Listen to Caroline Helm talk about Listen To This!
The yarns start spinning tonight at Saint Street Inn.
Listen to Caroline Helm talk about Listen To This!
The yarns start spinning tonight at Saint Street Inn.
If you missed the 2011 production of the musical comedy In His Grace at Cité des Arts, you missed a helluva show. If you missed the 2011 production of the musical comedy In His Grace at Cité des Arts,...
Find: ‘Sandbar' in a fish bowl
If you haven't made it to Regatta LA Seafood in Lake Arthur, this creative drink will get you there. The restaurant's summer special, "The Sandbar" comes in a plastic fish bowl filled with...
Confident and kind, Flower Picker protagonist Amelia is not afraid to be herself. In 17-year-old author Olivia Marie Spallino's literary debut, Amelia wholeheartedly tackles difficult subjects of...
No doubt about it, Taylor McMahon's four-track EP, Memory Music, is perfect summer music. UNFORGETTABLE No doubt about it, Taylor McMahon's four-track EP, Memory Music, is perfect summer music. The...
The small-town charm of Louisiana circa 1930 gets a reverent retrospective in a new book by writer Anne Butler and photographer Henry Cancienne. MAINLY MAIN STREET The small-town charm of Louisiana...
Andy Cornett's final recording is a good one. The 61-year-old Lafayette blues harpist/bass player died Feb. 24 after a brief illness. Although Andy had been in poor health for more than a year, he did...
The "room full of angels" taught by Ernest Gallet Elementary School second grade teacher Terry Bethea are the muses behind a recently published children's book, Why Snails Are...
Esther Tyree is a violinist who has played classically with some huge names and fiddled with bands like Black Bayou Construktion. She is also an avid baker... Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 Photo by Robin...
Bayou Biscotti: Even if you don't need to be free of gluten you'll want these: packed with flavor and punch without being unhealthy. Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 BISCOTTI ON THE BAYOU Esther Tyree is a...
A new installment from the Images of America series offers a trove of historic photographs and little-known or long-forgotten details on the contributions of Acadiana's black population. Wednesday,...
Ever dream of owning an antebellum Louisiana plantation home? Pencil in March 10 on your calendar and head to Braithwaite in Plaquemines Parish for the Neal Auction Company's "going once, going...
Multi-instrumentalist Gina Forsyth brings passion and panache to her latest release, Promised Land, a 14-tune effort brimming with spot-on acoustic musicianship and austere, poetic storytelling that...
Joyeux Noël It's Christmas in Cajun Country and if you're looking for a great stocking stuffer to surprise your favorite zydeco fan then check out Horace Trahan's first Christmas album, Christmas in...
DL ON THE DOWNLOAD The down low on Roddie Romero & The Hub City All-Stars? They went all digital, and just in time for Christmas. Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 DL ON THE DOWNLOAD The down low on Roddie...
AIYEEE! Another great record has come down the pike from upstart Valcour Records, South Louisiana's "boutique" Cajun-roots label. Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 AIYEEE! Another great record has...
HE SAID, SHE SAID When R. Reese Fuller elected to move from journalism to teaching - the former Independent managing editor parted ways with us in the spring of 2009 after accepting a job teaching...
BY CREOLE' I MEAN ... Let's establish the ground rules for Craig Bauer's fascinating new history, Creole Genesis: The Bringier Family and Antebellum Plantation Life in Louisiana ($20, UL Press) - the...
SAVOY SAVVY Valcour Records continues to reinforce its claim as the premier label for Cajun and Creole music. Begun five years ago by co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Joel Savoy... SAVOY...
THE WILD LIFE Louisiana may be Sportsman's Paradise, but the sportsmen don't always play by the rules. So don't let the title fool you: Louisiana Wildlife Agents In Their Own Words (LSU Press, $29.95...
FOND OF FONVILLE Fonville Winans had been to Louisiana before - in 1928 to work construction. But in 1932 he really got into Louisiana. And it got into him... FOND OF FONVILLE Fonville Winans had been...
Heaven in a Glass Ahhh! What a perfect way to enjoy the rest of the summer - with a perfectly shaken concoction from Village Café in River Ranch... Heaven in a Glass Ahhh! What a perfect way to enjoy...
WHAT WOOD I DO TO SEE YOU? These sunglasses are handmade in Portland, Ore., with designer Shwood engraved on the arm of each pair. They feel surprisingly light on your face, allowing it to breathe,...
VEGAN SUDS If you've been looking for a laundry cleaner with a list of ingredients you can actually pronounce, then check out this vegan-friendly laundry soap by Lafayette transplant Layne Smith....
THE SON IS UP Lafayette's rising Creole prodigy Cedric Watson and his laudable Creole, Cajun and zydeco ensemble Bijou Creole are ready for the reinstatement of the Cajun/Zydeco category at next...
