Saturday, March 28, 2026
Day 4 of 6 of Saints and Sinners Festival in New Orleans with Patrick. Breakfast for me in the room: leftover blackened chicken salad from Mr Ed's Oyster Bar and Fish House. Walked to breakfast for Patrick at croissant d'or: latte with almond croissant. Walked to and visited M.S. Rau. In all our visits together to New Orleans we had never been to this place until now. It's an unusual thing: an art and antique store that feels like a museum, filled with art and other fine collectibles, some of which have never before been publicly displayed. As recommended, we started on the top (third) floor and worked our way down. Immediately we were stunned to find ourselves in a dimly lit gallery with mostly paintings but also other kinds of works with price tags of $1 million or $8 million. Also, the way the paintings were lit were astoundingly perfect. Because the room was dimly lit so that you could focus on the art, that meant that the light source had to come from in front of the painting, but you could walk right up to it and not see the shadow of your head or body at all. Each work seemed more alive than possible, and we don't believe we have seen lighting done this well in any museum. We spent only about one hour there, but one could easily spend more. Best of all, it doesn't cost anything to enter. Just don't break anything; they might make you buy it! Walked back to Hotel Monteleone. Refreshed. SASFest: Patrick participated as a panelist on Mastering the Short Story with other panelists Tom Cardamone, Jewelle Gomez, Vincent Traughber Meis, James (Jim) Magruder, and moderated by William Christy Smith aka Chris Smith. The session was lively with a lot of audience participation. Afterwards Patrick and I walked to Congo Square in Armstrong Park for the Rhythms Festival. We enjoyed delicious beef yakamein from Tigers Creole Cuisine which was not as salty as I remember Ms. Linda's being, but Patrick preferred Ms. Linda's version. It was hard to eat without spilling because the bowl was full and small and made of styrofoam. We encountered Dave A and chatted a while, then we listened to the music awhile. Back to Hotel Monteleone. We napped. Walked with Patrick to dinner at Bayona. We arrived on time for our reservation, but there was a long wait before being seated—perhaps 15 or 20 minutes. Cocktails: Royal Dauphine (bourbon, ginger liqueur, vanilla, orange bitters, lemon) for Patrick, Hai Tai (Uruapan Charanda Añejo rum, orgeat, lime, Coruba Jamaican rum float) for me. We shared soup du jour: chilled butternut squash soup ($12), Louisiana strawberry and fennel salad (with shepherd's hope cheese and arugula, $18), Ayu Bakehouse baguette (with butter and flaked salt (maldon?)—very crispy, $5), and Moulard Magret duck breast (with black tea lavender honey sauce, mushroom ragout, and sweet potato gnocchi, $47). Two glasses of tempranillo ($40). Too full for dessert. All food and drink were delicious. Service by Arda K and Kaiser was very good. Meal total: $185.15 before a $35 tip. I think this was the priciest meal on this trip. Returned to Hotel Monteleone. Patrick read at the Fiction Contest Reading along with other writers. Just before it started I caught a few seconds of the St. Joseph Parade from a floor high above the parade. We met or encountered: Genevieve, Louis, Richard, Eric P, and Rebecca who lives in Nola, and more whom I have forgotten. For dessert Patrick and I walked across the street to Sucré. Patrick got a single scoop of mint chocolate chip, I got a single scoop of amarena cherry. The single scoops here are big—bigger than a literal single scoop. Delicious! For the first time in his life, Patrick was unable to finish his ice cream—too full! We began watching a Katt Williams standup on Netflix downloaded to our iPad Air, and after a few minutes we decided it wasn't for us. We began rewatching John Mulaney: Baby J: A Wide-Ranging Conversation, also downloaded to our iPad Air, stopping about halfway through. To bed.