was spending a lot of time in art,” says Kr3wcial.
Kr3wcial has been working on the collection of songs that would become “God is With Us” for the last four or so years. As he was passing from his late 20s into his 30s, he was gratefully reflecting on the experiences he’d had: touring other countries with his solo music; helping build the glbl wrmng hiphop collective with Pell, $leazy EZ, Nate Cameron and other friends; playing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest and BUKU Music + Art Project; and joining the future funk band Water Seed for shows in New York and on the West Coast.
He started noticing that anytime something great happened in the studio or on stage, he’d say “God is with us.”
“Anytime I felt like I would breach the ether and reach in and pull out an idea, I’d be like ‘God is with us,’ ” Kr3wcial adds. “I know it’s coming from a whole different place.”
Kr3wcial was raised in a family steeped in the church and gospel traditions, but here, God is a little more amorphous.
“For some people, they are speaking Judeo-Christian. They might be speaking pagan gods. They might be speaking just different things. But my understanding of God is the space between spaces,” he says. “It is the understanding of the presence of the unknown. It’s unquantifiable. It’s supposed to be something you experience.”
As he was working on the album, Kr3wcial took any chance he could to include his family and friends and live instrumentation. He produced most of the album, and Jon Mercure and Wino Willy with Ghazi Gamili worked on a couple of tracks. There are vocal features by $leazy EZ, Pell, Cameron, LG and more. Harpist Cassie Watson Francillon, flautist Cinese Love, bassists Jemila Dunham and TJ Nathan, T-Ray the Violinist and other musicians also perform on the album.
The first voice listeners hear on the album is his paternal grandmother, Alberta Gullage, singing, and later his maternal grandmother, Pearleana Clark, offers encouragement. There’s also some conversation between Alberta and Philip Gullage Sr., Kr3wcial’s grandfather, with roosters crowing in the background.
Kr3wcial often raps on the album about striving for a higher plane, whether that be spiritually, emotionally or materially. There’s a lot of gratitude, but there’s also plenty of swagger and pleasure. And the secular and the religious sometimes meet, like on the spirited “Glory,” with a bounce beat underscored by a choir and features by rapper 504icygrl and vocalist Rahim Glaspy.
Kr3wcial premiered “God is With Us,” which was supported by a Jazz & Heritage Foundation grant, in August with an intimate listening party at the Andre Cailloux Center. Attendees were given headphones and spaced around the room to listen to the new record. It was, again, an intentional experience to sit with the music.
“The physical means a lot,” he says. “I love people at the shows. I like intimate spaces because I could feel the energy. Streaming numbers are great; I love everything I’ve been able to do, but it just feels different when you can touch it.”
Find Kr3wcial on Instagram: @ikr3wcial.
Soul Sister’s Birthday Jam
DJ Soul Sister, aka Melissa Weber, is celebrating her 50th birthday with a salute to the GAP Band, the 1970s and ’80s funk outfit led by Charlie Wilson. Soul Sister will DJ a set and then there’s music by The Nth Power with guests including Eric Gales, Tony Hall, Ivan Neville, Skerik, Alex Wasily, Aurelien Barnes and Dominique Xavier. There’s free birthday dessert while supplies last. At 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at Tipitina’s. Tickets $23.50 via tipitinas.com.
Gianmarco Soresi
New York comic Gianmarco Soresi likes to joke about his Italian and Jewish heritage and his divorced parents’ embarassing dating habits while he was growing up. His career is taking off as he’s been included on several comics-to-watch lists and attracted more than a million followers on a couple online platforms. This week, his debut special, “Thief of Joy,” premieres on YouTube. He does shows at 8 & 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, at The Howlin’ Wolf. Tickets $25 via thehowlinwolf.com.
Westbank Heritage Food & Music Festival
The festival features live music and 20 food and marketplace vendors at the Alario Center. The music lineup features Mia X and the Original Pinettes Brass Band, Shamarr Allen, HaSizzle, Choppa, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters and there’s a Gospel Explosion from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. There’s also a kids’ area. The festival is from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, and Sunday, Sept. 21. Visit westbankfest.com for details.
Stereolab
Anchored by guitarist Tim Gane and vocalist Laetitia Sadier, Stereolab has always been hard to pin down with its
PROVIDED PHOTO BY AVERY WHITE
Kr3wcial
PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT
THUMBS UP/ THUMBS DOWN
OPENING GAMBIT
Welcome back to New Orleans as a full time resident, Mayor Cantrell
Amistad Research Center supporters have helped the Black historical archive raise $1.6 million after federal cuts blew a hole in the center’s budget. The Trump administration this year gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, leading to the termination of grants Amistad relied on. The center lost 40% of its budget and was forced to lay off staff and reduce hours. But hundreds of donations have poured in, and Amistad was able to rehire some staff and can now stay afloat for several years.
New Orleans mayoral candidates talk cultural policy at Ella Project forum
David and Marion Mussafer recently gave $10 million to Tulane University, which will be used to create a new internship hub for students. David Mussafer is a Tulane graduate and chair of the university’s board. The internship hub will include programs connecting students with mentors, an online portal where students can find internships, and funding for some work experiences.
CANDIDATES FOR NEW ORLEANS
MAYOR SEPT. 9 SHARED THEIR PLANS to help preserve and grow the city’s cultural community during an election forum in the French Quarter.
The six candidates who took part in the forum at the New Orleans Jazz Museum were all quick to stress the importance of the city’s arts and culture, not only to New Orleans’ identity but also to the city’s economy, and made specific pitches to the crowd on housing affordability, stream-lining permitting and supporting local cultural organizations.
The forum was live-streamed on The Ella Project’s Facebook page and can still be seen here.
“I think we can all agree that New Orleans culture, in large part, is what makes it so authentic, distinctive, attractive and special,” said The Ella Project co-founder Ashlye Keaton, who moderated the forum along with musician and producer Don Bartholomew and Gambit editor John Stanton.
THE NUMBER OF HEAT-RELATED DEATHS IN NEW ORLEANS OVER THE SUMMER, ACCORDING TO THE ORLEANS PARISH CORONER.
According to a new Times-Picayune report, the city’s elderly population is especially vulnerable. New Orleans is projected to experience one of the largest increases in heat-related deaths because of rising temperatures and longer heatwaves. LSU researchers have also begun studies that indicate humidity levels, along with temperatures, are rising.
Attorney General Liz Murrill, who previously defended Louisiana’s new congressional district map that created a second majority Black district, is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule the map unconstitutional. Murrill joins a group of white voters arguing the new district’s boundaries were determined by race. If the court rules in their favor, it could decimate a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Ella Project, an nonprofit that advocates for and offers pro bono legal services to the cultural community, organized the forum, which included state Sen. Royce Duplessis; City Council Member Oliver Thomas; Eileen Carter, a former social media manager for Mayor LaToya Cantrell and a leader of the recall effort; business owner Renada Collins; Frank Janusa, a CPA; and Ricky Twiggs, a mental health professional. City Council Vice President Helena Moreno, one of the race’s frontrunners with Duplessis and Thomas, declined to participate due to her schedule, The Ella Project said.
“It’s part of our history. It’s part of our present. And it’s part of our legacy. It is also our largest economic engine driver, second only to tourism ... and of course, our tourists come here in large part because of the cultural community.”
But, Keaton added, the city has become increasingly unaffordable, and a host of swirling issues — high housing prices, the insurance crisis, threats from climate change, failing infrastructure, gentrification in neighborhoods central to cultural identity — are pushing people to leave New Orleans. They’re issues impacting all New Orleanians but threaten to undermine the city’s cultural identity as artists are pushed out and seek opportunities in other places.
14.3%
The Ella Project co-founder Ashlye Keaton, left, talks during a recent mayoral forum focused on New Orleans’ cultural community.
PHOTO BY JAKE CLAPP / GAMBIT
Early in the forum, the candidates focused on broader quality of life issues like housing affordability, which candidates returned to multiple times. For instance, Duplessis said a key part of platform is to build 40,000 new affordable housing units that would “prioritize artists ... [and] prioritize culture bearers, to make sure they have the most basic foundational asset, which is housing.”