A BOY AND HIS HORN Hurricane Katrina's devastating effects on New Orleans will not be soon forgotten, and there has already been a great number of books written on both the event and the people who...
GATOR CHIC If you've been looking for something stylish to wear to your next PETA protest, then look no further than these alligator deck shoes available from Mark Station Co. You can grab a pair made...
BEING FLAKY CAN BE POSITIVE Phyllo dough is the whisper-thin, flaky pastry popular mainly in Mediterranean cuisine, although it makes forays out of its native land. Working with phyllo is like working...
THE RIGHT TOUCH OF SWEETNESS For 100 years, "Steen's 100 Percent Pure Cane Syrup" has been a Louisiana staple. The company's sugar cane is grown in South Louisiana where it is field ripened...
A FOWL SANDWICH INDEED One of EatLafayette's many specials is Joey's Turducken Breast Sandwich, for only $7.98 when EatLafayette is mentioned (it's regularly priced at $10.98). Wednesday, July 27,...
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT Battered by hurricanes but buttressed by culture for more than 250 years, Vermilion Parish might just be, as its hospitality industry boasts, "the most Cajun place on...
VILLAGE CHOICE Sandwiches like the Monte Cristo, the Cuban and the Club are as classic to America as muscle cars and apple pie. The Reuben hails either from German immigrants in Oklahoma or New York...
PERFECTLY SHELLED The old saying that as one door closes another one opens is fitting for Tamara Miles. The closing of Jefferson Street Market - where she was a vendor and employee for about eight...
CHEESE PLEASE Nothing is more elegant, simple or satisfying than a cheese plate. For the unfortunate people who can't eat cheese you'll never know the joys of POUR's cheese menu. Wednesday, June 29,...
THE SKINNY ON 'RITAS If you haven't heard of Bethenny Frankel's book, Naturally Thin, or if you haven't seen her as the star of The Real Housewives of New York, then perhaps you've heard of Skinnygirl...
NO-FAST FASHION Red beans and rice looks scrumptious on a plate but appears even more delicious wrapped around your wrist. This handmade Louisiana bracelet fuses Creole flavor and culture with style...
THE NEW SUPERFOOD Local fitness experts Mike and Stephanie Morris and their nieces, sisters Molly Jones-Gray and Stephanie Jones-Jordan of Seattle, have come up with a dynamite all-natural oat mix...
BETTA BOOK IT NOW The first 1,000 passengers who book a Visions Airlines flight to Destin/Fort Walton Beach will win a $200 Visa gift card. To qualify, you have to book a vacation package for two...
SAUCED Our favorite hot sauce from Avery Island has finally caught up to the national obsession with chicken wings. The family-owned Tabasco company's new Buffalo Style Hot Sauce, thicker than the...
BETTER BAGS Jillian Johnson, one half of the brother/sister duo (with Bram) responsible for the way-cool Parish Ink line of T-shirts, is at it again with a new series of purses and bags. Painfully hip...
PASS THE EVOO, PLEASE All Trynd pastry chef John Powers will tell you about his olive oil cake is that it's made with olive oil and contains no dairy products. As for the rest of the ingredients, he's...
OUR MUSICAL MECCA If you like American music, make a pilgrimage to its birthplace, Congo Square in New Orleans. Jazz can trace its roots there. So can blues, R 'n' B and hip-hop. The 1-4-5 chord...
LONG'S STORY SHORT Mercurial former Louisiana Gov. Earl Long went out in a blaze of ingloriousness in 1960, nine days after an unlikely win for a seat in Congress - he bet on himself and won $24,000 -...
CRAWFISH BOIL IN A BAG Craving boiled crawfish in a hurry? Try Big Mamou's boiled crawfish-flavored Cajun beef jerky. Claiming to "Make Your Taste Buds Dance," this Certified Cajun product...
MOJO RISING MOJO & The Bayou Gypsies blend Cajun and zydeco music into a big, mushy, feel-good gumbo of up-tempo, all-English-language party music that traffics in Mardi Gras beads, cowboy hats...
B IS FOR BOUDIN If you're trying to teach your little one about the wonders of the alphabet and maybe a little bit about the state they're growing up in then you just might want to check out Louisiana...
STOLEN GLANCES Baton Rouge-based artist Keith Andry made quite an impression on Lafayette art lovers at his first ArtWalk appearance in March. The Thibodaux native showcased his eclectic watercolors...
At 7:30pm on Thursday, March 24 the Acadiana Center for the Arts is throwing a party honoring the most revered bowler in all of cult film history. For $10 the Big Lebowski Theme Night features a White...
TEA TIME New to Lafayette are Georgie's English Kitchen and Garden products, featuring shortbread petticoat rounds, fresh lemon curd and three types of scones - cranberry and orange, lemon, and orange...
OYSTER HEAVEN If the gold standard for charbroiled oysters is Drago's in New Orleans, I just bit into platinum. I'm a big fan of Drago's - and local restaurants' versions of this tasty Gulf treat -...
