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Adios, Carlos

Carlos Cajun Mexican Restaurant, the Cortana-area landmark where Carlos Urdiales pioneered the marriage of Louisiana and Mexican cuisine, has closed its doors. “Believe it or not, he’s retiring,” says Carlos’ restaurateur son, Jim Urdiales, who operates Mestizo on Acadian Thruway. “His style of cooking is all his own,” Urdiales says. La Copa de Rey, a Mexican cantina, is scheduled to open in the same building in the near future.

Artist takes Manhattan

Local artist Sarah Ashley Longshore (center) was the toast of New York recently when world-renowned fashion designer Alvin Valley (left) hosted a dinner party showcasing some of her artwork this summer. The Greenwich Village guest list included Interior Design Magazine’s Elena Kornbluth, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Thom Felicia (right) and socialites Fabiola Beracasa and Christian Leone (who just happen to be pals with Baton Rouge native-turned NYC party girl, Genevieve Jones). “Sitting in between Alvin Valley the famous fashion designer and the heir to the Hearst fortune, Fabiola Beracasa, was a wonderful experience,” Longshore says. “It was such a pleasure to have such a wonderful welcome from true New York society.”

Anywhere but here

Jazz and R&B vocalist Juanita Brooks, who relocated from New Orleans to Baton Rouge after Katrina, is making a name for herself just about everywhere but South Louisiana. A self-described non-conformist, Brooks owns the master recordings of all her albums and has made a career of late touring the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. Her recent concert at Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture earned rave reviews from The Black World Today and had one European blog dubbing Brooks the “world’s greatest hidden secret.”