Carter, who calls her platform “Reverse the Exodus,” pointed to using the New Orleans Housing Trust Fund to reach residents. Collins suggested a program where the city would give a lump sum to landlords in order to lock in rent prices for five years. And Janusa spoke about the possibility of rehabilitating blighted, city-owned properties into housing stock for artists and entrepreneurs.
Thomas proposed properties controlled by the Orleans Parish School Board that could be used for new housing. Earlier this year he also proposed an artists’ village in New Orleans East.
“Let’s use a percentage of the Housing Trust Fund to pay down those costs for developers who are interested in housing artists and culture bearers,” he said. “That would at least eliminate the hard cost of the overhead to make it affordable.”
The audience, which was filled with musicians, industry professionals and those invested in the culture, were eager to hear “concrete answers,” one person said during the forum. “I want to hear plans. I want boots-onthe ground.”
Through the course of the hourand-a-half forum, candidates pitched ways to make life in New Orleans easier for the cultural community.
Duplessis said he would work with the Office of Nighttime Economy — which most candidates (Carter’s response was more vague) said they intend to keep and improve — and local nonprofits to “lighten the load” for people through programs making parking easier or helping artists secure their intellectual property.
Thomas suggested the city needs a cultural fund supported by a millage, a suggestion that brought applause from several people in the crowd.
Twiggs, who pointed to the fact New Orleans has lost more than 100,000 people since Hurricane Katrina and the federal levee failures, talked about allocating more money to cultural organizations and building better safety nets for people in gig work.
“We have to make sure culture bearers are protected,” he said. “Right now, there’s not a lot of protection in affordability ... One simple hit to a pothole blows your tire and now you’re broke.”
Collins pitched an idea for the city to partner with Spirit Airlines to build a hub in the city and give passengers a reasonable rate on their luggage — incentivizing tourists to purchase local art to bring back home.
Candidates also spoke about the importance of preserving and promoting the legacy of New Orleans music and its musicians, and about the
need for programs to support the next generation of artists — an issue that has become critical in the 20 years since the dismantling of the school system after Katrina.
Thomas said he would like to see school curriculum include more lessons on local traditions. “There ought to be a partnership with the Office of Cultural Economy with our school system so that tradition continues,” he said.
Janusa said he would like to create an office of cultural entrepreneurship where youth and adults could learn how to earn money from their craft.
Duplessis said he plans to create a universal early childhood education program in the city for ages 0-3 and promote literacy among kids. He also wants to build stronger relationships with cultural organizations already doing the work.
“I don’t think it should be the job of the mayor to come in, re-engineer, re-design everything, because we have those boots on the ground,” he
You’re free to live your lifeout loud! Becauseyou’ve gotthe compassion of the cross, the securityofthe shield, and the comfortofBluebehind you.
said. “What we need to be doing is investing in those organizations that are already doing it, organizations like the Satchmo summer jazz camp ... organizations like the Black Men of Labor and the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, who are doing the work every day to train up our children.”
In recent years, there have been numerous instances of city officials cracking down on street performers, small food vendors and even cultural organizations. In August, right before the second-line season got underway, NOPD announced it would begin enforcing a higher insurance requirement rule that would have made it difficult for social aid and pleasure clubs to throw their second lines. There was swift pushback, and the council asked NOPD to use last year’s rules until there could be meetings held with stakeholders.
At Tuesday’s forum, the candidates were directly asked if they, as mayor, would continue practicing those kinds of enforcement actions. All said they would not (except for Duplessis who had to leave before the question was asked), and several candidates spoke about the need to make permitting easier and legitimizing small businesses.
“It’s part of New Orleans culture, from the frozen cup lady to the grill man on the corner ... so anyone who’s talking about shutting that down is short-sighted,” Thomas said. “Not only do you not know New Orleans, you don’t understand how people have survived in this city, and it’s not getting easier. We ought to be trying to meet with those folks and ask, how do we legitimize you?” — Jake Clapp
New Orleans City Council scores ‘major win’ in Airbnb lawsuit
A U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE IN LOUISIANA SEPT. 8 DISMISSED almost all of Airbnb’s case against the City of New Orleans over its short-term rental rules, marking a decisive win in the city council’s long-running attempt to regulate STRs.
District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Jay Zainey sided with the city in upholding almost all of their current short-term rental regulations, including those that took effect in August requiring platforms to verify that the rentals listed on their site are legal before collecting fees from them. The law also requires platforms to file monthly reports on the number of STRs in New Orleans listed on their site.
Zainey completely dismissed 10 of the 11 claims made by Airbnb and fellow plaintiffs Bret Bodin, Darian Morgan, Brad Newell, Michael Rosas and Mid-City Mike Rentals who attempted to make the case that the regulations “trample on Airbnb’s First Amendment rights.”
In the 51-page ruling, Zainey wrote that having a STR is not a fundamental right and that the “city’s ability to regulate commercial activity in residential neighborhoods is substantial.” He also pointed out that residents still have the opportunity to rent their properties out long-term if they choose.
“This is a massive win for the residents of New Orleans,” said Council President JP Morrell in a statement. “Airbnb has fought us tooth and nail to keep the City Council from regulating short-term rentals, and this ruling is a resounding judgment in favor of that regulatory authority. This City Council will always fight to preserve neighborhoods and prevent corporations from running amok at the expense of residents.”
The one claim Zainey did not dismiss had to do with Airbnb’s claim that the monthly reports the city started requiring in August violated Fourth Amendment privacy rights. He ruled that before platforms are required to submit reports to the city, there needs to be an opportunity for them to contest the reporting requirement before a neutral third-party decision maker.
In the ruling, Zainey noted that the reporting requirements did not necessarily force STR platforms to take down illegal listings but doesn’t allow them to profit from them if they keep them up. If they do collect a fee on illegal listings, then the city could fine the company.
“The 2024 Ordinance does not require Airbnb to monitor or delete anything from its website. Airbnb remains free without penalty to allow as many unlawful STR listings on its website as it chooses to,” he wrote.
“The 2024 Ordinance simply precludes Airbnb from collecting a fee, in other words profiting, for booking an STR transaction that includes a non-permitted (unlawful) STR.”
Zainey dismissed the claims “with prejudice,” which means the plaintiffs can’t refile the same case again.
“This decision empowers the City to continue safeguarding affordable housing, preserving the character of our neighborhoods, and ensuring that our regulations are enforced fairly,” said District B Council Member Lesli Harris in a statement. — Kaylee Poche
@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake, A recent news story about LIV Golf coming to town mentioned that the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic has been around since the 1930s. I had no idea it was that old. What is its history?
Dear reader,
WHAT WE KNOW AS THE ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS HAS HAD SEVERAL NAMES OVER THE 87 OR SO YEARS that professional golf tournaments have been held in the city. They have attracted some of the biggest stars in professional golf such as Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson and many more.
The tournament has been called the New Orleans Open, Greater New Orleans Open, Greater New Orleans Invitational and carried the names of various sponsors, such as First National Bank of Commerce, USF&G Insurance, Freeport-McMoRan, Compaq, HP and Zurich Insurance, which has had naming rights since 2005.
The event dates to 1938, though there were earlier attempts to establish a stop on the professional golf circuit dating back as early as 1922. By 1938, with City Park’s first golf course and clubhouse complete, the idea was revived. According to a May 1975 States-Item article, Mayor Robert
Maestri put up city funds to sponsor the Crescent City Open there in February 1938. In 1939, it had a new name: the New Orleans Open. Tournament play was inconsistent for most of the next decade, although City Park remained the home.
It became an annual tournament in 1958. The event moved to Lakewood Country Club in 1963. Later tournaments were held at English Turn, before moving to Avondale’s TPC Louisiana in 2005. Since that time, the Zurich Classic has generated more than $28 million for charities through the Fore!Kids Foundation which organizes the tournament.
City Park will see the return of professional golf next summer. On Aug. 27, Gov. Jeff Landry announced that a LIV Golf event will take place at the park’s Bayou Oaks golf course. LIV Golf is a league that launched in 2021 and is backed by a Saudi Arabian wealth fund.
THIS WEEK WE TURN THE SPOTLIGHT ON ANOTHER LOCAL PUBLICATION, CELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE LOUISIANA WEEKLY, which since 1925 has covered stories of interest to New Orleans’ Black community.