BAR NONE For that perfect call-out favor or Mardi Gras gift, Bath Essentials by Delacruz has created fleur-de-lis embellished bath soaps in a subtle fresh linen scent. Crafted by the Rev. Bill...
READING RAINFOREST Looking for an alternative to the more traditional A is for apple, B is for banana and O is for orange method of teaching the alphabet? Then go for the N for neon tetra, O for...
DRAGON'S DEN When a young kid named Max discovers a book-hungry dragon in the stacks of his local library, no one believes him. Max races to find help before all his favorite books are devoured by the...
River's Bend Beauties Just in time for Mardi Gras, Lafayette artisan Sue Nations is creating one-of-a-kind royalty-worthy designs from her exclusive jewelry collection, River's Bend Bead Studio. Each...
EAT YOUR VEGGIES! Vegetarian doesn't have to mean bland. Just check out the vegetarian heaven at Village Café, featuring a delightful gourmet tableau of fresh produce cooked to perfection by Executive...
RAGIN' CAJUN, ER, HOCKEY? The Planet Ice Skating and Hockey Rink is set to open today, Wednesday, Jan. 26, for general admission to the public after nearly 2.5 months of renovations in converting the...
MASTER FULL Creole music wünderkind Cedric Watson's excellent, Grammy-nominated live record, Creole Moon: Live from the Blue Moon Saloon, finally arrived at The Ind office. It was worth the wait....
THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT Disappointed by the selection of children's stories 17 years ago, Robert Trahan of Lafayette set out to write an original for his own brood of three - two girls and a boy then...
YESTERDAY'S BLUES Rich Remsberg is hardly the first photographer and researcher to explore the vast catalog produced by the New Deal's Farm Security Administration photography program, but his book,...
SUPER SPECS Louisiana, the Sportsman's Paradise. Our hunters and fisherman need special equipment like strong poles, warm camouflage and Guy Harvey sunglasses. At least that's what they say. Harvey's...
WRISTY BUSINESS They'll remind you of the popular flexible bangles sometimes called "Whispers" bracelets - but they won't set you back near as much. These bangles, available at Jewelie's...
TUMBLED STONE FOR TUMBLERS In September, just as shoppers around Acadiana were making promises to themselves to do their Christmas shopping early, a new gift market arrived. Le Cadeau offers a unique...
An Extraordinary Gift "If in the beginning there was the word, for Darrell Bourque the word is a beginning, his tool for shaping, defining, and consecrating the ordinary fragments of life and...
LOADSTONE Here's to the loadstone of the Dude Chalice of mod-rock. It goes up. It goes down. But always hangs around. Local rockers Destination Sanity traffic in modern rock, pop punk and traditional...
SOUTHERN SWEET If your appetite for cupcakes has only grown since Lafayette's cake designers began offering the extra-small cakes, then you'll want to check out the muffin-sized cupcakes from Tutti...
COLD CUT BREES When Drew Brees appeared on Jay Leno's "9 at 9" segment last year, the talk show host asked the Saints all-pro quarterback one of life's all-important questions: You have $10...
SoMo Coffee and espresso in their various forms are not foreign to Lafayette, and when it's time to get that caffeine fix, most people turn to their "usual." Well, if you're tired of the...
BIRDS OF A FEATHER Want to teach a child about hurricanes, about family, about relationships and the value of community? Open Roslyn M. Fouin's delightful new book, The Three Little Egrets in The Big...
TOO SWEET Just in time for pie-making season arrives a book to make children holler for the sweet stuff. Sweet potato pie for sure. A sweet potato plant gets a lot of TLC from Ma Farmer. In return,...
October 20, 2010 SOUTHERN FRIED Austin Leslie's fried chicken recipe is reason enough to buy this book. Leslie, the legendary New Orleans chef behind Chez Helene and Jockamo's, before his untimely...
October 13, 2010 By The Independent Staff FROM TOE TO ANKLE If you want to know Louisiana - to really soak her up - take the next interstate exit ramp and get onto a state highway. And to become fully...
DOG DAYS A Pulitzer finalist at The Miami Herald and former Wall Street Journal editor, Ken Wells has drawn widespread acclaim for his trilogy of novels for young readers about Meely LaBauve, a Huck...
Scarf + Shrug + Shawl = Schlug Regretsy: Where DIY meets WT Partnering with People of Walmart and Lamebook, April Winchell offers a new array of absurdities to gawk and guffaw at with regretsy.com and...
GUNGSLINGER Don't call it a comeback, baby. Glen Delaune, former gunslinger for Lafayette '80s metal stalwarts Gangster, is back a few decades and haircuts down the line. He's still cranking out the...
HOUSES OF THE HOLY South Louisiana is widely known for the way we party on Saturday night; making absolution on Sunday morning is important. Eighty-eight photographs of church interiors by A.J. Meek,...
