Top Hospitals: Highest ranking hospitals in Louisiana

EMBRACE THE CULTURE

july/august 2017

CULI NARYHERITAG E

Chef Melissa Martin’s Classic Cajun Stuffed HOME: Crabs A New Orleans Lakefront midcentury modern gem is returned to its former glory P. 20

LouisianaLife.com 1 july/august VOLUME 37 NUMBER 6

4 44 From The Editor traveler A Night at the Historically Passionate: Old Mansion A Creole dynasty where slaves have names 6 Photo Contest 48 Shine A Light On Me: farther flung An American Saddle Alabama Coasting: Bred horse from David 26 Beaches, Gulf seafood, McCoy Stables in Lake wildlife and history abound Charles is illuminated in sweet home Alabama by natural light. 50 8 roadside dining along the way LA Guns: Pops & Rockets Ardent Spirits: Tippling, takes its sticky, sweet, scribbling and road ‘80s inspired treats on tripping through the South tour throughout Acadiana

10 52 state of louisiana great louisiana chef Pelican Briefs: Dogs, From the Soul: drinks, fests, fun and Shreveport Chef Eleazar a call to artists Mondragon adds a heavy dose of love to 11 dishes at Ki’ Mexico health Happy (Healthy) Trails: 54 The five best hike and kitchen gourmet bike trails in Louisiana Summer Favorites: Make an easy meal out 12 of soft-shell crab with Literary Louisiana ice cream for dessert A Mother’s Love: Southern fiction about a 62 mother with secrets and calendar a daughter with a ruthless July and August: will to find answers Events and festivals around the state 14 Made In Louisiana 64 Savoir Fair: Ruston 26 39 a louisiana life woodworker Joshua Tribal Legacy: Mitchell works to bring culinary heritage top hospitals Marksville native together creatives as well works to keep Tunica- as the larger community Louisiana’s rich food traditions and Medicade’s highest Biloxi tribe’s language its masters, keepers and champions ranking hospitals and traditions alive around the state 16 By jyl benson photographs by denny culbert artist compiled by Sarah ravits Michel Varisco: Photographing the shifting and fragile Louisiana landscape

20 home Sometimes, a dish is so can see the “during” and enticing photo of the Lakefront Legacy: Maury attractive at every stage and “after” images on stuffed crab shells prior Strong and Ron Caron ON THE of creation, it’s impossible page 35 and 36 in our to pan-frying. Those bits revive a midcentury not to snap it throughout “Culinary Heritage,” of shrimp and white lumb modern home designed COVER its transformation. Chef feature, but for the crab meat and scallions by Curtis & Davis Melissa Martin’s Classic cover, we couldn’t help peeking out from the Cajun Stuffed Crabs but share photographer shells is a temptation are such a dish. You Denny Culbert’s moody we’re unable to resist.

2 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 AWARdS EDITORIAL IRMA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Errol Laborde 2016 MANAGING Editor Melanie Warner Spencer Silver Associate editor Ashley McLellan Art Direction of a Single Story copy EDITOR Amanda Orr Sarah George web Editor Kelly Massicot Bronze travel EDITOR Paul F. Stahls Jr. Column Melissa FOOD EDITOR Stanley Dry Bienvenue HOME EDITOR Lee Cutrone Bronze Food Feature art Award of Merit Art Director Sarah George Reader Service lead photographer Danley Romero Article sales 2012 vice president of sales Colleen Monaghan Gold Companion [email protected] Website (504) 830-7215 2011 marketing Silver DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & EVENTS Cheryl Lemoine Overall Art Direction event coordinator Whitney Weathers Tiffani Reding digital media associate Mallary Matherne Amedeo For event information call (504) 830-7264

Production Press Club production manager Jessica DeBold of New Orleans production designers Monique Di Pietro, 2016 Demi Schaffer, Molly Tullier Lifetime traffic coordinator Terra Durio Achievement Award Errol Laborde Administration Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne 1st Place Best Magazine President Alan Campell 1st Place Executive Vice President Errol Laborde Layout/Design office manager Mallary Matherne Sarah George Distribution Manager John Holzer 2nd Place Best Magazine Subscription manager Brittanie Bryant 2nd Place For subscriptions call (504) 830-7231 Layout/Design Sarah George 2nd Place Best Portrait Danley Romero 2nd Place Governmental/ 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123 Political Writing Metairie, LA 70005 Jeremy Alford (504) 828-1380 • LouisianaLife.com 3rd Place Column Louisiana Life (ISSN 1042-9980) is published bimonthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) Melissa 828-1380. Subscription rate: One year $10; Mexico and Canada $48. Bienvenu Periodicals postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Louisiana Life, 110 3rd Place Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2017 Louisiana Medical/Health Life. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark Louisiana Life is registered. Louisiana Writing Life is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork, Amanda Wicks even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in Louisiana Life are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or owner.

LouisianaLife.com 3 FROM THE EDITOR A NIGHT AT THE OLD MANSION

By Errol Laborde

much bigger than the previous mansions. Like laws and budgets, mansions and capitols are ever-expanding. At the microphone in the old governor’s mansion this past April 12 was the new governor, John Bel Edwards. He was there to participate in a party hosted by Louisiana Life to celebrate Baton Rouge’s Bicentennial. Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser was also there as was Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and a gathering of contem- porary lawmakers and guests. Nowadays the building is used as a reception hall. There are few big decisions It is often said of old historic being made on the veranda unless it is buildings, “If these walls could talk...” between having wine or champagne. In the case of the building commonly Nevertheless, that evening Edwards did play known as The Old Governor’s Mansion, an important non-legislative chief executive much of that talk might have been in role, that of cheerleader. Baton Rouge had a whispers as power wielders from Huey tough year in 2016. Edwards’ remarks were Long to Jimmie Davis negotiated the state’s at first solemn as he mentioned the tragic future, perhaps over biscuits on the veranda. killings and then the rage of high waters, On the evening of June 27, 1930 legislators but he also expressed the confidence that attended the opening reception of the stucco the city would rebound and have bright mansion Long had built. No doubt, many days ahead. Both Broome and Nungesser lawmakers thought the building might be a expressed similar themes, but Edwards’ good place for them to live one day. remarks made the optimism seem official. It was the second gubernatorial home; Legislators looked on knowing that many the first was a frame house that had battles were ahead between them and the originally been built for a local businessman. governor. For the moment though the old As the governor’s residence it lasted mansion was working its charm. The hors from 1887 to 1929. Long’s mansion was d’oeuvres were hot; the wine was chilled; located down the street from the building and the flower of an adjacent magnolia tree commonly known as the “old state capitol.” opened to the veranda. The house had come That to, did not satisfy Long’s longing for to order. grandeur. He also started the construction of the rocket ship-like state capitol where his life, by then he was a U.S. Senator, would end in 1935 with the echo of gunfire. The so-called “new” Governor’s mansion that Davis built in 1961 is nearby and is

4 Louisiana Life July/august 2017

PHOTO CONTEST

Shine A Light On Me An American Saddlebred Horse from David McCoy Stables in Lake Charles is illuminated by natural light.

Photo by Timothy Fontenot, Lake Charles

Submit your photos by visiting louisianalife.com

6 Louisiana Life Jujuly/august 2017 along the way Ardent Sprits Tippling, scribbling and road tripping through the South written and photographed by Melanie Warner Spencer

on July 18 and draws hospitality industry professionals and intoxicant aficionados from all over the world. It’s a lot like the South by Southwest Music Festival held in Austin, Texas each year, but for liquor. Actually, it’s just like SXSW, without the music part getting in the way of the drinking. My husband Mark and I, frequent imbibers, were both born and raised in Kentucky, which means we are partial to bourbon. It also means we have consumed drinks during interstate moves or while on road trips (not while driving, of course) at bars in every state and commonwealth between the Bluegrass and the Pelican State. As well as in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida, leaving eight Southern states to go, but we’ll settle for conquering those we have left in the Southeastern Conference. Once on a road trip to Shreveport I had a mighty terrible cold and laryngitis. Let me tell you, there is no care and comfort greater than a hot toddy delivered by a compassionate bartender or server when you are traveling in a strange city. As much as I love having a drink at Southerners, especially Southern makes you a better writer. I’ve only lived here Sloppy’s Downtown in Lake Charles; writers, are passionate about many a little over three years, but my own prose has Flying Heart Brewing in Bossier City; things including, but not limited to, telling improved exponentially. Or, I’m too sauced and The Chimes in Baton Rouge, to stories, food, football and hooch — and to know one way or another, but we don’t name a few, one of our favorite places to telling stories about food, football and have to figure that out right now. Let’s take knock back some cold ones — apart from hooch. Some of our most celebrated writers our time and drink about it. Where was I? our own porch — is the Erin Rose in were zealous lushes, using their favorite Oh, inebriated Southerners, yes. There are New Orleans’ French Quarter. Our first spirits as fuel, muse and subject matter. For a lot of us and we can be found tippling in experience there was meeting up with a example, consider the life and work of watering holes, on porches and even on the lawyer friend during a visit to the city before William Faulkner, Hunter S. Thompson, streets in some cities — specifically, New we moved from Texas. I’m not one to do O. Henry, Tennessee Williams and Truman Orleans. I would say also in the passenger shots, but I can’t resist an Irish Car Bomb Capote — wait, maybe that’s not the best seat of a moving vehicle, but the Louisiana (a half ounce of Jameson Irish Whiskey list, given each one of these writers had a State Legislature closed that loophole in and a half ounce of Baileys Irish cream certain degree of — shall we say, issues — 2004. Now don’t you worry, you can still dropped into a half glass of Guinness), surrounding their drinking habits. That have your drive-through daiquiri and drink which tastes like chocolate milk. We had said, not only did each of them practice the it too, but just don’t put that straw in it until a couple there with our friend. He’s now art of consuming aqua vitae (a little too you get home, ya hear? Ernest Hemingway, a seminarian living and studying in Rome much), but also at one time or another who advised, “Write drunk; edit sober,” was and we eventually moved to New Orleans. ginned and juiced in Louisiana — not a Southerner, but he loved daiquiris and While I can’t say for sure that he turned specifically, New Orleans. also spent some time drinking in Louisiana to the priesthood because of the events Now, I don’t have any basis in fact for — specifically New Orleans. Were Papa of that night at the Erin Rose, there is the following assertion, but it seems to me alive today, he likely would have relished the no doubt in my mind that it contributed one could build the case that drinking in days-long festival dedicated to drink, Tales to our undeniable desire to move to

Louisiana — specifically, New Orleans — of the Cocktail. It kicks off in New Orleans Louisiana — specifically, New Orleans. n

8 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 LouisianaLife.com 9 STATE OF LOUISIANA

party like a vip pelican briefs Bossier City, Shreveport A new luxury transportation service makes its debut in Bossier City on the Dogs, drinks, fests, fun and a call to artists evening of Paul McCartney’s July 15 New Orleans concert at CenturyLink Center featuring by Lisa LeBlanc-Berry Be a Bartender the former Beatle’s 50-year retrospective with Style amplified by lasers and fireworks. The Tales of the Cocktail new iShuttle VIP Champagne Experience debuts its first Bar is a five-hour luxury charter service InDepth seminar that picks you up at your home for series at the 15th the McCartney extravaganza and for annual event CenturyLink Center concerts going held July 18-23, forward (this includes any locations in profiling some of the Caddo and Bossier Parish), providing world’s best bars in champagne and gourmet snacks to and 90-minutes sessions. from the concerts, plus Wi-Fi, video More than 200 screens and Bluetooth connection to the seminars are held high-voltage sound system aboard. Tours during this year’s are led by expert guides (318-872-2152 festival. for information). talesofthecocktail.com

North Louisiana Soul in a Bowl Designed to explore the local food and cocktail scene, Chef Hardette Harris introduces her Pure Louisiana Soul interactive culinary experience featuring cooking demos with Pass the Popcorn guest chefs at various locations; The Louisiana-shot transportation is provided in a “Girl’s Trip,” which hits private shuttle. “Straight from the theatres July 21 depicts red dirt and fresh waters of North four lifelong friends Louisiana, we offer you our soul (Regina Hall, Queen in a bowl,” says the chef (known Latifah, Jada Pinkett for creating the popular year-old Smith and Tiffany Us Up North series). “You can get Haddish) traveling to two chefs for the price of one.” New Orleans for the foodlouisiana.com annual Essence Festival. Also shot in Louisiana Lafayette is Sofia Coppola’s Civil Hot Diggity Dog! War horror-drama Baton Rouge Dat Dog opens its first Lafayette restaurant at 201 Jefferson St. in “The Beguiled” that A Call to Artists opened June 23 August with an interior space dedicated to local artists and plans for Court 13 Arts presents its Inaugural (filmed primarily at live music in the rear of the restaurant, plus a Cajun country-inspired Residency Program beginning Madewood Plantation mural is in the works on the building’s exterior. Louisiana Life asked September 24. It is designed to in Napoleonville) and Bill DiPaola, President and COO of Dat Dog Enterprises, why he provide artists at all stages of their made a splash at the selected Acadiana for their first expansion outside the New Orleans careers with an opportunity to recent Cannes Film market. “There is something unique about the people in Lafayette that create contextual work and interact Festival. Coppola was is both intimidating and inspiring,” he says. “The food is incredible, with the New Orleans artistic named best director and and we want to work very hard to live up to that kind of quality. We community. Selected artists will be Nicole Kidman won a feel very strongly that the people in Lafayette share the values of awarded a two-month residency stay special award heralding family, food and music that we hold dear here in New Orleans, and culminating with a final exhibition the festival’s 70th we hope to add another layer to that fabric that is Acadiana.” The next November 17-19. court13arts.org Dat Dog location is slated for Baton Rouge in late 2017-early 2018. anniversary.

