LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON PREVIEW 1C
N O L A.C O M
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T u e s d ay, N ov e m b e r 4, 2025
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‘The greatest honor’ Three New Orleans restaurants win Michelin Stars, including Emeril’s earning a remarkable two stars
N.O. looking for extra cash Officials set new meeting with state to deal with budget
BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer
STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Chef E.J. Lagasse prepares a dessert at Emeril’s Restaurant in August. The restaurant has earned a remarkable two Michelin Stars, a first for the entire South.
Many others get recognition in first regional guide BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer
The stars have finally fallen on New Orleans as one of the oldest and most prestigious dining awards, the Michelin Guide, on Monday awarded stars to three restaurants, along with other distinctions to many other local eateries. One of the biggest names in New Orleans dining, Emeril’s Restaurant, earned a remarkable two Michelin Stars, a first
for the entire South. It is exceedingly rare for restaurants to debut in a Michelin Guide above the one-star level. Bywater standout Saint-Germain and under-the-radar Mid-City bistro Zasu both earned one star each. The Michelin Guide celebrated the results of its new regional guide for the American South, including Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, on Monday night at an awards ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina. Michelin Stars are a globally recognized standard for excellence in the culinary world, awarded on rising scale of one to three. Michelin’s anonymous reviewers, dubbed inspectors, determine if they feel a restaurant deserves a star rating, and how many. Emeril’s in downtown and Saint-Ger-
main are both tasting menu restaurants that have garnered previous high-profile praise. Given their style and ambition, they were front-runners in predictions of which restaurants could land stars. Zasu, meanwhile, is a small, upscale bistro in Mid-City that arrives on the Michelin Star list as more of a surprise. Many other New Orleans restaurants received Michelin recognition at other levels. One is Bib Gourmand, an award for what Michelin calls “simpler style of cooking” at the “best value for money restaurants.” And then there are “recommended” restaurants, which are endorsed by Michelin but not at the star level or with the value proposition of a Bib Gourmand winner.
ä See STARS, page 4A
New Orleans officials began this week by turning over every couch cushion in city government, scrambling to scrounge up loose change — including from the city’s real estate manager and a pot of unspent federal pandemic aid — to try to ease the city’s cash flow crisis and ensure city workers continue to get paid. The rush to find revenues comes after New Orleans’ original plan to address its cash crunch, selling $125 million in emergency bonds, was scuttled by state officials, who made clear last week that they would only sign off on the plan if local officials ceded control to a state fiscal administrator. That was a nonstarter for the City Council, which later withdrew its request for approval from the State Bond Commission. City leaders, however, are attempting to revive that plan, and on Wednesday are scheduled to meet in Baton Rouge with state officials to try to convince them to change course. City Council President JP Morrell on Monday said during an interview on WWL Radio that Mayor-elect Helena Moreno and council member Joe Giarrusso will join him at the meeting. It’s unclear if Mayor LaToya Cantrell will be in attendance. Her spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday’s meeting. Moreno, who is serving as the vice president of the City Council and takes over as mayor on Jan. 12, said in a text message Monday she’s been working with state leaders all weekend to come up with a “workable oversight plan to make everyone comfortable.” “I welcome this approach because it will ensure that the current administration is responsible with spending and fits with my incoming administration’s plan to operate with much greater
ä See CASH, page 5A
Judge voids LNG buildout permit Ruling cites failure to study climate risks
Administration says it will fund half of program
BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
A first-of-its-kind ruling by a Louisiana judge has interrupted the state’s rapid buildout of its LNG industry, raising questions over whether regulators will have to look more closely at the facilities’ environmental impacts before granting permits. The recent decision struck down a key permit for a liquefied natural gas plant over failing to consider the impacts of climate change, effectively halting construction for the multibilliondollar project in Cameron Parish. Environmental and community groups applauded the decision as an incremental win in
ä See LNG, page 5A
WEATHER HIGH 76 LOW 59 PAGE 6B
SNAP shutdown strains food banks BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — Louisiana food banks have seen an influx in demand as federal funding for food stamps expired due to the federal government shutdown, which has gone on 34 days with no end in sight STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Monday. Louisiana started using A worker carries a box of food supplies at the East Baton state money Saturday, when Rouge Parish Council on Aging for a drive-thru giveaway on federal dollars stopped, to provide some benefits to the Monday in Baton Rouge.
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
elderly, disabled people and children. But that has not covered all of the nearly 800,000 people in the state who use the program — about 53,164 people considered able-bodied adults will not receive state-funded assistance, the state Department of Health said. And state officials are looking to the feds to renew the program soon. The Trump administration, after rulings from two federal courts, announced Monday it would start providing funds for about half the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
ä See SNAP, page 7A
13TH yEAR, NO. 84