Sept. 8, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff SEED FEEDER Love the birds, hate the housework. Anyone who has hung a bird feeder in hopes of attracting everybody from a tufted titmouse to a rose...
TIGER TALES We may live or die by the Bayou Bengals beating 'Bama, but, it turns out, LSU enjoys a literary reputation that is second to few. Plainly obvious through its title, Best of LSU Fiction...
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff SEARCHING FOR HOME Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? It was a frequent question for New Orleanians struggling with their...
**MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE **Donating to a good cause never tasted so good. Abita Beer has created SOS - A Charitable Pilsner, to help the state recovery from the BP oil spill. SOS is an unfiltered Weizen...
IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE Most everybody has had a day wandering through the Jungle Gardens on Avery Island, getting lost in the explosion of azaleas and wisteria in the spring, or studying the camellia...
Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff STRAIGHTEN UP Just about everyone I've ever known who got her hair chemically straightened was disappointed in the results: Kinky roots and...
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff SPLISH SPLASH Eva Schwartz makes me want to get dirty. That's the best way to appreciate her craftsmanship. Schwartz has a fine nose for...
Finds 07.21.10 Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff DOWN WITH SCARVES The idea of wearing a scarf during a Louisiana summer may seem somewhere between impractical and downright...
**Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff ** Button+Bloom Naturally unique best describes Button+Bloom's handcrafted accessories. Lafayette native Haley Williams began by designing...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff GRAIN OF TRUTH Rice is life in Acadia Parish, and no one is more serious about it than the cooks who compete in the annual Chef de Riz (Rice...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff DEEP FRYED Looking for some truly one-of-a-kind kicks? Try Shi Shi in Lafayette for a pair of vintage Frye cowboy boots. They're available in...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff 1. LOVELY RITA "There is simply no way of getting out of this life alive," is about as philosophical as author and retired engineer...
1. GOING GREEN, AGAIN I've just rediscovered an old favorite restaurant I used to frequent in another publishing life, and once again I find myself craving its baked kibbe on a weekly basis. 2. TRUE...
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff 1. GRECIAN YEARN Tzatziki is Greek yogurt and cucumber dip, and while you can get it at Middle Eastern restaurants in town, I have yet to find...
**Wednesday, June 4, 2010 Written by The Independent Weekly Staff 1. BOXED IN** You can do a better job of pulling your outfit together when you're able to see all of your jewelry in one organized...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff OSBORNE RETURNS Singer-songwriter Anders Osborne ain't what he used to be. The skinny Swedish kid who moved to New Orleans 25 years ago now has...
**Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff 1. ANDERSON ENVIE** It's hard to get your hands on an original Walter Anderson these days. The Ocean Springs, Miss., painter... 2. BATTURE...
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff 1. SUMMER WHITES Trendy Jewelie's Boutique at 407 Rena Drive completed its expansion just in time to stock the store with one of the best...
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Written by The Independent Staff 1. MOTHERS LOVE LAVENDER As Proust's madeleine is to taste and memory, the scent of lavender is to sense of place. Lavender's powerful sharp...
1. RULERS, RASCALS AND REFORMERS Every student of Louisiana history should have this book in her library. Louisiana Governors: Rulers, Rascals and Reformers catalogues our colorful anointed, appointed...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 21 April 2010 1. GYPSY OVERDRIVE Call it operatic, gypsy world music or Euro-freak folk, but the quasi- 2. WEAR A TIARA If you've ever succumbed to the...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 7 April 2010 BIG ORANGE BASKET If you're a committed bag lady, the kind who insists on grocery ... CAJUN VRAI Happy birthday, D.L. Menard! GETTING YOUR...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 7 April 2010 NO MEAUX RINGS Like all struggling graduate students, Abby Meaux had to come up ... SUDS AND SEEDS Chef Donald Link is a one man food...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 31 March 2010 SMOKIN' Ever since Johnson's Boucaniere opened on St. John Street, ... JESUS JAMS Lafayette's Bernadette "Ms. Deannie" Steven has a...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 24 March 2010 WRIST WATCH Get ahead of the spring fashion curve with these stylish bracelets, ... PUNCH DRUNK Dessert first. That's my new mantra, and the...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 17 March 2010 GANGS' OF NEW ORLEANS Outside of the black neighborhoods in New Orleans, few know the tradition... ITS A CINCH The first thing you have to...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 10 March 2010 RIPPER DOGS Take America's ballpark dog. Drop it in the deep fryer. What do you get? PLAYING HOUSE Deciding to build a house is the easy...
Written by The Independent Staff Wednesday, 03 March 2010 A RIVER RUNS BY IT While St. Francisville is less than a two-hour drive from Lafayette, it would take days to explore its magical places with...