The July 14-15 out. Shrimp lovers plus enough shrimp fireworks and shrimp and Crabs Fest in Natchitoches descend on the tiny creations to make galore. The Lake Lake Charles on Aug. Natchitoches, NSU Folk Festival town of Delcambre even Bubba Gump Charles Cajun Food 19 brings together Delcambre, Morgan City, Lake Charles features a fiddle for the 67th annual blush. Morgan City’s & Music Festival July regional roots music championship and Delcambre Shrimp Louisiana Shrimp 14-15 offers gumbo with local craft beers Of Fiddles, workshops, Cajun Festival Aug. 16-20, and Petroleum and jambalaya and crab dishes (tip: Food and Fun dance lessons, food highlighted by a foot- Festival Aug. 31- among the many must be at least age demos and local stomping fais do-do Sept. 4 features live dishes, plus Cajun 21 to enter). crafts so grab your for all ages and the music, a children’s waltz and two-step fiddle and head blessing of the fleet area, a car show, contests. The Arts

10 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 photo courtesy dat dog HEALTHY LOUISIANA Happy (Healthy) Trails The five best hike and bike trails in Louisiana

by Fritz Esker

Tunica Comite A walk or Hills River a bike ride Park through nature is A short distance Do you think great exercise and northwest of you’re up for good for the soul. St. Francisville a challenge? For solitary types, it is Tunica The Comite River Park can provide needed Hills. Most people don’t in Baton time to recharge the associate Rouge skirts mental batteries and Louisiana with hills, the banks of the 1bluffs, and ravines, 2Comite River and for friends or Cypress Bayou. sweethearts, it can but if you’re looking to escape the New Orleanian be an excellent way flatlands for some Caleb Izdepski to keep fit while lovely views and a describes the trail as spending time with pristine hardwood a “rollercoaster” with some steep climbs loved ones and forest, Tunica Hills is worth a look. and drops. Make sure friends. Here you have a mountain are five of wlf.louisiana.gov/ or cross bike if you Louisiana’s best wma/2752 want to attempt this one, though. hike and bike trails. brec.org

Tammany Cat Chicot Trace Island State National Park Formerly a Wildlife corridor for Refuge Louisiana’s the Illinois largest Central This little state park Railroad, the paradise in St. is in Ville Tammany Francisville Platte in Trace has South provides a exceptional Central flat, easy trail for trails for hiking and Louisiana. There’s 3hikers and bikers 4viewing deer and water5 and rolling from downtown numerous birds. hills to be enjoyed, Covington through When the refuge but the hills do Abita Springs, floods, canoeing and make the hiking and Mandeville, Lacombe kayaking options are biking a bit more and Slidell. There’s available for touring challenging. even a parallel the cypress-tupelo equestrian path for swamps. However, New Orleanian Lyle horseback riders. you must bring your Castro enjoys the Bikes can be rented own canoe/kayak, as trail because it takes at the start of the they are not available visitors through trail. As an added for rent. a wide variety of bonus, it provides Louisiana forests easy access to the refuge. fws.gov/refuge/ — pine, deciduous, Old Rail Brewing Cat_Island marsh, and cypress Co., in Mandeville swamp. and the Covington Brewhouse and Abita crt.state.la.us Brewery in Covington if you want to take a break for some adult beverages.

tammanytrace.org

LouisianaLife.com 11 LITERARY LOUISIANA

secrets. I don’t think children have a right to know all A Mother’s their mother’s secrets, but it’s natural for them to try to investigate. Polly is a mysterious Love woman and Willow seems naturally born to spying and Southern fiction subterfuge. Willow already is sensing her limitations — she about a Louisiana can’t keep her mother from woman with secrets growing old or getting sick and her daughter’s — so this desire to uncover information might be some ruthless will to find kind of seeking of the powers answers that we, as adults, know we don’t possess. Or, Willow is just by Amanda Orr a snoop.

Q: The matter of Christian Willow Havens is the faith comes up quite a bit 10-year old daughter of in this book. You illustrated Polly, a woman who fell the tension between different pregnant for the last time in her “brands” of Christianity so well. late 50s just before the death of Do you think this is an issue her husband. Despite her that is isolated to the South? advanced maternal age, Polly A: No, I think that each isn’t a worn out mother just Christian has their own version trying to raise her daughter to of Christianity, and it can make independence — she’s a for a lot of contrast between petulant, margarita-swilling family members. I have a Walgreens employee who will cousin, self-styled preacher, that take on anyone that questions tried to raise a dead man. He’d the veracity of her daughter’s It’s against this backdrop Hepinstall’s seventh novel and been dead five days, and already larger-than-life storytelling. that the reader learns Willow she took time to answer a few embalmed. In one of the first scenes has a desperate need to uncover questions about this wildly in “The Book of Polly,” Polly the secrets of her mother’s life popular book for Louisiana Life Q: What inspired you to write (age 68 at the time) procures as a young woman in Bethel, readers. about a woman who had a late- a hunting falcon to perch on Louisiana. in-life, surprise child? That’s a her shoulder as she attends The book is at once Q: Why focus on the secrets very specific character sketch. a meeting with Willow’s hilarious and deeply emotional mothers keep from their A: Looking back, I think it’s elementary school counselor. with the most apt literary children? Do you think children because I wanted to write a The purpose of that particular comparisons being “Terms of have a right to know the secrets character based on my mother, spectacle is to protect Willow’s Endearment” and “Saving Cee of their mother’s heart? Polly, who is an elderly woman. reputation as an honest girl. Cee Honeycutt.” This is Kathy A: I’m just fascinated by So any child of hers would have

Louisiana Life’s own things more calming “Dog Décor: Canines photographer, Sara than curling up with a Living Large” Essex’s, released a mug of tea and flipping By Sara Essex Bradley new book “Dog Décor: through the pages of Glitterati Incorporated, Dogs in Canines Living Large.” this book. $35 Within the 84 full-color Each spread features the From Dog Décor: Canines Repose images, you’ll meet family dog’s backstory Living Large by Sara Essex Bradley copyright © 2017, well-loved pooches as well as detailed published by Glitterati against the scenery descriptions of the lush Incorporated of their owners’ spaces in which they glitteratiIncorporated.com impeccably designed reside. homes. There are few

12 Louisiana Life Jujuly/august 2017 For fans of S-town and Serial to have come about from a late-life birth. Once the character Polly was created, though, I found the delightful side effects — the fact that she, a cantankerous, old- fashioned Southern gardener of a certain age, existed in a neighborhood filled with Part true-crime story, part young moms driving hybrids memoir, this book follows and going to spin class. the journey of the author — a Harvard Law grad staunchly Mothers with a distinctly opposed to the death penalty — different attitude about child- as she finds herself in her first raising and life in general. I summer internship at a New think the contrast really adds Orleans law firm working on the retrial of a death-row convicted to the story. murderer. Not only does she want Ricky Langley to die, but Q: The word “perfect” comes she begins to understand how up frequently in the book. her own past colors her view of the crime. With that, she But these characters are so explores how everyone involved imperfect — lying, murder, in the retrial, from judge to jury etc. Can you talk about what foreman to Ricky’s own mother, perfection means to you in views the crime through the lens of their own experience. relation to these characters and your readers who relate to “The Fact of a Body” these characters? By Alexandria Marzano- A: People are continually Lesnevich Flatiron Books, $26.99 disappointed by life and disappointed by their role in it. The character of Phoenix, though, seemed to feel that In a rut? life was always up to snuff, at every single moment. His phrase of ‘perfectly perfect’ is actually something that the real Phoenix (my friend Dallas) says from time to time. I love the addition of the word ‘perfectly,’ as though the word ‘perfect’ needs a little Therapy is expensive, but a boost. Things will only get relevant distraction in the form ‘perfectly perfect’ for Willow of a book can do just as much when she accepts life on its to get you over an emotional hurdle according to the authors own terms, and her place of “The Novel Cure.” The in it. As a writer, I love the charming 400-page index imperfections of characters. includes an alphabetical list of Those tiny moments when ailments including everything from abandonment to fear they lose their patience, of dinner parties to feeling fail to fix a boat, love too trapped by children to PMS to hard or throw up a Snickers zestlessness and everything in between. Under each heading is bar on a kitchen floor. n a prescription for bibliotherapy (books to read) as well as the reasoning behind each suggestion.

“The Book of Polly” “The Novel Cure” By Kathy Hepinstall By Ella Berthoud and Susan Pamela Dorman Books, $26 Elderkin Penguin, $17

LouisianaLife.com 13 LOUISIANA MADE

A rockslide of crawfish crumbling out onto Savoir ‘Fair’ awaiting trays meets passersby as the crowds seek out the Railroad Ruston woodworker Festival, downtown Ruston’s latest community of creative Joshua Mitchell revelry. The festival is a lively works to bring celebration of the creativity and together creatives culture of north Louisiana. Nestled in the heart of as well as the larger downtown Ruston, the event community attracted a handful of Louisiana bands, food trucks and vendors, By Jeffrey Roedel and more than one hundred portrait By Romero & Romero makers from around Louisiana and the region. On the other side of the food trucks and a sloping lawn, the Seratones warm up in big brassy top notes. Behind shades and a standard-issue event badge, festival founder Joshua Mitchell greets two friends with big bear hugs. From a narrow slip of an alley next to Pontchatoulas restaurant and its outboard crawfish-boiling brigade, this 30-year-old artist gives his friends the scoop on the event, and there’s plenty to dish. More than 100 makers’ tents shotgun a strip of land between a retail-dominated row of development and the former lanes of the Rock Island Line, forming the backbone of this brand new event that, on this hot April day, seems to have drawn hundreds of folk from all across north Louisiana and beyond. This first-year festival is the brainchild of Mitchell, himself a woodworker and designer, whose work as an event organizer was born out of a desire to explore the space between creator and consumer. “The term maker already has such a general, sometimes misunderstood definition, and I really wanted to explore what it meant to creatives and the general public of the area,” Mitchell says. “This is so important, because when you pick up something from an event like this, you feel like you’re going home with a piece of that artist, and after meeting

14 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 Q&A

What do you do when you’re not working in your studio or planning your next event? These days if I’m not working I’m exploring. Kayaking is one of my favorite things to do to pass the time. Ruston has great spots to do that and to venture out, for sure. The bayous of Monroe are beautiful and made for adventure, too. I really enjoy being on the water. Other than that I’m probably just getting out and trekking somewhere. I try to get up to Arkansas and a couple other places to camp and explore when I can. I’m a them you can connect with the pretty outdoorsy guy. piece on a more personal level.” A few years ago, Mitchell Who has inspired you the most saw a need in Ruston for a along the way? more collective culture that People that have can connect buyers directly inspired me along with the regional creatives who the way would be any maker or artist make their favorite things. He who is making things first founded Ruston Makers happen. It inspires Fair. Now, Railroad Fest is me even further the same idea plugged into a when their passion is their main gig. It’s higher wattage amplifier. But tough to muster up Mitchell’s events are less an “I just didn’t like things to be shares their story with patrons the courage to take addition to, and more of a normal,” he says. “They had to be who walk into these booths that leap and when reflection of the city he’s grown added to or fixed in some way.” as strangers and walk out as I see artists working hard and doing well, to appreciate more and more. That desire for change and friends, Mitchell’s Railroad it inspires me. “Ruston is the definition of disdain for malaise often led Festival bares the handprints a small town with big dreams,” him to travel outside of his new of a designer — the unmistak- Do you ever get says Mitchell, who was born in hometown of Ruston. able mark of intentionality back to Germany or have distinct Darmstadt, Germany, and spent “There was just never and purpose pervades these memories of it? I much of his youth in Maryland. anything to do here,” Mitchell communal festival grounds. wasn’t in Germany “And through the process of recalls. “And that’s probably “What happens with long enough to have creating this festival I’ve gotten the biggest reason why I’ve makers’ fairs is that the public any strong memories and unfortunately a glimpse of how we can make chosen now to build things, to gets genuinely excited about have not been back progress. I’ve worked closely do something here rather than supporting local artists and yet. We bounced with the city and city organiza- constantly scurry away.” businesses and in turn, those around to a couple tions throughout, and I’ve really Mitchell studied architec- makers get excited about partic- of places on the East Coast, but been blown away by their work ture at Louisiana Tech for ipating in a local event,” he says. when I think back ethic and open mindedness.” a couple of years but left to “It all goes hand in hand. The on growing up, I Mitchell was a curious child, start his own firm making city of Ruston as a whole is a miss Maryland the he says, always tinkering with custom furniture, called Jodami prime example of this notion, most. I guess you could say those were things, modifying toys and tools Design. As makers meet one and it’s exciting to see.” n some of my wonder and pieces of artwork. another and each passionately years where I was formulating opinions about life and all the things around me. LouisianaLife.com 15 artist Michel Varisco Photographing the shifting and fragile Louisiana landscape

By John R. Kemp

South Louisiana’s swamps and coastal wetlands have lured generations of artists who have sought to capture their natural beauty on film and canvas. Photographer Michel Varisco is drawn to those same landscapes not simply to document their splendor, but to explore the balance and harmony in nature as it encounters the man-made world. “As an artist,” she says, “I study the human relationship to nature through archi- tecture, engineered and wild environments. As a native New Orleanian, of primary concern to me has been the endangered wetlands and the cultures affected by the loss of these lands. My work celebrates nature and human ingenuity, while shedding light on both sustainable and unsustainable practices.” Inspired by the Great Depression photographers of the 1930s who documented poverty in America, Varisco has created portraits of Louisiana wetlands threatened by global warming, rising sea levels and destructive human intrusion. Yet her work is not a message of doom but one of hope and faith, faith that we have the capacity and imagination to restore “what seems permanently lost.” Varisco’s interest in photography as a tool for social advocacy began as an art student while attending Loyola University where she earned a bachelor’s of arts. She also studied art and photography in Italy and France before earning a master of fine arts degree in 1995 from Tulane University. “I have always found a way to blend environmental and social justice in my work,” she says. “I see art as a way to create a dialogue around important subjects and to break out of the status quo. Art asks the simple questions. Where it leads us is sometimes blissful, sometimes painful.” Over the last decade, Varisco’s photographs have been included in major public and private collections from New Orleans and across the nation to Paris

16 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 Exhibitions and Events

Through Aug. 26 Alexandria Alexandria Museum of Art, “Painting a Nation: Hudson River School.” These singularly American Hudson River School landscapes explore the romantic and idyllic glory of rural 19th-century America, 933 Second St., 318-443- 3458, themuseum.org

