From almost a dozen nods in the semfinals, five New Orleans interests have made the final cut for the James Beard Awards, set to be given out on May 6 in New York City. New Orleans once again outpaces the rest of the region in the Best Chef: South category, and will see one of her own earn recognition for giving something back.

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

Coffee snobs and everyday caffeine addicts alike can look forward to next week’s espresso extravaganza. Monday and Tuesday nights in the CBD, restaurants Merchant and Domenica are teamed up to host illy Master Barista Giorgio Milos. 

April 12 is, like most days, a day of births- rollcall: Henry Clay (1777), Beverley Cleary (1916), Herbie Hancock (1940), David Letterman (1947), Bacchus King Andy Garcia (1956), Shannen Doherty (1971)…and what’s life without death? FDR died on this day in 1945, as did (Brandeis alum) Abbie Hoffman (1989). And what’s life without milestones? The Civil War began on this day (Fort Sumter, 1861), Simon and Garfunkel released ‘The Boxer’, and 1988 saw Harvard U. simultaneously patent the genetically engineered mouse while Sonny Bono was elected mayor of Palm Springs. These hapnin’s are hard to beat, but we’ll try:

2010 was a year when casual dining reasserted itself in NOLA- from street food, to Pho, to star chefs gone dress-down, we loved to eat without airs this year. 2011 will bring us a bit more of the same, conversely some bar food gone fancy, lots of ethnic cuisine, and a few other surprises. The (again, unordered) list y’all...