The newspaper published its first issue on Sept. 19, 1925, as the New Orleans Herald. It was founded by C.C. Dejoie Sr. and O.C.W. Taylor to fill what they perceived as a void in local news coverage for Black New Orleanians. At the time, Dejoie was managing his family’s life insurance company and Taylor was an educator in New Orleans public schools.
The newspaper’s original offices were in the Pythian Temple building on Loyola Avenue. After the first two issues, the paper changed its name from the Herald to the Louisiana Weekly. According to the Amistad Research Center, after just one month in business, the newspaper had 4,500 subscribers.
Throughout its existence, the Weekly has provided a critical source of information for people of color and remains an important historical record for its coverage of the integration of the U.S. armed forces, school desegregation, the local founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other key moments.
According to the Weekly, after C.C. Dejoie Sr.’s death in 1971, the role of publisher went to his son C.C. Jr., who held the role until 1993. He was followed by his younger brother, Henry Dejoie Sr., who held the position until his death in 2007. Today the paper is published by Henry Dejoie’s daughter, Renette Dejoie Hall. In addition to its print editions, the Weekly publishes stories on louisianaweekly.com.
BLAKE VIEW
Ben Griffin at the 2025 PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament. PHOTO BY GERALD HERBERT / AP
A young member of the Young Men Olympia Jr. Social Aid and Pleasure Club, the second oldest benevolent society in the United States, second-lines during Super Sunday
VOTER PRIORITIES
We asked regular New Orleanians what they want to see from our next mayor. Here’s what they had to say.
BY JOHN STANTON | GAMBIT EDITOR
WHEN IT COMES TO COMMUNICATION, elections are normally a one-way street. Candidates, their PACs, endorsing organizations and social media personalities spend months and months AND MONTHS talking at the public.
They talk about their history, their record, their vision for the future and about how their opponents are wrong and shouldn’t be elected.
Which is fine, to a certain extent. Afterall, voters need to get to know who these people are, what they’ve done and what they at least say they plan on doing once they win. But what can get lost in all that talk is what the people of New Orleans want their political leaders to do once they get into office –regardless of who wins.
New Orleans is in serious trouble right now. Our infrastructure has essentially failed, we are losing population at record rates, cultural institutions like second lines are threatened by an overzealous regulatory system, and Republicans in Baton Rogue and Washington, D.C., are threatening to disrupt our lives in ways large and small.
With such an historic election just weeks away, we thought we’d flip the script a bit and give New Orleanians a chance to tell the candidates for mayor what they want to see from their next leader. So we gave a series of three prompts to some of Gambit’s 2025 40 Under 40 honorees as well as other folks we know in our community to find out what do the voters want.
Our diverse group of respondents come from across the city and different genders, age groups, races and backgrounds. But one thing they all have in common is their love for our city and desire to see real change to make our lives better.
Editor’s note: All answers have been lightly edited for spelling and style.
PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD/ THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
GAMBIT: It’s day one of the new administration. The new mayor, overwhelmed by the sheer number of problems facing the city, turns to you for advice. What is the first problem they should tackle, and what are two or three solutions you think they could achieve?
Ingrid Victoria Ruth Anderson
AGE 38
8TH WARD
The first thing I’d focus on is the hollowing out of the French Quarter’s local business scene. What used to be the cultural and economic heart of the city is now mostly controlled by a few wealthy families and private equity firms. Meanwhile, more storefronts sit vacant than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.
Here’s what we can do:
• Offer grants to local entrepreneurs who are ready to fix up and move into those empty spaces.
• Give local businesses right-of-firstrefusal when commercial properties come up for lease or sale, before private equity and corporations sweep in.
• Rework the tax structure so we’re taxing out-of-town landlords more, and offer tax incentives to local, owner-operated businesses.
This isn’t just about revitalizing the economy, it’s about keeping the Quarter, and New Orleans, rooted in the people who actually live here.
Rachel Lewis AGE 37
NEW ORLEANS EAST
“You should move to New Orleans,” my Uncle Mike told me in 2009, as I contemplated where to begin my adult life after graduating from college. Many elders agreed, sharing memories of beautiful music filling the streets, decadent meals, and a culture that refused to be erased after Katrina. What makes New Orleans special is its culture, driven by the people who have called this city home, many for generations. People who find joy in the face of struggle. People whose ancestors were born into slavery yet made a way to drum in Congo Square on Sundays, and whose descendants still dance in the streets every Sunday.
The biggest problem New Orleans faces is that the very people who make it a beautiful place to visit and live can no longer afford to stay. A study from June 2025 found that an individual needs to earn $85,322 per year to live comfortably in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, the minimum wage remains $7.25 an hour — about $15,000 per year — and even those who earn considerably more, including teachers, nurses, and social workers, still struggle to live comfortably in the city. Ironically, as homes are converted into short-term rentals, the culture bearers who attract visitors from around the world are being pushed out. It is not only wrong, it is short-sighted. If the people who sustain the culture cannot afford to live here, what will continue to draw the tourists who drive our local economy?
The first issue the mayor should tackle is making New Orleans an affordable place to live. That means creating more affordable housing, ensuring short-term rental regulations are enforced, addressing the insurance
crisis (New Orleanians pay roughly double the national average in homeowners’ insurance premiums) and ensuring that everyone who works in the city earns a living wage. Solving this crisis will also help alleviate many of the other challenges New Orleans faces, including homelessness, crime and population loss.
Alexis Nguyen Cloud
AGE 25
9TH WARD
If I could offer one piece of advice to the new mayor on day one, it would be this: Start where the city is hurting most — invest in the neighborhoods that have been ignored the longest. Begin with equitable infrastructure in communities like New Orleans East. Too often, our neighborhoods are last in line for basic services — from potholes and flooding to public transportation and healthcare access. Fixing this isn’t just about roads or drainage. It’s about restoring dignity and building trust.
Three actionable solutions the mayor can start immediately:
• Launch a Neighborhood Infrastructure Equity Audit.
• Map out and publicly release where city dollars have been spent in the last 10 years. Then, commit to reallocating funding to historically underinvested areas like New Orleans East — including storm drainage, streetlights and sidewalks. Transparency will earn trust.
• Fund and Empower Community-Led Resilience Hubs.
• Support local nonprofits and churches to serve as resilience hubs that offer
emergency aid, workforce training, childcare and storm preparedness — before the next crisis hits. These hubs already exist informally; the city just needs to resource them.
• Create a Mayor’s Roundtable of Frontline Leaders.
• Establish a monthly advisory group made up of women, youth and grassroots leaders — especially from minority and immigrant communities — to co-create policy. We don’t need more top-down solutions; we need lived experience at the table.
New Orleans can’t heal overnight, but if we start by listening to and resourcing the communities that have carried the weight of survival for decades, we’ll be on the right track.
Kristen Rome
AGE 39
11TH WARD
On the first day, the new mayor needs to rebuild trust. No matter the problems facing the city, strong leaders hold the trust of those they serve. The mayor should start by going into communities and engaging in deep listening with community members — including youth and elders; hearing not only their concerns but also their solutions. It’s no secret that the people most proximate to problems are also the closest to the solution.
With community trust established and intentional engagement with the most vulnerable members of our community, the mayor should develop a strategic urban planning process; elevating community voice through planning and community work through implementation.
PHOTO BY KAT KIMBALL
PHOTO BY KAT KIMBALL
PHOTO BY KAT KIMBALL
COURTESY OF THE LOUISIANA CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Georgia Peyton
AGE 13
BROADMOOR
They should fix the potholes and the streets. They could shut down one street at a time and give an alternative street to get to where they’re going and fill in the potholes with a sturdy bonding solution. I don’t know. I’m 13.
Khiry Armstead
AGE 33
14TH WARD
I think the city is simultaneously facing a housing crisis and an infrastructure crisis. The combination of short-term rental landlords and investment groups buying up entire neighborhoods is making living within the city of New Orleans unaffordable for legacy citizens. Locals are being priced out of their homes, neighborhoods. There is no clear strategy to construction so you may find yourself stuck in a neighborhood because of half completed work on multiple streets. The culture is what people love about New Orleans.