Through Sept. 3 Baton Rouge Louisiana Art and Science Museum, through photographs and personal memorabilia, “Faces of the Flood” documents the devastation, survival and hope in the wake of the historic 2016 Baton Rouge flood, 100 River Road South, 225-344-5272, lasm.org

Through Sept. 3 New Orleans New Orleans Museum of and Moscow. They also have appeared in Over the last decade, Art, “The Pride of Place: The local, national and international exhibitions photographer Michel Making of Contemporary Varisco has documented Art in New Orleans,” and publications. She is a founder of the Louisiana’s receding showcases a selection of New Orleans Photo Alliance and mentors coastal marshes. In her 20th-century art recently post-Hurricane Katrina donated to NOMA by students at the New Orleans Center for the Shifting series, she has prominent art collector Creative Arts. In addition, she has received sought to learn more Arthur Roger, City Park, important grants for her work, including about the endangered 1 Collins Deboll Circle, wetlands and the 504-658-4100, noma.org one in 2012 from the prestigious Joan cultures affected Mitchell Foundation. by the loss of these Through Nov. 11, 2018 lands. Images of Fort Shreveport Blissful or painful, Varisco’s work is a Proctor, once located masterful and timely response to South on dry land, and the R. W. Norton Art Gallery, vanishing marshes in St. “Enlist! Art Goes to War, Louisiana’s endangered natural landscape. Bernard Parish are vivid 1914-1918.” See what life Her photographs are artistic and poetic examples of how far the was like in Shreveport responses to what she sees. They are to her Gulf has encroached and Caddo Parish during upon the state’s World War I and how what words are to poets. As such, they help imperiled coastline. artistic posters were used ordinary people see the landscape around to urge men to enlist, women to become nurses them through Varisco’s lens. and join the Red Cross, In her series Shifting and Fragile Land, 4747 Creswell Ave., 318- 865-4201, rwnaf.org Varisco explores the destructive effects of rising sea levels and the positive results of Through Dec. 9 coastal land restoration projects. In other Lafayette images, she captures cloudy oil sheens Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, floating in the Gulf of Mexico, the result Francis Pavy’s compositions of catastrophic blowouts like the 2010 BP unfold as dream-like disaster. We also see an oysterman living in symbols or stories. “Lake Arthur Lotus” is a complete harmony with the sea. In recent psychedelic swampscape years, her work has taken her to China, created in the wake of the BP oil spill in 2011, 710 East Mexico, France and Italy where she photo- St. Mary Blvd., 337-482- graphed intersections of the natural and 0811, hilliardmuseum.org man-made landscapes.

LouisianaLife.com 17 In images such as the Mississippi River Bridge and Plaquemines Parish oysterman Judge Williams, Varisco documents human relationships to nature through architecture, engineered and wild environments. canoeing down the Mississippi from She approaches Minnesota. She canoed a stretch of the river documentary photography as an from Helena, Arkansas, to Arkansas City, art form not only to paddling 50 miles a day for four days. give viewers visual information but also “We camped on islands, made coffee to create an artistic from the river and did everything we were response to the landscape. Varisco’s taught not to do with river water,” she says. images create portraits “I gained so much respect for the river as of Louisiana wetlands the mother of all things. I’m in awe and threatened by global warming, rising sea can’t get enough of the river.” levels, and human Photographs in her Ruminations series intrusion. Her work also celebrates “nature are her immediate responses to the sculpted and human ingenuity, geometry of man-made architecture against while shedding light on the natural world. For example, we see an both the sustainable and unsustainable automobile junkyard with crushed vehicles practices.” stacked one upon another on the edge of a cypress swamp. Another shows waves breaking on a beach with oil platforms Varisco began Fragile Land after the coastal wetlands and mouth of the looming on the distant horizon. In more Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and Mississippi to capture her images of the uplifting images, she captures the precision of Gulf Coast in 2005. changing coastline. a plowed sugarcane field or a roll of hay lying “I was photographing everything to get “I took it in, absorbed it, treasured it,” in the middle of a pasture much like Claude my mind right,” she says. “My home and city Varisco says. “I took photographs of Delacroix Monet’s famous paintings of haystacks. were wrecks. I photographed trees and the Island, Hopedale, Chauvin, Barataria, In addition to photography, Varisco new life I saw coming back in them. That Lafourche Parish, Port Fourchon, Eads is a sculptor, printmaker, video and helped me feel more hopeful. It was so bleak Jetties at the mouth of the river and oil rigs assemblage artist with a major installation, for a long time. I found peace in City Park. It on the horizon off Grand Isle. I was thinking “Prayer Wheels for the Mississippi River,” had become a wild savanna again. There was about the interaction between the engineered scheduled to be unveiled this November in sadness in these images but there was also a and the natural. Even the houseboats are New Orleans at the citywide art exhibition- metaphorical sense of hanging in there.” engineered. As the series grew, I was having a Prospect. 4. Based on Tibetan prayer wheels Photographing Katrina’s destruction and conversation with nature.” she saw during a 2013 visit to China, her nature’s rebirth led to her Shifting series Varisco’s next adventure was on the multi-media installation is a meditation on and a desire to learn more about the natural Mississippi River. With the help of a river how people have lived with the river from landscape and how to live in harmony pilot friend, she rode aboard freighters prehistoric times to the present. with nature. Beginning in 2008, she spent steaming up and down the river capturing “I am trying to find any discourse on how weeks each season of the year, living on images for her new Fluid States series. There we live with nature,” she says. “I don’t have houseboats in the wild Atchafalaya Basin, she took photographs under water as well all the answers. It’s a journey.” photographing the landscape and life there. as industries, forests and life along the river. For more information about Varisco, visit

At times she chartered planes to fly over Last April, she joined a group of adventurers michelvarisco.com. n

18 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 LouisianaLife.com 19 home

Lakefront Legacy Maury Strong and Ron Caron revive a New Orleans midcentury modern home designed by Curtis & Davis

By Lee Cutrone Photos by Craig Macaluso

Seven years ago, Maury Strong and her husband Ron Caron were living in a condo in a 19th-century Garden District building when the former got the itch to move. Strong is a filmmaker, architec- ture aficionado and serial mover and renovator and Caron is a teacher, poet and musician. Lying in bed on a Saturday morning, she trolled the net for real estate listings and came upon an iconic, 1953, midcentury modern house designed by renowned architects Curtis & Davis. (The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is one of the firm’s most notable projects.) The next day, Strong and Caron went to a showing of the house with their friend, architect Wayne Troyer in tow. Fifty-plus years, flood damage and a poorly handled renovation by previous owners had left the Lakeshore property in need of repair. Nevertheless, the couple who lived in Sydney and Los Angeles before returning to their native New Orleans, connected Vintage finds with its California-modern in Ron’s study include an lines, indoor and outdoor Eames chair living spaces and notable from eBay. pedigree. So did a slew of Italian leather desk, Design other buyers. Four offers Within Reach preceded their own and the Outlet eBay Store. Katie dream was put on the Koch drapery. backburner. Two months later, all of the other parties dropped out and owning the home became a reality. The couple spent two years collaborating with Troyer to restore elements of its original architecture and give it a fresh reinterpretation for today.

20 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 The master bedroom’s platform leather and walnut Parallel Wide Bed, Design Within Reach Outlet eBay Store. Bedding from West Elm.

LouisianaLife.com 21 “We had a big dream and those things that expressed their personalities. Their and Palm Springs. Troyer, who had the take time,” says Caron, who coincidentally mandates included a pool (the 12,000- original architectural plans, also considered grew up a half-block from the house. “We square-foot corner lot provided ample every component of the project with Curtis had to do it right.” space), a large master closet, a kitchen where & Davis in mind. “His motto was ‘if Troyer and studio associate Natan they could indulge a shared love of cooking Curtis and Davis were alive today with the Diacon-Furtado worked closely with the and an environment that combines aspects of technology available and they would have clients to develop a restoration and remodel their favorite places — Sydney, Los Angeles done it, then we’ll consider doing it,’” says

22 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 (Above) The pool is surrounded by painted smooth concrete coping. The Ipe wood deck acts as a pool edge at the pool entrance. (Right top) The lily pond next to the pool contains gold fish, lily pads, lotus plants and a lucky crawfish named Lefty. (Right bottom) A light cove behind the entrance acts as a night-light through the transom window above the door. Additional landscaping in front is by Taylor Williams of Will Garden. (Above) The living Strong. The striking renovation was featured in the walnut wing walls to replace the wood partitions that room’s vintage Barcelona May 2017 issue of Dwell. originally stood in their place. The pool, a collabora- chairs belonged to Al Hirt, Ron’s former, late father- Key to the restoration was the recreation of the tion between Troyer and Evans + Lighter Landscape in-law. Velvet Como Sofa four-foot cantilever over the sliding glass doors Architecture is so similar to the house in its simplicity from Design Within Reach Outlet eBay Store, French overlooking the yard. The rectangular footprint, and economy of design that it’s hard to imagine the limestone flooring from exposed beams, clerestory windows and window bays house existed without it. Stafford Tile & Stone. overlooking the yard were all original, but the previous The interior — a marriage of white walls, French (Right) Maury Strong and Ron Caron. (Top) The renovation eliminated the overhang by extending the limestone floors, custom walnut cabinetry, contem- pool was designed by outer wall of the house. porary lighting and modern furnishings, both vintage Wayne Troyer of Studio WTA and Evans+Lighter “It was a defining quality of the house as well as a and reproduction — is undoubtedly lighter than its Landscape Architecture. strategy for shading that needed to be restored,” says 1953 incarnation. The home’s minimalist design (Middle) The wet bar’s Troyer. manages to evoke authentic period style while also custom cabinetry is by Conner Millworks. New architectural iterations also took their cues being very of-the-moment, a combination that suits (Bottom) The remodeled from the original architecture. Troyer respected the the owners well. kitchen features a tile backsplash by Stafford grid layout when reconfiguring rooms to allow for a “We love it so much,” says Strong. “We thank Wayne Tile & Stone. large master bath and walk-in closet and designed every time we see him for giving us our dream home. n

24 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 LouisianaLife.com 25 UC LINARY HERITAG E

By Jyl Benson & Photographs by Welcome to Louisiana Life’s celebration Denny Culbert of the culinarians who are making a mark on our unique state. The beauty of our culinary heritage and the people who are moving it forward while preserving and revealing the treasures of our past are well worth exploring. We asked each of them to share a recipe they feel best reflects their efforts. ¶ Tell me what you eat (and cook) and I will tell you who you are. This I believe, nor more than ever since I have come to know each of these gifted people who employ those gifts to utilize Louisiana's bountiful agricultural harvest to sustain, enlighten, educate and dazzle us.

26 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 C LINARY

LouisianaLife.com 27 West AfIr can Influence

Dr. Howard Conyers is frustrated by Dr. Howard Conyers the lack of recognition the enslaved West African people is a NASA engineer by trade and a whole of America’s past have received for their contribu- hog barbecue cook tions to the cuisine of the American South. Just put by his South Carolina a bowl of okra gumbo next to a bowl of Senegalese family tradition. soupou kanja and the root is undeniably there. Currently he is also a research fellow of The W.K. Kellogg With a Ph.D. from Duke University and a career at the National Foundation, as he uses the with NASA testing rocket engines, Conyers, 35 Southern Food and practice of cooking hogs (a native of Paxville, South Carolina, and resident Beverage Museum to connect his passion of New Orleans), started using his spare time in New Orleans, the for the preservation of his to bring attention to dying art of whole hog city he now calls home. heritage to his work as an barbecue as it was taught to him by his father. engineer and scientist. He is frequently called upon to address youth groups As a Research Fellow and others nationwide, sometimes with the support with the National Food & Beverage Foundation and the Southern Food & Beverage Museum (SoFab), he has curated several projects: “South Carolina Barbecue — Culture, Misconceptions and Preservation” and “From the Low Country to the Bayou: A Creole and Gullah Family Reunion.” The latter examined ongoing efforts toward agricultural and culinary preserva- tion across America to expose the influence of West African culinary traditions on contemporary Southern cooking. To execute the program he brought famed Gullah chef B.J. Dennis of Charleston, South Carolina. This spring he presented “Jolof to Jambalaya: An Evening with Chef Pierre Thiam,” at SoFab. The event explored the cultural and culinary ties between Senegal and Louisiana, and included a five-course meal prepared by celebrated Senegalese chef and cookbook author Pierre Thiam, executive chef at the celebrated Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria. Most recently Conyers assumed the role of mentor, partnering with Chef Serigne “Love” Mbaye, 23, a classically trained chef raised in Senegal, who now serves as senior line cook at Commander’s Palace. Together they presented a dinner featuring Senegalese foods made with ingredients indigenous to Louisiana. As is his way, Conyers eschewed the spotlight, instead serving as host as he delib- erately trained attention on his young protégé. Never one to rest, Conyers is currently at work on a book that examines barbeque through the voices of his African-American ancestors who shared their traditions orally for future generations. In 2016, he was one of 40 leaders selected nationwide by NextCity, a national urban affairs magazine and non-profit organiza- tion based in Philadelphia, to receive the prestigious Vanguard award, which is presented annually to top urban innovators age 40 and younger who are working to make positive changes in American cities.

Dr. Howard Conyers, by appointment only, howardconyers.com.

