FQJ Annual Sponsors

photo:  The Historic New Orleans Collection 520 Royal Street facility.  THNOC is a Community Cornerstone Sponsor of French Quarter Journal

FQJ is funded entirely by a limited number of Annual Sponsors and donations from our Readers’ Circle. This business model gives us a small but stable budget to pay our crack freelance team, so the quality and amount of our content isn’t dictated by the vagaries of advertising sales.

FQJ sponsors understand the quality narratives we’re creating on an elegant and firewall-free platform are important to our community. Thanks to that support, we publish up to three new features every week, each by top writers, diving deep into local culture and history.

If you’re a fan of French Quarter Journal, we ask that you support the sponsors below and keep this circle of goodness spinning along!

If your a business or organization is interested in becoming one of our limited number of sponsors, contact us for complete details.

Community Cornerstones

The Historic New Orleans Collection

THNOC is a free museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the stewardship of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South, located in the Vieux Carré, America’s most unique neighborhood.

THNOC was founded in 1966 by General L. Kemper Williams and his wife Leila Hardie Moore Williams—two private collectors of Louisiana materials who wished to keep their collection intact and available to the public for research and exhibition.

The Collection’s museum café features a commitment to local ingredients. The Shop at The Collection, THNOC’s museum store, offers a range of New Orleans and Louisiana themed gifts and crafts from local artists.

The Occasional Wife

The Occasional Wife’s estate sales are legendary! We set up and sell the contents of your home, offering complete clean-out after a sale. Unsold items or ones you like but no longer need can be placed on consignment in our stores:

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French Quarter (624 Dumaine Street)
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Uptown (2850 Magazine Street)
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Elmwood (5727 Jefferson Highway)
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Mandeville (1675 US Highway 190, Ste. 1675)

Pensacola (13440 Perdido Key Drive)
 Feeling overwhelmed? We also offer services to simplify your life! Our staff can declutter and organize your home or office, prepare your home for market, help you pack, move and unpack in your new home!  We also offer holiday decorating, downsizing, running errands, planning and much, much more!

James Douglas Hislop

New Orleans Jazz Museum

The New Orleans Jazz Museum celebrates the history of jazz, in all its forms, through dynamic interactive exhibits, multi-generational educational programming, research facilities, and engaging musical performances.
The Jazz Museum enhances New Orleans’ ongoing cultural renaissance by providing diverse resources for musicians and music lovers of all languages and nationalities. We fully explore America’s quintessential musical art form in the city where jazz was born.

Don’t miss our free performances each week. See our calendar for details.

Prime Sponsors

French Market District

Since 1791, the historic French Market has remained an enduring symbol of pride and progress for the people of New Orleans. In over 200 years of existence, the Market has been built, destroyed, and rebuilt many times over, but what remains unchanged is the Market’s central spirit of commerce, community, and culture that is irresistible to visitors from near and far.

Our district includes the French Market, the Colonnade Shops, the Upper Pontalba buildings on Jackson Square and Crescent Park. For a full schedule of special events, along with our shopping and dining offerings, visit our website.

Louisiana Pizza Kitchen

Enjoy an authentic Louisiana Pizza Kitchen experience in the French Quarter. Each gourmet pizza is fired in a wood-burning oven on either an unbleached white or untreated whole- wheat flour crust. All our meat and poultry are organic and free-range. We source quality, local Louisiana products whenever possible. And our wine cellar has won the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for four years running. Don’t forget to check out our excellent selection of local, micro-brewed, and specialty beers from around the world. Take-out/delivery are available and you can reserve for private parties too!

Julia Holt Law Firm

A jazz pianist and vocalist, Julia Holt had a thriving performing career before founding her own booking and management company during college. She attended Loyola University, where she earned degrees in Music Industry Studies, Business, and Film, an M.B.A. and her J.D. from their College of Law (2021). She also holds a Certificate in Entertainment Law and Industry from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law (2022).

Julia Holt founded Julia Holt Law Firm to protect creative professionals and entrepreneurs in the tech and entertainment industries. She offers a full range services in the fields of intellectual property, music licensing and clearance, business, internet and new media, and entertainment.

Hottest Hell Tours

Hottest Hell Tours owner, Bond Ruggles, holds a master’s degree in history and teaches at the university level, so she knows that truth is stranger – and often more chilling – than fiction. She founded her company to deliver safe and entertaining New Orleans walking tours filled with documented facts.

Each tour presents exhaustively researched and engaging stories presented by professional guides, who research as part of their full-time job duties. If legends and lore are shared on tours, they’re presented as just that – fictional accounts. This unique approach has garnered Hottest Hell top-ratings across all platforms. Most tours sell out in advance, so make reservations here.

Saint John Restaurant

Editor’s note: Saint John is moving! Stay tuned for an announcement of their new location! In the meantime, you can enjoy Chef Erik Cook’s creations at Gris-Gris (see info below)!

