Charity Fundraiser ~ Dining Out for Life on July 17th

What are you doing for dinner on Thursday night? Just by eating a delicious meal, you can help raise much needed money for the NO/AIDS Task Force. The charity fundraiser is Dining Out For Life. Lots of wonderful New Orleans restaurants are participating. Thursday evening, 25% of their proceeds will be donated to the charity. Waiter staff will have envelopes available for additional donations, if you wish to give more $$$. Those who donate extra cash will be entered to win a stay at the International House Hotel or the W New Orleans - French Quarter. Even better, your waiter will also be entered to win this great prize. *cheer*

Here are just a few of the delicious restaurants that are participating ~ Louisiana Pizza Kitchen Uptown & French Market, Cafe Degas, Muriel's Jackson Square, Joey K's, House of Blues, Marigny Brasserie, Arabesque, 7 on Fulton, N'awlins Flava Cafe, Hookah Cafe, Taj Mahal Indian Cuisine, Eat New Orleans, Bywater Bar-B-Que, Feeling Cafe, etc. For a full listing, check out their website.

One restaurant is having their event on Friday night (July 18th) only.... Minacapelli's Dinner Playhouse in Slidell.

Dining Out for Life
Dine Out, Fight AIDS
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
6:00 PM
Benefiting NO/AIDS Task Force
HIV & AIDS Charity
http://www.noaidstaskforce.org/

Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra ~ Festa d’Italia

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will offer a two day "Celebration of American-Italian Contributions to New Orleans Culture" on February 22nd & 23rd. You can enjoy food, music and fashion! *cheer* It all begins with a concert on Friday the 22nd at 7:30pm in McAlister Auditorium on the Tulane University campus. On Saturday from 11:00am to 4:00pm, a bunch of restaurants and stores on Canal Street will offer fun for the whole family ~ street art, food, music and more. The festivities conclude that night with a grand ball.

Festa d’ Italia
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

New Orleans, LA
Friday, 02/22/08 & Saturday, 02/23/08
http://www.lpomusic.com/index.php?q=festaditalia

Update on Dooky Chase's Restaurant Reopening

A little update for everyone regarding Dooky Chase's Restaurant. You can now get their yummy food to go! Pick up your take out order! The dining room is still not open yet for dine in. However, it is available for special occasions, family gatherings after funerals, etc. In fact, Chef Leah and staff feed President Bush on his recent trip to New Orleans in August. Word is they hope to offer full service in the next month or so.

Dooky Chase's Restaurant

2301 Orleans Avenue

( 504 ) 821-0535

"Love in the Garden" on September 28, 2007

Each year, the New Orleans Museum of Art hosts the "Love in the Garden" fundraiser right next door in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The event is used to raise money for further restoration of the Garden which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Also, it will bring attention to the museum & help rebuild membership.

Of course, "Love" refers to the famous piece created by artist/sculptor Robert Indiana. When you attend the party, you will experience dancing under the stars and those gorgeous live oak trees ~ as well as FOOD provided by 30 NOLA restaurants including Cafe Degas, Court of Two Sisters & Ralph's on the Park. You will see artwork by Fernando Botero, Claes Oldenburg, Henry Moore, Deborah Butterfield, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Barbara Hepworth, Lynn Chadwick, Isamu Noguchi and many more.

"Love in the Garden"

Attire : Dressy Casual

New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA)

Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

Friday, September 28th, 2007

7:00 PM to 11:00 PM

City Park

New Orleans, LA

In the event of rain, the fun will move to the Great Hall inside the museum.

Tickets ( 504 ) 658 -4121

www.noma.org/lovetickets.html

Gambit Weekly Releases "Best of New Orleans" 2007

Gambit Weekly has released their annual "Best of New Orleans" issue for 2007. They list fave restaurants, clubs, theaters, local actress & actor, live music venues, churches, local bands, clothing stores, dance clubs, artists, antiques, jewelry stores, coffeehouses, politicians, hair salons, radio stations, hotels, spas, contractors, banks, reasons to stay in NOLA and much more ~ as voted on by the readers.

We would make a few changes......

Favorite Hotel ~ Biscuit Palace Guesthouse

Best Shopping ~ The French Market

Best Bar ~ Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop

Best Food ~ How can we pick just one?!??!! ~ Port of Call, Joey K's, Clover Grill, Irene's Cuisine, Central Grocery, Cafe Du Monde, K-Paul's...... I could go on and on. :)

Check out Gambit Weekly's list. See if you agree!

www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2007-08-28/cover_story.php

Dooky Chase's Restaurant Reopening!

After two long years, Dooky Chase's Restaurant is reopening soon! A good sign is that they recently held a job fair, accepting applications from prospective employees. For a while, we feared that Dooky's would be another casualty of Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately, the restaurant ~ which had 4 to 6 feet of flood water ~ was under insured. The Chase family worked tirelessly to slowly but surely revive their beloved business. Also, many fundraisers, donations & volunteers came forward to help. They were not willing to see this historic restaurant fade away. It has been a vital part of the Treme neighborhood and NOLA since 1941. Thank you to all who contributed in any way! :)

The heart of the restaurant, and its recovery, is Chef Leah Chase. All I can say is that I can only dream of having the courage, determination and energy that she embodies ~ now or in my 80's. :) She has feed delicious food to locals, famous folks, tourists.... anyone who was hungry for home cooking. It is good to know that Chef Chase will be able to do so for many more years!

If you would like to send words of encouragement &/or donations ~
Leah Chase
PO Box 791716
New Orleans, LA 70179

Make opening night a huge success and show your support!
Dooky Chase's Restaurant
2301 Orleans Avenue
( 504 ) 821-0535

Website ~ www.dookychaserestaurant.com

Tennessee Williams Literary Festival

The 21st Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will be March 28th to April 1st. Many well known writers, editors, publishers & agents will offer their expertise. You can enjoy classes, performances of Williams' one act plays, literary walking tours, readings, fundraiser for Martin Luther King Jr. School Library and so much more! Since food rules our life, we were especially happy to hear that two famous NOLA chefs, Leah Chase & John Besh, will share stories & cooking tips. Start practicing now to join the other contestants gathering in the French Quarter to see who has the best imitation of Stanley screaming "STELLA!" from the famous play/movie "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Buy individual tickets for certain classes, plays, etc. Or, purchase an all access pass. Several venues will be used to accomodate the wide range of activities.

Details ~

Phone ( 504 ) 581-1144

www.tennesseewilliams.net

Reveillon - a Creole Tradition

New Orleans is a city of tradition. One beautiful example of this is Reveillon ~ an elaborate meal that broke the daylong fast after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. And, was offered again on New Year's Eve. In French, Reveillon means "awakening." Currently, it is celebrated nightly during the Christmas season at several restaurants ~ Commander's Palace, NOLA, Court of the Two Sisters, Galatoire's, Tujague's, Emeril's, Muriel's Jackson Square, Gumbo Shop, Brennan's to name a few.

Thanksgiving thoughts & blessings!

We spent Thanksgiving surrounded by amazing people ~ feeling very grateful indeed. As we devoured our delicious food, I could not help but think of those who do not have what we do. You may be aware of the following website. However, it seems fitting to include it in this Thanksgiving message. www.hungersite.com It is FREE and still helps untold numbers of people. A few seconds of our time daily is well used on it. You will also find the Breast Cancer Site, Literacy Site, etc attached to the page. We click on each one while we are there. :)

Blessings to you all on this day and always!