The Faubourg Marigny boasts several great restaurants — Adolfo’s, Feelings Café and Wasabi, to name just three — but it’s possible that the best dishes to be had anywhere in the lower-lower-Quarter reside at a locale better known for its liquor.

At Mimi’s in the Marigny, the split-level Royal Street bar that’s home to DJ Soul Sister’s weekend spins as well as an enticing assortment of hot and cold tapas, a casual stop-off for drinks quickly can turn into a deconstructed six-course prix fixe. During one recent visit, the parade of small plates began with creamy goat cheese croquettes, hush puppy-sized, pan-fried to a light crust and drizzled with honey; a green salad dressed with a vinegary sherry emulsion and shavings of sharp Manchego cheese; and jumbo Louisiana shrimp, the heads left on, grilled with a crisp jacket of salty Serrano ham. Read the rest of this entry »

The time is upon us… not Mardi Gras, but tax season. Will you be groaning or whoop-whooping your way through your return this year? I’m sure we all hope for a ‘whoop-whoop,’ and Louisiana’s Department of Social Services knows it. Today it issued a press release that might ensure more taxpayers will finish their filing with an ecstatic whoop-whoop over a projected tax refund rather than taxes owed.

DSS and the State of Louisiana are urging working families to find out if they’re eligible for federal Earned Income Tax Credits, and in conjunction with the departments of Revenue and Labor, announced the opening of almost 160 free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites across the state. These VITA sites will provide free tax preparation to low to moderate - income filers and will be open through April 16. Read the rest of this entry »

If you missed last year’s underground theatre event: The Palanquin Diaries, Confessions of a Mardi Gras Queen, you have one more weekend to catch the encore. Assuming of course that you like nudity, snakes, rock music, and can find the venue. But where the heck is the Backyard Ballroom?

Like most things bohemian, the Backyard Ballroom is located in the Bywater. On St Claude and Gallier, next to an empty lot, the large, strately house and its backyard are owned by the playwright, Otter, who co-produced Palanquin Diaries with her partner, Chris Rudge, owner of the Bywater’s Bacchanal wine store. He personally ran back and forth between the backyard and his wine store to “deliver beer”, since he is only licensed to sell alcohol out of the one location.

I brought blankets, assuming the backyard would be cold. Turns out, there’s an indoor theatre space back there. The Bywater is host to a number of new gallery/performance venues these days, such as SideArm Gallery, Barrister’s Gallery, Hi Ho Lounge, and Bacchanal. The Backyard Ballroom offers a narrow stage, curtains, lights and lightboard, sound. And the electrical looked up to code. Even the exits were visibly marked. New Orleans needs more low-cost theatre options, and Backyard Ballroom is one of the better ones, if you can attract an audience that “far” into the Bywater. Read the rest of this entry »

By the time I saw the Times Picayune’s front page on January 11, 2006, I was already prepared for the worst. At the time, my family and I had become part of the New Orleans nomads — moving from Uptown to the French Quarter (we were lucky because so many didn’t have these kinds of options) — so my wife could keep her new business afloat and we could stay in the city. We had lived in Broadmoor and we had already started to rebuild our home.

The month before, the Urban Land Institute had made its recommendations to the city and they included a map, which had a green dot drawn around Broadmoor. This indicated that ULI suggested that Broadmoor become a possible future green space, a euphemism for a drainage park. My wife and I decided to continue rebuilding anyway, figuring the city would never agree to destroy our neighborhood. Then on January 11, the Times Picayune printed the Bring New Orleans Back report, which also included a map with a green dot around Broadmoor. Read the rest of this entry »