All Things New Orleans

New Orleans chef John Besh's new cooking series premieres this week on PBS affiliates around the country. Besh is not only the owner of nine acclaimed restaurants and author of two award-winning cookbooks, but also a devoted husband and father of four young sons.

On this week's Notes from New Orleans, Sharon Litwin talks with John about how he manages to control all of his life's moving parts.

Wendell Brunious is one of New Orleans' most accomplished and versatile musicians.

A top-notch trumpeter and flugelhornist, and engaging singer and front man, Brunious is well versed in a wide range of music: from early jazz, to many eras of pop, to R&B and bebop.

Brunious is featured regularly at the French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest, and at clubs around the Crescent City. He recently sat down with WWNO's Fred Kasten for a "Talkin' Jazz" interview at the Old U.S. Mint, presented here.

This weekend churches in New Orleans will be packed for Easter services, but that’s not the only religious holiday being observed this week. It is also Passover, the eight-day Jewish festival that marks the liberation of enslaved Israelites from ancient Egypt over 3000 years ago.

Passover is the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday, and in New Orleans, celebrations take on their own flair.

Brian Friedman chats with Kendall Gensler, a New Orleanian who’s become the go-to woman in her field of food styling, on the third installment of Take Five, a look inside the growing local film industry through the eyes of those who are shaping it.

Many people and many organizations, public and private, wanted to see Dooky Chase's Restaurant come back after Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, the tradition has been revived, and a special celebration of food, music and local history is planned for this Saturday.

Practicing two disciplines can exhaust even the most regimented of us. Throw in a third pursuit and things feel like a juggling act that could splatter without the utmost attention.

On this week's Notes from New Orleans, Sharon Litwin introduces us to Elizabeth Shannon, a New Orleans artist who's balanced sculpture, photography and fashion all the way from the Atchafalaya River to the catwalk.

The University of New Orleans welcomed back some of the first African-American students to attend the school when it opened in 1958. Despite the 55 years that have passed since that time, many recalled vivid details of a painful transition.