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Palace Cafe manager wins national tourism award

Gary J. Wood | CC Flickr
A Palace Cafe kitchen manager was recognized for his contribution to New Orleans tourism during the National Travel and Tourism Week, according to an announcement by the restaurant last week.

Palace Cafe kitchen manager Eric Offray was honored as the NTTW 2023 Tourism Champion during the 40th anniversary of the week, which lasted from May 7-13. Organized by Washington D.C.-based U.S. Travel Association, the week is in its 40th year and is an “annual tradition celebrating the value travel holds our economy, businesses, personal well-being and more,” according to the association’s website.

The Quarter Rat reached out to the Palace Cafe, a Dickie Brennan’s affiliated restaurant located at 605 Canal St., but has not heard back yet.

The restaurant posted a statement to social media on Thursday:

In 1996 he walked through the doors of Palace Café and it changed the course of his life forever. Steve Pettus, then Operations Manager (now partner/owner of Dickie Brennan and Co.), as well as others, saw Eric’s potential and pushed him to excel past his position of warewasher. Eric grew his role to receiver and then Kitchen Manager, where chefs and management alike will attest to his ability to run the wheel and help ensure food service runs smoothly. Eric always has a smile on his face and is willing to go above and beyond to take care of a guest or coworker. In addition to his duties as Kitchen Manager, Eric has been working with our sister restaurants’ heart of the house teams, sharing best practices and processes to ensure the properties are cleaned appropriately. You can ALWAYS count on Eric. Whether it’s outside his normal work schedule or on his day off, if you need help, Eric is there. When he is not working, Eric is also a prominent member of the Zulu Social Club, where he helps with many of their charitable events.

Palace Cafe

Recommended Viewing

Here is an excellent video concerning the Hard Rock Hotel collapse from 2019. Concise, thorough and easily understandable report on the causes and the blame. The creator of the video found some footage I hadn’t even seen. He doesn’t mention Cantrell’s name unfortunately.

Somehow, he missed the chance to include the footage the crane demolition that took place and the mention of a small fire that took place during the demo. All in all worth 17 minutes of time to watch it. The video creator is Dark Records on YOUTUBE.

NOPD says male with visible limp burglarized Esplanade Avenue residence

New Orleans Police are searching for a male suspect after he allegedly burglarized a residence on Tuesday while it was burglarized and threw the female occupant on the ground after he was confronted.

The incident occurred at about 5:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Esplanade Avenue when the suspect entered the residence while the occupant was asleep, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

The NOPD said that the female occupant woke up to find the alleged suspect rummaging through her belongings and attempted to stop him, but he threw her down. The man, who is described as an unknown Black male and walks with a visible limp, fled the scene on a bicycle while still in possession of the victim’s belongings.

Anyone with additional information on this incident is urged to contact NOPD Eighth District detectives at 504-658-6080. Those who want to report information anonymously can call Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-7867. The NOPD said that all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The NOPD has provided a picture of the alleged suspect, which is shown below.

NOPD seeks 2 suspects in Decatur Street business burglary

Hostage taken in North Rampart Street armed robbery, NOPD says

Picture courtesy of NOPD
An armed robbery suspect briefly took a female victim hostage and threatened to shoot a second person during an incident that occurred earlier this month on North Rampart Street, according to New Orleans Police on Saturday.

Police officials said the robbery was reported at about 3 a.m. on Nov. 7 in the 200 block of North Rampart Street, where the two victims were returning to their vehicle.

An unknown Black male suspect approached the victims and produced a gun from his waistband, taking one of the victims hostage and threated to shoot her if the other female victim attempted to run away, according to the NOPD.

Police said the suspect took money from the victims before fleeing the scene in a black Jeep Grand Cherokee.

NOPD officials ask that anyone with information on the incident or the identity of the suspect to notify Eighth District Detective Donald Willyard at 504-658-6080.

NOPD has released a video of the incident:

28-year-old man knocked unconscious after flirting with robbery suspect near Bourbon, St. Ann streets

Ski mask-wearing suspect with gun arrested on Bourbon Street, NOPD says

A man wearing a ski mask was arrested on suspicion of illegally carrying a gun as he approached officers stationed on Bourbon Street earlier this month, according to New Orleans Police.

New Orleans Police said Eighth District officers were stationed in the 400 block of Bourbon when they saw August Collins, 25, wearing a ski mask with a gun in his waistband as he walked toward them shortly after 12 a.m. on Nov. 1.

Collins was subsequently arrested and booked into Orleans Parish Justice Center.

No further information was provided.

NOPD arrests man after locating loaded ‘ghost gun’ near Bourbon, Conti streets