theneworleansguide:

Last Jazz Fest Weekend Action

As festivals in New Orleans go, Jazz Fest tends to leave with a bang, leaving you hankering for more. This year is no exception, with a fun lineup that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser. A preview of the bands that will be closing out the Festival include: Bon Jovi! The Neville Brothers The Radiators Dr. John Cowboy Mouth Johnathan Batiste Allen Toussaint Neil Young Buckwheat Zydeco Soul Rebels Shamarr Allen Jeremy Davenport Ellis Marsalis Deacon John The O’Jays The New Orleans Bingo! Show …...

April 20th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Jazz Fest Weekday Acts

For all you lucky people who gave themselves an extended weekend for the second week of Jazz Fest, give yourselves a round of applause for a smart use of vacation days. Or, actually, save it for the bands at the Fairgrounds Race Track. Thursday and Friday, April 30 and May 1, your ticket to the event includes shows by these artists and many, many more: Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes Marva Wright and the BMWs Emmylou Harris Solomon Burke Ben Harper & Relentless7 Anders Osbourne The Meter Men:...

April 17th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

The Music of French Quarter Fest

The music schedule for this year’s French Quarter Fest is lookin’ good, with three full days and nights of festivities guaranteed to keep you on your feet. Jazz, of course, is the focus but plenty of other genres will make an appearance as well. For absolutely nothing (or, FREEE!), you can go see the great bands all over the French Quarter, with over 18 stages set up throughout this area, from big brass to punk to zydeco to Cajun to pretty much anything the bands decide to start playing. Check...

April 14th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

French Quarter Fest Food

Can you feel it? French Quarter Fest is almost here, and the countdown has commenced for the biggest FREE block party in the country. Celebrating its 26th year, FQF has gotten even bigger and better, now with more stages and even more food booths. Prices for the food range from as low as $3 to as high as $12, but you’ll be hard-pressed to make a decision on what you’ll want to sample first. The full menu with set prices are up, and the selection is very exciting. Some of the best restaurants...

April 11th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Chris Owens’ Annual Easter Parade

Get your biggest sunbonnets out, because Chris Owens, that world-famous vaudeville and burlesque performer, is at it again! Every year on Easter Sunday, for the past 26 years, she plays the role of the Grand Duchess, leading the parade in their pastel best and the biggest hats they can carry on their heads. The festivities begin on Sunday, April 12 at the Astor Crowne Hotel Ballroom at 11AM with a continental breakfast (ticket information can be obtained by calling 504-888-7608) and hat contest,...

April 9th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Jazz Fest is Back Again!

One of the biggest and most celebrated music festivals of the year, the internationally acclaimed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is again upon us. In just a few short weeks, tourists and locals alike will all flock to the Fairgrounds Race Track, which transforms annually into a massive music venue for hippies, hep cats, rockers, and folksies alike. The lineup has been out for a while, with seven days of great music, amazing food, and an infinite amount of memories to be made during that time....

April 6th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Tickets Available for the Tales of the Cocktail Film Fest

Tales of the Cocktail, known as the most “Spirited Event of the Summer,” is getting ready to kick into full gear, and leading the way for the full roster of must-go events is the second annual Cocktail Film Fest. In cooperation with the W Hotel on Poydras Street in downtown New Orleans (as opposed to the French Quarter location, a beautifully modern but still Nawlins-charming luxurious lodging) and Zoe Bistro, dinner party-style film showings promise to be a whole lot of fun. Chef Roberto...

April 3rd, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Top Chefs Returning to New Orleans

The 2009 New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, also known as NOWFE, is returning yet again to grace us with libations on the luxury end and food nothing short of fabulous. In recognition of the fact that this season’s finale of the popular Bravo TV show Top Chef was held here in New Orleans, the city is welcoming back some of the most original and celebrated “cheftestants.” Participants of this year’s grand event bring back fan favorites of the competition, like: Leah Cohen,...

March 31st, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Oysters Jubilee and the Inaugural Louisiana RoadFood Festival

It’s festival season in New Orleans again, and a full plate of events have been scheduled to take place. Last week were the Italian and Irish festivals, as well as the uptown event for the French school on General Pershing, and this weekend promises even more fun and food. This Saturday, April 4, I expect to see all of you at the third annual Oysters Jubilee at 311 Bourbon Street between 10 and 2 PM, hovering over what will be the longest oyster po-boy you will ever see, with 340 feet of Leidenheimer...

March 28th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Taste of the Town, New Orleans

For top-shelf eats, Taste of the Town—a star-studded non-profit event featuring some of the best restaurateurs in the city—is set for Friday, March 27 at 7 PM, and space is still available! One of the most highly anticipated culinary gatherings of the year, every penny made goes towards two good causes: Lafreniere Park, and culinary education in our metro area, an effort partnered with the Louisiana Restaurant Association. At just $90 a ticket for five hours of gourmet gorging, from 7-11 PM,...