CRAWFISH TYME It's Lent again, and poor Catholics must be dreading their sacrifice of not eating meat, except seafood, on Fridays. It means they're going to have to go to Olde Tyme Grocery at the end...
GRIEVOUS ANGELS Calico & the Off-Brand Band are some new cats on the scene. THE VIEUX FROM HERE In the mid to late 1960s, civil rights and Vietnam were front and center for many in New Orleans,...
A STARLOTTE IS BORN You may not know Starlotte Dawn Smith, but she knows Lafayette. The UL alumna was a member the UL water ski team in the mid 1990s, named to the All-America team, competed in the...
THREE POINTS There's a lot of crazy Saints stuff out there, but here's one welcome newbie to the Who Dat Nation: Pamplona Tapas Bar bartender Luke Tullos mixed up an homage to the Super Bowl-bound...
SNAPPY DRESSER While alligator boots may be de rigueur for the jean and Stetson crowd in most parts of the country, down here in Cajun country, even our toes need air-conditioning nine months of the...
THE NAIF WAIF If you dig lo-fi records, audio collage and loose acoustic music that leans more on vibe than technical precision, then you might dig Jake Hebert’s digi-album Television. Written and...
**1. RED FEET NO MORE **OK, really, why didn't we think of this sooner? Red Foot Shoes has launched a line of flats with bendable soles - that's right, they fit in handbags - and even clutches....
CREOLE CONFECTIONS Give yourself dozens of good reasons to hit the gym (and the dance floor) this year with Carolyn Shelton’s Zydeco Blues ’n’ Gumbo Cookbook (Chanel Zeno Publishing), a pleasure...
YES WE DO We begin a music-themed holiday edition of Finds with everything you need to know about Louisiana’s invaluable contribution to the birth of rock ’n’ roll: Tom Aswell’s Louisiana Rocks!...
ON THE HOOK Chef John Folse is back in bookstores with another heavyweight encyclopedic cookbook. Following up on last year’s tribute to wild game dishes, After the Hunt, Hooks, Lies & Alibis...
SPARKLING CLEAN If you’re going to spring for some bling this holiday season, make darn sure you throw in a couple hundred extra bucks to keep all of your special someone’s jewels sparkling clean. And...
SHAKEN, AND STIRRED The cocktail is enjoying something of a renaissance in America’s bars and saloons. This uniquely American invention has its origins in the French Quarter pharmacy of Antoine Amedée...
BOOK OF DAZE Alyce Wise is a busy lady. Days, she teaches Pilates at Camellia House, helping countless locals re-jigger aching joints and get in shape. Nights, you can often see her dancing with...
ALL ABOARD If you’re looking for a cutting board big enough to hold your Thanksgiving turkey, you’ve come to the right woodshed. New Iberia woodworker Kenny Greig makes small cutting boards as well,...
BESH PRACTICES While ubiquitous TV personality Emeril Lagasse may be the most recognizable New Orleans chef, John Besh has taken up the mantle of New Orleans’ most acclaimed culinary ambassador. The...
STAGE SIGHT The late Elemore Morgan Jr. was world-renowned for his wide, wonderful south Louisiana landscapes. But Morgan was also a big fan of the performing arts, and was a frequent presence —...
O, MY DARLING, CLEMENTINE Not exactly Clementine Hunter, but the folksy, bustling Louisiana scenes — acrylic on wood cutouts and boards — have earned Hahnville artist Lorraine Gendron a reputation at...
TRAIN ROLLS ON The Blowtard Whistle ceases to trumpet its hideous alarm when the Allman funk and jamotronic sounds of Greenlight Caravan come out of the speakers. In fact, it whimpers in morbid...
CALL AND I’LL ANSWER We know harmony when we hear it, two lyrical voices twined. But Call and Response is a different kind of song line. Darrell Bourque and Jack Bedell have created a slim book of...
SNAP SHOT At age 38, Brian Kinchen thought he was done with football. The LSU alum was three years retired from a journeyman’s career in the NFL and had settled down in his hometown of Baton Rouge...
UP FROM THE CRADLE, AFTER THE FLOOD Author Jason Berry’s Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II (with Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones) has been an indispensable guide to...
GOTTA GIVE TO RECEIVE So the saying goes that you gotta strike while the iron is hot. Well, local band Givers is hot right now. And local label Valcour Records has jumped on it to do the said striking...
SIMPLY ABSURD For an introduction to theatre of the absurd, see Wikipedia. For six fascinating examples of the genre, see Seducing Velasquez and Other Play****s (Ahadada Books) by...
MEAUX BETTA NEWS Need your Lafayette and Acadiana fix of everything from the bizarre to business to news on ex-pats? Check out The Daily Meaux. Beating everyone to the punch, the blog broke the news...
SEASON’S GREETINGS It’s the Gulf Coast’s greatest hits, literally, in Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico (LSU Press). Authors Barry D. Keim and Robert A. Muller — the former is current Louisiana state...