28 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 Dr. ConyerS’ Hoe withCa canekEs syrup

Combine 1½ cups of cornmeal and ½ cup all purpose flour in a bowl. Mix well. Add 2 cups hot water and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add 1 egg and 2 tablespoons salted butter (melted) and stir well. If the batter is too thick add additional hot water until a batter the consistency of pancake batter is achieved. Take care not to make the batter soupy. Use a ladle to pour out 3-to-4-inch cakes on the prepared cast iron skillet or griddle. Cook the cakes until small bubbles start to form at the edges then carefully flip them over, pressing slightly in the center to ensure even cooking. Cook until golden on both sides, about 3-5 minutes in all. Drain the cakes on paper towels. Serve warm with cane syrup. Makes 12 Life on thE farm

Every day Evan McCommon bellows out (left to right) a “Woooooop.” After a pause he will do it again. In Three generations response, hundreds of cows, their calves and bulls will of McCommons Taylor, Evan and stampede toward him. Among the heritage breeds (or, Sandra work breeds that have been around for decades or hundreds of together to raise years) are Piney Woods and French Charlais. heritage breed “We’ve conditioned our herd to come to that sound,” Pineywoods McCommon, 40, says. “When they hear it they know cattle and Red Wattle hogs on something good is about to happen.” their family’s Here, the animals are happy and a veterinarian could land just outside starve to death for lack of work. Animals that do not of Shreveport in thrive at his farm’s minimally invasive approach are sold. Princeton. Each weekend they Welcome to Mahaffey Family Farms, located in bring their grass Princeton, about 15 minutes outside of downtown fed beef, pasture Shreveport. The land has been in the family since 1927 raised pork and when H.H. “Happy” Mahaffey bought it and established an assortment fertilizers nor pesticides of eggs laid by a farm with cattle, an orchard, a sawmill, goats, poultry, their hens to he began clearing some pigs, vegetables and a large haying operation, employing the Shreveport of the forest to create a many people in the community. Following his sudden Farmer’s Market. Savanna pasture. death in 1953, Happy’s widow, overwhelmed, slowly “Savanna means sold off the livestock and equipment. The lush pine forest ‘widely spaced trees’,” surrounding the farm overtook it. he said. “While a forest The land remained in the Mahaffey family, ultimately is dark and closed, a coming under McCommon’s care in 1995, when he savanna has multiple began managing it with a focus on timber production, layers — forest, land conservation and wildlife management. When the and open water — and economy crashed in 2008, taking the timber market diverse species thrive.” with it, McCommon turned to his ancestor’s livelihood. He started planting Knowing the land had never been exposed to chemical organic vegetables in 2012, adding more varieties and new species each season. Today he raises heritage breeds of pastured hogs, chickens, goats and cattle using modern technology and the wisdom and sensibilities of the past to produce healthy, delicious 100 percent chemical-free foods while sustainably regener- ating his family’s land and nourishing his community. Animal waste is worked back into the system to nourish growing vegetables and water is provided via a pond water irrigation system, resulting in zero waste. Herbicides are avoided by employing hand tools and a small tractor. McCommon regularly partners with area chefs and other culinarians on events to build community and awareness. The Seasons & Traditions dinner series, a collaborative farm-to-table affair hosted on the farm by McCommon and Chef Hardette Harris, creator of the Official Meal of North Louisiana and the “Us Up North” tour and culinary experience, is now in its fourth year. The Piney Woods Supper Club is in its second year. He started the series of roving dinners with Chef Holly and Derek Schreiber of Saint Terre to feature an ever-changing roster of Louisiana chefs using Mahaffey products.

Mahaffey Family Farms, 440 Mahaffey Rd., Princeton, 318-949-6249, mahaffeyfarms.com.

30 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 CHilled Purple Hull Peas Smoked withPo sunnyrk yard egg and Cherokee purple tomato salad

CHILLED PURPLE HULL PEAS & PORK

Place 1 pound smoked pork neck bones or hocks in a Dutch oven. Add salt to taste and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the meat is falling from the bones, at least one hour. Strain the meat and the bones from the cooking liquid. Reserve the liquid. When the meat is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, discard the bones, shred the meat, and set it aside to cool. Add 1 quart shelled purple hull peas (rinsed), 6 leeks (white and green parts, washed and chopped—may substitute 3 medium onions, chopped), 3 cloves garlic (chopped), 4 organic carrots (peeled and chopped), 1 cup chopped celery, ½ cup mint, salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of cayenne to the reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook until peas are tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Strain the vegetables from the cooking liquid and discard the liquid. Combine the peas with the reserved meat and chill until ready to serve.

Cherokee Purple Tomato Salad Combine 2 large heirloom Cherokee purple tomatoes (diced), 2 garden fresh cucumbers (peeled, seeded and diced), 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve Add ¼ cup mint to the pea mixture and toss to incorporate. Divide the pea salad among six chilled salad plates. Divide the Cherokee purple tomato salad atop each of the plates. Top each portion with a fried egg, sunny side up. Serve at once. Serves 6 the advent of refrigeration, he opened a storefront in the 1920s and began making the smoked sausage, hogshead cheese and boudin that earned him a loyal patronage. When his son, Lester, returned from service in WWII Blessed are he took over the business, moving the market and slaughterhouse across the street. Of Lester’s seven theM eat Makers children, it was his son Donald, now 55, who took over the business. Now Donald’s son, Beau, 30, is heading day-to-day operations, freeing up his dad and Paw Paw to go fishing whenever they like. To sit in the tiny, cramped office at The Bourgeois family Each generation has its own legacy within the heritage Bourgeois Meat Market is to experience the physical butchers Beau, business. Donald, known for his creativity in the kitchen, manifestation of the cliché of south Louisiana 30, Lester, 93, and Donald, 55, carry on is the genius behind the market’s famous smoked beef masculinity. A deer head is mounted high on the wall, the traditions started jerky, of which they sell thousands of pounds each below it a picture of Beau Bourgeois, 30, with the by Valerie Jean- week, shipping it all over the world. Something magical felled deer. Next to it is a picture of Lester “Paw-Paw” Batiste Bourgeois in happened when he opened Bourgeois, 93, holding up a prized catch on a fishing 1891. (top to bottom) Oxtail, boudin and up a casing of boudin, boat. There’s a reverently framed picture of the smoked beef jerky folded the contents into Madonna and child, numerous bottles of assorted are just some of the a neat package within a cooking spices, a couple of bottles of vodka and you many meat products flour tortilla, then toasted they offer. can hear Lynyrd Skynyrd singing “Simple Man” from it. The resulting Boudin the radio in the kitchen where employees work with Burrito is now the area’s efficiency and an air of contentment. most popular grab-and-go The Bourgeois family has been making “Miracles in lunch, served hot from a Meat” since 1891 when Valerie Jean-Batiste Bourgeois glass case on the counter began slaughtering single pigs or cows and peddling the near the cash register. His fresh cuts by horse and carriage to those living along turkey cheese, a riff on the the edges of bayous Terrebonne and Lafourche. With hog variety but made with dark turkey meat, is sought after by squeamish eaters and his mustard-based TTS (Totally Top Secret) sauce could probably make an old sweat sock palatable. As the business moves into Beau’s computer- savvy hands his legacy will be expansion. A second market will open in nearby Gray in 2019 or 2020. “Just to take some of the pressure off of this place,” he says. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep up.” As recently as the 1970s there were numerous butcher shops dotting the immediate area, now only Bourgeois’ remains. Beau attributes the business’ longevity and its status as a national landmark to his family’s devotion to turning out top-quality products and adhering to strict customer service policies. The market prepares only enough products to serve a select number of customers each day. If they run out they make more, ensuring meats are always fresh. “It’s our products and it’s our family,” Beau says. “We’re good people, we care and we’re friendly. And that just keeps them coming back.”

Bourgeois Meat Market, 543 W Main St., Schriever, 985-447-7128, bourgeoismeatmarket.com

32 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 Mock Turtle Soup

With 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup oil, make a medium roux the color of peanut butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add 3 onions, (chopped), 1 bunch celery (chopped), and 1 bell pepper (chopped) to the roux to stop the color from deepening. Stir well. Add 3 cloves garlic (chopped), reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 45 minutes. Add 6 pounds oxtails (cut up), half of a sliced lemon (thinly sliced into ⅛- to ¼-inch rounds), 3 bay leaves and one 10-ounce can of Ro-tel Diced Original Tomatoes and Green Chiles or 1½ cups chopped fresh tomatoes. Add enough water to cover, about 1½ quarts. Cover the pot and simmer until the oxtails are tender, about 2½ hours. Add half of a sliced lemon (thinly sliced into ⅛- to ¼-inch rounds), and continue to simmer until the meat is falling off the bone. If desired, use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the bones from the soup. Add water as necessary to achieve desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add ½ cup chopped green onions and ¼ cup chopped parsley and continue cooking over low heat until the flavors have married, about 7 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Cut 6 hard-cooked eggs (peeled) in half lengthwise and add them to the pot. Stir gently. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6 to 8 Gulf coast bUo nty

Dinner at the Mosquito Supper Club Chef Melissa begins with a warning. Once her guests are seated, Martin (right), originally from Chef Melissa Martin, elegant and cosseted in an apron, Chauvin, cooks sweeps into the room and claps loudly, leveling her steel her family’s blue gaze upon the assemblage. recipes at her “Ya’ll! Ya’ll listen. There are a couple of rules, the weekly Mosquito most important is no clapping. I hate it. You know that Supper Club in New Orleans. really icky feeling you get when someone sings you Martin also Happy Birthday? If you clap I am coming to your house offers a private and singing you Happy Birthday. Don’t do it.” immersive dining The other rule is no one is to monopolize the stack of experience aboard her small cypress records nor the record player in the corner. houseboat in the “Not everyone wants to listen to something like Atchafalaya Basin. ‘Thriller’ all night long. Ya’ll share.” On the boat or at With that, she sweeps back into the kitchen to turn the club, diners are introduced, out a meal that will change according to the season and through stories, what is available. to the people who shrimp paste rather than Guests are seated communally. Over the course of the shaped Martin’s bread; and blackberry evening, a deeply personal bounty pours forth from the cuisine. dumplings with bowls kitchen with most items arriving family-style on platters. of ice cream made with There are impossibly light, yeasty "lagniappe" rolls served Pop Rouge soda. As with dishes of creamy butter enhanced thickly with glorious as this sounds, Poirier’s cane syrup; porcelain tureens filled with briny it was another item, not shrimp and okra gumbo; crisp fried oysters alongside listed on the evening’s luscious potato salad; a marriage of vine ripened set menu that defined tomatoes, cucumbers and purple pole beans with an the experience: every 20 acerbic bite signaling their very, very recent departure minutes or so someone, from the vine; pan-fried lump crab cakes bound with often Martin herself, would arrive from the kitchen bearing a platter of enormous, fried soft- shelled shrimp, a delicacy rarely seen in a restaurant setting. These were doled out, one by one, with tongs. There’s only so much people can reasonably be expected to willingly share. The abundance of those soft-shelled shrimp are a clear indication of Martin’s close ties to the seafood-gathering community — those shrimp were caught by her cousin. She says the dinners she hosts in her small, experi- mental space just outside of Central City are about telling the story of the shrimpers, oyster fishermen, crabbers and farmers that define her native Cajun cuisine and the life she lived growing up on Bayou Petite Calliou in Chauvin, a place that will soon disappear due to coastal erosion. Her recipes are those she learned at the knees of her mother, aunts and grandmother while enjoying a childhood on the Gulf within an extended family that made its living and took its sustenance from the bounty of the waters.

Martin, 39, hosts reservation-only dinners in New Orleans most Thursday and Friday nights, September ­through May. She hosts intimate dinners and luncheons on her houseboat, located in the Atchafalaya Basin in Henderson.

34 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 Classic Cajun Stuffed Crabs

In a food processor, pulse 1½ pounds wild Gulf shrimp (boiled, peeled and deveined) until they are ground into a sticky paste; set aside. Add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 large yellow onions (diced) and sauté until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add 1 small bell pepper (diced), 1 large stalk celery (diced), and 6 cloves minced garlic (about ¼ cup) and sauté until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Add 1 cup heavy cream, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking until liquid is reduced by almost three quarters, 10-15 minutes. Remove mixture from heat, add reserved ground shrimp, and stir to combine; allow to cool. In a large bowl, combine the cooled shrimp mixture, 2 pounds fresh lump crabmeat (carefully picked over for shells and cartilage), 1 tablespoon salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon cayenne (or more to taste) and 1 tablespoon Louisiana brand hot sauce. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice, then gently fold in 1 bunch scallions (green and white parts, finely chopped) and 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley (leaves only, finely chopped—reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish). Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for several hours or overnight so that flavors can marry. Taste the shrimp-crab mixture. Adjust the seasonings, adding lemon juice, as desired. Stuff the mixture into 12 cleaned blue crab shells (if available) or form into 12 cakes; lightly dust each shell or cake with 2 cups cornmeal and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet, preferably cast iron, and heat until the oil sizzles when a pinch of cornmeal is tossed in. Working in batches and adding more oil as needed, fry the stuffed crabs, meat side down, or the cakes until golden brown, flipping halfway through, 8 to 10 minutes in all. Add a touch of butter to each. Garnish with reserved parsley and serve immediately with hot, cooked, popcorn rice (Martin likes Baker Farms Gourmet Popcorn Rice, available at campbellfarms.com) with pats of butter. Makes 12 stuffed crabs or crab cakes (plan to serve two per person as an entree) wanted to stay on, many of whom were the previous owner’s family members. Zeringue, 37, a serial restaurant entrepreneur and chef who also owns EAT!, Vacherie and Cafe Conti Tried and true restaurants in the French Quarter, turned to his family farm upbringing in Vacherie and his grandmother Winnie’s recipe files as traditiO ns sources for the menu enhancements at the smokehouse’s restaurant. The restaurant is open Matthew Moreland wanted in. Since 2005 Matthew Moreland only for weekday lunch the New Orleans-based general practice attorney had and chef Jarred and a Sunday brunch watched his best friend, Jarred Zeringue, either create or Zeringue purchased the Wayne Jacob’s that showcases Bloody invest in successful businesses. Smokehouse & Marys made with in-house His chance finally came in 2015 when Zeringue Restaurant in 2015. smoked tomatoes, onions approached his old friend about going in on Wayne They are preserving and garlic. Deviled eggs Jacob’s Smokehouse & Restaurant, a heritage business the original Jacob’s flavors while adding are topped with tiny ready for a fresh start. their personal slivers of house-smoked “I was finally able to get on the right boat,” Moreland, touch to the menu, bacon, rounds of roasted 45, says. building and andouille sausage “chips” Founded in 1950 by Nolan Jacob, the smokehouse backyard where they are served with Creole produced artisan-smoked meats and fresh sausage that keep chickens and have planted fruit mustard, smoked tasso they ultimately shipped worldwide while maintaining a trees. enhances creamy macaroni restaurant serving traditional Cajun and Creole dishes and cheese and the dessert made with products from the smokehouse. Zeringue’s list is comprised entirely of family had shopped at the smokehouse for generations. his grandmother’s scratch- Upon assuming ownership of the business, Moreland made treats. Banana Cream and Zeringue, who serves as executive chef of the Cheese or Chocolate Chip restaurant, took a minimally-invasive approach. They Buttermilk pie, anyone? closed for only two days so as not to disrupt the habits Lining the restaurant's of the community it served, instead sneaking in after shelves are products hours to paint and make physical improvements to the from Zeringue’s Circle Z restaurant. They also retained all of the employees who Foods line of house-made vinegars, condiments, pepper jelly, smoked salts, salsas and roasted fruit butters, all presented in elegant, minimalist packaging. There are cartons of fresh yard eggs for sale from the variety of chickens, both common and exotic, that now live in the backyard, merrily feeding off of peppers and leftover donuts from a shop down the street. The result is ultra-rich deep golden yolks with a slight peppery kick. Moreland and Zeringue have planted numerous fruit and nut-bearing trees and vines including muscadine, Moreland paper-shell pecan (Moreland’s grandfather patented the variety, a result of grafting a paper shell and a candy pecan root stock together), avocado, fig and olive. Lines of numerous varieties of citrus trees, including a pink lemonade variety with vibrant blush-colored flesh, hold the promise of a lovely allée when they mature. The wealth from the garden will be used in the restaurant and in the Circle Z Foods line. The friends are also investors in Two Run Farms and built a smokehouse at the Mississippi facility that will be used to increase Wayne Jacob’s smoked meat production for commercial distribution to upscale supermarkets. The products will be free of fillers, preser- vatives, nitrates and gluten.

Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse & Restaurant, 769 A West 5th St., LaPlace, 985-652-9990, wjsmokehouse.com

36 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 Winnie’s DeVil’s withFoo blonded Cfudgeak e frosting

Devil's Food Cake Preheat an oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two round 9-inch cake pans. Set aside. Sift 3 cups all purpose flour and 3 teaspoons baking powder together. Set aside. Cream 2 sticks salted butter (softened) and 2 cups sugar together. Add 4 eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly to incorporate. Add flour and 1 cup whole milk alternately, beating until thoroughly incorporated. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 teaspoon best- quality cocoa powder, blending thoroughly to incorporate. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake until a cake tester or knife blade comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool the cakes for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Blonde Fudge Frosting Combine 2 cups sugar, 1 cup evaporated milk and 1 stick salted butter in a saucepot over medium heat and cook stirring, until the mixture reaches the hard ball stage (250-265 F). Remove the mixture from the heat and beat by hand with a whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. Spread on the cake at once. Serves 8

LouisianaLife.com 37 38 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 T o p H os pi tals

Top Hospitals 2017

There is only one major source that provides credible ongoing analysis of hospitals. It is Medicare, which as the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, as well as certain younger people with disabilities, often pays many of the big bills. As part of its informational services,medicare.gov reports on evaluations of hospitals based on queries of patients. For the last three years, the Louisiana Life editorial staff has sifted through the data and created a one-of-a-kind list that demonstrates the state’s hospitals according to locality. To qualify for this list, at least 60 percent of the patients queried had to give the hospital a top overall ranking of 9 or 10. These are the top general service hospitals as seen through the eyes of those who have experienced them firsthand — the patients. Additionally, a few hospitals in the state did not have any information available on Medicare’s website and therefore could not qualify to be on the list. It is noteworthy that this year, more hospitals in the state received a rating of 9 or 10 by more than 60 percent of the patients surveyed, than in previous years. This demonstrates that health care facilities have been further committed to quality, and it’s reflected in their patients’ experiences.

LouisianaLife.com 39

Woman’s Hospital Abbeville Crowley Kinder - 100 Woman’s Way Homer (225) 927-1300 Abbeville General Acadia General Hospital Claiborne Memorial Allen Parish Hospital - 108 6th Ave. Hospital Bogalusa - 1305 Crowley Rayne Hwy. Medical Center - 118 N. Hospital Drive (337) 738-2527 (337) 783-3222 - 620 E. College St. (337) 893-5466 Our Lady of the Angels (318) 927-2024 Lacombe Hospital Cut Off Alexandria - 433 Plaza St. Houma

T o p H os pi tals (985) 730-6700 Louisiana Heart Hospital Lady of the Sea General - 64030 Hwy. 434 Central Louisiana Hospital Leonard J. Chabert (985) 640-7500 Surgical Hospital Bossier City - 200 W. 134th Place - 651 North Bolton Ave. (985) 632-6401 Medical Center (318) 449-6400 - 1978 Industrial Blvd. Lafayette Willis Knighton Bossier (985) 873-1285 Christus St. Frances Health Center Delhi - Cabrini Hospital 2400 Hospital Drive Physicians Medical Heart Hospital of (318) 212-7000 Lafayette - 3330 Masonic Drive Center (318) 487-1122 Richland Parish Hospital- - 1105 Kaliste Saloom Road - Delhi 218 Corporate Drive (337) 521-1000 Rapides Regional Medical Breaux Bridge (985) 853-1390 - 407 Cincinnati St. Center Lafayette General (318) 878-5171 Terrebonne General Medical Center - 211 4th St. St. Martin Hospital Medical Center - 1214 Coolidge Ave. (318) 769-3000 - 210 Champagne Blvd. - (337) 289-7991 (337) 332-2178 Deridder 8166 Main St. Amite (985) 873-4141 Lafayette General Surgical Hospital Cameron Beauregard Memorial - 1000 W. Pinhook Road Hospital Independence Hood Memorial Hospital Suite 100 - 600 S. Pine St. - 301 W. Walnut St. South Cameron (337) 289-8095 (985) 748-9485 Memorial Hospital (337) 462-7100 Lallie Kemp Medical Lafayette Surgical - 5360 West Creole Hwy. Center Specialty Hospital (337) 542-4111 Bastrop Farmerville - 52579 Hwy. 51 S. - 1101 Kaliste Saloom Road (985) 878-9421 (337) 769-4100 Chalmette Morehouse General Union General Hospital Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital - 901 James Ave. Jena Regional Medical Center - 323 W. Walnut St. Bernard Parish (318) 368-9751 - 4801 Ambassador Caffery Hospital (318) 283-3600 Pkwy. - 8000 West Judge Perez Drive Lasalle General Hospital (337) 470-2000 (504) 826-9500 Franklin Baton Rouge - 187 Ninth St./Hwy. 84 W. Park Place Surgical (318) 992-9200 Hospital Columbia Franklin Foundation - 4811 Ambassador Caffery Baton Rouge General Hospital Pkwy. Medical Center - Jennings Caldwell Memorial 1097 Northwest Blvd. (337) 237-8119 - 3600 Florida Blvd. (337) 828-0760 Hospital University Hospital (225) 387-7767 - 411 Main St. Jennings American & Clinics Ochsner Medical Center (318) 649-6111 Gonzales Legion Hospital 2390 W. Congress - Baton Rouge Citizens Medical Center - 1634 Elton Road (337) 261-6000 - 17000 Medical Center - 7939 U.S. Hwy. 165 S. St. Elizabeth Hospital (337) 616-7000 Women’s & Children’s Drive (318) 649-6106 Hospital - 1125 W. Hwy. 30 (225) 755-4876 - 4600 Ambassador Caffery (225) 647-5000 Jonesboro Our Lady of the Lake Covington Pkwy. Regional Medical Center (337) 521-9100 - 5000 Hennessy Blvd. Hammond Fairway Medical Center Jackson Parish Hospital (225) 765-6565 Lake Charles - 67252 Industry Lane - 165 Beech Springs Road Surgical Specialty Center (985) 801-6252 Cypress Pointe Surgical (318) 259-4435 of Baton Rouge Hospital Lakeview Regional Christus St. Patrick - 42570 S. Airport Road - 8080 Bluebonnet Blvd. Medical Center Kenner Hospital (225) 408-8080 (985) 510-6200 - - 95 Judge Tanner Blvd. 524 Dr. Michael Debakey St. The Spine Hospital of (985) 867-4443 North Oaks Medical (337) 436-2511 Ochsner Medical Center Louisiana St. Tammany Parish Center Lake Area Medical Kenner - 10105 Park Row Circle Hospital - 15790 Paul Vega MD Center - - Suite 250 - 1202 S. Tyler St. Drive 180 W. Esplanade Ave. 4200 Nelson Road (225) 763-9900 (985) 898-4000 (985) 345-2700 (504) 468-4806 (337) 474-6370 T o p H os pi tals

Lake Charles Memorial Sulphur Hospital Marrero New Orleans Rayville - 1701 Oak Park Blvd. (337) 494-3000 West Jefferson Medical New Orleans East Richardson Medical West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital Center Hospital Center - 5620 Read Blvd. - 701 East Cypress St. Lake Providence - 1101 Medical Center Blvd. - 254 Hwy. 3048 (504) 592-6600 (337) 527-7034 (504) 347-5511 (318) 728-4181 Ochsner Medical Center East Carroll Parish - 1516 Jefferson Hwy. Thibodaux Hospital Metairie (504) 842-3000 Ruston - 336 N. Hood St. Touro Infirmary Thibodaux Regional (318) 559-4023 East Jefferson General - 1401 Foucher St. Northern Louisiana Medical Center Hospital (504) 897-7011 Medical Center - 602 N. Acadia Road Leesville - 4200 Houma Blvd. (985) 447-5500 Tulane Medical Center - 401 East Vaughn Ave. (504) 454-4000 - 1415 Tulane Ave (318) 254-2100 Ville Platte Byrd Regional Hospital (504) 988-5263 - 1020 Fertitta Blvd. Minden University Medical Shreveport (337) 239-9041 Mercy Regional Medical Center New Orleans Center Doctors Hospital at Deer Minden Medical Center - 2000 Canal Street Christus Health - 800 E. Main Creek - No.1 Medical Plaza (504) 903-3000 Shreveport - Bossier (337) 363-5684 - 815 South 10th St. (318) 377-2321 - 1453 E. Bert Kouns (337) 392-5088 New Roads Industrial Drive Vivian Monroe Luling (318) 681-5000 Pointe Coupee General Specialists Hospital North Caddo Medical Monroe Surgical Hospital Hospital Shreveport Center - - St. Charles Parish 2408 Broadmoor Blvd. 2202 False River Drive - - 1500 Line Ave. 715 South Pine St. Hospital (318) 410-0002 (225) 368-6386 (318) 375-3235 (318) 213-3800 - 1057 Paul Maillard Road P & S Surgical Hospital (985) 785-3644 University Health - 312 Grammont St. Oakdale West Monroe Suite 101 Shreveport Lutcher - 1541 Kings Hwy. (318) 388-4040 Oakdale Community Glenwood Regional (318) 675-5000 St. Francis Medical Hospital Medical Center St. James Parish Hospital Center - 130 N. Hospital Drive Willis Knighton Medical - 503 McMillan Road (318) 335-3700 - 1645 Lutcher Ave. - 309 Jackson St. Center (318) 329-4600 (225) 869-5512 (318) 966-4000 - 2600 Greenwood Road Oak Grove (318) 212-4000 University Health Winnsboro Mamou Conway - 4864 Jackson St. West Carroll Memorial Slidell Franklin Medical Center Mamou Medical Center (318) 330-7000 Hospital - 2106 Loop Road - 706 Ross St. (318) 435-9411 - 801 Poinciana Ave. Ochsner Medical Center (318) 428-3237 (337) 468-5261 Morgan City - Northshore Winnfield - Olla 100 Medical Center Drive Mansfield Teche Regional Medical (985) 646-5000 Winn Parish Medical Center Hardtner Medical Center Slidell Memorial Hospital Center Desoto Regional Health - 1125 Marguerite St. - 1102 N. Pine Road - 1001 Gause Blvd. - 301 W. Boundary St. System (985) 384-2440 (318) 495-3131 (985) 643-2200 (318) 648-3000 - 207 Jefferson St. Southern Surgical (318) 872-4610 Natchitoches Opelousas Hospital Zachary

- 1700 W. Lindberg Drive Many Natchitoches Regional Opelousas General (985) 641-0600 Lane Regional Medical Medical Center Center Health System Sterling Surgical Hospital - 501 Keyser Ave. - 6300 Main St. Sabine Medical Center - 539 E. Prudhomme St. - 989 Robert Blvd. - 240 Highland Drive (318) 214-4200 (337) 948-301 (225) 658-4000 (318) 256-1232 (504) 690-8200

New Iberia Raceland Marksville Springhill Iberia General Hospital Ochsner St. Anne Avoyelles Hospital and Medical Center General Hospital Springhill Medical Center - 4231 Hwy. 1192 - 2315 E. Main St. - 4608 Hwy. 1 - 2001 Doctors Drive (318) 253-8611 (337) 364-0441 (985) 537-8377 (318) 539-1000

LouisianaLife.com 41

traveler Historically Passionate A Creole dynasty where slaves have names

BY Paul F. Stahls Jr.

Once upon a time, a young Louisiana man named Norman Marmillion became captivated by tales of a crafty rabbit named Compair Lapin and even presented them as puppet shows, fairs and festivals. His enthusiasm doubled when he learned that Compair Lapin was the hero of age-old folk stories in far-off Senegal, and inspired the beloved Br’er Rabbit character of Uncle Remus fame. Complete enchantment ensued when Norman Marmillion learned that those folktales traveled to his own River Road with Senegalese slaves in the 18th century and would be heard and collected in the 19th century by future Tulane literature professor Alcée Fortier during his visits to Laura Plantation at Vacherie. How enchanted was Norman Marmillion? Well, he and his wife Sand Marmillion bought Laura Plantation in 1993 and began stabilizing structures, improving the grounds and conducting enough research to script the first tours. That early research inspired them to do more and more, and to redirect their ardor and dedication to the human characters of the plantation’s history, from the most ambitious planter to the most hapless field hand. The result is a museum housed in an overseer’s cottage, which was recently attached by an elevated walkway to the big house. Cultural anthropologist Sand Marmillion and research assistant Katy

Downstream on the Upriver, the cane fields of Across the river stand the slave revolt, which swept west bank are splendid St. Joseph (still operating famed “steamboat gothic” the east bank in 1811. Evergreen, with an oak amid its slave-built cabins house called San Francisco, and dependencies) have built in 1853 on a plantation For maps, schedules and allée lining its double row scenes of these and other Plantations of 22 cypress slave cabins, been farmed by the same developed in the 1820s family since 1877, and by a free man of color landmarks and activities and ancient Whitney where along the River Oak Alley (known for its named Elisée Rillieux, and along the Great River Road structures, sculptures and 28 columns and avenue of Destrehan, a transitional National Scenic Byway, special name-bearing 28 giant live oaks) offers colonial/Greek Revival visit or contact New Orleans memorials focus on the interpretive exhibits in mansion where the exhibits Plantation Country offices at grim visage of slavery restored slave cabins as of one wing preserve the 2900 Hwy. 51 in LaPlace (985- throughout the state. well as tours of the manor. story of America’s greatest 359-2562, visitnopc.com).

