Cries for Help

  I was evacuated to Arkansas for the storm. In the days following it, my family was glued to the TV and online coverage. I was keeping up with the nola.com forums as people were using it as a bulletin board to locate friends and relatives and to make announcements regarding services. There are...

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Veteran’s Day/Armistice Day

Uncle Pete's letters to his brother Val on the German surrender of 11-11-1918.

Today’s paper came out with all the conditions of the armistice – unconditional surrender I should call it. Why, the terms the beaten Huns accepted do not even leave them with a tooth brush they can call their own. My great-uncle Pete was a...

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The World That Made “Treme”: Ralston Crawford and Jazz

“Brass Band Parade,"by Ralston Crawford.

It’s your last chance to catch “Ralston Crawford and Jazz” at NOMA. On Friday, Oct. 12, NOMA’s “Where Y’Art?” events include book signings by John McCusker of “Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early Years of Jazz,” music by Eileina Williams with Todd Duke, gallery...

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Tales 2012: Kweichow Moutai, the Legendary Spirit of China

Moutai in its tiny serving glass.

The media, or “Resurrection,” room set up on the top floor of the Monteleone for Tales is a blessing. It’s a place to sit down and catch up on...

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Tales of the Cocktail 2012: Larceny Bourbon

Update 08/08/2012, below with a link to some highly recommended reading on bourbon. Regulations. I’ve talked about regulations regarding distilled spirits when writing about absinthe. Absinthe is not as highly...

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On Creole Cuisine, or, What It Means To Be New Orleans, with Richard Collin

The New Orleans Underground Gourmet by Richard Collin, 1973.

The book is a battered paperback, the “New, Revised and Up-to-Date Edition” of The New Orleans Underground Gourmet (subtitled: “Where to find great meals in the city and environs...

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