BIRD SHOT Combining a trinity of Louisiana avian pursuits — bird watching, bird shooting and bird eating — Wings of Paradise: Birds of the Louisiana Wetlands (LSU Press) is a guide’s guide to coastal...
CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC If Great-grandma’s string of pearls is just a memento mori in your bling box, here’s a way to update the look without ditching the family jewels: Craftsman Ron Stevens doesn’t...
HOME GROWN Linzay Young and Joel Savoy, buddies since their pre-teens, team up on this Valcour Records Artist Series release of effortlessly laid back authentic Cajun tunes, packed with twin fiddle...
FULL BLOOM Most flowers fade to a mere wilted memory. But the new bracelets, necklaces and earrings at Little Town in the Oil Center have the kind of flower power to keep on blooming day after day....
SWEET DECEPTION Lapin gets the better of Bouki in this adaptation by Arthur “Roy” Williams of Lafayette (illustrated by L. Foote) of the Creole folktales. Bouki’s Honey follows the namesake and...
AH, THE POWER OF CHEESE Who says you can’t make cheese in Louisiana? New Orleans has a long tradition of Creole Cream Cheese, a delicate curd bathed in fresh cream. But it took Chef John Folse to...
GENDER SPECIFIC If you haven’t heard of Oretha Castle Haley, it’s time to get to know her. She was a force in the civil rights movement in Louisiana in the early 1960s, and one of more than a dozen...
SAVING FACE When Ann Webb was growing up in Gueydan, she struggled with severe acne. Trying to find a cure for it led her to many different doctors, and eventually to owning her esthetics clinic....
RICE WINE MEETS MANGA Love anime? That’s the term for Japanese graphic novels brought to cartoon life. I like them lots, but I never thought I’d dig a manga series about a Japanese warship from the...
BEYOND THIBODEAUX & BOUDREAUX The story of the Cajuns is complex and rich, and their treatment in American lit mirrors their long journey over 250 years from an isolated — culturally,...
SURE AS SHOOTIN’ Buried near the middle of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office annual report, between a chart enumerating how many yellow squash and banana peppers the department’s vegetable garden...
MADE IN THE SHADE No doubt about it, bigger is better for summer 2009 straw hats. These wide brim hats are selling like hotcakes at Little Town — so much so that the Oil Center store has already...
LOUISIANA LEGS A few weeks ago, while Cafe Vermilionville chef Alex Patout’s alligator guy was making a delivery, Patout received a little lagniappe. “You want some alligator legs?” Patout said...
The Real Deal “All that other stuff is just glorified ketchup,” proclaims hot dog vendor Russell Hiltz, proprietor of the Grateful Dawg hot dog cart on Jefferson Street (this week’s LivingIND cover...
iPOPPING P.E.D. PACKS Pity the poor iPod in its clear plastic cover. Have mercy on the brilliant MacBook, unsheathed and vulnerable to the merciless claw of gravity. Protect your precious Apple...
ROWDY ROCK Citing T. Rex, Kings Of Leon, Van Morrison, Sam Cooke, CCR, The Misfits, and Johnny Cash as some of their influences, Julian Primeaux & His Royal Rowdy Co. bust out the gate shooting...
A WALLOP OF CURLS Summer is right around the corner, and what better way to catch a wave than with perfectly tousled curls that make it look like you just left the beach. Bumble and Bumble’s Surf...
LADY BIRD JOHNSON SMILES DOWN FROM HEAVEN If you dandy dandylions or favor frogbit, Wildflowers of the Coastal Plain belongs in your field pack. McNeese State biology professor Ray Neyland has...
You’ll Scream for this Ice Cream Kleinpeter Farms’ newest ice cream takes the cake — I mean pie. The Louisiana based company has teamed up with one of Acadiana’s own, Bruce Foods, to launch Homemade...
Hey, Hey, I Wanna Be a Rockstar The epitome of hip, rocker style, Chrome Hearts sunglasses have adorned the faces of stars like Lenny Kravitz, Cher, Jay-Z, and the whole Osbourne clan. Yet as edgy and...
PANTS! What’ll they think of next?! Fashionistas will be beside themselves when they get a load of pants; the singular fashion item with a plural name. If you’re seeing them and digging them on the...
HIDE THE CHIRRENS, BIRAM’S BACK! Scott H. Biram’s shtick is throwing every limb into the music. But it ain’t a gimmick. This dude’s for real. His maniacal one-man-band performances atop a stomp box at...
NOT YOUR MAMA’S COOKBOOK If you ever stop to ponder what makes New Orleans cooking so wonderful rather than just digging in, you might come up with a list similar to the one that comprises the...
Spring fever The weather’s been ideal for al fresco dining (though it still boggles the mind that we have so few options here), and while you may not have frozen drinks on your mind just yet, you will...
