Hunting is inextricably woven into the wild fabric of Louisiana’s heritage and culture. A harsh land when first settled, hunting was a necessity of subsistence as well as commerce. The wide diversity of habitat and abundance of game and birds…
Fall makes me think of breakfast, which I love, or — horrors — brunch. The late Anthony Bourdain once contemplated what he might do if his gig as a celebrity came to an end. I could always cook brunch, he…
NEW ORLEANS Let’s Go out to the Movies On October 16-23, the Oscar-qualifying 30th Annual New Orleans Film Festival brings screenings of more than 250 films, including new works such as “Burning Cane,” which recently won the top award, “Best…
Joe Genna and Molton Brasseaux suffered under the heat of an Aug. 28, 1926, evening, longing to see their girlfriends in the southwestern Louisiana sawmill village of Tullos. They hailed a taxi out of DeRidder, driven by the affable Joe…
The veil between death and the living grows thin this month as we head toward All Hallows Eve or Halloween. And since Louisiana has some of the most interesting cemeteries in America, now’s the time to take a tour…
Forget falling temperatures. You know autumn has arrived in Louisiana when festival season kicks into gear. This past weekend I attended the 78th Sugar Cane Festival in New Iberia, an annual celebration held by the historic town that’s surrounded by…
The Georgie G. Johnson Branch of the Rapides Parish Library occupies only three rooms in the old Lecompte High School building but the memories contained there are massive. “Former students visit all the time and they say this was the…
New Orleans with its unique traditions, unusual terrain and colorful residents has long been a haven for writers. Where else can you find such fodder for stories? As Tennessee Williams once…
So many of the nation’s finest writers have called Louisiana home, and I love visiting the places where they wrote, lived and placed their characters. Take James Lee Burke, who grew up in New Iberia and sets his award-winning mystery…
Fall makes me think of breakfast, which I love, or — horrors — brunch. The late Anthony Bourdain once contemplated what he might do if his gig as a celebrity came to an end. I could always cook brunch, he…
NEW ORLEANS Let’s Go out to the Movies On October 16-23, the Oscar-qualifying 30th Annual New Orleans Film Festival brings screenings of more than 250 films, including new works such as “Burning Cane,” which recently won the top award, “Best…
Cajun Asian in Bossier City is the kind of place where magic culinary mash-ups happen. Think Cajun meets Vietnamese meets American and a hint of classic French cuisine. Under the leadership of Chef Ryan Dunning, along with the management of…
When one thinks of saving an architectural treasure in southwest Louisiana, plantation houses with wide porches and sweeping staircases or quaint Acadian cottages encircled with moss-draped oaks come to mind. Not so in the case of Alice and Richard Roth’s…
Casinos are now scattered liberally across Louisiana’s landscape and cityscapes, offering entertainment of many kinds. Since the actual gambling part of gaming houses is pretty much the same everywhere — you do split 8’s against dealer’s 10; you don’t get…
For a long time, it seemed as if the trajectory of Jady Regard’s career would see him climbing the ladder in sales and marketing for professional sports teams. In college at LSU, he was a student manager for the men’s…
My people aren’t hunters. We shoot and we eat, but we don’t shoot what we eat. It’s just not in our DNA, I suppose. At least it doesn’t appear to be part of the genetic makeup of the five generations…
The opulent palaces and forested expanses of foothills stretching up to the highs of the Himalayas were enthralling, but Trishala Bhansali found her creativity molded more by muslins and silk brocade and block prints. The entrepreneur witnessed these among the…
This is a gubernatorial election year, which raises the admittedly dorky question, to me at least: Who was governor 100 years ago? That would be in 1919. Well, it turns out the answer has significance in two of the state’s…
World Championship Gumbo Cookoff Oct. 12-13, New Iberia With more than 20,000 eventgoers expected, the annual Gumbo Cookoff in New Iberia is clearly a popular event. In addition to the cookoff, attendees can participate in the Roux Run, cooking demonstrations…
One of the good things about smartphone technology is it can put a wealth of information at your fingertips. Here are some of the best apps available for health and nutrition info. Most of them are free, too, so there’s…
Mention the name Garland Robinette and most Southeast Louisiana residents over a certain age will recall the once wildly popular New Orleans TV news anchor during the 1970s and ‘80s or the no nonsense “Think Tank” radio talk show host…
I was traveling through north Louisiana with a worldly friend skilled in cooking many cuisines with a concentration in the foods of Asia. I had long heard rumors of a sensational Chinese restaurant in Bossier City with a voluminous wine…
