New Orleans Magazine October 2010

New Orleans Magazine – Tops of the Town – 2010 Reader Survey

What do you love best about New Orleans? We want to know. Fill in your picks below (You don't have to vote in every category.) We will have a drawing from all entries - both those mailed from our October issue and here online - to award prizes.

Wellness

Health Beat

• Harvard researchers have identified a process in the brain that blocks out sound during sleep, an effect that could theoretically be replicated with therapy, drugs or electronic devices. The patterns, known as sleep spindles, that block sound and sensory information vary from person to person; individuals with higher rates of spindles are less likely […]

Guys Who Fly

Photographed By: Marylou Uttermohlen It used to be that when guys talked about their wheels, they were referring to a cool car or a motorcycle. Gliding was something they did on a dance floor and a landing was where they went to get into a boat. Now, some men are able to glide toward a […]

Fashion

A Punch of Color

Who said real men don’t wear color? This fall, guys are making a bold statement by stepping outside of the norm and adding a punch of color to their fall wardrobe. Photographed By: Jeffery Johnston Styled By: Tracee Dundas CODE BLUENavy, wide ribbed, asymmetrical zip front, double breasted, hooded sweater by Vince at Saks; Saddle […]

Banking on Better Times

The late-August headline from TheStreet.com was the kind that turns business heads: “Eight banks fail in four states.” It was eye-catching because, although trouble in some of the nation’s megabanks helped send the economy into recession, regional and smaller banks have mostly kept plugging along without signs of widespread problems. Not surprisingly, the bank failures […]

Food + Drink

Dining Features

Gott breakfast?

Halloween+Saints vs. Steelers=Party!

New Orleanians hardly need an excuse to celebrate – partying, costuming and fêting are all within arms’ reach. From Carnival to masquerades to parades, we’ll jump at any chance to dress up and wind down, escaping into repercussion-less alter egos and disguises. If there’s another universal love among the locals besides costuming, it’s the Saints. […]

Health

Breast surgery innovations Drs. Frank DellaCroce and Scott Sullivan are the founders of the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery, a hospital that’s dedicated to breast reconstruction for women facing cancer. The Center, located on St. Charles Avenue, was established to serve as a resource for women seeking the most advanced methods of breast reconstruction that […]

NOLA BY THE NUMBERS

2 billionAverage Halloween candy sales (in dollars) annually in the U.S. 1962The year the Count Dracula Society was founded. 21The number of days in which the film Halloween was made. 82Percent of children that participate in Halloween every year. As for adults, the rate is around 67 percent. 2,000Approximate age of Halloween. The original holiday […]

Cocktails

Last Call

Famous Fizz From French QuarterAt the time of his death in 1928, the New Orleans Item said of Henry Charles Ramos, “If all the saloonkeepers in America had been like Mr. Ramos, Prohibition would never have come to pass.” Indeed, Ramos was a distinguished figure, always flashing a welcoming smile. For many, that would have […]

History

THE FIRST KATRINA HALLOWEEN

Three police officers were walking together patrolling the streets of the French Quarter on the afternoon of Halloween 2005. That in itself wasn’t unusual, except that the three were all New York State troopers. As though to not look menacing, they wore pullover shirts with a badge insignia on their chests. I stopped and thanked […]

Jim Tweedy’s Friendly Doggies

“My life has gone to the dogs! But, hey! I collect unemployment. I get three squares a day and I sleep in a really cool flowerpot! Overall … life is great!” – Charlie the Red CatFrank Zappa, the late rock-jazz composer and musician, jumped genre lines and minced no words when he said, “Art is […]

ST. Aloysius

March of the Crusaders

Philomena’s and Phyllis’ Tiny Miracles

In the courtyard of the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood and Family Learning Center, a fountain dedicated to St. Philomena dominates the landscape, a reminder that the center was built on a wing and a prayer. Phyllis Landrieu, a former Orleans Parish School Board president who considers the learning center her life’s work, learned of the […]

“Chemo” Day

One day in 1997, during the height of the last major attempt to “reform” the New Orleans Police Department, I found myself back in the cancer ward of Ochsner Hospital – with unexpected company. Seated on the powder-blue reclining chair next to me was a new arrival: New Orleans police Sgt. Ron Cannatella, the irrepressible […]

History

WELCOME BACK, HORNETS

As the New Orleans Hornets begin a new season, there’s a new coach, a new general manager and the possibility of a new owner. Fortunately, there are the same point guard and forward in the persons of all-stars Chris Paul and David West, though we hope that each has found renewed confidence in the team’s […]

Wellness

TATTOO REMORSE

Making them go away

As confidence rises, new worries emerge

The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina inspired quite a lot of soul-searching in southeast Louisiana as people pondered their journeys since the disaster and the future ahead. The results of one poll of New Orleans residents highlight areas of both rising hopes and heightened anxieties for the city. The study, conducted by the Kaiser Family […]

Lagniappe

Read & Spin

Amanda Shaw’s well-rounded Good Southern Girl updates the fiddler’s fans of her growth on the stage and in life; she just “made” 20 and it’s apparent as she belts out “One Night Stand.” Upbeat and saucy – like the star herself – the record shows off the young star’s talent for composing and songwriting with […]

Music + Festivals

Seguenon Koné and Ensemble Fatien

The first time I saw Dr. Michael White perform in an African dashiki, I had to smile. The clarinetist renowned for his robust New Orleans-style melodies typically wears the coat and tie of a traditional jazzman. But on the afternoon White, as a faculty member, welcomed the Ivory Coast percussionist Seguenon Koné and his African […]

In the huddle with youth entrepreneurs

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees always has a game plan as he leads his offense down the field. This season, though, he’s keeping a close eye on some emerging plans off the field as well. Brees is at the helm of the new Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge, an entrepreneurship program coordinated by his […]

Food + Drink

RESTAURANT INSIDER

October is when things start looking up around these parts; by now we’ve had a few cool nights, and even if I’m wearing shorts while trick-or-treating with my 9-year-old, I’m no longer worried about the 100-degree days of the past few months. On Oct. 7, Morton’s The Steakhouse, right, and members of the Mondavi family […]

Food + Drink

MEATS OF ALL KINDS

Steak is classic, though charcuterie boards give a guy plenty to choose from. Throw in some spicy grilled pork ribs with pickled watermelon rind and you’ve got a plateful of offerings few can resist. Nowadays locals have plenty of options. Here are a few of the greatest hits. Until recently, Delmonico brought to my mind, […]

Food + Drink

TAILGATING AT HOME

Time has flown since my husband, Doug, and I went to our first Saints game. It is memorable because it was also the Saints’ first game. Yes, back in the old Tulane Stadium we watched our team begin its long march to the top. I recall him pushing me up the steep ramp to our […]

Green industry taking root at Michoud

Just as the vital aerospace industry is winding down at the sprawling Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans, a promising new industry is winding up for business there. Blade Dynamics Ltd., a British company that builds huge blades for turbines that harness renewable wind energy, plans to open a manufacturing operation at Michoud. “We […]

Personalities

RUBY BRIDGES

The first black child to desegregate an elementary school in the South celebrates an anniversary

Things To Do

Marquee

Our top picks of the month’s events

FIGHTING PHONE ROBOTS

So, I open up this bill from the cell phone company and my hair stands up on end. Come to find out that $107.43 in charges accrued when my phone was sitting in the refrigerator. (An accident – I was in a hurry and shoved in with the Tupperware.) Unless the eggplant was calling for […]

JULIA STREET WITH POYDRAS THE PARROT

A MONTHLY PURSUIT OF ANSWERS TO ETERNAL QUESTIONS