EMPIRE ON SALE If great Aunt Clotile’s treasured prie dieu somehow doesn’t fit into your IKEA décor, there’s a new way in town to offer it for sale to discerning antiques lovers. Revival Fine...
CULTURAL HISTORY John Lowe has tackled the immense task of squeezing several aspects of Louisiana’s culture in one book. In Louisiana Culture from the Colonial Era to Katrina, the professor of English...
THINK BIG You can now savor your bottle of Abita beer a little longer, and quite possibly, not have to make that long journey back to the fridge altogether. The Abita Brewing Co. has just released its...
SWAMP T’INGS Marie and her Uncle Arnel are walking through the Louisiana swamps when they come face to face with the dreaded Swamp Witch — the very one Marie’s Aunt Cherie warned her about. Uncle...
DIVINE INSPIRATION The Rev. Frank Coco was a familiar face in Grand Coteau, where he was a retreat director at Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House for 25 years. But at night, the Jesuit priest was also...
GENUINE CAJUN BREAKDOWN BeauSoleil’s latest album kicks off with an announcer echoing the early recordings of Dennis McGee: “Folks, this is genuine Cajun breakdown music as heard in Evangeline...
DOUBLE DOSE OF ROUTES In celebration of its 10th anniversary, American Routes has issued a double-disc set of songs and stories exploring America’s musical heritage. The weekly radio broadcast from...
LIKE TREES, WALKING The winner of the 2008 Gaines book award, Like Trees, Walking examines death, faith, truth and justice after the 1981 lynching in Mobile, Ala., of Michael Donald, who was killed...
BEYOND THIBODEAUX & BOUDREAUX The story of the Cajuns is complex and rich, and their treatment in American lit mirrors their long journey over 250 years from an isolated — culturally,...
HEAD ROOM Everybody needs a little household god just to keep things right at hearth and home. Some like snakes — check out Angelina Jolie in her Mommie Dearest role of Olympias in Oliver Stone’s...
ONE WORD — PLASTICS This piece of plastic runs over $100. But it’s red and shiny and showcases a delicate wrist. Then there’s the nostalgia factor. Some woman before you has worn this. What kind...
1. SCARF IT UP Mignon Faget. It’s a classic name brand every Louisiana girl holds close to her heart. But I must admit “classic” was not the adjective that came to mind when I spotted the “Scarred...
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE It’s pretty amazing that grains of sand, transformed by fire, can turn into the lovely transparent element of glass. And equally amazing is the art of the glass blower, knowing how...
OUTDOOR ALMANAC This isn’t a book, it’s a friend. Naturalist Bill Fontenot has been writing a column for The Daily Advertiser for over 22 years now. Every Sunday, a folksy, stream of consciousness...
SPICE AISLES Lafayette is heavy on the spice when it comes to Cajun and Creole seasoning, but other cuisines don’t have much representation on our grocery store shelves. Mohamed Maki is about to...
BREAD AND CHOCOLATE It’s a little daunting at first to try to figure out what you are going to do with a jar of Chef John Folse’s Chocolate Butter with Pecans. You can’t eat it like ice cream, nor is...
OUR FEARLESS LEADERS In the course of Louisiana’s history, two of its governors have been impeached and two of them have been jailed in federal prison. Authors Walter Greaves Cowan and Jack B. McGuire...
GROOVY BOOTS You don’t quite know what to think of them initially. They’re just so unexpected. At a time when everything bordering ugly is cool we have the Minnetonka moccasin boot. So unchic that...
TERRIFIC TACOS Tacos San Luis is the kind of place you drive by every day without noticing. It’s also the kind of place that serves completely delicious homemade cooking. Scoop up a chicken fajita or...
FIND YOUR BLISS Negative ions are emitted by waterfalls, thunderstorms and the oceans. Once they reach our bloodstream, negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels...
GONE CUBAN Mercedes Grocery at 3138 Johnston St. has painted a sign on its storefront proclaiming “best Cuban sandwich in town.” This small Latin grocery is chock full of authentic Mexican and...
GAINES ON LOUISIANA In its latest issue, The Oxford American, “The Southern Magazine of Good Writing,” focuses on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast three years after Hurricane Katrina. While most of the...
LIGHTEN UP Reapplying lipstick in the dark is a thing of the past, thanks to Hot Pants’ Lip Lust product. The tube comes with a built-in LED light hidden in the cap that automatically turns on when...
SPOTLIGHTING SONNY Sonny Landreth owns the cover of this month’s Guitar Player magazine. In an interview that spans 15 pages (with an additional six-page “Master Class”), Lafayette’s native stepson...
RHYME AND REASON It’s not often these days that a poet chooses the hard way — writing formal verse with tight meter and rhyme. Even more rare is the poet with a sense of humor. Breaux Bridge’s Gail...