Giant corporate entities are buying up the entire city and turning it into cold, corporate, faux luxe neighborhoods driven by modernist minimalism, instead of personality. I believe we can have both modern and beautiful establishments, a rich personality and history. But the people that work and live within the city should be privy to these decisions and should see a financial benefit. It was very disheartening to see millions spent on putting the homeless population in a warehouse during the Super Bowl when they could’ve been housed in their own homes for a year for less.
I’m tired of the facade of New Orleans. A city we spray and tie down when company is over but is barely being held together. We need to stop using infrastructural band-aids and invest in longevity.
Mandie Landry AGE 46
12TH WARD
The first thing the new mayor will do is hire good people. People ready to work around the clock, who want to do their job and know what it requires. I’d hire an outside consultant to sift through resumes/applications to determine basic competence for the position (no political favors). Interviews probably by panel. Nothing will be accomplished if we don’t have solid people in place.
PHOTO BY KAT KIMBALL
PHOTO BY GEORGIA PEYTON
Andrew Stephens
AGE 31
11TH WARD
Autonomy. Specifically through affordability by addressing root causes like skyrocketing housing prices (increase housing stock, boot Air BnB from the city, and upzone throughout neighborhoods to increase density) and transportation (cruise ship fees to fund the ferries, adding street cars and lines to connect the entire city, dramatically increasing bus stock & route reliability).
You can’t just say “culture” and expect people to move / stay here. It goes so far beyond ‘city services working’ — people’s trash getting picked up is nice but it also completely ignores the true, existential issues facing this city.
GAMBIT: While fixing what ails the city is important, so is thinking about a better future. It not only makes the world better, it helps give people hope and something to strive for. As the mayor’s advisor, this is your JFK “we’re going to the moon” speech moment. What is one thing the new mayor could do that’s not necessarily tied to a specific problem (though it could be) that would be aspirational in nature?
ANDREW: Give the residents [hope] that something other than an inevitable slide
into fascism (and the ocean) is possible. This is one of the poorest, least educated states in the country and its biggest city is leading the nation in population loss. Yet, when you turn to the mayoral candidates, there is nothing but lipstick on a pig and duct taped, half measures proposed. Facial recognition, the proliferation of ICE, the NOPD constantly over budget and lacking any transparency, the criminalization of the homeless ... ALL while our power goes out more than any other major city in hurricane alley.
This city requires imaginative thinking and I resent the fact that all three major candidates attempt to abdicate responsibility over their future [responsibility for] shaping the future of the city as longtime elected officials. I simply do not believe any of the proposed candidates can address the urgency of New Orleans’ future.
GEORGIA: Put some more funding into our parks, and in the less populated parts of the city, we could try to help wildlife. We should put more effort into helping the unhoused community. Maybe nonviolent incarcerated people could help make dishes for unhoused people for when they finally move in to housing because they will need dishes and incarcerated people need hobbies?
ALEXIS: To make New Orleans the most equitable, climate-resilient and culturally vibrant city in the country by 2040. This isn’t about a single program, it’s about reimagining how we live, work and care for one another in the city shaped by struggle and strength.
RACHEL: The world is experiencing a climate crisis, and New Orleans is at the center of it. An improbable city to begin with, below sea level, that was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, has been rebuilt despite the naysayers who said it was not worth it to restore. What if, instead of being known as a city that is chronically unprepared for weather disasters, we became a city at the forefront of climate preparedness? What if we learned to live with the water, designing waterways and green spaces that work in
harmony with the heavy rains we experience? What if we expanded projects that reverse coastal erosion and rebuilt the wetlands?
There are many community-based organizations in the city already engaged in this work, such as Sankofa Wetland Park in the Lower 9th Ward. What if we invested in these organizations and became a model of an eco-friendly city? This would not only make New Orleans a more viable place to live, but also create new jobs in the environmental sector.
We could transform the narrative from New Orleans being a city perpetually on the brink of disaster to a city that leads the way in resilience, innovation and sustainable living.
MANDIE: My greatest dream for New Orleans is that the city center would look AND FUNCTION like a beautiful European/Latin American city center, and all of the neighborhoods would fit together like a puzzle around it. Transportation and water problems would all be solved because we’d be technologically up to date, everywhere.
Ingrid: If we want to move beyond just reacting to crisis after crisis, then we’ve got to think big, and think long-term. For me, that starts with restoring our coast. Louisiana is literally disappearing. We’re losing a football field of wetlands every 100 minutes. This is an extremely important part of our communities, since it’s our buffer from storms, protects our seafood economy, and our connection to the river and land. The mayor should step up and be a vocal champion for bringing back major restoration projects. Especially the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project! That work protects us, creates jobs, and opens the door for real eco-tourism tied to the communities that live along the Mississippi.
New Orleans has always been shaped by water. It’s time we start shaping it back; with urgency, with pride, and with a vision that people can believe in.
Khiry: I would love a pledge to keep this city as a beacon and a sanctuary. A place that is welcoming and inclusive to those in need. I don’t need to hear another candidate talk about
being “tough on crime.” I want to hear what we are doing to help people.
KRISTEN: Include the youth!! When I graduated from Edna Karr High School in 2004, my plan was to never return to New Orleans because I saw no exciting promises for my future. 21 years later, it’s the same. My young nieces and cousins are off to college and don’t see a reason to return. Young people I speak with consistently report feeling unseen and not listened to.
What would it look like to build a city that centers young people? The future is being created right now and, in this moment, there is so much to learn from young people. We need young people’s input to help create the future they wish to see.
GAMBIT: New Orleans is bleeding people. A 2024 poll found that more than 40% of New Orleanians expected to move out of the city in the coming years. Meanwhile, while we may be great at attracting tourists, we’re not doing a great job of bringing people home – or bringing in new residents committed to lifting up and moving forward New Orleans.
What steps would you recommend the new mayor take to not only stop losing people, but to bring back those that have left and make our city a place people would want to move to for the rest of their lives?
KRISTEN: For too long New Orleans has centered tourism and visitors with little regard for community. The next mayor has to prioritize community by showing community members that this is a place where they can thrive no matter their station in life — from raising children, living alone, building a business and growing old to any of the infinite ways people choose to live.
We can start with expanding community health and wellness care, affordable options to live and leisure, education that serves all youth and prepares them for their future, and an articulated plan to address climate concerns.
PHOTO BY KAT KIMBALL
RACHEL: People are leaving New Orleans because they no longer believe it is safe. Research shows there are proven ways to reduce crime, including:
• Universal pre-K programs.
• Access to safe, stable housing.
• Community-based mental health and substance use treatment services.
• Targeted job development programs that provide both soft skills and technical training needed to enter the workforce.
• Support for people returning home from incarceration, including housing, healthcare, identification documents and living-wage employment.
• Communitybased violence prevention programs. New Orleans must begin investing in these evidence-based strategies rather than relying on ineffective, punitive methods that have made Louisiana the incarceration capital of the world without creating real safety. Despite what the headlines may suggest, New Orleans is currently experiencing a historic low in crime, and some researchers point to
COVID-19 relief funds, which supported community-based programs like those listed above, as a contributing factor. Expanding investments in these programs will not only make our city safer, but will also strengthen neighborhoods, create opportunity, and ensure that the most vulnerable members of our community are protected and uplifted.
GEORGIA: I would say first, we have to fix up damaged parts of the city. We also need more community, like more events in City Park. In New York, they do games and yoga in Central Park, and we could do that in City Park and be like the new New York aka New Orleans. We should plant more things and share more TikTok videos of actual authentic New Orleans culture to make people who have moved away really homesick. We also should remind them that our food is better than anywhere else. If you go anywhere else, you will never think your food is seasoned right because it won’t be.
ALEXIS: To stop people from leaving and make New Orleans a place where people want to
stay, return and build their lives, the city must invest in true affordability and stability. That means prioritizing pathways to homeownership, not just rental development, and focusing housing efforts in historically overlooked neighborhoods like New Orleans East and Algiers. Supporting community land trusts and anti-displacement policies will help keep families rooted in the communities they’ve long called home.
The city should also launch a “Come Home NOLA” initiative — offering relocation grants or down payment assistance to returning residents, incentivizing remote workers with ties to New Orleans, and lifting up powerful stories of those who’ve come back to invest in their neighborhoods.
