TNOLA Languages Offers Translators & Interpreters: 5 Reasons Your Org Should Provide These Services On Request (sponsored)

We believe quality interpretation and translation require a personalized approach and that is exactly what we offer. TNOLA Languages offers in-person language services in New Orleans, where it is headquartered, and in Houston, as well as remote language services across the country. Its professional translators (for writing) and interpreters (for speech) can help your organization provide these services when a customer or client requests them. Read on to learn why you should provide language services upon request. 1.

New Chick-fil-A at I-10 & Carrollton is open and ready for business (sponsored)

Franchised owner/operator Ben McLeish has deep roots in New Orleans, having lived in the city for more than 20 years, founding a nonprofit organization and leading an inner-city ministry. He has a deep passion for the city his family calls home and plans for his new restaurant to inspire a generation of leaders. Locally owned and operated

As full-time, hands-on leaders in their restaurants and communities, Chick-fil-A owner/operators proudly reside in the communities they serve. For McLeish, caring for neighbors in New Orleans has motivated him throughout his career. When he first moved to the city from his home state of Georgia, his desire to help those in need led him to nonprofit work, where he met his wife, Stephanie.

Hobby Lobby buys historic church on Magazine with plans to lease it to local congregation

Hobby Lobby Stores, a national craft-supply retail chain, has purchased the former Valence Street Baptist Church, a historic property on Magazine Street, records show. The NOLA Baptist Church, a fledgling Uptown congregation, plans to lease it from Hobby Lobby, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Kyle Jagers, confirmed on Monday (Dec. 5). “We have entered into a lease with them as the tenant,” Jagers said. “As the tenant, we will begin work to restore the property to its historic value and appearance.

Nomiya ramen shop expands with move to new Magazine Street spot

Nomiya, the ramen shop serving the Japanese comfort food since 2017, has moved three blocks up Magazine Street to a spot that allows room for expansion. Sunday (Nov. 27) was Nomiya’s first day in the building formerly occupied by Del Fuego, a Mexican restaurant that had operated in the space since 2014. Del Fuego closed during the summer. Nomiya is owned by Hidetoshi “Elvis” Suzuki, former owner and chef of Kanno sushi bar, and brother and sister team Allen and Christie Nguyen.

Piety and Desire on Magazine is a haven for chocolate devotees

Piety and Desire Chocolate, a haven for chocolate lovers, can now be found on Magazine Street. 

Owner Christopher Nobles, a New Orleans native, discovered chocolate-making eight years ago. He opened a small retail store in 2017 on South Broad Street near Washington Avenue, in the same building where his chocolate is manufactured. 

While the Broadmoor shop closed during the pandemic, Piety and Desire Chocolate continued to sell and ship its decadent treats. The Piety and Desire chocolate factory remains on South Broad. 

Piety and Desire Chocolate is manufactured from ethically traded cocoa beans, and whole chocolate bars are labeled with the names of where their cocoa beans were grown, including Peru, St. Lucia and Vietnam. The café on Magazine Street opened in April.

Bakery Bar’s new chef adds a Latin touch to the menu

The Bakery Bar in the Lower Garden District has a new chef, Lydia Solano, who was previously at the helm of Bacchanal’s kitchen. Chef Lydia will be introducing a new menu and, and the Bakery Bar will host a daily brunch. 

Growing up, Solano split her time between the United States and Costa Rica. After graduating from culinary school in Boston, she hitchhiked across the country, dropping into kitchens and learning skills on the job. “I worked everywhere from smokehouses to Japanese sushi spots,” she said. “I learned a broad aspect of cooking by stopping into different places and working where I could.”

Eight years ago, when she first visited New Orleans and began regularly spending time here, she started introducing Creole flavors into her cooking.

Return of Hubig’s Pie causes mad rush to South Carrollton

When word spread on Sunday (Nov. 6) that Hubig’s Pies was back after 10 years, the news was met with shouts of glee, followed by the sounds of locals running down sidewalks and cars racing across parish lines. The day before hitting the store shelves, Hubig’s Pies popped up in a South Carrollton Avenue parking lot. Tires across the city sped across potholes at axle-breaking speeds to reach the limited run of 7,000 pies before they were gone. Locals were racing down South Carrollton to the Hubig’s Pies pop-up at the Whitney Hancock Bank parking lot, as the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival drew crowds a block away. 

Gridlocked drivers shouted to passers-by, “Are there any pies left?”

Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco brings tastes of Peru to St. Charles Avenue

Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco recently opened its second location on St. Charles Avenue in the Lower Garden District. The Peruvian bistro opened in the former St. Charles Tavern on  Sept. 28 and is serving lunch, happy hour and dinner. 

The two owners of Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco, Tatiana and Juan Lock, began searching for a second location for their Magazine Street restaurant before the pandemic. In the summer of 2020, Lock was driving down St.

Innovative brunch spot Scrambled to open next to Octavia Books

Scrambled, a brunch restaurant from chef Steven Green is opening in early November on Laurel Street, in the space that housed Toast’s Uptown location, until that brunch spot closed earlier this year. In June, Green signed the lease for the space on Laurel Street to open Scrambled. He described the venture as a step up from the typical breakfast joint. “We’re going to offer classic breakfast food on our menu, but we’re also going to have fun with it,” Green said. “We want to include things on the menu that will make adults feel like kids again.”

Green, a New Jersey native, attended culinary school at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

Staff of life: Talking with Bellegarde Bakery’s new worker-owners

Bellegarde Bakery, named for what was possibly New Orleans’ first bakery (established in 1722), has joined the small but growing ranks of cooperatively owned and run businesses in New Orleans. The acclaimed bakery at 8300 Apple St. in Hollygrove was founded in 2012 by Graison Gill with a mission to produce high-quality naturally fermented breads made with flour milled in-house. After 10 years, Gill announced his intent to move to London to start a new bakery there. Rather than sell the New Orleans business, he and his team worked to orchestrate a transition to a worker-cooperative model.