writer's picks 2016

Writers Picks 2016 Phil LaMancusa

Most Puzzling Pork: Okay, we know that crossing town in any direction results in delay, frustrations and confusion; it seems like the city that care forgot wants you to forget why you’re out in traffic in the first place. Case in point: there are streetcar tracks that have been being laid for it seems like a year now starting at Canal and Rampart Streets; I’m sorry, it should never take this long to get a streetcar laid. Is it for locals who already have three buses on that route? Is it for visitors who are chaffing at the bit to tour St. Claude Avenue, perhaps to visit picturesque Elysian Fields Avenue? Or is it as we have been calling it: the laying of the tracks for The Streetcar Named To Nowhere? Will we ever know?

Best Food Tour: Destination Kitchen Tours offers a three hour walking/food tour in the French Quarter for groups of folks hungry for the tastes and tales of what makes this city a culinary paradise; your guide will walk you, talk you and get you tastes of local mainstays such as Muffulettas, gumbo, pralines, poboys and Pimms cups (and more!) the perfect opportunity to show out of towners and locals what’s gastronomically served and savored. Starting at the corner of Toulouse and Royal Streets with coffee and confections and finishing with gelato and macaroons with a side offerings of history, legend and lore. Unlike many tour groups that you witness crowding the streets of our city, these tours are kept small and personal; larger groups are generally broken up or have multiple guides. Destination Kitchen also does history, cocktail and Garden District forays.  Contact Julie@destination-kitchen.com

Best Kids Coral: Want to take the little dears to a place where they can run amok safely and work off their steam at the same time as expanding their intelligence? The Louisiana Children’s Museum at 420 Julia St. is the place for you. Recommended for kids zero to eight years old, there is more stuff to do here than a lot. Art, stories, talk and play centers, capes and masks, history and interactive play centers ranging from make-believe grocery store to café and optometrist. Educational, enlightening and engaging; there are three floors of activities and areas laid out to amaze and amuse. AND MORE!! There are healthy snacks available from vending machines and all you have to do as an adult is to keep up with the energetic mini-bipeds. Set them free, why doncha Babe? Summer hours: Mon-Sat 9:30-5:00 Sunday 12:30-5:00, also available for field trips and birthday parties. 504-523-1357