At the same time, we must re-center city services around residents, not tourists, by improving infrastructure, transit and safety in areas beyond the French Quarter, and making it easier for families to raise children here with quality schools, childcare and youth programs.
Finally, we must double down on cultural pride and inclusion by investing in local artists, immigrant-owned businesses and community-led cultural spaces that reflect the full diversity of our city.
When we make residents feel wanted, needed and truly seen — and give them
a real voice in shaping the future — we don’t just stop the population decline. We become a city that people are proud to come home to and stay in for life.
KHIRY: The city has shown itself to simply not work. New Orleans is outward facing. Everything we do as a city is to court tourism. The entire city is the service industry, no matter your actual job. Unfortunately as long as we are a blue city, we will face antagonism from the state and federal government, which means some funds we generate are not in our control. We need to be able to properly advocate for the funds we generate in order to use them to restore the infrastructure on our terms. We need to end the corruption of the utility companies that provide terrible inconsistent service and then overcharge us. We need to stop putting people through the system just to earn money.
MANDIE : People have always been willing to put up with so much New Orleans insanity because it was relatively cheap to live here. Why stay if you can’t even find cheap housing? I don’t know how you solve “housing” just like I don’t know how you solve “weather.” But in order to stop the outflow, insurance and rent need to *at minimum* remain stable. If you want
people to move back, they need to be sure that they can own or rent a nice place for less than what they’d pay in Houston or Atlanta.
INGRID: People don’t leave New Orleans because they stop loving it, they leave because they stop believing they can build a stable life here. And I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve worked in the arts scene here for years, alongside musicians, performers, designers ... people who poured everything into this city. But I can’t count how many of them I’ve watched pack up and leave. Not because they wanted to, but because it just stopped making sense to stay.
If we want people to stick around, or come back, we’ve got to rebuild that sense of possibility. That starts with restoring confidence. We need to show people that New Orleans is serious about its future: that we’re acting on coastal erosion, fixing infrastructure, and making the city safer and more livable, both literally and politically.
Then, we need to reinvest in our communities, especially our young people. That means creating real, accessible programs. Not just glossy initiatives that no one can get to because there’s no transportation. We need to make teens feel like they belong here and like their voices matter. And lastly, we’ve got to get serious about diversifying
our economy. I love this city’s cultural scene, but we can’t rely on tourism alone to keep us afloat. Especially in the off-season, too many folks, artists included, are stuck scrambling. Bringing in other industries and job opportunities gives people more reason to stay and plant roots.
Tourists may visit for the music, the food and the culture. But residents? We stay when we believe we’ve got a future here. It’s time to prove that New Orleans still has one.
Andrew: You have to tip the scales back towards “all this bullshit is worth dealing with to live here.”
This is not “discounted parking for the summer months for qualified downtown workers,” it’s things like free transit to anyone making less than $40,000/ year, qualified rent stabilized affordable housing units in dense areas of town accessible to things like transit and jobs, grid hardening infrastructure from places like Entergy so our power doesn’t continually go out instead of PILOT programs and selling gas utilities to private equity. Things that an actual progressive would do. Not just one who purports to be for votes.
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EAT + DRINK
Seven seas
Nanami Sushi opens on Magazine Street by Beth D’Addono |
NOTHING THRILLS CHEF YUWA
TOMIHIRA MORE THAN INTRODUCING his guests to a new fish from Japan. That’s why he flies fish in from Pacific waters and elsewhere at Nanami Sushi Diner & Onigiri.
Tomihira officially opened Nanami on Sept. 2 at 2901 Magazine St., across from French Truck Coffee, with his wife Amy and his father, Allan Ng. The restaurant does things the Japanese way, and the local sushiverse seems to approve.
While there are plenty of local sushi restaurants that like to play fusion and feature cream cheese in all kinds of maki rolls, this is not one of them. Here, tradition rules.
Born in Okinawa to a Japanese mother and a Chinese father, Tomihira was customarily given his mother’s Japanese last name to tie him to his home country. His family came to New Orleans in 2006 to take care of his father’s parents, who lived in Kenner.
Tomihira, now 34, has trained for 12 years as a sushi chef, starting at Origami in 2013. It’s a passion project that connects him deeply to his culture.
“My dad knew the owner at Origami,” he says. “She offered me a job, the chance to learn some skills and make a more informed decision. The first day, she had me working the sushi bar.”
The chef found his vibe, and as word got around, Masako “Peggy” Kamata, the now retired owner of Shogun, came calling. She offered him a job, and at Shogun he met his mentor, sushi master Seiji Nakano, who now runs Seiji’s Omakase in Little Tokyo Restaurant on Causeway Boulevard.
“Seiji asked if I really wanted to learn the Japanese traditional way, and of course I said yes,” Tomihira says.
Despite his experience, his new teacher wouldn’t let him even touch the fish for a while, let alone cut it.
“I was washing a lot of rice in the beginning,” Tomihira says. “I was young and wanted to hurry up and learn, but in Japan an apprenticeship takes eight years.”
Working with Japanese chefs changed his perspective and led him to become more passionate about the craft. “I decided this was my calling,” he says.
He took a detour to work for another brilliant chef in Vail, Colorado, chef Takeshi Osaki. Osaki used traditional methods and flew fish in daily to use at the restaurant.
After returning to New Orleans and Shogun, he met his wife.
The chef and his father talked for years about opening their own place. Ng already was running his own auto repair business, but he’s also a cook in his own right. With the help of a few Japanese cooks in the kitchen at Nanami, he handles dishes like hand-made gyoza, tempura items, pork katsu and karaage chicken, the popular Japanese-style fried chicken.
Nanami’s lunch menu includes hand rolls, cooked appetizers like crispy tuna rice and bento box specials for $18.50. There is a variety of onigiri, or rice balls wrapped in seaweed and filled with the likes of salted salmon, miso eggplant or tuna with mayo.
At dinner, there are hand rolls and sushi rolls, or for $111, he offers Japanese-style tapas, with nine pieces of fish, soup and dessert. The 20-course omakase menu is around $200 (depending on the fish), but it’s only available with at least a day’s advance notice.
For now, the restaurant has a bring your own alcohol policy, with no corkage fee.
Diners at the seven-person sushi bar can watch Tomihira at work. Besides a range of sashimi, nigiri and daily specials, there are several seasonal crudos on the menu, which could include wild salmon marinated in sweet miso and served with shiso sauce and fruity ponzu.
Named for Tomihira’s daughter, Nanami means “seven seas.” The fish he serves come mostly from the Pacific and the Sea of Japan, such as sea bream, cherry blossom snapper and black snapper. He sources wild salmon from the cold water of the North Atlantic surrounding the Faroe Islands.
On a recent weekday, eight fish were in the case along with the chef’s dry-aged tuna and wild salmon, including uni and octopus sourced from Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. The chef and his father pick up the order of Japanese fish weekly at the airport.
“We wouldn’t trust a delivery service with our fish,” Ng says.
Diners have embraced the variety they source, Tomihira says.
“In other places I’ve worked, people always get the same fish,” he says. “Here, they want to taste a new kind of fish if I have it, and the person sitting next to them wants to try it, too.”
Bakehouse Best Chef
AT AYU BAKEHOUSE, BOUDIN MAKES A HANDY BREAKFAST wrapped in delicate sheets of pastry for the “boudin boy.” The muffuletta sticks manage to contain all the olive salad and salumi goodness from the monstrous full sandwich in snack form. And at the holidays, Ayu’s cheery “challahgator” loaves become table centerpieces, picked apart almost reluctantly because they’re so darn cute.
These are some of the hallmarks of this Frenchmen Street bakery cafe, with a fun, creative approach to combining family tradition, different culinary influences and local flavor. It swiftly won a local following. Now its co-founder has picked up a high-profile national accolade.
Kelly Jacques was named by Food & Wine to its 2025 class of Best New Chefs, an annual national honor she shares with nine others across the country this year.
The chefs represent what Food & Wine considers “the most promising and dynamic chefs right now,” culinary talents who are “shaping American dining with food that tells their story.”