44 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 field hand and acquire several tracts of land, DO some of which he donated for construction “Twelve years of a church. a slave” Center stage on the plantation was the For information on big house, built in 1805 by Guillaume the new “Twelve Years a Slave” DuParc, a French naval officer who fought audiobook featuring the British at Pensacola and commanded the voice of Lou the military district of Pointe Coupee. The Gossett Jr., or home and lands would eventually be named on a tour app featuring directions for his grandson’s daughter, Laura Locoul to Avoyelles Parish (1861-1963), who would own the vast estate settings of events for many decades. described in Solomon The most valuable finds for masters and Northup’s 164-year- old book, visit slaves alike, says Sand Marmillion, were twelveyearsaslave.org. Locoul’s own journal (now published as That site is maintained “Memories of the Old Plantation Home”), by Frank Eakin in a vast album of words and photographs honor of his mother, the late Louisiana assembled by the family to celebrate historian Sue Eakin Locoul’s century of life, and 900 pages of whose “young testimony by family members and servants readers” version of during Locoul’s mother’s petition (as a the book and years of French citizen) for reimburse- research on Northup (Left) were credited by Laura ment for losses and damages the film’s director Plantation inflicted on the plantation Steve McQueen (Top) during Union occupation. with keeping the Restored story alive. slave cabins Norman Marmillion meanwhile, besides operating Laura Plantation alongside Shannon plunged two decades ago into the The big reward, they say, was finding Sand Marmillion and conducting a major daunting search for 200-year-old details clues to a slave’s thoughts and emotions restoration after an electric fire in 2004, about the lives of masters and (often with — his or her interrelationships revealed has been busy establishing a “new” home: no surnames and minimal written records in legal depositions or in personal letters buying a 1782 colonial called Columbia to go on) their slaves. Imagine 20-odd years and journals written for or about them by in Edgard (once home of his four-greats- of library archives, death notices, census the landowners. Or painstakingly pieced grandfather), moving it six miles upriver, records, church records, online genealogy together from several sources, like the story masterminding its complex restoration and programs, military duty and pension of Austin Wilson who, working in the fields surrounding it with a series of gardens that records, notarial archives, city directories, one day in 1862, spied a Union gunboat will present traditional plants of Native conveyance and succession records. Each tied up at riverside. He walked straight to Americans and every wave of inhabitants source to be combed exhaustively then the boat, boarded and enlisted on the spot, that have followed. When can you see it? cross-referenced to every other. returning after the war to resume work as a Stay tuned.

LouisianaLife.com 45 DETOURS

A plantation pilgrimage can be a vacation too, and to accommodate River Road travelers with ample time, five major plantations offer overnighting in grand style, dining and even swimming pools, julep bars and tennis courts.

NOTTOWAY and houmas house First (in downriver order) come Nottoway near White Castle on the west bank and Houmas House near Burnside on the east side, both featuring opulent dining rooms and cafés, lavishly furnished cottages and sprawling gardens. Houmashouse.com, 225-473-9380; or Nottoway.com, 225- 545-2730.

oak alley Downriver on the west bank, Oak Alley near Vacherie boasts comfy B&B cottages scattered about its oak-strewn acreage, Laura Locoul plus free country was the fourth mistress of the breakfasts, Cajun/ plantation. She Creole restaurant, café was born in the and room service. house in 1861. Oakalleyplantation. com, 225-265-2151.

Poché In the Creole tradition, Laura Plantation has Plantation “Fats” Domino’s parents worked as sharecroppers on and Ormond no hallways, the rooms accessed via doors into property formerly of the plantation?), but save some Plantation each other and French doors from the surrounding time for slave and freedman topics like Slave Trade, On the east bank, gallery. The home’s size, five rooms wide and two the Judge Felix Runaways and Skilled Labor, and for plantation-life Poché Plantation in deep, meant that the center rooms could provide a topics such as Health and Medicine, Domestic Life, Convent, a Victorian parlor and dining room and still leave four two-room Religion, Agriculture and the Civil War. Renaissance beauty suites available for multiple generations or for the Needless to say, for Norman Marmillion and Sand built in 1867, is now families of grown siblings. Thus a home tour reveals, a classic B&B with Marmillion, there’s still a special place in their hearts guest rooms in room-by-room, appropriate family portraits, vintage and museum exhibits for Compair Lapin and Br’er the big house, and photography and furniture, many pieces returned to Rabbit stories, after which the boardwalk leads back into colonial Ormond the home from France and around the United States the big house for some time in the more-than-T-shirts Plantation is a full- by relatives. fledged restaurant shop, actually, for all practical purposes, a library and plus guestrooms in Then the tour moves outside to see the pleasure bookshop for titles related to Louisiana plantations, the the circa-1787 manor. garden, kitchen garden, key outbuildings and slave River Roads, slavery and the Civil War. n pocheplantation.com, cabins, always ending back at the genealogy museum 225-562-7728; or for some quality time. The genealogical findings are Laura Plantation plantation.com, 985- open 9:30 a.m. daily, with tours 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 764-8544. of primary interest for many (did you know Antoine 888-799-7690 • lauraplantation.com

46 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 LouisianaLife.com 47 farther flung Alabama Coasting Beaches, Gulf seafood, wildlife and history abound in sweet home Do Alabama written and photographed By Cheré Coen DO Alabama Gulf The Alabama coast Coast Zoo may appear small on a Get up close and map, but the state’s Gulf access personal with the more-than 500 offers numerous and varied animals in this zoo attractions from a world-class that believes that zoo and activities on the water to animals should be excellent shopping by day and a experienced, not simply watched. Next vibrant nightlife after dusk. Of year the zoo expands course, there is the gorgeous and moves to a larger turquoise water and quartz sandy facility. beaches that allow visitors to Dolphin boat slow down the pace, relax and rides soak up the Southern sun. Dolphins love to swim into the back Most of the coast centers bays of Orange around the beach towns of Gulf Beach and captains Shores and Orange Beach, but are all too happy to west of both is Fort Morgan, float alongside these mammals and give where visitors find a host of visitors a view. Some accommodation choices, wildlife captains will also refuges and Civil War history. demonstrate oyster There’s also Dauphin Island, fishing and shrimping. southwest of Mobile, accessible The Wharf by ferry from Fort Morgan or This massive off Interstate 10. development at Orange Beach is the place to see big-name Back to Nature entertainment but It’s all about getting outside don’t miss riding the this summer. In addition to Ferris wheel which three miles of Gulf beaches gives an amazing view of the coast.

At the western end of the tours with historical substantially, and if you’re Things pick back up in Gulf Shores peninsula is interpreters in June and waiting for that chance to October, when hundreds Fort Morgan, a citadel July and on Aug. 5, a enjoy the beach with like- of visitors flock to the built to protect Mobile commemoration of 46th Annual National Good Bets minded adults, visit during Bay and once the largest the Civil War Battle Shrimp Festival The Wharf Uncorked, a Tours and Fests permanent military base of Mobile Bay. with its 300 vendors in Alabama at the turn of festival of wine and food offering artwork, arts the 20th century. The park After Labor Day, tastings Sept. 14-16 at The and crafts and, of offers candlelight evening the crowds fall off Wharf in Orange Beach. course, shrimp dishes.

48 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 FOOD

Tacky Jack’s is known for its colorful locations, great views and water sports, but they make a mean breakfast too. Watch fishermen and camping options, Gulf State head off for Park offers 25 miles of paved trails, their catch while enjoying a shrimp many of which have been recently omelet, oversized improved. The best way to enjoy the pancakes and park is to rent bicycles and explore the biscuits and gravy. boardwalk surrounding Lake Shelby, the alligators on Middle Lake and a Seafood is the name of possible bobcat sighting in the Hugh the game on the Alabama S. Branyon Backcountry Trail. coast, and Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge plenty of great near Fort Morgan also offers trails, restaurants some that lead to pristine beaches and serve it up. For oysters, visit wildlife spotting, the reason its name Wintzell’s Oyster means “safe harbor.” Hit the water by House. Families canoe or kayak at the Graham Creek looking for a Nature Preserve in Foley or learn more bargain can hit The Shrimp Basket, about Gulf ecosystems at the Estuarium which offers all-you- at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. can-eat nights. King Neptune’s in Gulf shopping Shores serves up royal red shrimp, a Most people know Foley for its delicious deep- enormous Tanger Outlets, but don’t sea catch native miss visiting the historic downtown to the coast. for antiques, boutiques and museums. You can board the train at Heritage What’s the beach without Park, watch the dozens of model a frothy drink and a trains weave through a 1/4-mile volleyball pit? track at the Foley Alabama Railroad The Hangout Museum or watch a smaller train at the corner of circle Stacey Drugs and Olde Tyme Highway 59 and Beach Boulevard Soda Fountain while sipping decadent is the place for milk shakes. Coming later this seafood, drinks, summer is OWA, an event center live music and destination constructed by the Poarch special events. Over in Orange Beach, Band of Creek Indians. sample shrimp tacos and specialty The Beach drinks in comfy There are 32 miles of sugar-white chairs at The Gulf, a new restaurant beaches in Gulf Shores and Orange composed of Beach, so throw off those shoes. shipping containers. Public access exists in many places, Skirting the state including as part of the Gulf State line is the Flora- Bama, a landmark Park. Beach equipment rentals are bar and restaurant available, and visitors may choose to that’s home to the parasail, kayak, jet ski, paddleboard or annual Mullet Toss, among others. fish, among many other water sports. n

LouisianaLife.com 49 roadside dining LA Guns Pops & Rockets takes its sticky, sweet, ‘80s inspired treats on tour throughout Acadiana by Jyl Benson photos by Romero & Romero

Sophisticated palates, an explosion in culinary entrepreneurism and a ceaseless demand for sweet relief from the heat of summer initiated the launch of Pops & Rockets. The highly versatile popsicle is currently one of the hottest things going in Louisiana. Robbie Austin and Nick Villaume grew up together in Lake Charles. They share a love of ‘80s music, glitz and culture. In the summer of 2014 they morphed their passions into Pops & Rockets, a line of gourmet popsicles inspired by ‘80s music. They booted up their business with a successful crowd funding campaign, selling over 5,000 pops at the launch to get them started. Villaume is the operations manager, Austin is the creative guy. Like the metalheads they are, the duo launched Pops & Rockets with flavors like “Back in Blackberry” made

(Top to bottom) Blister, I Know You’re the One - Pineapple/Ginger with a raspberry; Psychoconut Killer - Coconut/Pistachio; Karma Chamelon - Watermelon/Mint; I Caramelt With You - Salted Caramel; 99 Red Doubloons- Strawberry Pina Colada; HI of the Tiger - Lavender Lemonade; Back in Blackberry- Blackberry/Coconut; Alive and King Cake - Cream Cheese and Cinnamon; No Cream Compares 2U - Cookies and Cream

50 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 with blackberry, coconut and perfect addition to our nostalgic raspberry flavors and riffing on fantasy.” AC/DC’s hit “Back in Black,” The shop features ‘80s tunes and “Cran Halen” (cranberry and vintage arcade games. and satsuma) for a fun poke Villaume says they’ve also begun at Van Halen. Those early expansion into Lafayette, Baton favorites are now perennials Rouge and New Orleans. on an expanded menu that “In Lafayette, we’ve been out encompasses dip pops and selling at the popular Rythm’s filled pops. Check out “Bacon on the River concert series and the Law” a maple, bacon pop our pops just became available honoring Judas Priest; “Pop at La Creperie Bistro at The You Like a Hurricane,” an Parc Lafayette Shopping homage to the hit song by The center,” says Villaume. “Also in Scorpions and involves Pat Lafayette, we have partnered O’Brien’s Hurricane Mix. They with Reve Coffee Roasters to are covering the rap scene, too reconfigure our ‘Ebony & Ivory’ with “Raz DMC,” a raspberry pop. We are now using their and lime pop. chicory coffee blend and it is “After a lot of trial and soooo good. You’ll soon find error, we’re finally about to our cart every Friday, Saturday release “You Can Still Pop and Sunday at Jefferson Towers in America,” Villaume said. across from Pamplona in Named for a Night Ranger downtown Lafayette.” tune, the confection is made The kick off in Baton Rouge with strawberry cream and was the Live After 5 concert strawberry Pop Rocks candy series and the Baton Rouge suspended in white chocolate. Blues Festival. Villaume says Pops & Rockets recently the response was so big, they opened an expanded production wound up having to drive their facility in downtown Lake freezer truck back to Lake Charles on Pujo street next door Charles that Sunday to stock up to Botsky’s Premium Hot Dogs, on more pops. a move that makes sense for the “We brought almost 1,000 simpatico businesses. pops on Friday,” Villaume says. “In addition to a wide “We don’t have any retail spaces variety of pops, we’ve added selling our pops in Baton Rouge hand-made ice cream to the yet. But, there will be some menu,” Villaume says. “It’s coming real soon.” n made with milk from Hillcrest Creamery, a local, all pastured, hormone-free, non-homoge- Pops and Rockets nized dairy. They make that 104 W. Pujo Street super creamy milk that you had Lake Charles 888-978-7677 when you were a kid and it’s the popsandrockets.com

Having a party, wedding, fundraiser or school event? Pops & Rockets will bring the goods. The 50 Pop Party Freezer starts at $150 and the team will deliver a freezer GOOD BETS loaded with up to 125 pops in up to 6 flavors. Order the 100 Pop Party Cart for $300 and the team will show up at your event and give out pops to your guests.