JOCKEY TELLS ALL In his self-published autobiography, Freedom’s Rein, Shane Sellers recounts his life’s story as a jockey racing horses in the sport of kings. Written with Tricia Psarreas, Sellers...
SWAN PEAK When you’re Dave Robicheaux, you can’t even take a vacation. Novelist James Lee Burke sends New Iberia’s favorite fictional detective to Missoula, Mont., for a little R&R, but before his...
TOSS THE DECANTER All of you red wine drinkers know the last glass from the bottle is always the best because as wine breathes it opens up, improving both bouquet and taste. That’s why we persnickety...
V IS FOR VEAL Leave it to Charley G’s to put a Louisiana twist on an Italian classic. Its summer menu focuses on hot weather specialities — Gulf redfish and bluepoint crabs — heightening and...
PLAY WITH STYLE Eliza Audley, who established her reputation designing for upscale St. John Knit after learning her craft at the American Fashion Institute in Paris, is taking the tennis apparel scene...
GET STUFFED Forget about toppings and side orders. Brewski’s, the newly opened bar and grill at 5503 Johnston St. near Ambassador Caffery, packs a full meal inside your sandwich. Burgers are inverted...
RICE COOKER MEALS Any true Cajun appreciates the taste of a slow-cooked gravy ladled over rice, the deep brown roux-flavored stew requiring hours on a stovetop. But when that’s just way too...
A DIFFERENT SIDE OF DOUCET From Now On, BeauSoleil fiddler Michael Doucet’s first album on the Smithsonian Folkways label, was recorded in three sessions with no rehearsals, overdubs or song lists....
ART & WINE AT CENA Local photographer Bruce Schultz’s work is on display through July 5 at Cena, a meal-prep kitchen at Bradbury Crossing and Stonemont Road in River Ranch (near the City Club)....
PICTURE PERFECT We’re a century too late to have our family portraits painted by John Singer Sargent, but Lafayette artist Mary Morvant is giving the grand master a run for his money. She has the rare...
STREET TALK Making a first foray into a new language can be heavy going. And beginners always start with formal phrases, so even speaking the lingo, you still sound like an Anglophone. But if you’d...
FAKE BAKE Who has time to spend hours in the sun damaging her (or his) skin just to have that sun-kissed look? Thanks to Fake Bake’s products, you won’t have to. And don’t worry about becoming a...
PLANET LAFAYETTE If you can’t make it to go shopping in Baluchistan, the Pakistan province can come to you. Catherine Sarwar and her niece Sahar Khursheed have opened up an international bazaar called...
RARE SPECIES FOR SUPPER It may seem counterproductive to suggest eating an endangered species in order to protect it, but that’s the premise of a new book by Gary Paul Nabhan and Deborah Madison. The...
A CAJUN PRIMER When Shane K. Bernard was growing up, he spent a lot of time researching his Cajun ancestry at the local public library. In addition to learning about his own heritage, he discovered...
SPRING RECYCLING So much for waiting on that tax rebate check. Cleaning out your closets can now put fast cash in your pockets. Plato’s Closet, which has just opened in front of Old Navy on the...
EGAN RETURNS It’s been five years since his solo debut Twenty Years of Trouble, but You Don’t Know Your Mind, the new CD from Lafayette piano man and blues and soul singer/songwriter extraordinaire...
CEVICHE DEL MAR-VELOUS If you’ve been all over town in search of a really good ceviche, your next stop should be downtown’s Agave Cantina, home of the Ceviche Del Mar. Beautifully presented in a...
ICE-COLD COFFEE With humid days and sticky nights ahead, sometimes it’s just too hot to turn on the stove, even to drip a pot of coffee. Fortunately, N.O. Brew, a cold-dripped bottled iced coffee, has...
ROUX WITH A DIFFERENCE Fridays can’t come soon enough. No, it’s not the weekend; it’s the Friday lunch special at Village Market in River Ranch. The town market is known for light salads and trendy...
GUMBO STYLE Vinyard House at Jefferson Street Market’s timing could not have been better. Arriving just before the weekend cool snap (that’s so far lasted into Monday) was the store’s new line of...
GO NUTS The same Louisiana pecan that showcases pies or turns up as the crunch encrusting a red snapper may become your favorite cooking oil. Winnsboro is home to Kinloch Plantation, which presses 100...
LENTEN LINKS Lent may be a time of penance, but there’s no suffering in south Louisiana when it comes to eating boudin. Joey’s Specialty Foods & Catering on Bertrand Drive makes seafood boudin...
BET YOU CAN’T EAT JUST ONE Even if butter won’t melt in your mouth, these creamy mints will. Gambino Bakery’s butter mints are an elegant old-fashioned treat. First manufactured commercially in 1932...
FROM ALABAMA TO HENDERSON Award-winning writer Rheta Grimsley Johnson has traveled and covered the south for more than three decades and was a 1991 Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary — but it was...