Visit Saint John on Decatur Street for a taste of Haute Creole cuisine and true New Orleans culture. Led by Executive Chef Eric Cook and Chef de Cuisine Daren Porretto, Saint John offers a variety of Creole favorites with a twist for brunch and dinner (closed Tuesdays) along with a daily happy hour (3-6 pm), “Locals Day” during brunch on Thurs/Fri (Louisiana residents get 20% off the table with one LA ID) and Drag Brunch on Sundays!

Grab a seat at the open kitchen table and watch your dish come to life – all while being entertained by the restaurant’s team of talented chefs.

Gris-Gris

Gris-Gris is an award-winning New Orleans’ restaurant on Magazine Street serving refined, southern cuisine and local favorites in a casual and comfortable atmosphere. Executive Chef Eric Cook’s creation of Gris-Gris stems from his love of traditional New Orleans food. Cook created the restaurant in 2018 to provide an experience not currently available in New Orleans: Elevated New Orleans staples in a welcoming atmosphere. No fuss, just good food.

Gris-Gris serves classic Southern dishes and New Orleans favorites such as shrimp and grits, chicken and dumplings and a whole redfish court-bouillon, along with some signature items including the chicken gizzard grillades, Oyster BLT and a sugarcane seared duck. With daily brunch and happy hour (3-6 pm), Gris-Gris is the perfect spot that has something for everyone.

Lee Ali Interiors

In matters of style, style matters. With over 40 years of experience, Lee is known for her wide repertoire of looks and her attention to detail. She’s also known for Shop of the Two Sisters, with locations on Royal and Magazine Streets, which for almost two decades were touchstones for the style-conscious. Lee has been recognized with numerous design awards and has established clientele throughout the country.

Voodoo Authentica™ of New Orleans Cultural Center & Collection

A practitioner-owned and operated establishment founded in 1996, located on the quiet and picturesque rue Dumaine, in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans.

At the shop, they provide a complete line of locally handmade Voodoo dolls, Gris Gris bags, potion oils, and other unique New Orleanian, Haitian, & African spiritual arts and crafts. Additionally, they offer rituals, readings, spiritual sork and consultations performed by an experienced team of in-house spiritualists.

Lucy Keenan, Psychologist, MS, PsyD

If you are feeling troubled, Dr. Keenan will help you sort out why you are having difficulty, develop a clear sense of the obstacles that stand in your way, and assist you in finding solutions. Maybe you're ready to make big changes in your life, or looking for support through a stressful time and a place to understand your feelings so you can know what decisions to make. She works to assist someone to enjoy life fully and realize their true potential, and in helping couples-in-crisis reconnect and find the place of healing that allows a secure and loving connection.

Authement Iron Works

Since 1969, this ornamental iron contractor has provided premium residential and commercial ornamental iron gates, fences, railings, and more with a level of precision and expertise you won’t find elsewhere.

They combine the craftsmanship of old with the techniques of today to provide you with lasting functional artwork to enhance your property. Authement works with steel, aluminum, and even stainless steel.

Column Sponsors

Lucy Burnett

Sponsoring Quarter Beats columns

Jeannette Bolte, PhD

Sponsoring Quarter Classics columns

Stace McDonald

With his love of New Orleans and its architecture, Stace McDonald represents buyers and sellers in the French Quarter and historic districts. As a preservationist, he understands both the charms and challenges that historic buildings present and has a rare gift for connecting his clients to properties that are perfect for them.

Stace proudly volunteers for SoFab, VCPORA and other non-profits. In his spare time, he can be found making a break for Bay St. Louis.

Sponsoring our Domicile columns

LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana

Our mission is promoting and encouraging the protection and preservation of materials that chronicle the culture and history of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community in Louisiana. Our main purpose is educating the community on the importance of archiving LGBT+ historical materials and making them available for future generations to access, research, and study.

Sponsors of “Rainbow History” column

Connie & Michael Warner

Sponsoring Storyboard photo galleries.

The Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes and Culture

Calli is a registered representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities, LLC (member FINRA/SIPC). She is passionate about helping others navigate the world of investments, retirement planning and wealth building.

Services Calli provides include 401K rollovers, variable and fixed annuities, education planning, life, disability, and long-term care insurance – and business solutions, including employee benefits, key employee, and buy/sell agreements. Call Calli at 913-484-2902 or email her here.

Sponsoring Storyboard photography columns

Matthew Peck Galleries

Matthew’s dynamic style and technique capture the wonder and mystique of New Orleans, in a style that’s compelling and instantly recognizable. His brushstrokes and colors marry impressionistic and realistic techniques to create local scenes that evoke both majesty and mystery. You’ll often find him painting in his original studio gallery at 823 Chartres Street - just off Jackson Square, or at his new showcase gallery at 534 Royal Street. You can find his latest originals in his galleries – or shop online on his website.

Sponsor of Full Plate columns

Calli Weirick, Financial Services Professional

Calli is a registered representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities, LLC (member FINRA/SIPC). She is passionate about helping others navigate the world of investments, retirement planning and wealth building.

Services Calli provides include 401K rollovers, variable and fixed annuities, education planning, life, disability, and long-term care insurance – and business solutions, including employee benefits, key employee, and buy/sell agreements. Call Calli at 913-484-2902 or email her here.

Sponsoring Storyboard photography columns