Jefferson Performing Arts Society kicks off its Westbank 46th season stage productions with Steel Magnolias this month at the Westwego Cultural Center on Sala Avenue in Westwego. The show runs for two weekends, Thursdays through Sundays, from Thursday, September 21 through Sunday, October 1.

JPAS will present two more stage plays at the intimate setting of the Westwego Cultural Center as part of its 46th season: Looped (November 9-19, 2023) about Tallulah Bankhead, featuring Leslie Castay in the lead role, and The Mountaintop (January 25-February 4, 2024), about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final hours, in a surprising and spiritual story that takes place in the Lorraine Motel. Auditions for this show are underway and the cast will be announced soon.

For tickets and information, visit www.jpas.org or call the box office at 504-885-200.  All shows will be onstage at the Westwego Cultural Center.

Uptown New Orleans’ highly-anticipated Northern Italian restaurant will officially open to the public on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 4609 Magazine Street. The brainchild of Chef Brian Burns and Reno De Ranieri, who own the popular Spanish-inspired restaurant Costera, Osteria Lupo will offer locals and visitors refined Northern Italian cuisine featuring house made pastas, wood-fired specialties, and a stellar wine & cocktail program, served up in a chic and sophisticated setting.

Osteria Lupo’s menu is conceptualized by Burns, a graduate of Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School and École Grégoire-Ferrandi, one of France’s leading professional training schools. Burns’ impressive vitae includes stints at Michelin starred Joël Robuchon and Château Cordeillan-Bages in France. 

Dishes, many of which will come from the restaurant’s central wood-fire oven, will showcase the bounty of the mountains and lakes of Piedmont, Liguria and other regions in Northern Italy. “There is such a rich culinary landscape in the north, with its own unique flavors and ingredients,” says Burns. “I’ve always loved these regions and am excited to shine a spotlight on them here in New Orleans.” Osteria Lupo website

Due to popular demand, French Quarter restaurant Saint John has announced that its popular Bounce Brunch is returning. Starting this Friday Jan 6th (Twelfth Night), Saint John will host Bounce Brunch every Friday and Saturday, from 11am – 3pm. Featuring upbeat bounce tunes, Saint John’s brunch menu will offer bottomless bubbles ($35), bounce-inspired cocktails, specials and more. Reservations can be made online via Resy (for parties more than 4, guests should call the restaurant for reservations at 504-581-8120). The restaurant's popular Sunday brunch will remain a traditional brunch with bottomless bubbles as well.

MaMou, the new modern French Brassiere from Chef Tom Branighan and Sommelier Molly Wismeier is now open to the public. Situated on the Upper French Quarter corner of Rampart Street and St. Philip Street, the European continental cuisine draws on creole influences of Branighan’s childhood in New Orleans as well as shows his appreciation for French style of cooking. Branighan and Wismeier’s shared passion for hospitality and simple flavors rooted in classic technique are what connected them and drove them to open MaMou. (Mamou website)