After months of anticipation, the latest restaurant from Dickie Brennan is set to open on Jackson Square in conjunction with Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre.

New Orleans still has a long way to go, but residents saw steady progress in 2012 in terms of infrastructure, road improvements, and long-awaited renovations. Here are NoDef's 12 construction picks for 2012.

Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré is hoping to put drama back on the stage once the calendar turns to 2013. Principals announced Wednesday that the oldest community-based theatre in the country is making good on plans to stave off another near-death experience.

In the latest installment Grande Drame au Le Petit Theatre, a judge slapped prominent board opponent, Jim Walpole with a restraining order. New Orleans Civil Court Judge Sidney Cates ordered Walpole and his compatriots to cease a host of activities included in their campaign against the sale. However, the true test will be at a vote tonight.

During the same time that the crisis at Le Petit Theatre was mounting, NoDef Drama Critic Jim Fitzmorris notes that the rest of the New Orleans theatre community was shifting courses, and locales.

For the last month, opinion has filled the gaps in news concerning the sale of Le Petit Theatre to Dickie Brennan Restaurant Group, the two sides were waiting for Judge Sidney H. Cates, IV to rule on a petition for an injunction and a writ of mandamus to halt to the project from Jim Walpole, the president of the theatre's independent guild. Essentially, the judge's ruling clears the way for the sale to move to a final vote.

We shut off the "You've Got Mail" alert for a while because we were getting so many comments, but the comments have only been piling up. To stop our very own carmageddon on the information superhighway, we've decided to get the best and brightest off our desk, and into thine very own eyes. Click through to read some of the best comments of the last fortnight.

Over the last few months, NoDef has witnessed much drama at Le Petit; much of it off-stage. An offer from the Brennan's Restaurant Group has been recommended by the board to the membership. Today, our drama critic, Jim Fitzmorris, weighs in on the deal.

FRENCH QUARTER - Even though Le Petit Theatre's deal to sell the French Quarter playhouse to Dickie Brennan Restaurant Group is still pending the outcome of a vote of the membership, Brennan and the Theatre's Board of Directors presented their plans for the reconfigured space, which will include a Brennan restaurant, today. The rollout was designed to answer critics of the sale, lead by the Theatre's independent Guild. Last month, Guild President Jim Walpole filed a temporary restraining order to halt the sale until a full meeting of the membership is held. At the media preview today, the Board laid out the new floor plan (pictured after the jump), and Brennan representatives gave a detailed preview of the new restaurant that would occupy part of the existing Theatre's space.

After weeks of protesting the Le Petit Theatre Board of Directors' decision to sell 60 percent of the Jackson Square playhouse to restaurant man Dickie Brennan, the opposition has apparently succeeded in stopping the sale, if only for the moment. Orleans District Judge Kern Reese granted a temporary restraining order earlier today to stop the unfinalized deal from going forward, according to legal documents.