New Orleans Magazine October 2004

Flowers: An Arranged Marriage

Call it a European-style invasion. This fall, Britain and France are influencing more than just fashion runways. Wedding flowers are also taking their cues from overseas with intricate bindings, details and unusual combinations of color and flora. According to special-events coordinator Melinda Alfonso and floral designer Tommy Webb at the Plant Gallery, “Florals are like […]

Lagniappe

Trousseau to go

There was a time when a girl’s family began preparing for her marriage the day she was born. Over the years, her mother, grandmother, aunts and sisters would contribute to a collection of embroidered linens, lace and other handcrafted items that were stored in a marriage or “hope” chest until the day of her wedding. […]

Recipes

Pop Art

New Orleans Retro Soda During a recent meal at Zea Rotisserie and Brewery in the Clearview Shopping Center, the waitress offered us home-brewed root beer or the specialty soda of the week, blueberry. Wow, not only does Zea brew its own beer, but the restaurant also makes its own soda pop in a variety of […]

Haunt Hopping: A guide for party ghouls

People are rarely blasé about Halloween – love it, hate it, revere it, scorn it – it is an occasion that brings out strong opinions from all walks of life. New Orleans is one of the rare cities in which adults arguably get more excited about Halloween than children, and that sentiment is reflected in […]

Wellness

Hunting Season and Health Risks

Zoonotic infections are those that travel from animals to humans. Because hunters are at the interface between humans and wild animals, theoretically they should be at increased risk for all sorts of microorganisms. What are the zoonotic and insect-related hazards of hunting in southeastern Louisiana? I called my friends who hunt. “Infections – I don’t […]

Writer Jason Berry: pursued by music

I have written this column across a decade now, and it perdures as a rewarding if slightly schizophrenic experience. The larger measure of my toil divides between focus on Louisiana music and folk culture, which I adore, and a national story, investigating sexual conflicts in the Catholic priesthood. In recent months I have been on […]

The Art of Doing Nothing

In the Caribbean There’s a wooden chair at the Frangipani Hotel in Bequia where there’s a lot of nothing to do. It is situated directly under a coconut tree whose palm fronds rattle like shaka-shakas in the trade winds. The chair is positioned so your back is to the Frangipani’s open-air bar, where a blender […]

Pistol Pete and Friends

Barry Mendelson, promoter, TV producer and entrepreneur, displays two framed memories: a needlepoint picture and a faded photograph of 35,000 people seated in the Superdome. Perhaps worthless in monetary terms, each is priceless in the eyes of the man who ventured to New Orleans 30 years ago to form and promote the New Orleans Jazz […]

Chef’s Choice: Our Annual Best in Dining

When your name is “New Orleans,” albeit the city or the magazine, dining is going to be a major topic. We take seriously our annual challenge of trying to determine the best of the local dining scene. As always, the emphasis is on the new, but we have also looked at others who have made […]

How to Settle on a Metal

Though the diamond is the focal point of an engagement ring, the metal you choose for the band and the setting provides the foundation for what is probably the most important jewelry purchase you’ll ever make. Where to begin? “In general, we encourage people to choose a metal according to skin tone,” says Katy Beh […]

Wellness

Chronit Sunusitis

They told me to get out of New Orleans,” recalls Roger Ogden, reminiscing about some medical advice he received in Denver a few years ago. His self-described “lifetime proclivity” of upper-respiratory-tract allergies lured him to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, an internationally respected treatment and research institute dedicated exclusively to respiratory, immune, and […]

Recipes

Batter Up

Some people hear the phrase “batter up” and head for home plate, bat in hand. I hear that phrase and head to the kitchen, large frying pan in hand. Batter-fried food is a staple of New Orleans cuisine – some may say it’s an obsession. Truly, where would we be without fried okra, shrimp or […]