March 24th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Hogs for the Cause

New non-profit Hogs For The Cause, co-founded by Becker Hall and Rene Louapre of BlackenedOut.com is having a gloriously pork-filled event this Saturday, March 28. They call it an “all day event that will celebrate the glories of the pig,” with pigs on a rotisserie spit and pigs in the smoker, as well as other foods and drink. This year’s recipient of part of the profits is the Ben Sarrat Jr. Fund. At just five years old, Ben has been diagnosed with a Diffuse Pontine Glioma (a rare...

March 23rd, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Multi-Culti Month Continues!

Just when you thought it was all over, New Orleans and our parades come back up into the consciousness. Although St. Joseph’s Day was March 18 this year, tomorrow, Sunday, March 22 is the day we’re actually celebrating this day of Italian heritage and tradition. At noon on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie, right outside of the city, big floats will be rolling yet again down the wide streets of the suburbs, bedecked in the colors of Ireland and Italy. Beginning at the Clearview Shopping...

March 21st, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Fete Francais

While we’re all about celebrating heritage mid-March, why not throw another in the mix? St. Patrick’s Day is for the Irish, St. Joseph’s Day in New Orleans is for the Italianos, and for the French, the Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans hosts a FREE festival. This Saturday, the French bilingual/biliteral school in the Garden District (of Angelina Jolie and Maddox Jolie-Pitt fame) celebrates its tenth anniversary with food and events for everyone. As a foodie, I’m interested...

March 19th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

French Quarter Fest Musical Acts

One of the country’s largest free festivals, the French Quarter Fest is a celebration of the music, culture, and character of New Orleans. Native New Orleanians look forward to this huge street celebration every spring, with an incredible 18 stages set up and food booths from gourmet and comfort food and beverage purveyors interspersed between the Riverwalk and Jackson Square. The breezes off the Mississippi River, brushing the grass of the levees, are perfect at this time of year, leaving...

March 17th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Cheap Eats for the Budget Traveler in New Orleans

These days, travelers from across the globe are looking to experience their destinations economically, which really relates back to the basis of this web site–to see a city through the eyes of a local. Living in a vacation destination doesn’t necessarily mean that residents actually behave as if they live in a vacation destination. Rather, the opposite is true: we look for the best deals in the best places. Here are some of my favorite low-cost eating options. Bon appetit! Morton’s:...

March 13th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

St. Patty’s Weekend in New Orleans

In case you can’t wait until Saturday to got the party for St. Patrick’s Day going, the French Quarter has its own idea of a good time in New Orleans with a parade marching through the Quarter at 5:45 PM. Jim Monaghan’s Annual Irish Parade starts and ends at Vieux Carre fave, Molly’s at the Market right on Decatur Street, and green beer and good times are a guarantee. Of course, we all know about the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club‘s parade on Saturday,...

March 10th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the Irish Channel

Just when you though Uptown parades were over and that you could put away your blinky beads, St. Patrick’s Day announces itself in a big, big way in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans. A city with proud Irish roots, New Orleans is also a city with a proud Irish route. Since 1947, the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club has marched with pride and raised money throughout the year in the Big Easy for non-profit organizations like Special Olympics, the Chrones Benefit Golf Tournament,...

March 7th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

Oops, One More Addition to Top Chef Destinations!

I can’t believe I forgot this! Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World, the famous workshop of “Where Mardi Gras Is Made.” Darwin Finner, a financial giant, father of the Mardi Gras doubloon, and a leader of the Krewe of Rex, sponsored Kern’s training, leading to the extraordinary super-floats we are accustomed to seeing year after wonderful year. The Top Chefs paid historic Algiers Point a visit, too, stopping by the original museum and studio, which has now recently been moved...

March 5th, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More

The New Orleans of Bravo’s Top Chef, Season 5

Hey, Top Chef fans – here’s the complete comprehensive list of what, where, and other details of Carla, Stefan, Hosea, and Fabio’s experience in fabulous New Orleans. Here’s how you can enjoy the Crescent City like a celebrity chef or just a visitor in the know. Check it out! More information on PlanetEye: Houmas House Plantation, New Orleans Museum Of Art, New Orleans Creole Queen Steamboat, Café du Monde, Hotel Monteleone, Emeril’s Delmonico

March 4th, 2009 | Luxury | Read More

Commander’s Palace: 3 More Top Chefs Than Usual

Just in case you didn’t catch it, Season Five of Bravo’s hit show Top Chef was wrapped up in our fair city of New Orleans. The most exciting part of the show, the season finale, was filmed in the world-famous Commander’s Palace, one of Ti and Lally Brennan’s establishments. One of the cornerstones of the Brennan empire, this over century-old restaurant was one of THE institutions of New Orleans fine dining even before “Brennan” became a local household name. Chef...

March 1st, 2009 | New Orleans | Read More