French Quarter Journal Home

Everyday life in an extraordinary neighborhood.

Scroll down for our latest in-depth stories by our FQJ team of writers and photographers.

Our digital journal publishes new stories and features 46 weeks a year. Subscribe to our newsletter for periodic alerts about new pieces.

Like to get in on the ground-floor and become a sponsor? Contact us. Have a story idea? We'd love to hear it. Email our editor, Rheta Grimsley Johnson.

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Full Plate
Quarter eateries

Recreating an Icon: Irene's

This restaurant beloved by locals moved from a cozy St. Philip Street setting to spacious new quarters on Bienville, bringing along all the original ambiance.

- by Kim Ranjbar

Passing a Good Time
with Nan Parati

All on a Regular Day

For longtime locals, running a simple errand in the French Quarter often turns out to be a lively social occasion.

- by Nan Parati

French Quarter Events
w/Margarita Bergen

Margarita and Daniel Hammer, director of the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Neighborhood Happenings

Ever dream of having all French Quarter events listed in one place? Neighborhood denizens, here's your answer! You'll find art openings, lectures, parades, galas and lots, lots more!

Plus, you'll find Margarita's Top Shelf - pics from her favorite events from past weeks and upcoming "don't miss" happenings.

- by Margarita Bergen

Storyboard
photo essays

Krewe Joan of Arc 2020 Parade

Self-described as a "short, family-friendly parade — quirky, whimsical and spiritual," Joan of Arc's parade exemplifies all those qualities.

- by Ellis Anderson

Rainbow History

Gay Letters and Desire

The French Quarter neighborhood's rainbow reputation reaches back into the 1800s. Why? Long-term resident, historian and tour guide, Frank Perez, offers ideas.

- by Frank Perez

Game Day
A Fan's Notes

Dear Science at the Backspace Bar

A low-stakes Saints game on an unseasonably hot December day leads to thoughts of the future in this Chartres Street bar.

- by Layth Sihan

Domicile
neighborhood living

From Victorian Pair to Spare

If you're expecting Aunt Beulah's decor when you walk inside this French Quarter cottage built in 1895, you'll be in for a big surprise.

- by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Quarter Notes

It's Fruitcake Weather

Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory possesses the power to make even contemporary readers summon up their own most-cherished holiday recollections.

-by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

It's a Living
unconventional entrepreneurs

Going to Pots in New Orleans

Floyd McLamb: a sharecropper's child from North Carolina turned high-powered French Quarter businessman reflects on the "high cotton" days in the neighborhood.

-by Andrew Cominelli

Game Day
A Fan's Notes

Harry's on Sunny Chartres Street

A bright December afternoon, a nail-biting match-up, and a tile on the barroom floor marking a marking more than a mere memory.

- by Layth Sihan

Behind the Scenes
people who make it all work

Three generations of the Natchez calliope.

The Music Woman on the Steamboat Natchez

Few get to meet the woman who plays the most unusual - and loudest - instrument in New Orleans. French Quarter Journal goes behind the scenes and up top of the Natchez to watch Debbie Fagnano in action.

- story by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Quarter Beat
music scene

photo courtesy estate of Leigh Harris

She Had a Song to Sing

Beloved by her "Dawlin' New Orleans," Leigh Harris was renown for both her powerhouse talent and her life affirming spirit.

- by Dar Wolnik

Quarter Beats
music scene

Something About Gina Forsyth

With a wicked sense of humor, stellar instrumental skills and a voice that stirs listeners, this singer-songwriter hits all the heart notes.

- by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Game Day
A Fan's Notes

Cosimo's Champions

Catching the Saints' game at a classic neighborhood bar in the French Quarter with new friends, mystery shots and a dog named Sweet Potato.

- by Layth Sihan

Boho Back Pages
offbeat history

The mansard roof of the Cabildo burned in the 1988 fire. Photo courtesy Louisiana State Museum

Up From the Ashes: Rebuilding the Cabildo

Fire is the mortal enemy of the city's oldest neighborhood, but in the case of the 1988 Cabildo inferno, dedicated preservationists prevailed in the end.

by Michael Warner

Boho Back Pages is sponsored by Hines Hall

Quarter Notes
guest columnists

Harry Connick Jr. and James Carroll Booker III at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Photograph by Michael P. Smith ©The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2007.0103.4.714.

