Et cetera

Meet: Meauxbar (942 N. Rampart). The sudden closure of Sainte Marie last month left many missing the reliably confident cuisine from the CBD staple. Whether you are of the downtown weekday lunch crowd or the weekend theatre crowd, good news: the Sainte Marie team, including Executive Chef Kristen Essig, has taken over a renovated Meuxbar (open as of last week). Though not identical, the restaurant’s food, like that of Sainte Marie, is Modern European, with a menu consisting of dishes such as a pork rillette sandwich, a lamb loin with gnocchi and mint demiglace anchovy butter, and pork belly and crispy scallops with a kimchi vinaigrette and sherry-orange gastrique Menu items range from $5 – $27. Meauxbar is open daily for dinner, from 5 PM – midnight.

Eat: Brunch at Pizza Domenica. Domenica’s more casual, Uptown sister restaurant, Pizza Domenica (4933 Magazine), is now serving brunch from 11 AM – 4 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Like their lunch and dinner menu, Pizza Domenica’s brunch menu will rotate based on what’s in season. Last weekend brunch specials included biscuits with prsciutto and country gravy, bacon, egg, and cheese pizza; in-house pita bread shakshuka, a Tunsinian breakfast dish that consists of eggs poached in a tomato sauce; and, like any good New Orleanian brunch, nice, big Mimosa pitchers. All menu items were priced between $10 and $15.

Drink: The El Ray at Root2 ($12). The casual lounge on the upper floor of newly opened Square Root, known for their extensive 12- 15 course tasting menu, offers small plates, beers, wines, and about a dozen craft cocktails. A standout from the cocktail menu is the El Ray, which combines the smokiness of Sombra Mezcal, the heat and acidity of lime and jalapeño cordial, and the spicy sweetness of Mexican Coke, culminating a complex flavor profile that, nonetheless is light and whimsical enough to enjoy on a warm summer evening.

Wear: FestiGals‘ Bra-ART. FestiGals — a local not-for-profit organization that orchestrates an annual, nationally attended women’s weekend in New Orleans — will be auctioning off Bra-ART (blinged-out, custom-designed bras) beginning this Sunday, to support women’s causes, charities, and foundations in the GNO. The bras, ranging in style from a green brassiere constructed to resemble an alligator, aptly named “see ya later alligator,” to another piece, styled as something of a gem-toned and encrusted Princess Leia bra, donated by Fred Schneider of the B52s.

Many of the bras will come with special “stuffers,” including bottles of fine wine, a 2 night luxury stay at the Hotel Monteleone, and an Hermes fragrance set. Online bidding will run from June 1st – 16th. At the Bodacious Bras For A Cause Luncheon on June 21st at the Hotel Monteleone, more Bra-ART will be available in a live auction. The bras are available for in-person view at Stein Mart on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie.

Laugh: Because the street signs had to catch up with the pot holes and roadwork…

Photo courtesy of Carol Pulitzer.

“Wait right here; don’t move.”