Over the years, Food & Wine’s list has identified some luminaries of the industry early in their careers, including Thomas Keller,
Amy Tomihira, chef Yuwa Tomihira and Allan Ng opened Nanami Sushi.
PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT
Kelly Jacques prepares pasty in the kitchen at Ayu Bakehouse.
PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Tom Colicchio, David Chang, Nobu Matsuhisa and Daniel Boulud. This year’s list is part of Food & Wine’s October issue.
Jacques, a Tulane University graduate, was a pastry cook at Emeril Lagasse’s NOLA in the French Quarter and once had a bike-based bread delivery service called the Bikery.
Winging it in Metairie
WHAT STARTED AS A FOOD POP-UP THAT SERVED FRIED CHICKEN around the New Orleans metro area — from Jefferson to St. Bernard Parish — is now a small restaurant near Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie.
She created Ayu with business partner Samantha Weiss, whom she met during culinary school in New York. They later worked together at Breads Bakery, a hugely popular bakery in that city.
They opened Ayu in 2022, taking the name (pronounced like “bayou”) from an Indonesian term for joy. It’s a reference to one line of Jacques’ family roots in Southeast Asia, and that also accounts for a subtle Asian seam running through some of the bakery’s offerings.
Just a few months after opening, Ayu turned heads with its first king cakes as Carnival season began in 2023. There was a savory version that year, and a decadent chocolate babka rendition that returns annually. But it was Jacques’ take on the traditional New Orleans king cake that catapulted it into the higher ranks of this Carnival season obsession.
The exterior looks like a croissant and gives the same kind of crinkly-crackly texture when you bite in, followed by layer after layer of fluffy dough shot through with cinnamon. In 2024, it topped a NOLA.com readers’ poll of best king cakes.
Food & Wine’s annual list of best new chefs is considered a high honor in culinary circles.
Among New Orleans chefs, Frank Brigtsen was in the first-ever Best New Chefs class in 1988, followed a year later by Susan Spicer.
Other local chefs to receive the honor include Michael Gulotta (then of MoPho and Maypop, now of TANA), Sue Zemanick (then of Gautreau’s, now of Zasu), Ian Schnoebelen (then of Mariza, later of Rosalita’s Tacos), Greg Sonnier (Gabrielle), John Besh (then of Artesia in Abita Springs, now of BRG Hospitality), John Harris (Lilette, Bouligny Tavern), Nina Compton (Compere Lapin and Bywater American Bistro), Ana Castro (then of Lengua Madre, now of Acamaya) and, last year, Nicole Cabrera Mills (Peche Seafood Grill). — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune
OPPA Korean Fried Chicken has taken over the space at 3327 Severn Ave. left by Wishing Town Restaurant and Bakery after it moved to a new location a few blocks away.
OPPA owner Phi Vu had wanted to open a chicken-focused restaurant since he was a freshman in high school.
His distinctly textured chicken wing was so recognizable that during a blind tasting to judge the Food Fight competition, I immediately knew in the first bite that I was having Vu’s wings.
It went on to get second place in that competition behind the New Orleans classic Willie Mae’s. Korean-style fried chicken wings are known for their extra crispy and crunchy exterior that maintains the juiciness of the chicken. OPPA’s batter is a little different in that it’s gluten-free, so it has an eggshell exterior that allows it to stay crispy, even when diners take the meal back home.
Customers can choose from a handful of sauce options, including spicy Korean sauce. This sauce has a gochujang flavor that perfectly balances the spicy chili notes with a gentle sweetness.
The main focus for this restaurant is its chicken wings, but there are options like bulgogi fries and kimchi to complement it. — Chelsea Shannon / The
OPPA’s Korean-style fried chicken wings
PHOTO BY CHELSEA SHANNON / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Orawin Yimchalam
Chef by Will Coviello
ORAWIN YIMCHALAM LEARNED TO COOK IN HER MOTHER’S RESTAURANT outside of Bangkok, Thailand. She went into hospitality and worked at a hotel inside the capital, where she was introduced to her second favorite cuisine, Italian food. She later worked on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean and then a Ritz-Carlton outside the San Francisco Bay Area. She got married and moved to Baton Rouge, where she opened her first restaurant. After the pandemic, she relocated to New Orleans and opened Thaihey NOLA in the French Quarter, and it has Italian accents, like a version of arancini with Thai flavors. This summer, she expanded with a Thai food stall at the St. Roch Market, and followed up two weeks ago with an Italian food stall called Padrona, which means “female boss” in Italian. For more information, visit strochmarket. com or @thaiheynola on Instagram.
Why did you open a Thai stall at St. Roch Market?
ORAWIN YIMCHALAM: I like the concept of the market. You meet the local people, and they get to try different food. I have done that before at White Star Market in Baton Rouge. I did that before Covid. I started in January 2020, and two and a half months later White Star Market closed down.
I was looking at St. Roch Market several years ago to expand. It’s hard to find a (restaurant) location because it’s so much money to start up. I wanted to expand because I need local people to get to know Thaihey. St. Roch Market didn’t have Thai food. I contacted Kevin (Pedeaux, who runs St. Roch) and did a tasting at Thaihey, and they loved it. So I said OK, let’s do this.
I opened in June. It’s almost the same concept as Thaihey NOLA, but a little different. I still have okra fries and arancini. I need those because my locals sometimes don’t want to drive to the French Quarter because of the parking. They’re happy to see me at the market. We focus on seasonal things. We have okra fries and a catfish salad. We have barbecued pork ribs. We have the curry. We do noodles, but we can’t stir fry because we don’t have a wok here. For appetizers, we do crawfish rangoons. Crab rangoons are very popular, and people already know about them, so I do a Louisiana twist.
For an entree, I make a Thai sloppy joe. Seven years ago on the Fourth of July, we had a barbecue, and I had a lot of buns left over. I had some burger meat. So I cooked it with Thai basil and then topped it with an egg fried sunny-side up and put it on a burger bun. I put some Thai spices in it. I call it Thai Slap Ya Moma.
We need customers to enjoy each (location). They can have fried catfish salad here, and then on another day they can have fried catfish with pumpkin curry at Thaihey NOLA (in the French Quarter).
It’s like a bistro menu at St. Roch. I like nice decorations and preparations. I enjoy doing that.
How did you get interested in Italian food?
Y: In Bangkok, I worked at a hotel. I worked at the lobby bar, but the hotel had Thai and Italian food. I had to sell the food, so we had a training and tasted all the food. I also used to travel. My first trip to Europe, I went to Italy, France and Switzerland.
In Thailand, Italian food is popular. At the hotel was where I started to learn about international foods. I like Italian food, so I started to cook it myself. I started cooking pasta all the time. There was an international
market. I got garlic, basil and chili. When I had nothing to eat at my house, I’d have a pack of pasta and garlic, chili, basil, olive oil and white wine. I’d make that. It’s very basic, but delicious. I traveled to Italy when I was working on a cruise ship. We went all over the Mediterranean.
I had good pizza and lamb. I went to Naples and had seafood and buffalo mozzarella cheese. I went to Venice and got caprese, and it opened my world. I didn’t know Italy had the best tomatoes. So delicious. I was not a big fan of tomatoes, but when I ate them there, they were so sweet. Italian food is my second choice after Thai food.
What is on the Padrona menu?
Y: For the Italian stall, I have osso buco and risotto. I have eggplant Parmesan. It’s beautiful. I serve it with home-made marinara sauce and pomodoro sauce.
We have a risotto, and that’s seasonal. So I might play with crawfish or some other protein, or pumpkin when that’s in season.
I am going to have chicken Alfredo. I am still waiting on some imported things. I am going to have a big wheel of Parmesan and use the cheese with the Alfredo. I am keeping the dishes traditional but playing with the decoration. I keep everything fresh and keep it authentically Italian.
I had a crawfish panini for a Louisiana twist.
I haven’t added any Thai flavors, but I may. At the Thai food stall, I made yellow curry and served it with crab and shrimp ravioli.
Right now I do lemon gelato. When I am set up and everything is on track, I am going to do tiramisu. The menu can change when I have different inspirations.
It’s fun. I enjoy seeing people, talking to them and introducing the food. It’s not like keeping myself in the kitchen like before. Now I can see how people enjoy it.
