2026 Downtown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
We ventured up to Bayou St. John earlier this spring to shoot the Mardi Gras Indians for their Downtown Super Sunday rolling street party. This is what we saw:
We get exactly one healthy dose of voodoo every year in New Orleans at 5am on Mardi Gras day when Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux comes out of her Treme bungalow and leads a procession of priestesses through the streets of the 6th Ward.
It’s eerie, macabre and joyful.
This weekend, at events scattered across New Orleans, International Vodou Day will be celebrated in this northernmost outpost of the Caribbean. We are most excited to see Queen Nqwamary Janiqwa Nganga pour libations at the slave marker near the US Mint in the French Quarter.
During the dark days of US slavery, within a one-block radius of this marker, you would find roughly a dozen slave-trading firms operated out of bank-like offices, luxury showrooms, and private pens. Their business? Selling their fellow man into slavery.
Expect Queen Nqwamary Janiqwa Nganga to offer serious wisdom on these matters.
2026 Original Big 7 Social and Pleasure Second Line In New Orleans
Galley Seafood Soft Shell Crab at New Orleans Jazz Fest
50 years ago Dennis and Vicky Patania began serving soft-shell crab po-boys at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.
They were two kids with a dream
In 1977 a ticket would run you a meager two bucks. Adjusted for inflation that same ticket should cost you about $11 today.
We all know that ain’t happening.
Vietnamese Barbecue Sauce with Red Boat Anchovy Salt
Out of the thousands of barbecue joints I’ve eaten at over the years, the sauce was of such quality that it bore mentioning only a handful of times: Rountree’s Hickory Pit in Birmingham; Luling City Market in Luling, Texas; Louie Mueller in Taylor, Texas; and the all-time king—Archibald’s in Northport, Alabama.
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
2026 Uptown Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian Party
More to come
While New Orleans is indisputably a superior city to Austin there are a few things I miss dearly about the capital of Texas.
Namely migas. I’ve scoured New Orleans for this dish and have yet to find a single restaurant that is serving one of the defining foods of Tex-Mex cuisine.
Meanwhile back in Austin, hundreds of people are on queue at dozens of taquerias scattered about town-all serving a wide variety of migas and migas-like dishes.
2026 Keep N It Real Social and Pleasure Second Line in New Orleans
2026 Keep N It Real Social and Pleasure Second Line in New Orleans
2026 Keep N It Real Social and Pleasure Second Line in New Orleans
2026 Keep N It Real Social and Pleasure Second Line in New Orleans
2026 Keep N It Real Social and Pleasure Second Line in New Orleans
More to come shortly
New Orleans Daily Picayune advertisement. 1883
After some testing, I found that a traditional “easy” substitute—sweetened condensed milk plus a bit of unsweetened chocolate—gives a fudge that’s less sugary but still rich in chocolate flavor.
This recipe makes about 2.5 pounds of fudge.
2026 VIP Ladies and Kids second line in New Orleans
We ventured way uptown to the Garden District for the 23rd anniversary roll of VIP Ladies and Kids Second Line earlier this month. This is what we saw: