Dispatch From New Orleans

New Orleans House Paint Colors: Olive Green, Fuchsia, Indigo and More!

Before the paint job, this house was extremely boring (photo below). When I saw it up for sale, I thought: Who would want such a boring house? Then, it got painted by the new owners and WOW! They had vision. Here's what they did:

Brick exterior: Olive green
Fascia: Fuchsia
Windows: Yellow and orange
Door: Fuchsia and Yellow 
Shutters: Deep blue
Ironwork: Purple 
Picket fence: Butter yellow 

Bravo! And thanks for brightening up the neighborhood!

New Orleans House Paint Colors: Periwinkle Blue, White and Yellow

How can you go wrong with this combination? (click on photo for a larger view)

This lovely raised Creole cottage just off Marconi near City Park is luminous with its periwinkle lap siding, softly yellow doors and bright white trim.

It's simple and stunning.

Siding: Periwinkle blue
Trim: White
Doors: Yellow 
Roofing: Gray 

Healthy eating in New Orleans

You are right to associate New Orleans with rich food that is emotionally and spiritually nourishing but perhaps not that physically healthy.

But there are a whole bunch of New Orleans restaurants that are healthy on all three levels. They include:

Green Goddess: This tiny place just opened May 2009 in the French Quarter and is a hit with local vegetarians. (307 Exchange Avenue, The menu is described as globe-trotting and includes Sweet Potato Biscuits with Pepper Jelly, the Green Goddess Wedge Salad, and Abado Mess 'o Greens Cuban Sandwich. Lots of meat dishes too. Download lunch menu and dinner menu. (307 Exchange Place, 504-301-3347)

Fair Grinds Coffeehouse: A hip coffee place off Esplanade Avenue in Mid-City, not too far from the New Orleans Museum of Art and City Park. At Fair Grinds, efforts are made to serve organic and fair-traded foods and coffees. My favorite is a little bowl of chickpeas with raisins and spices that you can eat hot or cold. The environment is wholesome as well, with Scrabble games on Mondays, yoga upstairs and all sorts of art and music events. See Vegan News (3133 Ponce De Leon, 504-913-9073)

Bennachin: A West African restaurant in the French Quarter, Bennachin serves plenty of meat, but you can find very delectable vegetarian dishes, wilted spinach, fried plantains and exciting ginger drinks.Very casual. (1212 Royal St., 504-522-1230)

Photos by Jedd Haas

What's Blooming Now? — Late October in Mid-City

New Orleans House Colors: Mid-City

House Colors:

Siding: Tan

Trim: White

Window screens: Periwinkle blue

Foundation: Pumpkin

Fencing: Periwinkle blue

It's coming . . . to City Park . . . The Voodoo Experience

Are you ready?

See details here

Today in City Park — Oct. 21, 2009 — New sculpture

New sculpture just showed up at City Park near Big Lake and the Art Museum.

See a map of City Park

Two boys catch a fish at City Park

This is just outside the Peristyle. See a map of City Park

Today in City Park — Oct. 8, 2009

Thank goodness so many ancient oaks survived the break of the levees following Katrina. This is a footpath running parallel to City Park Avenue.

See a map of City Park

90-Second Witness — Over the bridge in the rain in City Park

Porch Patrol: From the inside looking out in Mid-City

Truth be told, this porch isn't much to look at compared to other porches in New Orleans. But the view from the inside looking out is unsurpassed. What you see here is City Park on a rainy Friday morning in September. City Park is, at 1,300 acres, the fifth largest urban park in the country, and is far bigger than New York's Central Park. For those looking out at the park from their porches, this equates to 1,300 acres of landscaping that someone else maintains. Oh, yeah!

See more porches

What's Blooming Now? — Early September in Mid-City

Porch Patrol: Red chairs in Mid-City

The house is a little rough, but the red rocking chairs save the day!

See more porches

New Orleans House Colors: Mid-City

I love this blue double shotgun Victorian. But what really makes it shine is the bright lime green of the chairs and table and the big burgundy pot on top. Who knew that was magic? Here are the colors that make the whole thing happen:

• Siding and attic window frame: Blue

• Door frames, fascia and rickrack trim: White

• Window mullions, trim and bands on posts: Burgundy

• Doors: Natural wood

• Chairs and table: Lime green

See more New Orleans House Colors

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Where's Zeus?

Zeus is relaxing in front of Ralph's on the Park, a very fancy restaurant across from City Park at 900 City Park Ave. This highly respected restaurant serves what is called "contemporary Creole cuisine." That includes such dishes as turtle soup, baked oysters, Cajun Scotch eggs and Vietnamese-style calamari. See the menu. It's typically a dinner place (with complementary valet parking), but there's Friday lunch and Sunday brunch.

See more "Where's Zeus?"

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