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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. $
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
$ — average dinner entrée under $10
$$ $11-$20
$$$ — $20-up
etouffee, po-boys and more. Outdoor seating available on balcony. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes 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. $$
Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and sharable plates like NOLA Tot Debris. A slow-cooked pulled pork barbecue sandwich is served with coleslaw on a brioche bun. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 513-2606; legacykitchen.com — The selection of steak and chops includes filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, top sirloin and double pork chops and a la carte toppings include bernaise, blue cheese and sauteed crabmeat. There also are burgers, salads, pasta, seafood entrees, char-broiled oysters and more. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The menu of Japanese cuisine includes sushi, signature rolls, tempura items, udon noodle dishes, teriyaki, salads and more.The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado, snow crab, green onion and wasabi roe. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$
Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and spaghetti Bordelaise and chicken cacciatore. Chicken a la grands is sauteed with garlic, rosemary, Italian herbs and white wine. 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, char-grilled and raw oysters, salads and more. Side items include carrot souffle, mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato tots and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$
Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese and garlic butter, and other options include oysters Rockefeller and loaded oysters. The creative menu also includes seafood bread, a Cajun-lobster potato, wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood pasta, loaded fries and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$
Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro — 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers cheese boards and appetizers to nosh with wines. The menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$
Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill. com — The menu includes a variety of burgers, sandwiches, wraps, pizza and salads. For an appetizer, sauteed andouille is served with fig preserves, blue cheese and toast points. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
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. $$
mix of pop, indie rock, electronica, krautrock, post-rock, avant-garde, samba and bossa nova — and that just scratches the surface of their influences. In the ’90s and 2000s, the band released 10 full-length albums and several compilations before going on hiatus for a decade. Stereolab reformed in 2019 and earlier this year released its first album in 15 years, “Instant Holograms on Metal Film.” At 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Civic Theatre. Tickets are $44 via civicnola.com.
Caitlin Pelufo
Comedian Caitlin Peluffo has a big, brassy presence on stage, and while she’s not as loud with guests on her YouTube show Quiz Bitch, she can be just as hilariously pressing and clinical. She performs at 7 & 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, and Saturday, Sept. 20, at Sports Drink. Tickets $31.24 via sportsdrink.org.
‘Critical Mass’
Deb Margolin’s play “Critical Mass” explores the allure and sting of opinion and criticism, as a company of actors tries to impress a theater critic who’s on stage. In a meta spin, local theater critic Brian Sands plays the critic in some shows. There’s dark humor in how the piece holds up a mirror for everyone in the production to see. Intramural Theater presents the show 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, through Monday, Sept. 22, and continuing Sept. 26-29 at Marigny Opera House. Suggested donation $25. Find information at intramuraltheater.org.
musician Juan Luis Guerra. The balcony concert starts at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, and is free to attend. The show also will be streamed at facebook.com/nolajazzmuseum.
Marc Armitano Domingo
New York-based artist Marc Armitango Domingo is a musician and researcher who specializes in the salterio, a dulcimer popular in Spain, Italy and colonial Latin America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Domingo will perform with the instrument and talk about its history in the Americas during the New Orleans Museum of Art’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Curator Orlando Hernandez Ying also will give a gallery talk about select works at NOMA. The event starts at 6 p.m. and is included with museum admission, which is free on Wednesdays for Louisiana residents. Find more info at noma.org.
Juice
Trumpeter Julian Gosin can regularly be seen with The Soul Rebels, and under his solo moniker Juice, he blends together hip-hop, pop and New Orleans brass. Recently, Juice has been showing support for PBS through his Instagram with New Orleans twists on the themes to “Arthur” and “The Magic School Bus.” Juice next performs live at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, at the Dew Drop Inn. Tickets are $23.99 via dewdropinnnola.com.
Love and Unity Reggae Jam
Franz Ferdinand
The Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand broke out of the U.K. to international acclaim two decades ago with a string of good albums, culminating in a 2022 greatest hits compilation. Early this year, they released “The Human Fear,” an album of new work. Master Peace opens at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at The Joy Theater. Tickets $51.30 and up via ticketmaster.com.
Jafet Perez
The New Orleans Jazz Museum celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of free concerts Sept. 16 through Oct. 25 featuring New Orleans artists of Latin and Afro-Latin descent. Drummer Jafet Perez, a Dominican Republic native who plays with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and others, will open the series with a tribute show to Grammy-winning Dominican
Electronic artists and DJs Santero, IFE and DJ O are teaming up for a night of roots, dub, rock steady and dancehall on Saturday, Sept. 20, at CANOA on St. Claude Avenue. The Love and Unity event also will include Caribbean-style food vendors, arts vendors, drinks and cocktails and domino tables. Festivities start up at 9 p.m., and admission is $10 at the door. Find more information on Instagram: @love.and.unity.nola.
Mega Ran
Indie rapper and producer Mega Ran is a dynamic, clever lyricist and often rolls his love of video games, anime, sports and WWE into his music. He comes through New Orleans on Saturday, Sept. 20, for a show at NOLA Mix Records with locals Alfred Banks, Kaye the Beast and DJ Novi. The music starts at 1 p.m. and is free. Find more info on Instagram: @nola_mix_records.
Sen. John Kennedy thinks radioactive shrimp will turn you into an alien
LOUISIANA REPUBLICAN AND NOTED FOGHORN LEGHORN COSPLAY enthusiast Sen. John Kennedy says radioactive shrimp “from other countries” will turn you into an alien – or at least make you grow an extra ear. Because of course.
“This is a photograph of the alien from the movie ‘Alien.’ This is what you could end up looking like if you eat some of the raw, frozen shrimp being sent to the United States by other countries,” Kennedy, who clearly has never actually seen the movie, said during a speech on the actual floor of the United States Senate.
“How could you end up looking like the alien in ‘Alien?’ Because the shrimp is radioactive. I kid you not ... even if it doesn’t kill you from eating this stuff, I guarantee you’ll grow an extra ear,” added Kennedy, who apparently learned everything he knows about science from an episode of “The Simpsons.” The folks at Forbes captured the full, unhinged speech on their YouTube channel.
The FDA recently issued recalls for some frozen shrimp sold in grocery stores because it may be contaminated by low levels of radiation. Of course, that isn’t great, but it absolutely will not turn you into alien or cause you to grow an extra ear.
Also, “Alien” is a work of fiction and not a documentary.
Kennedy’s speech is just the latest incident in which the Oxford educated Republican has embarrassed the state. When he’s not faking a weird folksy accent or saying wildly racist
things about Mexicans, Kennedy enjoys reading literature to his fellow lawmakers – most notably his cursed recitation of a passage from “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” including such memorable lines as “I put some lube on and got him on his knees, and I began to slide into him from behind.”
Meanwhile, the state’s other U.S. senator, Bill Cassidy, is catching intraparty fire from Gov. Jeff Landry.
After dangerous anti-vax conspiracy theorist and brainworm host turned U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr made it incredibly difficult for Louisianans to obtain COVID vaccinations, Cassidy, a medical doctor, urged the state’s surgeon general to issue a blanket “prescription” for residents.
That prompted Landry to put on his Pick Me pants and use his X account to troll Cassidy. “The last time I checked you have a prescription pad, why don’t you just leave a prescription for the dangerous Covid shot at your district office and anyone can swing by and get one! I am sure big pharma would love you for that one!” Landry wrote in what he presumably thought was the sickest of burns that would please his leader, President Donald Trump.
COVID vaccines are not dangerous, and taking medical advice from the Clown Fish is not recommended.
— John Stanton
2025 SCHOOL GUIDE
In-depth School Profles
Sen. John Kennedy being super weird again on the Senate floor. YOUTUBE SCREEN CAPTURE
To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com
FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Doyle Cooper Band, 1 pm; Sazerac Jazz Band, 5 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band with Mike Fulton, 8 pm
GASA GASA — Bread For Sale with Left Hook and DJ Zevyman, 9 pm
HOUSE OF BLUES Destin Conrad, 8 pm
MAPLE LEAF Joe Krown, Cass Faulconer, Eric Bolivar & Papa Mali, 9 pm
OLD ARABI LIGHTHOUSE RECORDS AND BOOKS Open Mic Night with Host Mackenzie Nine, 5 pm
OSCAR DUNN PARK — World Honesty Day, 2 pm
PRYTANIA BAR — Mason Howard, 8 pm
STUDIO SAINT PHILIP — Morning Ragas - Hindustani Sarode Concert, 11 am
GOING OUT
Bugging Out
By Will Coviello
IN CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S “OVO,” A FLY CARRYING A GIANT EGG ON HIS BACK
ARRIVES in a forest bustling with insects. They’re alarmed by the foreigner and also enthralled by the egg. And one ladybug is attracted to the fly.
