The Commissary offers free food as the Dickie Brennan & Co. venue nears opening

 

A steady trickle of cars flowed past a renovated garage on Orange Street on Friday (April 24) as The Commissary chefs, staff and family passed out free meals of barbecue shrimp and grits with smothered okra through the car windows to an extended family of hospitality workers and musicians. Lower Garden District neighbors walking and bicycling past were also offered the free meals that included ice cream po-boys from New Orleans Ice Cream Co.

The restaurant group Dickie Brennan & Co. has developed the 7,000-square-foot project, which includes 6,000 square feet of commercial kitchen. The original plans were to prepare food for the group’s five restaurants – Palace Café, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Bourbon House, Tableau and Acorn — to streamline operations and boost consistency for signature dishes. It would offer public access to many of the same foods the restaurants use and have an in-house eatery and a bar.

Krewe behind Feed the Front Line launches Feed the Second Line

From the Krewe of Red Beans

Krewe of Red Beans, Rouses Markets, the Preservation Hall Foundation, Market Umbrella and the New Orleans Musicians Clinic & Assistance Foundation are partnering for a new effort to ease the pain of the pandemic, the Feed the Second Line program

On March 17, the Krewe of Red Beans, a group that holds a Lundi Gras walking parade, began raising money to buy food from locally owned New Orleans restaurants. Quickly, the effort grew. A month later, the Krewe of Red Beans was operating the largest such effort in the United States.

How are Magazine Street businesses doing? Part 2: Restaurants, bars, coffee shops

For Part 2 of this two-part series on Magazine Street, Uptown Messenger takes a snapshot of restaurants, bars and coffee shops in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. (Part 1 focused on local shops and galleries.)

Along Magazine Street, a gastronome can sample French, Indian, Vietnamese, Cajun, Creole, Chinese and homegrown flavors in myriad restaurants that dot the six-mile stretch. Bars, an important part of New Orleans social life and culture, can be temples of cocktail culture or beloved neighborhood hangouts. Coffee shops offer places to relax, visit, study or work and have their own individual vibes.

Along with the mix of retail stores, these businesses have made Magazine Street a popular destination for tourists and locals.

Viewpoint: Victory from COVID-19 is still months away

Who among us wouldn’t want to be eating with friends at a neighborhood restaurant, shopping at a favorite boutique or getting ready for Jazz Fest? Unfortunately we can only dream about those luxuries right now. Ms. Corona is holding us back as a region, a nation and globally. She won’t be letting go until we have a vaccine. As the owner of several small businesses, I want to open up New Orleans just as much as anyone.  I need customers.

Yo Joe! New Orleans real estate trends, advice for STR owners

I’m Joe Gerrity, local businessman, investor and Real Estate Broker. For my Yo Joe! column, I’ll be answering your real estate questions and providing market information special to New Orleans. New Orleans has seen an explosion in short-term rentals in recent years. In fact, an estimated 8,500 units were in operation until restrictions were passed in 2019.

We'll Be Right Back: New Orleans Hospitality

‘We’ll Be Right Back’: Pizza D owner shares thinking process for closing restaurant

“How are we having to make this choice between our employees’ livelihoods and their health?” Michael Friedman of Pizza Delicious asked as his management team made plans for the current health crisis. “How do we run a business at this time where there’s so many unknowns, where the health risk is so unknown, and make this happen so that our employees can continue to have jobs?” Friedman shared Pizza D’s story on the We’ll Be Right Back podcast this week.  The series features local business owners and employees in the service sector as they manage their way through COVID-19. “When to Shut Down” featuring
Michael Friedman of Pizza Delicious

In this episode, Friedman talks about the early weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak and his ultimate decision to (temporarily!) shutter Pizza Delicious.