Chelsea Brasted

Chelsea Brasted is a New Orleans-born journalist and a West Banker by choice. She most recently served as The Times-Picayune's city columnist. You can follow Chelsea's work on Twitter and Facebook, and you can contact her through her website, ChelseaBrasted.com.

How a Margaret Orr fan club turned into one of Carnival’s cutest krewes: Barkus

By Chelsea Brasted / January 27, 2020

“The whole spectrum of individuals really comes together with one single voice and that is to show our love for pets. One single day in the French Quarter (which) becomes a really safe place for children and families and our pets.”

Metairie gallery’s ornaments featured on this year’s list of Oprah’s Favorite Things

By Chelsea Brasted / December 16, 2019

For the second time, one of Gitter Gallery’s creations featuring folk artist Clementine Hunter’s work has landed on O Magazine’s annual list of Oprah’s Favorite Things: A collection of ornaments based on her brightly colored paintings.

‘This is who we are’: How this NOLA couple’s honest blog ‘ProbablyThis’ cultivates huge following

By Chelsea Brasted / December 3, 2019

Ciolino and Armato, both New Orleanians living in Covington, are the brains behind the beauty of ProbablyThis, a lifestyle blog they cheekily describe with the tagline “better homo and garden.”

The art of facade: painter Ann Auricchio’s murals create iconic looks

By Chelsea Brasted / December 3, 2019

A door that fades into the wall around it. A concrete wall that looks as it though it’s been there for decades. A column seemingly carved from stone — and all of it’s fake. What is real, though, is the work and love that goes into making everything Ann Marie Auricchio’s brush touches

Cashing Out: The split check between card-only preference and business safety

By Chelsea Brasted / September 17, 2019

The trend of going cashless has been slow to arrive in New Orleans. But some local businesses are opting for plastic-only payments in lieu of cold hard cash.

A perfect cup of breux: Congregation Coffee expands to the CBD

By Chelsea Brasted / September 9, 2019

“For a city known for its great food and quality of restaurants, the quality of the coffee should be just as good,” owner Eliot Gutherie said.

Breaking Badass: After cooking legit and cooking up some agave, Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston serve up drinks for Tales of the Cocktail

By Chelsea Brasted / July 19, 2019

If you looked closely at the block-long stretch of humanity waiting to get into the Napoleon House on a steamy Friday afternoon in the French Quarter, you’d find a clue at what was inside the historic restaurant: One man, waiting patiently in the afternoon rain, clutched a framed portrait of Bryan Cranston as his “Breaking Bad” character, Walter White.

How 100 days helped change a local graphic designer to a full-time artist

By Chelsea Brasted / July 4, 2019

“That’s what I encourage other people to do, too, when they’re like, ‘I don’t know where to start,’” Meeks said. “Just start with something — it can be really small — but then it will snowball for you.”

Dawn Richard to prove New Orleans has pop stars with Essence Fest debut

By Chelsea Brasted / June 17, 2019

“I always felt New Orleans was a woman who led like a king,” she said. “I wanted to tell that story.”

A leaf of faith: We Bite’s pop-ups brings rare, unusual plants to New Orleans

By Chelsea Brasted / June 17, 2019

Carlos Detres is a planner, so it’s still a bit of a surprise to him that, a year ago, he accidentally started a plant nursery in the front room of his home.