I love coffee. No really, I love coffee. Proof: I happily worked in cafes for over a decade before finally retiring my green apron. Okay, they asked me to leave. No really, they did. But, another story for another time. Back to coffee. Good coffee. Where to get it. How to brew it. But when you’re away from your environs as summer months tend to bend our routines, what do you do? Pray to Kaldi wherever you are traveling there’s a halfway decent cafe? Or maybe you’re a full on coffee geek (like me) and you travel with your coffeemaker? See, as much as I love Kaldi, I’ve traveled enough to know that praying and gambling on a decent cup of coffee is a hope and a bet you’ll almost certainly lose every time. So beat the odds, and travel prepared. This is your morning cup of coffee we’re talking about here. Some things are sacred, and to me, this is one of them. Continue reading »
Father’s Day is this Sunday and what better way to surprise your Dad than box full of fresh, delicious cupcakes! The Kupcake Factory is offering a Father’s Day Special — buy three cupcakes, get one free — so everyone in your family can celebrate. Offering 12 gourmet flavors daily plus ice cream from the Cold Stone Creamery, the Kupcake Factory has something to delight even the most finicky of fathers.
The Kupcake Factory serves three locations in the greater New Orleans area: 819 W. Esplanade Avenue in Kenner, 800 Metairie Road (Ste. Q) in Metairie, and 6223 S. Claiborne Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. Contact any location for details about cakes and pricing at 504.464.8884, or visit the Kupcake Factory website and Facebook page for news and an updated schedule of cupcakes. The Kupcake Factory is open daily from 11.30am until 8pm, or until all cupcakes have been sold.

Architect's rendering of the three-story addition to Poydras Home (Rendering by Mathes Brierre Architects)
Plans for the addition of a new three-story building at the center of the historic Poydras Home retirement community were met with cautious acceptance Tuesday night by a group of neighbors who praised the building’s classic design but worried about parking for its new employees.
At the corner of Jefferson and Magazine for more than 150 years, Poydras Home currently serves 74 residents in four buildings, one for independent living, two for traditional assisted living, and a fourth for Alzheimer’s patients. The new building is designed to resemble the original three-story orphanage that was on the site until the 1950s, and would serve 33 more residents, a first floor for 11 dementia patients, and two upper floors for assisted living. Continue reading »

No alcohol can be sold with meals at Ignatius, but owner Jerry Roppolo is seeking the city's permission to sell alcohol at another building he owns on Magazine, the current site of Rue de la Course. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
The owner of the popular Rue de la Course coffeehouse on Magazine Street took a step closer Tuesday to being able to convert the location into a restaurant with alcohol sales, but said no immediate plans have been made for the location.
Jerry Roppolo, who owns Rue and its building, was poised earlier this year to get a liquor license for Ignatius Eatery up the street, but then withdrew after he was unable to reach an agreement with his landlord there. Based on a subsequent plan he presented this month to move Ignatius into Rue’s building, the City Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend Roppolo receive a conditional-use permit to sell alcohol in the building he owns, but Roppolo said any changes to either location are still a long way off. Continue reading »
The Freret Neighbors United will hold officer elections at 6 p.m. tonight (Tuesday, June 14) at their quarterly meeting at Samuel J. Green Charter School on Valence Street.
Also up for discussion are the live-music venue proposed for the Neighborhood Housing Services building, issues related to feral cats, and updates on the liquor license at Las Acacias Supermercado, the Freret Neighborhood Center, and the neighborhood service project, said president Dean Gancarz-Davies.
The meeting is open to the public.
The Poydras Home retirement community at Magazine and Jefferson is hosting a public meeting at 6 p.m. tonight about its plans for development.

The Neighborhood Housing Services building on Freret may share space with a neighborhood bar and live-music venue this fall. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
As the rapid redevelopment of the Freret Street, a restaurant serving “Japanese fusion” cuisine is planned to open in the former Friar Tucks bar on one end of the commercial corridor, and a new neighborhood live-music venue is slated for the large, bright-blue building at the other end of the street.
The long-promised street improvements on Freret have yet to begin, however, and business owners worry that poorly planned and executed roadwork could blunt the street’s recovery. Continue reading »
The Freret Business and Property Owners Association will meet at 5:30 p.m. tonight (Monday, June 13) at Cure, 4905 Freret. A variety of presentations are on the agenda.
Four Uptown businesses plan to make requests before the City Planning Commission on Tuesday: Ignatius Eatery on its plan to move into the Rue de la Course site on Magazine, a request for a Japanese convenience store and coffee house on South Carrollton, the Walgreens on Claiborne’s intent to begin selling package liquor and a proposal for a fresh food market on Earhart Boulevard near the Fontainebleau neighborhood. Continue reading »
Solar Day 2011 is just around the corner – mark your calendar, you won’t want to miss it!
Solar Day is an international celebration that spreads awareness about the benefits of solar power and alternative energy. Along with increasing the push towards American energy independence, harvesting the sun’s energy creates much-needed jobs – in fact, the number of people employed by the solar power industry doubled in 2010, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. It’s a great reason to celebrate, and this coming Saturday, from 10am to 2pm, Joule Energy is throwing a party in your neighborhood!
See below for more details.

