In New Orleans, New Life By the River

First published in The New York Times on June 27, 2010. Read the original, with photos, here.

For residents of the blue-collar Bywater-Marigny area of New Orleans, access to the Mississippi River has been blocked for years by decaying industrial buildings. But it won't be much longer, thanks in part to R. Allen Eskew, an architect whose firm has been hired to turn a mile and a half of piers and wharves into a riverfront park to open in fall 2011, Step 1 in the nearly $300 million Reinventing the Crescent plan.

The park is one of many projects, small and large, growing in the fertile soil around the Mississippi. Amid colorful shotgun houses (left), tucked away on streets named Piety, Desire and Independence, a wealth of cafes, boutiques and bars offer a calmer alternative to the excesses of the French Quarter, just upriver.

Satsuma Cafe
3218 Dauphine Street
(504) 304-5962

Satsuma, which opened last year, takes its name from a popular local citrus fruit. The menu changes regularly, but you can't go wrong with their pancakes of the day ($5) and a cup of smooth chicory coffee ($2).

Cake Cafe & Bakery
2440 Chartres Street
(504) 943-0010
nolacakes.com

Nothing says New Orleans, city of excess, like a boozy cupcake. This cafe has multiple varieties - flavors include Champagne, mimosa and Sazerac - which can be ordered by the dozen ($25). Or drop in for a nonalcoholic version ($1.75), in flavors like wedding cake and red velvet.

The Lost Love Lounge
2529 Dauphine Street
(504) 949-2009

For some relaxed night life, head to this dim and sprawling dive bar, which opened in March. Lost Love features $2 High Life specials and a small Vietnamese snack menu. Five dollars will buy a sizable shrimp spring roll.

The Bargain Center
3200 Dauphine Street
(504) 948-0007

Down the street, a hodge-podge of antique furniture, paperbacks, and vintage costumes sprawls on the sidewalk like a life-size Joseph Cornell diorama. Welcome to the Bargain Center, a cavernous thrift shop that sells everything from Jadeite teacups ($10) to a handmade "Cajun camp style" dollhouse ($200).

Chemisière Louisiane
3811 Chartres Street
(504) 948-9989
chemisierelouisiane.com

In May, David Dartnell opened this 3,000-square-foot boutique and studio, which houses his new clothing line of the same name. Designed for "women of the South," the fashions feature loose, lightweight fabrics and bright colors. Most items range around the $200 mark.

36 Hours in Vieques

Originally published in The New York Times on 2/21/10. Read the full text here.

THE mascot of Vieques seems to be the coquí, a tiny frog whose image adorns everything from T-shirts to hot sauce bottles. Yet, given the island’s rapid metamorphosis from Navy testing ground to upscale beach resort, perhaps a tropical butterfly would be better suited. Since the United States Navy ceased military operations in 2003, this small island just off the east coast of mainland Puerto Rico has seen a boom in restaurants, galleries and hotels, including a new W resort expected next month. It’s a testament to the island’s natural beauty, with its white-sand beaches, coral reefs and bioluminescent bay.

Friday

4 p.m.
1) LIFE’S A BEACH

Vieques has spent the last year improving many of its beaches; access to some were in shambles when the Navy left. Red Beach, along a wide-mouthed cove on the island’s warmer Caribbean side, reopened last December, though it has since temporarily closed for road work, and features open-walled wooden cabanas and ample parking. The beach gets a little crowded in the afternoons but in the evenings the crowds are gone, and it has some of the clearest azure blue water on the island — and terrific snorkeling along the eastern end.

7 p.m.
2) TROPICAL FLAVORS

Dinner in the Caribbean should be about three things: local seafood, fresh air and good drinks. The recently opened Cantina La Reina (351 Calle Antonio G. Mellado; 787-741-2700; cantina-lareina.com) in Isabel Segunda has all three. Decorated with Catholic iconography, posters of Mexican revolutionaries and old photos of banditos, La Reina may make you forget what country you’re in — until you take a bite of the fresh catch with mango salsa (market price) or the Baja-style shrimp tacos ($18). The rooftop patio also offers fantastic views. Dinner can be a little slow, like the general pace of life on the island. As the bumper stickers say, “What’s the hurry? You are in Vieques.”

10 p.m.
3) FROM BUNKER TO CLUB

Another sign of how fast things have changed? A decade ago, the old naval base near Green Beach was home to military bunkers. One of those bunkers was recently transformed into the 10,000-square-foot Club Tumby (Antigua Base Naval, Barrio Mosquito; 787-399-7142; clubtumby.com). The mega-disco, which plays bachata, salsa, bomba, merengue and reggaetón, draws local 20-somethings and visitors almost literally to the middle of nowhere.