The Bay St. Louis Booker

On November 8, 1983 - 36 years ago this week - legendary New Orleans pianist James Booker passed on. While his legacy grows even stronger in the city, recent interviews with Bay St. Louis family members give details about Booker's early life on the Mississippi coast - and explain why "the Bay" became one of his touchstones.

- by Edward Gibson

St. Peter Street Sketchbook
creators to know

Craig Tracy's Body of Work

The French Quarter artist ushered body painting into the realm of fine art while maintaining his artistic freedom, but there's more to come.

- by Grace Wilson

Storyboard
photo essays

This Time They Won

The brainchild of performance artist Dread Scott, a two-day reenactment of the 1811 slave rebellion culminates in a march through the French Quarter - and a contemporary victory in Armstrong Park.

- by Rheta Grimsley Johnson
- photos by Ellis Anderson

Personalities
conversations

Voodoofest on Rue Dumaine and the spirited woman behind it

On Halloween in the Quarter, the original VOODOOFEST celebrates its 21st year with drumming, dancing and a ceremony to honor the Ancestors. Meet the Voodoo Priestess who started it all.

by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

The Eyes Have It
photographers loose in the Quarter

Kerry Maloney's French Quarter

Kerry Maloney:
I really want people to know the Quarter is a place where real people live. It's a place where misfits from all over come and find each other. We take care of each other, we are family. I wanted to show folks a very typical day in the quarter. Here's what I saw outside my door Monday, September 30.

Storyboard
photo essays

King Toffa IX Visits the Vieux Carré

West African monarch, His Majesty King Toffa IX, visits the French Quarter as part of a United States tour.

- by Ellis Anderson

Around the Block
longtime Quarterites

It's All Good for Hotel Al

After working fifty years at the French Quarter's famed Hotel Monteleone, Al Barras has become an institution - and the subject of an award-winning documentary.

- story by Kirsten Reneau

Libations
cocktail culture

Of the Libations and Love of Lady New Orleans

With the right amount of respect, humility and luck, Lady New Orleans will embrace a visitor as one of her own.

- by Adam Tusin

Storyboard
photo essays

The 67th Annual Red Mass

Photographer Kerry Maloney captures the pageantry of the 67th annual Red Mass on Monday, October 7. The centuries old tradition offers up prayers at opening of the judicial year for all those in the legal profession .

Full Plate
Quarter eateries

Café Cour: A Taste For History

Rooted in Cuban traditions, the fledgling neighborhood bar has garnered national recognition and won a loyal local following.

- by Reda Wigle

Quarter Beats
music scene

Arséne DeLay: Engaged with Home and Adding a Verse

A member of the musical Boutté family, Arséne DeLay uses her true voice as a performer, a songwriter - and a community activist.

- by Christopher Romaguera

Passing a Good Time
with Nan Parati

Clint Maedgen at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival, photo by Douglas Mason

Preserving Preservation at the Hall

Even beloved traditions can benefit from an evolutionary kick in the pants - at least according to one long time Preservation Hall fan.

- by Nan Parati

What's in Store
neighborhood shopping

Alquimie New Orleans: More Studio Than Boutique

For 23 years, textile artist Kate Beck has shown her extraordinary clothing designs at Jazz Fest. Now she has a year-round showcase on Royal Street where she's conjuring up more luscious wearable art.

- by Grace Wilson

Quarter Notes
guest columnists

Author Richard Goodman, photo by William Widmer

Blood Type FQ

A New York writer finds that a year of French Quarter living has left him with an undiminished devotion for the neighborhood.

- by Richard Goodman

Lit Life
Writers & Books

Strong as the Currents

Meet the hardy folk who ply the waters of the country's "last frontier" in Melody Golding's new book "Life Between the Levees."

by Scott Naugle
photos by Melody Golding

Rainbow History

Go Your Own Way: the Life of Barbara Scott

Barbara Scott blazed her own trail as a politician, restaurateur, hôtelier, artist, preservationist, gerontologist, feminist - and social justice warrior.

- by Frank Perez

The Eyes Have It
photographers loose in the Quarter

Andrew Simoneaux's French Quarter

Photographer Andrew Simoneaux found himself visiting the French Quarter almost every day to seek out shots. Last year, he made life easier by becoming a neighborhood resident.

The images he selected to include in this photo essay were taken from the end of August into the first week of September, during the Southern Decadence festivities.

Balcony View
publisher's notes

Fiesty Forebearers

Digging into the history of the French Quarter's indie newspapers, magazines and journals reveals an intriguing past and a few surprises.

-by Ellis Anderson