LouisianaLife.com 51 great louisiana chef From the Soul Shreveport Chef Eleazar Mondragon adds a heavy dose of love to dishes at Ki’ Mexico

By Ashley McLellan photos by Romero & Romero

Chef Eleazar Mondragon’s take on modern Mexican at Ki’ Mexico is comfort food at its finest and is deeply inspired by friends, family and love. “This might sound corny, but [it’s all about] the love for food,” he says. “How it brings family or friends together, how versatile it is, and how beautiful and colorful fruit and vegetables can be and what can I prepare with them. I also think it’s in my blood, since I come from a family of great cooks and also because I’m from Mexico, a country where almost everything revolves around food.” Known for its own brand of “Mexican soul food,” with lush plates of handmade tacos, tortugas and a decadent brunch menu on Sundays, Eleazar genuinely cooks from the heart, an experience he hopes his customers feel. “We just want them to have a great experience,” he says. “One costumer told me one day ‘When I eat at your restaurant, I feel like I’m eating at your house, I feel like if I was eating what your mom made your family for dinner.’ And he was right, many of our dishes are recipes from my mom, some of them are mine and all of them are made with love.” Chef Eleazar is constantly at work, making tweaks and improvements, both in the menu and the restaurant, but also on his own skills as a chef. “My plans are to keep improving myself so I can keep providing new and different food. I like to travel a lot and that helps me to get new ideas to bring to our customers.” n

52 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 TACO CON VEGETALES In a medium-size pan, drizzle enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom and heat until just shimmering. Add ½ small onion (chopped) and cook until tender; add 1½ tablespoons of garlic and cook until fragrant, then add 7 ounces of whole shiitake mushrooms and stir.

With the help of some kitchen scissors, thinly cut 1 pasilla chile pepper widthwise and add to the mushroom mixture, making sure to stir constantly. Once the mushrooms have cooked, add 2 zucchini squash (small dice) and cook until tender. Season with salt and add 2 tablespoons of chopped epazote (optional) or 1 teaspoon of chopped thyme. Stir one more time and turn off the heat. Keep warm.

In a different skillet, pan-roast 1 cup of corn (fresh, cut off cob) over medium heat. No oil is necessary; just make sure to stir constantly until the corn is done.

To Serve Heat up the tortillas. Add the mushroom and zucchini squash mixture, drizzle some Mexican cream (as needed), add queso fresco (as needed), and finish with some roasted corn.

Eat and enjoy.

LouisianaLife.com 53 kitchen gourmet

Whether grilled (as pictured), fried or sautéed, soft-shell Summer crabs are one of summer’s finest gifts, a delicacy treasured by devotees who Favorites never tire of them. Grilled Soft- Shell Crabs Make an easy Cooking times will vary, depending on meal out of the heat of your grill and the size of the soft-shell crab crabs. with ice cream Preheat grill. Rinse for dessert 8 soft-shell crabs. Remove gills and by Stanley Dry back flap. Cut off the front of the photos and styling by Eugenia Uhl face, including the eyes. Pat dry with paper towels. Melt ¼ pound butter in saucepan, add 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice and hot sauce to taste. Using a brush, baste crabs with butter.

Spray preheated grill with oil and toast 8 slices country French or Italian bread on both sides. Brush with butter. Remove bread to serving plates.

Spray grill with oil and add crabs, top shell down. Baste with additional butter and cook until shell turns a reddish brown, about 2 minutes for medium-size crabs. Turn crabs, baste with additional butter and cook until bottom shell begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Remove crabs from grill and place atop toast. Brush with additional butter and season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Makes 4 servings.

54 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 We all have lovely until a year ago it was, without summer memories, and question, my favorite. It actually they often involve food. Ask me may still be my favorite, but Lemon Ice Cream what I particularly look forward it now has some competition This is a light and very to this time of year and, without from the third method, which Vanilla Ice refreshing ice cream, just right Cream hesitation, I will answer, involves grilling the crabs. for the season. “soft-shell crabs and homemade I had heard and read that The definition ice cream.” A daily diet of those grilling or broiling soft-shell of security 3 cups whole milk is having a two might not be what most crabs produced excellent results, container of 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest nutritionists would recommend, but I had never tried it. Last vanilla ice 6 egg yolks although if they were supple- summer I found a source for cream in the mented with salads and live soft-shells, bought a dozen freezer. Whether ¾ cup granulated sugar eaten on its vegetables, we might be onto and put this method to the own, combined ¾ cup fresh-squeezed something. test. I basted the crabs with a with a slice of lemon juice There are three principal ways mixture of melted butter, lemon cake or pie or of preparing soft-shell crabs. The juice and hot sauce, grilled embellished with a sauce or first, and the most common, them quickly over a hot fire and 1. In a heavy saucepan heat topping, vanilla milk and lemon zest to just is deep-frying. We recently served them atop bread toasted is unbeatable. below a boil. had fried soft-shell crabs at on the grill. The toast soaked up Middendorf’s in Manchac, and the butter, crab juices and crab Heat 3 cups 2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whole milk in a yolks and sugar until light and they were magnificent, as well as fat, and the result was absolutely heavy saucepan airy. Slowly add hot milk to egg huge. It’s off-topic, but I can’t delicious — the essence of crab. to just below a yolks, a little at a time, while resist mentioning the restau- After a meal of soft-shell boil. In a mixing whisking constantly. rant’s turtle soup, which was as crabs, a dish of homemade ice bowl, beat 8 egg yolks and ¾ 3. Return mixture to sauce good as any I’ve ever eaten and cream seems just right. Making cup granulated pan and cook over medium better than most, and the broiled ice cream used to be a project sugar until light heat, stirring constantly with a flounder, which was superb. that required lots of ice, salt and airy. Slowly high-heat silicone spatula until The second method for and effort. Today, with the add hot milk thickened. The mixture will coat to egg yolks, a preparing soft-shell crabs is to availability of countertop ice little at a time, the spatula when ready. sauté them in clarified butter cream machines powered by while whisking 4. Through a fine mesh strainer and make a little sauce by electricity instead of your arm, constantly. pour mixture into a bowl. Strain deglazing the pan with white making ice-cream is a snap, Return mixture lemon juice into the mixture and to saucepan stir to combine. Place the bowl wine and whisking in some so there’s no excuse for not and cook softened butter. This is a quick frequently indulging in one of over medium in a container of ice and water and stir until cool. and excellent preparation, and the glories of summer. n heat, stirring constantly with 5. Refrigerate until cold, then a high-heat process in ice cream maker silicone spatula until thickened. according to manufacturer’s The mixture will instructions. coat the spatula Makes about 1 quart. when ready. sautéed Pat dry with paper Pour off most of the towels and dredge in butter, increase heat Strain mixture soft-shell 1 cup all-purpose to high and add wine. through a fine flour. Shake off Scrape up any brown mesh strainer tip crabs excess. bits adhering to the into a bowl. pan and boil ²⁄ cup Place the bowl Clarified butter ³ has a higher Add enough dry white wine in a container of ice and water smoke point clarified butter until it becomes than whole Cooking times will to the skillet(s) to syrupy, then add and stir until butter, so it is vary, depending on form a thin layer and 4 tablespoons cool. Add 1 often preferred for sautéing. the size of the crabs. place over medium softened butter, teaspoon pure To make clarified Unless you have a heat. When butter is a tablespoon at a vanilla extract. butter, simply melt very large skillet, you sizzling, add crabs, time, while stirring or Refrigerate whole butter, skim can cook these crabs top side down, and whisking to form an until cold, then off the foam that in two batches or use cook until shell is a emulsion. Pour sauce process in ice rises to the top, pour two large skillets. reddish brown, about over crabs. Season to cream maker off the clear butter 2 minutes. Turn crabs taste with coarse salt according to fat (the clarified Rinse 8 soft-shell and cook until shell and freshly ground manufacturer’s butter) and discard crabs. Remove gills begins to brown, black pepper. instructions. the milk solids on the and back flap. Cut off about 2 minutes. bottom of the pan. the front of the face, Transfer crabs to Makes 4 servings. Makes a little including the eyes. serving plates. less than 1 quart.

LouisianaLife.com 55 56 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 New Orlean

FACE OF CONSTRUCTION

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Across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, CORE private projects including churches, hotels, industrial Construction continues to build strong relationships facilities, and public-private partnership developments. with communities, clients, program managers, and design Following the August 2016 flood, CORE emerged as a partners. As part of the post-Katrina rebuilding efforts, steadfast partner to the State of Louisiana and the recovery CORE has worked with multiple school districts to of communities from Lafayette to Gonzales. Under the rebuåild seventeen K-12 schools across Greater New helm of President and Louisiana native Brad Roberts, Orleans. Over the past year, CORE has expanded its CORE Louisiana has grown to more than 110 employees school portfolio and diversified its local portfolio of with average annual revenues north of $115M per year. ADVERTISING SECTION

Summer Church to rounds of golf at The the Eddie G. Robinson Museum. Island and seafood at Roberto’s Looking for an outdoor adventure? River Road Restaurant, Iberville Check out Lincoln Parish Across the Parish welcomes visitors craving an Park! Nationally known for the authentic South Louisiana adventure. mountain biking trails, Lincoln Whether history beckons you Parish Park is also a great location State to the Plaquemine Lock State for camping, hiking, fishing, Historic Site or the Hansen’s or relaxing hammock-style. Disease Museum in Carville, or the Meanwhile, Downtown Traveling Around beauty of the Atchafalaya National Ruston is bustling with boutique, Heritage Area draws you in for specialty and gift shops, art Louisiana fishing and bird watching, Iberville galleries, and restaurants with Parish promises an unforgettable live music. Enjoy a drink on escape for a day, a weekend, or the patio at Sundown Tavern or more. Rest, relax, eat, and explore New Orleans inspired cuisine at along the winding Mississippi River. Ponchatoulas, each with live bands For more information and to plan performing every weekend. your trip, go to VisitIberville.com. For more information on Ruston and Lincoln Parish, St. Mary Parish, also known visit ExperienceRuston.com as the Cajun Coast, is a treasure or call 800-392-9032. for experiencing the great outdoors in Sportsman’s Paradise. Eat, shop, and play your way Surrounded by the waters of Bayou through central Louisiana. Teche, Atchafalaya River, and the Discover more than 100 locally Atchafalaya Swamp Basin, the owned and operated restaurants Cajun Coast is known for its natural in the Alexandria/Pineville splendor and “road less traveled” area including breakfast spots like atmosphere. Options for exploration, Sentry Grill and Lea’s Lunchroom. relaxation, and excitement abound Enjoy a romantic dinner at on both water and land. Janohn’s or The Bentley Room. Find your calm among the Shop antique stores, flea markets, serene wilderness of the Atchafalaya and specialty boutiques sprinkled National Heritage Area or along the throughout the area. Find that special Bayou Teche Scenic Byway. Boaters gift at Crossroads Pharmacy or enjoy the waters of the Atchafalaya Funky Fleur de Lis shops. Or, grab Basin, the largest overflow swamp, that spectacular accessory at Sassy as well as the scenery and sounds Girl or Select Trends Boutiques. of the Bayou Teche National Bring the whole family and Wildlife Refuge. Golfers love the play at the Alexandria Zoo or here are countless ways to spend summer days in Louisiana: Atchafalaya at Idlewild, which was Gone Wild Safari for an amazing exploring a state park or refuge by foot, boat, or bike, chowing rated the number one golf course animal adventure experience. down at a local food festival, or enjoying a cold beverage and T in Louisiana by Golfweek Magazine Or, soak up some history with a peanuts at a baseball game. Perhaps you prefer opening your mind at an art in 2008 and 2009 and number tour at Southern Forest Heritage gallery or state historic site or museum, relaxing with a glass of wine and two by Golf Advisor in 2017. Museum or the Louisiana decadent entrée at a famous or hidden restaurant, or dancing to the unique This summer, experience, Maneuvers and Military Museum. sounds of Louisiana bands. Or how about shopping the latest trends for Morgan City’s Bayou BBQ Bash There are so many ways to summer fashion and home goods or the fine art and crafts created by some of (July 14-15), and the Louisiana eat, shop, and play your way the South’s most creative and skilled craftsmen? Louisiana is a state that offers Shrimp & Petroleum Festival during through Alexandria/Pineville. something for everyone, and this summer, a day-trip or a weeklong vacation Labor Day Weekend. For more Begin planning your way by can serve as a relaxing getaway without the expense of long travel. Grab your information, visit CajunCoast.com. visiting AlexandriaPinevilleLA.com suitcase and hit the road—the state is full of treasures ready for you and your or calling 800-551-9546. family to discover. Experience for yourself the arts and culture of Ruston and Cities, Towns, Rouge, Iberville Parish is home Lincoln Parish! Home to Louisiana Entertainment & to magnificent antebellum homes, Tech University and Grambling Accommodations & Parishes majestic churches, and fascinating State University, the area is alive with cultural events, festivals historic sites. Explore Iberville Join friends and family for the The heart of plantation country, and more! Activities coming up online through a new interactive Highland Jazz and Blues Festival, Iberville Parish is known for its this fall include the Makers Fair, map at VisitIberville.com and plan a free neighborhood music festival serene landscapes, quiet swamps, and Artoberfest, Rock the Railroad, your journey to the Parish. From organized every fall as a gift to the elegant history. Located between and Loyal Blue Weekends. attractions such as stately Nottoway Historic Highland community in the diverse waterways of the Must see attractions in include Plantation and architectural gem Shreveport, Louisiana. The 14th Atchafalaya Basin and bustling Baton the Louisiana Military Museum St. John the Evangelist Catholic Annual “Party in the Park” will

