See Nola

Free Cheese with Cheese

Mix upscale chain hotel with free "spirit tasting" (booze) with complimentary chair massages with a show of local art and you get the weekly "Get In The kNOwLA." Get it? There's also live entertainment and free cheese plates. This happens every Wednesday in the JW Marriott lobby (614 Canal Street) from 5:30pm to 8:00pm.   

4/9/10 Conti St. 9:10am.

New Orleans Zephyrs

New Orleans Zephyrs. 6000 Airline Drive. 504.734.5155. (More information here. Taxis are the only transportation option.) You didn't come to New Orleans to see minor league baseball, and neither did we.  But sometimes -- when nothing is happening, and the light is just right and it isn't too humid -- a trip out to the suburbs via Airline Hwy (the strip where evangelist Jimmy Swaggart viewed the wonders of God in motel rooms*) can make for a night of clean, family fun. The team is the New Orleans Zephyrs and their most ardent supporters come out for "Thirsty Thursday" and "Fireworks Friday." They play ball in the same district that elected David Duke, and so cheap beer and explosions bring 'em in. On other days, the crowd is somewhat small. As a friend remarked, "This is not the kind of minor league ball played in Durham where the stadium is always packed." Sure, there are sparse crowds. Rarely do the Zephyrs and their mascot (a giant-sized swamp rat) produce a sell out. But there's fierce competition for the family dollar in New Orleans, right?  

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*"Cover that bosom, girl
The flesh is weak and unclean thoughts
Are difficult to control
Such sights as that can undermine the soul."
--Tartuffe, translated by Richard Wilbur

Buttermilk Drop

1781 N. Dorgenois (7th Ward) 7 Days: 6am to 6pm. Once the signature deep fried donut of the departed McKenzie's bakery franchise, the "buttermilk drop" pops up in various bakeries around New Orleans in nostalgic fits and starts. This bakery, of course, is named for the treat -- round like a donut hole and slightly caramelized like a Wisconsin Cruller and covered in a vanilla glaze. It's a slow line to your drop, stretching out the door with impatient contractors, students, Sewerage and Water Board employees, us. Word has gotten out that their version is very close to the old McKenzie's recipe, and friends of friends are buying buttermilk drops by the dozen. Pathological New Orleans nostalgia aside, their buttermilk drops really are delicious, addicting -- buttermilk balancing vanilla balancing a deep-fried crispiness. They also have: incredibly moist King Cakes (during Carnival), sandwiches and a normal slate of donuts (jelly-filled, plain, etc.). Plates of eggs, sausage and toast are served up cafeteria-style for a substantial group of morning regulars. Rarely do we order anything but drops (with coffee). Their coffee is Community Coffee (powdered creamer only). Why is Community Coffee nasty when served at the Community Coffee branded "CC's Coffee House," but pretty good when brewed by other restaurants?