Owen Courrèges
I’d like to start this column by taking the opportunity to eliminate all doubt, in case there was any – I am not an anarchist. Though I would consider myself a civil libertarian distrustful of government, I do believe that government is necessary (if perhaps a necessary evil). I’ve always thought of anarchists as juvenile radicals who go around spouting nonsensical philosophies while ignoring the obvious implications of their own ideas.
However, just because I disagree with anarchists and may sometimes find them a bit irritating does not mean that they’re always wrong, or that they should be run out of town on a rail. Continue reading »
A 22-year-old woman was found dead Sunday morning of a gunshot wound to the head inside her Hollygrove home, police said. Continue reading »
A driver traveling on South Carrollton was shot to death by someone inside his vehicle Saturday evening, police said. Continue reading »

Patois' Tru Burger is slammed on their first day of business Friday afternoon on Oak Street. Tru Burger is a partnership between Aaron Burgau, Leon Touzet, Pierre Touzet and Marcus Woodham, all from Patois.T hey grind their own meat and serve gluten-free buns. Veggie burgers, hot dogs and milkshakes will also be served. "Best bun and fries in the city hands down," said diner Quinton Terrio during Tru Burger's grand opening. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
The steady lines of enthusiastic diners Friday on Oak Street for Tru Burger’s opening may soon find an addition to the restaurant’s succinct menu of burgers, fries hot dogs and milkshakes: a cold beer.
On Thursday, less than 24 hours before he was scheduled to open, Patois and Tru Burger co-owner Leon Touzet III met with the Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association about his desire for a low-volume alcohol license. The restaurant is based on the simple concept of a neighborhood location for high-quality burgers, fries and milkshakes, and alcohol is not an important part of the equation, Touzet told the group. Continue reading »
Contrary to appearances at the time, the city’s shutdown of the Iron Rail Book Collective in March was not about a feud between police and downtown anarchists, one member said Saturday morning: it was an attempt to rid a gentrifying downtown of homeless people. Continue reading »

Joshua McReynolds (via NOPD)
A second Mississippi man is now wanted in connection with a violent Uptown New Orleans home invasion in January, and investigators continue to hold open the possibility that the duo may be behind a second, similar attack at a different home the same week. Continue reading »
The closure of the Iron Rail Book Collective amid a series of controversial NOPD actions in the Marigny and its subsequent reopening will be the discussion topic Saturday morning at this month’s Gillespie Memorial Community Breakfast at Uptown’s First Unitarian Universalist Church. Continue reading »
You’ve kicked the Kentucky Derby, polished off the Preakness Stakes, but there’s one more to go: the Belmont Stakes, the third and final event of thoroughbred racing coming up tomorrow, June 11th. There’s only one drink to have in your hand as the hooves come thundering down the track, and that’s the Belmont Breeze, the one-of-a-kind cocktail invented just for the Belmont Stakes by “King Cocktail” Dale DeGroff. A delicious combination of whiskey, sherry, fresh juices, and sodas (see the official recipe here), the Belmont Breeze is available at Tracey’s Original Irish Channel Bar for just $5 only on race day!
Throw in an order for the Best Roast Beef Po-Boy on Earth, and you’re holding a winning ticket. The starting pistol fires at 6pm, but Tracey’s is open at 11am daily. Tracey’s Original Irish Channel Bar is located in the Irish Channel at the corner of Magazine and Third. For more information, see http://traceysnola.com.
A 15-year-old was arrested Thursday evening in connection with a mugging in the Milan neighborhood, the third in a string of NOPD victories this week in battling the wave of armed robberies that swept Uptown in May. Continue reading »
An nearly hour-long power loss at the Sewerage and Water Board’s main power plants caused low water pressure around the city starting just before 11 a.m. Thursday, but power has been restored, pressure is returning, and the water was safe throughout the incident, according to a S&WB news release.

