Here’s why Unique Nola Ghost Tours are a great way to see New Orleans (sponsored)

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New Orleans is a fantastic city full of great history and culture, and very walkable, with few hills. A guided walking tour of the city, particularly a ghost tour of New Orleans, is a great way to make sure you don’t miss out on anything! Unique NOLA Tours provides an immersive experience that allows guests to get up close and personal with New Orleans’ history. The Unique NOLA Tours Difference
Monique Hamilton and Christopher Falvey set out to create a business that gives New Orleans locals as well as tourists an experience that they won’t forget. Unique NOLA Tours was founded to fill the need for smaller, more intimate, and accurate ghost tours in New Orleans.

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Turkey and the Wolf team launches ’80s themed dinner spot on Magazine

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Mason Hereford, the creative force behind breakfast hub Molly’s Rise and Shine and sandwich mecca Turkey and the Wolf, is launching his first restaurant with a dinner menu. Hungry Eyes, an ’80s-themed dinner restaurant, opens Monday (April 10) in the Magazine Street spot that used to be home to Red Gravy. That restaurant closed last April. 

Hereford is opening Hungry Eyes with his wife and business partner, Lauren Agudo, and Turkey and the Wolf chef Phillip Cenac. No stranger to accolades, Hereford has found success with Molly’s Rise and Shine and Turkey and the Wolf. Both restaurants regularly top local and national “best of” restaurant lists.

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Team behind Costera opens Osteria Lupo on Magazine

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Since 2019, Costera has been serving coastal Spanish-inspired cuisine on Prytania Street. The latest endeavor from owners Reno De Ranieri and Chef Brian Burns, Osteria Lupo, will bring the flavors of northern Italy to the Magazine Street. The restaurant opens Wednesday (April 5). Burns is a Chicago native who attended culinary school at the École Supérieure de Cuisine Française, now known as Ferrandi Paris. He and De Ranieri joined forces while working for the Link Restaurant Group.

Domilise’s po-boy shop scores a role in ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’

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Keen-eyed New Orleanians watching Amazon Prime’s new miniseries “Daisy Jones & The Six” are noticing many of the scenes are shot – if not set — in New Orleans. The city stands in for New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Albuquerque, among others. Episode 9 of the 1970s rock ‘n’ roll fable features Uptown’s Domilise’s Po-boy & Bar as a Chicago sandwich shop. The idea to film in New Orleans came from local film location manager Batou Chandler. Chandler told Uptown Messenger she wanted to support local small businesses and a favorite film location, City Park, all in need of a financial boost during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bertie’s Intergalactic Diner takes up residency at Carrollton Station

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A new out-of-this-world food spot is popping up at Carrollton Station. Bertie’s Intergalactic Diner serves an array of comfort-food favorites and new inventions by owner and chef Trey Rintala. Rintala is from Slidell and was previously the sous chef at the now-shuttered French bistro Meauxbar. While he enjoyed his six years there, he admits that fine dining isn’t quite his style. “I appreciate my time there and utilize the techniques I learned working in a French kitchen,” Rintala said.

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Maple Street Starbucks workers hold one-day strike over stalled negotiations

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Workers at the Maple Street Starbucks took to the picket line last week for a one-day strike over stalled contract negotiations. When the Maple Street shop unionized in early June, it was part of a meteoric increase in unionized Starbucks across the U.S. After the first store unionized in Buffalo, New York, less than two years ago, 287 stores have successfully held union elections, while another 91 have held elections where the union did not garner enough votes to win. 

The striking Maple Street workers said Starbucks has refused to bargain with the union to establish a contract, which is why they decided to go on the one-day strike. They also said they want full staffing at the coffee shop. 

“We want to be met at the bargaining table and we want Starbucks to stop cutting labor,” one striker said. “We don’t have enough staff to keep up with growing demand at the store.”

As the workers and supporters gathered for the picket line on the sultry Wednesday morning (March 22), cars driving by honked their support. One friend of the organizers passed out bottled water and cups of vegetable soup. 

Rowan Bienes-Allen, sat by the storefront door with a laptop and a sign saying “Ask me about the strike.” So I did. As we spoke, she was asked to move by a manager wearing a Black history month shirt.

Colombian pop-up Waska mixes innovation with tradition

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New Orleans’ culinary scene isn’t necessarily known for its Colombian food, but one local chef is working to change that. Jose Chris Blanco owns Waska, a Colombian-inspired pop-up that’s been making the rounds of local breweries. Blanco was born in Colombia and grew up in Miami; he considers Waska a tribute to his culture. He’s been cooking for about 13 years and started Waska in 2021, after moving to New Orleans. 

At Waska, Blanco experiments with different flavors inspired by Colombian dishes, but not what Blanco would call “your grandmother’s cooking.” “I play around with a lot of the same ingredients, but I use them differently,” Blanco said.

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Propeller and Thrive Host Water Challenge March 30th (sponsored)

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Companies pitch solutions to New Orleans pressing water issues! Environmentally-minded entrepreneurs will present their water companies to a panelist of water industry leaders and pitch their solutions to the most pressing water-related issues facing our community from 2:00pm – 3:30pm, March 30, 2023 at the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week at Gallier Hall, 545 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA. RSVP at https://www.noew.org/rsvp-water-challenge to attend the event. “These are existential issues, and New Orleans and Louisiana’s future depends on solving them,” says Andrea Chen, CEO and Co-Founder of Propeller.

food and drink

Current Crop Roasting Shop lets coffee lovers roast their own

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Coffee connoisseurs who want take their home brews a step further may find what they need at Current Crop Roasting Shop. The new Magazine Street retailer is not your typical coffee shop; it is designed to be a DIY a coffee roasting hub. Current Crop will celebrate its official grand opening at 3931 Magazine Street on Wednesday (March 1) at 3 p.m.

Current Crop offers products and experiences to help customers learn more about the art and science of home coffee roasting. As the trend of specialty coffee continues to grow, so too does the number of people interested in exploring the world of roasting their own coffee beans.  

Founder John Puckett said they want to contribute to the historic and already rich coffee culture of New Orleans. “We want to bring the love of home roasting to all those who appreciate a good cup of coffee,” he said. 

The store has coffee specialists on staff to guide and advise customers, as well as classes and educational resources.

food and drink

The Tell Me Bar in the Lower Garden District lets the wine ‘be what it’s meant to be’

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The Lower Garden District has a new social spot that features natural wine by local experts. Uznea Bauer, Cory Cartwright, and Tyler Robinson opened The Tell Me Bar on St. Thomas Street near the Pontchartrain Expressway in December 2022. 

It specializes in natural wine, which Bauer described it as wine created with as little intervention as possible. “You’re working as ‘hands-off’ as possible in the vineyard. You’re not using chemicals, pesticides or insecticides other than herbal applications and copper — more natural things with no chemicals,” she said.