Meet: Bar Redux. The Bywater space that formerly housed local BBQ Mecca The Joint (801 Poland) has recently reopened as an artsy gastropub. Redux offers a menu comprised of both local Creole specialities and Carribean dishes, and of course brews and cocktails. Beyond the grub and beverages, Redux makes the arts a priority of its business. In addition to the street art-style mural covering the outside of Redux’s dwelling, the bar showcases a rotating circuit of local artists’ works inside their space.
Eat: From the soon-to-be cannoli bar at Arabella Casa di Pasta‘s. The Sizzler salad bar has come a long way.
Italian pop-up — primarily focused upon pasta, Arabella Casa di Pasta, is about to spread its wings and depart as a semi-present tenant from Lower garden District wine bar The Tasting Room. Arabella Casa di Pasta is set to stake out a permanent location at the former home of recently shuttered Tacos Borrachos (2258 St Claude). The standing savory menu will remain — consisting of small appetizer and pasta plates, with the addition of a make-your-own cannoli station where diners choose their cannoli shells, fillings and toppings. Although no permanent date has been announced, Arrabella Casa di Pasta’s new standing home is tentatively set to open in early June.
Drink: At Barrel Proof (1201 Magazine). You know you’ve had that friend — heck, maybe you’ve been that friend — the person who wants a skinny girl… everything. And if you happen to be that person, this is not your bar. But if you can throw caution in to the wind and stick with some good old fashioned booze, Barrel Proof is worth a visit.
The newly-opened, lower Garden District watering-hole (located in the old Bridge Lounge space), headed by Sean McCusker and his team from French Quarter gastropub Sylvain, has a wonderfully no-nonsense cocktail approach that terminates the “Wait, what should I get?” debate: Whiskey or beer, or drink elsewhere. If you shrewdly choose to stay, you have over 150 whiskeys and numerous brews to choose from. Indecisive by nature? Tell the knowledgeable bartenders what you like and a glass of boozy perfection will quickly come your way.
Wear: Tzukuri sunglasses. You know you’ve done it — asked: Where are my sunglasses? Come to find out, they’re on your head — or better yet, on your face. Oh, so that’s why it’s so dark in here. Or maybe you truly have trouble holding on to your shades; you’ve tried the sunglass strap, you always carry your sunglass case — no matter what you do, you just can’t hold on to those babies for more than a day.
Big news: The sunglass hunt is soon to be a thing of the past. Japanese eyewear company Tzukuri will soon offer sunglasses embedded with a solar-powered chip synced with iPhones that enables its wearer to identify the shades’ location at all times and even sends out notifications when it senses that the wearer has left the lenses behind. Best of all: dissimilar from our iPhones (i.e. Excise me, bartender, do you have an iPhone 5s charger behind the bar?), since these guys run on solar power, you don’t have to stress about your battery life.
The sunglasses are set to release in late 2014. They will retail for $349; you can preorder them for $249.
Laugh:
Because when you want a snack, you do what you need to do,
NOLAbeings Multimedia artist Claire Bangser created NOLAbeings as a portrait-based story project that marries... 
Voodoo in New Orleans: Reviving history: New Orleans fortune telling This article takes a deep dive into the history of Voodoo in New Orleans, its hybridization with Catholicism, and its present-day place in the city's culture. The author visits fortune-tellers in the French Quarter, using their guidance as a tool for introspection rather than a deterministic predictor of the future. Through her experiences in New Orleans, the author feels a mystical connection to both the past and the future. 