Mary Staes
Mary Staes is Digital Content Lead for Very Local. She works with our freelancers and crafts content for our social media platforms and website. Before Very Local, she worked with CBS affiliate WWL-TV as a web producer and weekend assignment editor for about 4 years. She has also handled broadcast coverage for 160 Marine Reserve training facilities while she served as an active duty Marine. As a native New Orleanian, she takes being "very local" to heart. She loves being intertwined with the culture and figuring out how there are less than two degrees of separation between us all, whether we're natives or not.
Blind Kitchen: Chef Manny (Barrels and Boards) vs. Chef Ryan (Wild Fox Pierogi)
Blind Kitchen is a quirky food competition series, local chefs recreate each other’s signature dish, but they can only determine what the dish is using their senses of taste, touch and smell.
Looking for a Dong Phuong king cake but can’t get to the East? Here’s a list of places that have them.
Live on the Westbank but still want to get a Dong Phuong king cake? No worries.
Handmade Halloween: Making your own costume is half of the fun
There are plenty of resources for your own DIY costume, and it won’t be the cheesy pom-pom gumball machine either.
King cake flavored everything: is king cake flavor the new pumpkin spice?
Here’s a list of how your can get your King Cake fix if bread isn’t acceptable in your New Year’s diet.
We’re looking for writers!
Love telling others about the people, places and culture of your city? Very Local is looking for enthusiastic lifestyle writers to highlight everything that’s great about where you live. Very Local is a digital site and streaming channel focused on lifestyle and culture. We provide the best recommendations on cultural destinations and activities for local […]
Q&A: The mad scientist behind Magazine Street’s Ghost Manor
We talked to owner David Gentry, the mastermind behind the boo-tiful house to find out how the Uptown spectacle started.
Need a break? Brush up on your New Orleans history
In between bagging garbage that’s been sitting out for weeks, separating building materials, and crossing your fingers that the WiFi and electricity doesn’t go out again, we thought you might want to brush up on a little New Orleans history.
Street flooded? Here’s how to check if your catch basin is clean, and how to DIY
Here’s how to clean your catch basins ahead of potential flooding.
Your COVID vaccine could win you $1 million 🤑
Here are some headlines from the weekend you may have missed.
Your guide for sweet treats to cool off in New Orleans
Let’s be honest, New Orleans is hot. Snowball stands are open almost year-round and anytime I can get my hands on a cool treat, I’m in. Here’s a list of places we’ve discovered to cool off and satisfy your sweet tooth!