Dane Ashford

There is something oddly satisfying about watching a process that starts with tiny red peppers and ends with…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 14

I have always believed that the best way to understand a place is to walk through it slowly,…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 14

The best book cafés in Louisiana understand something that regular coffee shops do not: a good reading spot…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 13

July in Louisiana does not ask permission before it turns the air into soup, which makes an air-conditioned…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 13

Walking into a bookstore that has been open since the 1940s means walking into rooms that were never…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 12

Every musical tradition in New Orleans traces part of its lineage back to one open patch of ground…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 11

Seafood buffets in Louisiana carry expectations that few restaurants can match, plus this one raises the bar by…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 11

The line starts forming before the signage lights up. A bakery on the eastern edge of New Orleans…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 10

Summer in Louisiana does not ask whether you want to get in the water, it tells you. By…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 10

The watermelons arrive on truck beds, not grocery carts, and by the time the judging tent opens, the…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 9

Louisiana does not ask you to choose between a plate lunch and a white-tablecloth dinner because it believes…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 9

Fried catfish in Louisiana is not a side dish or a suggestion. It is the whole point of…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 8

Twenty miles sounds daunting until you realize the trail loops around a lake that changes color with the…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 7

Louisiana is not known for caves. The state is flat, wet, plus built on sediment that does not…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 7

The sign out front says donuts. The display case inside confirms it with rows of glazed originals stacked…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 6

Walking through the narrow aisles feels like stepping into a different century. Olive oil bottles line wooden shelves,…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 6

Most visitors to this part of Louisiana head straight for the French Quarter without knowing that twenty minutes…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 6

The first thing you notice is the consomé. It arrives in a small cup alongside the birria tacos,…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 5

Morning in this city starts differently than it does anywhere else. The diner counter has been spinning stools…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 5

Ghost tours start at sundown, but the dining room fills long before that. The 1796 inn has earned…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 5

The menu is short. The sandwich that built the reputation is shorter still: thick-cut bologna griddled until the…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 4

Louisiana does not advertise its fossils on bumper stickers or highway signs, but the Cane River Site sits…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 4

Three exclamation points spell the name on the sign outside, plus the energy inside matches every one of…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 3

Driving through the countryside, the restaurant barely registers as a destination. A modest building on a residential street,…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 3

Eating out without gluten used to mean scanning a menu for the single item that might work, then…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 2

Walking through the door feels like entering a fabric library where every shelf holds a different chapter. Bolts…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 2

Something about the combination stops you mid-sentence. The oak branches overhead thick with Spanish moss that sways even…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 1

You have not really seen fireworks until you have watched them from the deck of a paddlewheel steamboat…

By Dane Ashford · Jul 1

July in Louisiana does not slow down the market scene. The heat pushes vendors under bigger tents, the…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 30

Fire on the tongue, crunch in the first bite, plus a sauce line that separates the merely curious…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 30

Summer in Louisiana does not slow down: it doubles down. By the time July arrives, small towns across…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 29

I went in for one thing and lost forty minutes to the bakery case. That is the danger…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 29

Somewhere between the pine forests and open sky of central Louisiana sits a town where the pace drops…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 28

The alley of live oaks hits you before the house does. Two parallel rows of trees planted in…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 28

Block after block of open-air stalls stretching along the riverfront is the kind of setup that makes planning…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 27

Acadiana does not try to impress you with tablecloths or tasting menus. The food here earns its reputation…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 27

Louisiana factories do not just make things: they invite you inside to watch. Behind doors you would normally…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 26

Somewhere between the Spanish moss and the gas station boudin, a day trip in Louisiana stops being ordinary.…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 26

Dining out with a gluten intolerance usually means scanning the menu for the least offensive salad, asking the…

By Dane Ashford · Jun 25