58 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 ADVERTISING SECTION

be Saturday, September 16th, from New Orleans Hotel Collection State of 11:00pm-6:00pm in Columbia (NOHC). NOHC properties are set Park in Shreveport, Louisiana. apart by distinctive style, personalized Plan to celebrate the whole service, and superb location. Medicine weekend through several jazz and Locally owned and operated, the blues events all benefiting the collection consists of the new JUNG festival. Friday, September 15th Hotel and Residences opening in will be a Festival Preview Party at November, the Bourbon Orleans, Great Raft Brewing with live music, Dauphine Orleans, Crowne Plaza food trucks, and more. Saturday, (Airport), The Whitney Hotel, Hotel September 16th, spend the afternoon Mazarin, and Hotel Le Marais. at Columbia Park listening to over Hotel Le Marais, Hotel Mazarin, nine bands on two stages including and Bourbon Orleans were named New Orleans’ favorites, Marc among “New Orleans’ Ten Best Broussard and Chris Thomas King, Hotels” by readers of Conde Nast along with multiple Shreveport Traveler. A consistent guest-favorite, favorites. There will also be over 60 Whitney Hotel is conveniently food and art vendors along with close to both the World War II children’s activities throughout the Museum and Lafayette Square’s day. After the festival, attendees can Wednesday summer concert series. head to the Official After Party New Orleans Hotel Collection’s at Twisted Root Burger Co. for “no nickel and dime” approach ith its reputation for passing a good time, remarkable more live music and festivities. provides all guests with a free cuisine, and a nickname like Sportsman’s Paradise, For more information on the breakfast, a welcome drink, in-room W Louisiana is a great place to live and make a lifetime of festival, visit the festival website bottled artesian water and coffee, memories. Whether you reside in the city, on the bayou, or in the at HighlandJazzandBlues.org. Wi-Fi, newspapers, and access ’burbs, Louisiana communities offer an approach to living you don’t to a business and fitness center. find anywhere else. And when you or a family member encounters a Four Points by Sheraton For a special readers’ discount health concern, the state is also a great place to find expert healthcare. French Quarter is located in better than any online travel As hospitals continue to advance their programs and technologies, the heart of the French Quarter agency for direct bookings, visit Louisiana residents reap the benefits of finding state-of-the-art on world-famous Bourbon Street. NewOrleansHotelCollection.com/big. treatments close to home. Premier cancer treatments and cutting edge They offer 186 comfortable guest physical therapy are just a couple of the notable offerings we can rooms, more than 4,000 square access in our own backyard. Take a look at some of the latest medical feet of market-leading meeting Regional Fun news and treatments from providers across the state, and explore the facilities, a tropical courtyard your options for when an ailment or injury strikes. with an outdoor pool, 24-hour Situated high on the bluffs above fitness center, and more. the Mississippi River, Vicksburg, To hear the words “you have cancer” is a life-changing event. At Café Opera, the Four Point’s Mississippi, serves as the “Key to East Jefferson General Hospital, these words are not the beginning full-service restaurant features a the South” and prides itself on its of the end; they’re the beginning of the fight. East Jefferson General’s classic New Orleans menu of Creole perfect location as a midway point ability to help you fight and win your battle with cancer is unsur- and continental cuisine. Guests between Memphis and New Orleans. passed in this region. can also enjoy a wide selection of If you’re in search of the elusive The hospital prides itself on providing a highly personalized ap- specialty drinks at the Puccini Bar. sound of the Mississippi Delta Blues, proach to every patient. Perhaps nothing speaks to that more than Four Points by Sheraton French you’ll find it in Vicksburg. Live East Jefferson General’s status as a member of the MD Anderson Quarter is located on the site of Mississippi music from the Delta Cancer Network. MD Anderson is recognized as America’s premier the French Opera House (1859- Blues to country and rock can be cancer fighting center. East Jefferson General is proudly the state’s only 1919), a legendary New Orleans enjoyed at venues throughout the hospital to be a part of that prestigious network of care. The hospital’s cultural venue. Their performance city. Learn American history by physicians and staff are leading the way in a more personalized and series, “Opera Returns to Bourbon visiting the site of the defining battle forward-thinking approach to achieving their only goal: survivorship. Street” features local operatic talent of America’s defining war at the To find a physician member of the MD Anderson Cancer Net- from the New Orleans Opera Vicksburg National Military Park. work, call HealthFinder at 504-456-5000, or visit EJGH.org. Association and local classical Enjoy the southern charm vocalist group Bon Operatit! of Vicksburg by strolling the The Rehabilitation Center of Thibodaux Regional, located in Four Points by Sheraton brick-paved streets of its historic Lafourche Parish, offers an aquatics therapy program to help patients French Quarter is located at 541 downtown. Visit eclectic boutiques, after injury or for those with chronic illness. Therapists at the Center Bourbon Street. For reservations art galleries and various eateries utilize the Hydroworx Therapy Pool, which features an underwa- and more, call 866-716-8133, or featuring Southern specialties. ter treadmill, resistance jets, adjustable floor, and underwater video visit FourPoints.com/frenchquarter. Enjoy sweeping views of the mighty monitoring. This leading edge technology allows individuals to mimic Mississippi River and some of the land-based walking, running, or sports-specific activities without the When living the New Orleans most beautiful sunsets imaginable. bodyweight and joint impact they experience on land. Aquatic therapy experience, it’s important to Relax – it all runs on river can make treatment and exercise less painful, and as a result, more suc- envelop yourself in the essence of time! For more to see and do in cessful, leading to improved quality of life. New Orleans—a feeling captured Vicksburg, go to VisitVicksburg.com, To learn more about aquatic therapy, contact the Rehabilitation by each upscale property in the or call 800-221-3536. Center of Thibodaux Regional by calling 985-493-4782.

LouisianaLife.com 59

calendar july/august Events and festivals around the state by Kelly Massicot PHOTO BY Cheryl Gerber

JULY 1. Houma Independence Celebration. Houma. houmatravel.com JULY 1-3. Fourth of July Fishing Rodeo. Cypremort Point. iberiarodandgunclub.com JULY 4. Red, White, Blue & You Festival. Lake Charles. 337-491-9159 JULY 4-6. 79th Annual Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. Lake Charles. swlafishingclub.org JULY 7. Bordeaux, Brie Et Bonnard. Lafayette. hilliardmuseum.org JULY 8. Downtown Art Walk. Lafayette. downtown- lafayette.org/events JULY 14-15. Cajun Music and Food Festival. Lake Charles. cfmalakecharles.com JULY 20. Ladies “Coco Classic” Benefitting Autism Speaks. Houma. houmatravel.com

JULY 21-23. Louisiana JULY 26-29. Faux Pas Greater New Orleans Sportsman Show. New Red Dress Run Lodge Rodeo. Venice. Orleans. louisianasportsman- fauxpaslodge.com JULY 1-2. Essence Festival. Each year, New show.com Orleanians and visitors JULY 28-29. Marshland New Orleans. essence.com don their best red dress JULY 22. West Bank getup for the annual Red Festival. Lake Charles. JULY 1. Slidell Beer Fest. Avondale. Dress Run. visitlakecharles.org Heritage Festival. Slidell. westbankbeerfest.com This event is for those who enjoy slidellheritagefest.org running and drinking — which means JULY 29. Summer Fun JULY 22-23. SweatFest all participants must be 21 or older. Kids Day 2017. Houma. JULY 1. New 2017. New Orleans. Red Dress Run is put on by the New houmatravel.com Orleans Shakespeare bigeasyrollergirls.com Orleans Hash House Harriers (or Festival. New Orleans. AUGUST 4. Firefighter NOH3), the drinking club with a neworleansshakespeare.org AUGUST 4-6. Satchmo Cancer Support Network SummerFest. New Orleans. running problem. Those who register Louisiana Benefit Concert. receive an endless supply of beer, a JULY 3-4. Go Fourth on fqfi.org Lafayette. the River. New Orleans. catered meal from Corky’s, giveaways, neworleansonline.com AUGUST 5. Whitney White and the peace of mind knowing you’re AUGUST 11. Bordeaux, Linen Night. New Orleans. drinking for a cause — numerous Brie Et Bonnard. Lafayette. JULY 7-9. San Fermin en cacno.org/wwln2017 local charities receive Red Dress hilliardmuseum.org Nueva Orleans (Running Event grants from the event. of the Bulls). New Orleans. AUGUST 12. Red Dress AUGUST 12. Yoga in nolabulls.com Run. New Orleans. the Galleries. Lafayette. nolareddress.com hilliardmuseum.org JULY 12. Jefferson Chamber Cajun Country Grand Prix. Avondale. AUGUST 12. Dirty Linen JULY 1. 27th Annual Lebeau AUGUST 17. Delcambre jefferson.chambermaster.com/ Night. New Orleans. dirty- Zydeco Festival. Lebeau. Shrimp Festival. Delcambre. events linennola.com lebeauzydecofestival.com iberiatravel.com JULY 14. Bastille Day AUGUST 19. Northshore JULY 1. 11th Annual SWLA AUGUST 19. 2017 Games Fête. New Orleans. Roller Derby Bout. Mandeville. Patriot’s Ball. Lake Charles. of Acadiana. Lafayette. bastilledaynola.com northshorerollerderby.com mafc.ticketleap.com milesperret.org/gamesofacadiana JULY 18-23. Tales of the AUGUST 30. Southern JULY 1. Delcambre Seafood AUGUST 19. Arts & Crabs Cocktail. New Orleans. Decadence. New Orleans. Farmers Market. Delcambre. Fest 2017. Lake Charles. talesofthecocktail.com southerndecadence.net delcambremarket.org/home artsandhumanitiesswla.org

62 Louisiana Life July/august 2017 AUGUST 20. MPCS Triathlon. Lafayette. milesperret.org/mpcstriathlon AUGUST 31. Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival. Morgan City. shrimpandpetroleum.org FESTIVAL Central SPOTLIGHT JULY 8. Destination July 14-15 Cajun Music and Downtown Natchitoches. Food Festival. Natchitoches. ddnatty.com Head out to the Burton Coliseum July 14-15 to JULY 14-15. 38th enjoy copious amounts of Natchitoches/NSU Folk Cajun traditions ranging Festival. Natchitoches. from food to music and dancing. The Cajun French natchitoches.com/event Music Association has JULY 22. Destination been preserving and promoting Cajun heritage Downtown Natchitoches. for 30 years through their Natchitoches. ddnatty.com festivals. Lake Charles. cfmalakecharles.com AUGUST 11. Summer Kids World. Alexandria. July 14-15 alexandriamall.com/events 38th Natchitoches/NSU AUGUST 12. Destination Folk Festival. Downtown Natchitoches. This year’s Folk Festival Natchitoches. ddnatty.com theme, “Keeping Tradition AUGUST 26. Destination Alive!,” is focusing on artists young and old Downtown Natchitoches. tapping into the traditions Natchitoches. ddnatty.com of the past, as they make them their own. Head to the annual Folk Festival to hear folk music, be awed North by the regional crafts and be a part of the Louisiana JULY 10-16. US State Fiddle Championship. National Hot Air Balloon Natchitoches. natchitoches. Competition. Shreveport. com/event/38th-annual- nsu-folk-festival shreveport-bossiersports.com/ redriverballoonrally AUGUST19 JULY 11. Summer Kids Arts & Crabs Fest World. Alexandria. 2017. alexandriamall.com/events/ Participate in crab and beer tastings and enjoy local summer-kids-world-3 art displays at the 2017 JULY 15. Shreveport Arts & Crabs Fest. The mission of the festival is to Farmer’s Market. Shreveport. bring regional art, culture shreveportfarmersmarket.com and food to the forefront of Acadiana. Proceeds JULY 15. Ride For A collected from the event Purpose. Alexandria. are reinvested into the renegadehd.com Southwest Louisiana art community through the June 30 - JULY 3. Arts Council. Lake Charles. artsandhumanitiesswla.org Muddin for the Military at Muddy Bottoms. Sarepta. August 30 muddybottomsatv.com Southern Decadence. AUGUST 12. Grape Stomp Fest. Monroe. landryvine- Southern Decadence is the largest LGBT event in New yards.com/calendar Orleans, celebrating its 46th AUGUST 19. celebration this year. Enjoy Shreveport the float parade, Bourbon Farmer’s Market. Shreveport. Street Extravaganza shreveportfarmersmarket.com and the walking parade in the weekend-long AUGUST 26. Grape Stomp revelry on Bourbon Fest. Monroe. landryvine- Street. New Orleans. southerndecadence.net yards.com/calendar

LouisianaLife.com 63 a louisiana life Tribal Legacy Marksville native works to keep Tunica- Biloxi tribe’s language and traditions alive Q&A

By Megan Hill portrait By Romero & Romero Favorite Louisiana tradition? While most Louisianans Orleans Collection and then Cochon de lait au camp trace their ancestors’ at the Smithsonian’s National arrival to the Gulf South via Museum of the American Best local ship or airplane, John Barbry Indian in New York set Barbry restaurant? Big traces his across the Bering land up well to lead the charge in Daddy E’s Oyster bridge, the ancient connection preserving his tribe’s heritage. Bar & Restaurant (at Paragon thought to have been the He helped start the Tunica- Casino Resort) conduit for the earliest Biloxi Pow-Wow, which is populations that settled in the celebrating its 22nd event and Top weekend activity: United States. is now managing a Department Hanging at a Barbry, who hails from of Education grant to assist friend’s camp Marksville, is the director of struggling students. on Old River at development and programming At a time when languages are Mansura for the Tunica-Biloxi tribe of disappearing, he’s implementing central Louisiana. Barbry’s main programs to help preserve and project is a language and culture teach the Tunica language — revitalization program he hopes which has no fluent speakers will help his tribe’s heritage today — along with traditional endure for current and future crafts and sports. generations. “There are a lot of subtleties Barbry remembers visiting in the language that you need his grandparents on the Tunica- to know to really understand Biloxi reservation as a teenager, the culture,” Barbry says. “In and recalls his grandmother teaching other traditions, we singing songs in the Tunica always try to tie it back to language, but admits his appre- the language to help it have ciation wasn’t always as high more of a presence in the then as it is now. community.” n After graduating college with a degree in music education, Barbry landed an internship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, working in the American Indian sector. “As I was seeing how other tribes fit into modern life in America, I began to think about how the Tunica-Biloxi tribe fit into all of that,” he says. Next, he worked for an archaeology firm to catalog artifacts of the recently repatriated “Tunica Treasure,” a collection of 18th-century artifacts stolen from an ancestral gravesite in West Feliciana Parish in the 1960s. Stints at the Historic New

64 Louisiana Life July/august 2017