As the fly courts the ladybug, other insects steal the egg, and the action unfolds in the revamped and relaunched “OVO,” which comes to the Smoothie King Center Sept. 18-21.
When it premiered in 2009, the show hit a lot of milestones for the Canadian-based, modern circus company. It marked the company’s 25th anniversary, and it was the first Cirque du Soleil show directed by a woman, Brazilian choreographer Deborah Colker. “OVO” means egg in Portuguese, and the show dipped into other Brazilian elements, including a Brazilian-inspired score.
the environment, but it celebrates the wonder of nature.
The show is set in a forest made of giant plants, like massive hibiscus flowers. Their scale makes the performers look the right size as brilliantly costumed insects.
All sorts of traditional and new circus acts fit the energetic lives of insects, who buzz and fly about on wings or maneuver on six legs. A crew of ants jump from one towering plant stem to another in a Chinese poles acrobatics act. Other red ants shoulder the burdens of all sorts of work around the colony, and they foot juggle giant fruits and vegetables. Jumping crickets fly through the air, going back and forth from trampolines to a 60-foot climbing wall.
A couple of butterflies soar in an aerial act on wires, while another butterfly undergoes metamorphosis on an aerial silk.
Other creatures include spiders, dragonflies and beetles, and the troupe performs on slackwires, aerial nets and a trapeze-like cradle. Some of the creatures are whimsical inventions, like the hairy Creatura.
At the center of the action, the egg grows and is the centerpiece in a story of rebirth and transformation.
Colker imagined the incredible diversity and riches of the Brazilian rain forest to create the show. The piece doesn’t have overt messages about
Berna Ceppas created the music, which incorporates bossa nova, funk and more. A seven-piece ensemble with electric guitars, violin, accordion and percussion performs it live.
Colker started her career as a dancer, and as a choreographer created her own company, Companhia de Danca Deborah Colker, which toured the world. She also worked for Rio de Janeiro’s oldest Carnival samba school, Mangueira. Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte liked her energetic style, use of space and disregard for formal boundaries, so he recruited her to create “OVO,” which she wrote, choreographed and directed. She later served as director of movement for the 2016 Olympic summer games in Rio.
“OVO” has been a popular show for the company, seen by more than 7 million people in 40 countries. Cirque is still headquartered in Quebec, where it was founded. It currently has five resident shows in Las Vegas and numerous touring productions.
“OVO” originally was performed in and toured as a tent show. In 2014, it was expanded for arena stages. Last year, as “OVO” was set to notch its 15th anniversary, Colker and Cirque updated it for a new arena tour. The latest updates add new acrobatic acts and changes and updates the musical score.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY MARIE-ANDREE LEMIRE
HAND GRENADE
MISSED AN ISSUE?
The divine feminine
Sandi DuBowski brings ‘Sabbath Queen’ documentary to New Orleans
by Will Coviello
WHEN FILMMAKER SANDI DUBOWSKI WENT TO JERUSALEM IN THE 1990S LOOKING FOR GAY ORTHODOX JEWS to interview for his film “Trembling Before G-d,” he was told the same thing over and over.
“Well, you should talk to the Chief Rabbi of Israel’s gay nephew,” DuBowski told Gambit in an interview.
DuBowski met Amichai Lau-Lavie, who opted not to be in the film. But later in New York, DuBowski asked again, this time about filming Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross.
The outrageous, big-haired woman was Lau-Lavie’s new drag alter ego. Lau-Lavie describes the outspoken Gross as a “Hungarian sex advisor, matchmaker, kabbalist.”
Gross emerged when Lau-Lavie moved from his native Israel to New York in the late 1990s. While Orthodox Judaism rejects homosexuality, LauLavie stepped into Gross’s personality as an artistic performance and then a turn onto the path that led to him being ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. DuBowski chronicles that unique journey in his documentary “Sabbath Queen.”
“This is a fairy tale, but it is from the Bible, so it is true,” Hadassah Gross tells a crowd in the film.
DuBowski spent 21 years making the film, and it covers many remarkable phases of Lau-Lavie’s life, from the mantle of being born into a family with a 38-generation line of rabbis to creating a god-optional congregation to becoming ordained.
DuBowski will attend two screenings at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge, where the film runs Sept. 16-21. After the screening on Tuesday, Sept. 16, John Cameron Mitchell, director of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” will lead a talkback with DuBowski, and there’s a party afterward at AllWays Lounge & Theatre. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, DuBowski will be joined by Tulane University professor Golan Moskowitz for a talkback.
In the film, there’s a clip of Gross in a blue dress, white wig, heavy makeup and thick glasses walking into the Dead Sea during Purim, a holiday celebrating the Jews being saved from annihilation. As the footage rolls, Lau-Lavie talks in a voiceover about two visions he has of meeting God in the next world. In one, God asks, “Why didn’t you follow the rules?” And in the other, God asks, “Why didn’t you follow your heart?”
Lau-Lavie has wrestled with those choices all his life. He carries on family traditions dating back to 1100. His grandfather was a rabbi who went with his congregation to their deaths in a Nazi concentration camp. His father moved to Israel in 1945. His uncle Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau was internationally known as Israel’s Chief Rabbi. LauLavie’s brother is an Orthodox rabbi. Lau-Lavie knew he was gay from a young age and was outed while in his 20s. He later went to New York, where he found kindred spirits in the Radical Faeries, a festive gay community that largely rejects traditional religion in favor of more open spirituality. LauLavie also found all sorts of creative outlets and could more openly embrace his homosexuality. There, Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross emerged.
A rebbetzin is a rabbi’s wife, but one who also is a spiritual advisor, particularly to women. Despite Gross’ outrageous looks with makeup and bighaired wigs, she became a vehicle for Lau-Lavie’s interest in recovering the sacred feminine, or “shechina” in Hebrew.
Lau-Lavie also embarked on his own spiritual work. He founded Lab/ Shul, an experimental synagogue that is god-optional. It grew quickly and vibrantly. It also was a welcoming place for interfaith marriage, and none of that is condoned by Orthodox Judaism. DuBowski has long been interested in gay Orthodox Jews, the subject of his 2001 film “Trembling Before G-d.” But he was looking at something more light-hearted in 2003, when he started making the film about Gross and Lau-Lavie.
“In the beginning, I was super into Hadassah,” DuBowski says. “I was into
documenting these performances, not so much about interior psychological depth. But then it got deeper and deeper. It was the act of committing to the unknown and allowing time to be our friend. I don’t think he or I knew it would be a 21-year project. But that’s what gives it its power.”
As he filmed Lau-Lavie, the story evolved. Gross and Lab/Shul developed. Lau-Lavie then wanted to engage Orthodox Judaism, and on its own conservative terms. He entered the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
Lau-Lavie’s brother Binyamin Lau, a rabbi leading his own Orthodox synagogue in Israel, came to his ordination. DuBowski had been filming for 13 years at that point, and it was the first time he broached asking Binyamin Lau to sit for an interview, which he did.
Lau-Lavie’s journey is inspired, and he is candid about it at many points over the years. It’s an excellent exploration of the struggle between abiding by family and rigid, traditional religious codes and human experience that falls outside those worlds.
Could Lau-Lavie change the Orthodox world?
When DuBowski made “Trembling Before G-d,” no parents of gay Orthodox Jews would appear on film, he told Gambit. But when “Sabbath Queen” screened in Jerusalem, numerous Orthodox Lau family members attended the screening, he says, and Binyamin Lau joined them onstage for a talkback.
For more information, visit zeitgeistnola.org.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SANDI DUBOWSKI ‘Sabbath Queen’ screens at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge.
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