Isaac Toups, one of the most talented and celebrated chefs in New Orleans, started out life as a tadpole.

Mr. Tadpole 1980 – Isaac Toups

Isaac was a finalist on the TV show Top Chef and he’s currently a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Chef South, which is the food equivalent of the Oscars. But before all that, Isaac was a winner of the Tadpole competition in his native Rayne, Louisiana. Rayne bills itself as The Frog Capital of the World (no kidding, look it up) and Isaac was the winner of the baby competition there, back when he was a baby. The best baby in Rayne, therefore, is the winner of the Tadpole Award. You can’t make this stuff up, and you can’t do justice it in writing, you need to hear this in Isaac’s own words, here on Happy Hour.

Vote Sara Lewis for Judge!

Sara Lewis is running for Judge. The court she is looking to preside over is New Orleans First City Court. It’s a small claims court where there is no jury. As somebody mentions on this show, it’s kind of like reality TV court, except it’s actually reality. You can vote for Sara if you live in New Orleans, on July 11th if the election isn’t postponed again as it has been twice already. Sara doesn’t have a campaign slogan, yet, but today’s suggestions from the assembled Happy Hour guests and crew include “Lewis will do us,” “Small Claims Sara,” and “Sara is Fairer.”

Mr & Mrs New Orleans Quarantine 2020 – Lori Tipton & Andy Overslaugh

Lori Tipton and Andy Overslaugh might be New Orleans’ most interesting couple. And in New Orleans that’s saying something. Lori and Andy have both been on Happy Hour previously, but as Lori says, “We don’t usually do much together.” Two of the interesting aspects of their life is (a) they date other people and (b) they’re both exponents of various forms of therapeutic psychedelic exploration. So you think you’ve had it tough being cooped up in your house for the past 8 weeks? Imagine what Andy and Lori are going through.

Lori and Andy have both had a long career in the New Orleans service industry, and Isaac is fighting to keep his restaurant open. If you’re interested in a front-line report and prognosis of the future of the service industry in New Orleans, take a listen to this conversation.

Mr Tadpole Meets The Psychedelic Judge

Photos by Jill Lafleur. Lori’s super-popular previous appearance on Happy Hour, is here.