New Orleans Magazine February 2011

R.I.P. Henry Glover

... and Paul B. Habans

New Orleans Five Star Hospitals

Editor’s Note: We take our health care coverage quite seriously. Whether it’s presenting lists of Top Doctors, Top Dentists or Five-Star Hospitals, we look for companies with a creditable methodology. We concede that no selection method is perfect, yet we know that thoughtful research can provide better references than word-of-mouth. We caution that if a […]

Matters of the Heart

The heart is an energy-hogging muscular pump fueled by oxygen-infused blood flowing through four small coronary arteries. Its electrical, pumping, valve and distribution systems have more backups than the pumps at the Sewerage and Water Board. Any infrastructure is susceptible to decay and breakdown over time; the human heart is no exception. If the heart’s […]

Quintessential Mardi Gras

Recently I was talking to a man who’s an official of the Knights of Hermes. He was effusive about the group’s 2011 parade. “It will be the most beautiful ever,” he exclaimed. He also mentioned the parade’s theme, which is one of those obscure classical legends that only two people along the parade route, if […]

Marching into Mardi Gras

A parade buff’s 10 favorite bands – and where to see them

Capturing Carnival

Images of Carnival History

Marching Orders

2011 Parade Calendar

History

When Rex Met Aida

Cairo, Egypt and New Orleans share the same latitude, 30 degrees, which makes both towns sort of steamy and subtropical – places where vegetation and the spirit sprouts, even in the winter. That was certainly the case in 1871 when an event in Egypt would forever become part of something that was germinating in New Orleans. […]

Cocktails

Last Call

Carnival spirits

NOLA by the Numbers

110 millionNumber of roses sold and delivered for Valentine’s Day 15Percentage of women who send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day 77.43Average dollar amount the average consumer spends on Valentine’s Day gifts 1 billionNumber of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged last year 650 millionNumber of Valentines that children ages 6 to 10 exchange annually 1866The year NECCO […]

Etc.

Eclectic Furnishings at Jon Vaccari

Food + Drink

Dining Features

Classic Favorites at The Creole Grille

First Comes Love…

A step-by-step guide to having the best Valentine's Day ever.

Phyllis Feran

At home with books

Virgilians

The krewe with a difference

A State of Distrust

Trying to make the School Board relevant

History

Lundi Gras at 25

Twenty-five years ago this Carnival season, a new phrase became part of the common language of the celebration, “Lundi Gras.” Meaning “Fat Monday,” the phrase had popped up occasionally in various, mostly aged, publications – especially in reference to Creole traditions – but it wasn’t at all widely used. No publications from that time period […]

Beads as a Business

It’s been more than 40 years since a middle-aged character in the now-classic movie The Graduate counseled young Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, about his future. “I want to say one word to you,” Mr. McGuire advises Braddock. “Plastics.” Depending on interpretation, the line may have simply referred to the growing importance of synthetic […]

Wellness

New Orleans Healthbeat

• According to the results of a 10-year study conducted by French scientists, moderate, regular drinkers exhibited a much lower risk for heart disease than binge drinkers, though the binge drinkers drank less alcohol overall. The study followed several thousand men in France and Ireland; the French drank more alcohol, both by volume and on […]

Blight fight shifts gears

Housing blight remains a pervasive problem across New Orleans, but recently the city has embraced a more comprehensive approach to addressing it. Mayor Mitch Landrieu has set a goal of eliminating or remediating 10,000 blighted properties during the next three years, a goal which, if achieved, would take a big bite out of the estimated […]

Lagniappe

Read & Spin

CD –– With Cassandra Wilson’s latest jazz album, Silver Pony, she had a tough act to follow: herself. Wilson won a Grammy award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 2008’s Loverly, along with other accolades, so her newest project had to up the ante. She recruited a new band chock-full of New Orleanians to find […]

Music + Festivals

Music: Where the Continuum Takes Us

Alvin Batiste, the late clarinetist and influential educator, considered jazz “a continuum.” By that he meant the music made by artists of the past casts an instrumental language into a flow of time that gathers the best work of younger players, extending the vernacular, pushing the current on. Batiste’s roaming lyricism on the reed found […]

Safe haven at Dooky Chase

For generations, visitors and locals have sung the praises of chef Leah Chase and the Creole cuisine at her family’s Dooky Chase Restaurant. This month, however, the chef and restaurateur will be lauded in an entirely different way when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana presents Chase with its Ben Smith Award for […]

Food + Drink

New Orleans Restaurant Insider

February is a pathetic month – the runt of the litter. Most years it’s somewhat redeemed by Mardi Gras, but this year that falls in the greatest of months: March. Coincidentally, March is the month in which I was born. Apropos of nothing, I enjoy single malt scotch, good wine and money. La Dolce Nola, […]

Food + Drink

Table Talk: New Orleans’ Sweet Side

This month I pushed back from the dining room table and stepped up to the counter for some confections and baked goods, as February in New Orleans offers a lot of temptation for those with a sweet tooth. With Carnival shifting into top gear and Valentine’s Day right smack in the middle of the month, […]

Food + Drink

Cooking for Carnival

My introduction to Mardi Gras parties was years ago at a beautiful home along the Thoth parade route. Every year, the hostess served grillades and grits. The experience endeared me to this traditional New Orleans dish and I’ve been making it ever since. The Creoles had several ways of preparing grillades. One was simply frying […]

Streetcars create new development

New Orleans streetcars are transit options that also contribute to the city’s ambiance. But as the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) prepares to begin a new expansion of its streetcar system, it’s becoming clear that they can serve as a powerful economic development tool as well. One year ago, the federal government awarded the […]

Personalities

The Rex Captain

Though he may seem mysterious, this masked man in many ways (like masked superheroes) brings good things to people. In this case, it’s the Rex parade, a dazzling array of floats that roll bright and early on Mardi Gras day with its costumed riders dispensing beads and many more valuable trinkets to eager parade-goers. The […]

Things To Do

Marquee

Our top picks of the month’s events

In the Bag

You ever notice how purses gain weight? Real slow and gradual, just like people do. Then one day you wonder why your shoulder is dislocated. Because you’re carrying, everywhere you go, 20 pounds in pennies, three pounds in gum wrappers, two pounds of used Kleenex, keys to houses you don’t live in no more, a […]

Julia Street With Poydras the Parrot

A MONTHLY PURSUIT OF ANSWERS TO ETERNAL QUESTIONS